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Mobile Commerce World

 06/24/2013 - 06/26/2013 San Francisco CA

 Mobile Marketing Summit: Holiday Focus 2013

 09/12/2013 New York NY

Social Media

Tech Marketing Guide to B2B

News, video, events, blogs about Social Media Marketing for high tech business-to-business from IDG Knowledge Hub.

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Apple’s Magic Wears Thin as Its Earnings Disappoint

January 24th, 2013

Wall Street Journal

Apple Inc. AAPL -10.67% recorded a flat profit despite selling 18 million more iPhones and iPads, as it spent heavily to roll out new products to fend off intensifying competition. Spooked investors erased nearly $47 billion from the company’s stock-market value in after-hours trading, about as much as the combined worth of Dell Inc., DELL +0.23%Nokia Corp. NOK1V.HE -9.92% and Research In Motion Ltd. RIM.T -2.48%

The flat earnings in the holiday quarter come after several years of supercharged growth that made Apple the most valuable U.S. company and fan worries about the Silicon Valley giant’s momentum and demand for its new devices. Apple executives predicted growth would continue to slow. The company expects revenue to rise about 7% in the current period after reporting an 18% gain in the holiday quarter.

Apple said it sold 47.8 million iPhones, up from 37 million from the year-earlier period and below some analyst expectations. The fiscal first quarter began soon after the release of the iPhone 5 and Apple’s new mapping software, and encompassed the debut of the iPad Mini, a smaller tablet carrying an equally slimmer price tag. Apple said it sold 22.9 million iPads, up about 48% from last year and roughly in line with some analyst expectations.

For the quarter ended Dec. 29, Apple reported a profit of $13.08 billion, up from $13.06 billion a year earlier. On a per-share basis, earnings fell to $13.81 from $13.87 a share as the latest period had slightly more shares outstanding. Revenue rose to $54.5 billion from $46.3 billion.

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Categories: Mobile Research, Social Media Research, Tech Business & Marketing News, Tech Business & Marketing Research | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Study: Facebook Leads to 24% Sales Boost – Social network brings new users at lower cost, per Aggregate Knowledge

January 24th, 2013

Adweek

social advertising doesn’t generate sales. But Media intelligence company Aggregate Knowledge, which analyzes and attributes media buys, says otherwise. In a study of 25 campaigns that ran during the fourth quarter, the company found that media plans that included Facebook saw 24 percent more new sales than those that didn’t.

Aggregate Knowledge CEO David Jakubowski said the media plans with Facebook centered on using the social network’s premium ad units as the anchor with the marketplace ads running along the right rail in a supporting role to extend advertisers’ reach. In addition to Facebook, those media mixes typically included display, social, search and sometimes mobile Web and email, he said. Video also entered the fold at time, with that channel and Facebook “occupying the upper funnel,” said Jakubowski.

While Facebook has rolled out lower-funnel ad products such as the retargeting-oriented Facebook Exchange, Aggregate Knowledge saw the social network maintains its place atop the funnel. Forty-five percent of the total users reached in Q4 were unique to Facebook and not seen on other channels included in a media plan, according to Aggregate Knowledge. “Marketers marketing on Facebook are starting to get to people up the funnel in consideration sets,” Jakubowski said.

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Categories: Social Media Blog, Social Media News | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Facebook Graph Search turns ‘Likes’ into searchable data

January 16th, 2013

TechHive

MENLO PARK— Putting hardware rumors to rest, Facebook didn’t announce a branded phone Tuesday. And it didn’t even launch a dedicated mobile initiative that would have remedied the company’s ability to make money on smartphones and tablets. But Facebook did go straight after Google’s bread and butter: You can finally search through the massive piles of information, photos, music, “likes,” and other data on the social networking giant’s servers.

The new feature is called Graph Search, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg dubbed it the “third pillar” of Facebook behind the site’s News Feed and Timeline features. Within the next few weeks, a few hundred thousand users in the U.S. will get a chance to use the new search functions. You can sign up for the Graph Search beta program at the bottom of this page.

“We’re giving people the power and the tools they need to search through the content on the site,” Zuckerberg said.

