You are here: Home » Social Media » Social Media News

Mobile Events
Event Date Location

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.

Subscribe To Latest Posts
Subscribe
Sort Posts By:

Facebook plans to unveil smartphone; The company aims to dominate on mobile devices the way it has on desktop computers

April 4th, 2013

Los Angeles Times

 

Get ready for the Facebook phone.

The company is close to unveiling a smartphone whose software keeps the social network front and center. It is part of an overall strategy to advance Facebook’s ambitions to dominate on mobile devices the way it has on desktop computers. Facebook Inc. has scheduled a news conference Thursday at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters to show off an HTC smartphone that operates on software called Facebook Home. The social network’s News Feed, messaging, photo uploading and other features will be integrated into the phone, according to reports.

It will be the biggest step yet to re-engineer Facebook into a mobile company. Like Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. before it, Facebook is putting a device into people’s hands designed to tether them to the service.

Facebook is under heavy pressure to capture — and keep — the attention of users who are spending more time than ever on mobile devices so that it can cash in on mobile advertising. And that has forced the giant social network to attempt the most dramatic transformation in its history. It has deployed hundreds of engineers on coding mobile projects. It rolled out new mobile advertising formats and new mobile apps such as Poke, and overhauled its iPhone and Android apps. Facebook also stepped up its focus on Android, which in recent years has surpassed the iPhone to become the No. 1 operating system for smartphones around the world.

At the end of last year, the number of active daily users accessing Facebook on a mobile device exceeded the number logging on from desktop computers for the first time. More than 650 million of its more than 1 billion users check Facebook from mobile devices — and that number is growing fastest in big markets such as the U.S.

“Facebook’s goal is to get its stuff in front of as many people as possible,” IDC analyst Karsten Weide said. The HTC phone is powered by a modified version of Google’s Android mobile software. If successful, the HTC phone could be the first of many, analysts said. “This is a way to get the distribution that they would have gotten through their own smartphone by partnering with somebody else,” Weide said.

Continue reading… 

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

Facebook Redesigns Timeline…Again

March 14th, 2013

CIO (US)

FRAMINGHAM (03/13/2013) – Hot on the heels of last week’s announcement of a radical new look for News Feed, Facebook today released images of a redesigned Timeline, coming to all users in the following weeks.  ”We heard from you that the current Timeline layout is sometimes hard to read,” said Facebook product lead Rose Yao.

Posts are no longer split down the middle; the new Timeline features a single, larger column that displays all posts in chronological order. It also replaces the Friends, Photos and Apps boxes users see now below the cover photo with simplified tabs. Recent activity is moved to a narrower box on the left side of the page.

This design is similar to one some users in New Zealand reported seeing earlier this year. Facebook users in New Zealand typically receive updates before any other country.

To view images and continue reading click here

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

Crain’s BtoB Announces Its Social Media Marketing Award Winners

February 26th, 2013

Cisco Systems Wins Two awards; People’s Choice Online Voting Open Now

NEW YORK & FRAMINGHAM, MA – February 26, 2013–BtoB editors have selected 20 companies as winners or runners-up among 118 entries in BtoB’s fourth annual Social Media Marketing Awards program.

First-place honors go to the following 10 companies:

Integrated (technology): Adobe Systems; Integrated (non-technology): Aon;  Facebook: Emerson Climate Technologies; Twitter: GE Intelligent Platforms; LinkedIn: Dell Inc; Best Use of Pinterest: Constant Contact; Viral Video: Dun & Bradstreet; Mobile: Cisco Systems; Corporate Blog: Intel Corp.; and, Closed Community: Cisco Systems.

            Submissions were accepted last November into January 2013.  All the editors’ selections are online at http://bit.ly/13bx6vv, and will be reported on in the March 2013 BtoB print issue.  John Obrecht, editor of BtoB, said: “We’ve entered a new era of social marketing, The sophistication of programs has reached a new level as exemplified by our People’s Choice nominees.”

For the fourth consecutive year, IDG Communications is the Premier sponsor of the BtoB Social Media Marketing Awards.  “Marketers have come a long way since the first awards program where social might have been a small part of a campaign.  Now, marketers must include earned media exposure if they want to reach prospects who rely on social networks for information and purchase decisions,” said Matthew Yorke, president, IDG Global Solutions.  “We congratulate the winners and runners up who excelled in their use of social media marketing.”

 Online Voting for People’s Choice Awards Continues Through March 1
BtoB editors selected three entries from tech and non-tech categories for the People’s Choice awards.  Online voters can choose between tech entries: Adobe Systems:  “Metrics, Not Myths;” Deltek: “Connect More;” or, Dell: “LinkedIn Page.”  On the non-tech side the nominees are Aon: “Global Service Day;” New Cities Foundation: “DeusM Social Media Campaign;” or, Emerson Climate Technologies: “Painted Copeland Scroll Compressor Program.”

