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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Detailing the Digital Revolution: Social, Streaming and More

Since 2000, the number of Americans with Internet access has more than doubled from 132.2 million to 274 million, according to Nielsen and NM Incite’s U.S. Digital Consumer Report. As such, it should be no surprise that online content is increasingly part of Americans’ entertainment fare. At the end of 2011, roughly one‐third of consumers streamed long‐form content such as a movie or TV show from the Internet through a paid subscription service like Netflix or Hulu‐Plus.

The In‐Home Streaming Experience: With 12 million unique video consumers streaming from Hulu and 6.2 million from Netflix from home computers in October 2011, these brands are two of the largest players in the online streaming of TV and movie content.

So, who’s watching on Netflix and Hulu on home computers?
Age: Interestingly, though 31 percent of Hulu’s audience falls into the 18‐34 age range, more than a third of users are over the age of 50. Netflix skews slightly younger, with 40 percent of users in the 18‐34 age range and 17 percent over 50.

Gender: Women make up the majority of users for both Netflix and Hulu—57 percent and 59 percent, respectively—and an even bigger share of time spent. They account for 64 percent of total time spent watching video content on Netflix and Hulu. This is particularly noteworthy, as women stream less online video overall than men, as noted in the recent Nielsen Cross-Platform Report. 

Race & Ethnicity: Both services have an audience that is more than three‐quarters white, with relatively even audience percentages for African‐Americans and Asians. Hispanics are more likely to watch video on Netflix than Hulu—making up 16 percent of Netflix’s audience compared to 11 percent for Hulu.
netflix-hulu-wire-post
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/detailing-the-digital-revolution-social-streaming-and-more/

How Text and Email Marketing is Changing With Flexible Marketing Trend?

Text and Email Marketing
Text and email marketing has made the lives of the marketing professionals quite easy. With the growing technology, text and email marketing has become one of the trusted platforms when it comes to business and communication. 

Reaching the customers and communicating with them for establishing and maintaining customer relationships is now easy with just the click of a mouse. For enjoying great benefits in the online business, text and email marketing is one of the effective marketing tools that helps in yielding profits by improving business performances.

With the rapid growth of technology, communication is becoming more complex as the importance of text and email marketing can’t be ignored. When you are looking for text and email marketing, it’s important to ensure that you are clear with the marketing strategies that you are planning to adopt. All this and more includes knowing your product, pricing, and your target audience alongside. This strategy making requires you to choose a text and email marketing service that fits your requirements in the best possible way.

Businesses and organizations are into selecting a text and email marketing service that promises great return on investments. Businesses are in need of features that are all integrated into one text and email marketing service. Such mobile marketing services ensure high response rates and a broad reach of brand awareness. With the help of text and email marketing you can also connect with friends and fans and keep up with them through social networking channels as Facebook and Twitter. 

If you are aiming at a multi-channel marketing strategy then text and email marketing can be of great help. Most of the customers have an email account which can be forwarded to their contacts, creating a reach that is beyond your immediate contact list as well as brand awareness. But at the same time it should be kept in mind that short and powerful messages also have an impact like nothing else. Businesses are also aiming at lowering their spam level and maintain an effective text and email marketing strategy.

Text and email marketing is incomplete without mobile keyword which is growing in the competitive world of marketing. This is a reliable and popular form of marketing technology where people can text a mobile keyword and be a part of your database or mobile distribution list.

You can then use this particular database in future for the purpose of campaigns, events, and coupons. Mobile voting, picture messaging, sending and receiving of mobile eCard and a lot is possible only with the help of an excellent text and email marketing service. 
 
Text and email marketing is now growing to be an essential section in the world of communication and marketing. Businesses are looking for new ways to reach their audience with mobile marketing features and send relevant messages through text and email marketing. It is true that the text and email marketing reflects the image and brand of a business and contributes to the success of your marketing campaign.
http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/2492/four-email-marketing-trends-that-remain-strong
http://www.mirnabard.com/2011/07/mobile-marketing-trend-texting-is-mainstream/
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/ALbhHX/www.marketguidepro.com/2011/07/how-text-and-email-marketing-is-changing-with-flexible-marketing-trend.html/

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Brand Rivalry

 
It is often said that a brand is a narrative. This is because stories are fundamental to how we process information. The human brain organizes much of our experience, knowledge and thinking as stories and, as we all know, rivalry makes for a great story. Without an antagonist, things get boring quickly. Rivalry leverages exclusionary positioning, providing an antagonist that adds to an existing identity.

Loyalty and rivalry grow in proportion to one another. Each feeds on the energy created by the other. Brand rivalry not only helps to validate brand position, it has the added benefit of honing focus. Intense competition forces brands to work harder to differentiate in the battle for market space, mind-share and consumer preference. A strong rivalry forced both Apple and Microsoft to push each other to create better solutions and stronger brands.

The brands people choose are a reflection of their own values and sense of self. A brand is a belief system, and the beliefs of one brand community are in opposition to those of its rival(s). The brand and the community have chosen a side, and in their minds it’s good vs. evil. They are as much against the antagonist as they are “for” the brand. Red Sox fans chant “Yankees Suck” rather than “Red Sox Rule.” Apple fans say “I don’t do Windows” rather than “I’m a Mac.”

A strong rivalry decreases the overlap in brand preference by increasing the passion that consumers feel for their chosen brand. It is the very presence of an antagonist that strengthens consumer’s bond with the brand, which ultimately strengthens the brand community. Rivalry validates brand position and forces each brand to push themselves further than they would without such a strong competitor.
 
Sports and politics, products and services, each use rivalry to validate their brand position: Red Sox vs.Yankees, Republicans vs. Democrats, God vs. Satan…
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1ZMTPq/www.blackcoffee.com/blog/2011/01/04/brand-rivalry/

Brand website visits decline

LONDON: Consumers view brand websites as "one dimensional" and are more likely to engage with social media offerings instead, new research from Universal McCann has shown.

