Posted by: Micah Pratt, director of social networking r&d
Last Wednesday at the Web 2.0 conference held in San Francisco, Vic Gundotra, Google’s senior vice president in charge of Google+, discussed the possible changes coming to the social networking site. One of those changes included the idea of Google+ brand pages for companies anxiously waiting to reach out to the more than 40 million users. Here is an article from Mashable.com on what Google+ brand pages could look like when made available to companies.
What Google+ Brand Pages Could Look Like [PICS]
A few weeks ago, Mashable contacted some ad agencies and asked them to imagine how brand pages on could change in light of that platform’s planned redesign.
Just as Facebook was announcing its tweaks, though, Google was on track to add brand pages to Google Plus. Though it looks like that will happen any day now, the integration hasn’t been announced yet. Meanwhile, a handful of brands, including Ford, are already enjoying the possibilities.
There are several barriers to designing brand pages for Plus. For one thing, it’s hard to stand out the way Plus looks now. The somewhat rigid format has a leveling effect. But Colin Murphy, director of social for Skinny, one of the agencies that accepted our challenge, says there are potential advantages to Plus, too. “A primary gripe among Facebook and Twitter users is that brands bombard them with messages they don’t want or care to see,” said Murphy. “In its current form, Plus doesn’t solve that problem, but Plus Brand Pages might, if they implement Public Circles.”
Skinny outlined how this might work with a hypothetical example for Mini, the auto brand. In this case, a Mini Countryman fan could join the Countryman circle and see just Countryman updates in her feed. “This level of selectivity isn’t possible on Facebook or even Twitter, unless of course you are a fan or follow the specific product you’re interested in — but there’s a major drawback to that method because the user has to seek out content streams,” Murphy says. “With Google+ it’s all in one place, and the all the admin has to do is feed pertinent content to the appropriate circles.”
In addition to Skinny, Fantasy Interactive created some fictional Coca-Cola and Starbucks brand pages. Are these on the mark? We’ll know soon enough, but in the meantime, let us know what you think of these agencies’ vision of how Google+ can accommodate brands.
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October 27, 2011 | Categories: Blogged, Blogging, Facebook, Google, Mobile Marketing, SEO, Smartphones, SMS, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Tags: advertising on google, blog marketing, brand, brand awareness, brand identity, brand management, brand marketing, brand pages, brand strategy, branded awareness, branding, branding awareness, business marketing, capabilities, company policies, compnay policy, employers, facebook like, facebook likes, facebook policies, facebook policy, googe, Google, google ad, google ads, google adwords, google analytics, google dictionary, google docs, google earth plus, google gmail, google google, google home, google homepage, google images, google places, google plus, google plus 1, google plus one, google products, google search, google sites, google toolbar, google voice, increase facebook likes, interactive marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing, internet marketing tools, Kansas City, kansas city business, KC, marketing, marketing advertising, marketing communications, marketing research, marketing services, marketing strategies, marketing tools, mashable, mashable news, mashable.com, media marketing, my google, online advertising, online brand awareness, online marketing, product marketing, promo campaign, promotion campaign, promotion campaigns, promotional campaign, promotional campaigns, public relations, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search engine optimization marketing, search engine ranking, search google, search marketing, SEO, seo marketing, seo search engine optimization, social marketing, Social Media, social media and marketing, social media business, social media for business, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing company, social media marketing firm, social media marketing services, social media policies, social media policy, social media promotion, social media work, Social networking, social policies, social work media, Twitter, twitter marketing, twitter policies, twitter policy, Valerie Jennings, viral marketing, web marketing, website advertising, work in media, work in social media, work in the media, working for you, working in media, working in social media, works in the media | Leave A Comment »
Posted by: Micah Pratt, Director of Social Networking R&D
The 2012 presidential election will be like one never experienced before. Social networking sites are playing a role in these elections that wasn’t imaginable four years ago by hosting debates, facilitating the political conversation and connecting candidates with voters in the digital world. Here is an article from CMO.com, written by Kim Soth, senior vice president of business development & marketing at Jennings Social Media Marketing, on how to get Facebook ads to work in your favor.
Five Ways to Make Facebook Ads Work For You
There is much talk in social-media circles about how to build your audience organically and that, for the most part, it is the best way to build an audience. It is certainly a good way, but it shouldn’t be your only strategy. We suggest that if you are a new company or are launching a product, you can do a great job of building fans with Facebook ads, which offer a great alternative to your marketing strategy. What’s more, Facebook ads are not nearly as complex as Google AdWords—but don’t let the simplicity fool you. For our campaigns we’ve found that Facebook ads, on average, deliver a higher click-through rate than Google AdWords.
For example, we were brought in to help promote a senatorial race. After a month of struggling to gain fans on Facebook, we eventually doubled the candidate’s fans in a week by running ads: We picked up 1,500 fans for a total cost of around $1,000.
So if you think this strategy might be for you, here are five tips that will help you make Facebook ads work for your campaigns.
1. It’s about testing. Always run multiple ads targeting the same “Likes and Interests,” and keep your Likes and Interests the same while testing different ad copy, headlines, or images. What needs to remain the same as your control for a general test is your Likes and Interests keywords. You can test many controls, but the simplest is Likes and Interests. Facebook targets audiences off of two variables: Users and Likes and Interests: If you change these in two different ads, then you don’t have an apples-to-apples test.
