The multiscreen world is evolving…

Some days ago, I have written about the timely relationship in media usage between TV and mobile apps. This week, NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey Company, found a statistically significant relationship that shows a correlation between online buzz and TV ratings.

The study concludes that the correlation takes place throughout the TV show season. However, the impact online buzz has on ratings can vary based on a season’s timeline. The strongest correlation is with viewers ages 12-17 and 18-34 with a slightly stronger correlation for women over men. Seeing older viewers, social buzz gets more impact on ratings toward the end of the season.

The studies show that the usage of mobile and social are also linked when we bear in mind that 50% of social media usage came through mobile last year. It suggests that more and more people are sitting in front of their TV screens with their mobiles (smartphones or tablets) while surfing the web and chatting with their friends or other people all over the world about the shows they are watching… or other topics of interest.

We see more and more ConnectedTV’s coming to the market. US smart TV shipments is said to double in 2012, reaching 52.85 million units and 20% of the market according to Parks Associates research, and over 60% of US connected TV homes use apps.

There is no dout that TV and online will become one world in the future. Already, 74% of people with broadband surf internet while watching TV according to some OVUM research. However, the questions arise whether the user will have and use one or two screens in the future, and which one will be first and second screen? Will smartphones and tablets replace the importance of TV, or will the power of TV increase. In the US studies the average TV viewing time is

This week, I have been to Mediamind’s DED2011 in London where some great speaker where giving insights in the cross-channel consumer and the future of ConnectedTV.

Dean Donaldson, Global Director of Media Innovation at MediaMind gave a great summary of the latest development how users engage with screen today. The usage time of Online versus TV usage (more than 5 hours) is only 10%, mobile is used 20 minutes daily. However, this does not mean that the user is in front of the screen. The question is which screen is really catching the interest of the user and how long are people paying attention to what is happening on the screen. What was “watching onair” becomes “engaging online”. The latest Honda Jazz commercial illustrates the opportunities that the convergence of TV, Online and mobile offer.

After the event I had some time to speak with Dr. Patrick Dixon, Chairman of Global Change and author of Futurewise. His success ca be manifested in his social web figures. The website gets 14 million unique users, 4 million video views and his Twitter account shows 42.000 followers. This man knows what he is talking about…

Spot On!
The outook into the future of Connected TV is fascinating and goes hand-in-hand with the evolution of screen technology. ConnectedTV, or Smart TV, will need to take the customer with them and TV manufacturers, cable suppliers and broadcasters need to find the right path from hype, futuristic gaming to reality. Consumers are not buying a TV screen as fast as a laptop or a smartphone, although they are using it more often than the other devices. And marketing in a Connected TV world will become even more difficult as marketers need to address the customer with their brand message on the right screen, at the right time and in the contextual situation.

Social Media or/and Website for Lead Generation: What’s the key to success?

How often did we hear this question in the last three years? Marketers, sales(wo)men and many C-Level’s in the B2B space have asked the question many times in seminars. I am quite happy to have found a study that actually gives some insight in a quite complex business topic.

According to a Demandbase National Marketing and Sales Study in cooperation with Focus, the company corporate website is the top source of new sales leads for consumers. The corporate website still is the primary hub to harness customer interest driven by outbound online marketing activities. However, it is only second to personal connections and referrals. Nevertheless, more than seven times more effective than social media which speaks a clear language, right…?  Well, what if referrals lead to websites via Social Media?

Executives see the website as the top online source of sales leads (23%), followed by email (14%), online advertising (7%), and finally… social media (3%). What sounds as a clear message, is more a blur. The most important factor for measuring website effectiveness is the quality of leads generated (34% vs. quantity 9%). However, nearly one-half of executives surveyed do not know where users are most likely to leave their website.

Another interesting thing is that study participants stated that the website still vastly underperforms in terms of lead generation. Although companies think they understand their sales prospects (over 60% respond knowing or understanding their prospects well), driving sales leads is still a big challenge for them. 80% of the respondents said the corporate website is not performing to its maximum lead generation.

Did you ever ask yourself how a consumer found your website? Can a website alone be enough to generate quality sales leads? What is the key to generating more leads from the web? Is it the website only? Well, once your website is ready to attract customers, it needs to get traction.

Often in the last weeks, we came across one of the main effort to get there: content generation. What makes search engines to drive (potential) customers back to your website? Content. And often marketers say: “We have tons of content! Why is no one coming back?” The answers is easy: Content needs some systematic approach, and that can best be achieved with inbound marketing. And that’s were Social Media comes into the game. So, the website alone is not the answer to lead generation.