For example, users can now search for all their friends in their hometown that use the site, a relatively simple task that couldn’t be done before on Facebook. The site now hosts content from nearly a billion people, including 240 billion photos.

Zuckerberg stressed that Graph Search is not the same thing as Web search, which is, of course, rival Google’s main business. One difference is that Graph Search does not use keywords. It’s a structured search, where users can type in phrases such as “friends of friends who like Star Wars,” or “Friends of Pete who went to Stanford,” or “restaurants in New York my friends liked.”

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Categories: Social Media Blog, Social Media News | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Social Marketers Dive into Mobile

January 9th, 2013

eMarketer

A mobile-first mentality is taking hold

There is no question that social media has gone mobile, as more and more consumers access their accounts via smartphones and tablets. Now, marketers are racing to catch up with consumers where they connect, employing a variety of strategies for outreach, according to a new eMarketer report, “Social Media Marketing on Mobile Devices: Turning Challenges into Opportunities.”

148536 Social Marketers Dive into Mobile

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Categories: Mobile Research, Social Media Research | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

IDG finds b2b tech buyers influenced by social, mobile and video

January 8th, 2013

BtoB

B2b tech buyers are increasingly influenced by social media, mobile and online video in making IT purchase decisions, according to a study by International Data Group.

The report, “B2B Tech Buyers,” was based on an online survey of more than 2,200 business and IT decision-makers visiting IDG websites, conducted in July and August.

It found that b2b buyers rely on a number of sources when making technology purchase decisions. According to the report, 92% of b2b buyers rely on technology websites when making purchase decisions; 60% use tech vendor websites; and 58% turn to technology-related print publications.

Social media is becoming an increasingly important source of information for b2b tech buyers, the survey found.

Forty-five percent of respondents said tech marketers’ presence on social media positively influenced their satisfaction with the company; 43% said it influenced their likelihood to purchase from the company; and 43% also said it influenced their likelihood to recommend the company.

Also, 56% of b2b technology buyers said they are seeking information about products on social sites; 55% want to read product reviews; and 54% would like tech vendors to respond to questions or concerns using social media networks.

Mobile is becoming an important resource for tech buyers as well; 75% of b2b tech buyers responding owned at least two mobile devices.

According to IDG’s survey, 41% of b2b tech buyers purchased a product within six months of seeing an ad on a mobile device; 40% looked for a product in a retail store after seeing a mobile ad; and 36% clicked on a mobile ad for a technology product.

Video is another key tool for b2b tech buyers in their search for products and services. Seventy-two percent of buyers researched a product within three months after seeing a tech-related video for a product; 54% visited a vendor website or contacted a vendor for more information; 46% purchased a product; 45% looked for the product in a retail store; and 28% added the vendor to a short list or consideration set.

“The survey findings show that while tech buyers may be early adopters, they’re good indicators for what marketers should prepare for with the rest of the user population,” said Matthew Yorke, CEO of IDG Global Solutions, in a statement. “A 2013 digital marketing program without consideration of mobile usage and social interaction will miss a growing prospect base.”

IDG also asked b2b tech buyers what type of content they would register for on tech marketers’ websites. The top content types were newsletters (56%), mobile apps (49%) and white papers (46%).

When asked which factors would increase their likelihood of registering for content, b2b buyers cited having a reliable reputation (68%); a secure website (66%); an easy registration process (64%); research-based content (54%); and exclusive content (52%).

Categories: Digital Media Blog, Digital Media Research, Mobile Blog, Mobile Research, Social Media Blog, Social Media Research | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Social media budgets won’t increase this year, survey says.

January 4th, 2013

Ragan.com

Hoping for a social media budget increase?

If your organization is like most, there’s little chance of that in a creeping economy.

Social media budgets didn’t go up at most companies, government agencies, and nonprofits in 2012, and aren’t likely to rise in 2013, a Ragan/NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions survey shows. Only 28 percent saw their budgets—excluding salaries and benefits—increase in 2012, while 69 percent stayed the same. Prospects were only slightly better in 2013, with 62 percent of budgets projected to remain static.