2. Likes and Interests matter. Likes and Interests are essentially keywords you are targeting for your campaign based on what shows up for a user. You don’t want to use random Likes and Interests keywords. To make Likes and Interests work for you, it’s important to target based on what is associated with that individual in some way—associations they belong to, things they like, where they work, what they are fans of, or what they’ve written on their walls.
It’s is important not to get carried away and add a hundred Likes and Interests keywords just because it’s cool to see the numbers of possible audience continue to rise. It would seem that big numbers of audience is a good idea, but it’s actually counterintuitive. You want to choose highly targeted Likes and Interests keywords that are tightly associated with your ad copy. Don’t choose a keyword just because of its audience reach. You want to make sure it matches everything you know about the ad copy. Just because someone rides a motorcycle doesn’t mean he is interested in a Harley. One person might buy sports bikes, another might buy BMW motorcycles, while another might be really into Harleys. So it does no good to blast all of them with a message about Harley gear.
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October 21, 2011 | Categories: Blogged, Blogging, Facebook, Google, Mobile Marketing, SEO, Smartphones, SMS, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Tags: 2012 candidates, 2012 election, 2012 elections, advertising facebook, advertising on facebook, blog marketing, business marketing, election, election 2012, election date, election day, election news, election of 2012, election poll results, election polls, election results, elections results, email marketing, facbook ads, facebook ad, facebook advertisements, facebook advertising, facebook.com, faceboook.com, Google, government and politics, interactive marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing, internet marketing tools, Kansas City, KC, local election results, marketing, marketing advertising, marketing communications, marketing services, marketing strategies, marketing strategy, marketing tools, media marketing, news in politics, news on politics, news politics, online advertising, online marketing, political issues, political news, politics, politics news, presidential 2012 candidates, presidential candiate, presidential candidates, presidential candidates 2012, presidential elections, product marketing, public relations, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search engine optimization marketing, search engine ranking, search marketing, SEO, seo marketing, seo search engine optimization, social marketing, Social Media, social media and marketing, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing company, social media marketing firm, social media marketing services, Social networking, trends, Twitter, twitter marketing, viral marketing, web marketing, website advertising, what is politics, www.facebook.com | Leave A Comment »
Posted by: Eric Johnson
As the popularity of smart phones continues to rise, it was only a matter of time before the mobile screen began to catch up to the big screen in terms of usage. A new study conducted by a mobile analytics firm, Flurry, points out that approximately 50 percent of mobile consumers are utilizing mobile apps during TV’s prime time.
Flurry also reports that mobile applications currently reach more than 20 million U.S. consumers per hour and the number of active iOS and Android devices in the U.S. is estimated at 110 million. These numbers reflect a significant impact to prime time viewing habits.
Here is an article from Mediapost.com about how mobile app usage increases toward television prime time.
For TV broadcasters, prime time is 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. In radio, programming and advertising are all about morning “drive time.” On the Web, the popularity of social networks like Facebook, instant messaging like Skype and video-on-demand services like Hulu are pushing up usage in the evening.
So what time of day do mobile apps find their biggest audience? A new study by the mobile analytics firm Flurry shows the audience for iPhone and iOS apps rises steadily during the day and peaks at about 9 p.m. That’s when half the U.S. app audience is using apps. “Mobile consumers are using apps either instead of, or along-side prime-time television and the Internet,” stated a Flurry blog post on the study.
The finding contributes to a growing body of research suggesting that two-screen viewing is becoming increasingly common while people are watching TV. The relative size of the TV audience during prime time was larger than that for mobile apps, at more than 60%. But app usage remained higher than TV from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and higher than the Internet almost all day. The Internet’s reach peaked at 7 p.m., when 40% of the audience for that medium was on the Web.
