Archive for the ‘Mobile’ Category
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
By Allan Maurer
 Warren Raisch Mobile presents challenges to marketers partly because mobile phones “Are a different device than we’ve ever had before,” says Warren Raisch, executive vice president of Digitaria. “It on 24/7 and people are using it different ways than they do desktops. It’s fundamentally different in form factor and in use.”
Raisch is a strategic digital industry leader and a McGraw-Hill published author in the digital marketing industry.
Raisch manages Digitaria’s largest corporate client relationships including leading companies such as Intel Corporation, DreamWorks, Cisco, Comcast, MTV Networks and others.
He has two decades of leadership experience in Silicon Valley building global brands across over 190 countries for industry leaders in the high tech & digital agency industries. His 25 years of leadership experience includes being a senior executive at some of the most successful global companies such as Apple Computer, Gateway, 3Com, Autonomy|Interwoven, Adobe|Omniture as well as leading digital agencies Digitas/Publicis, MarchFIRST and Digitaria|JWT.
Raisch is among the dozens of digital marketing, analytics, design and social media thought-leaders participating in the upcoming Digital Summit in Atlanta May 9-10. He’ll discuss mobile analytics, what’s measurable and how to optimize campaigns.
Difference in the way we use mobile
He pointed out to us some of the differences between mobile users vs. those using desktops or laptops.
“They’re more tactical,” Raisch says. “They’re looking for directions or a coupon. User engagement is different from what we’re traditionally used to. In the past, the device someone was on was something you didn’t have to grapple with.”
To market to a mobile user, “You have to think about the device form factor, the time of day, and where a user is physically standing.”
The most personal device you have
The phone is “The most personal device you have,” he says. “It knows your schedule, your habits. It’s the closest to one-on-one marketing we’ve ever been. Privacy issues are a behind the scenes factor, although the younger generation is less worried about that. They download like crazy.”
Creating the best experience requires using metrics, he adds.
But before you measure you need to think of a number of factors. “What do you want them to do with your content?” Raisch asks. “Are you trying to sell products? That requires a different lens than just browsing content.”
Everyone, he notes, “Has conversions of some form or fashion and you set the lens to focus on what matters to you.”
At Digitaria, he says, “We look at campaigns across mobile and traditional channels. Compare and contrast mobile and web analytics so you can see what mobile brings to the table.”
Tablets have higher conversion rate
You’re likely to see a different conversion rate for mobile, he says. One surprise – conversion rates on tablets are significantly higher than on mobile phones at about 2.3 percent. “That’s not quite as high as on a PC, but it’s three times higher than smartphones.”
The average order size is higher as well. The average web order for a retailer is about $99 to $102. The average tablet purchase is $123.
Some of the questions mobile forces you ask are whether you build a separate mobile app for your site or seamlessly embed templates on your site. “A majority of people prefer it embedded in the website so it recognizes your device and serves up the proper format.”
In the mobile arena, pushing something to customers is becoming mainstream – a coupon to someone standing in front of a Starbucks, for instance. “That’s the hottest thing right now,” he says.
QR codes – the bar codes a phone can read if the user downloads a QR reader – are becoming popular, “Although only a small percentage of people are using them.” They transcend channels, he notes. “You can put them on the web, print, a billboard where you take a photo of the QR code to get an offer.”
Down the road a bit further, he expects to see mobile wallets and any number of other advances coming. “Things are moving super fast,” he says.
Tags: Allan Maurer, Atlanta, conversion rates, Digital Summit, Digitaria, metrics, mobile marketing, QR codes, tablets, Warren Raisch
Posted in Analytics, Best Practices, Business advice, Events, Georgia, Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
 Samsung was the top mobile phone handset maker in the three month period ending in March. Google’s Android operating system continued to grow it’s U.S. share of the mobile market, claiming 51 percent to Apple’s 30 percent. So says comScore’s MobiLens service.
During the period, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices.
Smartphone Platform Market Share
More than 106 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in March, up 9 percent versus December. RIM still held onto 3rd place in operating systems with 12.3 percent. Microsoft has yet to gain really significant market share and languishes at 3.9 percent, although we found its mobile operation system as good or better than the others we tried.
Mobile Content Usage
Text-messaging continues to be the most used function of mobile phones. In March, 74.3 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device.
App downloads are increasing, although not at the blistering pace following the holidays when many people unwrapped new digital devices and downloaded record numbers of apps such as the Angry Birds game.
Downloaded applications were used by 50 percent of subscribers (up 2.4 percentage points), while browsers were used by 49.3 percent (up 1.8 percentage points).
Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 0.8 percentage points to 36.1 percent of mobile subscribers.
Game-playing was done by 32.6 percent of the mobile audience (up 1.2 percentage points), while 25.3 percent listened to music on their phones (up 1.5 percentage points). –Allan Maurer
Tags: comScore MobiLens service, mobile handset market share, mobile use, Q1 2012, smartphones
Posted in Analytics, Angry Birds, Apple, Digital Devices, Google, Internet/New Media, IT, Microsoft, Mobile, mobile games, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
 A cell phone tower That cell phone in your pocket is good for the economy. The wireless industry is creating millions of new jobs, added close to $200 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product in 2011 and is a catalyst for U.S. economic growth says a new report.
The study released by Recon Analytics, authored on behalf of CTIA, quantifies the wireless broadband industry’s impact on the U.S. economy.
According to the report, the wireless industry added $195.5 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011, and could lead to nearly $1.5 trillion in productivity gains over the next ten years.
Today, the wireless industry contributes more to America’s economic growth than the auto, agriculture, hotel or motion picture industries, according to study author and Recon Analytics founder Roger Entner.
Four million U.S. jobs created
The report cites the nearly four million U.S. jobs that are directly or indirectly created by wireless technology, and the approximately $90 billion of government revenue generated by U.S. wireless use.
“Any way you measure – by value, jobs, or productivity – wireless is an American growth leader fueled by investment and innovation,” said Entner. “What we have is a perfect storm of breakthrough devices and accelerating investment by network providers as they compete to develop and deploy new generations of wireless infrastructure.”
Entner says the growth surge reflects a powerful combination of innovation by wireless carriers to bring 4G mobile broadband service to consumers, along with device makers and mobile apps developers who are also introducing new technologies to the market.
The report describes a relationship between economic growth and the availability of spectrum. Its analysis of historical data shows that every 10MHz of additional licensed spectrum boosts GDP by more than $1.7 billion and adds 7,000 jobs.
According to Entner, achieving the FCC’s National Broadband Plan’s goal of unleashing an additional 500 MHz over ten years would multiply those benefits 50-fold – totaling $86.5 billion in additional GDP and 350,000 more U.S. jobs.
Among the report’s core findings, in 2011:
- The U.S. wireless industry is responsible for 3.8 million jobs, directly or indirectly, a gain of approximately 200,000 jobs in the past six years despite a major global recession.
- The industry added $195.5 billion to the U.S. GDP between July 2010 and June 2011. If that amount were equivalent to a nation’s GDP, it would be the 46th ranked economy in the world.
- In 2011, wireless services produced $33 billion in productivity improvements for U.S. businesses in nine categories.
