This is a mistake I would not want to make.
It turns out that the app OpenTable, draws customers to reserve and book at restaurants that are ON the app, but is not generating any extra dine-outs.
Restaurants have no choice but to pay for its presence on OpenTable,
in order not to lose the competitions.
It may have caused a bit of convenience for the users, but not much benefits to the restaurants. OpenTable ATE up all the margins.
This is not something I'd like to see in what I'm gonna do.
2011年7月27日 星期三
Why businesses don't like Groupon
Are you fed up with Groupon yet?
The truth is, businesses
1. need a model that gives them more control over discounts to suit their needs
(that is, CRM)
2. don't want to cut margins for something that DO NOT generate repeat businesses.
I pretty much like the quote of such indiscriminative discounts being
"the lowest form of marketing, as much as puns are the lowest form of humour"
How long will these Group-buy sites continue to live?
The truth is, businesses
1. need a model that gives them more control over discounts to suit their needs
(that is, CRM)
2. don't want to cut margins for something that DO NOT generate repeat businesses.
I pretty much like the quote of such indiscriminative discounts being
"the lowest form of marketing, as much as puns are the lowest form of humour"
How long will these Group-buy sites continue to live?
2011年7月13日 星期三
another 5-star guide - How to improve Facebook Edgerank
Another very useful guide on improving your Facebook "EdgeRank"
What you need to know - the 3 factors of Edgerank
1. Affinity - how much you interact with a friend ... reciprocally
2. More comments the better - and comments rate higher than Likes
3. Time matters. Old things go to the bottom
Therefore:
1. invite interactions with your posts
2. Create Forum/discussions (hence more comments and higher chance to appear on TopNews)
3. Images and videos thumbnails prompts people to click in itself. Add a comment to make it work.
4. So are links.
5. If something is ignored - move on. Or try reposting it (later?)
6. Don't be shy - ask people to Share and Like you. (nicely!)
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6 Tips to Increase Your Facebook EdgeRank and Exposure
Ever wonder why you can have 548 friends on Facebook, yet only 15-20 show up in your news feed? It’s not that those other friends have stopped using Facebook; chances are they’re still there. It’s just that they aren’t showing up in your news feed.If you haven’t noticed, there are now two settings on your Facebook news feed: “Most Recent,” which shows most of the content published by your Facebook friends in chronological order and “Top News,” which filters content based on EdgeRank.
Friends and fan pages with a high EdgeRank are more likely to show in your “Top News” stream. Users with a low EdgeRank may not even show in your “Most Recent” news feed.
For businesses or others looking to market, promote or just interact through Facebook, the implications of this change are huge. “Top News” is the default setting, so unless a friend or fan changes their default, it’s quite possible that they will never see your updates. No matter how good the content, no matter how well you manage your Facebook page, EdgeRank might be holding you back.
EdgeRank Defined
Facebook looks at everything published as “objects.” These can be status updates, links, photos, video or anything else that can be shared on Facebook. Every object receives a ranking (EdgeRank), which determines if it will show in your personal newsfeed. Objects with a high EdgeRank appear in your “Top News” feed. Objects with a low EdgeRank will not. According to a study conducted last fall by The Daily Beast, objects with a really low EdgeRank may not even show in your “Most Recent” news feed.
An object’s EdgeRank is based on three factors: affinity or the relationship between the creator and user, interaction with the object (likes, comments, etc.) and timeliness. Add the three factors together using a formula that only Facebook truly knows and you’ve got an object’s EdgeRank.
Unlike Google’s PageRank, which stays the same from user to user, every object is scored based on the individual Facebook user who may (or may not) view the object in their news feed.
Let’s take a closer look at the three factors that determine EdgeRank.
Affinity
An object’s affinity score is based on the interactions you have with the friend or fan who published the object. Friends or fans with whom you regularly interact receive a higher affinity score. Each time you visit a fan page, click the “Like” button, comment on a user’s status or look at a picture, you increase the affinity score with that user.
As The Daily Beast study points out, this affinity score only works one way. I can’t increase my affinity score in another user’s feed by constantly clicking on their “Like” buttons or looking at their pictures. Although doing so will increase the likelihood that you’ll see their updates, your objects won’t do better in their news feed until they return the favor.
Level of Interaction
Different types of interactions are weighted differently on Facebook. Activities that require higher levels of user engagement get a higher score than those that don’t. For example, leaving a comment on a photo takes more effort on the user’s part than clicking the “Like” button. Objects that receive higher levels of interaction are more likely to show in a user’s newsfeed.
Timeliness
Most people don’t want to read yesterday’s news. Newer objects have a better chance of showing up in your news feed than older ones.
Armed with an understanding of these three elements, here are six tips on how you can increase the likelihood that your content or objects will appear in your friends’ or fans’ “Top News” feed.
#1: Publish Objects That Encourage Interaction
Unless they’re interesting enough to draw comments, simple status updates aren’t going to move you into Top News feeds. Publish content that naturally encourages click-throughs or creates discussion. Objects such as creative games that require a response (i.e., trivia or caption contests) open up opportunities to add highly weighted interaction and build affinity with new users.
Top News is Facebook's default setting. Top News only shows objects with a higher EdgeRank.
#2: Create a Forum
Ever notice how political content on Facebook can generate a ton of comments? Although it doesn’t take long to realize that Facebook and politics don’t mix, people love to debate and discuss hot issues. Make your fan page a place for constructive discussion on the latest industry topics. Although this approach takes careful management, objects from a fan page filled with healthy discussion are more likely to receive a higher EdgeRank.