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October 10, 2011 | Categories: Blogged, Blogging, Facebook, Google, Mobile Marketing, SEO, Smartphones, SMS, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Tags: 2011 television shows, 2011 tv shows, abc news, abc news tv, android, android apps, android developer, app developer, app development, app store, applications for mobile, apps mobile, best tv show, blog marketing, business marketing, channel tv, chrome apps, droid apps, email marketing, episodes, espn2, free android apps, free apps, free live tv, free mobile application, free mobile software, free shows, free to watch tv, Google, google apps, google maps for mobile, google mobile, google tv, hot tv, interactive marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing, internet marketing tools, internet on tv, ios, iPhone, Kansas City, KC, la tv stations, link tv, local news, marketing, marketing advertising, marketing communications, marketing research, marketing services, marketing strategies, marketing strategy, marketing tools, mobile app, mobile app software, mobile applications, mobile apps, mobile apps for windows mobile, mobile google, mobile me, mobile screen, mobile software, mobile users, moblie web, movies on tv, mtv music, music tv, nbc, net tv, network tv, new season, new shows, new tv series, new tv shows, on tv, on tv tonight, online advertising, online marketing, online watch tv, phone apps, portable apps, prime time, product marketing, public relations, reality tv series, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search engine optimization marketing, search engine ranking, search marketing, season premiere, see in tv, see on tv, SEO, seo marketing, seo search engine optimization, show tv, smart phones, Smartphones, social marketing, Social Media, social media and marketing, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing company, social media marketing firm, social media marketing services, Social networking, social networks, star news, television, television guide, television listing, television listings, television programming, television schedule, television series, television show, television shows, television shows 2011, television tonight, the television, the tv schedule, tonight on tv, top tv series, trends, tv, tv abc news, tv advertising, tv channel, tv channels, tv episodes, tv information, tv internet, tv land, tv listings tv, tv live, tv music, tv network, tv news, tv on time, tv one, tv program, tv programming, tv schedule, tv schedule tv schedule, tv series, tv series on tv, tv series online, tv show free, tv show online, tv shows, tv shows 2011, tv shows on tv, tv shows online, tv station, tv stations, tv streaming, tv to watch online, tv tonight, tv tube, tv watching, tvshows, Twitter, twitter marketing, viral marketing, watch episodes, watch internet on tv, watch tv, watch tv live, watch tv on, watch tv on the internet, watch videos online, watching tv, web marketing, web television, website advertising, what are mobile apps, what is a mobile app, what is on tv tonight, what on tv, what to watch on tv, whats on tv, windows mobile, windows mobile app, windows mobile application, windows mobile apps, youtube tv | Leave A Comment »
Posted by: Micah Pratt, social networking research & development
Over the years, Facebook has been known to make small changes to how users operate on the social networking site. With Google+ becoming a threatening competitor, Mark Zuckerberg made serious changes to Facebook. On September 22, Mark Zuckerberg explained exactly what the 800 million users could expect from the new and improved Facebook at its annual developer conference including:
•Timeline: a stream of information about you
•Facebook Gestures: turning any verb into a button, similar to the “like” button. Example: Reading a book.
•Open Graph: third-party companies can connect their apps and services to Facebook using a one-time permission from the user to share stuff on Facebook
•Subscribe: subscribing to strangers or celebrities to receive posts from them without being Facebook friends
•Ticker: a real-time list of what your friends are posting
•Media: watching TV and movies, listening to music and reading news all within Facebook
Watch the whole video here
September 29, 2011 | Categories: Blogged, Blogging, Facebook, Google, Mobile Marketing, SEO, Smartphones, SMS, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Tags: advertisements, analysis data, apple, applied research, ask, audience, audiences, best serch engines, bing, bing search engine, bing toolbar, blog marketing, branding, business marketing, changes to facebook profiles, content, content definition, content for website, content management, content management system, content management systems, content manager, content share, content sharing, content website, contents, decsion making, direct marketing, email marketing, f8, Facebook, facebook ad, facebook ads, facebook advertisements, facebook change, facebook changes, facebook fans, facebook likes, facebook links, facebook posts, facebook profile change, facebook users, facebook.com, facebookcom, faebook games, Google, google app engine, google applications, google apps, google apps android, google apps blog, google apps marketplace, google mobile applications, google search engine, how facebook is changing, how to develop a message, how to please consumers, image search engine, influencer, influencers, interactive marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing, internet marketing tools, Kansas City, KC, list of search engine, list of search engines, location based service, location-based marketing, location-based services, Mark Zuckerberg, market research, marketing, marketing advertising, marketing communications, marketing ideas, marketing message, marketing messages, marketing plan, marketing research, marketing research companies, marketing services, marketing strategies, marketing strategy, marketing tools, mashable.com, media content, media marketing, media plan, media plans, mobile, mobile marketing, mobile phone tracking, mobile tech, mobile technologies, mobile technology, new technology, on data mining, online advertising, online data, online data entry, online marketing, people search, people search engines, product marketing, public relations, research, research a company, research and development, research methodology, research methods, research sites, research topics, search engine, search engine linst, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search engine optimization marketing, search engine optimizer, search engine optimizing, search engine ranking, search engines, search engines list, search marketing, SEO, seo marketing, seo search engine optimization, share content, share content from, share this content, sharing content, site search engine, small business marketing, sms marketing, social data, social data network, social marketing, Social Media, social media and marketing, social media how to, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing company, social media marketing firm, social media marketing services, Social networking, technologies, technology, technology development, technology research, tip, tips, top apps, top search engine, top search engines, trends, Twitter, Twitter Apps, twitter marketing, video content, viral marketing, web content, web content management, web marketing, web search engine, web site content, website advertising, website content, website search engine, website search engines, what is a search engine, whats new to facebook | Leave A Comment »
Posted by: Micah Pratt, social networking research & development
Sharing and finding content over the Internet has become easier then ever, and now social media is changing the ways search engines track quality content. This article from Mashable.com takes a look at how social networks have impacted search engines.
How Social Media Affects Content Relevance in Search
Old school SEO pros cover your ears, or be prepared to adapt your craft: Search engines are changing, and social media is a huge part of that change.
Bing, Google, and an increasing swath of nimble little search engines like Blekko and DuckDuckGo are incorporating social data into their results. This is potentially great news for new businesses trying to achieve visibility in search. It’s less great news for sites that rely heavily on link buying (illegal, but hard to catch), producing huge volumes of borderline-useless content (long-tail, content farm approach), or just really old domains (previously an SEO trump card).