Online voting for the People’s Choice nominees is open until Friday, March 1 at 4 pm eastern.  Vote at http://bit.ly/URZPGs.

Awards Lunch at Digital Edge Live Conference
The People’s Choice awards, selected by online voters for tech and non-tech entries, will be announced on Wednesday, March 20 at the Nikko Hotel in San Francisco.  The category award honorees and runners-up will also be recognized at the lunch.

Speakers at the all day conference include executives from IBM, SAP, Intuit, Intel, Cisco Systems, USG, and IDC.

To register for the conference and awards lunch, please go to http://bit.ly/YU0Qe6

About BtoB
BtoB, a Crain Communications publication, is the magazine for marketing strategists. It is the only publication dedicated to all disciplines of business-to-business marketing. In print and electronically, BtoB delivers the latest trends, best practice case studies, research, and analysis that senior marketers need to develop a winning integrated marketing strategy.

About International Data Group
International Data Group (IDG) is the world’s leading technology media, events and research company. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, IDG products and services reach an audience of more than 280 million technology buyers in 97 countries.

IDG Communications’ global media brands include ChannelWorld®, CIO®, CSO®, Computerworld®, GamePro®, InfoWorld®, Macworld®, Network World®, PCWorld®, TechHive, and TechWorld®. IDG’s media network features 460 websites, 200 mobile sites and apps and 200 print titles spanning business technology, consumer technology, digital entertainment, and video games worldwide. The IDG TechNetwork represents more than 500 independent websites in an ad network and exchange complementary to IDG’s media brands.

With expertise in branding, lead generation, and social media marketing, IDG marketing services programs are strategically designed and implemented to influence technology vendor prospects worldwide.

A recognized leader in conference and exhibition management, IDG produces more than 700 globally branded technology and entertainment conferences and events in 55 countries.
International Data Corporation (IDC), a subsidiary of IDG, has more than 1,000 analysts who provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in more than 110 countries.

Additional information about IDG, a privately held company, is available at http://www.idg.com.

 

Contacts: For IDG:  Howard Sholkin, 508-766-5610, howard_sholkin@idg.com
For BtoB: John Olbrecht, 312-649-5326, jobrecht@crain.com

Trademarks and registered trademarks are owned by International Data Group, Inc.  All product and company names are trademarks of their respective companies.

 

 

Categories: Advertising & Marketing News, Social Media News | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

IDG Communications’ Marketing Clients Earn Marketing Recognition

January 28th, 2013

Market Wire

Five Awards Programs Cited Tech Companies for Their Digital Marketing Excellence

FRAMINGHAM, MA– Avaya, Dell, HP, and Research in Motion (RIM) have been singled out for superior digital marketing and information programs created with IDG Communications. The honors include a year-long multimedia content and social marketing program for the HP Enterprise CIO Forum, The New Fulcrum Point site sponsored by Dell, and The Avaya Thought Leadership Forum.

Web Marketing Association Honors The Web Marketing Association awarded Dell its B2B Standard of Excellence for the New Fulcrum Point produced through the collaboration of Dell, MediaCom, and IDG last year. The New Fulcrum Point tackled the challenge of information overload by putting the right content at the right time in the hands of IT decision-makers to give them “the power to do more.” IT decision-makers accessed a unique content navigation system that filtered and customized a wide range of technology content. Information produced by bloggers, IDG, Dell, and research/analyst firms could be customized based on a visitor’s company size, technology and business solutions of interest, and their vertical industry.

Social media interaction included a “Video Power Hour” built around questions from readers submitted via Twitter to a panel of experts, weekly Twitter chats, and social commentary related to a high-profile event for Dell at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX in 2012.

Interactive Media Awards The Interactive Media Awards (IMA) also recognized The New Fulcrum Point with two awards in 2012: Outstanding Achievement B2B and Outstanding Achievement in Social Networking.

In late 2011, IMA recognized Avaya/IDG Thought Leadership Forum for Outstanding Achievement in the Computer Hardware category. The Avaya Thought Leadership Forum site focused on brand awareness and thought leadership. The campaign objectives were to increase brand awareness, perception, and purchase consideration by IT buyers. Avaya is a global leader in enterprise communications systems, software, and services covering unified communications, contact center, networking, and small business.

A key element of the Avaya campaign was the CIO Debate series featured in the Forum web site. IDG’s CIO Executive Council recruited IT executives and produced videos each month that related to Avaya strategy and industry issues. The Forum program was built around four components: timely buyer research, a multimedia content experience, IT executive participation, and extended engagement across the social web.