The study, entitled Wave 6, is part of UM's ongoing social media research which has surveyed over 40,000 adult internet users in 62 countries so far. The latest figures show a consistent decline in brand website visits since 2008.

Just over seven in ten of today's consumers have visited one of these sites in the past six months, down from around 85% four years ago.

"Consumers are continuing to move away from increasingly siloed brand websites, viewing it as a one dimensional experience compared to that offered by social media," the report stated.

"This drop in visiting brand websites is not confined to any one group or demographic. We are seeing this happening equally amongst men and women and across the age ranges too."

Brand websites were found to be most commonly used for information, with 25% of respondents saying the sites were a good place to "learn something new" and 23% using them to "keep up to date". But social networks were more popular venues for both of these tasks, scoring 36% and 27% respectively.

Brand websites were also outstripped by social media on a host of other tasks, with users far more likely to agree the networks were good venues to "feel like I belong", "change opinions" and "express myself".

But UM also suggested that many brand owners' existing social media strategies were undifferentiated, and that social media measurement needs to evolve to track effectiveness properly.

"It is no good spending time and investment on a social experience that you don't know the value of or it doesn't meet your brand's challenges," the report added. "It's necessary to look at both the consumer's needs and your own objectives if you are to build something that not only connects to the consumer but also helps build value for your brand."

The typical global user was found to spend around seven hours per week on social networks, and a further six hours on microblogging sites such as Twitter. These totals rose to nine hours and seven hours for 16 to 24-year-olds.
Data sourced from Brand Republic; additional content by Warc staff, 27 February 2012
 http://www.warc.com/LatestNews/News/Brand_website_visits_decline.news?ID=29504

Monday, February 27, 2012

Total Worldwide Social Network Ad Revenues Continue Strong Growth

47% of revenues will come from the US this year
Worldwide social network ad revenues are still going strong and set to grow nearly 50% this year, according to eMarketer estimates.

eMarketer forecasts advertisers will spend $7.72 billion on social network advertising this year, including paid advertising on social sites and in social games and applications. This year’s growth will be even faster than in 2011, though in 2013 and 2014 eMarketer expects growth rates to fall but remain in the double digits.

By 2014, eMarketer expects nearly $12 billion will go to social network advertising worldwide.

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Nearly half of that money currently comes from the US, and with just slight shifts during the forecast period, will continue to do so. This year, advertisers will spend $3.63 billion advertising on social networks in the US, up from $2.54 billion in 2011 and continuing to climb to $5.59 billion by 2014. While US growth rates will be slightly below the worldwide average from 2011 through 2013, in 2014, eMarketer expects US spending increases to outpace those in the rest of the world, thereby keeping the country’s share of total social network ad spending around half the worldwide total.

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Facebook is the recipient of most of these social network ad revenues, taking in around seven in 10 of all US social networking ad dollars throughout the forecast period. Twitter’s share, by comparison, will rise from 5% to 8% between 2011 and 2014.

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Meanwhile, ad revenues at other social networking sites will rise somewhat as a proportion of the total, moving up 2 percentage points between 2011 and 2014.
http://www.marketresearchworld.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4627&Itemid=76

Global Mobile Marketing, Advertising Industry to Grow 37% by 2016

The latest projections published this week from research firm Berg Insight suggest that the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market is on pace for record growth over the next 48 months.
According to the latest estimates, the industry will see 37% growth by 2016, bringing the industry’s total value to $22.6 billion at that time.

“The popularity of smartphones and the increasing availability of mobile media that can include mobile advertising are the main game-changers,” said Rickard Andersson, telecom analyst at Berg Insight. The mobile app revolution, however, has done as much to further the industry as smartphones have.

“Brands are now progressively embracing the mobile channel, including the entire range of apps, from games and entertainment to utility applications. Also, mobile Web advertising and opt-in SMS [Short Message Service] campaigns are popular,” Andersson adds.

Facebook is widely anticipated to emerge as one of the biggest future players in the mobile marketing and advertising realms.

“Many acquisitions have recently taken place within the mobile marketing industry, and further consolidation is expected to bring about an ecosystem consisting of a few dominant digital advertising networks spanning all types of devices,” the Berg report reads.
http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/global-mobile-marketing-advertising-industry-to-grow-37-by-2016-20253/

Friday, February 24, 2012

Stunning Ads Ideas that will Amaze you

Every while,  I like to keep my eyes educated with new creative ideas. Graphic Designer should educate his or her eyes about new ideas, this is the most important factor to be able to create your own ideas based on the training you did for your eyes.

Here are some of the most stunning create Ads ideas that I hope you like it as I did, you can also check other ideas at.

queer-travel.de: The other side of America

Huggies: Poopface

Funktion Personal Training: Escape your boring gym

http://www.graphicmania.net/stunning-ads-ideas-that-will-amaze-you/

10 Alasan Kenapa Brand Di-Unfollow dan Unlike

Kenapa banyak orang memutukan untuk unfollow dan unlike sebuah brand di media sosial? Banyak orang yang memutuskan untuk follow dan like brand di media sosial agar lebih update tentang brand yang mereka sukai. 

Tapi kenapa kemudian orang-orang memutuskan hubungan dengan brand di media sosial? Konsumen kebanyakan memutuskan unsubscribe brand email (91 persen), unlike Facebook (55  persen) dan unfollow Twitter (43 peren). Alasannya brand terlalu sering mengirim email tentang apa yang sedang mereka lakukan dan memberikan isi konten yang berulang.

Silahkan lihat infografik di bawah ini untuk tahu apa yang bisa membuat hubungan brand dan konsumen tetap awet
  
http://salingsilang.com/baca/10-alasan-kenapa-brand-di-unfollow-dan-unlike

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Social strategies still need work

NEW YORK: Social media marketing techniques are becoming increasingly sophisticated, but obstacles tied to in-house collaboration, securing management support and proving payback remain.

