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The Internet of Things: 3 Ways to Revolutionise Marketing

Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) has been a hot topic of conversation in the last few years, even more so in the last year as we are starting to see how this phenomenon can make a difference to our lives on a daily basis.

Essentially we are starting to create Internet connections through multiple devices. “According to Cisco, 50 billion devices will be connected by 2020” (Digital Marketing Magazine, 2015). Read more of the Cisco report here.

At first you may just think of your smartphone or tablet – the typical items that have an active Internet connection… but no. The Internet of things is so much more than that…

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Source: Sriram, R.D. & Sheth, A. (2015) Internet of Things Perspectives, IT Professional, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 60-63.

You’ve probably seen the adverts for Hive heating from British Gas. You know the ones with the catchy songs that you find get stuck in your head for a few hours after viewing. “While Hive is busy controlling your heating at home”. Yes it’s stuck in my head too now. Sorry. But it is a great example of how we are developing connections between items; other examples include Nike+ Fuel band and Google Nest.

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Sources: Hive. (2016) Hive Home. [Online], <https://www.hivehome.com> [Accessed 7th May]

Nest. (2016) Meet the 3rd Gen Nest Learning Thermostat. [Online], <https://nest.com/uk/> [Accessed 8th May]

Nike. (2016) Nike+ Fuelband. [Online], <https://secure-nikeplus.nike.com/plus/products/fuelband/> [Accessed 7th May]

 

“IoT refers to the networked interconnection of everyday objects, which are often equipped with ubiquitous intelligence” (Xia et al, 2012). “Simply put, this is the concept of basically connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet (and/or to each other)” (Forbes, 2014). The Internet of Things – or IoT as it’s commonly rephrased to – can start revolutionising our lives, as consumers, but also brands and marketers can take huge advantage of this. Big data equals big knowledge, providing you can keep up and analyse it all of course.

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Source: E-Consultancy. (2015) What are the opportunities for digital marketing and the Internet of Things? [Online], < https://econsultancy.com/blog/66544-what-are-the-opportunities-for-digital-marketing-and-the-internet-of-things/> [Accessed 8th May]

 

3 reasons why marketers should start to focus on the IoT

The Internet of Things can bring several benefits for brands as well as customers, as it “will act as a human agent, human extension, and human complement”, (Sriram & Sheth, 2015). There will be so many channels of communication that marketing can utilise to contact customers and gather data, that they will be having a field day. Business2Community (2016) highlights the three key reasons why the Internet of Things will transform marketing.

  1. Interactive media

Once the Internet of Things takes the world by storm, products that are available to us as consumers on the Internet will become a “platform of direct relationship/interaction with the respective customer base” (Business2Community, 2016). Essentially this means that the idea of digital marketing will be encouraged as everyone has the opportunity to interact and create connections with the products they are using. The digital presence within these everyday products can allow marketers to recognise trends and provide a 121 service with each and every customer. Soon enough we will be able to scan products and whatever else we can get our hands on to receive on the spot information. Interactivity between human and product – the stuff of futuristic sci-fi, right?

 

  1. Ecosystems

Typically, products stand in their own category with limited availability to switch ecosystems or categories. However, with the Internet of Things this can all change. Ecosystems essentially mean the number of other items something’s connected to. As E-Consultancy (2015) recognise, it could mean seamlessly linking Spotify playlists to play in your next Uber ride, or bridging the gap between fitness trackers and contactless payment. Products can start moving towards app-based services, allowing them to become more exciting, and user engaging. This means it’s more fun for us as consumers to play with, and also helps brands to build their name and recognition. However, as more and more products will be controlled by apps, and as pointed out by Want et al (2015), this increase might cause more issues than benefits. Some may get uninstalled to make room for new ones and so on. So in order to optimise your service, brands will have to ensure they have one app that can control many products should that be the case.

 

  1. Products as services

Personalisation is key in all senses of digital marketing; it’s the essence that brings everything together for one particular individual. The Internet of Things can have a role to play in this as each physical product can have an interactive element with its consumer. It allows consumers to tailor behaviour to suit them, and also gives data back to the company to make the overall service just that much better.

 

As with anything, it can’t all be beneficial, read on some of the drawbacks of living in a connected world.