- Over the next decade, productivity gains attributable to wireless are expected to total more than $1.4 trillion.
- Industry tax, fee, and surcharge payments contributed $88.6 billion to local, state and federal governments in 2011.
“To put this into context, the total wireless industry tax bill was more than the $78.9 billion put aside for the entire Department of Education; more than double the $43.1 billion for the Department of Energy; and almost equivalent to the $89.6 billion allocated to the Department of Transportation,” said Entner.
The report also says that the wireless sector’s value chain continues to spread to new sectors. Most prominently America’s mobile apps industry has benefitted greatly from the economic influences in the wireless sector, growing from virtually nothing, to a $10 billion giant in fewer than five years.
Consumers, too, are reaping benefits – not just in higher quality of service, but in increased consumption and a drop in unit prices for wireless phone calls. American consumers paid less than a nickel per minute ($0.049) of use last year, one of the lowest rates in the world, down from more than 19 cents in 2000.
By comparison, consumers in Europe paid, on average, nearly 17 cents (0.1670) per minute, more than three times the U.S. price. The costs of wireless data fell by half between 2010 and 2011 alone, from about eight cents a megabyte to four cents a megabyte.
Text messaging costs also are down on a per message basis as unlimited texting plans have boosted message volume by enabling consumers to text at will.
Entner warns that the potential growth could be shut off by spectrum shortages: “For now, new technologies such as 4G LTE, as well as investment in new towers and other infrastructure are squeezing more capacity from each MHz, but as a matter of physics, existing spectrum can expand only so far.
To keep the growth going, the wireless industry not only needs additional spectrum, but also policies that won’t get in the way of critical network investment.”
The full study can be viewed here.
Tags: FCC National Broadband Plan, GDP, innovation, jobs, productivity, spectrum availability, wireless industry economic impact
Posted in Economy/Jobs, Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Monday, April 30th, 2012
 Kyle Lacy - Principal, Marketing Research and Education, ExactTarge By Allan Maurer
Today’s world of digital marketing is not a nine-to-five job. “It doesn’t matter when you’re working, it matters when the customer is buying and using your product,” says Kyle Lacy, principal for marketing reserch and education at ExactTarget, which sells interactive marketing solutions.
“If you’re a retailer and you are not following and using social media on a Saturday, one of the biggest retail days of the week, do you have an issue? In my mind you do. If I’m having a bad experience and tweeting about it in your store but I don’t get an answer until Monday, you missed an opportunity.”
Lacy is the author of two critically acclaimed books, Twitter Marketing for Dummies (2nd ed) and Branding Yourself (2nd ed). Prior to ExactTarget, Kyle co-founded a marketing technology company, helping over 350 clients build and deliver digital marketing experiences. He is one of dozens of top speakers at the upcoming Digital Summit in Atlanta May 9-10.
At the event he’ll focus on stories about clients who used email, social, and mobile channels to attract new customers, build community, and increase sales performance.
The rise of media where people can send a live message to millions in a split second has destroyed the traditional idea of marketing communications, Lacy says.
Branding Yourself
In his book, “Branding Yourself,” Lacy explains how business owners and employees can tell a story that applies specifically to the business or owner “So people remember you for what you’re good at.”
Lacy says, “We all have stories that are unique to us and no one else can tell that story.” To tell it, he adds, “You need to understand what you do best.”
He recommends starting by writing a one-sentence pitch. “What do you do best and and want people to remember? If someone asks us what ExactTarget does, they not going to remember we’re an interactive marketing hub, so we tell a story about how a specific client uses us to generate more business.”
To be effective, you have to make your story personal and memorable. “It’s like those old sales videos where they tell you if you see a bass plaque on the customers wall, be sure to talk about fishing. It’s the same idea.
We discussed the way marketers are using Twitter, which some reports say is not a particularly good channel for sales.
“How you use Twitter depends upon your company and your strategy,” Lee says. “It can be used for lead generation and our research shows it does drive traffic. The question is whether social drives traffic to lead generation opportunities such as webinars and such. “It’s a quick communication channel we’re seeing more and more companies use for customer service or education. It’s valuable if your customer is using it.”
Tags: branding yourself, Digital Summit, Exact Target, facebook, Kyle Lacy, Twitter marketing
Posted in Best Practices, Business advice, Events, Georgia, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Mobile, social media, Twitter | Comments Off
Monday, April 30th, 2012
 Freelancer.com, an outsourcing and crowdsourcing marketplace, today announced its 50 fastest growing online job categories for the first quarter of 2012 with the release of the Freelancer Fast 50.
CEO Matt Barrie, said the Freelancer.com Fast 50 pulls data from over 3.3 million users and 1.5 million projects creating the most comprehensive insight into online job trends.
“We have seen a huge increase in outsourcing on the whole, with businesses rethinking their strategies moving into the New Year,” Barrie said.
Over 170,000 jobs were posted in the first quarter of 2012, up from 130,000 in the previous quarter. “Projects are up over 30% compared to the previous quarter. The huge growth in outsourcing is made up of a wide range of different types of projects being completed in countries all across the globe,” Barrie said.
“In a difficult global economic climate, businesses are looking to optimize their cost base and are therefore looking to online freelancers as a profit driver. This has seen significant job growth on the Freelancer.com marketplace despite challenging broader economic conditions,” Barrie said.
TOP TRENDS FOR Q1 2012:
● Outsourcing surges with a rise in business process outsourcing: Outsourcing of backoffice and non-core functionality has seen a dramatic rise in the last quarter with Business
Process Outsourcing (BPO) showing the highest growth of any job category in Q1 of 2012.
BPO (up by 303% to 5,150 jobs) performed the strongest, with Data Processing (up 187% to 18,349 jobs) and Data Entry (up 111% to 30,837 jobs) also very strong performers for the quarter.
SMEs are also turning to online freelancers as a cost-effective means of providing around-theclock customer support. This is underlined by strong growth in Customer Support jobs (up by 89% to 1,173 jobs).
Huge increase in VA jobs as businesses focus on core activities: Virtual Assistant jobs (up by 144% to 3205 jobs) have seen a surge in this quarter. SMEs, who traditionally do office administration in-house, are outsourcing these tasks as a result of the comparatively low cost of off-shore labour. This allows them to focus on core business activities and remain competitive, which is critical for survival in a challenging economic climate.
● Mobile app development grows as smart phones show no sign of slowing: Android (up by 26% to 2,863 jobs), iPhone (up by 27% to 4,318 jobs) and iPad (up by 19% to 1,828 jobs), with “post-PC device” sales outstripping that of personal computers and a slew of new models hitting the market, the number of jobs in these areas has seen a steady increase. The demand for mobile developers has been insatiable and will continue to grow as more businesses seek to offer their products and services on these platforms.
● Open Standards will own the Web: HTML5 (up 48% to 2,160 jobs) continues its ascent as the de-facto Web 2.0 standard. The continued growth of “post-PC” devices and their support of next generation open web standards such as HTML5 has seen many businesses invest in Web 2.0 technologies such as jQuery (up 39% to 2,324 jobs). This has been to the detriment of older and proprietary technologies such as Flash (down 1% to 2,697 jobs). The continued high growth of post-PC devices, and iOS’s lack of support for Flash, has forced many companies to switch to supported open standards.