The Avaya Thought Leadership Forum also earned an Honoree designation by judges for the prestigious Webby Awards. It was recognized in the IT Hardware/Software category. And, the Media Industry Newsletter (Min) gave the Forum honorable mention in Custom Publishing in Min’s Integrated Marketing Awards program.

Wharton Honor for HP Last fall in the first Social Media Leadership Awards program at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the HP CIO Enterprise Forum was a finalist in the Advertising/Marketing category. The Forum is designed to raise the awareness of HP as a provider of IT enterprise solutions and services and as an industry thought leader. The program includes web sites in the US, UK, Germany, China, and Japan which provide a forum for “CIOs Driving Transformation.” The sites were designed for IT executives to help them read about, discuss, and implement ways to succeed in business and government.

This peer-based Forum has now attracted more than 23,000 members who represent more than 70% of HP’s major customers worldwide.

RIM Recognized The Enterprise Mobile Hub (EMH) sponsored by RIM has been cited as a top 10 source for enterprise mobility news and information by the Mobile Device Management Solution Review. EMH joined established media sites such as Computerworld and CITEworld as top sources for mobile content. The EMH encourages IT pros and business leaders to discuss mobility issues, exchange ideas and collaborate with peers, experts, and market leaders.

IDG Marketing Services and the Social Web The campaigns are built around IDG’s core expertise in content marketing and services including creation, platform and prospect engagement optimization, and amplification of a marketer’s messages on the social web. “IDG has been at the forefront of marketing services built around paid, owned, and earned media tactics in a cohesive way to accelerate the impact for our technology clients,” said Charles Lee, senior vice president, Strategic Marketing Services & Custom Solutions, IDG Enterprise. “Our programs stimulate brand awareness, develop thought leadership credentials, and drive interactions with prospects across the web and social channels to unify marketers’ messages regardless of the media.”

About International Data Group International Data Group (IDG) is the world’s leading technology media, events and research company. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, IDG products and services reach an audience of more than 280 million technology buyers in 97 countries.

IDG Communications’ global media brands include ChannelWorld(R), CIO(R), CSO(R), Computerworld(R), GamePro(R), InfoWorld(R), Macworld(R), Network World(R), PCWorld(R), TechHive, and TechWorld(R). IDG’s media network features 460 websites, 200 mobile sites and apps and 200 print titles spanning business technology, consumer technology, digital entertainment, and video games worldwide. The IDG TechNetwork represents more than 500 independent websites in an ad network and exchange complementary to IDG’s media brands.

With expertise in branding, lead generation, and social media marketing, IDG marketing services programs are strategically designed and implemented to influence technology vendor prospects worldwide.

A recognized leader in conference and exhibition management, IDG produces more than 700 globally branded technology and entertainment conferences and events in 55 countries.

International Data Corporation (IDC), a subsidiary of IDG, has more than 1,000 analysts who provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in more than 110 countries.

Additional information about IDG, a privately held company, is available at http://www.idg.com

Trademarks and registered trademarks are owned by International Data Group, Inc. All product and company names are trademarks of their respective companies.

Contact:
Howard Sholkin
508-766-5610
Email Contact

SOURCE: IDG Communications

Categories: Advertising & Marketing News, Digital Media News, Social Media News | 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.

Read more… 

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.”

Continue reading… 

Categories: Social Media Blog, Social Media News | 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.

Read more… 

Categories: Social Media News | 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.”

Continue reading… 

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

Twitter to be ‘hero’ social media channel for media brands in 2013

December 11th, 2012

The Wall

With half a billion Twitter accounts, over 1 billion Facebook accounts and an estimated 200m more online users across the world by end 2013, social media is changing the way media brands connect and engage with their audience. Over the past four weeks, we’ve interviewed experts across all media channels – TV, radio, magazines, newspapers – and asked about the challenges they’ve faced from social media, the lessons they’ve learnt and their preparation for 2013.

From this audit with heads of social media, communications experts and business leaders, along with our own experiences working with UK and international media owners, we’ve put together a series of observations and insights, identifying clear trends for social media use by media brands in 2013:

http://bit.ly/TWHYvN

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

U.S. Technology Consumers Are Devoted Web, Video, and Mobile Users

December 5th, 2012

U.S. Technology Consumers Are Devoted Web, Video, and Mobile Users

IDG Research Shows How Much Digital Is a Part of Consumers’ Lives

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The digitizing of America continues at a rapid pace spurred on by mobile devices. IDG Research Services surveyed more than 3,100 visitors to IDG technology media sites in the U.S., such as PCWorld, Macworld, CIO, and Computerworld, to determine information consumption behaviors. The research—“The Echo Effect: Understanding the Value of Tech Buyers”—underscores the power of social media, the widespread use of mobile devices, and the reliance on video to make purchase decisions.