Privacy and security issues

The main issue on everyone’s minds is that of privacy and security when it comes to personal data. IoT sounds beneficial in itself for both customers and brands, but how can we ensure that what we are transferring is kept safe?

FTC (2015) cover some issues regarding security, stating that as part of the product design, brands should consider: conducting a security assessment, minimising data collected and retained, and testing security measures before launching. “Without strong security foundations, attacks and malfunctions in the IoT will outweigh any of its benefits”, (Roman et al, 2011).

In regards to privacy, these could include sensitive personal data. If information such as finances, health, location and purchase data is being continually shared across ‘the cloud’, on such a vast scale, it runs the risk of data leaks and hacks.

As the Internet of Things is yet to take off fully, it is giving companies the chance to enhance their privacy and security, as this needs to be tight before customers will trust them.

 

Data issues

Aside from the obvious problems of security and privacy, there is another issue for companies to consider before launching onto such a huge journey. That being the amount of data that is going to come flooding into the business. By having so much data continually connected, it relies heavily on data analysts to convert this data into something productive. Due to the sudden influx, brands may need to invest more time and money into these departments in order to stay on top and provide beneficial services. Marketers will be thriving off this new customer information, but without the resources to understand it, it’ll become wasted and cause a potential data security risk.

 

Overall, we can see that the Internet of Things is starting to make an impact on our lives, but it will be a few years time before truly infiltrating our day-to-day activities. So although it might seem ultimately scary that one-day companies may take all of this information about us, just imagine the day where our alarm clock could speak to our kettle to make a cup of tea for us when we first wake up…

 

References

 

The Ups and Downs of Push Notifications on Apps

What are push notifications?

The term push notifications have been thrown about increasingly in the last few years or so as technology is forever advancing. For brands these have become more important as it gives them new ways in which to communicate with their customers. Forever hungry for new information, the technology world has had to make a rapid advancement. Brands may know what this term means, but to the average user, do we actually know? Apps on smartphones are frequently asking if they can send push notifications, some may agree, but do we even know what we’re agreeing to?

Thankfully, Guo et al (2015) clearly define the two types of delivery systems, and they seem pretty harmless.

A push delivery system, or a push notification to you and me, means that the consumer can “choose to let newly generated content to be delivered to them”. The company or content providers usually determine the frequency and information broadcasted. The Veterinary Record (2015) follow this up by stating that individuals tend to get information as soon as it goes live, perhaps even sometimes before it makes it to websites and other platforms. Some examples of push notifications include, live game scores, stock market updates, fitness apps can remind you to keep active, and information from individual apps can be sent to you automatically should you agree.

A pull delivery system, allows the users to manually check for information on their own terms. The information is made available on the Internet somewhere, and it’s down to the individuals to go looking for the content. Think along the lines of emails on your smartphone. Push would automatically download new messages, pull would mean manually refreshing the inbox.

“The key difference between the two is who initiates delivery.” (Ma, 2015) So now we know what the difference is, what do push notifications actually mean for a retailer?

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Source: AutoConversion. (2016) How Social Media Ads Are Just Another Form Of Push. [Online], <http://autoconversion.net/blog/advertising/why-social-media-ads-are-just-another-form-of-push/> [Accessed 7th May]

 

3 reasons for brands to use push notifications 

Urban Airship (2016) stated 3 reasons as to why brands will use push notifications and why they can be beneficial for both brand and user.

  1. Provide convenience

Who wouldn’t want information sent straight to your smartphone, it’s the ultimate lazy feature of the app world. Just sit tight and wait for the brand to send you a deal. So for users it’s convenient, and for brands it’s easy to get messages across. Upsight (2014) do however mention that brands need to ensure they’re making notifications relevant and interesting, otherwise the consumers will start looking elsewhere as there are so many alternatives.

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Source: Localytics. (2015) 2015: The Year That Push Notifications Grew Up. [Online], <http://info.localytics.com/blog/2015-the-year-that-push-notifications-grew-up> [Accessed 7th May]

 

  1. Speak directly to consumers

So as much as push notifications are useful for the consumer, they also provide huge benefit for the brand. Allowing information to reach each individual without getting put in the junk inbox or getting stopped by ad-blockers and other clever software it means that brands can communicate directly. “Click-through rates can be twice as high as email” (Urban Airship, 2016), which is pretty impressive if you ask me, and these can “encourage inactive users to re-engage with an app” (Localytics, 2015).