● Losers: SEO (up by 8% to 10,152 jobs) has remained comparatively stagnant. Despite a stronger recovery for SEO in late 2011, Google’s constant fight against low quality link building has had a major impact on the SEO industry – causing significant pain recently for ecommerce and blog sites by delisting major link networks.
Google’s latest revision of its Panda algorithm punishes “over optimized” sites and articles but even seems to hurt some totally legitimate sites. We noticed it here at the TechJournal and we use only straight-forward SEO practices.
FREELANCER FAST 50 (FASTEST MOVERS)
Rank Category Q1 2012 Q4 2011 Growth
1 BPO 5,150 1,278 303%
2 PDF 1,386 424 227%
3 Excel 20,303 6,761 200%
4 Data Processing 18,351 6,386 187%
5 Copy Typing 2,711 1,076 152%
6 Web Search 4,811 1,963 145%
7 Virtual Assistant 3,205 1,313 144%
8 Data Entry 30,837 14,595 111%
9 Article Submission 2,793 1,462 91%
10 Customer Support 1,173 619 89%
11 Web Scraping 2,027 1,190 70%
12 .NET 4,750 3,118 52%
13 HTML5 2,160 1,462 48%
14 Copywriting 8,030 5,682 41%
15 3D Rendering 1,263 902 40%
16 jQuery / Prototype 2,324 1,668 39%
17 Twitter 2,215 1,599 39%
18 Research 2,108 1,603 32%
19 Mobile Phone 4,608 3,514 31%
20 YouTube 1,248 954 31%
21 Visual Basic 1,345 1,039 29%
22 User Interface / IA 1,237 958 29%
23 Android 2,863 2,234 28%
24 CSS 5,579 4,389 27%
25 iPhone 4,318 3,407 27%
26 Proofreading 1,448 1,143 27%
27 eBay 1,289 1,020 26%
28 Script Install 1,608 1,289 25%
29 Ghostwriting 4,073 3,267 25%
30 Academic Writing 4,220 3,408 24%
31 3D Modelling 1,186 962 23%
32 WordPress 6,366 5,233 22%
33 Editing 1,012 838 21%
34 PSD to HTML 1,524 1,274 20%
35 iPad 1,828 1,538 19%36 Facebook 1,675 1,535 9%
37 Video Services 7,542 6,914 9%
38 Bulk Marketing 1,382 1,271 9%
39 SEO 2,335 2,158 8%
40 Website Design 10,152 9,389 8%
41 Link Building 22,962 21,370 7%
42 Java 7,138 6,696 7%
43 Magento 2,406 2,261 6%
44 C++ Programming 1,724 1,624 6%
45 Social Networking 2,078 1,973 5%
46 Translation 5,252 4,989 5%
47 Shopping Carts 1,691 1,649 3%
48 Leads 2,373 2,322 2%
49 Flash 2,697 2,733 -1%
50 Telemarketing 999 1,068 -6%
This data was extracted from 172,936 jobs posted on Freelancer.com in Q1 2012. The
Freelancer.com Freelancer Fast 50 is the leading gauge of online hiring trends.
Tags: freelance.com, hot job categories, HTML 5, Mobile app development, open standards, SEO, twitter, virtual assistants
Posted in Economy/Jobs, Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing, Mobile, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech life/Culture, Twitter | Comments Off
Friday, April 27th, 2012
 Recent survey findings from ingenie, a car insurance brand for young drivers, have revealed that 58% of 17-25 year old drivers agree that smartphone apps are causing young people to be more distracted at the wheel.
This is disturbing. Studies have shown that using a phone while driving is as dangerous as drinking and driving. Anyone who has followed a distracted driver weaving and changing speed while talking on a cell phone has seen why.
ingenie commissioned the survey of 1,000 young drivers, conducted by One Poll, which has uncovered the extent of how smartphones and social media are distracting 17-25 year olds when behind the wheel.
The latest ingenie survey revealed:
- Over 40% admitted to answering their phones while driving without a hands-free set
- 44% said they had sent a text message, and 62% said they had read a message while they were driving
- 1 in 6 male drivers under 25 has crashed due to mobile phone usage at the wheel
- One third of under 25s who use Facebook on their phone admitted to using it whilst driving
- 18% of under 25s who have Draw Something on their phone have played the game whilst driving - 17% for Angry Birds
- Hands-free kits encourage 53% more young drivers to make longer calls at the wheel (longer than 5 minutes)
The results collected from the survey suggest that the increasing range of apps and functionality available on mobile devices is contributing to young driver distraction – even mobile games, which take a high level of concentration are taking young people’s attention away from the roads.
On the growing range of dangerous distractions created by smartphones, ingenie founder and CEO Richard King said, “We’re in the middle of a perfect storm, where the rapid growth of social media and mobile is creating a new breed of in-car distraction.
“We’re increasingly using smartphones to occupy ourselves during down time, but driving is an active pursuit and it really does need our full attention. As well as not texting or making calls, we should all pledge not to tweet, update our status or be tempted by anything else our phone has to offer whilst driving.”
What can be done about this other than increasing awareness of the dangers? We suspect stiffer laws against using a phone while driving might help, but are unlikely to solve the problem as smartphones become like an extension of the hand for younger users.
Tags: distracted drivers, ingenie, smartphone apps, tech life
Posted in Mobile, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech life/Culture | Comments Off
Thursday, April 26th, 2012
 Parks Associates research finds two-thirds of U.S. consumers planning to purchase a smartphone are unwilling to pay more than $50 per month for mobile data plans while almost 50% of smartphone users do not know how much mobile data they use each month.
The firm’s analysts say these findings, from the report Mobile Data and Applications: Market Update, highlight the risks to mobile operators as they try to shift from unlimited to usage-based mobile data plans.
New value propositions needed
“Operators need to create new value propositions for their data services,” said Harry Wang, Director, Mobile Research, Parks Associates.
“U.S. consumers are accustomed to unlimited data use for one fixed price. They are reluctantly embracing the capped data plan tiers, but they have high price sensitivity and will rebel against byte-tracking. Operators need to shift consumers’ perception away from raw data to the experience created by their data services.”
Parks Associates finds over 90% of U.S. smartphone owners have downloaded apps since product purchase, at an average of two apps per month.
Worldwide, consumers will spend over $14 billion on smartphone app downloads in 2012. To maximize their revenues, operators need to tie their offerings to popular apps and services, including TV, music, books, newspapers, games, location-based services, and social activities, rather than charging consumers per megabyte.
“Moving mobile users to usage-based plans will be difficult and painful, but changes are necessary for operators to maintain revenues,” Wang said.
“Operators would benefit by recasting mobile data services as experience-driven in order to reduce price sensitivity, fend off competition, and keep their mobile data revenue engine humming.”
Tags: apps and services, consumer trends, Parks Associaties, usage based plans
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, Money, smartphones, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Thursday, April 26th, 2012
 Wealthy U.S. consumers favor brands and feel more connected to them if offer mobile apps,l according to the independent New York City-based Luxury Institute, in cooperation with mobile marketing agency Plastic Mobile.
