Posts Tagged ‘social’
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
 Deal seeking has grown significantly in the past year, according to parago’s third annual shopper study, “Let’s Make a Deal.”
It is now a behavior consistently seen in shoppers from all demographics. Deal seeking is no longer just trendy or born completely out of necessity. Shoppers continue to seek out the very best prices and are willing to go out of their way to save even a little bit.
Consumers are rapidly adopting all forms of deal seeking—especially rebates—through mobile, social and online platforms.
Finding deals is emotionally rewarding
Searching for and finding the best value is a practice now cemented in consumers’ path to purchase due to several factors: greater price sensitivity, reduced perceived spending power, advancing mobile technology and easier access to deals online and via social networks.
“Finding deals is emotionally rewarding to consumers, as it makes them feel as though they are doing everything they can to maintain their standard of living. This attitude is evidenced by their willingness to work across social, mobile, print and digital resources to find the very best price,” said Rodney Mason, CMO of parago, a global incentives and engagement company.
“This study sends a clear message to marketers: shoppers’ appetites for deals and discounts can be fulfilled in a variety of ways, especially via mobile and social as well as rebates, which consumers understand offer deeper discounts than other deals” Mason added.
The “Let’s Make a Deal” shopper study can be downloaded for free here.
Key findings from the research include:
- Price sensitivity is up significantly: Nearly 3 in 4 shoppers are more sensitive to price this year due in part to 42% of those surveyed feeling their purchasing power has decreased.
- Deal-seeking behavior continues to grow: Before shopping, 80% of consumers look for deals, rebates and the best prices; only 69% did so in 2012.
- The majority prefer rebates to instant discounts: All income levels believe rebates are easy to complete and worth the extra step for the deeper savings earned vs. instant discount offers.
- Mobile deal finding jumps: This year, 46% of consumers shop where they can use their smartphones to check prices; only 11% did so last year.
- Demand for deals in social networks: 57% of consumers would like access to exclusive values via social media.
The “Let’s Make a Deal” shopper study was conducted in March 2013 via independent online delivery. More than 1,100 consumers, representative of the U.S. population by education, income and sex, responded to a 50-question survey that explored their deal-seeking behavior.
Tags: deal seeking, mobile, online, purchase behaviors, shopping, social
Posted in Ecommerce, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Monday, April 22nd, 2013
 For 2012, the worldwide software market grew 3.6% year over year reaching a total market size of $342 billion, which was in line with IDC’s previous forecast of 3.4% and less than half the growth rate experienced in 2010 and 2011. In that sense, 2012 confirms the beginning of a more conservative growth period.
In the middle of this scenario, there are faster growing market segments, such as Data Access, Analysis and Delivery, Collaborative Applications, CRM Applications, Security Software, and System and Network Management Software. Every one of these markets grew in the 6-7% range, about double the rate for enterprise software as a whole.
“The global software market, comprised of a multi-layered collection of technologies and solutions, is growing more slowly in this period of economic uncertainty. Yet there is strong growth in selective areas.
Big data’s competitive advantage
 Credit: http://www.linuxforu.com The management and leveraging of information for competitive advantage is driving growth in markets associated with Big Data and analytics. Similarly, rapid growth in cloud deployments is fueling growth in application areas associated with social business and customer experience.
Both these initiatives require a reliable and secure infrastructure, driving investments in security and system/network management. The combination of these forces is advancing the growth to what IDC has termed the third platform,” said Henry D. Morris, Senior Vice President for Worldwide Software, Services and Executive Advisory Research.
Three primary segments comprise the total software market in IDC’s software taxonomy: Applications; Application Development & Deployment (AD&D); and Systems Infrastructure Software.
Fastest growing segment: AD&D
Among the three primary segments, the AD&D segment, which comprised nearly 24% of total software revenues in 2012, was the fastest growing market with a 4.6% year-over-year growth rate.
Growth in the AD&D segment was largely driven by the performance of the Data Access, Analysis, and Delivery and the Structured Data Management secondary markets with 6.0% and 5.9% growth rates, respectively.
Business Intelligence and Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) solutions are pushing the growing trend for these markets because of widening Big Data and Analytics adoption.
Big data and analytics are also closely tied to the fast growth social business software markets, where the combination of contextual data and the “right” expertise is becoming critical for supporting enterprise decision making and data driven customer experience solutions.
Oracle continues to lead
Oracle continued to lead the AD&D segment with steady market share of 21.6%, followed by IBM, Microsoft, SAP, and SAS. Among these vendors, Microsoft and SAP stood out by each gaining almost a half point of market share year over year.
In the Applications primary market segment, which comprised 49% of total software revenue, year-over-year growth for 2012 was 3.3%, which is slightly lower than for software overall. Within this market segment, CRM and Collaborative Applications stood out with year-over-year growth rates near 7%.
While the former is driven by the cloud migration trend and the large investments by businesses to deliver a better customer experience to the “social customer”, the latter is largely driven by the Enterprise Social Software market, which grew at 24.8% year over year and gained more than 5 points of market share over three years.
