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Social media exploding across TV screens, huge revenue potential

Monday, April 16th, 2012

TVSocial media is showing signs of connecting with TV viewers as nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of U.S. consumers surveyed recall seeing social media symbols such as Facebook “Likes” while watching television, according to an Accenture (NYSE: ACN) study.

Moreover, one in three viewers (33 percent) have interacted with social media after seeing a social media symbol on their TV screen.

“Social media and social networking are exploding across television screens as networks use social media to enable audiences to interact directly with related content for a richer viewing experience”

Accenture conducted this survey of U.S. television viewers to better understand the public’s perception of social media symbols that appear during programming and how effective they are.

Huge revenue growth potential

The survey found that among the 1,000 viewers surveyed, the majority said they had noticed and were also familiar with how to interact with social media symbols while watching TV, including the Facebook “Like” symbol (42 percent), QR codes (28 percent), Twitter Hashtags (18 percent) and Shazam symbols (9 percent).

One-third (33 percent) of those surveyed said they had actually interacted with the symbols while watching TV by “liking” the TV program on Facebook (20 percent), scanning a QR code (11 percent), searching for the Hashtag on Twitter (7 percent) or scanning the Shazam symbol (5 percent).

“Social media and social networking are exploding across television screens as networks use social media to enable audiences to interact directly with related content for a richer viewing experience,” said Robin Murdoch, Accenture’s global Internet segment managing director.

“This has huge revenue growth potential as social media applications build program viewer loyalty and drive online advertising opportunities.”

Reasons for using Social Media

Obtaining more information about a show, product or service was the greatest motivator for interacting with a social media symbol while watching TV; cited by 43 percent of the participants who have done so. Other motivations included:

  • getting coupons and promotional codes (32 percent);
  • entering a contest/sweepstakes (31 percent);
  • watching another video (26 percent);
  • interacting about the show or product on social media (26 percent);
  • connecting with others with similar interests (21 percent);
  • sharing or recommending video/program to others (20 percent); and,
  • making a purchase (16 percent).

Demographics play a role

The majority of participants between the ages of 18 and 24 (63 percent) said they have interacted with social media symbols while watching TV.

For older age groups, the numbers dropped to 46 percent among 25-34 year olds, 44 percent among 35-44 year olds, 19 percent among 45-54 year olds, 24 percent among 55-64 year olds and 11 percent of those 65 or older.

Men & women both want more show info

Both men and women participants who interacted with social media sites were most interested in getting more information about the show (39 percent and 48 percent, respectively).

Women were also motivated by getting coupons or promotional codes (40 percent) and registering or signing up for something (34 percent).

Males were more interested in interacting with social media to watch another video (35 percent) or entering a contest or sweepstakes (34 percent).

Expectations met

Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of those who received content via social media symbols while watching TV said it just “met expectations,” compared with 10 percent who said the content “did not meet expectations” and 15 percent who said it “exceeded expectations.”

The survey also showed that the greatest barrier to adoption is lack of interest among consumers in the content available through social media interactions.

When participants were asked why they had not interacted with social media while watching TV, 60 percent said they did not think they would be interested in the content they would receive.

Fewer participants said they were not sure how to interact with social media symbols (23 percent); had not downloaded the necessary application for scanning social media symbols on their mobile devices (15 percent); or, did not have time to scan a social media symbol because it was not displayed long enough on the TV program (11 percent).

The survey pointed to dramas and comedies as the top genres where consumers would like additional information and interactivity. Asked what type of show they would be interested in interacting with, 35 percent of participants said dramas and comedies, compared to news programming (31 percent), sporting events (29 percent), reality shows (23 percent), lifestyle/cooking/home shows (20 percent), game shows (19 percent), talk shows (16 percent) and live non-sports events (15 percent).

“The challenge to providers unlocking this enormous growth is convincing viewers that interacting with TV programming is valuable to them,” said Murdoch.

“You do that by offering compelling content that enhances the viewing experience coupled with things that extend the value into other areas of their lives. In parallel, you might make social media easier for viewers to use by integrating these capabilities into your existing distribution infrastructure.”

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Posted in Facebook, Internet/New Media, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech life/Culture, Twitter, video | Comments Off

C-suite cares about brand & social media, ranks Facebook highest

Thursday, April 12th, 2012

social mediaMatter Communications conducted a survey of marketing decision-makers regarding their organization’s attitudes and practices in social media. Not surprisingly, nearly all of those surveyed are aware of the importance of branding in social channels.

More interesting, 65% of those say that their C-suite is also interested in how their brand is perceived in social channels.

Most (71%) marketers believe they are doing a good job in reporting the brand’s perception in social media, and say they measure it primarily by level of engagement (56%), although many (31%) rely on pure quantitative measures, such as number of fans or followers, while 11% measure on gut feel.

No one lesson in dynamically changing social media space

Patty Barry, principal at Matter Communications notes, “Social media isn’t static, and there’s no one lesson from this data – in fact, it could change by next month – but it’s an interesting pulse-check on where marketing executives see social media playing in their corporate branding strategy.

The fact that the C-suite at more than half of these sample companies is interested in the brand and social media is a mandate to all marketers to get even better at planning, engaging and measuring sentiment over time in these networks.

One-off efforts and gut-feel measurement won’t satisfy the need for finding a genuine and engaging brand voice that ignites increased loyalty, interest and trust among a company’s stakeholders.”

Facebook ranked highest

For the companies surveyed, Facebook ranked highest (84%) in perceived value to the brand, with YouTube (45%), LinkedIn (41%) and Twitter (38%) following closest behind. Personally, we think they should be paying attention to Google Plus. If our experience is any guide, it is gaining traction daily.

At the same time, a paper released at the 2012 International Public Relations Conference on Millenials’ interaction with fan pages on Facebook, shows that this group; comprised of intensive users of social media platforms, have an arms-length relationship with Facebook fan pages.