 

  1. Drive actions

Drive actions basically includes everything from promoting new products, to discounts, to converting attention to other channels such as social media sites for that particular company. Things that will inspire the consumers to engage with the brand in one-way or another.

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Source: Localytics. (2015) 2015: The Year That Push Notifications Grew Up. [Online], <http://info.localytics.com/blog/2015-the-year-that-push-notifications-grew-up> [Accessed 7th May]

 

“Push messages continued to improve app user engagement and retention and companies increasingly took the path to personalization.” (Localytics, 2015)

To read more about user engagement and app personalisation, check out my previous blogs. Additionally, The App Entrepreneur (2013) wrote a short article on whether push notifications are worthy or not. Their conclusion? Worthy if used correctly for both customer and brand. This seems to be a common theme, so how can we make sure we’re getting it right…?

 

Learning from the best

Andrew Chen has written a fantastic article on push notifications and click through rates, showing some good and bad examples. Netflix seems to have push notifications operating well, with messages going to individuals when new episodes are uploaded – but will only notify you of the shows you are currently watching. No point knowing about something you’ve never seen before right?

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Source: Chen, A. (2014) Push notification click-through rates. [Online], <http://andrewchen.co/new-data-on-push-notification-ctrs-shows-the-best-apps-perform-4x-better-than-the-worst-heres-why-guest-post/> [Accessed 7th May]

 

For some more examples of good push notifications and varying ways to word them, check out Quora. I’m sure there are plenty of brands out there that can take a leaf out this book…

So far you’re probably thinking these push notification things are doing a lot of good: they increase user engagement and help the brand at the same time, BUT, as with everything there’s always a catch or disadvantage.

In this case, it’s that push notifications can actually become ineffective if they are being used incorrectly. For example, if they are being sent too often, include irrelevant information, or at the wrong time. Brands need to be careful to personalize these messages to the max; otherwise they just become time wasting for all involved. Localytics (2015) state that “52% of app users are already finding push messages to be an annoying distraction”, and seeing as these notifications are usually optional, they’re running the risk of being cut off altogether. Push notifications also need to be connected to a data source at all times, so they can potentially waste battery life on phones and drain mobile plans. Something for brands to consider when setting their frequencies.

To summarise, the below table discusses the pros and cons for both consumer and brand.

Pros Cons
Instant up to date information and deals for consumer Can be annoying if sent too frequently
Reminded to take actions Need to be sent in users time-zones (nobody likes being woken up at 4am by a push notification)
Works in advertising for brand, and increases user retention Irrelevant information
No effort involved for consumer Decreases battery life on phones
Can be personalised Being optional – for brands they could be cut off from the customer

At the end of the day it’s down to the consumer to decide whether they use push notifications or not, so a brand would be silly not to offer this service.

Keep it short, keep it simple and keep it engaging.

 

References

How can retailers use apps to improve customer experience?

Apps have become the pinnacle of the digital world for retailers. There are so many ways to use an app, so many features that can be added, and the benefits for the customer are endless.

Retailers have the opportunity to use apps to their advantage, not only for gathering customer data (apps are great at this by the way), but also to help the customers to have the best experience possible. If an app is successful, they can “increase favourability of brand attitude and purchase retention” (Bellman et al, 2011). Giving huge benefit for the retailer, after all who wouldn’t want customers coming back for more?

 

App-solutely brilliant

So we know that apps can increase popularity of the brand and hopefully get customers to return and buy more, but in what ways can retailers ensure this is the case? Guarana (2015) list some key points for companies to consider.

  1. Perfect digital experience

Entice your customers into your brand through your app. These are a great way to gain customer attention and then keep them interested by communicating to them regularly – not too regularly though, no one likes being swamped by notifications. Send them news, product information or even just your updated opening hours. Handing them all the information they could possibly need in a well-organised manner will mean their online experience is perfect. But what if they encounter a problem on the app? Add an online representative in a live chat. Cover your back by enabling customers to complain, but also give them solutions right at their fingertips.