Booz & Company, the consultancy, partnered with Buddy Media, the social software provider, to poll 117 leading executives regarding their evolving social media tactics.

Overall, 96% of featured firms are developing a specific strategy for this channel and 95% expected to heighten the resources allocated to such activities in future. However, 89% commit less than 10% of budgets to social media at present.

An additional 78% believed their initiatives on these properties thus far have enhanced marketing effectiveness, and 64% now boast a dedicated team covering this discipline.

Elsewhere, 60% of respondents reported that social platforms were among their top marketing priorities for 2012, although only 40% suggested this area was on their CEO's agenda.

Today, 96% of organisations use social media to augment their advertising and 65% plan to integrate this channel across all communications output. In keeping with this, 81% charge their marketing departments with handling social media.

Currently a "big three" is dominating the category, the study added: Facebook, with a 94% corporate uptake, ahead of Twitter on 77% and YouTube on 42%.

Among the core benefits they offer is brand building, mentioned by 90% of those polled, ahead of generating buzz on 88% and yielding consumer insights on 81%.

However, for 57% of interviewees, there was not enough cross-departmental collaboration to get the best from social channels , while 55% did not have sufficient resources to run and engage communities.

A further 51% of the sample pointed to a lack of buy-in at the highest level of management, 48% believed proving ROI was difficult, and 43% reported social media was not yet core to their strategy.

Some 49% of companies currently have creative talent working in-house on social media, and 35% want to expand their content teams. For this latter group, 72% are emphasising staff like producers and editors.

Just 50% of firms had developed social media-focused key performance indicators, but 47% were working on them. Most companies are seeking a balance between meeting campaign objectives, cited by 90%, and business goals, on 60%, the study said.

Data sourced from Booz & Company; additional content by Warc staff, 22 February 2012

What’s the Future for Marketing in the Media Industry?

Like any business, the media industry evolves in cycles. In the past, there have been few job openings at media companies, but now, as content converges and more media companies are looking for ways to branch out and reach larger population bases, there is an increase in the availability of highly coveted marketing positions. However, the availability of new technologies and new developments in the media industry have created a demand for new kinds of experience, cultural knowledge and skills sets that candidates must be aware of if they wish for such a position.

The volume of marketing jobs tends to flow with the economic cycle. Today, we are at the top of the business cycle and marketing jobs are plentiful across a variety of industries. Even the media industry, which traditionally has not provided much career potential for marketing executives, is opening its doors. In fact, the media industry is currently exceeding more mature industries, such as consumer packaged goods, in career opportunities for marketers.

When searching for a marketing position in the media industry, it is important to know that the industry is highly heterogeneous. Because of this it can be difficult to identify what sort of marketing jobs are most prevalent. HarperCollins and MySpace, for example, are both media businesses and are owned by the same parent, but they go to market in very different ways. In addition, they have different revenue models that require very different forms of marketing. Marketing opportunities abound in a variety of niche specialties. For example, an e-commerce company might be interested in hiring marketing professionals to support customer acquisitions or product development, while a magazine might need marketing support in circulation. Candidates should focus on where their skills and interests lie before pursuing marketing positions at media companies so that they can adequately match their qualifications to a specific marketing function. 

Marketers should also be aware of the competition that they will face when pursuing a position at a media company. Typically, marketers must have a plethora of solid experience and a vast understanding of the media industry and the specific changes impacting the industry they are looking to work in. Marketers should already be familiar with how to communicate their messages across a variety of mediums and how to connect with a large customer base. Convergence has significantly blurred the lines between print, internet, television and radio. Messaging that used to be tailored for one outlet will now have to be adjusted for a wider audience. Further, the accessibility of the internet has created a very diverse and global customer base, so marketers should build their awareness of different cultures and respective sensitivities.

Marketers will also need to enhance their skills in internet marketing, as many media companies now want marketers to have at least 10-15 years of internet marketing experience. Because the internet industry is relatively young, and has not always valued marketing as much as other functions, there are few marketers with this much internet experience. However, for those who can enhance their internet marketing skills, or have the experience, the demand has completely outstripped the supply. There are currently two areas of internet marketing that offer the greatest growth potential: search engine marketing and advertising sales marketing.

The career potential for marketers in the media industry is anticipated to keep growing. Should the economy dip, this may change slightly, however the media industry is fairly resilient and the continued conglomeration and convergence will ensure growth for years to come. On the whole, the media space is a welcome environment for ambitious marketers who will continue to enjoy good career prospects and interesting, meaningful work. 
http://marketing.about.com/lr/marketingin_the_media_industry/170629/1/
http://www.newtechtips.org/future-trends-for-marketers-in-search-social-media/
http://marketing.about.com/od/internetmarketingstrategy/Internet_Marketing_Strategy.htm

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Social Media Key Influencer in Multi-Exposure Purchase Path

Exposure to social media, in combination with other online ad formats, increases average order size
Past research has shown exposure to both earned and paid media can help companies build longer-term effects such as increased brand awareness, purchase consideration and brand favorability. In addition, findings from analytics and attribution solution provider ClearSaleing showed consumer exposure to a combination of paid, owned and earned media led to better bottom-line results, including a larger average order size and greater revenue per click.

The study found that when consumers were exposed to social media in addition to other online ad formats or marketing channels, such as search, email and display, the average revenue per order for US advertisers was $280.71—more than double the order size compared to the average of all digital channels.

Average Revenue per Order for US Advertisers When Select Online Marketing Channels Were One of Multiple Ad Influences on Purchasers, Aug 2011

Though many classify social media as either owned or earned media, ClearSaleing factored in any click activity generated by paid social advertisements, brand-generated social content and earned mentions.