That divergence in output versus consumption by this highly sought after group of consumers will no doubt impact the ongoing evolution of companies’ presence in social networks.

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Posted in Facebook, Google, Internet/New Media, LinkedIn, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Twitter | Comments Off

Average Americans like Google, Apple; Facebook, Twitter, not so much

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

GoogleGoogle and Apple Inc. have remarkable favorability ratings among average Americans, but both Facebook, and particularly Twitter rate far lower, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll.

The poll shows that a whopping 82 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Google with 53 percent “strongly” favorable views toward the search engine giant.

Apple too fared extremely well, trailing Google by only 8 percent in overall favorable opinions and by 16 in strongly favorable ratings.

Both Google and Apple fared well across broad demographic groups, but do particularly well somng the young, the educated and the affluent.

Both brands saw their favorability peak among households with incomes of $100K or more.

FacebookMore than half – 58 percent – of those polled view Facebook favorably, but more than a quarter – 28 percent – view it unfavorably. It popularity peaks among young adults at 76 percent, but drops sharply among seniors, with only 34 percent viewing it favorably.

More women (63 percent) than men (53 percent) view Facebook in a good light. Twitter shows a similar gap – it’s 11 points more favorable among women (39) percent than men (28 percent), though its rated lower among both sexes than the other services.

Twitter bird

Just call me Larry.

Twitter, though, rated only a 34 percent favorable rating – exceeded by its 36 percent expressed a negative view of the service and 31 percent answered “don’t know.”

 

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Posted in Apple, Facebook, Google, Internet/New Media, IT, Studies, surveys, reports, Twitter | Comments Off

Social marketers now need to add Pinterest to their arsenal

Monday, April 9th, 2012

Brands are already asking their marketers for expertise in Pinterest, which a recent report notes is now the third most popular social network.

Lori Gilson, president of Utah-based PRMarketing.com, said many of the agency’s social media marketing clients are now requesting Pinterestaccounts along with the popular Facebook and Twitter pages.

“Our clients are always looking for the new, up-and-coming social media websites. When they see how popular Pinterest has become in the past few months, naturally they want to know what marketing opportunities are available to them,” Gilson said.

Quote startOur clients are always looking for the new, up-and-coming social media websites. When they see how popular Pinterest has become in the past few months, naturally they want to know what marketing opportunities are available to them.Quote end

Looking to enhance their online public relationscampaigns, companies scrambled to Pinterest last year as monthly traffic to the website shot up from 418,000 to 11.7 million unique visitors, according to a report from comScore.

This has led to more marketing job postings with Pinterest experience preferred. A report by Wanted Technologies shows that since August there have been 59 new employment ads for candidates who have experience using Pinterest for marketing.

A search for Pinterest on Monster.com showed several companies looking for experts all over the country. Job titles include social media marketing specialist, social media manager, senior director of product management, sales and marketing associate and brand manager.

Pinterest is described as a virtual pinboard that lets users organize and share content they find on the Web. Well known for its strong female base, Pinterest helps users plan weddings, decorate their homes, share recipes and expand their wardrobe. With nearly 30 percent of users reporting an annual household income of more than $100,000, marketers have quickly noticed this prime demographic.

Nordstrom, Whole Foods, West Elm and ModCloth all have Pinterest accounts with more than 9,000 followers. Southwest Airlines, Zales and even President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign have started Pinterest accounts recently.

First-mover advantages

“It’s important to take advantage of Pinterest’s first-mover advantages,” said Alyssa Vincent, a social media consultant at PRMarketing.com. “Just like with Facebook and Twitter, gaining an audience early can save you money down the road. It is key to join the site while it’s growing instead of after membership has already plateaued.”

According to Pat Parkinson, director of public relations for PRMarketing.com, “If you haven’t joined, you’re already late to the game.”

“The important thing is you start now. Not only does it add value to your business but your products can also gain significant ‘word of pin’ traction,” he said. “

We’re not big Pinterest fans ourselves at the TechJournal. It has a more limited audience which seems to be primarily female and oriented toward naturally visual subjects such as food, fashion, and design. We have found some excellent infographics and graphs on the site.

Personally, the social network we see gaining traction – if our adds and interactions are any guide -is Google+.

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Posted in Facebook, Internet/New Media, Marketing, social media, Twitter | Comments Off

Email drives more purchases than Facebook & text combined

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

email graphicA new study released today by global interactive marketing provider ExactTarget (NYSE:ET) found two thirds of online Americans have made a purchase as a result of email, nearly twice the percentage who have purchased after receiving marketing messages delivered via both Facebook and text messaging.

“Americans are changing the way they interact online”

Based on a survey of 1,481 U.S. online consumers, ExactTarget’s 2012 Channel Preference Survey asked how Americans communicate online with brands and with friends and found a growing divide between personal communications preferences and how consumers want to receive marketing messages.

“Americans are changing the way they interact online,” said Jeff Rohrs, ExactTarget’s vice president of marketing. “Our 2012 Channel Preference Survey provides new data that identifies how today’s hyper-connected consumers are engaging with brands and offers exclusive advice on how to avoid the pitfalls of using personal communications preferences as a proxy for marketing communications.”

The study found consumers’ preferences vary significantly for communications with brands and friends. 77 percent of consumers surveyed said they prefer to receive marketing messages via email, while only 45 percent prefer email for personal communications.

Five percent said they prefer to receive marketing messages via social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), while 13 percent prefer social media for personal communications.