They surveyed affluent U.S. consumers about the growing connection between luxury and the emerging mobile market.
“Luxury brands must acknowledge the impact of technology advancements in the mobile space and find a humanistic way to connect and engage with their consumers through mobile,” says Milton Pedraza, CEO of Luxury Institute.
Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Saks Fifth Avenue and Gilt Groupe are the most frequently downloaded apps by wealthy consumers who have luxury brand applications on their mobile device. Most affluent smartphone owners who are downloading luxury apps are using them to find information on products, services or brands (56%).
Feel better connected
Almost all wealthy consumers who have used luxury brand apps report that they have had a good experience with the mobile apps (93%).
In addition, 71% report that they feel better connected to luxury brands after downloading and/or using their applications and 64% view luxury brands that offer a mobile application more favorably than brands that do not.
The survey respondents indicate there are a number of features they expect from luxury brand applications and highlight loyalty programs (46%) and early access to sales (45%) as the most important.
No monetary limit on how much they would spend
In addition, providing sales professionals with a mobile application that can specify details about products (53%), have the ability to check for sizes and availability at other stores (50%) and in-store product inventory (47%) would enrich the luxury shopping experience for affluent consumers.
Of the 63% of wealthy consumers who have made a purchase through their mobile device, just under 20% have bought a luxury product or service.
While preference for the in-store experience (45%) is why wealthy smartphone users have not yet fully embraced luxury mobile commerce, the majority of luxury consumers who choose to shop via mobile report that there is no upper monetary limit to how much they would spend (72%). This indicates a tremendous emerging opportunity for luxury brands to connect with consumers through mobile.
“Mobile has been receiving a lot attention in the retail space lately. The study suggests the mobile strategy for luxury brands must be about enhancing the in-store customer experience and using the platform to help strengthen customer relationships,” says Melody Adhami, President and COO of Plastic Mobile.
Tags: Gilt Groupe, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, luxury brands, Luxury Institute, mobile apps, NYC, Plastic Mobile, Saks Fifth Avenu, wealthy consumer attitudes
Posted in Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing, Mobile, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech life/Culture, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
 Personal mobile devices used at work can present a security problem. A poll of ForeSee federal government clients shows that one-third of e-government websites currently has a functional mobile site or mobile app and more than half (53 percent) are planning or developing a mobile site, app, or both, providing evidence that federal government agencies are beginning to recognize the benefits and opportunity of the mobile channel for serving citizens.
The new findings come as part of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) E-Government Satisfaction Index, a quarterly report on the state of customer satisfaction with e-government, which customer experience analytics firm ForeSee produces in partnership with the ACSI.
“Consumers are adopting smartphones and tablets in droves, and these mobile devices are transforming the way people access the Internet,” said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee.
“Mobile is the next frontier in e-government satisfaction. It is commendable that some federal agencies are budgeting for mobile platform development when they are facing other hurdles—like tighter security requirements and budget cuts—that private-sector companies do not necessarily have to worry about.”
Meanwhile, the quarterly update of the ACSI E-Government Satisfaction Index, also included in today’s report, shows that satisfaction with federal government websites remains high. The E-Government Satisfaction Index scores 75.2 on ACSI’s 100-point scale.
More than 300,000 survey responses were collected during the first quarter of 2012 to produce the Index. Satisfaction, though high, has hit a plateau and hasn’t varied more than 0.3 from the current score over the last seven consecutive quarters.
Satisfaction with government websites drive government efficiency by increasing the likelihood that citizens will turn to the website before other more costly channels. High satisfaction also increases the likelihood of positive word of mouth recommendations.
As smartphones and other mobile devices continue to proliferate, government agencies will have another efficient channel with which to serve its constituents .
“The online sectors of the economy generally outperform all other sectors in the ACSI, in part because the web is convenient and provides access to a plethora of information and options at the click of a mouse,” said Claes Fornell, founder of the ACSI.
“Mobile has the opportunity to take that convenience a step further because few people leave the house without their cell phone. They are as ubiquitous as your keys, and smartphones are still proliferating.”
“Federal agencies are lagging the private sector in building their mobile platforms, but federal employees are smartphone users, too, and e-gov webmasters are among the more tech savvy government employees,” said Dave Lewan, vice president of public sector business at ForeSee. “They see how mobile affects their own lives; how could they not see it in the future of citizen engagement?”
Tags: ACSI, American Customer Satisfaction Index, e-government, E-government satisfaction index, ForeSee, moible, smartphones
Posted in Best Practices, Government/Defense, Internet/New Media, Mobile, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech life/Culture, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Monday, April 23rd, 2012
 Findings revealed in a new white paper from Baynote, which sells customer experience solutions, shows that 93 percent of retailers view analytics evaluation as their number one merchandising/navigational priority from a customer retention point-of-view.
However, retailers on average have failed to reach optimum data analysis capabilities, citing information silos, limited data access across organizations, and lack of education about which metrics are the most valuable as the top hurdles.
“Data will be the driving force behind growing businesses where gaining a clear picture of one’s customer will suggest ideal marketing and personalization strategies,” said Lauren Freedman, president, the e-tailing group.
Additional findings of the e-tailing group “Metrics Therapy – Details, Dashboards and Diligence,” white paper include:
- It’s about profit, not conversion:
- While conversion gets the most attention in media, gross profitability was seen as the top metric, especially in low margin categories where profitability percentage points can have a major impact on overall performance
- Personalization measurement in its infancy:
- Retailers increasingly value, and are investing in, personalization technologies yet agree there is an industry-wide need for more sophisticated measurement tactics
- Mobile and tablets delivered:
- For mobile and tablets, both traffic and conversion exceeded expectations yet improved optimization across these channels and a better understanding of key metrics will enable retailers to drive growth
- In general, retailers are following a “same metrics/different device” approach to metrics, which can work in the short-term, but will become problematic for retailers’ long-term strategies
- Social stuck in measuring “soft ROI,” but looks to evolve:
- In social, retailers’ metrics are still focused on the number of Facebook fans and Twitter followers, (78 percent and 61 percent, respectively) not real ROI; retailers cited measuring interactivity and customer preferences as top goals
- Multi-channel view on the horizon:
- The ultimate horizon for retailers is to have a holistic 360-degree view of the customer across all touch-points that takes into account interactions and transactions and provides understanding of the most cost-effective ways to reach customers and drive conversion for life
“While retailers are making analytics evaluation their number one priority, the vast majority are still struggling to measure and optimize the customer experience across multiple devices and channels,” said Dan Darnell, vice president of marketing, Baynote. “For retailers, measurement is still a work in progress – our Merchant’s Metrics Playbook is a great resource for e-commerce teams that are serious about taking their analytics capabilities to the next level.”
To download the complete white paper and a free copy of “A Merchant’s Metric Playbook” please visit:http://www.baynote.com/resource/metrics-therapy-paper/.
Tags: analytics, Baynote, dashboards, metrics therapy, mobile, multi-media, pesonalization measurement, retailing, social, tablets
Posted in Analytics, Digital Devices, Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing, Mobile, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
 Video phones popular in sci-fi and speculations about the future may finally be taking off via mobile You can get a feel for what’s hot in the digital space from the large funding rounds two firms disclosed today.