Social media and comparison shopping engines are often consulted when considering larger, more expensive purchases, which could be one reason for the higher average revenue per order. And because ClearSaleing tracked display interactions by view-through activity—not just impressions—the fact that display saw a high average revenue per order gives credence to display having significant influence on consumers who actively encounter a display ad.

Unfortunately, the data does not differentiate the order in which consumers were exposed to each influence, so it is difficult to gauge the optimal order of exposure for display and each of the other formats.

ClearSaleing also looked at the average revenue per click on purchases from consumers exposed to multiple formats. When social media was included in the mix, the average revenue per click was $5.24. Paid search was the next highest, at $4.38, likely due to the fact that by the time a user searches for a brand or product, they are closer to making a purchase.

Average Revenue per Click for US Advertisers When Select Online Marketing Channels Were One of Multiple Ad Influences on Purchasers, Aug 2011

According to ClearSaleing’s manager of marketing and sales support, Adam Hritzak, the data highlights the strong influence social media has on consumer purchase decisions.

“Social helps to create and increase the purchase intent,” Hritzak told eMarketer. “It builds a relationship between the brand and a user. When a user connects with you in social, it increases their intent level and trust with you.”
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008845

China and US Improve, but Overall Consumer Confidence Fell in 60% of Global Markets

Consumer confidence declined in 35 out of 56 markets, according to fourth quarter 2011 global consumer confidence findings from Nielsen. Global consumer confidence increased one point last quarter to a score of 89, while Europe led confidence declines in 24 of the region’s 27 measured markets.

“While Europe’s challenging economic conditions in the second half of 2011 bought renewed vulnerability and fragility to consumers and financial markets globally, some of the most positive news last quarter came from the world’s two largest economies—the U.S. and China—where confidence rebounded to Q1 2011 levels,” said Dr. Venkatesh Bala, Chief Economist at The Cambridge Group, a part of Nielsen. “Buoyant domestic consumption also maintained confidence levels in the large emerging economies of India, Indonesia and Brazil. However, slowing GDP growth within emerging economies and inflationary pressures would suggest some degree of caution for the year ahead.”
The Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions, established in 2005, tracks consumer confidence, major concerns and spending intentions among more than 28,000 Internet consumers in 56 countries. Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism.

Personal finances are improved, but spending is still restrained
More than half (52%) of global online consumers described their personal finances for 2012 as excellent/good, up from 50 percent in Q3 2011, but 65 percent indicated it is not a good time to buy, up one percent from the previous quarter.

“Overall, consumer discretionary spending will remain restrained and cautious in the first half of 2012,” said Dr. Bala. “Despite consumers becoming more confident about their personal finances for the year ahead, there is still a reluctance to spend, especially in the West; rising tensions in the Middle East and their impact on gasoline prices could further compound global consumer concerns and spending plans,” added Dr. Bala.
Consumer concern for the economy increased as a top fear among 18 percent of global respondents—an increase of six points from last quarter, which resulted in nearly two-thirds (64%) of consumers around the world indicating they believe they are in a recession, up from 62 percent last quarter. A growing number of online respondents in Asia Pacific (53%), Europe (74%), Middle East/Africa (74%) and Latin America (47%) indicated they believe they are in a recession. And while 86 percent of North Americans feel they are in a recession, it was the only region to report an improvement from 88 percent in third quarter.
personal-finances

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/china-and-us-improve-but-overall-consumer-confidence-fell-in-60-of-global-markets/

Monday, February 20, 2012

Expanding The Smartphone Market In Emerging Economies

Written by Euromonitor International   
Manufacturers and mobile network operators (telcos) are banking on smartphones to revive declining voice revenues.
Euromonitor International examines the challenges inherent in upgrading feature phone users to smartphones, particularly in emerging markets like Latin America and Asia Pacific.

Computers on steroids
Despite Apple Inc's iPhone being hailed as a game changer in the era of smartphones, it was Nokia Group which envisioned a mobile phone with the processing power to rival a computer. Nokia launched the Communicator range of mobile phones in the late 1990s. The Communicator, however, failed to take off, with a lack of infrastructure for mobile internet being its Achilles' heel.

Nearly a decade later, the new generation of smartphones, supported by the influx of 3G mobile networks and a pared down “lite” version of a computer operating system (OS), has proven to be a hit, much to the delight of manufacturers and telcos.

Fighting for subscribers
While a company is always judged by its revenue and profit, another critical measure of a telco's profitability is its average revenue per user (ARPU) - how much money a company earns from each user. ARPU is a critical measure because it provides a breakdown of what is driving revenue growth. There are primarily two ways in which telcos derive their revenue:

1. Existing subscribers

2. New subscribers

Increasing the number of new subscribers is a viable business model when the mobile phone market is in its infancy as consumers will be rushing to sign up with the telcos. When the mobile phone market becomes saturated with consumers already having a mobile line, adding new subscribers will incur additional costs like offering discounts to encourage users to switch operators, effectively eroding the profit margins of the telcos.

Revenue drivenA review of the ARPU of the major mobile network operators (MNOs) globally highlighted contrasting fortunes and revenues. Bharti Airtel Group's ARPU is only one third of Mexico's, reflecting the highly competitive and saturated Indian market. India mandating that there must be at least three telcos per state was meant to prevent a monopolistic structure and encourage competition. Chinese regulators, on the other hand, forced the telcos to merge into three operators before handing out 3G licences in an effort to make the telcos focus on improving network quality. Despite having the largest number of mobile subscribers in the world, China Mobile's ARPU trails behind Mexico's América Móvil, which enjoyed a virtual monopoly.

The net effect of low margins is that the telcos are reluctant to invest in improving infrastructure and rolling out new technology. Long Term Evolution (LTE) is light years away and even Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) which provides data rates up to 84Mbps (downlink) and 22Mbps (uplink) is generally not available in these emerging markets.

