Blog | PPC Freelancer - Part 2

Keeping Your Mobile App Simple

Posted on by in Social Media | Leave a comment

Recently I’ve started running again after a long hiatus from the sport and needed a mobile app that could help me keep track of my runs to in order to gage my progress.  Previously I was runner but stopped running after I did the Twin Cities Marathon in 2007; finishing in an excruciating 6 hours and 5 minutes. Apparently you have to train for one of these things. After that experience I thought 26 miles in 6 hours was enough exercise for 5 years but the time has come to get back on that horse

Unfortunately, the search for a good app has taken longer than I expected as quite a few of them have either not worked correctly or have been too unwieldy to navigate.  All I want is a simple app to track my runs and tell me how many calories I’ve burned after stumbling and wheezing my way to a 14 minute mile.

It shouldn’t be that difficult to find a simple yet effective app to do this yet many of the apps I found make the mistake of trying to load the user with too much information and functionality.  One has to keep in mind that the most successful apps are shockingly simple.  (I finally chose Endomondo)

Take for example Instagram. They started out with a very cumbersome app that tried to cram in too much functionality such as a clunky check-in function.  Fortunately for them they figured it out quickly and determined that people want it easy and fast. That realization netted then close to a billion dollars from Facebook’s buyout.

I was at a recent presentation at Apple’s headquarters in Silicon Valley this year in which they were describing their iAd platform, and they mentioned something that has stuck with me.  They spoke about how companies have started to design for mobile apps before they design for the web to ensure a simple clean design which improves usability.  What a great idea; so simple yet so hard to achieve.

We in the marketing and communications field do have a tendency to want to cram all of our strategies into each one of our channels from Facebook content to website links, but we need to step back and identify/align specific strategies and goals to individual channels.

So when thinking about your next mobile app, try to avoid these pitfalls:

Feature Overload
Using too many features:  One of the most common mistakes that a developer makes while creating an app is packing it with too many features and functionalities. This means they are actually “stuffing” the app with features and in the end, all that it does is confuse the end-users. The best thing to do is to use no more than 2-3 features while developing an app.

Complicated User Interface
Making the UI too complicated: The UI (User Interface) is an important part of any app. If the UI of an app is too complex, it will affect the usability for the end-users. This is bad news. Therefore, don’t over complicate the user-interface and stick to the ‘keep it simple’ principle, so that even a user, who is using your app for the very first time, finds it easy to use.

For more detailed tips on creating functional and clean mobile apps, here are some resources:

Designing a Mobile App? Don’t Make These 10 Mistakes
8 Tips for More Tapworthy Apps and Mobile-Friendly Sites
5 Simple Tips for Designing Better iPhone Apps

SMBs Still Slow to Embrace Mobile Marketing

Posted on by in Social Media | Leave a comment

While many small and medium-sized businesses are planning to increase their digital spending budget within the next 12 months, only 2 in 10 are currently employing mobile marketing strategies.  Amazingly 29% of SMBs haven’t even heard of the term mobile marketing, which is mind blowing considering most SMB execs and owners probably use mobile devices in their daily lives.

In fact, a recent study found that 94 percent of the small-business users surveyed believe their mobile devices make them more efficient. So what gives?  They use these devices but they’re not seeing the value in marketing terms.

One reason I believe SMBs are so slow to pick up on this marketing avenue is that mobile technologies have moved so fast that marketing execs are too hesitant to try something they deem as untested.  SMBs aren’t alone in their trepidation as I’ve worked with a few Fortune 500 companies who still haven’t had the gumption to dip their toes into this medium.

It’s been my experience that while big business have the cash to try new mobile marketing strategies they tend to be more conservative in their willingness to try new things.  SMB’s obviously don’t have the endless funds the big boys possess but they do have the most to gain by trying this growing trend.  Especially if their competitors are already in this space.