“We’re constantly told we’re among the most advanced,” stated one participant, “but the company doesn’t spend its budget to create social graphics, videos, etc., to support our social media efforts.”

Ragan/NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions survey respondents ranged from small nonprofits to corporations of more than 50,000 employees, with government agencies also participating.

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Categories: Social Media Research | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

There’s No Avoiding Google+

January 3rd, 2013

Wall Street Journal

Google Inc. GOOG +0.73% is challenging Facebook Inc. FB +1.35% by using a controversial tactic: requiring people to use the Google+ social network.

The result is that people who create an account to use Gmail, YouTube and other Google services—including the Zagat restaurant-review website—are also being set up with public Google+ pages that can be viewed by anyone online. Google+ is a Facebook rival and one of the company’s most important recent initiatives as it tries to snag more online advertising dollars.

The impetus comes from the top. Google Chief Executive Larry Page has sought more aggressive measures to get people to use Google+, two people familiar with the matter say. Google created Google+ in large part to prevent Facebook from dominating the social-networking business.

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Categories: Social Media News | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 13 Social Business Trends in 2013!

January 2nd, 2013

#ibmsocialbiz #socbiz

These are my top 13 trends for 2013 around Social Business!

1.  Meet the new C Suite!   Full of T shapped Skills!

Social and social tools means that CMOs need to know more about Technology, and that CIOs need to understand more about how to engage clients, and marketing.    With CEOs, according to IBM’s CEO Study, understanding that social will be the #1 way to engage clients by 2015, it is imperative that both roles learn more about the broader equation.

2.  Social is more than Technology — it is like a Diet.  It is a life style change!

Social changes the way that employees work.  It changes the way that clients interact with you!  At Aberdeen’s 2012 Chief Service Officer (CSO) Summit, 85% of attending business leaders stated that their organization was placing an increased importance on customer service.  Social is the preferred way that clients want to get your help!  Are you ready?  So you have a social client service model?

3. No longer B2B, or B2C.  It is now P2P.  2013 is the year of People to People.

Corporations are people.   But they don’t act like it on social sites like Twitter and Facebook sometimes.   Since people want to do business with people, not businesses.  2013 is the year to focus on relationships — not fly by social!  Social networks and mobile devices put brands in front of customers and employees at all times—and give them the power to impact them at warp speed and interface with people!

http://bit.ly/Vxpn8u

Categories: Social Media Blog | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How to take control of your company’s social destiny in 2013

January 1st, 2013

Venture Beat

As the Great Facebook Debate over the past few months has made clear, in 2013, reaching your fans and followers at scale will require paid promotion.

Meanwhile, the thrill of counting likes, comments, and retweets has faded, and businesses want to see a real return on their investment. Marketers everywhere are asking how much they should continue to invest in building out and engaging with their social audiences.

Here’s the deal: You can’t invest to maintain your social reach unless you are netting a positive return that delivers meaningful business value to your company.

Social media is rapidly evolving into a data-centric and performance-driven marketing discipline. While it will always revolve around compelling content, when you are paying for impressions, you will be called to defend your budget.

As a marketer, your challenge now is to:

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Categories: Social Media Blog | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Facebook Stops Its Long-Awaited Ad Network Before It Starts (For Now)

December 20th, 2012

All Things D

Looks like we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see Facebook’s much-anticipated ad network.

The social giant is putting the brakes on a test it launched earlier this year that let it place its own ads on other developer’s mobile apps.

And while it has also been talking to publishers about running Facebook ads on their mobile Web sites, sources say those discussions have now been back-burnered as well.

The upshot is that plans to launch the equivalent of Google’s AdSense network, which has generated significant income for the search giant, won’t be showing up in the next few months.

Facebook announced in September that it would run its ads on third-party apps. But those efforts will end this month, says spokesman Brandon McCormick.

Here’s his statement, via email: “We are pausing our mobile ads test off of Facebook. While the results we have seen and the feedback from partners has been positive, our focus is on scaling ads in mobile news feed before ads off of Facebook. We have learned a lot from this test that will be useful in the future.”

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