Mobile Video Advertising – Why there is a positive future ahead…

The market for mobile advertising is growing at high speed. More and more companies invest their first advertising budgets (although still not huge…) in apps, onsite or instream commercials. In 2012 the market for mobile advertising is said to increase to 1,5 Billion USD. In 2010 mobileSquared estimated the size for the mobile advertising market at 800 Million USD by 2015, and this sum is expected just for Germany.

One of the main drivers of this development could become mobile video advertising. Looking at the numbers of researchers and analysts, there is a bright future ahead. The market research company Strategy Analytics saw a growth by 958% of mobile video commercial views. They published figures from April 2012 which illustrate how the mobile video advertising market might be growing. While they counted 108 Billion mobile video views 2011, they expect that the market more than doubles to 280 Billion for 2012.

The challenge for mobile video advertising was partly based on the size of smartphones which did not allow massive advertising opportunities. Partly it was lacking the believe of the management in mobile video advertising up to now. And when we look at the minimum volume of ad campaigns in Apple’s iAd program which was downsized from 1 Million to 100.000 USD, it shows that expectations were bigger than the first mobile budgets. Often traditional campaigns are simply extended to mobile without bigger creative invest.

However, this might change with mobile video advertising.

The actual “viewing time” of video commercials in audio-video content is still just 1,5%, found Comscore. A recent study by Juniper Research stands against this and forecasts a “viewing time” for mobile TV of 186 minutes per month in 2014. That offers a lot of opportunities for commercials.

The content offering will also change with the future of the social web. In 2010, some Cisco research stated that 57% of the Internet traffic in 2014 will be audio-video content. This outlook gets support from the massive use and sharing of video content in social networks. And if we think about the fact that Facebook already has 488 Million mobile users, then it comes as no surprise that many social media advertising suppliers like ebuzzing, Hallimash oder unruly try to conquer the social video advertising market.

The creation of banners will still be responsible for the length of the viewing and staying time. According to some new insights of Medialets the mobile “engagement stimulus” of users increases by 35% when video content is displayed. Those users that opened or expanded a banner stayed 20 seconds with the ad format. The integration of video or product catalogue information propelled the staying time with mobile banner formats from 20 seconds to more than one minute, said Medialets. Apart from that, comScore Video Metrix published some stats showing that video ads surpassed the 10 Billion mark and showed an increase by 117% year-over-year.

The development is positive which we can also see in these interesting insights. No surprise that Nielsen forecasts a growth of 70% for the mobile advertising market. And mobile video advertising will get a good chunk of it.

Will the tablet be the catalyst in this development? Sure… By 2013, 47% of the U.S. Internet population will own tablets (117.4 million users). One in ten tablet users watches online video daily according to comScore. Just think about the parallel usage of mobile devices like tablets and smartphones with TV (especially in Prime Time), there could be fantastic opportunities for marketers and their agencies to create intelligent convergent multi-platform campaigns.

Isn’t this some great outlook for mobile video advertising…? if you have some more figures you can add, let us know…

PS: These numbers were put together from me for my moderation of the dmexco Night Talks 2012 (see picture).

How to become “The Social Enterprise”…

The mighty loss in productivity often moves ROI and positive arguments in the shade when the conversation comes to social business discussions. Especially, social networking sites like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and the likes let managers get nervous if their employees are still working today for eight hours, or not. Or whether it is better to cut the line to social networks.

In times where almost every second employee calls a smartphone or tablet their property, all the discussion around baning social networks seem to be making less and less sense. Training and encouraging employees to benefit from social networking sounds even more appropriate. Just bear in mind how much knowledge the company could generate out of it, if the knowledge learning process is aligned to the use of social networks.

If employers see the benefit of a social business through connected workers, the digital access to the company expands and conversations around the company as well as rpducts and the brand will increase. It fosters and harnesses the ability to create leadership in different ways. Content, context and collaboration will rise. Managers just need to offer identification for consumers, differentiate from competition, and redefine commitment for employees and partners anew. Just like the Community Centric Strategy teaches them…

Gist also offers some nice recommendations how to become “The Social Enterprise” in an infographic…

Study Gen Y: Moving communication to social networks

Many managers don’t believe that the next management generation might communicate differently from today. So, every proof we have could be beneficial to score here and it is necessary to obey the signs in every region in the world.

In India an increasing number of the Gen Y generation prefers to communicate via social networking platforms to stay connect with their peers. And they do it on mobile devices as their preferred tool for communication.

