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What We’re Reading: Thursday, September 27, 2012

Julie DiCaro — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:39:52 +0000

First, a huge “thank you” to everyone who attended our panel on Integrated Digital Marketing yesterday. We had a great turnout and a terrific audience. If only we’d had two more hours to chat and answer all the great questions that came our way!

The 435 Digital Team kills it during their Integrated Marketing Panel.

As Social Media Week winds down here in Chicago, we continue to hit the books (okay, really, our laptops and smartphones) each morning to stay on top of the latest news in digital marketing. Here’s a look at what we’re reading today:

We got a lot of questions yesterday about paid search and whether online ads are worth the cost, given that so many people claim they don’t pay attention to them. iMedia Connection weighs in on this very subject:

Getting started is relatively easy. To determine the incremental value of exposure to unclicked ads, marketers can easily compare samples of users who previously encountered a display ad to users who arrived at a site without exposure to an ad. Marketers can also look to search data. There’s a small mountain of evidence showing that even if you don’t click on a brand’s ad, exposure to the ad makes you more likely to search for the brand and click on its search ads.

But the best case of all for view-through is perhaps that it dates back to the origins of advertising itself. Or, in other words, view-through is not so different from offline advertising in many respects. Agencies running off-line campaigns can point to powerful correlations between campaigns and increased sales, but, in most cases, can’t definitively prove that any given customer is responding to campaigns. And yet no one would suggest that offline campaigns have zero value or that attempting to measure their success is pointless.

And view-through is superior to most offline campaigns in an important respect. If someone arrives at a Walmart store, Walmart can’t be certain that they saw the Walmart billboard on the highway or the full-page ad in the local paper. With a view-through, a brand at least knows that the user was exposed to the ad, even if only briefly.

Think that you don’t need a responsive or mobile website? You might want to think again, says Google:

In this world of constant connectivity, consumers expect to find the information that they want, when they want it – especially when they’re on the go. We know that this applies to their web browsing experiences on mobile, so we took a deeper look at users’ expectations and reactions towards their site experiences on mobile. Most interestingly, 61% of people said that they’d quickly move onto another site if they didn’t find what they were looking for right away on a mobile site. The bottom line: Without a mobile-friendly site you’ll be driving users to your competition. In fact, 67% of users are more likely to buy from a mobile-friendly site, so if that site’s not yours, you’ll be missing out in a big way.

Finally this morning, if there’s a more creative ad out there right now, we haven’t seen it. Coca-Cola turns its print ad into an iPhone speaker.

The weekend is almost here. Thanks for stopping by!

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What We’re Reading: Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Julie DiCaro — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:50:26 +0000

We’re halfway through Social Media Week here at 435 Digital. Don’t forget to stop by our panel later on today to hear us talk about all things digital marketing. To help remind you, we’ve created this handy graphic:

While we prepare for our big afternoon. here’s a look at what we’re reading today
Our web development guru, Christy, is keeping tabs on touchscreen interfaces, which are sprouting up all over:

“Google has been sprucing up its Hangouts video calling service with an updated API for features like private messages, and the ability to block people and change a Hangout from private to public. A video celebrating Hangouts gives us a glimpse of even more changes that could be coming up ahead. . . .

— simplifying moves that could point to a more touchscreen-friendly version of Hangouts in the future.”

Over at Business Insider, they’re bemoaning the fact that Facebook took so long to get into ad retargeting:

… [I]n recent weeks, Facebook has begun selling ads in a new way that makes its massive inventory much more valuable—three times more valuable, according to one company buying the inventory and reselling it.

This new method is called re-targeting. It has been used by ad-sellers outside of Facebook for years now.

Facebook, however, only began selling re-targeted ads this summer, when it opened something called the Facebook Exchange, better known as FBX in the industry.

Happy Birthday to Firefox (web browser), who turns 10 years old this week! The first version launched on September 23^rd, 2002. Time flies when you’re busy browsing the internet.

Check out these ten secret features of Apple’s iOS 6. While the maps could use some work, these other features are pretty cool, but not very well-known.

Need some help getting organized? Here are 13 free iPhone apps to help improve your productivity. Your co-workers will love you for it.

Finally, we leave you with this great bit of advice from Social Media Week Chicago:

“Trust your social media voice, and don’t be afraid of a mistake. Be transparent; people are human.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

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iPhone app review: WorldCard Mobile

scottk — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:01:28 +0000

Do you cringe every time someone hands you a business card? Worse, do you shove it in your pocket only to later throw it away or send it through the washing machine?

That’s no way to connect with someone. And while there are several solutions in the iTunes App Store, WorldCard Mobile by Penpower Technology Ltd. has long been a favorite iPhone app.

Snap a photo of any business card and the information is automatically transferred into your contact list. It almost seems magical. While it will work on older models, WorldCard Mobile (currently $6.99 in the App Store) is not recommended for iPhone 3G and the fourth generation iPod touch and older because the camera doesn’t auto focus.

iPad users, there’s a version for you too built just for the iPad called WorldCard HD (currently $14.99 in the App Store). Looks great with all that extra screen real estate.

If you’d prefer to take a test drive before you buy, the lite version is free (LINK). Most of the features are there, but you’re limited to a few scans a week.

The only trouble I had was the occasional business card with a tough to decipher font. Sometimes I had to take the photo a few times, but if you have a lot of cards and are looking to save time, this is a great solution.

And it’s OK if you don’t have an iDevice. WorldCard Mobile is available in the Android Market and for Windows Phone.

The year is still young. If being better organized was one of your resolutions, WorldCard is a quick win.

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Why Electronic Stores Need a Facebook Page

435 Digital — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:06:00 +0000

Electronics are an investment, therefore consumers are more loyal to brands when it comes to their gadget purchases. In a recent study by NPD, some 48% of iPad buyers already own a Macintosh computer, and 38% already own an iPhone. Apple has worked to rebuild their brand loyalty by creating a community after the company missed out on the growth of the PC market during the 1990s.

Apple has made it easier for its customers to access Apple information by bringing it to Facebook. Apple has an entire Facebook page dedicated to apps. The featured tab gives a summary of the most popular apps. It is the same information one with find on iTunes or on the App Store application on an iPhone, but it’s all in Facebook.

A 2008 American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) study compiled by the University of Michigan’s National Quality Research Centre gave Apple a market leading score of 85—the highest ever recorded for a company in the personal computer industry.

Apple isn’t the only company turning to Facebook to build brand loyalty. Sears took advantage of the tough economy by offering exclusive deals to its Facebook fans on Black Friday—the biggest shopping day of the year. Sears gave out coupon codes offering fan-only deals on electronics and other products. They promoted a Black Friday VIP Sweepstakes, where Facebook fans could enter to win a $500 gift card and is currently running a sweepstakes to win 500 points or $500,000 to spend at Sears. Sears relies on its Sweepstakes to recruit its more than 160,000 fans.

Research shows that 60% of Facebook fans will recommend a company or product once they “like” the page, how’s that for brand loyalty?—DANNI WYSOCKI

5 Social Media Hot Topics

435 Digital — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 17:58:01 +0000

A Twitter security flaw affected thousands. Users unwillingly retweeted messages directing their followers to third-party sites including pornography!

Facebook adds the “Not Now” option to delay awkward tension after a rejected friend request.

Pepsi Refresh social media campaign generates more votes than the last presidential election.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs tells journalism student to leave him alone!

New study says iPhone users will not switch from AT&T service if iPhone comes to Verizon

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