In fact, 84% of U.S. small businesses using mobile marketing see increase in new business activity, according to a recent study by Web.com.  ComScore figures there are now 82.2 million Americans using smartphones and this figure is going to continue to grow quickly. When it comes down to it SMBs should take advantage of mobile marketing to gain advantage in three key areas:

  • Provide better service to existing customers
  • Attract more local customers
  • Gain competitive advantage

It won’t be long before everyone will be carrying around computers in their pockets so the sooner SMBs can harness this trend the better competitive advantage they’ll have in the future.   And by future I mean tomorrow.

 

How Social Media Affects the Consumer’s Decision to Buy

Posted on by in Corporate Social Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Retail, Return on Investment, SEO, Social Media, Social Media Consulting, Trends | Leave a comment

Google recently came out with some research called Zero Moment of Truth that very clearly and convincingly lays out the business case for social media and how it impacts the consumer’s buying journey.

Google states that the Zero Moment of Truth is the moment when a consumer picks up a laptop, mobile phone or other wired device to research a product or serve and then decide what to buy.   The research shows that more and more, people are making their buying decisions well before they get to the store.

Recently, I’ve been telling anyone who will listen (ad nauseum, perhaps) that there’s been a fundamental shift in how consumers gather data and how they’re using that data to make buying decisions for products from new cars to ball point pens.

They are increasingly turning to online social interactions to check out ratings and reviews (which is a form of social sharing) for opinions on products and services and searching what a brand’s Facebook Pages or Twitter account has for deals and insights as to what’s new.  They’re also using sites like YouTube and Vimeo to research how-to videos or demos on how products are used. Here’s some interesting stats that highlight this behavior:

  • 70% of Americans now say they look at product reviews before making a purchase
  • 79% of consumers now say they use a smartphone to help with shopping
  • 83% of moms say they do online research after seeing TV commercials for products that interest them

All these social interactions can be quickly and easily found using search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. For a long time the conventional wisdom was that people won’t go out of their way to research things like laundry detergent and butter but in fact they do.  Google’s research clearly shows they do.

The graphic below shows when those Zero Moments of Truth are happening:

Average purchase cycles for three diverse categories

If you don’t believe what Google’s saying, the Harvard Business Review came out with some research from McKinsey & Company that supports Google’s thinking. (See my recent article Consumer Decision Journey in the Digital Age)  They’ve actually documented this behavior in 2009 and Google backs up their assertion that brands need to be at that digital evaluation process or Zero Moment of Truth when the consumer looks for information.  If a brand isn’t showing up when consumers do their search, they are losing sales.

Where social media really makes its impact is in the advocacy phase of the consumer’s buying journey after they’ve taken advantage of a service or brought a product home and used it.  If they like it (or not) they will go on Facebook, Amazon.com, Twitter, blogs, Consumer Reports, or brand website and let you know what they think.  And for the first time in history, this word-of-mouth communication is being digitally archived making one person’s advocacy someone else’s Zero Moment of Truth.

I highly recommend you check out Google’s research (it’s free), watch all the videos and read it in its entirety.  This Zero Moment of Truth will become, if it’s not already, the most important impetus for a customer to buy your company’s goods and/or services.

How Far Did That Tweet Go?

Posted on by in Corporate Social Strategy, Reputation Monitoring, Return on Investment, Social Media | 2 Comments

As I was perusing the intertubes today on my phone I suddenly received a flurry of notifications from my Twitter app telling me that 21 people had mentioned me (@jbsem.com).  I usually don’t receive this many mentions in a week let alone all at once so I clicked to see what happened.

Apparently, @MariSmith, bless her heart, who’s a prolific tweeter (106,000 followers), just re-tweeted a blog post of mine (7 Keys to Choosing the Right Social Media Monitoring Tool).  Another 20+ people then re-tweeted her tweet. All of a sudden a good number of people were clicking on the link to my post.

This got me to wondering how many people did this one tweet reach so I brought up my online tools and got to work. There are some robust systems out there that could have provided a complete view of clicks, reach, impressions, blog visits, etc., all in one dashboard but those cost some serious change.