A recent survey called The GenY Survey 2011-12 by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) asked 12,000 high school students between 12-18 years in cities like i.e. Mumbai, Delhi, and Pune from July to December 2011. It finds that a “total of 88% respondents from metropolitan cities had a Facebook account while other platforms such as Orkut and India-based Apna Circle, Ibibo and Hi5 were more popular in small metros”.

The study states that 40% of the Gen Y’s have internet access on their mobile phones. However, television emerged as the least favorite gadget with not even 1% voting for it. An emerging trend is the use of tablets with almost 14% using these new devices, it quotes.

Some more findings of the study…
- 85% use social networking sites such as Facebook
- 84% have internet access at home
- 79% own a mobile phone
- 28% value the mobile phone their favorite gadget

Spot On!
There are already 38% of respondents in metros using Facebook or Twitter to communicate. Tweeting is now being used by one in three students according to the study, though just 1% mentioned it as their preferred site. Text and chat were said to be the preferred alternatives to voice calls with 50% of respondents in metros explaining they used SMS most frequently to communicate, 45% used instant messaging. Apart from that, they also value information technology as a career option followed by engineering and medicine.

Study: Social Media and content marketing attracts brand advocates

Content marketing is one of the fastest growing areas of business for marketers. A report by Zuberance now shows how businesses can make use of content marketing in combination with Social Media to attract more and more web users to become advocates for products and services.

According to the Zuberance report, an amazing portion of 38% of web users have recommended between five and nine brands to their friends and other web contacts. The respondents stated to have advocated at least one company. Even more, 30% recommended between one and four businesses or other organizations. 38% of the advocates stated that they discuss brands with a frequency of once per month. Some of the advocates (12%) even recommend brands several times in a week.

The three main findings…
1. Brand Advocates are even more actіve than previously thought. They recommend more brands, products and services and more often than and in more categories than arlier data suggested.
2. Brand Advocates have even larger social networks than previous studіes showed. They have hundred of friends and colleagues in their social networks. Thus, their recommendations reach more people than earlier estimates suggested.
3. Brand Advocates’ recommendations aren’t lіmited to consumer brands and products. They even advocate products and services that might be considered as mundane like anti-virus software or file transfer services.

Marketers from technology companies should take a close look to these advocates as their business was the most frequently discussed industry. 25% of web users replied that they advise their web contacts on computers, smartphones, and other products. As consumers often spend quite a significant sum on these products, they want to make sure to have chosen the best product that fits their purposes.

Spot On!
Many technology and business companies have realized the fact of the value of word-of-mouth, and thus the value of brand advocates. Different reports by Brafton and Custom Content Council & ContentWise 2011 show how active content marketing influences these people. Companies are clever to promote the conversation around their products and services on the social web, aiming to get their content shared or to boost their search ranks.

Will those who pin finally win? – Pinterest & Engagement (Infographic)

What is interesting for marketers is how engaging Pinterest could be as the emerging new social network for pics and tricks. So which gender is using the platform the most? How much time are people spending there, and how much time compared to other social networks?

Here are some answers (US perspective) according to Wall Street Journal…
- Facebook stays as the most engaging platform with 405 minutes per month
- Pinterest and Tumblr come in second place with 89 minutes
- Twitter is number three with  21 minutes
- LinkedIn gets 17 minutes
- Google Plus only has 3 minutes

Please find the infographic “Pin it to Win it” from MDG Advertising as follows with some more interesting facts about some of the best performing social networks…

Why Social Commerce is not happening… yet

Many companies are asking when Facebook commerce is really taking off. Especially as some consulting companies like Booz see in Facebook an emerging market that might reach $30 billion within the next five years.

However people spend a lot of time on Facebook, social commerce is still low. And the reason is…? No other than those people fear in e-commerce: traditional security topics.

These are the findings of a survey that Harris Interactive did on behalf of Digitas last month in the US, polling 2,630 adults. 2,247 of them were identified as Social Media users.