Remember the video phones once so common in science fiction that never took-off in real life? Their mobile equivalent is doing much better.
Tango, a Palo Alto, CA-based mobile video calling service, has closed a $40 million Series C round of funding with investment that included new investors Qualcomm Incorporated, acting through its venture arm, Qualcomm Ventures, and Access Industries Inc., the industrial holding company founded by Len Blavatnik. The financing brings the company’s total funding close to $100 million.
This round also saw additional investment from members of co-founder Eric Setton’s family who have been supporters of the company since the early days. Other prominent Tango investors include Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Michael Birch, Andy Bechtolsheim, and Bill Hambrecht.
Tango has seen record growth and usage in the last few months. The number of daily calls has doubled in the past four months and daily registrations have doubled since July 2011. In just 18 months, 45 million people have started using Tango, over 10 percent of them use Tango every day, and 44 percent are active.
BranchOut trees $25M fore Facebook professional networking app
San Francisco-based BranchOut, the largest professional networking application on Facebook, has surpassed 25 million registered users, adding more than three new registered users every second.
The continued adoption of BranchOut by global users spurred another round of funding, the company says, as it closed $25 million in Series C financing led by Mayfield Fund. Previous investors Accel, Norwest Venture Partners and Redpoint Ventures also participated in the round. This financing brings BranchOut’s total funding to $49 million.
BranchOut’s 25 million registered users can leverage their network connections of more than 400 million professional profiles to help them find jobs, recruit talent, and open doors to new opportunities.
Much of BranchOut’s growth has come from its emerging mobile user base. Since adding the ability to connect with Facebook friends from its mobile application in February, 40 percent of its new users now join from mobile devices. BranchOut is now accessible via Android smartphones, Apple iOS devices, and tablets.
With an average of nearly two million new registered users joining weekly since February, BranchOut is also growing rapidly from increased international adoption. Approximately 50 percent of all new users join from countries outside of the U.S. — primarily in the U.K., Europe, Australia, Canada, and India — to utilize both their personal and professional relationships on a single network.
The Series C funding will allow BranchOut to expand its San Francisco-based team of 45 people.
Tags: Accel, Access Industries, BranchOut, CA, Facebook networking app, financings, Len Blavatnik, Mayfield Fund, mobile calling service, Norwest Venture Partners, Palo Alto, Qualcomm Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, San Francisco, sci-fi, Tango, video phones
Posted in Facebook, Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, Money, Telecommunications, venture capital report, video | Comments Off
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
 Just more than half of smartphone owners-51 percent- accessed travel content on their devices during the three month period ending February 2012, with nearly 1 in every 5 smartphone owners using their device to book air travel or hotel reservations, according to the new comScore Travel Advisor report.
“The on-the-go convenience of smartphones has facilitated their emergence as an essential companion for travelers,” said Mark Donovan, comScore SVP of mobile.
“We all know how hectic a travel experience can be, but smartphones have really stepped in to meet a variety of needs for travelers, such as coordination of schedules, locations, trip itineraries and transactions.
“With more than half of all smartphone users now engaging with travel content, there has never been a better opportunity for suppliers and OTAs to invest in their mobile strategies to provide a great experience and win loyalty from their customers.”
Smartphones Become Pocket Travel Agents for Growing Number of Americans
During the three month period ending in February 2012, 51 percent of the smartphone audience accessed air and/or hotel content on their device, with 4 in every 5 mobile travelers accessing both air and hotel content.
The most popular air travel-related mobile activity was checking airfare prices, in which 26 percent of all smartphone users engaged. Smartphone users were nearly as likely to look up an airline phone number, flight schedules, and check a flight’s status, each of which was conducted by 25 percent of the audience.
While many of the most popular behaviors were consumers seeking information, they also engaged in transactional behavior. 21 percent of smartphone consumers checked in for a flight on their device, while 18 percent booked a flight on their smartphone and 10 percent cancelled a flight.
Top Mobile Air Activities while Planning a Trip or Traveling During Previous Three Months
February 2012
Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 18+
Source: Custom Mobile Travel Advisor Survey
% of Smartphone Owners
Checked airfare prices 26%
Looked up a phone number (i.e. airline) 25%
Looked at flight schedules 25%
Checked a flight status (arrival/delays) 25%
Looked up airport information 24%
Checked in for a flight 21%
Received price alerts for flights 19%
Booked a flight 18%
Received SMS alerts for a flight status 17%
Tracked the status of a checked bag 13%
Cancelled a flight 10%
Among hotel-related mobile activities, looking up hotel address/directions was the most popular (conducted by 29 percent of smartphone owners), followed by researching attractions or things to do near hotel (23 percent). Reading hotel reviews and comparing hotel prices and availability were performed by more than 1 in 5 smartphone owners in the past three months, while 18 percent used their device to book a hotel room.
Top Mobile Hotel Activities while Planning a Trip or Traveling During Previous Three Months
February 2012
Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 18+
Source: Custom Mobile Travel Advisor Survey
% of Smartphone Owners
Looked up hotel address/directions 29%
Looked up/ researched attractions/ things to do at my destination/near my hotel 23%
Looked up/researched places to eat at my destination/near my hotel 22%
Read a hotel review 22%
Compared hotel prices & availability 21%
Booked a hotel room 18%
Received price alerts for hotels 18%
Looked up/researched ground transportation at my destination/near my hotel 17%
Cancelled a hotel reservation 10%
Males and Younger Audience Segments More Likely to Consume Travel Content
Compared to the average smartphone owner the mobile traveler was more likely to be younger and male, a fairly typical profile for early technology adopters. 62 percent of smartphone owners that accessed travel information were male, compared to 52 percent of the entire smartphone audience, while 78 percent of smartphone travelers were between the ages of 18-44, compared to 63 percent of the total smartphone audience. Mobile travelers tended to have similar income levels compared to the average smartphone owner with approximately half of each audiences residing in households earning at least $75,000 annually.
Donovan continued, “Both OTAs and suppliers need to understand the demographic and behavioral characteristics of these mobile travelers in order to build effective mobile strategies that complement their online presence.
Failure to develop a strong mobile presence could result in unsatisfied customers and lost opportunities to convert new audiences, leaving brands vulnerable to competitors who adapt more quickly to addressing consumers’ shifting consumption habits.”
Demographic Profile of Smartphone Travel User
February 2012
Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 18+
Source: Custom Mobile Travel Advisor Survey
% of Mobile Travel Smartphone Audience % of Total Smartphone Audience
Gender:
Male 62% 52%
Female 38% 48%
Age:
18-24 21% 17%
25-34 33% 25%
35-44 24% 21%
45-54 11% 16%
55-64 8% 9%
65+ 4% 6%
Household Income:
$25k to $50k to $75k to $100k+ 26% 34%
Tags: comScore Travel Advisor report, demographics, mobile air activities, smartphones, travel info
Posted in Analytics, Digital Devices, Internet/New Media, Mobile, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech life/Culture | Comments Off
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
 If you own a mobile device, whether it is a smartphone, tablet, notebook or laptop, we bet you’ve played one or more mobile games.