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Source: Software Advice. (2015) Improve the Customer Experience Through Better Mobile Support IndustryView | 2015. [Online], <http://www.softwareadvice.com/crm/industryview/mobile-support-report-2015/> [Accessed 22nd April]

  1. Customise information

Providing customers with deals, promotions and recommendations is a great idea, but to make it even better it needs to be relevant. Women aren’t going to be interested in beard dye and men certainly won’t be interested in female hygiene products. It needs to look like the brand knows what you want before you even know yourself. Algorithms are the perfect way to do this, gathering personal data to provide a set of recommendations that are worthy of looking at. Personalisation is a key insight, which requires a lot of thought, check out my previous blog to read more about it.

  1. Reward loyalty

Congratulate your most loyal customers by giving them freebies and discounts. I’m personally all for a bargain so that would incentivise me to stay purchasing with a brand if I knew I was going to get something back. The most basic example of this is Starbucks or other coffee shops that give you your 10th coffee for free. Simple as that, yet effective when you see those little star stamps building up on your ‘loyalty’ piece of cardboard that often gets lost in your purse or wallet… Now it has gone digital. But don’t worry; the stars are still there.

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Source: Apptentive. (2013) How a Mobile App can Boost Sales and Enhance Customer Experience. [Online], <http://www.apptentive.com/blog/mobile-app-boost-sales-enhance-customer-experience/> [Accessed 22nd April]

  1. Boost points of sales

Tablets have revolutionised many retailers in the last couple of years. Bouncepad (2016) actually write a perfect article of how tablets can change the customer experience in-store. Connecting the customers from their own smartphone app, to table top tablets in store is the bridge between isolated research and a connected brand. The individual can use apps, and so can the brand. For example, Virgin Holidays have uploaded their brochures onto tablets in store to connect digitally with consumers. Restaurants are now using their apps for menus and paying the bills. The possibilities are endless.

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Source: BouncePad. (2016b) Virgin Holidays Puts Tech at the Heart of Concept Stores. [Online], <https://www.bouncepad.com/projects/virgin-holidays-puts-tech-at-the-heart-of-concept-stores/> [Accessed 22nd April]

 

From app to store

A few more thoughts from the point above… The customer is always right, so enhancing your app to benefit them, gives them less reason to complain. For example, Target in the USA has developed their app to offer the customer a ‘my list’ section, helpful for shopping lists as well as item availability within store (Intelliware, 2015). To take it further, they’ve even included a shelf locator for the items you’re looking for, how handy is that? No need to search high and low for that cushion you saw online. For a retailer this is a truly innovative idea, and provides a seamless experience from app to store.

 

Who does it well?

E-Consultancy (2015) gives an excellent review of several brands that have got their customer experience down to a tee.

A prime example is Disney, who have ensured that the magical adventure is a smooth process from start to finish; use your phone to check into your hotel room and save queuing, use it as a door key, park entrance ticket, and as a tab for your food and drink. This is a perfect example of how apps can be used to improve the overall customer experience.

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Source: Walt Disney World. (2015) Magic at Your Fingertips. [Online], <https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan/my-disney-experience/mobile-apps/> [Accessed 22nd April]

 

Make sure you stay connected at all times

Some retailers run the risk of apps coming back to bite them. In order for them to be a success you need to make sure that you’re keeping an eye on the data collected and the movements of your customers. Noticed that someone hasn’t opened the app in a few weeks? Send them a push notification to remind them of what you can offer, or better yet, give them a discount code for their recently bought item. Retailers need to cradle their customers like a baby as any bit of neglect and they’re off to the dark side (competitors to you and me). “Smartphone penetration in USA and UK reached 44 and 43 per cent respectively in 2012” (Taylor & Levin, 2014). That is a huge segment of customers, so make sure you don’t lose customers because you’re too busy focusing on other things!

Customer experience is just one key to success so don’t overlook it! After all, there’s an app for that right?

 

References

App Personalisation: What does it actually mean?