So instead, I used a variety of free online tools that produce reports similar to the more sophisticated platforms; it just took a little more work and some knowhow.  Here’s what I used.

Bit.ly

Bit.ly is a URL shortener that shrinks long URLs into ones that are more conducive to 140 character limits. It also has tracking capability that measures the number of times people click on the URL and where they’re coming from.  Using my URL http://bit.ly/j5xc3j it showed me that 42 people clicked on a  bit.ly link to get to my post; 32 of which clicked on the link I created.  This means 10 people used a different bit.ly link to get to my content.

TweetReach

This is a simple tool that lets you easily gauge the reach of a tweet, link, #hashtag, phrase or keyword and shows the reach and exposure data for those tweets.  I typed in my bit.ly link and it showed that my tweet as of June 6 reached 129,137 people via 18 tweets; producing 142,627 Impressions.  It’s a nice quick and easy way to see how far a tweet has gone. See below.

SocialMention

This is a free social media search and analysis platform that provides an easy way to track and measure what people are saying about you or your company across the web’s social media landscape.  The tool lacks the customizable reporting capability other monitoring tools provide, however you can’t beat the price (free). This tool showed me that mentions, using my bit.ly link, had a sentiment ratio at an excellent 21 positive to 0 negative.  This due to the fact @MariSmith included “LIKE!!” in her tweet. I love her.   While I have serious doubts about automated sentiment analysis, it’s a quick and dirty way to see if good or bad things are being said about you.  The tool also uses metrics like strength, reach and passion of the posts. You can click here to see how they define these metrics (just hover over the number and the definition will appear).

Google Analytics

I really don’t know what marketers would do without Google Analytics. It’s by far one of the best and easiest tools to use in measuring and monitoring your website and/or blog’s traffic. And its FREE.   It provided me with metrics on the number of visits I received to my post, the time people spent reading my post, the number of people leaving the page without further clicks (bounce rate), percent of new visits, source of the traffic, etc.   I won’t go into all the detail other than to say that this information is critical for me in determining what content is most useful and how well my content is being picked up by search engines.  If you don’t have this program set up, just ask your web master and they’ll do it for you and give you access.

It was a fun day today as it’s always interesting to see the impact of your online social activities and it’s a great way to really understand the power of social platforms and the tools used to measure them.

Aligning Social Media Insights with Consumer Buying Habits – CMOs Are Missing the Boat

Posted on by in Corporate Social Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Return on Investment, Social Media, Social Media Consulting, Trends | Leave a comment

IBM Global CMO Study

IBM has recently released their IBM Global CMO Study for 2011 and once again, social media comes up very high in what CMOs see as an area of concern for the future of their business. Other areas of concern were the data explosion, proliferation of channels and devices and shifting consumer demographics; all of which tie into social media.

The one tidbit I found most interesting in this study was CMOs are still predominantly relying on traditional sources of information such as focus groups and studies that focus on understanding markets rather than individuals. It seems that most are still ignoring what people are saying about them through social channels. Case in point:

  • 26 percent are tracking blogs
  • 42 percent are tracking third-party reviews
  • 48 percent are tracking consumer reviews

In a past blog post, called Consumer Decision Journey in the Digital Age, I highlight a McKinsey & Company study that shows how more and more consumers are using these social channels to make their buying decisions. However, organizations have yet to leverage these tools which can provide crucial insights into how customers and influencers think and behave.

The graph below shows the sources of information CMOs are using to make strategic marketing decisions and as you can see most are paying more attention to markets than individuals. The key sources to understanding individuals (highlighted in yellow) still are ranked relatively low:


It’s quite obvious that CMO’s have not yet aligned their strategies with how consumers are behaving today and aren’t keeping up with the trends in technology.  Therefore, I see a big role for social media going forward and the companies that embrace this trend will be well positioned to be leaders in their industries.