They can be compelling. From slingshotting Angry Birds at laughing pigs, blasting away at tanks or bad guys, or trying to dunk a paper wad in an trash can, they’re great time-killers and may even have some beneficial effects on hand-eye-coordination and concentration.
Here’s an infographic from BusinessDegree.com that takes a look at how these little games became such big business:
Created by: BusinessDegree.net
Tags: Angry Birds, big business, businessdegree.com, in-game-purchases, iPhones, mobile games, most popular apps, Rovio, zombies, Zynga
Posted in Angry Birds, games, infographic, Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, mobile games, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech life/Culture, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
 Prema Gupta, co-founder of Khush singing into a smart phone. By Allan Maurer
If you’re planning to launch a mobile app, Prerna Gupta, CEO of Khush, has three tips for you.
Gupta, named one of FastCompany’s Most Influential Women in Tech 2011, founded Khush, which sells the La Di Da mobile apps sold through the iTunes store, in 2009. The app analyzes a users voice when they sing into their iPhone.
Using state-of-the-art algorithms to analyze the pitch and structure of the vocal input, it uses that information to compose a unique accompaniment in real-time that matches the song.
The app, which originally sold for $2.99, has been downloaded more than 2 million times and its demo videos on YouTube garnered more than 65 million views.
Khush, which originated as one of Atlanta-based Shotput Ventures first eight companies raised funds from Shotput, Georgia Tech’s Venture Lab, Rackspace executive Pat Matthews, 500 startups, and angel investor Yee Lee. It was acquired by sonic iPhone app firm Smule in December 2011.
Gupta is one of dozens of Internet gurus, mavens and thought-leaders headed to he Digital Summit in Atlanta May 9-10. She plans to discuss several trends in mobile app development, such as the need to build social components into apps and gaming, particularly those that are extremely social. “I’ll elaborate on what’s behind these trends and why everyone is into them,” she says.
We asked Gupta what advice she would give mobile app developers.
Three tips for mobile app developers
First, she says, “Put something out there. When you’re first starting with any type of consumer tech, the tendency is to want to make it perfect. So you keep building, keep building and don’t launch.
But the experience of putting it out there is important and will make you smarter. You learn so much when you launch and get user feedback.”
Second: “Don’t be discouraged if you’re not an overnight success. Apps that succeed right away are a small percent of those produced. The idea that if it doesn’t go viral right away you are a failure is a myth. More often, it takes several months to gain traction.
Third, “When you are creating an app, don’t cram too much on one screen, especially with the small iPhone screen size. Ask yourself, ‘what is the one thing this app is trying to do?’ Get that right. After you launch, you’ll find out what people want and add to it selectively. Don’t put 100 things in to start.
Khush, Gupta notes, added a new app called Sonify in July last year. “It did well and was the number one free app on iTunes for several weeks when it launched, which means it was number one in the world.”
New Songify app introduced last year
Songify turns speech in any language into singing. It resulted from feedback received from users of La Di Da. Users expressed some apprehension about singing, “So we wanted to take it a step further and all you have to do is talk,” she says.
We like that. People turn off the hot water in the shower if we sing.
They created the Songfiy app with a YouTube pop band, The Gregory Brothers, who are famous for taking news clips of people talking and manually editing them to make it sound like singing.
Tags: 500 Startups, app development tips, Digital Summit, GA Tech Venture Lab, Khush, La Di Da, Pat Matthews, Prerna Gupta, Shotput Ventures, Smule, Sonify, Yee Lee
Posted in Apple, entrepreneurship, Events, games, Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing, Mobile, mobile games, smartphones, Startups, video | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
 The IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report for the full-year 2011 reveals that revenues soared to a landmark high of $31 billion.
That milestone represents a 22 percent increase over 2010’s full-year number, which itself had been a record-breaker at $26 billion.
The report, released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and prepared by PwC U.S., also unveils that fourth quarter revenues for 2011 hit a best-ever at $9 billion, marking a 15 percent increase over the third quarter 2011, which came in at $7.8 billion, and a 20 percent growth year-over-year in comparison to 2010’s $7.4 billion.
“In addition, with advancement in areas like mobile and digital video, it appears that there will be robust avenues for interactive’s growth in the future.”
Other highlights of the report include:
- Mobile experienced the fastest growth of all categories – triple-digit growth year-over-year – up 149 percent to $1.6 billion in full-year 2011 from $0.6 billion in 2010.
- Digital video, a component of display-related advertising, saw a significant uptick of 29 percent year-over-year, bringing in $1.8 billion in revenue in 2011 compared to $1.4 billion in 2010.
- Search revenues in 2011 totaled $14.8 billion, up almost 27 percent from $11.7 billion in 2010.
- Display-related advertising revenues in 2011 totaled $11.1 billion or 35 percent of 2011 revenues, up 15 percent from $9.6 billion in 2010.
- Retail advertisers continue to represent the largest category of internet ad spending, accounting for 22 percent in 2011, or $7.1 billion, up from 21 percent ($5.5 billion) reported in 2010.
“This historic moment, with an especially impressive achievement in mobile, is indicative of an increased awareness from advertisers that they need to reach consumers where they are spending their time–in digital media,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB. “Pushing past the $30 billion barrier, the interactive advertising industry confirms its central place in media. Across search, display, digital video, digital provides a wealth of opportunity for brands and consumers. With the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, it is likely that the tremendous growth in mobile will continue as these screens become even more crucial to the marketing mix.”
“The year 2011 saw mobile advertising become a meaningful category,” said David Silverman, Partner, PwC U.S. “By combining some of the best features of the internet, along with portability and location-based technology, mobile advertising is enabling marketers to deliver timely, targeted, relevant, and local advertisements in a manner that was not previously possible. It is for these reasons that we expect strong growth to continue with mobile advertising.”
“Digital advertising’s stellar performance in 2011 attests to the high-value marketers put on the medium,” said Sherrill Mane, Senior Vice President, Research, Analytics, and Measurement, IAB. “In addition, with advancement in areas like mobile and digital video, it appears that there will be robust avenues for interactive’s growth in the future.”
Here are the results from the full year in comparison with last year’s numbers:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Full Year |
|
|
Full Year |
|
|
|
2010 * |
|
|
2011 |
|
|
|
% |
|
$ |
|
|
% |
|
$ |
| Revenue (Ad Formats) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Search |
|
|
44.8 |
% |
|
$11,661 |
|
|
46.5 |
% |
|
$14,768 |
| Classifieds and Directories |
|
|
10.0 |
% |
|
$2,597 |
|
|
8.1 |
% |
|
$2,580 |
| Lead Generation |
|
|
5.1 |
% |
|
$1,323 |
|
|
4.8 |
% |
|
$1,522 |
| E-mail |
|
|
0.7 |
% |
|
$195 |
|
|
0.7 |
% |
|
$213 |
| Mobile* |
|
|
2.5 |
% |
|
$641 |
|
|
5.0 |
% |
|
$1,596 |
| Display-related |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| -Digital Video Commercials |
|
|
5.4 |
% |
|
$1,404 |
|
|
5.7 |
% |
|
$1,809 |
| -Ad banners / display ads |
|
|
22.9 |
% |
|
$5,963 |
|
|
21.5 |
% |
|
$6,811 |
| -Sponsorships |
|
|
2.8 |
% |
|
$718 |
|
|
3.5 |
% |
|
$1,121 |
| -Rich media |
|
|
5.9 |
% |
|
$1,539 |
|
|
4.1 |
% |
|
$1,315 |
| Total display-related |
|
|
37.0 |
% |
|
$9,624 |
|
|
34.8 |
% |
|
$11,056 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| * Revised from prior year to include mobile as a discreet category |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Revenue (Pricing Models) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Impression-based |
|
|
33.0 |
% |
|
$8,589 |
|
|
31.3 |
% |
|
$9,926 |
| Performance-based |
|
|
62.2 |
% |
|
$16,198 |
|
|
64.6 |
% |
|
$20,491 |
| Hybrid |
|
|
4.8 |
% |
|
$1,254 |
|
|
4.2 |
% |
|
$1,318 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tags: 2011, ad revenue, digital video, iab, Internet, mobile, retail, Search
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Mobile, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
 Which 3G and 4G wireless services are fastest in your city and overall? PCWorld found out.
