marketing

The value of a fan of a brand on Facebook

Submitted by eacastel on Fri, 06/18/2010 - 12:32

One of the biggest questions companies ask themselves before investing in online social marketing revolves around the challenge of evaluating the return on investment (ROI). In general companies have few benchmarks as compared with traditional media to measure the success of these campaigns.

Nevertheless, it is possible to quantify them. Starbucks got one million clients in only one day thanks to a campaign launched in social circles. Read the complete engagement study in PDF here.

Recently, a new study (PDF) was published by Syncapse whose objective was to evaluate the commercial impact of clicking on the Facebook "Like" button. The conclusion is that on average those users that are fans of a company in the most popular social network spend an additional $71.84 on products for which they are fans compared to those who are not fans.

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Multichannel 2010 is the “New Black"

Submitted by eacastel on Mon, 06/07/2010 - 13:52

Marketers are expanding their focus to include more ways to digitally and directly reach consumers, so their vendors must follow suit. It’s just smart business.

Nearly every major email service provider has announced social media integration plans in one form or another, and most have selected a mobile partner or are building messaging into their platforms.

In general, and in particular for direct marketers, mobile continues to represent tremendous opportunity. As we’ve seen with these acquisitions, the appetite for social and digital media technologies is growing.

We regularly make the point that marketers should have a multichannel strategy – one that includes email, online, mobile and social media. The more opportunities you have to reach a customer, the more opportunities you have to engage with them.

GQ sells 365 iPad mags as app download averages revealed

Submitted by eacastel on Tue, 05/18/2010 - 13:37

Apple’s iPad hasn’t saved publishing just yet, with Conde Naste revealing just 365 sales of its iPad-edition of GQ, while fresh research claims the average iPhone app sells 101,024 copies. [Via 9to5 Mac]

GQ's VP/Publisher Pete Hunsinger says: “This costs us nothing extra: no printing or postage. Everything is profit, and I look forward to the time when iPad issue sales become a major component to our circulation.” GQ is about to be joined on the iPad at Condé Nast by Glamour / The New Yorker / Vanity Fair and Wired.)

UPDATE: On May 18, GQ announced that it has sold a total of 57,000 copies of its magazine in the App Store since December. [From Peter Kafka - "GQ’s iPad App Does…Okay"]

Making a Business Case for Mobile Marketing

Submitted by eacastel on Thu, 04/15/2010 - 17:15

By Bryce Marshall,
Chief Marketeer

Mobile marketing creates opportunities for timely and intimate consumer experiences, but is often poorly understood. And unlike online tactics like search, email, and social marketing, few brands have dollars set aside for mobile development, meaning business cases and ROI models must be cemented upfront. The good news is consumers are already mobile. Hundreds of millions of North American consumers are engaged with their mobile devices.

Many marketers are overwhelmed by the technologies and terminology that fall under "mobile." However, the foundational components of mobile marketing are straightforward, support core marketing and communications programs, and deliver clear and measurable outcomes.

Here are a few tips for making a mobile business case:

The Foundation

1. Text Messaging (SMS)

9 Killer Tips for Location-Based Marketing

Submitted by eacastel on Thu, 03/18/2010 - 15:33

From Mashable, by Shane Snow.

Social networking has finally become something valuable for brick-and-mortar businesses. Smartphones and location-based social networks allow users to interact, share, meet up, and recommend places based on their physical coordinates. This real-world connection to social media can mean more foot traffic and profits for business owners.

So-called “lo-so” networks like Foursquare, Loopt, and Gowalla enable any business with a physical location to not only communicate with customers online, but actually get more of them to walk in the door — and that’s exciting.

The question any brick-and-mortar business owner should be asking him or herself is no longer “Should I use lo-so networks?” It’s “How do I do it?” The following tips are essential to getting started.

Read the full article.

Should media companies charge for content?

Submitted by eacastel on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 14:28

By Emilio Castellanos

To charge or not to charge for access to proprietary content online is an old idea based on a new media paradigm. The paywall has been highly debated, tested, embraced and forfeited over and over again but media companies are not asking the right question.

The bigger issue with monetization is that media companies have failed to react to the changes that have taken place in the ecosystem and still insist in serving controlled content online as gatekeepers. Media companies need to be asking questions about structure, portability, business focus and models to become more flexible, accommodate user preferences, identify emerging trends and then avidly follow them.

Target stores are now accepting mobile payments

Submitted by eacastel on Tue, 02/09/2010 - 13:54

Target's mobile efforts have reached a new high as the retailer takes the first step towards rolling out seamless mobile payments through 2D barscanning and tracking technology.

Target’s point-of-sale scanners make Target the first major retailer with the ability to scan mobile barcodes in all of its retail locations.

To take advantage of this new technology, shoppers need to currently purchase a physical Target giftcard either online or at the store and save its code information onto a secure account on Target's mobile site. Then, at the point of sale, mobile users retrieve appropriate barcodes to scan at checkout.

It is still necessary for shoppers to buy the physical giftcard either at the store or online but Target is already looking into providing seamless mobile payments to "reload" the value of the giftcard electronically which would completely eliminate the need to carry your wallet when visiting a Target store.

The DROID by Verizon is here: links and facts

Submitted by eacastel on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 12:23

The Verizon/Motorola/Google mobile phone DROID arrived in stores November 6 and is causing a stir. The cost is $199.99 (plus tax on the full retail value $599.99) with a new two-year customer agreement after a $100 mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card.

You will probably want to consider buying an extra battery (I did not) to support heavy internet browsing and application use, although according to this test it is pretty good.

The Droid offers no global plan.

Tip 1: If you are having problems connecting from your PC to your Droid, look for a USB indicator on the notification bar of the phone... drag that down and tap on it... select mount, and it should just show up as a removable drive on your PC.

Prevent mobile SMS advertising campaign lawsuits

Submitted by eacastel on Wed, 10/21/2009 - 09:38

By Emilio Castellanos

There has recently been some buzz about companies getting sued for conducting non compliant or flawed SMS campaigns. In particular I am referring to the class action suits filed against Coors Light and CBS-owned Simon & Schuster.

MillerCoors LLC is being sued for running a mobile sweepstakes promotion in which it allegedly printed invalid promotional codes. Simon & Schuster is in trouble for having allegedly sent unsolicited messages during a three-year SMS campaign for the Stephen King horror novel "The Cell."

These two class action suits highlight the need for companies embarking on SMS campaigns and promotions to ensure that campaigns meet the Mobile Marketing Association's (MMA) guidelines, receive adequate legal attention, and are administered and deployed by mobile professionals using only the best mobile infrastructure available.

MMF Panel: Mobile marketing budgets growing at 26%

Submitted by eacastel on Wed, 09/16/2009 - 21:20

By Jordan Crook, Mobile Marketer

NEW YORK -- Despite the overall decline in marketing budgets nationwide, companies are allocating their marketing dollars to mobile.

This was the topic of conversation at the Mobile Marketing Association's Mobile Marketing Forum in the Grand Hyatt Hotel where Peter Johnson, vice president of market intelligence and strategy, MMA, led a panel discussion titled "Marketing Industry Research: 2009." "Our main purpose is to create a model of who we are as an industry so when we make decisions we can tell clients, ‘if you do this or that, I know what will make a difference for you and consumers," Mr. Johnson said.

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