“Social media may be heralded as the silver bullet to bring B2B marketing up to snuff but, despite its increasing influence, it’s important to keep in mind that no business sale is made without the buyer going to the corporate website first. Regardless of its origin–social media or e-mail, banners or search–traffic driven from online marketing initiatives always intersects at the website. And, while businesses are investing heavily in their sites, the study shows that they are then ignoring the very audience they worked so hard to attract.” Chris Golec, CEO, Demandbase

Spot On!
The study shows that there is a lack of understanding how to optimize and generate new sales leads and demand generation. Analyzing websites and drawing the right conclusions from site performance and the clients’ brand journey experience is what needs to be elaborated on. Obviously, many marketers still have “better things to do” or not the time to verify the back-end. Marketers need to understand that their web strategy should be focusing on connecting website experience and the brand journey towards it. This in the future will be mainly driven through inbound activities that could find a catalyst in referals. Companies just need to elaborate on the interconnection between website and Social Media. That’s where the answer to lead generation is hidden…

Don’t you agree…?

Incentivized ads boost brand perception, study finds

According to a recent study by KN Dimestore and SocialVibe brand messages and incentives influences most consumers to pay more attention to ads. In fact, if companies combine these two advertising and brand strategies, the interaction of consumers with brands increases by 91% and brand perception by 38%.

The study -which gathers data from more than 30,000 survey respondents- reported that when 48% of survey participants initially opt-in to engage with a brand for the incentive, they stay and pay attention to the brand message.

The aim of the study was to find out if and why incentives prompt people to engage with the advertisements, how they affect consumer perception of the brands, and if they influence people to visit the company’s website or „buzz“ their friends about the offer. Respondents gave feedback on ads from U.S. brands across financial services, CPG, entertainment, e-commerce and technology categories between June and July of 2011.

Some key findings of the study…
48% of those interact because of the incentive but pay attention to brand
12% interact purely based on brand
31% interact for brand and incentive
9% interact purely for the incentive

The results summary makes clear that engaging with the ad increased the odds that the consumers would purchase the product. Above that, incentives through ads drive website and in-store traffic, as well as purchases – and also conversions. Happy customers are coming back more often to the website when initially satisfied with an incentive through incentives. 36% of respondents were more likely to purchase brand-related products at physical store after interacting with the ad.

SocialVibe names the strategy “value-exchange brand advertising”. The company defines it as ads that ask for a consumer’s attention in exchange for something they want, such as virtual currency for social games or making a donation to charity. There is a clear differentiation from sign-up and straight purchase intended offers like cost-per-action (CPA) advertising.

Spot On!
The study is an interesting step in indicating the value of ads for branding. Generating consumer interest and awareness get’s more and more challenging these days with the masses of advertising we are faced with on a daily basis. Mobile advertising shows some similar development in terms of incentivization and engagement. Often companies said that the value of ads is getting lower as they just value it from a conversion-based ROI perspective. However, the study now shows that earning points, virtual currency or some other rewards finds the atention of customers. That’s when conversion comes into play, and that’s where brands need to foster engagement to a purchase via the right communication tactics.

Mobile Study: Retailers focus consumer mobile efforts on stores

One of the latest research projects “Keeping Up with the Mobile Consumer” by Retail Systems Research (RSR) which was sponsored by Google and SAP Research, states that retailers are eager to engage with consumers via their personal mobile devices, but focus their efforts on driving customers to stores, rather than on mobile commerce. The study offers some orientation and recommendations for successful mobile strategies for retailers (and brands).

The research studied of 83 qualified retailers in the summer of 2011 and divideds the respondents in best performers – Retail Winners – and other performers. It states that 79% ackowledge that a cut and paste version of a full eCommerce site is simply not a viable mobile strategy. It also shows that the “Winners” are somewhat ahead of the market, however it is early days in mobile ecommerce.

For Retail Winners the future of mobile ecommerce is not only an extension of their website to the mobile channel (77% vs. 88% of all others). Most retailers look to outside advertising agencies with mobile experience – 31% to 18% of the Winners.

The best performers take a broader view of what mobile really looks like as it relates to how consumers use mobility, the study suggests. Winners focuse much more on the ability to write once and deploy across multiple mobile platforms than are average and underperformers (73% vs. 35%).