Mobile a contributing factor
 Mobile, while not a direct enterprise applications driver, is however a contributing factor and driver for businesses moving to newer and more mobile device agnostic enterprise software.
From a vendor perspective, Microsoft led the Applications primary market in 2012 with 13.7% of market share followed by SAP, Oracle, IBM, and Adobe; IBM showed the highest growth rate as it is expanding its portfolio coverage in the Middleware, Infrastructure and Information-related markets to the Applications markets.
The third primary segment of the software market is System Infrastructure Software, which comprised 27% of total software revenue and grew 3.3% year over year in 2012. The Security Software and System/Network Management Software secondary segments both grew more than 6% year over year as these solutions provide the infrastructure – whether in the cloud or on-premise – to support the 3rd Platform.
Although the other two System Infrastructure Software secondary segment (Storage Software and System Software) had flat growth in 2012, the Virtualization sub-segments had double-digit growth rates. Microsoft remains the clear leader in System Infrastructure Software overall with 28% of market share, followed by IBM, Symantec, EMC, and VMware.
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| Top 5 Worldwide Software Vendors, 2012 Revenues and Market Share (revenues in US$M) |
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| Vendor |
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2012
Revenue |
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2012 Market
Share |
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2011
Revenue |
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2011 Market
Share |
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Year-Over-
Year Growth |
| Microsoft |
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$58,454 |
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17.1% |
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$57,694 |
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17.4% |
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1.3% |
| IBM |
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$29,129 |
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8.5% |
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$28,861 |
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8.7% |
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0.9% |
| Oracle |
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$27,826 |
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8.1% |
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$26,772 |
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8.1% |
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3.9% |
| SAP |
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$16,988 |
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5.0% |
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$16,161 |
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4.9% |
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5.1% |
| Symantec |
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$6,423 |
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1.9% |
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$6,417 |
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1.9% |
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0.1% |
| Others |
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$203,818 |
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59.5% |
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$194,808 |
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58.9% |
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4.6% |
| Total |
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$342,638 |
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100.0% |
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$330,712 |
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100.0% |
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3.6% |
| Source: IDC Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker, April 2013 |
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Tags: 2012, 2013, AD&D, analystics, big data, Oracle, social, software market
Posted in Analytics, Cloud, IT, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Thursday, March 28th, 2013
 Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.8 trillion in 2013, a 4.1 percent increase from 2012 spending of $3.6 trillion, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc.
Social, mobile and cloud and information trends are reshaping spending across the business and consumer landscape, the report says.
The Gartner Worldwide IT Spending Forecast is the leading indicator of major technology trends across the hardware, software, IT services and telecom markets.
For more than a decade, global IT and business executives have been using these highly anticipated quarterly reports to recognize market opportunities and challenges, and base their critical business decisions on proven methodologies rather than guesswork.
Shocks should be short-lived
“Although the United States did avoid the fiscal cliff, the subsequent sequestration, compounded by the rise of Cyprus’ debt burden, seems to have netted out any benefit, and the fragile business and consumer sentiment throughout much of the world continues,” said Richard Gordon, managing vice president at Gartner.
“However, the new shocks are expected to be short-lived, and while they may cause some pauses in discretionary spending along the way, strategic IT initiatives will continue.”
Worldwide devices spending (which includes PCs, tablets, mobile phones and printers) is forecast to reach $718 billion in 2013, up 7.9 percent from 2012 (see Table 1). Despite flat spending on PCs and a modest decline in spending on printers, a short-term boost to spending on premium mobile phones has driven an upward revision in the devices sector growth for 2013 from Gartner’s previous forecast of 6.3 percent.
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Table 1. Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of U.S. Dollars) |
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2012
Spending |
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2012
Growth (%) |
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2013
Spending |
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2013
Growth (%) |
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2014
Spending |
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2014
Growth (%) |
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| Devices |
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665 |
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9.0 |
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718 |
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7.9 |
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758 |
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5.7 |
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| Data Center Systems |
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141 |
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1.9 |
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146 |
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3.7 |
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152 |
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4.0 |
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| Enterprise Software |
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279 |
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3.5 |
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297 |
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6.4 |
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316 |
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6.7 |
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| IT Services |
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878 |
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1.5 |
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918 |
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4.5 |
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963 |
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4.9 |
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| Telecom Services |
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1,655 |
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-0.4 |
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1,688 |
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2.0 |
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1,728 |
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2.4 |
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| Overall IT |
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3,618 |
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2.1 |
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3,766 |
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4.1 |
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3,917 |
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4.0 |
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| Source: Gartner (March 2013) |
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Calm ocean hides turbulent currents underneath
 “The global steady growth rates are a calm ocean that hides turbulent currents beneath,” said John Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner.
“The Nexus of Forces — social, mobile, cloud and information — are reshaping spending patterns across all of the IT sectors that Gartner forecasts. Consumers and enterprises will continue to purchase a mix of IT products and services; nothing is going away completely.