Objects such as surveys require user interaction which can build EdgeRank.
#3: Make the Most of Photos and Videos
Photos and videos show up in the Facebook news feed as thumbnail images. Due to their size, they almost require interaction as users click on them to make them large enough to see. Be sure to add a comment that encourages users to open the photo and add comments of their own.
By their very nature, videos and pictures encourage interaction.
#4: Share Links
Links require interaction as users click on the link to view the object. While it’s good to share content from your own website, don’t be afraid to promote interesting content from other sources. Twitter users discovered long ago that the more content of value you share, the better chance you have of driving followers to your own content when the time comes. Again, a comment that encourages opening the link or leaving comments can go a long way.
An object that receives comments is more likely to show in the Top News feed and also builds affinity with users who comment.
#5: Keep It Fresh
The Facebook stream moves quickly. If you’ve got objects that aren’t getting a response, don’t be afraid to let them go and move on to the next thing. If the object is good but didn’t get the response you desired, consider repurposing it or sending it out again at a different time of day.
#6: Ask Users to Share
Don’t be afraid to ask users to share objects or click on the Like button—especially if you’re new to Facebook. It can take a little while for a Facebook page to gain momentum. Anything you can do to help it along will only speed the process.
Although the introduction of EdgeRank may make it more difficult to share information on Facebook, ultimately it still comes down to content. Publishing content that users want to share and interact with has always been vital to any Facebook marketing campaign. With the recent Facebook changes, that content may now need a little extra push to get it the attention it deserves.
How have the changes to Facebook affected your approach to Facebook marketing? Leave your comments and questions in the box below.
5-star useful - Optimise pictures for search!
Very helpful advice - even your images can be search-optimised!!!!
1. use the right filenames (descriptive, precise, and include "emotional words" which people would search for
2. use alt tags
3. in a position close to the image, add descriptive text4
4. put important pictures on top headline
5. put pictures within posts (rather than sidebars, often interpreted as adds/add. elements)
6. pictures should be with good quality even in thumbnails (that's what they'd be shown on Search engines)...
9. Check how many pictures Google have indexed (see at bottom)
(For the two other tech ones, read on!)
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9 Ways of Optimizing your Site for Image Search
All the major search engines have their own image search engines. These may actually generate a lot of traffic. Here’s how you attract image search visitors to your site.People may have different reasons for using image search engines. There are teenagers looking for pictures of their teen idols, iTunes users looking for an obscure cover of a 1960′s album, and bloggers looking for an image to use for their blog (in violation of all copyright regulations, of course!).
There will also be shoppers looking for pictures of cars, furniture, holiday destinations or clothing. If you are selling products or services it is the shoppers you are looking for. However, all of these persons may be potential future customers or subscribers. And they may become regular readers. You want that!
Note also that all the major search engines now include image search listings in regular web search results. If you have optimized your images correctly, you can get yourself a very attractive top 10 position by tagging your images correctly.
Help the search engine understand what the image is about
If you want your images to rank higher than others for a particular keyword phrase, you need to help the search engine understand what the picture is depicting.
You can do this by the following means:
1. Use descriptive file names
Make sure that the file name describes the image with keyword phrases searchers are likely to use.
Bad: www.yoursite.com/images/photo-356789.jpg
Good: www.yoursite.com/images/row-boat-by-lake.jpg
Good: www. yoursite/images/red-volkswagen-beetle-car.jpg
Good: www.yoursite.com/images/row-boat-by-lake.jpg
Good: www. yoursite/images/red-volkswagen-beetle-car.jpg
2. Use the HTML ALT tags actively
(If you do not know what that is, make sure you use the description field in your blog or content publishing software when adding an image).
Bad: <img src=”http://www.yoursite.com/images/6789stp.jpg” alt=”Image”>.
Good: <img src=”http://www.yoursite.com/images/young-woman-pc-reading-news.jpg” alt=”Young woman reading news on PC”>.
If you have a series of images, use variation:
“Blond woman reading news on PC”
“Black woman twittering on a Mac”
“Asian man with laptop on table”
“Black woman twittering on a Mac”
“Asian man with laptop on table”
Both photographers and webmasters are notoriously bad at using words for feelings, abstracts and the like — even if people do search for images that may be used to illustrate non-concrete topics. This is where you can gain a competitive advantage.
“Happy woman using PC to search the Web”
“Moody and cranky girl”
“Green background texture”
“Moody and cranky girl”
“Green background texture”
3. Add descriptive text close to the picture
In order to determine what the picture is depicting, the search engines will also look at the text close to the image.
Good: An increasing number of women are found to be searching the web on their PC when looking for news. <img src=”http://www.yoursite.com/images/young-woman-pc-reading-news.jpg” alt=”Young woman reading news on PC”>.
This text may also be used by the search engine as a snippet that describes the image.
4. Keep the most important images close to the top headline or title
Embedding the image close to the top headline (which should be very similar to the TITLE-field) will increase your chances of having your picture in Google News, as it helps Google match the content of the article with the image.
It is a fair guess that the same principle applies to Image Search.
5. Put the photos within articles and blog posts
The search engines have a tendency of ignoring images in sidebars and other places where they can be interpreted as ads or navigational elements.
Images in articles and blog posts have the greatest chance of success.