“Overall, 51% of respondents say that their mobile sales will grow significantly in the next 3 years, and another 42% expect at least some growth, if not a significant amount. And while the top mobile channel capabilities for our retail survey respondents include search for merchandise and receive coupons/offers, Retail Winners tell us they are laser-focused on using mobile to help the purchase process,” Nikki Baird, Managing Partner, RSR Research

According to the study for the Winner retailers the main challenge is that consumers are using mobile as part of their shopping experience and that they need to be there and they see (92 vs 81 of others). 42% (versus 29%) see significant online traffic from mobile sources which they need to respond to. Even the Winners (38%) admit that mobile technology is evolving too quickly and they cannot keep up with the pace of innovation (48% of others).

“There’s going to be a lot of trial and error, and even though not all new endeavors will be successful, it’s important to remember that the consumer already wants to use the device she has in her purse; even if a new tactic falls short, she’ll be eager to try it, and she’ll likely reward you for trying,” Steve Rowen, co-author of the report.

Spot On!
Generally speaking, the study shows all retailers are aware of the common and future status of mobile. They recognize the opportunities that mobile devices offer to them, their capabilities, and the shoppers’ willingness to use them. However, it is still difficult for them to predict the best retailers understand that “the next big thing”.

Study: Twitter becomes popular among business chiefs

Is this a good sign for the acceptance of social media in the business world? The use of Twitter as a business and marketing tool has increased from 31% to 61% among Europe’s top business leaders, finds a recent study by CNBC.

Even more, 61% of the business leaders see the growing impact of Social Media. They believed Social Media was changing the way their business is done today. 77% of the business executives have Facebook accounts (from 81% in 2010). LinkedIn gains tracktion from 52% to 56%.

The study polled 650 European business chiefs as part of their CNBC Europe Mobile Elite 2011 survey. The idea was to get more knowledge about the use of the latest technology features in the C-Level area of companies at work and in their free time.

Although the increase of Twitter popularity among business leaders is obvious, the busiens decision makers admit that the are unable to keep track ith the latest technological innovations. Apart from that, another study some weeks ago showed that they are also not sure how to leverage Social Media for business.

The most popular device is the iPhone which 21% of the business chiefs call their own now – up from 19% in 2010. Similar numbers gets the Blackberry in terms of popularity – an increase from 18% to 20%. The iPad is also becoming more popular among business leaders, with 15% of them now owning one.

“In a rapidly changing world, Europe’s decision makers are challenged with not just keeping up with technology change, but also ‘driving change’ within their respective sectors. Throughout 2010, Europe experienced some the most advanced innovations in mobile technology the region has ever seen.” Mike Jeanes, Director of Research, CNBC EMEA

Spot On!
The CNBC study states the importance and changing development of mobile use for the business decision maker. The message is that websites will continue to lose value against apps on mobile devices among business leaders. News apps are the most popular application segment for the respondents. 75% of respondents said they use them followed by weather (54%) and social networking (39%). The study makes clear that top management is trying to get in touch and keep up with the pace of technology innovation. However, time still seems to be their biggest enemy…

LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook? Study finds leading social network from journalists…

What’s your guess? What is the leading social network for journalists? And what does this mean to business decision makers, managers and PR professionals?

The answer by far is LinkedIn with 92% – with a remarkable increase of 7% compared to 2009. However, this does not mean that it is their main source of information. At least, this is what the latest study tells us which is called 2011 Arketi Web Watch Survey: Inside BtoB Media Usage of Social Media.

For me it was a bit of an eye-opener as I thought journalists might prefer to use Twitter to monitor sources for trending topics and breaking news. Probably, the statement has some value still. For Mike Neumeier, Pricipal, Arketi Group was not surprised…

“It comes as no surprise more BtoB journalists are participating in social media sites, especially LinkedIn. (…) LinkedIn provides an online outlet for them to connect with industry sources, find story leads and build their professional networks.”

The second largest still is not Twitter. It is Facebook. 85% of journalists are on Facebook (increase by 30% to 2009). However, Twitter comes in nearly at the same result (84%) and with the highest growth of 60% to 2009. And nearly half of the responding journalists (49%) say they blog or read blogs regularly.

“When compared to the 2009 Arketi Web Watch Survey, this year’s results show significantly more journalists are using social media tools (…) This means companies have more online channels through which they can reach media targets. This is both a blessing and curse for today’s PR professionals.” Dr. Kaye Sweetser, associate professor of PR, University of Georgia’s Grady College

Findings where journalists have their news sources…
- 80% via public relations contacts
- 77% rely on news releases
- 74% turn to newswires (i.e. BusinessWire or PRNewswire)
- 71% get from email pitches
- 56% from blogs
- 44% from micro-blogs (such as Twitter), and
- 39% from social networking sites (such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Myspace).