However, the ratio of this mix is changing dramatically and there are clear winners and losers over the next three to five years, as we see more of a transition from PCs to mobile phones, from servers to storage, from licensed software to cloud, or the shift in voice and data connections from fixed to mobile.”
Data center spending to grow
 Inside Facebook’s air-cooled data center in Forest City, NC. The outlook for 2013 for data center systems spending is forecast to grow 3.7 percent in 2013, down 0.7 percent from Gartner’s previous forecast. This reduction is largely due to cuts to the near-term forecast for spending on external storage and the enterprise in the economically troubled EMEA region.
Worldwide enterprise software spending is forecast to total $297 billion in 2013, a 6.4 percent increase from 2012.
Although the growth for this segment remains unchanged from Gartner’s previous forecast, this belies significant changes at a market level, as stronger growth expectations for database management systems (DBMS), data integration tools and supply chain management compensate for lower growth expectations for IT operations management and operating systems software.
While the outlook for IT services remains relatively unchanged since last quarter, continued hesitation among buyers is fostering hypercompetition and cost pressure in mature IT outsourcing (ITO) segments and reallocation of budget away from new projects in consulting and implementation.
The global telecom services market continues to be the largest IT spending market and will remain roughly flat over the new several years, with declining spending on voice services counterbalanced by strong growth in spending on mobile data services.
Tags: 2013, cloud, Gartner, growth, information, IT spending, mobile, social
Posted in Cloud, IT, Mobile, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Thursday, January 3rd, 2013
 Social media marketing, socially-integrated email, and mobile search are business-critical trends for small businesses in 2013, says Constant Contact, predicting those which will have the most impact this year.
With the economy still knee-deep in recovery mode, it says, more small business owners are recognizing the value of cultivating loyalty, with the assistance of social and mobile marketing tools, to bolster their bottom line.
Emergence of SoLoMo
The emergence of SoLoMo (the integration of social media, local merchants using location-aware technology, and mobile device usage) is increasing the ability of merchants to tailor marketing efforts – like content, deals, and offers – to individuals, greatly increasing the opportunity for engagement.
 “We live in a world that’s more social, more ‘all-the-time’ and interactive than ever before. That’s both good and bad. On the plus side, the new tools we have at our fingertips, coupled with the predisposition of our audience to engage, presents a fantastic opportunity for small businesses. On the flip side, standing out from the crowd and respecting the relationship with your audience is more important than ever,” said Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact.
“2013 will bring innovation that integrates marketing channels and helps small businesses market like the big guys. It will be easier than ever to get engaged with your audience and drive real, measurable results.
“Consumer mobile adoption will require even the smallest small business to mobile-optimize and enrich their online presence to get easily discovered, consumers will demand personalization like never before, and new measurement tools will help small businesses see the value of engagement marketing.”
Following is a roundup of small business marketing predictions for 2013:
Successful email marketing = socially-integrated, permission-based campaigns
 While many have predicted the untimely death of email, in reality, email is expected to grow, meaning more people will have an email address in 2013 than in 2012.
It will remain the preferred method of communication among consumers, and continue as their preferred marketing channel because they have control over it: they can choose to act on it, ignore it, delete it, or opt out of it. It’s non-intrusive.
That said, email recipients will become even more discerning when it comes to what they allow in their inbox. If email is sent on a haphazard schedule, looks amateurish, or regularly contains content that doesn’t interest the recipient, they’ll opt out and never return.
- In 2013, the power of video in emails will continue to grow, as will integration with social channels.
- If email isn’t truly permission-based, it will be harder than ever to make it to the inbox.
Mobile search on aggressive upward trajectory
 Mobile search continues to aggressively trend upward, with millions of Americans shopping by browsing hundreds of directories, web sites and mobile apps that provide local business info. In fact, for the first time, mobile storefront views surpassed web views, according to a recent study of more than ten million storefront views from SinglePlatform from Constant Contact in the fall of 2012.
Small businesses have no choice but to embrace mobile search, distributing their information across the most popular apps, and featuring mobile-optimized websites so potential customers can view their information easily.
The restaurant category has been ahead of the curve on this front but expect to see other small business categories follow suit in the coming year.
- 62% of @SinglePlatform NYC storefront views (menus, products, services) in fall 2012 viewed on a mobile device.
- @SinglePlatform: top locations for viewing menus both online and on mobile devices include NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, DC, and LA.
Events as gateway to engagement marketing
In-person and online events will play a more prominent role in driving customer engagement, with their full impact no longer limited to what happens on-site. Small businesses and nonprofits are increasingly looking at their events with a wide lens, bringing into focus the role they play in their overall marketing efforts.
- SMBs leveraging social and mobile strategies to use events as catalyst for ramping up social influence.
- Mobile influence growing w/SMB events planners; 81% plan to increase mobile use for events in 2013 says @ConstantContact survey.
