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Online Listening Is One Thing But Should Brands Respond?

posted on October 26, 2011

Most people agree that literally everyone, from the individual to the multi-national corporation, should be paying attention to what is being said about them online. The use of listening tools like Trackur are a critical component of the online strategy of a business because it’s simply the prudent thing to do. If you decide not to listen to the online space you have no one to blame but yourself if and when something gets sideways concerning your reputation.

A recent report from eMarketer tells of some research conducted that suggests that listening should only be the first step in this strategy as consumers are looking for response to their online pleas although the level of expectation of any response at all varies greatly based on age. Look at these findings from a study conducted by Maritz Research and evolve24 regarding Twitter complaints and the expectations of those who lodge them.

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B2B Technology Purchasers Influenced by More Digital Collateral

posted on October 26, 2011

B2B marketing is usually viewed as being behind the curve with regard to the online space. It has a reputation of being more traditional in its approach to how prospects and customers are reached and then developed. While this image of B2B marketers being less progressive than their B2C counterparts is warranted to a degree it appears as if that perception may be changing.

A recent study by Eccolo Media (which is a content marketing company so our research source antennae should be up class) shows that B2B technology buyers are expanding their marketing intake palette a bit. In other words, it’s not all white papers any more. Here is a snapshot of some of the ways that these tech folks are consuming marketing messages over the past six months.

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Groupon IPO Parody Not Funny to Lawyers

posted on October 25, 2011

There is a very funny parody regarding the Groupon IPO that was put together by the folks at Runningshoes.com. It really is funny. That is unless you are part of the “we are funny and irreverent unless you do the same to us” folks at Groupon. It’s all fun and games until someone makes fun of Groupon, huh?

Oh well. It’s not like they haven’t invited it as of late with their comical handling of their public image. Here is a shot of the site. Check it out and chuckle a little before the Groupon legal eagles do their thing.

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1 in Four SMB Owners Hates Social Media

posted on October 25, 2011

Hate is a pretty strong word, but according to a recent survey by email and social media marketing company iContact, it’s a word one out of four respondents had no trouble using.

The biggest offender? Groupon.

Says iContact, 70% of small businesses hate Groupon. They received particularly low marks from those in the financial industry (80%) but only 45% of those in the salon and spa biz had bad things to say.

Surprisingly, Facebook had few haters. 76% of respondents gave the social network a thumbs up. Non-profits were among their biggest fans (87%) as is education (82%) and that last statistic frightens me.

LinkedIn also fared well, which isn’t surprising given that it’s a business-oriented social network. 63% of respondents gave the site a thumbs up, with most of the love coming from businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

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Q3 MobileMix: iPad Impressions Up 456 Percent

posted on October 25, 2011

It’s time for another Millennial Media MobileMix report. This time it’s all about Q3 of 2011 and again, I give thumbs up to the cover art. They slay me every time.

It all begins with the smartphone. Ownership is up 7% over last quarter, 37% year-over-year. And since every other commercial on TV is about the iPhone, you probably think they’re leading the way for impressions, but they’re not.

Android still takes the top spot with 56% of all smartphone impressions. The MobileMix says this is due to largely to the fact that Android technology is being used by a variety of manufacturers, and more importantly, being offered at a wider variety of price points.

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If Social Media Goals Are To Drive Sales, Should Sales Budgets Pay For It?

posted on October 25, 2011

There are a lot of studies out there about social media. One that recently came out comes from Covario and it’s about Facebook and how well brands are doing with regard to how people like them. I’ll spoil that part for you by saying that Coca-Cola wins the great Facebook brand like shootout.

While that’s nice and makes for interesting fluff to pass around the Internet as if it’s going to help people do business. What I saw ,however, was something a little more practical in the findings that seems to need more investigation. The chart below shows what the goals are of social media programs and leading the pack is increasing sales.

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Tablets and the Future of News

posted on October 25, 2011

News drives content more than anything else on the Internet. You can see 5000 barley different variations of “5 Easy Steps to X” or “The Top 10 Ways to X” but news is ever changing, new each day and the opinions attached to it are what make it an interesting read. It is the king of content in many ways.

It doesn’t only have to be news around events that should be considered. If you think about it, all sharing in social media is about news. Whether you are telling relatives about what the kids did, you are announcing where you are, have been or will be or any other update, in essence you are reporting about things. It’s all news.

So we were happy to see the people at the Pew Research Center Project for Excellence in Journalism put together an infographic based on a study that examines the impact of the tablet on the news space. Enjoy and let us know what your take is on their findings. (please excuse some of the picture distortion which was necessary to fit the infographic into the Marketing Pilgrim format).