There are also other technical issues to keep in mind:
6. Do not add code to break out of frames
The Bing Blog recommends you to watch out for frame breaking:
“Sites that attempt to break frames make it more difficult for the image to display correctly within search. Make sure you’re testing your site against the search engines.”
If you don’t know what we are talking about, you are probably in the clear.
7. Use images that read well when thumbnailed
Use high quality pictures with high contrasts and clear, bright, colors. The search engines will generate small thumbnails to include in search engine results, and you want images that survive that reduction in file size.
If you are not a photographer yourself, you can buy royalt free high quality images from stock photo suppliers like Photos.com and Shutterstock for a reasonable price.
Google are looking for large size photos with good aspect ratios.
8. Make the photos accessible
Make sure that the directory that contains your images can be accessed by the search engine crawlers.
Check your robots.txt file or ask your IT people to do it for you.
9. Use the social photo sites
Upload some of your images to photo hosting sites like Flickr.com. Add links back to the relevant page on your site.
Flickr may generatate traffic on its own, and the search engines may also include Flickr images in their image search results.
Check how many pictures Google has indexed
To check what images Google has indexed from your site, use the following URL, replacing “yoursite.com” with your domain name:
http://images.google.com/images?q=site:yoursite.com
Note that it normally takes longer for the search engines to index pictures than ordinary text content.
See also our Search Engine OptimizationTutorial!
2011年6月27日 星期一
Google talks... tips to higher ranking in search
from the official Google blog -
23 questions to ask yourself for higher rankings in
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: More guidance on building high-quality sites: "Webmaster level: All In recent months we’ve been especially focused on helping people find high-quality sites in Google’s search results. ..."
More guidance on building high-quality sites
Friday, May 06, 2011 at 11:22 AM
Webmaster level: All
In recent months we’ve been especially focused on helping people find high-quality sites in Google’s search results. The “Panda” algorithm change has improved rankings for a large number of high-quality websites, so most of you reading have nothing to be concerned about. However, for the sites that may have been affected by Panda we wanted to provide additional guidance on how Google searches for high-quality sites.
Our advice for publishers continues to be to focus on delivering the best possible user experience on your websites and not to focus too much on what they think are Google’s current ranking algorithms or signals. Some publishers have fixated on our prior Panda algorithm change, but Panda was just one of roughly 500 search improvements we expect to roll out to search this year. In fact, since we launched Panda, we've rolled out over a dozen additional tweaks to our ranking algorithms, and some sites have incorrectly assumed that changes in their rankings were related to Panda. Search is a complicated and evolving art and science, so rather than focusing on specific algorithmic tweaks, we encourage you to focus on delivering the best possible experience for users.
What counts as a high-quality site?
Our site quality algorithms are aimed at helping people find "high-quality" sites by reducing the rankings of low-quality content. The recent "Panda" change tackles the difficult task of algorithmically assessing website quality. Taking a step back, we wanted to explain some of the ideas and research that drive the development of our algorithms.
Below are some questions that one could use to assess the "quality" of a page or an article. These are the kinds of questions we ask ourselves as we write algorithms that attempt to assess site quality. Think of it as our take at encoding what we think our users want.
Of course, we aren't disclosing the actual ranking signals used in our algorithms because we don't want folks to game our search results; but if you want to step into Google's mindset, the questions below provide some guidance on how we've been looking at the issue:
- Would you trust the information presented in this article?
- Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
- Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
- Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
- Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
- Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
- Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
- Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
- How much quality control is done on content?
- Does the article describe both sides of a story?
- Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
- Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
- Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
- For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
- Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
- Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
- Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
- Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
- Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
- Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
- Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
- Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
- Would users complain when they see pages from this site?
Writing an algorithm to assess page or site quality is a much harder task, but we hope the questions above give some insight into how we try to write algorithms that distinguish higher-quality sites from lower-quality sites.
What you can do
We've been hearing from many of you that you want more guidance on what you can do to improve your rankings on Google, particularly if you think you've been impacted by the Panda update. We encourage you to keep questions like the ones above in mind as you focus on developing high-quality content rather than trying to optimize for any particular Google algorithm.
One other specific piece of guidance we've offered is that low-quality content on some parts of a website can impact the whole site’s rankings, and thus removing low quality pages, merging or improving the content of individual shallow pages into more useful pages, or moving low quality pages to a different domain could eventually help the rankings of your higher-quality content.
We're continuing to work on additional algorithmic iterations to help webmasters operating high-quality sites get more traffic from search. As you continue to improve your sites, rather than focusing on one particular algorithmic tweak, we encourage you to ask yourself the same sorts of questions we ask when looking at the big picture. This way your site will be more likely to rank well for the long-term. In the meantime, if you have feedback, please tell us through our Webmaster Forum. We continue to monitor threads on the forum and pass site info on to the search quality team as we work on future iterations of our ranking algorithms.
2011年6月21日 星期二
what you need to do for your website
I'm on the last mile of my website project...
this should have come a lot more earlier! LOL
******
this should have come a lot more earlier! LOL
******
12 Social Media Tools recommended by the Pros
Now here they come...
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12 Social Media Tools recommended by the Pros
Recommended by the Pros
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12 Social Media Tools recommended by the Pros
Recommended by the Pros
Are you struggling to make social media work for your business? Sometimes a few well-chosen tools are all you need to get your social media marketing working for you.
In our recent Social Media Success Summit, there were presentations that covered all the key topics you need to make your social media marketing easy. In this article, I’ll share 12 of those tools that were recommended by the pros.