No to contracts and smartphonesThe telcos' reluctance to invest in HSPA+ and LTE is also linked to the number of subscribers on mobile plan contracts. A large majority of mobile phone subscribers in these emerging markets are on pre-paid plans, which also inadvertently negatively affect the MNOs' ARPU. Typically, expensive mobile data plans are bundled with subsided smartphones. The telcos enjoy higher revenues from smartphone subscribers compared to consumers on pre-paid mobile plans.

Looking for smartphone usersAs long as a significant number of mobile phone users are still not on mobile contracts, the demand for low-cost feature phones will remain strong. The challenge is thus for manufacturers and MNOs to capture these consumers.

The price of smartphones is on a downward spiral and is becoming increasingly affordable. The telcos should also consider offering free trials or bundling limited data services tied to pre-paid plans. Consumers on pre-paid plans are typically less tech-savvy or may belong to lower-income groups. Interestingly, these are the same consumers who are willing to splash out on mobile phones rather than laptops. The onus is on the telcos to explain the integral cost savings if consumers are using their smartphones for internet browsing and free internet calls.

Much has been said about the impact of mobile phones and the time is now for the telcos to really expand the role of a mobile phone beyond that of a voice and texting medium in emerging markets.
http://www.marketresearchworld.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4615&Itemid=76

Mengapa Bisnis Perlu Masuk Media Sosial?

Pengenalan merek secara sosial, keterlibatan publik, iklan sosial, dan ROI merupakan segelintir komponen yang perlu diperhatikan oleh sebuah brand atau merek ketika masuk ke ranah media sosial. Jejaring sosial yang menjadi tempat berinteraksi para klien atau konsumen menjadi sarana bagi sebuah brand untuk mencapai audiensnya.

Dengan memanfaatkan kanal media sosial seperti Twitter atau Facebook, sebuah brand menjadi relatif mudah melakukan promo atau menjangkau target pemasaran produknya. Berpromosi  lewat jejaring sosial memiliki sejumlah keuntungan bagi pemilik merek, antara lain lebih hemat biaya dan efektif. Selain itu, promo bisa dilakukan secara viral marketing dan langsung dilihat oleh calon konsumennya. Namun demikian, sebuah brand tetap penting memperhatikan 4 (empat) pilar berbisnis di media sosial. 

Bagaimana media sosial seharusnya dimanfaatkan sebagai salah satu komponen penting dalam strategi pemasaran setiap bisnis? Menurut data internetworldstats.com, lebih dari 30 persen populasi dunia mengakses internet. Jumlahnya diperkirakan lebih dari 2,2 miliar orang. Dari jumlah tersebut, 82 persen dari populasi internet berusia lebih dari 15 tahun dan terkoneksi dengan situs-situs jejaring sosial.

Menurut data comScore.com, setiap 5 (lima) menit ada satu pengguna internet yang login di jejaring sosial. Facebook masih menjadi rajanya jejaring sosial dan dipilih pengguna intenet untuk bersosialisasi via online. Setiap 7 (tujuh) menit setidaknya satu pengguna internet menghabiskan waktu online di Facebook. Di tahun 2012, pengguna jejaring sosial dunia meningkat 30% dari 244,2 juta menjadi 314,5 juta.

Sementara itu, berdasar data yang diunggah thesocialskinny.com, penetrasi media sosial di kawasan Asia Tenggara tertinggi terjadi di Philipina. Lebih dari 90% pengguna internet mengunjungi jejaring sosial setiap bulannya. Kemudian disusul Australia (89%) dan Indonesia (88%).

Lebih dari 70% pengguna internet di Asia Tenggara dipengaruhi iklan online melalui media sosial. Sebanyak 7 dari 10 konsumen di Asia Tenggara menyukai atau mengkuti brand melalui media sosial. Lantas, 52 persen pengguna internet dunia ternyata mengikuti brand yang berpromo via media sosial. Data lainnya, 25 persen pengguna jejaring sosial melihat iklan brand di media sosial.

Jejaring sosial pun tidak terbatas via web. Tahun lalu di AS, sebanyak 65 persen pengguna smartphone mengunjungi  jejaring sosial, yang mana 2 (dua) dari 5 (lima) pengguna mengakses jejaring sosial dengan ponselnya setiap hari.

Dengan data pengguna internet dan jejaring sosial yang begitu besar memberi peluang bagi sebuah brand untuk memasarkan produknya. Infografik dari Wix.com menjelaskan mengenai peluang pemanfaatan media sosial bagi sebuah brand.  
Media Sosial Brand-1  Media Sosial Brand-2  

http://salingsilang.com/baca/mengapa-bisnis-perlu-masuk-media-sosial?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Friday, February 17, 2012

15 Mind Blowing Creative Advertising Ideas

Did you ever see an old advertising idea that is repeated on TV or outdoors over and over and ask yourself, is not it silly to repeat the advertising idea over and over till no one look at it or even interest to know what does it sells?! Creative advertising ideas always attract our eyes to know more about it or understand the message it delivers.

This is why designers and creative directors are required to think in new advertising ideas and creative approach to deliver the product message to the audiences (Skills you need to get a design job). While the message should not be direct to give the eye little curiosity to know more about it and think in it. I should not be very complicated to understand for the general audiences especially when it is directed to international product that will be sold in different locations on the world and for different audiences culture. It has been a long time since we shared advertising ideas. However, I would like to share with you some new creative advertising campaigns for different products and services that I hope you like and comment about it.

13th Street “Stationery of Horror”

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Australian childhood foundation: Invisible

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The commercial titled INVISIBLE was done by JWT Melbourne advertising agency for AUSTRALIAN CHILDHOOD FOUNDATION company in AUSTRALIA. It was released in the June 2010. Business sector is Public awareness messages.