2013: year of the local merchant deal done right
2012 saw all too many small businesses get “had” by deals that just aren’t designed for their success. Fortunately, we’ve learned from those mistakes and rather than run screaming from the category altogether, small businesses have learned how to make deals work. Chief among the learnings: the power of controlling the deal.
- Social sharing and 3rd-party endorsements will make loyal customers best advocates for deals in 2013.
- Consumer targeting of deals will evolve beyond city and basic demographics to tailored personal preferences.
Social media marketing as a business-critical activity
 Over the past five years, we have witnessed small business attitudes towards social media evolve from dismissive passivity to cautious curiosity. Despite larger brands’ exuberant embrace of social engagement, most small businesses have been slow to implement social as a primary channel in their marketing mix.
In 2013, there will be a significant transition as small businesses approach social media marketing as a business-critical daily activity. Small businesses will begin to see the value these channels bring to their businesses, and learn how to measure it.
- By end of 2013, more SMBs than not will be using social media marketing to drive business results says @ConstantContact.
- Expect to see social content everywhere you turn thanks to proliferation of social media tools.
Tags: 2013 marketing trends, Constant Contact, integrated campaigns, local, mobile, predictions, small businesses, social
Posted in Best Practices, Marketing, Mobile, social media | 1 Comment »
Thursday, December 20th, 2012
 Software vulnerabilities will be the main target of cyber-criminals next year, according to a list of security trends that will dominate in 2013, by PandaLabs, Panda Security’s malware laboratory.
“It is undoubtedly the preferred method of infection for compromising systems transparently, used by both cyber-criminals and intelligence agencies in countries around the world,” said Luis Corrons , technical director of PandaLabs.
In 2012, Java, which is installed on hundreds of millions of devices, was repeatedly compromised and used to actively infect millions of users. Adobe, given the popularity of its applications (Acrobat Reader, Flash, etc.) and its multiple security flaws, was also one of the favorite tools for massively infecting users as well as for targeted attacks.
“Although it is assumed that home users are exposed to the highest risk, updating applications, which is essential for protecting against these types of attacks, is a very complex process for corporations who must coordinate the update among all workstations,” explained Luis Corrons . “At the same time, all the applications used in a company must work correctly. This makes the update processes slow, which opens a window that is exploited to steal information in general and launch targeted attacks in search of confidential data.”
PandaLabs predicts that other areas that will emerge in 2013 as dominant security issues are:
- Social networks: The second most widely used technique is social engineering. Tricking users into collaborating to infect their computers and steal their data is an easy task, as there are no security applications to protect users from themselves. In this context, use of social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), places where hundreds of millions of users exchange personal information, makes them the preferred hunting ground for tricking users.
Particular attention should be paid to Skype, which after replacing Messenger, could become a target for cyber-criminals.
- Malware for mobile devices: Android has become the dominant mobile operating system. In September 2012, Google announced that it had reached 700 million Android activations. Although it is mainly used on smartphones and tablets, its flexibility and the fact that you do not have to buy a license to use it are going to result in new devices opting to use Google’s operating system. Its use is going to become increasingly widespread, from televisions to all types of home appliances, which opens up a world of possible attacks as yet unknown.
- Cyber-warfare / Cyber-espionage: Throughout 2012, different types of attacks have been launched against nations. The Middle East is worth mentioning, where the conflict is also present in cyber-space. In fact, many of these attacks are not even carried out by national governments but by citizens, who feel that they should defend their nation by attacking their neighbors using any means available.
Furthermore, the governments of the world’s leading nations are creating cyber commandos to prepare both defense and attack and therefore, the cyber-arms race will escalate.
- Growth of malware: For two decades, the amount of malware has been growing dramatically. The figures are stratospheric, with tens of thousands of new malware strains appearing every day. This sustained growth seems very far from coming to an end.
Despite security forces being better prepared to combat this type of crime, they are still handicapped by the absence of borders on the Internet. A police force can only act within its jurisdiction, whereas a cyber-crook can launch an attack from country A, steal data from citizens of country B, send the stolen data to a server situated in country C and could be living in country D. This can be done in just a few clicks, whereas coordinated action of security forces across various countries could take months. For this reason, cyber-criminals are still living their own golden era.
- Malware for Mac: Cases like Flashback, which occurred in 2012, have demonstrated that not only is Mac susceptible to malware attacks but that there are also massive infections affecting hundreds of thousands of users. Although the number of malware strains for Mac is still relatively low compared to malware for PCs, we expect it to continue rising. A growing number of users added to security flaws and lack of user awareness (due to over-confidence), mean that the attraction of this platform for cyber-crooks will continue to increase next year.
- Windows 8: Microsoft’s latest operating system, along with all of its predecessors, will also suffer attacks. Cyber-criminals are not going to focus on this operating system only but they will also make sure that their creations work equally well on Windows XP to Windows 8, through Windows 7.
One of the attractions of Microsoft’s new operating system is that it runs on PCs, as well as on tablets and smartphones. For this reason, if functional malware strains that allow information to be stolen regardless of the type of device used are developed, we could see a specific development of malware for Windows 8 that could take attacks to a new level.