Do you think any of the tools above can make your social media marketing easier to execute? Please let us know in the comments below if you’re going to try any of them.
In our recent Social Media Success Summit, there were presentations that covered all the key topics you need to make your social media marketing easy. In this article, I’ll share 12 of those tools that were recommended by the pros.
Tools to Refine Your Visibility and Engagement
Here are three tools recommended by Mari Smith during her first presentation on increasing your visibility and engagement on Facebook.#1: Socialbakers
Get useful stats from Socialbakers. Socialbakers offers paid services to monitor your Facebook statistics, but it also provides useful free statistics for Facebook and LinkedIn. Check out the useful marketing data on Socialbakers.
#2: Kurrently
Find out what’s being shared on social media with Kurrently, a free, easy-to-use, real-time search engine for results from Twitter and Facebook. “Companies can capitalize on just-in-time marketing and social CRM opportunities like never before.” You can search through Facebook or Twitter or both.
#3: Blekko
Select the sites you want to search with Blekko. You can create “slashtags” for groups of URLs, friends, experts and communities and you can “slash in” what you want and “slash out” what you don’t want to search. With Blekko, you have more control over your search results thanks to the slashtags you create.
Tools to Measure Specific Social Media Goals
Jay Baer gave a fantastic presentation on measuring social media. He clearly identified the different goals a company could have on social media and recommended tools to use to monitor results for each specific goal. Here are three of those tools.#4: Social Mention
If social awareness is your main social media goal, then be sure to check out Social Mention, which allows you to set up social media alerts so you can measure awareness for specific keywords. "Social Mention is a social media search and analysis platform that aggregates user-generated content from across the universe into a single stream of information."
#5: Klout
Klout is another tool you can use to measure awareness on Twitter and Facebook. Check out the different graphs for your score results on Klout.
#6: PostRank Analytics
If customer loyalty is your main social media goal, you can use PostRank Analytics to measure results in improving loyalty. PostRank Analytics is a favorite tool of social media marketers.
Tools to Get the Job Done
Frank Eliason gave an overview of how to use social media in business and shared two of the tools he’s found useful.#7: Blogsearch.Google
Use Blogsearch.Google.com for better search results than Google Alerts. There are many tools to monitor keywords. Don’t forget to use this one! Remember to check out what blogs are writing about you through Blogsearch.Google.com.
#8: Twitterfall
Use Twitterfall when you need to show executives how you can monitor what’s being said about your brand on Twitter. Twitterfall specializes in real-time tweet searches.
A Useful Tool for Twitter Marketing
Hollis Thomases showed businesses how to use Twitter marketing to grow using this tool:#9: Friend or Follow
Friend or Follow helps you improve your Twitter marketing. It tells you who’s not following you back on Twitter and who you’re not following back. Use Friend or Follow to craft a stronger Twitter presence with your audience.
Tools to Make Video Blogging Easy
Steve Garfield always makes video blogging easy for everyone. Here are three tools to create on-the-fly videos to enhance your social media content.#10: Wetoku
Sign up for Wetoku to make the popular side-by-side video interviews. All you need to do is sign in and send an invite code by email to the person you want to interview. Wetoku is an easy tool to use for interview videos.
#11: Socialcam
If you have an iPhone or an Android phone, be sure to check out Socialcam. Steve says this is the easiest way to share videos with your social networks. Socialcam combines video sharing with social communities.
#12: Stupeflix
Use Stupeflix to integrate after-effects and photos to your videos. If you want to do editing without using editing software, this tool is for you. Stupeflix is an easy way to make your videos more appealing.
Find the Tools You Need
One of my takeaways from the summit was that you don’t need to use all of the tools available. Businesses have different cultures, different goals and are at different stages in integrating social media into their marketing mix. These social media pros found the tools that worked best for them.Do you think any of the tools above can make your social media marketing easier to execute? Please let us know in the comments below if you’re going to try any of them.
2011年6月20日 星期一
Gartner identifies the Top 10 apps for 2012
Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Consumer Mobile Applications for 2012
STAMFORD, Conn., November 18, 2009— Gartner, Inc. has identified the top 10 consumer mobile applications for 2012. Gartner listed applications based on their impact on consumers and industry players, considering revenue, loyalty, business model, consumer value and estimated market penetration.“Consumer mobile applications and services are no longer the prerogative of mobile carriers,” said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner. “The increasing consumer interest in smartphones, the participation of Internet players in the mobile space, and the emergence of application stores and cross-industry services are reducing the dominance of mobile carriers. Each player will influence how the application is delivered and experienced by consumers, who ultimately vote with their attention and spending power.”
“The ultimate competition between industry players is for control of the ‘ecosystem’ and user experience, and the owner of the ecosystem will benefit the most in terms of revenue and user loyalty,” Ms. Shen said. “We predict that most users will use no more than five mobile applications at a time and most future opportunities will come from niche market ‘killer applications’.”
The top 10 consumer mobile applications in 2012 will include:
No. 1: Money TransferThis service allows people to send money to others using Short Message Service (SMS). Its lower costs, faster speed and convenience compared with traditional transfer services have strong appeal to users in developing markets, and most services signed up several million users within their first year. However, challenges do exist in both regulatory and operational risks. Because of the fast growth of mobile money transfer, regulators in many markets are piling in to investigate the impact on consumer costs, security, fraud and money laundering. On the operational side, market conditions vary, as do the local resources of service providers, so providers need different market strategies when entering a new territory.