Persil: Fish

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Smart: 90 Degrees Red

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The commercial titled 90 DEGREES RED was done by Ponto de Criacao advertising agency for SMART (MERCEDES-BENZ company) in Brazil. It was released in the June 2010. Business sector is Cars.

Luftal Indigestion Relief: Chick

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The commercial titled CHICKEN was done by LEW’LARATBWA advertising agency for LUFTAL INDIGESTION RELIEF (BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB company) in Brazil. It was released in the June 2010. Business sector is Toiletries & pharmaceuticals.

Noise Cancelling Headphones: Construction

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The commercial titled CONSTRUCTION was done by DDB SINGAPORE advertising agency for NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONES (BOSE company) in SINGAPORE. It was released in the June 2010. Business sector is Home electronics & audio-visual.

Q107: Salon

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Scotch Tape: Elephant

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The commercial titled ELEPHANT was done by OGILVY & MATHER THAILAND, Bangkok advertising agency for SCOTCH TAPE (SAKURA PRODUCTS (THAILAND) company) in Thailand. It was released in the June 2010. Business sector is Household maintenance & pet products.

Orange” fitness club

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3M, Post-it: Don’t Forget Your Friends, Pink

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Hubba Bubba: The longest chewing gum ever

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Interbest Outdoor: Nose

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McDonald’s: Pole

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Panasonic Lumix: Face Recognition

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Thai Food Express: The hottest food in town

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Calgary Zoo: Trashman

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http://www.graphicmania.net/40-mind-blowing-creative-advertising-ideas/

SEO: The Ultimate Internet Marketing Strategy

In little more than a decade, the use of internet search engines has transformed the way businesses advertise. Indeed, internet marketing has become essential for the promotion of products and information, arguably surpassing other media platforms. Magazine, radio, and TV ads largely wait for readers, listeners, and viewers to come across their product alongside unrelated text, sounds, and images that distract from – or provoke little interest in – the advertised product. On the other hand, businesses that practice internet marketing can create informational company websites that are, effectively, ads. They court their prospective clients by including commonly searched-for keywords and phrases in their web content and maximizing the number of times these keywords appear. This internet marketing strategy is called search engine optimization, or SEO.
Internet Marketing and SEO
Online, consumers can almost instantaneously search for and receive information about products by typing in keywords into search engines like Google or Yahoo! With just a single click of the mouse, web surfers will have a list of often hundreds or thousands of sites providing or advertising (usually) relevant merchandise and services. Internet search engines thus provide immediate satisfaction for a need or query in the form of a list of organic (‘real’) and non-organic (or search engine-sponsored and/or affiliated) websites and pages containing a high density of those keywords or keyword phrases. If a business’s website or related website appears within the first few search results listed, it is all but guaranteed that that web site will be visited by interested, prospective clients. Therefore, it is imperative for a would-be successful company not only to practice internet marketing, but to maximize the effectiveness of their advertisement through the internet marketing strategy of search engine opitmization. 

Partnered with blogging as a form of business/website self-promotion, SEO is the key to successful internet marketing. Businesses hire internet marketing companies as consultants to analyze their internet marketing strategies. Besides testing websites’ strategies for SEO, these internet marketing companies advise that websites have an engaging web design, publish press releases, and sponsor competitions and product give-aways in order to secure business from prospective customers. Further strategies may include email marketing, dominating a niche market with affiliate companies, establishing an opt-in contact list, and getting news stories published. All these strategies help in increasing product/company visibility through SEO and blogging techniques.

Internet marketing companies teach that the goal is not just to increase random traffic to businesses’ websites, but to attract the ‘right’ prospective customers – that is, people already interested in whatever product the business in question is selling. For the purpose they suggest to include popularly searched-for keywords that are ultimately irrelevant to a website’s content may increase that site’s visibility, but it will not necessarily increase product sales. (For example, sprinkling the search keywords “Britney Spears” throughout a law firm’s website may result in that site’s being visited by a larger number of people, but it will hardly boost the number of that firm’s clients.) Similarly, blogging and social marketin on the internet establish a dialogue with potential customers already interested in the material being discussed (presumably relevant to the business’s product being sold). Ultimately, the trick to internet marketing is to appeal to certain kinds of web surfers before the web content ever even appears to those prospective customers – a revolutionary marketing strategy.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1GGgan/www.webpagefx.com/Internet-Marketing-Strategy.html/
http://www.competeinfotech.com/blog/digital-marketing-indispensible-item-for-a-spicy-gravy-of-web-business/

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Global Digital Communication: Texting, Social Networking Popular Worldwide

Cell phones are owned by overwhelmingly large majorities of people in most major countries around the world, and they are used for much more than just phone calls. In particular, text messaging is a global phenomenon – across the 21 countries surveyed, a median of 75% of cell phone owners say they text.

Texting is widespread in both wealthy nations and the developing world. In fact, it is most common among cell phone owners in two of the poorest nations surveyed: Indonesia and Kenya.

Many also use their mobile phones to take pictures or video. A median of 50% use their cell phones in this way in the 21 countries polled. Fully 72% of Japanese cell phone owners take pictures or video, as do roughly six-in-ten in Mexico (61%), Spain (59%) and Egypt (58%). Fewer users access the internet via cell phone, although more than four-in-ten mobile phone owners use their device to go online in Israel (47%), Japan (47%) and the United States (43%).

The survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, conducted March 21 to May 15, also finds that social networking is popular in many nations around the globe. This is especially true in Israel (53%) and the U.S. (50%), where half or more say they use social networking websites. More than four-in-ten use these sites in Britain (43%), Russia (43%) and Spain (42%).