Both Bing and Google admitted in interviews that their search results are positively affected by social signals, such as tweets, Facebook Likes, and +1s.
“As ideas, thoughts, questions and answers are shared more freely and easily than ever, the increased amount of information from social sources provides great benefits to users,” says a Microsoft spokesperson for Bing (who asked to remain anonymous).
“The links that you build through social media, the references, the authority — all can have an impact in various ways on how you are ranked and listed even in ‘regular’ search results,” says Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land, in an email interview. “Social media allows for people to provide more trusted signals.”
Search Engines Adapt to SurviveSince the early Internet days of Excite and Webcrawler, the principal goal of search engines has been to help people find what they’re looking for. Google rose to dominate the industry by tracking better indicators of content quality than anyone else. It developed a complex algorithm that measured which websites were “voting” for others by linking to them.
Essentially, it was social media, but for websites rather than people. If your site had lots of links from relevant sites, your Google rank climbed. Plenty of other factors, like putting keywords into headlines and titles, remained in play (and continually evolved), but the game changer of the last decade was links.
The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) industry emerged to help webmasters play the “me rank higher” game with Google. On the one hand, website owners attempt to adhere to Google’s standards and prove they are high quality (creating relevant, high quality content and formatting it to Google’s taste). On the other hand, shadier sites try to trick Google’s secret formula, “pretending” to be good content without having to bother with creating useful stuff.
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September 14, 2011 | Categories: Blogged, Blogging, Facebook, Google, Mobile Marketing, SEO, Smartphones, SMS, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Tags: advertisements, analysis data, apple, applied research, ask, audience, audiences, best serch engines, bing, bing search engine, bing toolbar, blog marketing, branding, business marketing, content, content definition, content for website, content management, content management system, content management systems, content manager, content share, content sharing, content website, contents, decsion making, direct marketing, email marketing, Google, google app engine, google applications, google apps, google apps android, google apps blog, google apps marketplace, google mobile applications, google search engine, how to develop a message, how to please consumers, image search engine, influencer, influencers, interactive marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing, internet marketing tools, Kansas City, KC, list of search engine, list of search engines, location based service, location-based marketing, location-based services, market research, marketing, marketing advertising, marketing communications, marketing ideas, marketing message, marketing messages, marketing plan, marketing research, marketing research companies, marketing services, marketing strategies, marketing strategy, marketing tools, mashable.com, media content, media marketing, media plan, media plans, mobile, mobile marketing, mobile phone tracking, mobile tech, mobile technologies, mobile technology, new technology, on data mining, online advertising, online data, online data entry, online marketing, people search, people search engines, product marketing, public relations, research, research a company, research and development, research methodology, research methods, research sites, research topics, search engine, search engine linst, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search engine optimization marketing, search engine optimizer, search engine optimizing, search engine ranking, search engines, search engines list, search marketing, SEO, seo marketing, seo search engine optimization, share content, share content from, share this content, sharing content, site search engine, small business marketing, sms marketing, social data, social data network, social marketing, Social Media, social media and marketing, social media how to, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing company, social media marketing firm, social media marketing services, Social networking, technologies, technology, technology development, technology research, tip, tips, top apps, top search engine, top search engines, trends, Twitter, Twitter Apps, twitter marketing, video content, viral marketing, web content, web content management, web marketing, web search engine, web site content, website advertising, website content, website search engine, website search engines, what is a search engine | Leave A Comment »
Posted by: Micah Pratt, social networking research & development
Using location-based services to find the closest restaurant or to get directions is becoming the newest trend in mobile technology. Here is an article from The Washington Post on how Americans are using location-based services.
Over a quarter of American adults use mobile location-based services
Not many people are “checking in” using services such as Foursquare and Gowalla, but over a quarter of Americans are checking out their surroundings using location-based services.
The latest research from Pew’s Internet and American Life Project found that 28 percent of American adults have used mobile or social location-based services to get recommendations such as the best-rated nearby cafe or directions from their current location.
Only about 5 percent of those surveyed used services that post their current locations, though smartphone users were more than twice as likely to signal their location to their friends. In a similar vein, about 9 percent of all users used the location-tagging options on social media.
As once might expect, younger smartphone users are more likely overall to use check-in services, but there was no clear divide on age when it came to hitching a location-tag to a Facebook or Twitter message.