 

Social Media for Parks & Recreation – Back to the Basics

Posted on by in Corporate Social Strategy, Minnesota, Social Media, Social Media Consulting, Tourism | Leave a comment

Enough can’t be said for how social media is changing the way people use and search for information on everything from travel to buying a ball point pen.  For parks and recreation organizations social media is an integral aspect for conveying to the community all that is offered in terms of city parks, youth programs, sports, special events, etc.

It is imperative though for park and recreation departments that a social media strategy be put in place before a single post or tweet goes out because you must first answer the question “why are we on Twitter/Facebook/YouTube?”  If you can’t describe how your Facebook page addresses an overall communication objective then you’re not yet prepared.

This presentation, created for the 2011 Minnesota Recreation and Park Association Annual Conference, will hopefully help you prepare for online social interaction by providing a framework for a social media strategy and demonstrating some useful tools for managing your organization’s social presence.

Social Media for Parks and Recreation

View more presentations from Jbsem.

I’ve also included some useful articles that can help better craft your social strategy.

 

Tweets from D.C.’s Earthquake

Posted on by in Social Media, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I thought I’d provide some news coverage from the D.C. earthquake brought to you by the citizen journalists of Twitter. Enjoy

D.C. Earthquake Devastation

  • Earthquake made me spill my tea.. I’m available for interviews
  • don’t let that earthquake stop you from reading my funny blog post that went up just before the earthquake. Don’t compound the tragedy.
  • I know my mother will be very hurt that I didn’t check on her after the earthquake that I know she survived.
  • It appears as though the earthquake may have taken out Farmville.
  • Is standing below buildings a preferred method of earthquake safety?
  • EVERYBODY CALM DOWN and each time you encounter the word “earthquake” replace it with “milkshake” until further notice.
  • Sarah Palin says she could see the earthquake from her house.
  • Tweets about the earthquake travel faster than the actual seismic waves
  • Hey, remember when that earth quake happened and we all Twittered about it?
  • Wolf Blitzer is on the phone with the earthquake
  • I survived the earthquake. I am also now warlord of post-earthquakeNYC
  • You guys. Earthquake tweet jokes are sooo 20 minutes ago
  • After the #earthquake, now is the time to put partisanship aside, come together as one, and go shopping
  • Ducks are taking over the world now? Ruunnnn!!! #earthquake RT @DeenaNicoleMTV: Omgggg we just had a frickn earth quack! I’m freakinggg out!
  • Local TV station talks to #earthquake victims, who were forced to stand outside in sunny, 80-degree weather
  • GOP press release questioning #earthquake science: “Scientists don’t agree on why the ground shakes. Could be plates. Could be the devil.”
  • What I love about the Internet: it took us less time to learn the magnitude than to exit the building. #earthquake
  • Earthquake strikes United States. Why hasn’t President Obama responded? 44 minutes ago
  • Aren’t animals supposed to do pre-earthquake tricks like run around on their hind legs & smoke cigarettes? My dog did NOTHING
  • New Yorkers forced to meet their annoying neighbors thanks to earthquake.
  • My dog Sasha slept soundly through the earthquake. So much for that whole “animals will warn you!” thing..
  • Co-workers now awkwardly resuming their days after blurting out honest opinions in face of death. #earthquake
  • Maybe the debt ceiling finally collapsed
  • Text “I Spilled My Iced Latte” to 90999 to donate $1 to the victims of the NYC earthquake
  • i hope the world doesn’t end before i use all these groupons

What Does Google+ Mean for Your Business

Posted on by in Corporate Social Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Social Media, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The quick answer is we don’t know yet but the popular belief is that Google+ will play a significant role in your search engine optimization efforts (SEO) in near future. Most people I run into are rolling their eyes at yet another social network but there may be something to Googe+ that businesses need to pay attention to.