The key findings of the study were…
- 75% indicate they would be more likely to purchase a product or service that a friend openly endorses via social media
- 55% don’t feel comfortable giving credit card information via social media
- 45% are somewhat comfortable however especially men between 18 and 54 with an income of $35,000 or more
- 34% are more likely to share info about a purchase they made on a social media site with friends than one made on a traditional e-commerce site
- 50.7% access Social Media sites close to a full hour per day on average via a mobile device

Spot On!
Virtual currency like Bitcoin or Facebook Credits seems to be a “NoGo” as the new currency model. 74% of the respondents stated they wouldn’t use virtual currency to pay for a purchase made on a Social Media site. Nevertheless, it seems that trust is a new link for brands to get money through Social Networks. 20% agree they would purchase products or services from their favorite brands on a Social Media site. So, another emerging trend could become that brands will use their merchandise shops and make it accessible through Social Media sites.

Study: Active social networking engagement has tripled during working hours in one year

Are employees using social networks like Facebook or Twitter for private or business purpose? This is one of the question that management always asks me in workshops and seminars. Some new research called the “Palo Alto Networks Application Usage and Risk Report” could shed some light here. The report states explosive growth in global social networking and browser-based file sharing on corporate networks. In the last year, the activity has grown by 300% in active social networking (i.e. posting, applications) compared to 2010.

Some key findings of the study…

1. Social Media moves from passive to active engagement
Browsing Twitter at work alone grew by over 700% year-over-year which shows that the use of Twitter in the workplace has reached mainstream traction. Also Facebook usage has become more active with bandwidth consumption for Facebook Apps. Even more, Social Plugins and active engagement like posting has increased by 20% from October 2010 (5%) to December 2011 (25%) when measured as a percentage of total social networking bandwidth.

2. File sharing on social networks grows significantly
92% of the responding organizations reported that file sharing sites continue to be used on most networks. The report found 65 different browser-based file-sharing variants with an average of 13 being used in each of the organizations. The risks associated with browser-based file-sharing applications is based on the fact that these techniques are operating unchecked on corporate networks.

3. There is an evolution in types of traffic on company networks
While in earlier days, web applications using TCP port 80 were dominant, today it makes a minority of the traffic on enterprise networks for the first time ever with 25%, and 32% of the bandwidth observed. If companies don’t obey this development, it may cause problems as the standard web browsing-focused security model actually protects a minority of an organization’s traffic.

“Whether or not employees are using social networks or sharing files at work is no longer a question; this data clearly demonstrates that users are embracing and actively using such applications. Companies must determine how to safely enable these technologies on their networks so that users can maintain the levels of productivity that many of these applications can afford, while at the same time ensuring that their corporate networks and users are protected against all threats.” René Bonvanie, Chief Marketing Officer, Palo Alto Networks

Spot On!
Somehow these numbers might illustrate that companies and their bosses understand the value of Social Business and how the knowledge of employees might benefit from power of social networks. Especially the increase of the Twitter figures does not surprise at all, bearing in mind that European bosses support the use of Twitter for business purpose. And if you check out what people are actually doing on Facebook, then topics like consumer insights, work-life balance, or fun at work will reach different levels in organizations if CEOs or managing directors understand the real values of productivity.

Study: Social Sign-in generates 50% more time spend on websites

Isn’t it hard to get people on websites in general? And even more to keep them there reading as much of your business information as possible? How much time do your customers spend on your site? If you are not satisfied with the results you achieve with your visitors, here is some information that might boost your website staying time.

A recent research by the SaaS technology company Gigya helps companies and brands to become more social in order to engage more with their customers. And if they are doing their job properly, their aim is always to get people from social platforms to their website for a better conversion.

The Gigya research states that companies and brands, and obviously their websites, can increase the stickiness of their desired target groups with their website just by encouraging the coming back effect of visitors through social logins.

The Gigya’s results illustrate that site owners who implement Facebook Connect, Twitter sign in or Yahoo Login will be the winners. Users spend 50% more time on websites when they’re logging in through social networks. Just imagine if users spend four more minutes after a social login – whether it be on the Web, the mobile web, or apps. All of these options were tracked by the Gigya study.

The value of Facebook Connect in terms of giving an option to easily log-in on different other platforms and sites makes people carrying around their social graphs wherever and wherever they are online. And with all these connections our closest fellows, fans and friends find our restaurant reviews, cinema recommendations and places where I am immediately. With a target group of approximately 800 million users Facebook states a case for social sign-in opportunities.

The findings also show that it is the most popular source of social logins with 61%. It gets followed by Yahoo with 15% and Google 12%. It surprises me that Twitter is only at 10% and LinkedIn just gets 2% although we have over 120 million LinkedIn user. And users who logged in with a social network double the view of pages on a website.