More than nine out of ten journalists responding (96 percent) say they prefer to receive news releases via email from companies they know, and 95 percent of business journalists say they prefer to receive news releases via email from companies they don’t know but are in industries they cover.

Journalists get crucial information regarding breaking news from the following sources…
- 85% Industry experts
- 81% Company website
- 80% Industry website
- 80% Other interested parties
- 57% Industry blog
- 53% Company blog
- 41% Industry Twitter feed
- 33% Company Twitter feed

Spot On!
Although LinkedIn is very popular among journalists, it does not seem to be the centre of attention to get a big story. Still, the direct contact and company websites have massive power and as they are probably the most trusted sources, they still lead. Still, social networks make it easy for journalists to get in touch with relevant people for good quotes. It should assume that investigative journalism is on the rise. Reading newspapers and websites today, I personally get the feeling that blogs have far more to offer.

What is your view?

3 Tips for Anyone Interested in Maintaining their Reputation

Nearly every type of business today has some tie to the web. Even traditional storefront businesses need to have a highly functional website to remain competitive. However, the greater connectivity that being online allows for also comes with greater responsibility.

If you are interested in keeping your name and brand viable on the web, you need to be concerned with online reputation management. What is Reputation Management you ask? Online reputation management is when you remain proactive about how your business looks to the average consumer online. Although many large companies will employ firms to personally manage their online reputations, there are a few basic steps any entrepreneur can take to properly perform Online Reputation Management:

Obsess Over Social Media
Any business interested in remaining competitive needs to be on various social media sites. Not only do businesses need to be on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but they need to be actively participating on these sites on a day-to-day basis. Owning a Facebook account that you log in to once a month can be disastrous for your online reputation. Not only will posting frequently keep your customers engaged, but it will also help keep your name high on the search engine results pages.

Maintain Consistent
All of your websites, blogs, and social networking accounts need to convey the same message about you and your business. If your blog conveys one message about your business, and your social networking accounts convey another, your customers and potential customers will notice the incongruity and be less likely to trust your company. If they don’t trust you or your company, they won’t be likely to trust your products and services and business will suffer.

Quick Damage Control
To remain highly visible online, you need to promote yourself through every online avenue possible. However, while promoting your company, you also need to be highly aware online image at all times – and this includes anything that is ever said about you. Online forums and social networking sites can become a hotbed of negative press if not closely monitored. When negative press does arise on these sites, you need to be able to quickly respond politely to deter any more negative comments from being made.

As more and more businesses move online, online reputation management has never been more important. It takes years to build a brand and only a few seconds to completely tear it down with a neglected Facebook page or poor Tweet. To effectively stay ahead of the competition, you need to properly employ online reputation management on a day-to-day basis.

This post is a guest post from Online Reputation Management which is a partner of Growth Partner Company.

Web or App? Nielsen study knows usage time of Android smartphone users

According to the latest findings of research firm Nielsen that tracks and analyses iOS and Android data, smartphone users spend twice as much time on applications than on mobile version of these websites. The study reveals also that –although there are millions of apps in the world- only “a very small proportion of apps make up the vast majority of time spent”.

The average Android smartphone user spends 56 minutes a day using apps and browsing the internet. Two-thirds of that time is usage of apps, the rest goes to mobile websites and 39% acccount for consumer app consumption. The study illustration below shows that mobile device owners spent almost half of their usage time on their top 10 favorite apps and 51% on their favorite 20 apps.

Let’s give it a guess… Probably most of the app usage of mobile device owners accounts for the following usage time: Checking email apps, Facebook, Foursquare or Gowalla, Twitter, and some of their favorite and coolest news or geeky gaming apps (very often used by their kids). And if you look at the top (free) list of apps you find Angry Birds, Angry Birds Rio, Google Maps, YouTube, Facebook Mobile, Skype, Tiny Flashlight, Viber and Drag Racing amoungst others.

The study supports my own feeling that although we continue to download apps and spend (2010 per user: Android 1,97 USD, iPhone 21,22 USD), we only use most of them them periodically, and only a few continously if the give us permanent benefit in networking or staying up-to-date on news.

Well, the time will come when HTML5 might change the market situation and developers will have an easy time working with apps. Amazon’s Kindle Cloud Reader gives insights in what is possible with HTML5 for the mobile web.