Mobile internet service is a major monthly expense for most American consumers, and a very big business for U.S. wireless companies.
The marketing machines of those companies are now in high gear, touting their services as the industry transitions from 3G service to the much faster 4G. Problem is, everybody’s service is “4G”, “most reliable”, “biggest”, “fastest” and “best,” if you believe all the names and claims flying about on TV, radio, print media and the Web.
“The big surprise in this year’s study is T-Mobile’s performance”
That’s why PCWorld has once again hit the road to measure the real-world performance of the four major wireless services on America’s streets and in its coffee shops. During February and March of this year, PCWorld measured the speeds of the major U.S. carriers’ 3G and 4G wireless services from 130 locations in 13 major U.S. cities.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE STUDY
- AT&T had the fastest download speeds of any 4G service, along with an HSPA+ service that’s very competitive with 3G services–a compelling service combination for AT&T dual-mode phones.
- T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 21 service proved faster overall than comparable 3G services in our study, and the carrier’s high-end HSPA+ 42 service held its own with the 4G services of its larger competitors. Those services, and the array of flexible and affordable plans it offers, make T-Mobile a good choice for many wireless users.
- Verizon has 4G service in many more locations than other providers, but in most localities the download speed of its 4G service doesn’t match AT&T’s (though its upload speeds are faster, more often than not). And Verizon’s 3G speeds have not improved much, especially when compared to the competition.
- Sprint is a consistent laggard in the wireless speed races. The company appears to have virtually stopped developing its network while looking for a way to transition from its outdated WiMAX 4G technology to LTE.
“The big surprise in this year’s study is T-Mobile’s performance,” says PCWorld Senior Editor Mark Sullivan, who designed and managed the study.
“By offering data speeds that are very competitive with AT&T and Verizon along with its affordable data plans, T-Mobile is proving why its proposed acquisition by AT&T last year would have been bad news for US consumers.”
“The other (rather sobering) surprise in this year’s data is Sprint’s poor performance, both in 3G and 4G service. The carrier’s speeds suggest that both the Sprint CDMA and WiMAX networks have seen very little investment and upgrade over the past year—in a mobile data market where the rule is ‘grow faster or perish.’”
“While a majority of wireless consumers still use slower 3G devices today, most will transition to faster 4G devices over the next five years as carriers push them to upgrade to newer 4G devices when their contracts expire,” Sullivan says. Meanwhile wireless companies will continue to increase their networks’ data transfer speeds to compete for new customers and retain old ones.
FASTEST 3G AND 4G SERVICES BY CITY:
Atlanta – 3G: T-Mobile; 4G: AT&T
Boston – 3G: T-Mobile; 4G: AT&T
Chicago – 3G: AT&T 4G: AT&T
Dallas – 3G: AT&T 4G: AT&T
Denver – 3G: T-Mobile; 4G: Verizon
Los Angeles – 3G: T-Mobile; 4G: AT&T
Las Vegas – 3G: T-Mobile; 4G: AT&T
New Orleans – 3G: T-Mobile; 4G: Verizon
New York – 3G: T-Mobile; 4G: AT&T
San Jose – 3G: T-Mobile; 4G: Verizon
San Francisco – 3G: T-Mobile; 4G: AT&T
Seattle – 3G: T-Mobile; 4G: Verizon
Washington DC – 3G: T-Mobile; 4G: AT&T
“Our annual speed study is an important part of what we do at PCWorld,” explains VP, Editorial Director, Steve Fox. “Many consumers look to us for an unbiased, independent, empirical assessment of the wireless technology and services being offered in the U.S. today.”
“It’s exciting to see the data speed wars heating up as the wireless providers move from 3G to 4G technology in their networks and devices,” Fox says. “We only hope that the competition eventually translates into better performance and better value for consumers.”
Read the complete article with detailed results and data at: http://pcwrld.us/HILktj
Tags: 3G service, AT&T, Atlanta, Bsoton, Chicago, Dallas, DC, Denver, fastest 4G service, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, PCWorld, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, T-Mobile, Verizon, Washington
Posted in Internet/New Media, Mobile, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
 John Lawson - Founder, ColderICE.com By Allan Maurer
There is still enormous room for growth in ecommerce, especially from the mobile side. “In the grand scheme of commerce, it’s still only maybe 11 percent of all things bought,” says John Lawson, CEO of the award-winning industry blog, ColerICE.com. It’s only going in one direction, though, he says:”It’s going up.”
Lawson is an Platinum eBay Power Seller, Top-Rated Amazon Seller, Social Media Personality and e-commerce analyst for Wall-Street firms. He specializes in multi-channel e-commerce, social rich-media marketing and mobile commerce.
Named Small Business Influencer Champion by Small Biz Trends and Savviest in Social Media by Startup Nation, John Lawson, formally of Accenture consulting firm, today is an Ecommerce Business CEO, International Business Keynote Speaker, Award-winning Social Media Strategist, American Express Featured TV Personality and appeared on Fox News.
Will speak at the Digital Summit
Lawson is one of dozens of e-commerce, Internet and digital marketing gurus headed to Atlanta May 9-10 for the upcoming Digital Summit. He’ll join speakers from many top brands, including Google, Mashable, Huffington Post, Twitter, Pandora, Stumble Upon and Klout.
Lawson points out that e-commerce grew at a healthy 13 percent last year, although it hasn’t caught up to the brisk 30 percent a year growth prior to 2008.
Lawson says one effect of this growth is that entrepreneurs who started companies when e-commerce was smaller should be prepared to see a lot more larger brick & mortar firms coming into the space.
Competition from major retailers will increase
“So we’ll see a lot of growth, but also a lot of competition with a lot of dollars spent. Things we found that worked – daily deals, for instance – you’ll see on a major scale when Macys and J.C. Pennys get serious about e-commerce.”
Mobile commerce, he says, “Changes everything when they get mobile payments right so that I can just pull out the phone and not the plastic.”
For anyone in the e-commerce game, Lawson suggests, “Watch Amazon. They’re leaders changing the mind of the consumer regarding e-commerce so that they expect two-day or free shipping and the opportunity to try a product and send it back without it costing them anything. ”
It’s still early enough to get a foothold in e-commerce and and “be right in front,” says Lawson. How?
