Social media marketers who have successfully attracted fans to their Facebook or Twitter page must work to keep fans interested and engaged.

According to a September 2010 survey by social media marketing agency Cone, incentives are the biggest draw for consumers connecting with brands online. Users expect deals and look for brands to help solve their problems and receive their feedback on products and services.

However, what users aren’t looking for is equally important. The top two reasons new-media users said they stopped following brands online was due to … Continue Reading

New System Expands Product Ad in Search Result, Google will receive Cut of the Sales

Google is undergoing changes as it rolls out a new system which allows for expanded Product Advertisements to be displayed in search results.

Product Ads will show up as photos and several lines of text, including price, alongside traditional search results.

The new system has been tested over the past year with over 800 advertisers but was not officially released until yesterday.

What Does Google’s Product Ad System Mean for Marketers?

• For the first time, major advertisers will be … Continue Reading
  
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Usage and interest build slowly

According to some predictions in 2009, mobile couponing was ready for takeoff. While relatively few mobile users had redeemed a coupon through their phone, many were interested, and Yankee Group predicted an increase in the number of mobile coupons redeemed in North America in 2010 from 200,000 to 2.3 million.

But consumers have been slow to get on board. According to a September 2010 survey conducted by OnePoll for mobile transaction network mBlox, fewer than 15% of US mobile subscribers have redeemed a mobile coupon…. Continue Reading

Facebook is now offering deals from nearby merchants and brand marketers such as Starbucks, Gap or McDonald’s for users who share their locations in status updates.

Facebook launched “Deals” as an extension of its Places feature where users are able to check into locations such as restaurants, bars, or malls. The Deals service was launched with 22 big brand partners including Starbucks, McDonalds, H&M, and Gap as well as 20,000 smaller businesses.

Merchants create a Facebook page where there is an option for choosing the kind of deal they would like to offer: individual, loyalty, friends or charity. Individual and loyalty offers are digital … Continue Reading

The NPD Group recently published its latest report on smartphone OS market share, where Android remained the clear winner when compared to last year’s results.

The report focused on data concerning Q3 2010 which indicated that Android has seen substantial gains, while Apple’s iOS remained flat and Blackberry continued its fall from the top.  

In Q3 2009, Android held only 3% of the market. However, since 2009, Android has skyrocketed to the number one position with 44% of US smartphone sales. RIM moved into third place with just 22% of … Continue Reading

Introducing five applications designed to control your automobile.

Industry wide, automakers have seen the future and it involves integration of digital technologies into the cars we drive every day. More new automobiles are able to interface with handheld devices such as cell phones and digital music players. Motorists can already make hands-free telephone calls or even stream Internet radio through their vehicle’s sound system using an iPhone’s wireless capabilities.

Now automakers are focusing efforts in another direction; smartphone applications that provide a level of control over the vehicle itself. Users are … Continue Reading

High click rates for social media don’t tell the full story

According to Chadwick Martin Bailey, three-quarters of web users are likely to share content with their friends and family, an activity brands are watching closely in their attempts to leverage the influence of brand advocates.

SocialTwist reported that email was the most common channel used to share content via the company’s Tell-a-Friend widget. Email accounted for more than half of all referrals while social networks made up for less than a quarter of shares.

But shares on … Continue Reading

Three-quarters of Facebook fans have signed up with pages after invitations or ads from brands

Research on social media users who follow brands has shown marketers the importance of offering deals and discounts on Facebook fan pages. Often times Facebook users become fans because they are prompted to “like” a brand due to some form of outreach.

Three-quarters of Facebook users worldwide who had “liked” a brand told DDB Worldwide and Opinionway Research in September 2010 that they had done so because of an invitation or advertising from the brand they … Continue Reading

Face-to-face communication has taken a back seat to texting, Facebook, and email for Gen Y moms

Mothers are ahead of the curve when it comes to internet and digital usage. eMarketer estimates 90.3% of women in the US with children under 18 are online, compared with 76.3% of all adult females. Research from WhyMomsRule indicates that the youngest moms in particular have now moved more than half of their family communications outside the realm of face-to-face interaction.

Gen Y moms polled said they conducted an average of 48% of communication with … Continue Reading

Diana Pouliot, the director of mobile advertising at Google revealed that one-third of all Google searches via the mobile web pertain to an aspect of the searcher’s local environment.

Paul Feng, Google’s mobile-ads group product manager, spoke on Google’s efforts to make their advertising reach as local as possible. According to Mr. Feng, “We think of location as a hugely important signal.”

The mobile industry seems to agree and some analysts now project that location-based mobile spending will top $4 billion in 2015. That’s a huge increase from the $34 million spent just last … Continue Reading