By Justin McLaughlin, Intern at JSMM
Image from www.fastcompany.com
According to TechCrunch, Livestar’s three-person engineering team will join Pinterest while the app’s former services will cease immediately. Formerly utilized in a similar fashion to a search engine, Livestar provided users with expert recommendations and friend reviews for local amenities. Their engineering team was considered a good fit for Pinterest with their experience in social sharing, mobile apps and information discovery. The article does not suggest how Pinterest intends to use the Livestar team or whether any of the app’s features will be integrated to Pinterest.
What’s the next development that you’d like to see on Pinterest’s evolving platform? Let us know in the comments!
March 28, 2013 | Categories: Pinterest | Tags: Livestar, mobile, Pinterest, recommendations, Social Media, Social Sharing | Leave A Comment »
Posted by: Megan Spreer, social media marketing manager at JSMM
Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing, addressed participants of the Kansas Agriculture and Leadership program this Tuesday during the KARL Graduate Program Winter Summit in Manhattan, Kan. Jennings spoke about the importance of social media, message boards and blogs to the Smartphone society, a society that is quickly including farm and agriculture leaders.
Her presentation covered numerous important key points such as:
- Stats about mobile usage: 91% of mobile Internet usage is to socialize
- Who uses this technology: The average American spends 2.7 hours a day socializes on their mobile device
- How to use it for their best results: The best mobile apps for the Agriculture industry
- Case studies: A farmer tweeted a photo of dying soy beans and soon has a response from a plant pathologist
- Why it’s important to them: Farmers and ranchers can connect to the community
Download a copy of the presentation now.
February 23, 2012 | Categories: Valerie Jennings | Tags: agriculture, blogs, Facebook, farmers, JSMM, KARL Graduate Program, mobile, mobile devices, mobile marketing, Social Media, Twitter | Leave A Comment »
By Sarah Newman, client services manager
Little black boxes seem to be appearing everywhere. These black boxes are popping up at your grocery stores, restaurants and even in your mail. The boxes are referred to as QR codes. QR codes are the newest tool that is assisting marketing companies in reaching smartphone users.
QR codes contain advertisements and even videos for people to view on their smartphone. In order to access this media, smartphone users need only download the QR code application to their phone. Due to the ease of access, the QR codes have gained popularity. In fact, according to the social media source, Mashable, “Fifty percent of smartphone users use QR codes on a regular basis.”
Additionally, QR codes are helping businesses create new marketing plans for their clients. Let me provide a personal example, while sitting at a neighborhood restaurant with a girlfriend, I noticed a QR code on an advertisement at the far end of the table. We scanned the QR code with our smartphones while we waited and the QR code showed a video about the desserts the restaurant provided. Viewing the advertisement helped our time pass by more quickly and also aided in turning our conversation towards the restaurant.
At the end of the video, it gave us the option to share the advertisement on our Facebook or Twitter. How convenient is that? The ability to share this video in any social media forum will help increase the restaurants online visibility. This is also a great idea for restaurants or even waiting rooms to use for the sake of parents with children. If the children were able to watch videos while they wait, they would be distracted, making both the parents and the children happy.
Here at Jennings Social Media Marketing we recently used QR codes for a race sponsored by Frank Ancona Honda. The Frank Ancona Honda cars all had QR codes on them and the runners that took part in the race received a goody bag that had the QR codes on them as well. This allowed Frank Ancona Honda to continue to market to the runners after the event was over. Jason Heard, sales manager at Frank Ancona Honda, added that the mobile initiative is a step towards engaging their customers via social media channels and into mobile. “We are excited to be the first of Jennings’ clients to incorporate SMS and QR codes into our social media marketing. Valerie has been a key advisor throughout the social media integration at Frank Ancona Honda, and we know this will be the right move for our dealership,” said Heard. We were just as excited to help Jason have a great race and continue to market his brand.
It’s exciting to see where QR codes will lead to in the future. They serve as useful tools for planning marketing campaigns with all of our clients!
November 14, 2011 | Categories: Facebook, QR Codes, Social Media Marketing | Tags: advertisements, frank ancona honda, jason heard, Jennings Social Media Marketing, marketing plans, mobile, Smartphones, Valerie Jennings | Leave A Comment »
Posted by: Micah Pratt, director of social networking r&d
Thank you to Chantal Tode at Mobile Commerce Daily for interviewing Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing, and Jason Heard, Sales Manager at Frank Ancona Honda, about the launch of Frank Ancona Honda’s QR code and SMS campaign.
Car dealership boosts social media engagement with mobile bar codes, SMS
Car dealership Frank Ancona Honda is adding SMS and QR codes to its social media efforts to enhance customer engagement.
Frank Ancona Honda currently has a mobile site and is active in social media. It will expand these efforts going forward with QR codes and SMS as the traffic to its sites via mobile continues to grow.
“We need to expand into mobile to support our growing customer demand on smartphones,” said Jason Heard, sales manager of Frank Ancona Honda, Olathe, KS.
“We are utilizing mobile sites right now and this is the next step to not only expanding our mobile presence, but also adding more engaging to our social media practices,” he said.
Marketing Insight
Jennings Social Media Marketing is managing the dealership’s mobile marketing rollout.
Jennings Social Media Marketing has been working with Frank Ancona Honda for almost a year managing its social media.
The dealership is also working with KickANotch for mobile tracking.
QR codes and SMS will help Frank Ancona Honda engage with its customers via social media channels and mobile as part of its ongoing marketing activities around local events.
Mobile will also help the dealership track the effectiveness of its marketing.
“We are currently sponsoring several events in the local market and the QR codes will help us understand the impact of having our cars on display at these events,” Mr. Heard said.
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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 »
Valerie Jennings 
Cassie Stubs
Katie Stumpf