Another interesting aspect is that with social plugins, users generally spend the most amount of time on the site, and page impression increase does obviously follow. Companies and brands should think about integrating value-add areas with log-in or comment or Newsfeed functionalities as the later come in first when it comes to spending more time with the site. So, add a comment section.

Spot On!
Some months ago, we already mentioned the importance of social sign-in processes with a study by Janrain and Blue Research. In that study, 42% agreed that companies offering a social sign-in option “are more up-to-date, innovative and leave a positive impression compared to those which do not offer this capability” on their sites. Well, it seems I should start thinking about integrating social sign-in here… From a comment technology point of view, which option would you recommend? Livefyre, Disqus,or the WordPress standard…? Open to suggestions…

Study: Social Media Marketing Budgets 2012

A recent research by StrongMail states that companies will increase their spendings for Social Media in 2012. Only Email marketing beats the Social Media hype with a budget boost of 60%. And this still happens in times when some high tech offices abandon email from their office already.

However, 47% of the responding companies see the integration of Social Media into their Email Marketing programs as a necessary step into the future. They strive to strengthen the reach of their company web pages in Social Networks like Facebook or Twitter.

Still surprising for me though is that the biggest portion of their budgets will be going into Facebook Marketing with 39% of the respondents planning to spend more in the leading Social Network. Is Facebook still seen as the best ROI driver from a marketing point of view? Is no marketer thinking back and remembering to the old MySpace era these days…?

A good sign for me is that companies also start investing Social Media Management Tools (25%) and in Twitter (24%). Let’s hope they also start to understand the value of context, and don’t just invest in the broadcasting part of Social Media (app development, content production, etc.).

Spot On!
According to the study, the mobile marketing invest that marketers are planning goes predominatly still in developing and building apps for the relevant smartphones in the market (29%), followed by mobile advertising (22%) and still… SMS programs (20%).

Somehow scary is the fact that 24% don’t plan to invest in mobile and another 24% are not sure/don’t know if they want to invest in mobile. Don’t you think it is time to start seeing the mobile future?

Google study offers insights in B2B Marketing

Following up on the webinar “Social Media for B2B companies – tactics, tools and techniques” that I held today from South Tyrol, I have promised to share one of the latest Google studies on B2B marketing.

At their event “Thing B2B 2011″ Google introduced the results of their new B2B study. It refers to business decision makers and how they make their way to buying decisions, which tools they are using and which technical platforms influence their purchase process.

The study “Connecting with the Customer” (video) asked 1.600 B2B business decision makedrs from various industries. The results were then combined with the latest findings of a Compete Clickstream study. The Compete study is tracking website conversion rates of a panel that is based on 2 Mio. consumers.

The study concludes that 30% of conversions on activities like whitepaper downloads, Email, Calls or other pull activity happen after two weeks time, or even at a later stage. It also states that -not surprising- in order to reach B2B decision makers the Internet is the best choice. 57% of the respondents say Internet advertising sticks to their mind versus 34% print. Only 16% say TV ads have a lasting effect on them.

When B2B decision makers are in a purchase process, they make use of the following sources…
- 71% Internet
- 41% Professional organizations
- 39% Tradeshows
- 37% Catalogue
- 33% Consultants
- 31% Direct Mail
- 11% TV

The leading online resources where B2B decision makers go to…
- 73% Search engines
- 51% Brand websites
- 45% Online reviews
- 42% Websites of professional organizations

In the following video Sam Sebastian, Industry Director at Google reviews the most important results of the study “Connecting with the Customer”, and makes clear that Social Media has the best effect if it is connected with all the other marketing activities companies are running. The review is followed by a dscussion between Paul Miller, Vice President of eCommerce at Grainger; Kathy Leech, Director of Brand Communications at BP; Andy Markowitz, Director of Global Digital Strategy at GE. Just watch it…

Spot On!
Business decision makers are a challenging shopper category. However, the study makes clear that the Internet is the place to reach them easily – some website chat software allows you to interact with individual customers in real time. Mobiles and Social Networks are becoming more and more important in the lead generation process, too. One in three B2B clients who searches for information on their smartphones also uses Social Networks for research purposes. Sam Sebastian, Industry Director at Google summarizes the findings in three bullets:
1. The Internet is the new tradeshow
2. B2B customers search early and often across the Web to information
3. Think orchestration, not integration

Maybe I would have chosen a different third point… “Think stimulation, not penetration!”. But that is my view…

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