More information at PandaLabs blog.
Tags: 2013, Adobe, cyber warfare, Java, Macs, mobile, Panda Labs, Security, social, vulnerabilities
Posted in Internet/New Media, Mobile, Security, social media | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 19th, 2012
 For small and medium-sized businesses, the future is mobile, social and connected, says j2 Global, a cloud services provider for small businesses. J2 Global predicts mobility, expansion of the cloud and integration of business services are three key trends SMBs need to be ready for in 2013.
It says SMBs will get smarter about the way they use mobile phones and tablets, using them for customer resource management and other business services, not just simple communications. Previously desk-bound collaboration tools will go mobile, its adds.
SMBs will adopt a broader range of mobile apps, too, such as mobile faxing, VoIP calling and more.
Cost and competition will drive two of three SMBs to the cloud in 2013, will adopt smarter, more agile systems, and bridge market and sales technologies while integrating social capabilities.
Here’s an infographic the company designed detailing the three top trends:
Tags: cloud, future trends, infographic, j2 Global, mobile, SMBs, social
Posted in Digital Devices, infographic, Internet/New Media, smartphones, social media | No Comments »
Friday, September 21st, 2012
 The rise in global security incidents, diminished budgets and degrading security programs have left organizations to deal with security risks that are neither well-understood nor consistently addressed, according to The Global State of Information Security Survey 2013 released today by PwC US in conjunction with CIO and CSO magazines.
Executives around the world feel confident that they’re winning the high-stakes game of information security despite the growing number of obstacles – but their confidence may be misplaced.
“Security models of the past decade are no longer effective. Today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape represents a danger that shows no signs of diminishing, and businesses can no longer afford to play a game of chance,” said Mark Lobel, a principal in PwC’s Advisory practice.
New strategy and advanced skills needed
“Companies that want to be information security leaders should prepare to play a new game – one that requires advanced skills and strategy to win against emerging threats.”
According to the tenth annual survey, the general mood among global executives is largely optimistic. The majority of respondents said they are very or somewhat confident their organizations have instilled effective information security behaviors into their culture (68 percent), and are very or somewhat confident their information security activities are effective (more than 70 percent).
Yet, while nearly half of respondents (42 percent) view their organization as a “front-runner” in information security strategy and execution, the survey finds that only 8 percent actually qualify as true information security leaders.
According to PwC, “leaders” are defined as companies that have a chief information security officer (or CISO equivalent) who reports to the organization’s top executives, have an overall information security strategy in place, have measured and reviewed the effectiveness of their security in the last year, and understand exactly what types of security events have occurred.
Confidence is security largely unfounded
“Clearly, many executives have unfounded confidence in their security capabilities,” said Bob Bragdon, publisher of CSO.
“In order to strengthen security practices, organizations must embrace a new way of thinking in which information security is both a means to protect data as well as an opportunity to create value to the organization. Security strategies and security spending must be well-aligned with business goals.”
Increase in incidents not met by increase in budgets
Despite an increase in the number of respondents reporting 50 or more incidents (13 percent), fewer than half (45 percent) expect an increase in their budgets in the next 12 months – down from 51 percent and 52 percent in 2011 and 2010, respectively. While multiple factors shape security budgets, the primary determinant is the economic environment, with information security concerns far down the list.
Also, senior executives are frequently seen as understanding the problem, with half of respondents – including 86% of the security “leaders” – pointing to top-level leadership as the greatest obstacle to improving information security effectiveness.
The survey shows that a winning security practice is often hindered by decreased deployment of basic information security and privacy tools. Among the categories taking a hit are malicious code detection tools for spyware and adware, down to 71 percent after topping out at 84 percent in 2008, and intrusion detection tools, once in use by nearly two-thirds of respondents and now used by just over half.
Looser tabs on data
In today’s world of “big data,” the survey also finds that most organizations are keeping looser tabs on their data today than in years past.
While more than 80 percent say protecting customer and employee data is important, far fewer understand what that data entails and where it is stored. Fewer than 35 percent of respondents said they have an accurate inventory of employee and customer personal data, and only 31 percent reported they had an accurate accounting of locations and jurisdictions of stored data.
The decreased deployment of security and privacy tools is like playing a championship game with amateur sports equipment,” continued PwC’s Lobel. “Intruders are exploiting business ecosystems, leaving reputational, financial and competitive damage in their wake.
Today’s information security leaders must acknowledge that playing the game at a higher level is required to achieve effective security. The very survival of the business demands that they understand, prepare for, and quickly respond to security threats.”
Addressing Security Threats in Social, Mobile and the Cloud
As mobile devices, social media, and the cloud become commonplace inside the enterprise and out, technology adoption is moving faster than security.
PwC has found that 88 percent of consumers use a personal mobile device for both personal and work purposes, yet only 45 percent of companies have a security strategy to address personal devices in the workplace and 37 percent have malware protection for mobile devices.