Key findings of the research include:

  • Email
    • 96 percent of online consumers use email at least weekly.
    • 66 percent have made a purchase after receiving an email marketing message.
    • 76 percent prefer email over all other channels for customer service messages.
    • 66 percent of teens (ages 15-17) prefer email over all other channels for permission-based marketing.
  • Text Messaging
    • 68 percent of online consumers use text messaging at least weekly.
    • 16 percent have made a purchase after receiving a text (SMS) marketing message.
    • 25 percent prefer text messaging over all other channels for real-time travel alerts.
    • 9 percent of consumers ages 25-34 prefer text messaging over all other channels for delivery of tickets to an event purchased online.
  • Social Media
    • 70 percent of online consumers use Facebook at least weekly.
    • 20 percent use Twitter at least weekly.
    • 20 percent have made a purchase after receiving a marketing message on Facebook.
    • 32 percent of teens (ages 15-17) have made a purchase after receiving a marketing message on Facebook.
    • 16 percent of teens (ages 15-17) have made a purchase after receiving a marketing message on Twitter.
    • 4 percent prefer Facebook over all other channels for permission-based marketing.

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Posted in Ecommerce, Facebook, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off

People excluded on Facebook feel just as if they were excluded in person

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

woman

People who are excluded by others online, such as on Facebook, may feel just as bad as if they had been excluded in person, according to researchers. iStock photo.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — People who are excluded by others online, such as on Facebook, may feel just as bad as if they had been excluded in person, according to researchers at Penn State and Misericordia University.

“If you’ve ever felt bad about being ‘ignored’ on Facebook you’re not alone,” said Joshua Smyth, professor of biobehavioral health and of medicine at Penn State. “Facebook — with its approximately 800 million users — serves as a place to forge social connections; however, it is often a way to exclude others without the awkwardness of a face-to-face interaction.

Most people would probably expect that being ignored or rejected via a remote source like the Internet would not hurt as much as being rejected in person. Yet, our studies show that people may experience similar psychological reactions to online exclusion as they do with face-to-face exclusion.”

Smyth and Kelly Filipkowski, assistant professor of psychology at Misericordia University, conducted two studies examining the perceptions of and reactions to face-to-face and online chat room exclusion.

Self-esteem would drop

In the first study, the team asked more than 275 college students to anticipate how they would feel in a hypothetical exclusion scenario in which they were ignored during a conversation. The participants said they expected that they would feel somewhat distressed and that their self-esteem would drop, regardless of whether the rejection occurred in a chat room or in person; however, they expected the in-person exclusion to feel worse.

According to Smyth, such anticipated reactions are important as they may help determine how people make decisions about situations that they perceive as holding some risk of rejection — attending a party where they do not know anyone or participating in an online dating event.

In the second study, Smyth and Filipkowski set up two scenarios in which 77 unsuspecting college students were ignored during a staged “get to know each other” conversation. Half of the participants were excluded in person, while the other half were excluded in an online chat-room setting.

The students operating face to face believed they were participating in a study on the formation of impressions in casual settings. They thought they would briefly interact with two other student participants and then supply the researchers with their impressions of themselves and the others.

The students involved in the chat-room conversation believed they were participating in a study to investigate the formation of impressions when individuals do not receive visual cues from one another. In reality, the researchers set up both scenarios — the in-person conversations and the chat-room conversations — so student participants would be ignored by student research assistants trained to pose as study participants.

The team found that participants in both scenarios responded similarly to being excluded.

Contrary to expectation

“Contrary to our expectation, the students’ responses to rejection were not primarily characterized by severe distress, but rather characterized by numbness and distancing or withdrawal,” Smyth said.

Overall, the team showed that the participants expected the exclusion to be much worse than what they actually reported when they experienced the exclusion. The results of both studies appeared in a recent online issue of Computers in Human Behavior.

“What we found interesting is that in the lab setting, the vast majority of participants attributed their exclusion as being no fault of their own, but rather due to the other individuals in the room,” Filipkowski said. “In other words, people said, ‘it isn’t me, it’s you.’ This may have been a type of protective mechanism in order to buffer their mood and self-esteem.”

The results suggest that our culture may not differentiate between in-person and online experiences as much as we might think, according to the researchers.

“Although the meaningfulness of online or remote interactions may seem troubling, these data may also hold a more positive message,” Smyth said. “Meaningful online interactions may support the utilization of remote interventions that can enhance physical and psychological well-being, in turn providing increased access to opportunities for people who are in need.”

However, the researchers caution that these findings may be related to the types of individuals who participated in their study.

“These studies were conducted with college-aged students who have grown up with the Internet and other related technology,” Filipkowski said. “These findings may not apply to individuals who have much less experience with technology and remote communication.”

Filipkowski suggests that future studies investigate the applicability of these findings to different populations.

In the future, the team wants to investigate biological reactions to different types of exclusion.

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Posted in Facebook, Internet/New Media, People, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off

North Bridge Venture Partners names former Facebook VP a general partner

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

Jonathan Heiliger

Former Facebook VP Jonathan Heiliger has been named a general partner at North Bridge Venture Partners

SAN MATEO, CA - North Bridge Venture Partners, a multi-stage venture capital firm today announced that former Facebook vice president of technical operations, Jonathan Heiliger, has joined North Bridge as a general partner.

Helliger will be based in North Bridge’s Silicon Valley office, expanding the firm’s West Coast presence.

Here at the TechJournal, we’ve noticed that a number of venture firms are poaching new talent from the large social media firms.

Paul Santinelli, general partner at North Bridge, said, “Our goal at North Bridge has always been centered on working with entrepreneurs to build real companies that address large-scale, difficult technical problems.”

He added, “We are a team of entrepreneurs and operating executives who believe that real world experience drives scale and success in start-ups.”

In addition to working closely with the firm’s current portfolio, Helliger will focus on identifying companies that are attempting to solve problems of significant scale and scope.

Helliger’s  track record of building large-scale operations will be instrumental in helping the firm attract, identify and nurture investment opportunities that have the ambitious vision to attack large, disruptive business and technical problems.

“Jonathan joining our team is a major win for North Bridge and for our West Coast initiative. He’s been a successful entrepreneur and operating executive at companies such as Facebook, Walmart, Danger and Opsware, which provides insight and knowledge to help entrepreneurs scale businesses and technical operations.