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September 9, 2011 | Categories: Blogged, Blogging, Facebook, Google, Mobile Marketing, SEO, Smartphones, SMS, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Tags: 2011 smartphones, advertisements, analysis data, android app, android apps, android google apps, app market, app store, app stores, apple, apple iphone, apple store, apple technology, applied research, apps, apps for android, apps store, audience, audiences, badges foursquare, best apps, best iphone, best smart phone, best smartphone 2011, best smartphones, best smartphones 2011, blog marketing, branding, business apps, business marketing, check-in, checking-in, chrome apps, consumer, creating an ap, decsion making, direct marketing, download mobile application, email marketing, feature phones, foursquare, foursquare api, foursquare badges, foursquare check-in, foursquare checkin, free android apps, free apps, free mobile application, free mobile application download, free mobile applications, Google, google app engine, google applications, google apps, google apps android, google apps blog, google apps marketplace, google mobile applications, gps locator, how to develop a message, how to please consumers, influencer, influencers, interactive marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing, internet marketing tools, iphone 4, iphone 5, iphones, itouch apps, Kansas City, KC, location based service, location-based marketing, location-based services, making an app, market research, marketing, marketing advertising, marketing communications, marketing ideas, marketing message, marketing messages, marketing plan, marketing research, marketing research companies, marketing services, marketing strategies, marketing strategy, marketing tools, mashable.com, media marketing, media plan, media plans, mobile, mobile application, mobile application developer, mobile application developers, mobile application development, mobile application free download, mobile application software, mobile applications, mobile applications download, mobile applications downloads, mobile market, mobile marketing, mobile phone applications, mobile phone tracking, mobile tech, mobile technologies, mobile technology, new iphone, new technology, on data mining, online advertising, online data, online data entry, online marketing, phone apps, product marketing, product reviews, public relations, purchase decision, purchase process, purchasing decisions, research, research a company, research and development, research methodology, research methods, research sites, research topics, sample size, sample sizes, samsung smartphones, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search engine optimization marketing, search engine ranking, search marketing, SEO, seo marketing, seo search engine optimization, small business marketing, smart phones, smarthpone apps, smartphone, smartphone applications, smartphone reviews, Smartphones, smartphones reviews, sms marketing, social data, social data network, social marketing, Social Media, social media and marketing, social media how to, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing company, social media marketing firm, social media marketing services, Social networking, technologies, technology, technology development, technology research, the app store, the best smartphone, the washington post, tip, tips, top apps, trends, Twitter, Twitter Apps, twitter marketing, viral marketing, Washington Post, washington post news, web ap, web apps, web marketing, website advertising, what is a smartphone, what is foursquare, what is research, windows mobile applications, www.washingtonpost.com | Leave A Comment »
Posted by: Micah Pratt, social networking research & development
According to a recent story on CNN.com, smartphones still do not make up the majority of the U.S. market. However, we cannot ignore the value, power and influence of these mobile devices that are about to change the way we conduct business, review products, make buying decisions, and most importantly, interact with our friends.
Why smartphones still haven’t taken over the U.S. market
Smartphones may attract nearly all of the marketing hype and news coverage, but comScore’s latest statistics show that smartphones still comprise only a minority of the U.S. mobile market — about 35%, as of July 2011.
The other 65% of U.S. mobile handsets in use are “feature phones” — which tend to be much less expensive to buy and own. Often, these phones do not require a pricey two-year wireless service contract with hefty early termination fees.
Even though smartphones cost much more, these devices have been getting popular with U.S. consumers, even in light of the country’s economic recession. After all, a 35% market share is nothing to sneeze at — especially considering that smartphones have only been widely available in the U.S. for about five years.
At some point, a majority of U.S. mobile users will indeed own smartphones. But that shift won’t happen as quickly as early forecasts anticipated.
Back in March 2010, the Nielsen Company proclaimed that smartphones would overtake feature phones by 2011. Specifically, they predicted that by the end of Q3 2011 (about a month from now), most U.S. mobile users would own smartphones.
That ambitious prediction doesn’t seem to be panning out.
For over a year, comScore has been publishing monthly mobile-market-share statistics that show the percentage of U.S. smartphones. I’ve been tracking these figures. Based on this data, it looks like it’ll be roughly October 2012 before smartphones actually take over as a majority of U.S. handsets.
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September 2, 2011 | Categories: Blogged, Blogging, Facebook, Google, Mobile Marketing, SEO, Smartphones, SMS, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Tags: 2011 smartphones, advertisements, analysis data, android app, android apps, android google apps, app market, app store, app stores, apple, apple iphone, apple store, apple technology, applied research, apps, apps for android, apps store, audience, audiences, best apps, best iphone, best smart phone, best smartphone 2011, best smartphones, best smartphones 2011, blog marketing, branding, business apps, business marketing, chrome apps, cnn, cnn breaking news, cnn news, cnn.com, consumer, creating an ap, cydia apps, decsion making, direct marketing, download mobile application, email marketing, feature phones, free android apps, free apps, free mobile application, free mobile application download, free mobile applications, Google, google app engine, google applications, google apps, google apps android, google apps blog, google apps marketplace, google mobile applications, how to develop a message, how to please consumers, influencer, influencers, interactive marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing, internet marketing tools, iphone 4, iphone 5, iphones, itouch apps, Kansas City, KC, making an app, market research, marketing, marketing advertising, marketing communications, marketing ideas, marketing message, marketing messages, marketing plan, marketing research, marketing research companies, marketing services, marketing strategies, marketing strategy, marketing tools, mashable.com, media marketing, media plan, media plans, mobile, mobile application, mobile application developer, mobile application developers, mobile application development, mobile application free download, mobile application software, mobile applications, mobile applications download, mobile applications downloads, mobile market, mobile marketing, mobile phone applications, mobile tech, mobile technologies, mobile technology, new iphone, new technology, news cnn, on data mining, online advertising, online data, online data entry, online marketing, phone apps, product marketing, product reviews, public relations, purchase decision, purchase process, purchasing decisions, research, research a company, research and development, research methodology, research methods, research sites, research topics, sample size, sample sizes, samsung smartphones, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search engine optimization marketing, search engine ranking, search marketing, SEO, seo marketing, seo search engine optimization, small business marketing, smart phones, smarthpone apps, smartphone, smartphone applications, smartphone reviews, Smartphones, smartphones reviews, sms marketing, social data, social data network, social marketing, Social Media, social media and marketing, social media how to, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing company, social media marketing firm, social media marketing services, Social networking, technologies, technology, technology development, technology research, the app store, the best smartphone, tip, tips, top apps, trends, Twitter, Twitter Apps, twitter marketing, viral marketing, web ap, web apps, web marketing, website advertising, what is a smartphone, what is research, windows mobile applications | Leave A Comment »
Posted by Micah Pratt: social networking research and development
The convergence of social media with mobile applications has led to cross promotional marketing, and if done correctly, can lead to major success. Here is an article by Krishna Subramanian from Mashable.com about eight ways to make sure your mobile application gets noticed.