Personalisation seems to be the hot topic of discussion when considering digital marketing, but what does personalisation actually mean? AppMakr (2015) says that personalisation tailors various content depending on data from an individual. Each version will be different as the data will be unique. “Think of it as targeted advertising, but with an even higher degree of specificity.” (AppMakr, 2015)

Purchasing products via a mobile application has become increasingly popular over the last few years. Magrath and McCormick (2013) have recognised this trend and mention, “it is vital that retail marketers manage and design a mobile marketing strategy that can successfully take advantage of the rapid expansion of the ubiquitous selling channel.”

Three steps to create your personalised app

Localytics (2015) have created a really simple yet well explained three-step guide on how to create your perfect personalised app. The following points have been briefly explained however the full guide can be downloaded from here for further information.

  1. Data gathering to understand your customers

First things first, getting to know your customers, but how to do this? Data that the users have supplied to the app initially will provide the basis of ‘profile data’. This includes the usual demographics such as age, gender and location, but also in-app settings and preferences. The next type of data to collect is ‘behavioural data’; these tend to include what the user does when on the app such as the pages they view. There are several platforms available to help gather the necessary data, one in which is called Profiles. However, in order to fully understand your customer, the data collection needs to go wider than just the app. By making it multi-channel will benefit both yourself and the final personalised result for the user. The image below should help to clarify the types of data needed.

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Source: Localytics. (2015a) How to use personalisation to create great app user experiences. [Online], <http://info.localytics.com/how-to-use-personalization-to-create-great-app-user-experiences> [Accessed 10th April]

 

  1. Use data to create groups of similar audiences

Next you have to actually use the data collected in step one to create some sort of beneficial outcome. The easiest way to do this is to segment the data by various common attributes between users and what this means for your app and the audience. Gather some key correlations here, as “segmenting is the key between analytics and marketing” (Localytics, 2015a).

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Source: Localytics. (2015a) How to use personalisation to create great app user experiences. [Online], <http://info.localytics.com/how-to-use-personalization-to-create-great-app-user-experiences> [Accessed 10th April]

 

  1. Launch personalised marketing messages

Finally, to launch the personalised marketing messages you should aim to start with segment-based campaigns. These will be the easiest to distinguish, as you should already be aware of common interests and profile/behaviour data. Push messages and in-app messaging are the best marketing tool a company can use within an app. Automation is another way to get messages across to the users. This is based on behavioural data, for example, when a user views a page a certain number of times, or added a particular item to the basket, the app will send an automatic trigger message offering a discount (or any other kind of message). However, to keep users truly engaged, these campaigns will need to be run across channel, and consider other outlets such as the website and stores.

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Source: Localytics. (2015a) How to use personalisation to create great app user experiences. [Online], <http://info.localytics.com/how-to-use-personalization-to-create-great-app-user-experiences> [Accessed 10th April]

 

How can personalisation help consumers?

Personalisation of smartphone applications can bring a whole host of benefits to the consumer as well as the organisation. The Filter (2015) comments that if the consumer believes that the app experience has been tailored to meet their needs, they are more likely to engage with the product or app.

When searching online for news or products a user would typically spend 8 minutes reading online compared to a 30-50 minute span that they might spend if reading the news in print (Chung, Wedel and Rust, 2016). Personalisation of apps and websites will help to grasp the shorter attention span of the individuals when they are online.

A key personalisation example as discussed by Chung, Wedel and Rust (2016) is the use of personalisation in reading the news. Many of the largest websites offer personalisation on both their website and their app, however these tend to be self-customisable, allowing the customer to tick what news categories would be most beneficial for them. Automatic personalisation has started to infiltrate into the industry with some sites starting to display news articles based on the users reading history. Drippler and News360 are amongst the first few to utilise personalised news.

IRMG (2016) provide a downloadable guide to personalisation, stating that year-on-year there has been a 320% increase in sales by a mobile device as it gets the information needed to the consumer faster. What wouldn’t be beneficial about that? Having accessible, relatable information at your fingertips.

 

Risky business

Personalisation can bring a lot of risk, again to the customer and the brand. Privacy is a key policy that everyone is concerned with, especially following hacking scandals and data mistreating. Agreeing to permissions in apps is easy, a little pop up that prompts that you should agree to provide your location and access to your photos and other private data is easy to accept. Before you really know what they are going to be used for, you’ve supplied a host of information to the brand, which you may or may not want to do (The Guardian, 2013).