“Mobile usage has been soaring for a while but advertising has not. This research is a wakeup call for marketers.”

The Social Shopper

Ninety-five percent of the respondents use one or more social media sites. Exposure to a tech product in the social web positively affects likelihood to purchase (44%), overall satisfaction with a company (44%), willingness to recommend a company (42%), and feelings of brand loyalty (40%). When asked how marketers should engage with prospects, just over 50% said respond to questions from customers and provide information about products. Just under 50% want product reviews/rankings, product specs/pricing, the opportunity to provide feedback, and resolve customer service issues.

Mobile Worker and Consumer

A smartphone or tablet is replacing PC-based activities. At least once a month, a large majority of users go mobile for email, use apps to seek tech news and information, engage in purchase-related activity and view video or other multimedia experiences.

Two-thirds of the tech-savvy respondents own/regularly use two or more mobile devices and one-third of their time is spent each week accessing tech info online via a mobile device.

Though advertising on mobile devices significantly lags consumer use of the devices, users are influenced by mobile ads. In the survey last summer, tech consumers noted that they have taken the following actions as a result of seeing a mobile ad on their smartphone in the past six months: researched a product (43%), looked for a product in a retail store (28%), clicked an ad (22%), and purchased a product (21%). The percentages were even higher among tablet users.

“The reliance on mobile devices for purchase decisions tied to an ad is an important new factor,” said Matthew Yorke, president, IDG Global Solutions. “Mobile usage has been soaring for a while but advertising has not. This research is a wakeup call for marketers.” According to Yorke, “mobile and social are converging to become one of the most powerful ways for marketers to influence prospects when they’re shopping.”

Tech Consumers Overwhelmingly Drawn to Videos

Consumers find it hard to resist tech-related videos as 93% said they watched them and 72% reported they have forwarded, shared, or posted a video. And, given the mobile findings it is not surprising that four in 10 consumers are watching videos on a smartphone or tablet. Viewers are turning to video for product reviews, information to inform buying decisions, and to learn how to use a new product/service.

Video viewing also drives purchase behaviors: 64% of consumers have researched a product as a result of watching a tech-related video in recent months and close to half of them looked for a product in a retail store (45%), visited a vendor website or contacted a vendor for information (45%), or purchased a product (44%).

Grazing for Information

By a large margin, consumers choose technology websites for technology news and information (87%) but approximately half seek out technology-related print media (52%) or tech blogs (49%). Farther down the list are video-sharing sites and social/business networking sites. When asked for extremely/very valuable sources for finding relevant content, respondents said regular visits to tech sites (86%), traditional search engines (70%), and recommendations or posts in social media (40%) — an increase of 14% for social channels in two years.

While search is highly rated as a means of finding content, search ranking alone does not drive trust in online content. Only 14% said a listing on the first page of a search result increases trust. Rather it is an association with a known, familiar source (well-known journalist or blogger, tech content site or tech marketer) that drives consumer trust in online information and content. In fact, 73% report an association with a familiar source is important, while 45% note it is recommendations from family, friends, or peers that increase their trust in information they read online.

About International Data Group (IDG)

International Data Group (IDG) is the world’s leading technology media, events and research company. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, IDG products and services reach an audience of more than 280 million technology buyers in 97 countries.

IDG Communications’ global media brands include ChannelWorld®, CIO®, CSO®, Computerworld®, GamePro®, InfoWorld®, Macworld®, Network World®, PCWorld® and TechWorld®. IDG’s media network features 460 websites, 200 mobile sites and apps and 200 print titles spanning business technology, consumer technology, digital entertainment, and video games worldwide. The IDG TechNetwork represents more than 500 independent websites in an ad network and exchange complementary to IDG’s media brands.

With expertise in branding, lead generation, and social media marketing, IDG marketing services programs are strategically designed and implemented to influence technology vendor prospects worldwide.

A recognized leader in conference and exhibition management, IDG produces more than 700 globally branded technology and entertainment conferences and events in 55 countries.

International Data Corporation (IDC), a subsidiary of IDG, has more than 1,000 analysts who provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in more than 110 countries.

Additional information about IDG, a privately held company, is available at http://www.idg.com

Trademarks and registered trademarks are owned by International Data Group, Inc. All product and company names are trademarks of their respective companies.

 

The social web presence of vendors positively influences prospects.

Screen Shot 2012 11 27 at 10.13.48 AM U.S. Technology Consumers Are Devoted Web, Video, and Mobile Users

Contacts

International Data Group
Howard Sholkin, 508-766-5610
howard_sholkin@idg.com

 

 

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