8 Best Practices for Deploying a Top-Ranked Mobile App
Developing a mobile app is the easy part. Getting that app noticed is difficult. And getting the app to go viral is like winning the lottery. Yet many developers get millions of downloads time after time. How?
It’s all about app store SEO, and some developers have mastered it. Here are a few tips and tricks of the trade to help get your app to the top of heap.
Time Is of The Essence
The first two weeks of an app’s life are critical and will likely determine its future visibility in the app store. Top applications develop popularity within two weeks of release, and most applications have a tendency to drop in chart position over time. Remember, whatever you do — marketing campaigns, cross distribution and so on — the quicker you do it, the bigger the impact.
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August 24, 2011 | Categories: Blogged, Blogging, Facebook, Google, Mobile Marketing, SEO, Smartphones, SMS, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Tags: 2011 smartphones, advertisements, analysis data, android app, android apps, android google apps, app market, app store, app stores, applied research, apps, apps for android, apps store, audience, audiences, best apps, best smart phone, best smartphone 2011, best smartphones, best smartphones 2011, blog marketing, branding, business apps, business marketing, chrome apps, consumer, creating an ap, cydia apps, decsion making, direct marketing, download mobile application, email marketing, free android apps, free apps, free mobile application, free mobile application download, free mobile applications, Google, google app engine, google applications, google apps, google apps android, google apps blog, google apps marketplace, google mobile applications, how to develop a message, how to please consumers, influencer, influencers, interactive marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing, internet marketing tools, itouch apps, Kansas City, KC, making an app, market research, marketing, marketing advertising, marketing communications, marketing ideas, marketing message, marketing messages, marketing plan, marketing research, marketing research companies, marketing services, marketing strategies, marketing strategy, marketing tools, mashable, mashable news, mashable.com, media marketing, media plan, media plans, mobile application, mobile application developer, mobile application developers, mobile application development, mobile application free download, mobile application software, mobile applications, mobile applications download, mobile applications downloads, mobile marketing, mobile phone applications, mobile tech, mobile technologies, mobile technology, new technology, on data mining, online advertising, online data, online data entry, online marketing, phone apps, product marketing, product reviews, public relations, purchase decision, purchase process, purchasing decisions, research, research a company, research and development, research methodology, research methods, research sites, research topics, sample size, sample sizes, samsung smartphones, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search engine optimization marketing, search engine ranking, search marketing, SEO, seo marketing, seo search engine optimization, small business marketing, smart phones, smarthpone apps, smartphone, smartphone applications, smartphone reviews, Smartphones, smartphones reviews, sms marketing, social data, social data network, social marketing, Social Media, social media and marketing, social media how to, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing company, social media marketing firm, social media marketing services, Social networking, technologies, technology, technology development, technology research, the app store, the best smartphone, tip, tips, top apps, trends, Twitter, Twitter Apps, twitter marketing, viral marketing, web ap, web apps, web marketing, website advertising, what is a smartphone, what is research, windows mobile applications | Leave A Comment »
Veterans Funeral Care tripled its Facebook “Likes,” organic SEO, engagement and exposure via Jennings Social Media Marketing during a promotional campaign (www.jenningssocialmedia.com).
Jim Rudolph, president and CEO of Veterans Funeral Care, said they hired Jennings Social Media Marketing for social media promotion of their company and for a specific event. “It should be said: I waited until the last minute. Team Jennings jumped in and in 24-hours was working magic. We had around 200 people who ‘liked’ us on Facebook in two weeks and there were more than 800 ‘likes’ shortly after that. Valerie (CEO & founder) got our Marketwire press release on MSNBC. You can put me down in the ‘very happy’ category. This is my second project with them, and I’m a believer,” said Rudolph.
The goal of the Veterans Funeral Care social media project was to create brand awareness by getting new Facebook users to “Like” the page (http://www.facebook.com/Veteransfuneralcare), generate search engine optimization (SEO) and engagement. A targeted Facebook ad ran, focusing on veterans, veterans groups and Flag Day which resulted in the Veterans Funeral Care page tripling its Facebook “Likes” in a few weeks to 815. For organic SEO, a targeted Marketwire press release was written and distributed to generate traffic, millions of impressions and get picked-up by major news websites including, but not limited to, MSNBC, Reuters and Yahoo. The Twitter strategy focused on re-tweeting, sending @mentions, tweets and following veterans’ organizations.