There are however several types of personalisation which will not breach your privacy – whether you’ve agreed to or not – and those include campaigns such as the Heinz’s Get Well campaign and Coca Cola’s Share a Coke campaign according to The Guardian (2014a). The result? A personalised gift with no user data needed.

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Source: Grey Coffee, (2013) Sharing a Coke this summer – or advertising their brand through their customers? [Online], <http://greycoffee.co.uk/website-design-and-development/2013/05/sharing-a-coke-this-summer-or-advertising-their-brand-through-their-customers/> [Accessed 16th April]

 

The good, the bad and the ugly

There are several apps that have been successful at personalising the customer experience, two of the top rated apps for personalisation are Starbucks, and Nike+ Running. Have a little look at Marketing Magazine (2016) for a few more successful apps that are delivering exceptional and unique experiences for the customer.

Not all are a success though; there are also apps that have not adopted the new trend and those that haven’t done it well. For example, Pintrest sent out emails to everyone who had ‘pinned’ anything about weddings, however most of these were irrelevant as they were younger girl using them as inspiration (Entrepreneur, 2014). By not using customer data correctly, or correlating with other user information this is a perfect example of a company who delivered personalised content wrong.

To sum up, personalisation of apps is great if you can get it right.

 

References

Mobile Marketing for Retailers: Optimisation or Application?

The growth of the smart device industry has had a huge impact on businesses across the globe. Rowles (2014) discovered that actually 23% of consumers access websites via mobile, so if mobile marketing is ignored that would mean ignoring nearly a quarter of your customers.

What does mobile marketing actually mean? It’s the use of smart devices to access information such as websites and online advertisements. There are various ways of ensuring your company is successful at mobile marketing. This for retailers is something that is becoming more prevalent as the numbers who shop online are increasing.

Hopkins and Turner (2012) backed the mobile marketing notion and outlined the following benefits and drawbacks to consider.

Benefits

  1. Mobiles or smart devices such as tablets are personal items and are rarely shared with others, allowing content to be customised easier
  2. The devices – mobiles in particular – are nearly always switched on and carried by the consumer making the delivery of information fairly easy
  3. Mobiles work anywhere, and are usually location tracked, again making it easy to contact specific consumers no matter where they are

Drawbacks

  1. Mobiles can be difficult to navigate on. Using mobiles for extensive internet research can become difficult if the websites are not mobile optimised
  2. There are two main operating systems for applications on mobiles, iOS and Andriod. They both display information different and work in a slightly different manner, meaning two versions of the same site or app may have to be developed to work with each
  3. Privacy: mobiles and personal devices are a private item. It could be seen to be intrusive if a company is customising marketing and sending messages when it suits them

So having discovered some benefits and drawbacks of mobile marketing it is important for companies to analyse their mobile marketing strategy and work out how it can be best implemented in the world of mobile.

First things first, as defined by Rowles (2014), there are differences between a mobile site, and a mobile optimised site. This is something that a lot of businesses are getting wrong. As they can access their website via a mobile phone or smart device they seem to think that it’s an effective mobile site. Effective or not, a mobile site is all that it is. A mobile optimised website is one that has been created with a smart device in mind, allowing content to be displayed differently from the desktop version. This makes it easier for the user to navigate and find the information they’re looking for without having to zoom in and out across the page. Optimising a website could in fact be the success factor to the previously mentioned 23% of consumers. Offering an easily accessible and smooth user experience could be the reason for a purchase.

mobile

Paley, A. (2015) A Development Dilemma: Mobile App or Mobile Website. [Online] <http://www.bluefountainmedia.com/blog/a-development-dilemma-mobile-app-or-mobile-website/> [Accessed 28th January]

From mobile optimisation to apps, companies need to evaluate whether they need an app as well as an optimised site. So far, it’s been deemed essential to have an optimised site, so the app is simply an add-on to the mobile marketing approach. According to Mobile Marketing Magazine (2015) “more than 80% prefer mobile apps to traditional sites”. For retailers in particular, apps can provide a whole host of benefits. Purchasing items online have become more popular in the last few years, and retailers have created apps that mean their customers can buy directly from there. After the initial download, it is easy to tailor information to the consumers and give a personalised feel, whereas it would be a lot harder to achieve that through a mobile optimised site.