Despite an increase in the number of respondents reporting safeguards in place for mobile, social media, cloud computing, and policies covering the use of employee-owned devices, only 44 percent report having a mobile security strategy and less than 40 percent have strategies for the cloud and social media. These numbers lag the adoption rates of the technologies themselves.
To learn more about the survey, including industry specific highlights and further regional information, please visit: www.pwc.com/giss2013.
Tags: BYOD, cloud, mobile, new strategies needed, PWC, Security, social, survey
Posted in Cloud, IT, Mobile, Security, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 5th, 2012
 More than 71 million people were victims of cybercrime and suffered $20.7 billion in direct financial losses as a result, according to the annual Norton Cybercrime Report, Globally, direct costs associated with cybercrime hit $110 billion over the last 12 months, the report says.
Every second, cybercrime snags 18 adults – which adds up to more than 1.5 million victims a day. Losses average $197 per victim, the report says. That’s enough to feed a family of four for a week.
Worldwide, it’s even worse.
In the past twelve months, an estimated 556 million adults globally experienced cybercrime, more than the entire population of the European Union.
That means nearly half – 46 percent – of online adults have been victims of cybercrime in the past twelve months, on par with the findings from 2011 (45 percent).
One reason may be that according to the report, 38 percent of online adults don’t use complex passwords for their accounts or change them frequently.
As other recent cybercrime reports have shown, newer forms of cybercrime are rapidly increasing.
One in five hit by social or mobile cybercrime
One in five online adults (21 percent) has been a victim of either social or mobile cybercrime, and 39 percent of social network users have been victims of social cybercrime, specifically:
- 15 percent of social network users reported someone had hacked into their profile and pretended to be them.
- 1 in 10 social network users said they’d fallen victim to a scam or fake link on social network platforms.
Nearly one-third (31 percent) of mobile users received a text message from someone they didn’t know requesting that they click on an embedded link or dial an unknown number to retrieve a “voicemail”.
Users are not protecting themselves
Again, the lack of user vigilance is part of the problem.
While 75 percent believe that cybercriminals are setting their sights on social networks, less than half (44 percent) actually use a security solution which protects them from social network threats and only 49 percent use the privacy settings to control what information they share, and with whom.
“Cybercriminals are changing their tactics to target fast-growing mobile platforms and social networks where consumers are less aware of security risks,” says Marian Merritt, Norton Internet Safety Advocate.
“This mirrors what we saw in this year’s Symantec Internet Security Threat Report which reported nearly twice the mobile vulnerabilities in 2011 from the year before.”
Another problem the report notes is that many online adults do not realize that cybercrime has evolved and malware can now act in a discrete way to avoid detection.
“Malware and viruses used to wreak obvious havoc on your computer,” Merritt continues. “You’d get a blue screen, or your computer would crash, alerting you to an infection. But cybercriminals’ methods have evolved; they want to avoid detection as long as possible. This year’s results show that nearly half of Internet users believe that unless their computer crashes or malfunctions, they’re not certain whether they’ve fallen victim to such an attack.”
Protect your email
Norton says strong passwords are still key to personal protection against cybercrime, particularly email passwords.
“Personal email accounts often contain the keys to your online kingdom. Not only can criminals gain access to everything in your inbox, they can also reset your passwords for any other online site you may use by clicking the ‘forgot your password’ link, intercepting those emails and effectively locking you out of your own accounts,” says Adam Palmer, Norton Lead Cybersecurity Advisor.
“Protect your email accordingly by using complex passwords and changing them regularly.”
Tags: annual Cybercrime report, direct costs, mobile, new methods, Norton Symantec, social
Posted in Internet/New Media, Mobile, Security, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Friday, April 27th, 2012
 Laurie Hood - VP of Product Marketing, Silverpop By Allan Maurer
We’re always hearing that print is dead or that email is dead or that direct marketing is dead, but “Nothing in the marketer’s bag of tricks dies. Some just become less important,” says Laurie Hood, vice president of product marketing at Atlanta-based digital marketing firm Silverpop.
When it comes to email, a Silverpop focus, “Social is where people are having the conversation, but email is still where they are converting,” Hood says.
Hood is one of dozens of participants in the upcoming Digital Summit in Atlanta May 9-10. Fewer than 100 seats remain for conference, which includes sessions on Social, Mobile, Usability, Video, Search, Analytics, Email, Ecommerce, Data and more. It includes speakers from Google, Klout, Twitter, Pandora, The Onion, Huffington Post, myYearbook, Turner, Mashable and Adobe.
You have to be multichannel
Hood says that today’s marketer needs to be multi-channel. Some people may long for that time 20 years ago when you had a folder with product brochures and if fancy, a CD and, Hood says, “That was your whole world.”
Today’s prospects and customers, however, “Are multi-channel. So you have to figure out where your customers are and then what your participation in those channels will be.”
She adds, “You can’t not be in social channels and we see our clients using them as acquisition or for conversion connections, but ultimately, if you’re selling something, use email.”