Jennings Social Media Marketing is a full service company that utilizes the art of online storytelling with the science of measuring quantifiable results. Jennings creates comprehensive social media marketing and Web advertising strategies from website design and development to viral videos. The company represents publicly traded to medium-sized businesses across the U.S. and overseas including technology, sports, sustainability, entertainment, travel, financial, health care and real estate (www.jenningssocialmedia.com).
August 18, 2011 | Categories: Blogged, Blogging, Facebook, Google, Mobile Marketing, SEO, Smartphones, SMS, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Tags: blog marketing, bloomberg businessweek, brand awareness, branded awareness, branding awareness, business marketing, businessweek, businessweek.com, capabilities, company policies, compnay policy, employers, facebook like, facebook likes, facebook policies, facebook policy, Google, increase facebook likes, interactive marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing, internet marketing tools, Jim Rudolph, Kansas City, kansas city business, KC, marketing, marketing advertising, marketing communications, marketing research, marketing services, marketing strategies, marketing tools, media marketing, online advertising, online brand awareness, online marketing, product marketing, promo campaign, promotion campaign, promotion campaigns, promotional campaign, promotional campaigns, public relations, reuters, reuters.com, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search engine optimization marketing, search engine ranking, search marketing, SEO, seo marketing, seo search engine optimization, social marketing, Social Media, social media and marketing, social media business, social media for business, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing company, social media marketing firm, social media marketing services, social media policies, social media policy, social media promotion, social media work, Social networking, social policies, social work media, thinking bigger business media, Twitter, twitter marketing, twitter policies, twitter policy, Valerie Jennings, veteran, veterans, Veterans Funeral Care, viral marketing, web marketing, website advertising, work in media, work in social media, work in the media, working for you, working in media, working in social media, works in the media, www.yahoo.com, yahoo, yahoo finance, yahoo news, yahoo!finance, yahoo.com | Leave A Comment »
Posted by: Micah Pratt, social networking research & development
Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing, was recently interviewed on how to handle employees’ social media activity. The emergence of social media has given many employees the same capabilities and tools as their employers which can be both beneficial and risky. Business leaders are wondering how to control the social media activities of its employers and to what extent. Here is an article from www.ithinkbigger.com, by David Conrads, on how to handle social media in conjunction with employees.
Social Media: Handle With Care
Do you need a policy to guide employees’ online activities?
While the benefits of social media are great, there also are risks—particularly as employees have access to the same tools and audience as the company.
As with so many things having to do with technology, social media is evolving so fast that businesses are scrambling to not only grasp its full potential, but also understand the risks and to come up with a consensus on best practices for its use.
The casual way in which many employees share their personal lives online can give a business owner nightmares. After all, TMI—“Too Much Information”—is one thing when it comes to an employee’s social life, it’s quite another when it involves company business. Leaders can’t afford to ignore the potential problems.
More Questions Than Answers
What are appropriate guidelines for what company information employees can share online? What liability is the company exposed to from employee posts that flow through the company’s server? How does a company protect its reputation from offensive postings by an employee on a personal account? Even large corporations are just now exploring answers to these questions.
“It’s an ongoing management problem,” said Valerie Jennings, CEO and founder of Jennings Social Media Marketing in Kansas City. “Social media has really cost a lot of organizations time, energy and money on so many different levels. It’s a blessing to have these resources, but the risks have to be managed or they can really hurt the brand.”
READ MORE
August 11, 2011 | Categories: Blogged, Blogging, Facebook, Google, Mobile Marketing, SEO, Smartphones, SMS, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Tags: blog marketing, business marketing, capabilities, company policies, compnay policy, David Conrads, definition of policy, email marketing, employee capabilities, employee handbook, employee policies, employee policy, employers, employers insurance, employment agencies, employment agency, employment guide, employment policy, employment search, employment security, employment services, employment sites, facebook policies, facebook policy, find employment, Google, interactive marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing, internet marketing tools, interviews, ithinkbigger.com, Kansas City, kansas city business, KC, marketing, marketing advertising, marketing communications, marketing research, marketing services, marketing strategies, marketing tools, media marketing, now hiring, online advertising, online marketing, policies, policies and procedures, policy, policy definition, procedure, procedures, product marketing, public relations, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search engine optimization marketing, search engine ranking, search marketing, SEO, seo marketing, seo search engine optimization, social marketing, Social Media, social media and marketing, social media business, social media for business, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing company, social media marketing firm, social media marketing services, social media policies, social media policy, social media work, Social networking, social policies, social work media, term policy, thinkbigger.com, thinking bigger business media, Twitter, twitter marketing, twitter policies, twitter policy, Valerie Jennings, viral marketing, web marketing, website advertising, what is policy, work in media, work in social media, work in the media, working for you, working in media, working in social media, works in the media | Leave A Comment »
Posted by: Micah Pratt, social networking research & development
Today, more and more marketers are turning to online marketing programs because of the noticeable role that peers play in consumers’ purchasing desicions. What many of these interactive marketers are failing to realize is the volume of social data created by the influence of peers in purchase decisions. Here is an article by Nate Elliott, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, about how to effective utilize social data.