No. 2: Location-Based ServicesLocation-based services (LBS) form part of context-aware services, a service that Gartner expects will be one of the most disruptive in the next few years. Gartner predicts that the LBS user base will grow globally from 96 million in 2009 to more than 526 million in 2012. LBS is ranked No. 2 in Gartner’s top 10 because of its perceived high user value and its influence on user loyalty. Its high user value is the result of its ability to meet a range of needs, ranging from productivity and goal fulfillment to social networking and entertainment.
No. 3: Mobile SearchThe ultimate purpose of mobile search is to drive sales and marketing opportunities on the mobile phone. To achieve this, the industry first needs to improve the user experience of mobile search so that people will come back again. Mobile search is ranked No. 3 because of its high impact on technology innovation and industry revenue. Consumers will stay loyal to some search services, but instead of sticking to one or two search providers on the Internet, Gartner expects loyalty on the mobile phone to be shared between a few search providers that have unique technologies for mobile search.
No. 4: Mobile BrowsingMobile browsing is a widely available technology present on more than 60 percent of handsets shipped in 2009, a percentage Gartner expects to rise to approximately 80 percent in 2013. Gartner has ranked mobile browsing No. 4 because of its broad appeal to all businesses. Mobile Web systems have the potential to offer a good return on investment. They involve much lower development costs than native code, reuse many existing skills and tools, and can be agile — both delivered and updated quickly. Therefore, the mobile Web will be a key part of most corporate business-to-consumer (B2C) mobile strategies.
No. 5: Mobile Health MonitoringMobile health monitoring is the use of IT and mobile telecommunications to monitor patients remotely, and could help governments, care delivery organizations (CDOs) and healthcare payers reduce costs related to chronic diseases and improve the quality of life of their patients. In developing markets, the mobility aspect is key as mobile network coverage is superior to fixed network in the majority of developing countries. Currently, mobile health monitoring is at an early stage of market maturity and implementation, and project rollouts have so far been limited to pilot projects. In the future, the industry will be able to monetize the service by offering mobile healthcare monitoring products, services and solutions to CDOs.
No. 6: Mobile PaymentMobile payment usually serves three purposes. First, it is a way of making payment when few alternatives are available. Second, it is an extension of online payment for easy access and convenience. Third, it is an additional factor of authentication for enhanced security. Mobile payment made Gartner’s top 10 list because of the number of parties it affects — including mobile carriers, banks, merchants, device vendors, regulators and consumers — and the rising interest from both developing and developed markets. Because of the many choices of technologies and business models, as well as regulatory requirements and local conditions, mobile payment will be a highly fragmented market. There will not be standard practices of deployment, so parties will need to find a working solution on a case-by-case basis.
No. 7: Near Field Communication ServicesNear field communication (NFC) allows contactless data transfer between compatible devices by placing them close to each other, within ten centimeters. The technology can be used, for example, for retail purchases, transportation, personal identification and loyalty cards. NFC is ranked No. 7 in Gartner’s top ten because it can increase user loyalty for all service providers, and it will have a big impact on carriers' business models. However, its biggest challenge is reaching business agreement between mobile carriers and service providers, such as banks and transportation companies. Gartner expects to see large-scale deployments starting from late 2010, when NFC phones are likely to ship in volume, with Asia leading deployments followed by Europe and North America.
No. 8: Mobile AdvertisingMobile advertising in all regions is continuing to grow through the economic downturn, driven by interest from advertisers in this new opportunity and by the increased use of smartphones and the wireless Internet. Total spending on mobile advertising in 2008 was $530.2 million, which Gartner expects to will grow to $7.5 billion in 2012. Mobile advertising makes the top 10 list because it will be an important way to monetize content on the mobile Internet, offering free applications and services to end users. The mobile channel will be used as part of larger advertising campaigns in various media, including TV, radio, print and outdoors.No. 9: Mobile Instant MessagingPrice and usability problems have historically held back adoption of mobile instant messaging (IM), while commercial barriers and uncertain business models have precluded widespread carrier deployment and promotion. Mobile IM is on Gartner’s top 10 list because of latent user demand and market conditions that are conducive to its future adoption. It has a particular appeal to users in developing markets that may rely on mobile phones as their only connectivity device. Mobile IM presents an opportunity for mobile advertising and social networking, which have been built into some of the more advanced mobile IM clients.
No. 10: Mobile MusicMobile music so far has been disappointing — except for ring tones and ring-back tones, which have turned into a multibillion-dollar service. On the other hand, it is unfair to dismiss the value of mobile music, as consumers want music on their phones and to carry it around. We see efforts by various players in coming up with innovative models, such as device or service bundles, to address pricing and usability issues. iTunes makes people pay for music, which shows that a superior user experience does make a difference.
Additional information is available in the Gartner report “Dataquest Insight: The Top Ten Consumer Mobile Applications for 2012." The report is available on Gartner’s website at http://www.gartner.com/resId=1205513.
Business model for mobile apps by Mobyaffilicates
Affiliate marketing – the new business model for mobile app developers?
The dominant business models for app developers at present are user payments or display advertising, however, affiliate marketing could be a new and potentially much more lucrative way of monetising many apps.
User-payment driven models can be very lucrative for hit applications, especially games. Howevever, there is increasing that application prices are suffering from downward pressure towards free. New types of payment models such as subscriptions or in-app payments are promising although not all application types are suited to these approaches.