Paul Santinelli, general partner at North Bridge, said, “Our goal at North Bridge has always been centered on working with entrepreneurs to build real companies that address large-scale, difficult technical problems. We are a team of entrepreneurs and operating executives who believe that real world experience drives scale and success in start-ups.”

Teaming with a group of successful entrepreneurs

In joining North Bridge, Helliger is teaming with a group of proven entrepreneurs with a track record of building and scaling successful companies such as Demandware, Inc. (NYSE:DWRE), Proto Labs, Inc. (NYSE: PRLB), Starent Networks (acquired by Cisco) and Tapjoy. North Bridge has always been on the front lines with first institutional capital, where great ideas are hatched.

Adding Heiliger to North Bridge solidifies the firm’s position as the place for founders to partner with a team of active entrepreneurs and operating executives who provide strategic counsel and the network they need to build industry-changing companies.

“North Bridge offers a unique value proposition to entrepreneurs. It is one of the few industry pioneering firms that has been consistently successful through every significant technology market evolution.

“The caliber of the team and its focus on working with entrepreneurs who want to build companies that create and/or redefine markets aligns perfectly with my values. I’m looking forward to helping grow North Bridge’s portfolio of successful companies in Silicon Valley and enhance the firm’s reputation as a leading venture capital firm,” said Jonathan Heiliger, general partner, North Bridge.”

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Posted in Facebook, Internet/New Media, IT, People | Comments Off

Many firms plan increased social marketing with Facebook topping the list

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

social mediaWe all want to be liked, but a majority of businesses may be willing to pay more for the distinction, a new survey by The Creative Group suggests. More than half (53 percent) of advertising and marketing executives interviewed said they expect companies to increase their investment in Facebook this year.

Respondents also anticipate more marketing dollars will be channeled toward Twitter (43 percent), Google+ (41 percent), LinkedIn (38 percent) and YouTube (36 percent).

The national survey was developed by The Creative Group, a specialized staffing service for interactive, design, marketing, advertising and public relations professionals. It was conducted by an independent research firm.

Advertising and marketing executives were asked, “Do you anticipate that companies will increase or decrease their advertising/marketing investment in the following social media sites in 2012?” Their responses*:

  Increase Decrease No Change Don’t know/no

 answer
Facebook 53% 4% 38% 6%
Twitter 43% 5% 45% 8%
Google+ 41% 5% 43% 11%
LinkedIn 38% 5% 47% 9%
YouTube 36% 5% 50% 8%

*Responses may not total 100 percent due to rounding.

“Companies recognize the powerful role social media can play in brand building, and they are willing to invest in initiatives that can help them increase customer engagement,” said Donna Farrugia, executive director of The Creative Group.

“As platforms like Facebook continue to evolve, it’s especially important for businesses to keep pace.”

Added Farrugia, “Although companies plan to spend more on social media, finding the talent needed to oversee these programs can pose a challenge. Bringing in freelancers who have worked on successful social media initiatives can be helpful, since these professionals can not only develop and implement strategies but also impart their expertise to core team members during the process.”

About the Survey
The national study was developed by The Creative Group and conducted by an independent research firm. It is based on more than 500 telephone interviews — approximately 375 with marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees and 125 with advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees.

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Posted in Facebook, Google, Internet/New Media, LinkedIn, Marketing, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Twitter | Comments Off

Stay safe: social media security basics (infographic)

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

Veracode Inc., which sells cloud-based application security testing, has created an infographic on Social Media Basics.

This infographic examines various types of targeted attacks and focuses on malware’s history of infecting Twitter and Facebook.

To minimize risks, the image summarizes advice such as being aware of trending topics as a popular lure, protecting passwords and being wary of Facebook spam. In a related webinar, Veracode addresses the ubiquity of social media applications and the challenges facing enterprise infosecurity organizations in how they manage usage across the workforce. The webinar is available on-demand athttp://veracode.com/social-media-security.

“This infographic reinforces that enterprises must balance the allure of social media with risks for viruses and attacks,” said Connie Stack, vice president of corporate marketing, Veracode. “While it may not be realistic to have your workforce avoid all forms of social media, it’s important to educate employees on social media safety and best practices to reduce a company’s risk from costly losses and data theft.”

security infographic

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Posted in Facebook, infographic, Internet/New Media, LinkedIn, Security, social media, Twitter | Comments Off

Small businesses plan to increase online marketing in 2012

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

social media logosNearly 60% of small businesses surveyed plan on spending as much or more in 2012 as they did in 2011 on online marketing efforts, according to the 2012 AT&T* Small Business Technology Poll.

Inexpensive, modern grassroots marketing techniques – both online and offline – have grown to be among the most popular for small businesses in the past several years likely due to ease of use and general affordability.

While 79% of small businesses surveyed are using word-of-mouth to promote their business, 63% are using their company website, and 39% are using social media channels.

The AT&T Small Business Technology Poll**, which nationally surveyed more than 1,200 small businesses with two to 100 employees, also revealed the following:

Social Networks

  • Since 2010, the use of location-based social channels, such as Foursquare, among small business owners has nearly doubled from 5% to 9%.
    • 25% of small business owners using location-based services believe that the application is important for sales generation, compared to just 2% in 2010.
  • Small businesses with a LinkedIn presence increased from 25% in 2010 to 31% in 2011, a jump of 25%.
  • Small businesses with a Facebook presence increased slightly from 41% in 2010 to 44% last year, while those with a Twitter presence dropped slightly year-over-year from 19% to 18%.
  • While LinkedIn has always been a popular resource for recruiters, small business owners are increasingly using the social forum for networking with other businesses and gaining awareness from other businesses and consumers in the local community.
  • Surprisingly only 4% of small businesses are using daily deal sites (i.e. LivingSocial, Groupon) for marketing purposes, led by leisure/tourism/lodging, of which 14% are using these sites.
  • Of those businesses using daily deal sites, more than 90% are running promotions at least several times per year.