HOW TO: Utilize Social Data More Effectively
Last year, American consumers posted more than a billion opinions about products and services online, according to data collected by my company. With peer influence playing such a prominent role in consumers’ purchase decisions, it’s no surprise many interactive marketers are tapping into that influence via viral marketing programs and influencer outreach.
However, the vast majority of marketers ignore the staggering volume of social data all this influence creates. And those who do study social data typically use it for the wrong reason: to measure the brand impact of their marketing campaigns.
Social Data Is Often Based On Small Sample Sizes
With so many opinions posted online, you might assume it would be easy to find a reliable sample of data to analyze for brand impact. But even popular consumer brands often find it difficult to collect usable social data.
For instance, I recently reviewed a listening report for a global sporting goods brand — one that sponsors leading teams and athletes around the world and has strong brand awareness. I was surprised to see that the brand was mentioned in social media only a few hundred times each week in the U.S., and less than 100 times each week in other key markets around the world.
To make matters worse, the low quality of many social sentiment analysis tools reduces sample sizes further. When listening tools can’t decide whether comments are positive or negative, they’re usually labeled as having “no sentiment.” Three-quarters of the mentions for this brand were tagged as such, leaving less than two-dozen weekly usable posts in some markets.
If you asked your market insights team or your survey provider to analyze 25 consumer survey responses, they’d tell you it’s impossible to find statistical significance in such a small sample. The same standards must be applied to social data as well.
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August 4, 2011 | Categories: Blogged, Blogging, Facebook, Google, Mobile Marketing, SEO, Smartphones, SMS, Social Media Marketing, Twitter | Tags: advertisements, analysis data, applied research, audience, audiences, blog marketing, branding, business marketing, buy decsion, consumer, consumer behaviour, consumer reports review, consumer reports reviews, consumer research, consumer review, consumer reviews, consumers, creators, data mining, data mining is, decsion making, direct marketing, email marketing, Forrester Research, Google, how to develop a message, how to please consumers, influencer, influencers, interactive marketing, internet advertising, internet marketing, internet marketing tools, Kansas City, KC, market research, marketing, marketing advertising, marketing communications, marketing ideas, marketing message, marketing messages, marketing plan, marketing research, marketing research companies, marketing services, marketing strategies, marketing strategy, marketing tools, mashable, mashable.com, media marketing, media plan, media plans, mining data, mobile marketing, on data mining, online advertising, online data, online data entry, online marketing, product marketing, product reviews, public relations, purchase decision, purchase process, purchasing decisions, research, research a company, research and development, research methodology, research methods, research sites, research topics, sample size, sample sizes, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search engine optimization marketing, search engine ranking, search marketing, SEO, seo marketing, seo search engine optimization, small business marketing, sms marketing, social data, social data network, social marketing, Social Media, social media and marketing, social media how to, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing company, social media marketing firm, social media marketing services, Social networking, technology research, trends, Twitter, twitter marketing, viral marketing, web marketing, website advertising, what is research | Leave A Comment »
Posted by Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing
A new study indicates there’s a dramatic shift to “smartphone culture,” where people are using social networks and downloading media such as games on their phones, according to Magid Media Futures: Mobile 2011. Among the findings, smartphone users spend more on virtual goods in games than social networking users do.
Here is the article which highlights the key findings from the study. It seems like we all need to understand the changes that smartphones are bringing with them. I will share more on this topic as articles circulate online. Please let me know if you see anything that we should share: valerie @ jenningssocialmedia.com.
Read the Article
Smartphone ownership grew 35 percent from 2010 and the installed base is expected to reach half of the U.S. population in a few years.
About 45 percent of smartphone users play games on their phones. Smartphone owners are three to five times more likely to play games, use social networks, and access the internet from their phones, in comparison to traditional feature phone owners.
Magid found that among those who play games on their phones, the majority use the phone as their primary gaming device. Of those who do not play smartphone games, 55 percent said they may start playing in the next 12 months. One third of smartphone gamers who have not spent money on smartphone games say they may start in the next 12 months.
In 2010, only 10 percent of respondents said they were interested in buying in-game virtual goods on smartphones. This year, the number is 46 percent. Smartphone users spend more money on games and they spend more money, in comparison to social networking games. About 13 percent of smartphone gamers have bought virtual goods on their phones, spending an average of $67 last year. By comparison, social networking users spend $25 a year. About 8 out of 10 social network gamers have not spent any money over the past year in social games.
The survey was conducted online and included 2,482 people, of whom 2,051 were between the ages of 18 and 64. Data were collected from April 15 to April 20.
See charts from the study
July 19, 2011 | Categories: Blogged, Facebook, Mobile Marketing, Smartphones, SMS | Tags: advertising, ceo, dramatic shift, feature phone, find PR firms in kansas city, gamers, gaming, gaming device, internet marketing tools, jennings, Kansas City, Key Findings, marketing, media consumption, media futures, mobile gaming, mobile marketing, networking games, networking users, online gaming, research, respondents, ROI, SEO, smartphone games, Smartphones, SMS, social games, social media and marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social networking, texting, using social networks, Valerie Jennings | Leave A Comment »
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