Marketers have to analyze all the channels and decide on a strategy, she says. “Your CEO is going to read an article on Pinterest and come in wanting to know what your Pinterest strategy is.”
Still, she notes, “People are still struggling to find a return-on-investment through social channels.” Some vendors have even shut down their social storefronts.
Social channels do have their uses. Social sign-ins via Facebook or Twitter, for instance, make it much easier than filling out a form to subscribe to a newsletter, opt-in to a service, or register to receive offers.
Hood notes, “Seventy-percent of people prefer social sign-ins over forms.”
Three tips on multi-channel marketing
Hood offers the following advice on multi-channel marketing:
First, she says, “Grow your email database using your social networks. Add email opt-in and lead generation forms to your Facebook page.
Next, “Design campaigns around the idea of social sharing using buttons and that underlying technology. Think of content that’s going to be suitable to share on social networks.
And then, she concludes, “You’ll want to understand the social sharing patterns of your customers and prospects. Identify key influencers and provide them with specific offers and content to share in their social channels.
Tags: Allan Maurer, Atlanta, Digital Summit, email, facebook, influencers, Laurie Hood, multi-channel marketing, Silverpop, social
Posted in Best Practices, Business advice, Events, Facebook, Georgia, Internet/New Media, Marketing | No Comments »
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 | No Comments »
Friday, March 30th, 2012
Personal mobile devices used at work can present a security problem. Mojiva, a mobile ad network says its Mojiva MAP (Mobile Advertising Portal) highlighting mobile advertising trends in North America from November 2011 – January 2012 reports a dramatic 235 percent increase in rich media impressions, and gaming, tech and social publishers all saw significant increases in impressions.
Through the analysis of billions of ad requests, the findings showed that rich media ads experienced a phenomenal 235% spike in impressions over this three-month period across the globe.
In addition to the spike of rich media in mobile, several other device and advertising related trends are highlighted in the report:
- Mojiva continues its momentum, reporting a global reach of 1.1 billion unique devices in January 2012.
- More than 60% of ad requests in the North American region came from apps in January 2012.
- Gaming publishers experienced a 24% boost in impressions, while Social and Tech publishers saw an impression increase of 33% over the reporting period.
- An average of 70% of users on the Mojiva network used Wifi to browse the web or access their apps, instead of their carrier data signal.
“By analyzing billions of ad requests from the North American region, we saw two strong trends around rich media and gaming,” said Amy Vale, Vice President of Global Research and Strategic Communications for Mojiva. “The increase in rich media impressions in mobile will continue to grow as advertisers begin to realize its true value and how consumers gravitate towards those ads. Mobile publishers should take note of this and ensure inventory is certified for these types of ad units.”
*For more information or to download the full report, please visit: http://www.mojiva.com/news/mobile_research
Tags: advertising, Marketing, Mobile ad network, Mojiva, North American Trends report, rich media impressions, social, tech
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Mobile, smartphones, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech life/Culture, Telecommunications | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 21st, 2012
 Apple’s mobile device dominance is not overstated, but use of new technologies like video chat and LTE are not as popular as mobile operator ads might have you think – at least for now – according to the results of the first Mobile Life survey, published by UBM TechWeb’s Light Reading.
Light Reading surveyed 550 telecom professionals, including 120 service providers, and found that the average person has a rich mobile life made up of mobile device ownership and daily use of technologies like mobile video, mobile apps and Wi-Fi,” says Sarah Reedy, Light Reading Senior Reporter and the report’s author.
Of the survey respondents:
- Thirty-four percent say they use more than 1GB of mobile data per month and 12 percent say they use over 3GB
- Sixty-three percent update their status on a social network at least once a day, and 41 percent use up to six mobile apps on a regular basis
- Fifteen percent of respondents are planning to buy an LTE-capable tablet this year; only 3 percent own one
“We weren’t surprised at all to see mobile data usage soaring, but it is interesting that mobile video and LTE aren’t yet as popular with consumers as the latest mobile operator ad campaigns would suggest,” says Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief of Light Reading.
Light Reading‘s 2012 Mobile Life survey report is free to all registered members of Light Reading. You can become a registered member of Light Reading by visiting: http://www.lightreading.com/register.asp
Tags: 2012 Mobile Life Survey, Apple Inc., Light Reading, LTE, mobile devices, social, video chat
Posted in Apple, Internet/New Media, Mobile, smartphones, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
 Analytics, CRM, mobile sites, and other technologies required a specialist or very large budget in the past but this no longer holds true.
Thanks to the growth of technology systems over the past couple years these projects can be taken on by companies of nearly any size and successful small businesses are fully aware of this. Atlanta Marketing firm AccurateLeads informs small businesses on tactics that should be implemented to prosper in the common year.
Analytics. What good are company goals, marketing strategies, and SWOT analysis without analytics? With such a multitude of marketing channels it is vital to track all advertising efforts and know what customers are responding, why they are responding to it, and where they are coming from.