Summerfield (2015) gave an interesting insight into the mobile site vs. application debate that has been at the forefront of business’s minds. There are several benefits to a mobile site over an app, cost being one of the main contributors. However it was also noted that it could depend on the industry in question as to whether it’s worth building an app as well or not. For retailers in particular, the app success rate is higher compared to various other apps which contain information that could easily be accessed from the website. Retailers are able to provide a customised approach and it is worth their while if customers use the app frequently. For example, it is quicker to click on the Amazon app and use their one click purchase option than it is to log into the mobile site and then go through the whole checkout process.

Bustos (2015) conducted some research around the use of applications, and it was clear to see that actually only 5% of mobile app usage in total is used for shopping. Thus meaning retailers need to be able to justify the expenditure on creating an app. For sites such as Amazon, Boots, and clothing websites, the apps have been successful, and it is predicted that over 40% of mobile sales will come from applications for the top 500 retailers this year.

It cannot be said that those who prefer mobile sites to applications are dissatisfied with the latter and visa versa. Showing that both can be successful for businesses as long as they keep them updated. In terms of providing recommendations, it can be said that mobile optimised sites should come first, followed by an application if the need is there and can be justified.

References

Bustos, L. (2015) Do shoppers prefer native apps or mobile websites? [Online], <http://www.getelastic.com/do-shoppers-prefer-native-apps-or-mobile-websites/> [Accessed 28th January]

Hopkins, J. & Turner, J. (2012) Go mobile: location-based marketing, apps, mobile optimized ad campaigns, 2D codes and other mobile strategies to grow your business. Wiley, Hoboken, N.J.

Mobile Marketing Magazine. (2015) What is mobile engagement and why does it matter? [Online], <http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/whitepapers/what-is-mobile-engagement-and-why-does-it-matter/> [Accessed 28th January]

Paley, A. (2015) A Development Dilemma: Mobile App or Mobile Website. [Online] <http://www.bluefountainmedia.com/blog/a-development-dilemma-mobile-app-or-mobile-website/> [Accessed 28th January]

Rowles, D. (2014) Mobile marketing: how mobile technology is revolutionizing marketing, communications and advertising, Kogan Page, London.

Summerfield, J. (2015) Mobile website vs. Mobile app: Which is best for your organisation? [Online], <http://www.hswsolutions.com/services/mobile-web-development/mobile-website-vs-apps/> [Accessed 28th January]

What makes an effective social media strategy?

The world of social media has taken everyone and everything by storm over the last few years or so, with the need for businesses to get involved becoming more and more important.

So why do businesses need to start taking their marketing online? Well as we have suddenly been pushed into the world of digital, that’s where businesses are more likely to find their customers hiding. By targeting them from a different angle aside from TV advertising and billboards or old fashioned written print, it’s about time to take it to where they are most active, and sit and wait for them to approach.

Safko (2010) wrote a book named, “The social media bible: tactics, tools and strategies for business success” and listed the 5 key steps into creating a successful social media strategy.

  1. Analyse existing media

First of all the company in question needs to analyse the media that they are already using in their marketing strategies, whether that’s online or not. It is important to have a look at the return on investment and see how beneficial it actually is.

  1. The social media trinity

The next stage is to analyse various ways of using social media to bring benefit. For example, understanding the differences between blogs, social media sites such as Facebook and vlogging. Knowing and understanding that there are different types of digital marketing spaces in a social environment that could attract attention from consumers is important.

  1. Integrate strategies

Integrating the current successful marketing ideas with the new ways of producing social content should be combined to create an overall digital marketing strategy. Perhaps new content could be distributed through a different medium compared to before, potentially creating a larger return on investment.

  1. Identify resources

Next you need a team who are going to roll out this strategy. It may involve employees who are currently in the marketing team or it is possible to hire in extra resources to help with the new social space. This of course would vary from one company to another so it’s hard to provide general recommendations.

  1. Implement and measurement

Lastly, it is key to measure the success of a new strategy. Finding out how well it’s doing as well as calculating the new return on investment will provide an insight into the new way of creating digital marketing. Ensuring a smooth roll out with a high ROI will prove a success in the future.

safko

Safko, L. (2010) The social media bible: tactics, tools, and strategies for business success, 2nd edn, Wiley, Hoboken, N.J.