Digital Presence

  • Male business owners are more likely to rely on their company website for marketing than female owners (65% vs. 58%), while female business owners are more likely to rely on social media than their male counterparts (48% vs. 34%).
  • Among small business owners that are using wireless mobile devices, those in the education and non-profit fields are accessing social media at the highest rates, 50% and 52% respectively, compared to national average of 43%.
  • Three in four (75%) small businesses surveyed have a website, about the same as last year, with nearly a third (31%) having a mobile website – i.e., one designed for viewing on a smartphone.

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Posted in Digital Devices, Facebook, Internet/New Media, LinkedIn, Marketing, Mobile, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications, Twitter | Comments Off

Evolution of gamification, from Monopoly boards to Facebook (infographic)

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

Identified.com, the fastest-growing professional network for young people (according to AppData MAU), has created infographic on the evolution of gaming and the power of combining social networking with gamification to encourage those aged 18-29 to share professional information.

Gaming technique is helping young people manage their career presence online in a way that resonates with the “Facebook generation,” the company says.

Identified provides a score – based on job qualifications – for participants to easily see how they are ranked by companies. Identified also scores schools and companies.

The gamification technique encourages people to input college major, job title and years of work experience that recruiters seek in job candidates. As people add information and progress in their careers, they gain points to increase their Identified Score.

However, these are not the vanity points typical of other “game” centered apps that award users with badges and avatars. The points represent the value of key information currently in demand by employers that helps young students and professionals plan their careers.

Identified allows people to import their Facebook network and information, and “professionalize it” so they have an active, up-to-date professional profile available to recruiters without having to tailor their existing Facebook Timeline page for job searches, or recreate their friend network.

Identified is part of a growing number of companies using games to empower consumers in areas ranging from dating to fitness, energy use and to healthcare.

Identified was conceived as a research initiative at Stanford University’s MBA and Engineer programs by Brendan Wallace andAdeyemi Ajao and grew virally across campus, signing up 80 percent of the university in just one week. Subsequently, Identified raised $5.5 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson’s Tim Draper, Bill Draper - and others. To find out your Identified Score, visit www.identified.com.

Here’s the infographic:

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Posted in Facebook, games, infographic, Internet/New Media, mobile games, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech life/Culture | Comments Off

State of the PR industry: social media has gone mainstream

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

Social Media MarketingSocial media marketing has become a mainstream PR tactic, measurement and evaluation are on the rise, and the use of wikis and virtual worlds have become nearly extinct. Those are among the findings of the  USC Annenberg Strategic Communication and Public Relations Center’s seventh biennial Communication and Public Relations Generally Accepted Practices (GAP VII) study.

This year’s report is the largest and most comprehensive study of the most senior communicators in public and private corporations, government agencies and non-profits in the United States.

The survey provides practitioners with practical information they can use to better manage the communication functions in their organizations; identifies Best Practices against which they can benchmark their own organizations; and pinpoints trends to be aware of as they plan for tomorrow.

Key Findings

Budgets are mostly up: Public corporations on average reported higher public relations/communications (PR/Comm) budgets than respondents did two years ago. When asked about budget expectations for next year, more than 50% expect no change, while more than 25% actually anticipate budget growth.

Measurement and evaluation are on the rise: Corporations report an increase from 4% to 9% in the portions of their total budgets allocated to measurement and evaluation of PR/Comm programs. This pronounced rise speaks to widespread adoption of social media monitoring tools and increasing use of primary research in program planning and evaluation.

How you measure is linked to success: While companies have distinctly different approaches to PR/Comm measurement those measures tend to group into two categories:  “Outcomes” and “Outputs.” Companies utilizing “Outcomes” measures such as influence on stakeholder attitudes and opinions, the bottom line, etc. are much more likely to say they have a good external reputation and are successful than are companies that rely on traditional “PR output” measures — such as clips, impressions, and advertising equivalency.

PR/COM has its seat at the table: In nearly 60% of responding companies PR/COM reports directly to the “C-Suite” (chairman, CEO, COO, etc.), reflecting today’s increasingly transparent, communication-intensive environment.    

social media logosSocial media has become mainstream: Seventy percent of PR/Comm departments report budgetary responsibility for social media monitoring and 66% for social media participation. This reflects a 17% and 13% growth, respectively, over two years ago. Further reflecting a shift to Web 2.0 communication is a rise in responsibility for search engine optimization (SEO). However, PR/Comm departments appear to be mostly taking on increased social media responsibilities without additional budget.

Some social media tools are hotter than others: The most widely used social media tools by corporations are social networking sites (i.e. Facebook, which is used by 53% of public companies), micro blogging (i.e. Twitter, also used by 53% of public companies),  Search Engine Optimization (52%), and sharing and producing online videos. Meanwhile, the use of wikis and virtual worlds has become nearly extinct.

The field is expanding to include new functions: In addition to growth in social media the PR/COM field is experiencing growth in the areas of Internal Communication (up from 47% to 58% of respondents having such responsibility over the last two years) and Customer Relations (up from 6% to 15%).

Marketing/product PR is in a state of decline: While still a “Core” function with 51% of corporate respondents having budgetary responsibility for it (versus 61% in 2009), there has been a substantial decrease in the emphasis on traditional Marketing/Product PR. This could be attributable to an increasing reliance on social media to promote products.

Agency-of-record relationships are vanishing: Over the last ten years, the use by client organizations of a single outside PR agency of record has consistently decreased. In 2002, more than 50% of public corporations reported an AOR relationship. This number decreased continuously and has now shrunk to just over 15%. At the same time, the number of agencies used by corporations on an ongoing or project basis continues to increase. This is likely the result of a need for specialized and/or regionally focused agency services.

How to Access GAP VII

The GAP VII study report is available for free download at the USC Annenberg Strategic Communication and Public Relation Center’s (SCPRC) web site annenberg.usc.edu/gapstudy. The same location hosts the GAP VII Insight Base, a comprehensive online catalog of detailed findings. This is where PR practitioners can gain insight into specific topics that are of interest to their organization.