Google is attempting differentiate itself from Facebook by allowing people to divide their friends, colleagues, acquaintances into groups and share individually targeted content. And it’ll most likely be the case when it comes to brands.  My guess is that Google will attempt to capitalize on this functionality and apply the notion of building individual audiences to its version of business pages. This will allow page owners to communicate with different groups through one main page.

I wouldn’t concern myself too much with the hype right now (fastest to 10 millions users) but I would suggest you start preparing for the eventual launch of business pages.   Note: DO NOT start a profile for your brand yet as Google has been aggressively deleting branded profiles.  The functionality will be coming soon so here are some ideas on how you can prepare your business:

  • Explore – Make sure everyone on the marketing/communications team has a profile and start exploring its functionality. While it may not be necessary for everyone to be an expert, it will be important for them to know how to use Circles, Hangouts, Huddle and Sparks.
  • Collaborate – Bring together your web developers, search specialists, mobile guy, analysts and brand team and start talking about what you’re leaning and the potential impact of Google+ to the business/brand.
  • Compare – Assess how you’re currently using your Facebook Page and how that strategy may differ from a Google+1 Page.
  • Prepare – Have all the necessary players on your team ready to implement a business Page when the functionality eventually comes online. It may bode well for your brand to be a first mover in this space.
Here are a few insightful articles on Google+:
Here Come Google+ Pages for Brands: What You Need to Know

 

Gap Widening Between Consumer Social Media Adoption & Corporate Marketing Strategy

Posted on by in Corporate Social Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Social Media | Leave a comment

Consumers today are connecting with brands in fundamentally new ways, as more and more of them are actively participating in sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and soon to be Google+1.  Yet companies are still very slow to adopt this media into their marketing strategies.

A  recent survey by Jive Software and Penn, Schoen & Berland found 78% of executives thought a social business strategy was somewhat or very important to the future success of their business.  Yet most are still only in the beginning stages of making their social strategy a priority. Only 27% listed social business as a top strategic priority in 2011 and half admitted a social plan was necessary but not a strategic priority.

While no one is suggesting companies abandon their past marketing activities for a social only strategy; they need to consider revising their marketing mix to reflect  this new age of interaction.  And they need to do this sooner rather than later. The Harvard Business Review had a great article this last December called Branding in the Digital Age: You’re Spending You Money in All the Wrong Places, where it demonstrates how the consumer decision journey has dramatically shifted in past five years; altering how they buy products and services.  However, companies still continue to embrace outdated marketing strategies and thus aren’t keeping up with their customer’s buying habits.

Due to this slow pace of social media integration, the gap between consumer’s adoption of social media and corporation’s ability to integrate social into their marketing mix seems to be widening.  The question for companies today is;  how long are you willing to continue allowing this gap to grow before your market share begins to erode.  As small businesses, startups, entrepreneurs, consultants, and agencies begin to utilize social media to get an edge on their competition, you’ll start seeing some larger companies lose their footing.

Mobile Marketing: Better Start Developing That Android App

Posted on by in Corporate Social Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Mobile Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Just a year ago everyone was clamoring to build for the iPhone and had scant interest in building an Android app. Oh what a difference a year makes. Google’s operating system is now blowing everyone out of the water in the smartphone market; with a 38.1% share.  Apple is now a distant second with a 26.6% share.  What about Blackberry’s RIM platform?..forget about it. They’re toast, as they’ve now dropped 14.5% to 24.7% market share.  See chart:

Samsung , LG and Motorola are leading the way in smartphones sales with iPhone at #4.  All use Google’s operating system and all have equivalent if not better phones than Apple. The cool factor of the iPhone is starting to wear off and its competition is getting better and better. So if you’re a marketer, you better plan on creating that Android app first.

It used to be iPhone users would look down on me and scoff at the thought of using any other device; in spite of the fact that 80% of their calls were dropped.  Well, look who’s scoffing now.  Me and my Samsung feel vindicated.  Now start building me some apps.

← Older posts
Newer posts →