Satell (2013) has also come up with four key steps to creating a successful social media strategy for businesses, which complements the above.

  1. Clarify the mission

The company needs to know what they want to achieve before they set out and launch a new strategy. No one likes the unknown at the end of the day.

  1. Identify analogues

There are many different ways to phrase things, or deliver messages. Make it clear; know what you want to come across to the consumer. Perhaps take some sneaky tips from competitors if you’re stuck.

  1. Focus on the structure

Everything needs to be structured and set in stone. Just like every story has a beginning, middle and an end, your marketing needs this too.

  1. Create a community (not an audience)

You want your customers to essentially become like family. Make them feel welcomed in your marketing messages.

The two above approaches have considered the consumers first and the most achievable way of getting attention from social media. However, they haven’t taken into account the consumers that are not on social media, or those who do not actively ‘follow’ the companies. It’s all well and good posting information, but if your customers don’t use social media to follow companies and brands that they like, they might miss your messaging. It’s all about word of mouth and getting individuals to share information that could potentially get the message across to more customers. Constable (2016) noted some items that you do not want to do when completing online business. The most important point being: “chasing after people who aren’t interested and won’t be”. This is crucial in social media marketing. It’s all about targeting the right audience.

There are several websites on the Internet nowadays that give you the ‘success factors’ to creating a social media marketing strategy. However, it’s important for companies to understand that what works well for one business, may go horribly wrong for another. You can’t set in stone a social media strategy or a blueprint for everyone else to follow. It’s about being creative, trying to find new ways to get in contact with your consumers, gaining their attention, which will hopefully lead to a sale.

To end this post about creating an effective social media marketing strategy, here is a final piece of advice.

“Social media marketing is all about listening first, understanding the conversation and speaking last” (Safko, 2010).

Here are some other sources that might be useful.

  • Daoud, H. (2014) 8 essential elements of a social media marketing strategy. [Online], <http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/essential-elements-social-media-marketing-strategy/> [Accessed 27th January]
  • LePage, E. (2014) How to create a social media marketing plan in 6 steps. [Online], <http://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-create-a-social-media-marketing-plan/> [Accessed 27th January]
  • Patterson, M. (2015) 7 Steps in Creating a Winning Social Media Marketing Strategy. [Online], <http://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-marketing-strategy/> [Accessed 27th January]
  • Zarrella, D. (2010) The social media marketing book. O’Reilly, Beijing;Farnham;.

References

  • Constable, K. (2016) 4 Rookie Errors that stunt your online business. [Online],<http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254381> [Accessed 27th January]
  • Safko, L. (2010) The social media bible: tactics, tools, and strategies for business success, 2nd edn, Wiley, Hoboken, N.J.
  • Satell, G. (2013) How to build an effective social marketing strategy. [Online],<http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2013/10/06/how-to-build-an-effective-social-marketing-strategy/#da67a295a450> [Accessed 27th January]

Argos and Brandwatch have gone digital

Argos and Brandwatch have teamed together to conquer the new digital age.

As one of the largest UK online high street retailers with 738 million site views annually, Argos has decided to take the shopping experience digital.

53 digital stores have opened across the UK. If you’re like me and unsure what a digital store is, have a look at this link… This is all well and good, but Argos now have the challenge of mediating the online responses. Being aware of the online responses made via social media is critical, and this is where Brandwatch come in.

Categories and Rules have become so important in the way that Argos analyse their data. Installing categories has allowed online responses to be easily searched depending on the store in question. Rules have also meant that specific mentions are automatically collected into the pre-set category. Making it easier to understand and digest the comments from the public, and most importantly, do something about it. Brandwatch have been supporting Argos throughout and helping to develop their new digital platform, both inside and outside the stores.

Demographic information can be extracted, allowing Argos to see the difference between male and female opinions, as well as opinions from different locations. This helped a customer from Clapham who tweeted Argos stating that the signage was incorrect. Within minutes this had been received by the Argos team and was instantly fixed.

At the end of the day, the customer is always right. You should listen to them.