Display advertising can pay the bills on free apps if there is sufficient scale of usage. Using ad networks like admob or potentially integrating mutliple ad networks using a mobile ad optimizer such as smaato or mobclix can deliver significant revenues for some apps. However, the growth in mobile inventory, and falling click-through rates mean that it is becoming harder to make this model work.
Affiliate marketing is an alternative revenue stream to user payments and display advertising that is just opening up on mobile and is creating a big opportunity for mobile app developers. Affiliate marketing is already a major category in the online advertising world and its now moving onto mobile. Unlike current mobile advertising which is typically sold on a CPM (cost per thousand) or more usually a CPC (cost per click) basis, mobile affiliate programs payout based on a CPA (cost per action) basis in a single payment or a revenue share. In some cases the payments for particular actions (e.g. in the mobile casino space) can be very high – up to $50 in some cases. As a result, with the right approach affiliate marketing can be more lucrative for mobile application developers than traditional mobile advertising or mobile payments from users.
A number of players are now offering affiliate programs for iphone apps including William Hill, Offerpal and Allslots/ Brightshare. In addition, the iphone appstore affiliate program run by linkshare has also been extended to work on mobile. Android-compatible affiliate programs are also emerging, taking advantage of the more open nature of the android appstore ecosystem . Developers on other platforms such as Java, Symbian, Blackberry and mobile web can typically choose from an even greater range of different mobile affiliate programs and networks.
There are also opportunities for application developers to use APIs from online shopping services to build affiliate-revenue driven apps. For example, apps could be developed for specific dietary requirements around online grocery APIs or to aggregate affiliate feeds from a range of retailers into a single app.
Another approach is to link mobile applications to the massive growth in vouchercodes. For example, the UK-based vouchercloud iphone app is a mobile-focused way of grabbing a slide of the discount voucher market. Whereas there is little room for new players on the web, vouchercloud has been able to build significant traction by being the first to market with a high quality voucher-driven iphone app.
Finally, the ability for mobile applications to interact with real world retail stores presents another affiliate marketing opportunity. Services like the shopsavvy iphone app allow users to scan a product barcode in a store and get pricing information from online suppliers. The affiliate potential of such applications is potentially enormous.
So – application developers need to look seriously at the opportunities presented by affiliate marketing, and consider this business model right from the intial concept stage in the design process.
User-payment driven models can be very lucrative for hit applications, especially games. Howevever, there is increasing that application prices are suffering from downward pressure towards free. New types of payment models such as subscriptions or in-app payments are promising although not all application types are suited to these approaches.
Display advertising can pay the bills on free apps if there is sufficient scale of usage. Using ad networks like admob or potentially integrating mutliple ad networks using a mobile ad optimizer such as smaato or mobclix can deliver significant revenues for some apps. However, the growth in mobile inventory, and falling click-through rates mean that it is becoming harder to make this model work.
Affiliate marketing is an alternative revenue stream to user payments and display advertising that is just opening up on mobile and is creating a big opportunity for mobile app developers. Affiliate marketing is already a major category in the online advertising world and its now moving onto mobile. Unlike current mobile advertising which is typically sold on a CPM (cost per thousand) or more usually a CPC (cost per click) basis, mobile affiliate programs payout based on a CPA (cost per action) basis in a single payment or a revenue share. In some cases the payments for particular actions (e.g. in the mobile casino space) can be very high – up to $50 in some cases. As a result, with the right approach affiliate marketing can be more lucrative for mobile application developers than traditional mobile advertising or mobile payments from users.
A number of players are now offering affiliate programs for iphone apps including William Hill, Offerpal and Allslots/ Brightshare. In addition, the iphone appstore affiliate program run by linkshare has also been extended to work on mobile. Android-compatible affiliate programs are also emerging, taking advantage of the more open nature of the android appstore ecosystem . Developers on other platforms such as Java, Symbian, Blackberry and mobile web can typically choose from an even greater range of different mobile affiliate programs and networks.
There are also opportunities for application developers to use APIs from online shopping services to build affiliate-revenue driven apps. For example, apps could be developed for specific dietary requirements around online grocery APIs or to aggregate affiliate feeds from a range of retailers into a single app.
Another approach is to link mobile applications to the massive growth in vouchercodes. For example, the UK-based vouchercloud iphone app is a mobile-focused way of grabbing a slide of the discount voucher market. Whereas there is little room for new players on the web, vouchercloud has been able to build significant traction by being the first to market with a high quality voucher-driven iphone app.
Finally, the ability for mobile applications to interact with real world retail stores presents another affiliate marketing opportunity. Services like the shopsavvy iphone app allow users to scan a product barcode in a store and get pricing information from online suppliers. The affiliate potential of such applications is potentially enormous.
So – application developers need to look seriously at the opportunities presented by affiliate marketing, and consider this business model right from the intial concept stage in the design process.
2011年6月7日 星期二
Apple shows how to make music from shared (pirated?) music
Now that's how the digital world reconciles with the music labels...?
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2011年5月31日 星期二
tips for cross-channel
The advent of new technologies has forever changed the way consumers shop. Today, consumers routinely research, purchase, ship and return products across all
channels. They're using mobile devices, phones, websites, email, stores and catalogs in whichever combination is the most convenient for them. As shoppers shift between channels, they seek a consistent and transparent experience. They want to be able to research a product online, then buy that product at the same price in-store; or easily return an online purchase at their local mall.