Social networking is generally more common in higher income nations; however, this is largely driven by the fact that wealthier countries have higher rates of internet access. People in lower income nations who have online access use social networking at rates that are as high, or higher, than those found in affluent countries.
In nearly every country, the young and the well-educated are especially likely to embrace all of these technologies. People under age 30 and college graduates tend to use their cell phones for more purposes than those in older age groups and those without a college degree, and they are also more likely to use social networking sites.

 

Social Networking Widely Popular

In 15 of 21 countries, at least 25% of those polled use social networking sites. Israel (53%) and the U.S. (50%) top the list with the highest percentage of adults who say they use online social networking sites such as Facebook.

About four-in-ten of all adults in Britain (43%), Russia (43%), Spain (42%), Lithuania (39%) and Poland (39%) also say they engage in social networking. Among this group, Russia is the only country where nearly all internet users are on social networking sites. Only 6% of Russian internet users say they do not go on these sites. In Germany (35%), France (35%), and China (32%), about a third of adults do so.

Germany, France, and Japan are the only countries polled where more internet users say they do not go on social networking sites than say they do. While 35% of Germans use social networking sites, 44% go online but do not use such sites; the comparable numbers are 35% and 38% in France and 25% and 33% in Japan.

About three-in-ten are on social networking sites in Ukraine (30%), Turkey (29%), Jordan (29%), and Egypt (28%). In these four countries, as well as many others where social networking is less prevalent, the percentage of users tends to be low because majorities do not use the internet at all; however, among those who do use the internet, more are using social networking sites than not.

In most of the countries surveyed, there has been only marginal change in social networking use since 2010. Two notable exceptions are Egypt and Russia – countries where the role of social media in recent political upheaval has been the subject of considerable attention. In both nations, usage has increased by ten percentage points over the past year, from 18% in 2010 to 28% in 2011 in Egypt and from 33% to 43% in Russia.

The percentage of adults who use social networking sites is determined in part by the prevalence of internet use, which is more broadly connected to a country’s wealth. The scatter plot below shows the positive relationship between GDP per capita (PPP) in the country and the level of social networking.The U.S., which has the highest per capita GDP among the countries surveyed, is also among the countries with the highest percentage of adults using social networking sites, while Pakistan and India have two of the lowest per capita GDPs and the lowest levels of social networking.
http://www.pewglobal.org/2011/12/20/global-digital-communication-texting-social-networking-popular-worldwide/

Social Universe Still Quickly Expanding

Social platforms are still in their Precambrian era, with new services emerging and consolidating large audiences almost faster than they can be tracked. Meanwhile the social category as a whole is on the cusp of becoming the dominant form of online content, accounting for 16.6 percent of Internet minutes spent as 2011 drew to a close.

A wide-ranging report from comScore found that while leade Facebook continues its impressive growth — reaching three out of four U.S. users — relative newcomers like Tumblr, Pinterest, and Goggle+ are evolving and growing at a steady clip.

 Twitter held the no. 2 spot in the category as of December, when it drew 37.5 million unique visitors. Throughout 2011, it had vied with LinkedIn for second position in social, but appeared to put distance between itself and the career-driven site by year’s end, when LinkedIn’s audience was 33.5 million.

And then you have the upstarts. In six short months, Google+ reached 20.7 million U.S. visitors in December (it claims more than 90 million accounts), while Tumblr hit 18.8 million. Perhaps most impressive of all is Pinterest, which has drawn 8 million visitors – many of them female – without the promotional power of Google’s network of products. The site had barely shown up as a blip on comScore’s screen last summer.

Image source: comScore
ComScore expects social activity to overtake portals as the most engaging online activity in 2012.Facebook, as everyone knows, is the category leader, but its audience size only tells half the story. “The more significant growth trend … was in average user engagement, which jumped 32 percent in the past year to just over 7 hours per visitor in December,” said comScore. The “2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus” report also touched on trends in digital display ads, video, search and other areas. A few of the juicier bits:

Dramatic Rise in Video Activity
The U.S. online video audience cracked 100 million in December, 43 percent higher than one year ago. The number of video streams grew as fast, rising 44 percent to 43.5 billion in December. YouTube commands half of this burgeoning market, and many of its content channels displayed significant user loyalty. That bodes well for its big investment in premium channels. Meanwhile, the volume of in-stream video ads grew 20 percent to 7.1 billion in December 2011.

Image source: comScore

Google Becomes a Top Advertiser
Many familiar brands graced comScore’s roll call of biggest online advertisers. AT&T continued to hold the top spot, delivering 105.8 billion impressions last year. Verizon was also huge, as were brokerage Scottrade and its parent Experian Interactive. New on the list was Google, which delivered in excess of 40.4 billion display impressions for its own products, including Chrome, Offers, and Google+. The year also saw more brands deliver a billion or more impressions. ComScore says 145 did so in Q4, a rise of 38 percent compared with the year-ago period. The number of advertisers delivering 3 billion or more impressions also grew – from 26 to 46.

Bing Makes Gains
Bing finally surpassed Yahoo’s search market share, claiming the no. 2 spot among search engines. Its market share is now about 15 percent, and it powers about the same percentage for Yahoo.

E-Commerce Blooms
The year saw a big, and by now well documented, bump in e-commerce spending. U.S. travel and retail online spending rose 12 percent to $256 billion. In the fourth quarter alone, retail e-commerce spending reached $50 billion.

Webmail, IM Decline
As social gained popularity, other categories lost. Instant messaging fell 40 percent year over year; online personals dropped 40 percent; and job search sites declined 21 percent, says comScore. Web-based email also suffered notable declines among certain age groups. Its use was down 31 percent among teens age 12 to 17, and down 34 percent among 18- to 24-year-olds.