Google analytics has been around for a very long time but has only recently been able to function to the degree it does today. Not only will it track all internet traffic, social media efforts, and PPC campaigns but can also monitor all offline efforts as well.
Using Google Voice in collaboration with analytics business owners can now determine how many responses they received from the bumper sticker on a car if they wish. Analytics are vital to any successful business and should be a determining factor in all future affairs.
If reports determine there is an area that is lacking, let’s say website conversions, then look at the five biggest competitors and determine who you would buy from and why. Prosperous companies in today’s business world track any possible variable, so that can know rather than guess what is working and what needs to be fixed.
Social. If it has not already become blatantly apparent then realize now that social media will play a large role in sales figures over the coming years. Mashable, Inc., SEOmoz and hundreds of other reputable companies have all provided metrics on the importance and value of having business pages on these networks.
Social media affects everything from SEO efforts to brand trust, and with Google+ at more than 60 million users this is something that cannot be considered a trend. If nothing else start an industry related blog that others can share. Companies engaging in social media in 2012 by regularly providing stimulating/interactive content will not only grow traffic but will also develop trust and familiarity through peer reference.
CRM. Not to downplay the rolodex but the current CRM platforms available are astounding. In the past there were filing systems, then software packages (this is still used by many businesses), and now companies can simply log onto a cloud based system. SalesForce SalesCloud service offers editions starting at a meager $24 a year.
Nurturing phone leads and staying attentive with clients can be an extremely taxing process but the companies who do so display professionalism that consumers trust. CRM systems can undoubtedly benefit any company and are now affordable for all entrepreneurs.
Mobile & App. According to Microsoft Tag, of the 4+ billion cell phones in the world 1.08 billion are smartphones and more than 50% of local searches are done on mobile devices. Efficient Frontier estimated that 22% of all search in 2012 will be mobile and it is predicted that in 2014 mobile internet usage will overtake desktop usage.
Pew Research claims that more than 11% of Americans owned a tablet device as of August 2011 and iPad users have downloaded 3 billion apps since its release in 2010. The iPhone took two years to accomplish that same feat. Plain and simple business owners will highly benefit from having mobile friendly sites and web applications in 2012.
Along with all of the technological advances over the past couple years came information. There are more whitepapers, research journals, blogs, help sites,guides, infographics, web tools, instructional videos, and learning resources than any one person could ever examine.
With a little tenacity and delegation business owners can accomplish all of the tactics above with little to moderate resource expenditure. Business will forever be organic in nature and those who choose to adapt with their environment rather than to their environment will end up on top.
Tags: Accurate Leads, analytics, Atlanta, CRM, mobile app, SalesCloud, Salesforce, social, tactics for successful small businesses
Posted in Best Practices, Business advice, Internet/New Media, IT, Mobile, social media, Telecommunications | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
PR Newswire has launched The Earnies, the first community-chosen awards program dedicated to earned media campaigns executed through social media channels.
“Social media and owned media have completely redefined earned media and forced PR and marketing professionals to strategically rethink the old model, embrace the new opportunities, leverage all influential channels and consistently engage with audiences through social conversations that are ongoing,” said Rachel Meranus, vice president, Marketing & Communications, PR Newswire.
“The Earnies will recognize how communicators are doing so innovatively and successfully.”
The Earnies award program, which is open to individual practitioners as well as brands and organizations, focuses on the unique approach and strategy used to implement a campaign.
Hosted on the AGILITY@work web site, all submissions will be reviewed by an independent panel of social media thought leaders.
Currently on the panel are David Armano, EVP of Global Innovation and Integration of Edelman Digital; Matt Johnston, CMO of uTest; Tim Moore, SVP/Social Business Architect of Maximum and CEO of CrushIQ; Liz Strauss, co-founder of SOBCon and owner of Successful-Blog.com and Deirdre Breakenridge, CEO of Pure Performance Communications.
From a shortlist of finalists selected by the panel, final winners will be determined by community voting through social media. The Earnies award program is being launched in the U.S., but is intended to expand globally next year.
The categories include: Best Use of Video in Social Media; Best Connection to Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook Audience; Best Case of “Lemons-to-Lemonade”; We Can’t Believe That Worked!; Best Outcome Based on Listening/Monitoring/Measurement; and The Earnies Grand Prix.
To learn more about the awards program, review the categories, read about the panelists and to enter a submission, visitAGILITY@work. The deadline to submit is December 20th, 2011. Join the conversation and follow the progress of the awards process on Twitter @AgilityAtWork. Final winners will be announced via @AgilityAtWork in early 2012.
Tags: awards for social media channel media campaign, CrsuhIQ, David Armano, Edelman Digital, facebook, LinkedIn, Liz Strauss, Matt Johnston, Maximum, PR Newswire Earnies, Pure Performance Communicaations, SOBCon, social, Successful-Blog.com, Tim Moore, twitter, uTest
Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Internet/New Media, IT, LinkedIn, Marketing, social media, Twitter | No Comments »
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