However, today's cross-channel experiences for consumers are far from seamless. Consumers frequently experience dissonance in the shopping experience caused by inconsistent pricing and policies, as well as choppy transitions from one channel to another. These failures in customer "handoffs" — when customers migrate from channel to channel — cost businesses billions in potential sales every year, both in the U.S. and Europe.
To maximize sales within a cross-channel shopping environment, retailers need to respect consumers' unique shopping habits and flexibly work with them in whichever
channel they choose. Here's a five-step approach to driving more sales and deeper loyalty with today's cross-channel shoppers:
1. Understand customer shopping preferences.
To accommodate the increasing variety of consumer behaviors, retailers must constantly evaluate the big picture and ensure that data is being shared across organizational silos. Home Depot
, for example, matches its in-store and online customer purchasing databases to compare the two
segments of multichannel shoppers and determine the right strategy to serve them.
To accommodate the increasing variety of consumer behaviors, retailers must constantly evaluate the big picture and ensure that data is being shared across organizational silos. Home Depot
, for example, matches its in-store and online customer purchasing databases to compare the two
segments of multichannel shoppers and determine the right strategy to serve them.2. Sync prices,
products and promos across channels.
While it may not always be possible to match prices and/or product availability across channels, retailers should be aware of disconnects and set consumer expectations accordingly by communicating issues up front. Wal-Mart does this by alerting shoppers that in-store prices may differ from its e-commerce site, while Kohl's offers shoppers an in-store kiosk where they can arrange to have out-of-stock items shipped to their homes.
While it may not always be possible to match prices and/or product availability across channels, retailers should be aware of disconnects and set consumer expectations accordingly by communicating issues up front. Wal-Mart
does this by alerting shoppers that in-store prices may differ from its e-commerce site, while Kohl's offers shoppers an in-store kiosk where they can arrange to have out-of-stock items shipped to their homes.Nothing frustrates consumers more than having to start over when moving from one channel to another. Seamless transitions build good will, making it easier to both buy and sell more. Customers at an Apple Store
, for example, have the option of receiving their
purchase receipt at the counter or via a follow-up email.
the Old Spice Man rocks!
A few take-aways from the Old Spice Man marketing campaign...
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Now look here, now learn from this ...
Businesses can learn from the Old Spice Man viral marketing campaign
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Jump to video Meet the ‘Old Spice’ guy
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Below:
Don't hate him because he's beautiful. Let him show you how to get your message out there.
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Last week we saw two days that shook the viral marketing world. Old Spice, a long-neglected — if not forgotten — Procter & Gamble brand unleashed a social media blitz that may have changed the rules of social network marketing.
At first glance, an entrepreneur may dismiss the Old Spice phenomenon as an oddity of riches, something only a marketing behemoth like P&G could exploit. But when we dissect its marketing principles and practices, it becomes not only entirely applicable to the small business owner, but an essential (and low-cost) opportunity as well. Let's take a look inside.The original Super Bowl commercial was created by legendary ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, which is best known (before this) for its Nike, Honda and ESPN SportsCenter commercials. It has been viewed on YouTube more than 13 million times.
Five months later, Wieden posted a simple message on Old Spice's Facebook and Twitter page: "Today could be just like the other 364 days you log into Twitter, or maybe the Old Spice Man shows up @Old Spice." And show up he did.
As people tweeted questions about manliness to the Old Spice Man, he began posting near-real-time video vignettes responding to the queries, all in character and with no small degree of humor as he stood bare-chested, abdominals front and center in a bathroom set with the creative crew and comedy copywriters of Wieden + Kennedy behind the camera furiously writing jokes and chasing down props.
| Index | Last | Change | |
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| PG | 66.2 | +0.01 +0.02% | |
| Quotes delayed 15+ min. | |||
Key to the effort was the response to Kevin Rose, the founder of social network Digg.com. Rose tweeted the Old Spice Man about his own illness that day. Here's the accompanying video response.
Rose was enamored. He tweeted, "Holy sh*t, best get well video EVER from Old Spice." That message went out to his million-plus Twitter followers. A viral phenomenon was born.
The decision to include Rose and the celebrities was no accident. The Wieden team purposefully selected not only persons with huge followings on social networks — followings that dwarfed Old Spice's own — but specifically those with particular credibility and influence over the technorati and social media addicts. The social media kingpins told their followers, their followers told their friends, and the math compounded exponentially, fervently and quickly. Old Spice's Twitter followers increased more than 1,000 percent. Nearly 600,000 people on Facebook gave its ads a thumbs-up "like it" vote. And, according to Advertising Age, the Old Spice commercials received more than 7 million online views this week alone — and that does not include the viral vignettes we're talking about here. The cost of media: nothing.
You can see all of the videos here.
So, you ask, what's this got to do with me? Your voice isn't as deep as Mustafa's, you're more prone to have flab than abs, and you don't have a big-time ad agency writing on-the-fly copy for you. Fear not. The underlying social marketing principles and tactics are completely relevant and totally within your grasp. You don't even need to be funny.
The Post-Old-Spice principles of social media marketing
1. Create a persona that is strong and on point
Start with selecting someone, or something, as the character that captures your brand positioning. It needs to inspire people to interact. It certainly can be you, but you'll want to consider carefully. Not only will it require a commitment of time, energy and dedication, but you're going to have to live by the results. I've seen a handsome British owner of a business use his picture in a promotional e-mail, and then send the same e-mail only changing the picture to a clerk from his mailroom. The mailroom clerk drew 20 percent more response. The owner stepped aside. Business is business.
