Strategic Social Networking - Archive

Constant Contact gets loyal

Constant Contact ® Inc. a marketing advisor to a half million small businesses worldwide has acquired CardStar Inc. a privately held software company that develops mobile applications that perpetuate the use of loyalty cards on smartphones, enabling merchants to tailor mobile deals and information to their customers. Details of the acquisition are explained in an article – Constant Contact Acquires CardStar, Inc.; Adds Mobile Loyalty Technology to its Suite of Online Marketing Tools to Help Small Businesses Grow

Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact states:

“For small businesses, it’s all about finding and connecting with their next customer, whether that customer is returning or brand new,” said Goodman. “Today’s consumers don’t just want — but expect — to access information and make decisions on the go, and they want to be rewarded for their support and loyalty. The CardStar mobile loyalty application lives at the intersection of these needs, letting consumers engage with businesses on the go and providing businesses with expanded opportunities for the kind of customer engagement that drives business results.”

How cool is this – hearing about discounts and rewards from your favorite shop while on the go? I know when I hear a beep, my curiosity gets the best of me, and I just have to check it out. Most people are loyal to specific stores and getting this information instantly will most certainly enhance sales.

Sandy McIntosh

January 31, 2012

Ho Hum CES

January 24th, 2012 | Posted by admin in marketing | mobility | News | smartphone - (0 Comments)

Usually, nothing quickens the pulse like mobile highlights from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). But this year – not so much. InformationWeek’s “5 Mobile Trends from CES 2012” highlights the show’s mobile offerings.

“Dozens of new LTE 4G smartphones and tablets were announced by manufacturers and carriers. LTE will become a mainstream technology this year.” “Some of the week’s most exciting handsets boast screens ranging between 4.7 and 5.3 inches. It won’t be much longer before phone screens reach tablet proportions — if they haven’t already.” “There were hardly any feature phones announced at CES 2012.” “The vast bulk of devices announced at the show lack near-field communications (NFC), and lack the ability to make mobile payments. This all but assures that NFC and mobile payments won’t start to take off until nearly halfway through 2012.” “The mobile industry continues to thrive on innovation and competition”

None of this is exactly news to those of us following the mobile industry, and there was a decided lack of headline-grabbing demos at this year’s CES. With all the bad economic news from other industries, maybe for the mobile sector the best news is old news.

Rita Safranek, January 24, 2012

Gadgets of Note from 2012 CES

January 19th, 2012 | Posted by admin in app | marketing | News | smartphone - (0 Comments)

Maybe it is the slow economy, but the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) definitely lacked the sizzle of previous years. There were some notable introductions, as detailed in BostonHerald.com’s “Cool Gadgets Make Splash.”

In Microsoft’s final CES, the company showed the Windows Phone 7 operating system, which

“sports a striking design of flat, colorful squares containing information from different apps. Nokia demonstrated the Lumia 800 and 900 smartphones running the OS.” “Intel made a big push with its Ultrabook concept — a category of slim laptops, similar to the MacBook Air, powered by Intel chips, and made by several manufacturers.”

Microsoft’s late to the smartphone party, and it doesn’t sport features that provide an overwhelming reason for existing iPhone and Android users (often locked into multi-year contracts) to switch. The thin Ultrabook will appeal to users needing the functionality of a laptop and the totability of a tablet. Wilocity demoed WiFi technology that could help drive the trend to slimmer devices. Samsung also unveiled a technology to watch – the Galaxy Note, a 5.3-inch mobile device dubbed a “phablet.” Combining functionality so that users only need one device is a trend that has left pagers and two-way messaging in its wake. This could be the next wave.

Rita Safranek, January 19, 2012

Podcast Brings Experience to Social Media Questions

Presaging their inaugural Social Media Analytics Summit in April, Text Analytics News has posted the podcast of their recent Social Media Analytics Panel.

The panel brings together Bill Touhig of J.D. Power & Associates, Robin Seidner of Radian6, and Beyond the Arc’s Steven J. Ramirez. The social media analytics experts share their insights in the 55 minute podcast. The description describes the discussion content:

Analytic technologies and techniques being used to make business sense of the flood of user-generated content
The cutting edges of social media and sentiment analysis – what works, where improvements are being made, and which platforms are leading the way
The comparison between proprietary and do-it-yourself tools for social media analysis
Effective ways for leveraging social media information to get a leg up on your competition

I can’t fit my two pages of notes here, so do yourself a favor and check out the podcast for yourself. A couple of observations stuck with me.

First, with social media data, more is not better. This may seem obvious to some, but it is not the case with other data types, where more volume produces more accurate results. Instead, analysts find that they must narrow the data to exclude the vast amounts of irrelevant input that social media provides. That process adds a lot of complexity.

Second, text analytics is experiencing a talent gap. As Ramirez quipped, if you know young people just starting out, advise them to go into this as-of-yet-low-competition field. Many companies would prefer to save the cost of hiring a consultant, and most business users can probably figure things out. If the analysis needs are comparatively simple, that is. However, companies must invest in tools and training for the best in-house results.

Do yourself a favor: invest in attendance to the Social Media Analytics Summit this spring.