“While the significant decline among teens represents a continuation of a similar trend observed last year, that 18-24-year-olds are now moving away from webmail suggests a larger and more permanent shift in email usage may be occurring,” stated the report.
Graphic courtesy iStockPhoto/alexsl
http://mashable.com/2012/02/12/comscore-social-expanding/

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Memilih Media Sosial yang Tepat bagi Bisnis

Saat ini jejaring sosial mulai dilirik oleh bisnis skala menengah dan kecil (UKM) untuk menjangkau konsumennya. Namun memutuskan jejaring sosial yang tepat dan efektif menjadi kendala yang sering terjadi bagi sebuah bisnis. Jika mencoba semua kanal media sosial tentu cukup berat dan memerlukan usaha serta dana yang besar.

Untuk mempermudah dan membantu bisnis UKM masuk ke ranah media sosial, Imbue Marketing menyajikan statistik tentang jejaring sosial terbesar saat ini, meliputi YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Sound Cloud, dan Linkedln. Informasinya disajikan dalam bentuk infografik berisi penjelasan mengenai keunikan masing-masing jejaring sosial, termasuk demografi penggunanya.
Pilihan Media Sosial
YouTube. Jejaring sosial khusus video ini menyediakan wadah bagi publik untuk mengunggah video dengan sekali klik. Layanan milik Google ini diakses oleh lebih dari 158 juta hits per bulan oleh pengguna perempuan (50%) dan  laki-laki (50%). Bahkan, sebanyak 4 milliar video YouTube rata-rata ditonton oleh pengguna per harinya. Lewat YouTube, pengguna bisa mendokumentasikan sebuah produk, proses kerja pembuatan produk, promo kegiatan, atau  wawancara seorang tokoh.

Facebook. Penggunanya terus naik hingga melebihi angka 800 juta per bulan. tercatat sebanyak 43.061.060 pengguna berasal dari Indonesia. Yang membedakan layanan ini dengan jejaring sosial lainnya adalah kemudahaannya untuk menemukan teman, sahabat, dan kerabat. Tombol Likes juga memberi kemudahan untuk berbagi mengenai ketertarikan Anda. Secara jender, jumlah pengguna perempuan sebanyak 55 persen dan sisanya laki-laki. Lewat Facebook, pengguna bisa berbagi informasi, menanyakan kepada konsumen dan memperoleh respon secara langsung, atau berbagi konten yang dibuat di platform lain.

Twitter. Dengan batasan 140 karakter, jejaring sosial ini cocok untuk berbagi update mengenai info terbaru secara cepat. Sekaligus bisa menjadi ajang untuk memperoleh opini dari follower. Jejaring sosial ini gampang digunakan oleh siapa pun termasuk dari pemilik brand. Sama seperti Facebook, pengguna microblogging ini kebanyakan perempuan (55%) dan laki-laki (45%). Pengguna asal Indonesia yang nge-tweet jumlahnya mencapai 19,5 juta. Saat ini 140 juta tweet wira-wiri di linimasa per harinya. Twitter cocok untuk dimanfaatkan sebagai media untuk menyiarkan sebuah acara langsung (kultwit) dan berhubungan dengan para pelaku, praktisi, dan ajang promo dari sebuah brand.

Instagram. Aplikasi mobile yang memungkinkan pengguna ponsel iPhone untuk mengedit dan berbagi foto ke orang lain. Menu di Instagram yang intuitif dan mudah digunakan menjadi pilihan para iphoneographer, termasuk juga komunitas iPhonesia. Saat ini ada sekitar 15 juta pengguna Instagram di seluruh dunia dan 150 juta foto yang telah disebarkan.

Pinterest. Jejaring sosial yang baru ini lebih banyak digunakan untuk berbagi foto, produk, dan grafis. Meski tergolong paling bontot di ranah media sosial, Pinterest telah diakses oleh 10 juta pengguna. Menurut data Shareaholic's Referral Traffic Report yang diterbitkan akhir Januari lalu, gabungan data dari sekitar 200.000 situs yang mengintegrasikan Pinterest, mampu menjangkau lebih dari 260 juta pengunjung per bulan. Sebanyak 55-70 persen pengguna adalah kaum hawa dan kurang dari 45 persen disumbang oleh kaum adam.   

Sound Cloud. Sesuai dengan namanya, jejaring sosial ini memang lebih banyak meyajikan layanan berbagi audio, musik, dan suara. Pengguna jejaring ini didominasi oleh kaum lelaki (57%) dan dari kalangan perempuan sebesar 43 persen. Jika dihitung dari segi usia, 37 persen pengguna Sound Cloud berumur antara 18-24 tahun. Anak muda yang doyan musik dapat  membuat konten podcast, lantas membagikannya ke para pendengar.

Foursquare. Jejaring sosial ini memberi peluang bagi pemilik brand untuk memberikan penghargaan kepada pengguna tersering melakukan check-in atau terbanyak mengumpulkan Badge. Saat ini Foursquare digunakan oleh lebih dari 15 juta penggunda (perempuan 40%, laki-laki 60%). Jejaring ini cocok untuk bisnis rumah makan, kafe, tempat wisata, mal, atau area publik.  

LinkedIn. Jejaring ini lebih sering digunakan oleh para profesional, baik untuk berbagi informasi mengenai lowongan pekerjaan atau online resume. Meki demikian ternyata hanya sekitar 12% para profesional di tingkat eksekutif yang melirik pekerja melalui Linkedln. Di kalangan manajer tingkat menengah dan paling bawah, presentasenya kurang dari 10%. Jejaring sosial ini tetap lebih populer digunakan oleh kalangan eksekutif untuk mempromosikan bisnisnya,  atau untuk saling bertegur sapa di antara para manajer tingkat menengah. Layanan ini telah digunakan oleh lebih dari 100 juta pengguna, termasuk 946.300 pengguna berasal dari Indonesia. Pengguna perempuan sebanyak 59 persen dan laki-laki 41 persen.
http://salingsilang.com/baca/memilih-media-sosial-yang-tepat-bagi-bisnis