The GAP VII study, in which 620 senior communicators participated, was conducted in cooperation with the country’s four leading professional PR associations: Arthur W. Page Society, Institute for Public Relations (IPR), International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

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Facebook Timeline fan page tutorial (infographic)

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

Facebook loves forcing changes on its users whether they like them or not. The Facebook Timeline is apparently here to stay, despite the fact that many users hate it.

But for marketers or others, learning to use the new Timeline feature is important. Timothy Brand created this infographic over at socialmagnets as a tutorial on how to make Timeline fan pages.

infographic

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Marketers undervaluing social media impact by nearly 100 percent

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

social media logosFindings from the second Adobe Digital Index report suggest that marketers are undervaluing social media impact by nearly 100 percent and need to re-evaluate their attribution methods.

The study evaluated how marketers measure the impact of website traffic from major social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Blogger, YouTube and Yelp. Adobe analyzed more than 1.7 billion visits to more than 225 U.S. companies’ websites in the retail, travel and media industries, concluding that marketers significantly underestimate the value of social traffic.

“As an industry, digital marketers have been quick to add social media to the marketing mix, but have perhaps not considered new and better ways to measure this complex channel,” Aseem Chandra

Key Report Findings

  • The use of last-click attribution, the most common attribution model used by marketers, may cause marketers to undervalue social media’s website impact by up to 94 percent
  • First-click attribution models more accurately capture the benefits of social media in engaging customers earlier in the buying process
  • Significant differences in the results of first-click vs. last-click attribution data for various social media sites may cause marketers to change how they allocate the budgets across social and other digital channels

Why First-Click Attribution is Better for Social

Last-click attribution assumes that the marketing channel most responsible for a consumer’s behavior is the channel the consumer last touched before a visit or purchase.

First-click places responsibility on the channel the consumer first touched. Social media creates an environment in which brands can build awareness and engage with prospective and existing customers early in the purchase process.

By ignoring the value of these earlier interactions, last-click attribution gives disproportionate credit to the marketing channels customers use late in the purchase process, potentially undervaluing the role of other channels in building awareness, engagement, and ongoing relationships between customers and brands. In contrast, first-click attribution gives social media more credit for these earlier interactions.

The difference between last-click and first-click is significant and has the potential to change the way companies allocate social media budgets.

Aseem Chandra, vice president, product and industry marketing, Digital Marketing Business, Adobe, said, “As an industry, digital marketers have been quick to add social media to the marketing mix, but have perhaps not considered new and better ways to measure this complex channel. This study shows that marketers tend to default to traditional direct measurement models. Better measurement of social marketing will lead to better ROI.”

Full details of the Adobe Digital Index report on social media are available for download here or at CMO.com.

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Social media apps firm files antitrust lawsuit against Facebook

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

DC-based law firm Kotchen & Low has filed a lawsuit on behalf of its client Sambreel Holdings, a developer and publisher of social media and other online applications, against Facebook Inc. for alleged violations of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, and California state laws prohibiting unfair competition and interference with contract.

FacebookThe lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District ofCalifornia (Case 3:12-cv-00668-W-KSC.)

In addition, the firm also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent Facebook from requiring Sambreel’s advertising partners to boycott Sambreel and to prevent Facebook from “gating” – i.e., scanning its own users computers without their consent to learn who downloaded a Sambreel application and then forcing those individuals to uninstall Sambreel’s applications before they are allowed access to their Facebook accounts.

Arie Trouw, CEO and President of Sambreel, released the following statement about the lawsuit: “We believe that Facebook engaged in a pattern of anticompetitive behavior in order to drive a competitor out of the market.  Although we attempted to work with Facebook to address each other’s concerns, those discussions did not progress, so we are moving forward with litigation.

“In addition to violating the law, we think Facebook’s actions – particularly its gating – violate its own first guiding principle:  ‘People should have the freedom to share whatever information they want, in any medium and any format, and have the right to connect online with anyone – any person, organization or service – as long as they both consent to the connection (http://www.facebook.com/principles.php).’”

A copy of the lawsuit is available at http://www.kotchen.com/Sambreel-v-Facebook.

Based in Carlsbad, CA, Sambreel Holdings  is a developer and publisher of social media and web applications used by tens of millions of people around the world.  Sambreel’s most popular application is a browser add-on called PageRage, which allows users to create customized layouts that appear on the browser when the user accesses the Facebook website.

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The top five business benefits of employing social tools

Monday, March 19th, 2012

social mediaBusinesses can improve communications, recruiting, customer relationships and other processes by expanding their social engagement beyond well-known public sites, according to new research from CompTIA, the non-profit association for the information technology (IT) industry.

“Social media and social networking are widely recognized terms associated with large public sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn,” said Seth Robinson, director, technology analysis, CompTIA. “But these terms do not fully convey the full range of social applications available to businesses.”

Business social space includes two categories

For businesses the social space can be divided into two categories: public social media sites and social enterprise tools that bring social capabilities into an organization’s business processes.

“Social enterprise tools incorporate the characteristics of social media into business processes, allowing for stronger internal collaboration, deeper understanding of customers and other positive outcomes,” Robinson said.

The top five business benefits of employing social tools identified in CompTIA’s Social Business: Trends and Opportunitiesstudy are:

  • Better communication with customers, cited by 61 percent of responding companies
  • Cost savings (51 percent)
  • Brand positioning (49 percent)
  • Real-time customer satisfaction (48 percent)
  • Potential lead generation (43 percent)

“Companies find that the conversational nature of social media allows them to carry on discussions with their customers, strengthening the relationship and gleaning insights on products, services and satisfaction,” Robinson said. “It makes good business sense to apply their success using social tools to internal activities and processes.”

Robinson noted, however, that for the large majority of organizations the move to the social enterprise is in its infancy – if it’s even started at all. Companies may also struggle through several trial-and-error scenarios as they meld new social tools with existing communications platforms and operational processes.