Cynthia Murrell, January 10, 2012

Mobile Apps Give New Meaning to Pay as You Go

January 10th, 2012 | Posted by admin in branding | marketing | mobility | smartphone - (0 Comments)

With the smart phone market’s continuing growth, it was only a matter of time before payment apps were developed. According to kmov.com’s “Pay-by-Name Purchasing: Changing the Future of Spending,” one of the newest forms of mobile payments is the Square Card Case, launched by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s Square.

“The Square Card Case totally eliminates the need for a physical card in a merchant-to-consumer transaction. It works by storing a virtual copy of your credit or debit card on your smartphone, and acts as a virtual tab. To use it, consumers must download the free Square Card Case application for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Android. A customer then sets up an account using their name, email address, credit card information and a photo. The customer’s phone will detect local merchants who accept the Card Case form of payment.”

Needless to say, security is a concern, an issue raised in an open letter from VeriFone, a Square Card competitor. The market’s also getting crowded with Google’s Google Wallet and PayPal’s PayPal Instore, both of which use near-field communication technology. This is definitely an emerging market with plenty of potential. The payoff will be big for a player who can address security and ease of use while creating a mass-market brand.

Rita Safranek, January 10, 2012

Social Media in 2011 and 2012

In an article on the subject of social media, Social Media in 2011, and 2012, last year was summarized and predictions scored. Google+, after repeated failures, seems to have conquered their woes in 2011. And, Linkedln, the world’s largest professional network, is keeping the market happy trading $20 a share higher than their IPO price. Linkedln is well positioned for future hiring with their massive database of resumes. And last, but not least, Instagram made 2011 the year of the photo with a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures, sent on the fly via your iPhone – and it’s free!

The following are a few interesting quotes regarding social media: 13 Great Social Media Quotes

“The difference between PR and social media is that PR is about positioning, and social media is about becoming, being and improving.” – Chris Brogan, author of “Trust Agents”

“The value of being connected and transparent is so high that the roadbumps of privacy issues are much lower in actual experience than people’s fears.” – Reid Hoffman, founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn

“How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?” – Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog

Predictions for 2012 are flying in the wind at this time and one in particular is business and media will take advantage of trans-media web publishing for media coverage such as news, ads, and stories to be accessed on one micro-site. I suppose this simplifies things and in turn saves time, and time is money. Also, another prediction is that network and cable TV will remain status quo. I know sometimes change is good, but in this case web TV is just not ready for the TV viewers of the world.

Sandy McIntosh, January 4, 2012

Next Year’s Mobile Marketing Trends

December 29th, 2011 | Posted by admin in business process | marketing | mobility | smartphone - (0 Comments)

Pointing out that 2011 was a huge year of growth for mobile technology, Jichel Stewart of Business2Community takes on the upcoming year’s mobile trends in her recent article 8 Mobiles Marketing Trends You Should Track in 2012.

Stewart’s piece focuses on mobile marketing – marketing to those already out and about, rather than those sitting at home in front of their computer:

“What is unique about mobile marketing is a company’s ability to reach consumers when they are closest to buying. Ask yourself…Are your customers more likely to leave their homes and their pantry in a storm to get a sub sandwich… or when they’ve been out running errands all day, missed lunch, and you send them a text with an offer for a half-price submarine sandwich — half a mile from you, the nearest sub shop?”

Indeed, the use of mobile websites grew 210% over the course of 2011, with 37% of retailers now using these types of sites. These trends can be linked to the increase in both smartphone usage (growing 14.5% from 2008 to 2009) and mobile advertising, which grew from $1.6 billion in 2010 to $3.3 billion in 2011, with figures for 2012 looking to be double that amount.

However, for all Stewart’s predictions, she does seem to overlook one area: the rise of tablet computing. Opting instead to focus on smartphones, one can’t help but notice the omission of one of the most important technological successes of 2011.

Jody Barnes, December 29, 2011

Marketing Love in a Time of Mobile Apps

December 20th, 2011 | Posted by admin in marketing | mobility | Privacy | smartphone - (0 Comments)

As holiday shopping hits a crescendo this week retailers are examining how to increase sales, analyze shopper data more efficiently and strengthen mobile advertising all in one fell swoop. The article, Malls, retailers focus on mobile phones to reach shoppers, boost sales and study consumers, on http://www.cleveland.com/, explores some controversial mobile app and Smartphone technologies retailers are employing this holiday season.

Although the Federal Trade Commission and several consumer watchdog groups have put a nix to several Big-Brother-esque programs put in place by malls and large retailers to monitor shopper activity and behavior due to privacy violations, some programs are alive and thriving. Many complain that the programs are all one sided, in favor of the retailer, but that is not necessarily the case. In most instances consumers receive a nice reward for their privacy being violated.

As the article explains of the relationship between retailer and consumer,

“With traditional retailers fighting online competition from companies from Amazon to Zappos.com, the retail industry must give consumers a reason to choose brick-and-mortar. Online retailers collect data about shoppers and use that information to tailor advertising and suggest purchases. Now stores and shopping-center landlords see cell phones as a path to influencing what people buy, how long they shop and how much they spend.”

Before condemning retailers for utilizing scores of data mines waltzing in and out of their stores every day, consumers should examine their habits and devotion to mobile apps. Without consumer usage these app-utilizing marketing campaigns would be a waste of time. If one doesn’t want to be exploited by a retailer, turn off the phone.

Catherine Lamsfuss, December 20, 2011