In the case of The Old Spice Man, the character is meant to appeal to women (hey, most men don't wear a scent to please other men) with manly insult humor that would appeal to men. You can select a humorous persona, but make sure you can sustain it. You can probably hire a local stand-up comic to play the role for you. People will think it's you, only funnier.
There are other character options that may be far more appropriate and just as engaging as humor, such as providing service, knowledge, empathy, honesty, sincerity, advocacy and the ever-utilized fanatical price-slashing or stain-removing screaming crazy. Only you can pick what's right, but the goal is to create the viral phenomenon that will make people compete for your attention.
We're also assuming here that these are ultimately video-driven personas. Even so, it is vital that you can capture the personality in a written and spoken voice. You're going to need to entice people to join in before you can let them see your act.
2. Seed social networks with invitations to interact
Ask people to play along, and somebody will. If it's worth it, they'll tell their friends. Let's look at a few hypothetical examples.
Suppose you have an auto parts dealership. You can invite people to submit their greatest auto modification desires. You can find the greatest influencers through auto clubs, your knowledge of your customer base or even the best auto shops in town and have them be the answer men. Or prove your own knowledge by answering directly in your chosen persona.
If you own a gym franchise, you can have people enter a "Biggest Loser"-type weight reduction contest and let others cheer them on. Have a dance studio or music studio? Stage your own online "America's Got Talent." Own a bridal shop, invite brides to be to play "Say Yes to the Dress" and let others vote. Run a wine shop, take questions on how to match food with wine and let chefs from the best restaurants provide the answers and recipes.
3. Engage the engaged, the famous and the influencers
There is fame on a big scale, and there is fame on a local level. Seek out anyone intriguing, like the mayor or the local newscaster. The main objective here is to engage people that others will find intriguing or impressive.
Don't forget bloggers. They have followings, some considerably larger than you might expect. You are trying to have others do the heavy lifting of spreading the word and gaining more people to participate. You'll have the additional benefit of gaining more links to your website, which over time will increase your ranking with search engines, especially in local search —which for most entrepreneurs is the most important. Bloggers also tend to have their own Twitter and Facebook followings, which will help greatly in compounding your audience.
4. Personalize the response and people will compete for inclusion
Whether it is a contest, advice, or just a conversation, every time you make the exchange personal with that one customer you create demand from others to also want your character to give a "shout out" to them.
That is at the core of the Old Spice phenomenon. People started competing to be witty or provocative, making their best bets on what would intrigue the Old Spice Man to want to respond to them. Many thousands did not get a response, but it seemed like all of them did. And the ones that didn't kept trying harder to impress the Man. Also, every blogger or celebrity who did get a response wrote about it. It was a badge of honor.
5. Make it episodic and easy to share
This is all about interactive storytelling. The more stories, the more consistent the delivery of new episodes, the more frequently people will check it out, and the greater the odds to become either a media habit or an outright addiction.
This is all about interactive storytelling. The more stories, the more consistent the delivery of new episodes, the more frequently people will check it out, and the greater the odds to become either a media habit or an outright addiction.
This also provides the greatest opportunities for people to share a link to an episode with their friends. You want to take every opportunity to feed the virus.
You will also be able to measure which subjects and types of responses get the best results. As with anything in business, provide more of what people want and less of what they don't.
6. Keep the videos simple and short
Find the location that works. It doesn't have to be elaborate. The Old Spice Man never left the bathroom, never looked anywhere but right at the camera, never changed his posture. There is power in familiarity. There is an old saying: An idea is finished not when you've put everything you can think of into it, but rather when you've taken out everything you possibly can.
Find the location that works. It doesn't have to be elaborate. The Old Spice Man never left the bathroom, never looked anywhere but right at the camera, never changed his posture. There is power in familiarity. There is an old saying: An idea is finished not when you've put everything you can think of into it, but rather when you've taken out everything you possibly can.
Limit the personality traits of your persona. Don't attempt sophisticated cinematography. There is a real estate agent in Canada named Ian Watt who bought a camera mount, hooked it to the dashboard of his car, turned it on and just started talking about his market while he was driving from place to place. He came across as wildly aggressive, on the go, in the know, always working for you, with a personality as driven as Gary Vaynerchuk.
Vaynerchuk, too, is a great example of minimalist consistency. His winelibrary.com videos are all shot straight on in the dingy, poorly lit conference room of his wine store in New Jersey. Doesn't matter. He became a self-proclaimed $60 million wine shop and a frequent guest on Leno and Conan O'Brien. Don't let the setting or the production distract you from putting across the persona.
7. Promote it with tie-ins offline
Put up signage in your store promoting what you're doing online. If you advertise, make sure to promote your online contests or character. It will go much further than the classic — and clichéd — line, "Visit our website."
Put up signage in your store promoting what you're doing online. If you advertise, make sure to promote your online contests or character. It will go much further than the classic — and clichéd — line, "Visit our website."
Get yourself a cell phone with a video camera, shoot simple videos and upload them to your website and YouTube channel. Engage people of influence, especially those who are either well-known or thoroughly engaged in social media like Facebook and Twitter, to play along with you. Make your character strong, appealing and consistent. And enjoy the fruits of viral marketing.
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