Widespread Use of Social Media
The CompTIA survey of 400 business and IT executives finds that that the large majority of firms now using social tools are taking their first steps by using social media.

A full 82 percent of responding organizations have a Facebook presence, 68 percent have a Twitter profile and 68 percent, a LinkedIn page. By comparison, less than one in five companies are currently using social enterprise tools.

“Confusion over terminology and hesitation to adopt a consumer-driven development inside the enterprise make the social landscape one that still requires definition and justification for many companies,” said Robinson. “Understanding the characteristics of social technologies is a critical starting point for understanding their business use.”

Robinson noted that while the marketing staff has been the primary owner of social activity to this point, IT departments will play a critical role in the further development of the social enterprise. IT departments may craft strategies, develop policies, build the overall social platform, select the appropriate social tools and integrate them into the enterprise environment.

The social enterprise may also offer opportunities for IT solution providers, even at this early stage. In fact, 10 percent of companies surveyed by CompTIA said their solution provider owns their social activity. Another 38 percent have consulted with a solution provider on social topics.

CompTIA’s Social Business: Trends and Opportunities study is based on a January 2012 online survey of 400 IT and business professionals in a variety of industries in the United States.The complete report is available at no cost to CompTIA members who can access the file at CompTIA.org or by contacting research@comptia.org.

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Triangle Startup Factory names inaugural class

Monday, March 19th, 2012

By Joe Procopio

Joe Procopio

Joe Procopio

There really is no such thing as overnight success in the startup universe.

Just as it’s been a long road for Triangle Startup Factory, going back to the conversations I first had with Chris Heivly some three years ago, when the idea of an accelerator in the Triangle seemed so crazy that it just might work, it’s been a haul for the five companies that make up its inaugural class.

ExactByte makes Archive Social, a software-as-a-service solution for automatically keeping business-compliant records of an organization’s social communication (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). I first started following CEO Anil Chawla’s entrepreneurial exploits while he was still with IBM a couple years ago, and finally wound up covering him, ExactByte, and Archive Social when he presented at Launch Days back in January.

As I mention in that column, Anil has been on the startup scene for years, he’s been a fixture at ExitEvent since the first one (he even let me beat him at ping pong back in December), and he was at Startup Happy Hour Wednesday night looking all smiley and what not.

Ruzuku has been at it just as long if not longer. They allow creation of online courses and learning communities for instructors – anyone from bloggers to coaches to speakers who want to put structured instructional material online. I first met Rick Cecil over a decade ago when he was building UX for clients at hesketh.com (almost before anyone knew what web UX was). Abe Crystal first told me about Ruzuku early in 2010, and they also presented at Launch Days in May of that year.

Making athletic training more productive

RxAnalytics uses machine learning algorithms and data analysis to make athletic training more productive, resulting in maximized performance. When I last saw Deepak Gopalakrishna, it was via Skype in February when he pitched to the Carolina Challenge from a coffee shop somewhere in DC. He was in DC because he had been pitching in person earlier that day. RxAnalytics was also a Startup Stampede company in mid-2011.

Arcametrics has created a data engine that allows financial and healthcare marketing professionals to pool relevant customer data across from multiple sources without compromising privacy. Admittedly, this is the company I know the least about and there is little information online, but I found some stuff on them dating back to 2008, which is exactly two forevers ago in startup time.

Berst is an app that lets you communicate with groups of people at specific locations where you share a common context. Matthew Ramsden and Caleb Foster developed the app as a side project and then took it to Chicago’s bi-monthly Technori Pitch event in October where they demoed the app to 500 people.

Yes, they are the youngest company of the bunch, but remember, this is an accelerator, not an exit.

I caught up with Heivly on Wednesday (surprisingly, not at any of the three startup events that took place that night) and he was genuinely excited about the class. It also means good things for the region, with TSF having pulled a much greater pool of applicants from the area, 55% local as opposed to 25% local during the late 2010 LaunchBox Digital application process.

The class is mostly local too, and it’s that way on merit, with absolutely no preconceived desire to pull local startups into the accelerator.

It bodes well.

 Joe Procopio heads up product engineering for automated content startup Automated Insights. He also founded and runs startup network ExitEvent, consulting marketplace Intrepid Company, and the Intrepid Media writers network. You can read him at http://joeprocopio.com and follow him at http://twitter.com/jproco.

 

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Posted in Carolinas, Columns, entrepreneurship, Facebook, Internet/New Media, LinkedIn, Mobile, North Carolina, Telecommunications, Twitter, Viewpoint | Comments Off

Only one day left to grab the Early Bird rate for Digital Summit

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

Joel Lunenfeld

Joel Ludenfeld, director of global brand strategy for Twitter, is among the more than 75 speakers at the upcoming Digital Summit in Atlanta

Only one day remains to grab the early bird rate at TechMedia’s Digital Summit 2012, slated for May 9-10 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta. This year’s event features speakers from Twitter, Mashable, Klout, Pandora, The Onion, Huffington Post, StumbleUpon, and Google, among many others.

The Digital Summit is offering an Early Bird rate until tomorrow, March 16.

More than  50 expert panels and presentations by more than 75 thought leaders will cover topics such as Customer Engagement, SEO, Analytics, Usability & Design, Paid Search, Email Marketing, Ecommerce, Online Video, Facebook & Twitter Marketing and many more.

This year you can also sign up for a pre-conference event that offers a dozen more sessions covering social media from fundamentals to advanced features and usability & design. The 5-hour long workshops are designed to provide take-aways you can put to work as soon as you get back to your office.

TechMedia events sell-out, so it’s always a good idea to register early. Do so by March 16 and get the Early Bird rate of $245.

Digital Summit 2012

From March 17 to April 13, registration will be $295, and after April 14 rises to $345.