Spot On!
The study does not really give an answer to the question yet, or can give a recommendation to management. Still, Seeing these numbers, just imagine the chances companies and brands have when launching a new app to get under the hiflyer apps in the smartphone user market. Ideally, think about the five strategic reason that could make your app successful and be aware of the fact that most brand apps fail.

News Update – Best of the Day

Although the mobile hype is massive, there are studies that question the power of smartphone mobile advertising and it’s efficiency. A new research from YouGov shows consumers accept placements as part of their day-to-day mobile experience but consider them intrusive (79%) and tend to ignore them altogether. Only 5% think mobile ads are a good idea and welcome them. However, the general apathy smartphone users have toward seems to equal ignorance: 88% ignore ads on applications and 86% have ignored placements on the mobile internet.

The security company Imperva released a study that states “web applications, on average, experience twenty seven attacks per hour, or roughly one attack every two minutes.” Imperva monitored 10 million attacks between December of last year and May of this year “targeting 30 different enterprise and government web applications.” Of the 27 attacks per hour most of them are trying to identify vulnerabilities on websites. If a vulnerability is found, attacks can increase to 25,000 per hour which would be seven attacks per second.

What is the future of Twitter? During a keynote interview at Fortune BrainstormTech in Aspen, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo gave insights in his vision of the company’s business model.

PS: Just in case you ask why Twitter is cool, Steven Winterburn has got the answer: “”Twitter is like a fridge. If you’re bored you keep opening & closing it every few minutes to see if there’s anything good in it.”

Studies – How women and moms use social media and mobile today…

Are men still the drivers of trends? How do women approach the Social Web, and the new mobile technology? Is the realm of gadgets still a mens’ business? Interestingly enough, a recent study from Women at NBCU found that women are the main drivers of tech trends, particularly on social networks. But there are more studies to obey…

Some findings of a recent study from Women at NBCU show that women are more engaged in social media and the mobile trend than men. The results say that women are the main drivers of tech trends, especially on social networks.

Women in General
Making purchases, a high number of women (71%) surveyed stated that they have their recommendations from online friends rather than review websites. And even more, they are far more likely to connect with brands on their social networks. According to the survey, women are alsoo more likely to own a smartphone, a gaming app like Angry Birds or a Wii than men.

So, the question will be which social network is dominated by women and which one by men? The Pew Internet Research allows some insights. Except for LinkedIn all other social networks seemed to be ruled by women. Is business is a mens’ domain or just more men in the workforce…?

Females participate stronger and more intense overall and in every other social network. Also interesting, that male versus female usage on Twitter is just the opposite. Another study last year by BridgeRatings said that men prefer Twitter while Facebook is more appealing to women.

However if we take a look at the Google+ stats, it seems that Google+ is a male-dominated platform by a ratio of 3:1. However, Paul Allen, predicts that “Google+ is quickly turning pink”. His view is that the “percentage of women on G+ may soon outstrip the number of women on LinkedIn”. Although women are more thinking in segmented friendship circles, I have heard many women complaining about the complexity of Google+. We will watch this trend evolving…

Women in business
The Women Presidents’ Organization found in a study, based on the responses of 259 women-led companies, that 40% women-led business owners thinks that an increase in revenue was based on their social media efforts. Even more, 10% of the respondents saw a “significant” revenue jump.

However the great figures, 40% of respondents also denied having seen sales improve from social media, but 31% of them remained “hopeful”. They envision other benefits like building credibility or better recruitment opportunities. Still, there were 16% not using Social Media.

Women at home: Moms
Moms are a definiely an emerging and lucrative target group for marketers. We can see this from a NPD group research and Pandora, the streaming service. They are using social networks longer and more frequently to share their views on kids and education, and they are even more heavy mobile users. Mothers make up 20% Internet traffic and are the fastest-growing buyers of iPhones. And also a Nielsen report claims that American mothers are sharing more photos and news on Facebook than anyone else.

“We’ve known about the opportunity of online moms for a while now, but then mobile technology came along and blew everything up”. Marshal Cohen, Chief Retail Analyst, NPD Group

Spot On!
Men are no longer the forerunners of modern technology. Women adapt at least as quickly as men, and seem to be more engaged in Social Media and social networking than men. If this is because men focus and identify themselve more with business topics, or whether there are other reasons like American focus of the studies, the readers of this post might find arguments for or against some of these views.

Share your insights and views. Why are women more engaged in Social Media? Why are they positive about their usage of social networking for business? Or is this a complete wrong picture that we get here?

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