by tradesmeninsights | Jan 20, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Businesses are getting more comfortable with social media and are continuing to integrate it into their overall marketing programs.
I recently read an article in Social Media Examiner, 8 Social Media Trends Impacting Businesses that I thought made some good points. The article highlighted a recent study done by SmartBrief and Summus Limited to over 6,000 readers across a variety of industries. Here are some brief highlights:
- Companies are still new to social media – Most companies (66%) have adopted social media within the last 18 months.
- Businesses focus on the BIG 5 – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and blogs are where people spend most of their efforts.
- 2-year confidence mark – How long it takes most companies to gain confidence in their social media activity.
- Companies are broadcasting vs. connecting – Brand building is their primary purpose. Many companies are missing opportunities to build stronger relationships by listening instead of talking.
- Businesses turn internally for sources for social media support – Not surprising. They know the company, its products/services better than anyone.
- Social media obstacles – Lack of management support and confidentiality are the two biggest stumbling blocks.
- Lack of measurement – Less than 15% are measuring ROI. They are struggling with what to measure, how to measure it and how to interpret the data.
- Companies lack confidence in their social media strategy – Less than 15% of companies surveyed describe their strategies as “very effective.”
The good news is businesses are moving forward. What are some challenges your company is facing regarding implementation of a social media program?
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by tradesmeninsights | Jan 6, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Each of us are at different stages in the social media process. Some are in “denial” while others have drank the “kool aid” and have jumped in with both feet. If you’re a serious marketer though, and represent a brand or company, you really need to get on the bus.
A recent benchmark study on social media from Ketchum and Fedex found that 100% of those surveyed had some kind of social presence. 94% hoped to increase awareness and interactions with consumers.
The thing I found interesting is different levels of engagement. 75% participated while 10% wanted to be leaders and 15% just wanted to be observers.
This, in my mind, tells me there is a whole lot of room at the top for leadership and that folks should be moving in that direction. By integrating social media into a bigger marketing plan, they can leverage social media.
Common goals among participants were:
- word of mouth advocacy
- close relationships with customers
- manage customer service
- educate media about company related issues
Other posts you may find interesting:
Should Marketing and IT Work Together?
How Do You Measure Social Media Success?
by tradesmeninsights | Jan 4, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
Professional tradesman, for the most part, do more field work so they have a mobile office. And let’s face it, most manufacturer’s biggest challenge is how do I connect with them? The smartphone is coming more and more into play, so if your company doesn’t have an app, you may be missing an opportunity. According to Nielsen, as of the 3rd quarter of ’10 – 28% of mobile phones are smartphones with 41% of recent acquirers moving in that direction.
So what does that mean? It shows the trend is going strong for smartphones and we’d better be ready to capitalize on this tool. I know what you’re thinking, that most of the users are under the age of 35, and you would be correct. Isn’t that a targeted segment of the tradesman audience that you, as a manufacturer, are trying to come to grips with on how are you going to get your message to them? This would be one way to reach them. As a matter of a fact, the majority of smartphone users are under 45 years of age.
50 percent of Android owners are under the age of 35 – Apple has the most smartphone users under the age of 44.
I’m curious as to how many of you currently have a mobile App or are planning one in the near future?
by tradesmeninsights | Dec 15, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
Aylie Fifer, Relationship Architect here at Sonnhalter, has put together some information on Augmented Reality.
Augmented reality is a new technology that is starting to take flight in many different ways. Think of a flight simulator – the pilot goes into a “cockpit” and can use the actual controls of an airplane, but the visual is a non-real place – a video or computer generated environment to simulate the environment of a real world situation. In essence, this is very much like Augmented Reality.
Augmented reality:
- combines real and virtual data – meaning it uses real time video and integrates with computer generated data to create an “Augmented Reality” experience
- is interactive in real time
- is registered in 3D
Sometimes QR codes are used to launch an Augmented Reality site or game. The QR code just redirects to the URL or information coded in the 2D QR code and the Augmented Reality site utilizes information that the phone/computer is receiving (either by camera, video, or GPS) to incorporate a virtual reality with the real reality and allowing you to interact in real time. Essentially, it layers a “virtual world” into your actual reality world.
Examples:
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/top-10-augmented-reality-examples/top-10-augmented-reality-examples/
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/14/augmented-reality
In the National Geographic article, you will see that the Air Force is using Augmented Reality as a means to train mechanics. Augmented reality is already being used with video games as well. It is a matter of time before this technology enters into other areas of our life. What I am excited to see is how marketers will use this new media to promote their products.
Photo courtesy of National Geographic.
by tradesmeninsights | Dec 8, 2010 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
It’s that time of year again for our annual spend survey (8 questions). We’ll be happy to share the results with you and compare them to what you said in 2010. You can take the survey here.
by tradesmeninsights | Dec 1, 2010 | Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
It seems like these days that everything is moving as fast as a digital download. Information is at your fingertips with smartphones getting more and more popular and with access to everything you could possibly want to know in the palm of your hand.
We see this in the news media as well – stories no longer take weeks or days to break, but are posted within a few minutes so you can know what is happening half way across the world in seconds. It is with this trend of fast information, and the technology of mobile media that fuels it, that marketers are forced to keep up.
More and more people are getting their information from their smartphones and carry them with them at all times, so marketers need to reach their targets where they are absorbing information.
This white paper reviews the current state of affairs and touches on QR codes and Microsoft Tags and highlights best practices.
A free copy for download is available. Click here to sign up.