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Survey shows strong adoption of Facebook ads among small businesses

Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

facebook adPayvment, the number one Facebook ecommerce platform, says results of its F-Commerce Facts survey of over 100,000 sellers on Facebook, the majority of which are small businesses with less than 500 Facebook fans,  shows strong adoption and favorability towards Facebook Ads, with most sellers planning to use the social network’s ad products again.

The data also shows that small sellers are using a wide variety of outside marketing channels to drive traffic to their Facebook storefronts, including Twitter, Google ads and email marketing.

“While a handful of large retailers have put their F-commerce efforts on hold, there are hundreds of thousands of small businesses who are successfully selling products on Facebook”

“While a handful of large retailers have put their F-commerce efforts on hold, there are hundreds of thousands of small businesses who are successfully selling products on Facebook,” said Christian Taylor, founder and CEO of Payvment.

“This data provides a quick snapshot of the current state of Facebook commerce and shows a robust and vibrant environment in which sellers are aggressively marketing their products through many different channels, driving sales for their products and bringing revenue and traffic back to Facebook.”

Key conclusions from the survey include:

1. Facebook Ads are the top promotional tool for sellers beyond general Facebook marketing.

Facebook sellers are doing their part to fuel Facebook’s $5 billion forecasted ad revenue this year.

More than one-third (39 percent) of respondents report having used Facebook Ads, making this the most prevalent marketing tactic used by sellers to drive traffic to their stores beyond general Facebook marketing — such as promotions and deals posted to their wall — and nearly 70 percent of respondents say they plan to use Facebook Ads again.

Facebook Ads enjoy high favorability among Facebook sellers who have used them. Sellers cite effectiveness in fan and customer acquisition as their top reason (68 percent) for planning more Facebook Ad campaigns.

Other reasons for continuing to use Facebook Ad programs include the ability to start and stop campaigns (60 percent), Facebook’s targeting capabilities (60 percent) and Facebook Ads’ ease of use (55 percent).

But not all Facebook sellers have had success acquiring new fans and customers with Facebook Ads. Among the 30 percent who say they wouldn’t use Facebook Ads again, 68 percent report that they did not acquire many new fans or customers through this channel.

Lower-than-anticipated results may be due to confusion about how to effectively use Facebook Ads, as one-quarter (25 percent) of respondents who haven’t tried Facebook Ads say they don’t understand how to use them.

Cost is also cited as another top reason for not using Facebook Ads again: 65 percent say they wouldn’t continue using Facebook Ads because they are too expensive. Interestingly, among those who aren’t currently advertising on Facebook, only 32 percent say that Facebook Ads are too expensive to use — the majority (63 percent) cite lack of budget as their primary deterrent.

2. Sellers are using many outside marketing channels to bring traffic back to Facebook stores.

FacebookWhile most sellers are actively marketing their Facebook storefronts and products on Facebook (84 percent) and 39 percent are using Facebook Ads, many are also using other marketing channels to drive traffic to their stores.

More than one-third are promoting their Facebook store on their company web site (38 percent), 34 percent are using Twitter, and 30 percent are using email marketing. A small percentage also use paid media outside of Facebook to attract new fans and customers: 12 percent are running print ads, 9 percent are using direct mail and 8 percent are buying search ads on Google.

The data also shows that Facebook sellers plan to increase their marketing efforts across the board over the next six months.

Use of Google Ads is expected to grow by 38 percent; use of print ads is expected to grow by 30 percent; use of email marketing is expected to grow by 29 percent; and use of direct mail is expected to grow by 26 percent.

In addition, 21 percent more businesses plan to promote their Facebook store on their company web site over the next six months, which would bring the total number of sellers linking back to Facebook from their web site to nearly half (46 percent) of all sellers.

3. The ability to market and sell products on the same platform is a top benefit for sellers.

The survey also validates the appeal of Facebook as a platform where sellers can both market and sell their products. When asked what they like best about selling on Facebook, the majority of respondents cite the ability to promote their products via social marketing as a top benefit (61 percent). About the same number of people (60 percent) also like that customers don’t have to leave Facebook to buy their products.

Familiarity with Facebook and its ease-of-use are also perceived as major benefits of selling on Facebook. Nearly 50 percent say it is easy to set up and maintain a storefront on Facebook, and 40 percent say they like selling on Facebook because they are already familiar with how Facebook works.

Product discovery is also seen as a benefit, with one-third of respondents (33 percent) saying they like selling on Facebook because shoppers can more easily discover their products.

4. Facebook storefronts are the sole sales destination for more than one-third of sellers.

Facebook storefronts are the sole sales channel for more than one-third of Facebook sellers (37 percent), while 63 percent of sellers are also selling products on their company web site.

Other top sales channels for Facebook sellers include trade or craft shows (30 percent); retail stores (29 percent); eBay (29 percent); Etsy (21 percent); and Amazon (15 percent).

5. The biggest challenge for new sellers is growing their fan base.

Facebook commerce is a relatively new phenomenon and is still in its early days. Nearly 50 percent of respondents have been selling on Facebook for less than 6 months, and 72 percent report having less than 500 fans.

The majority of respondents (72 percent) point to their small fan base as the biggest challenge of selling on Facebook.

The data also underscores the need for additional tools and support to help sellers grow their Facebook presence: more than one-third of respondents (38 percent) cite lack of understanding about how to do marketing on Facebook as a top challenge, and 31 percent say they don’t have enough time to do marketing.

About the F-Commerce Facts Survey

The F-Commerce Facts survey was conducted by Payvment, the number one Facebook ecommerce platform whose more than 100,000 active sellers drive nearly 80 percent of all the shopping on Facebook.

This survey was fielded online, between February 15, 2012, and February 28, 2012, and sent to a random sample of Payvment’s seller base of over 100,000 business owners.

There were 750 total responses from sellers across 12 different countries. Nearly 50 percent of respondents were new sellers on Facebook (less than 3 months), and 72 percent of respondents report having less than 500 fans. No incentive was offered to complete the survey.

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