Don’t go overboard
“Don’t go overboard creating a lot of proprietary stuff,” he says. “And make sure you keep up with where your customers are coming from and where they’re buying.”
He adds, “Focus on payments. Allow people to pay the way they want. Ultimately, it’s about getting customers to the register with cash.”
Pay attention to customer support and service, too, he says. “You need the ability to give people exactly what they’re looking for based on their social profile. Tailor things for your audience. Find people with influence, influential buyers.” Do things to encourage them to share their purchase information.
Don’t fall into the cell phone syndrome of always trying to get new customers instead of taking care of the ones you have. “You have to know the cost of acquiring a new customer,” he says. It is often far higher than the cost of keeping existing customers happy.
Lawson says that among other things, he’ll discuss tools for finding the information you need to carry out those steps at the Digital Summit.
Tags: Amazon, analytics, Best Practices, ColderICE, Digital Summit, e-commerce, John Lawson, mobile
Posted in Amazon, Analytics, Best Practices, Business advice, entrepreneurship, Events, Internet/New Media, Mobile, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Monday, April 9th, 2012
Personal mobile devices used at work can present a security problem. Mobilisafe, a Seattle-based mobile risk management company, say results of its small and midsized business (SMB) focused study shows that the increasing use of mobile devices exposes small and medium-sized businesses to severe security vulnerabilities.
As part of a private beta program, participants evaluated a product that assesses the security risk of mobile devices accessing their company’s network.
Over the course of 4 months, Mobilisafe’s mobile security product mapped pre-existing and newly discovered vulnerabilities to devices. More than 134 mobile operating system and application vulnerabilities were analyzed during the study, segmented by degree of severity from low to high.
This analysis uncovered the following insights:
- SMBs are exposed to high severity vulnerabilities from the increasing levels of mobile devices used to access and download company data
- SMB IT managers cannot keep up with the rate of discovery of severe vulnerabilities these devices bring to their corporate network
- SMB IT departments lack a standardized approach to mitigate the risks from different types of mobile devices, as they do with laptops, desktops and servers
- Even though they feel exposed to mobile device security risk, SMBs do not feel they have adequate tools to assess and mitigate these risks at a granular level
Increasingly, application and operating system vulnerabilities are being exploited to compromise security models that isolate and protect company data. Company data is at risk of being leaked off the device and company servers are at risk of being attacked by mobile devices already authenticated to access company resources.
As IT managers have learned from security risk management in the desktop, laptop and server ecosystem, proactively addressing vulnerabilities pre-empts exploits from jeopardizing company data.
Some key data from the study:
- 71% of devices in the study contained high severity operating system and application vulnerabilities
- A new high severity vulnerability was mapped on average to mobile devices every 1.6 days, which is 4x faster than in 2011
- 38 different OS versions in the study contained high severity vulnerabilities
- There would be a 4x drop in the percentage of devices with severe vulnerabilities if the devices were updated to the latest available firmware
“We now have definitive data that SMBs are exposed to vulnerability risk from mobile devices being used for work. Approximately 70% of devices with severe vulnerabilities can have their risks remediated by applying firmware updates recommended automatically by our product,” said Giri Sreenivas, CEO of Mobilisafe.
Tags: authentication, exploits, mobile device, Mobilisafe, SMB cyber security, vulnerabilities
Posted in Business advice, Digital Devices, Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, Security, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 4th, 2012
 A Samsung Android phone. Samsung was the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.6 percent market share, according to comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period endingFebruary 2012.
Google Android continued to grow its share in the U.S. smartphone market, crossing the 50-percent threshold in February to capture a majority share for the first time in its history.
OEM Market Share
For the three-month average period ending in February, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices.
Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 25.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers, followed by LG with 19.4 percent share. Apple captured the #3 ranking in February with 13.5 percent of mobile subscribers (up 2.3 percentage points), followed by Motorola at 12.8 percent.
HTC moved into the #5 position in February at 6.3 percent (up 0.4 percentage points).
| Top Mobile OEMs
3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2012 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2011
Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens |
|
Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers |
| Nov-11 |
Feb-12 |
Point Change |
| Total Mobile Subscribers |
100.0% |
100.0% |
N/A |
| Samsung |
25.6% |
25.6% |
0.0 |
| LG |
20.5% |
19.4% |
-1.1 |
| Apple |
11.2% |
13.5% |
2.3 |
| Motorola |
13.7% |
12.8% |
-0.9 |
| HTC |
5.9% |
6.3% |
0.4 |
Smartphone Platform Market Share
More than 104 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in February, up 14 percent versus November.
Google Android’s share of the smartphone market eclipsed 50 percent in February, an increase of 17 percentage points since February 2011.
Apple ranked second with 30.2 percent of the smartphone market (up 5 percentage points versus year ago), followed by RIM at 13.4 percent, Microsoft at 3.9 percent and Symbian at 1.5 percent.
| Top Smartphone Platforms
3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2012 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2011
Total U.S. Smartphone Subscribers Ages 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens |
|
Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers |
| Nov-11 |
Feb-12 |
Point Change |
| Total Smartphone Subscribers |
100.0% |
100.0% |
N/A |
| Google |
46.9% |
50.1% |
3.2 |
| Apple |
28.7% |
30.2% |
1.5 |
| RIM |
16.6% |
13.4% |
-3.2 |
| Microsoft |
5.2% |
3.9% |
-1.3 |
| Symbian |
1.5% |
1.5% |
0.0 |
Mobile Content Usage
In February, 74.8 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 2.2 percentage points. Downloaded applications were used by 49.5 percent of subscribers (up 4.6 percentage points), while browsers were used by 49.2 percent (up 4.8 percentage points). Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 3.1 percentage points to 36.1 percent of mobile subscribers. Game-playing was done by 32.3 percent of the mobile audience (up 2.6 percentage points), while 24.8 percent listened to music on their phones (up 3.1 percentage points).
| Mobile Content Usage
3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2012 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2011
Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone) Ages 13+
Source: comScore MobiLens |
|
Share (%) of Mobile Subscribers |
| Nov-11 |
Feb-12 |
Point Change |
| Total Mobile Subscribers |
100.0% |
100.0% |
N/A |
| Sent text message to another phone |
72.6% |
74.8% |
2.2 |
| Used downloaded apps |
44.9% |
49.5% |
4.6 |
| Used browser |
44.4% |
49.2% |
4.8 |
| Accessed social networking site or blog |
33.0% |
36.1% |
3.1 |
| Played Games |
29.7% |
32.3% |
2.6 |
| Listened to music on mobile phone |
21.7% |
24.8% |
3.1 |
About MobiLens
MobiLens data is derived from an intelligent online survey of a nationally representative sample of mobile subscribers age 13 and older. Data on mobile phone usage refers to a respondent’s primary mobile phone and does not include data related to a respondent’s secondary device.
Tags: Android, Apple, comScore, Feb. 2012 mobile trends, Google, HTC, LG, Microsoft, Motorola, RIM, Samsung, Symbian
Posted in Digital Devices, Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | Comments Off
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