What to Expect From Social Media Marketing in 2010

If 2008 was the year of beginnings and 2009 was the year of revelations, then 2010 is likely to be the year when social media marketing finally reaches its stride. It’s all about connecting and the opportunities for organizations that truly embrace the idea of social marketing are almost limitless. In fairly short order, the Internet has gone from the role of a handy source for information to a must-have, finger on the pulse, essential way of keeping in touch with everyone and everything. Expect real opportunities to emerge now that we have ways to interact in real-time.

The emergence of the iPhone and other smart phone alternatives has helped to introduce the concept of instantaneous gratification to millions of people. We live in a “now” culture and want instant answers to our thoughts, questions and problems. Commercial operations will be quick to exploit this urgency and we can expect to see applications and other solutions emerge, enabling us to convert this online connectivity to off-line action. For example, geo-targeted, personalized delivery of product or service solutions will become more commonplace, enabling you to receive a notice on your smartphone suggesting you interact with the retailer in your immediate locality based on your previous habits and propensities.

There’s so much data available within social networking now that it will be leveraged and used in ever more sophisticated fashion during 2010 and beyond. Micromarkets will emerge with dizzying regularity as this information is immediately converted from raw data to business opportunities. Trends will be identified as they are happening and as applications and solutions become more and more sophisticated there will be an increasing number of opportunities for smart and forward thinking businesses to make money, more quickly as they capitalize.

The Internet has long been fueled by the thirst for information and by the search mantra, but that information has historically been less than current. This will now change, as soaring Twitter use provides up to the second relevancy and data availability to Google and Bing search engine platforms. Real-time results will ensure that the would-be purchaser is even more educated and ready to buy products or services provided by the switched on entrepreneur.

The pace of technological change is so dizzying. At the beginning of 2010 we await with keen interest the likely arrival of the next generation of communication tools, possibly led by the iSlate product from Apple. Before long, everyone will have their own fully functional, always connected personal computing device at the right hand, where solutions and answers are only a second or so away. The mobile web will begin to complete the process of change. No longer will we have to make a special effort to do our research and formulate our buying decisions and we will be prompted by eager sellers to make a buying decision right now.

Social media platforms will be the conduit of change in 2010.

Adam Toren

Is the iPhone or Blackberry Better for Business?

Before Apple burst onto the scene with the iPhone and changed mobile communications as we know it, Blackberry, as perfected by Research in Motion, RIM, dominated the business world. You simply had to have a Blackberry in hand if you wanted to be taken seriously as a business executive and the organization ably stood up to the job of producing its equipment for enterprise level performance.

History will show just how important the iPhone was in our communications world and it has certainly rewritten the rule book in many cases. Will it rewrite the unspoken law which says that enterprise business requires the use of Blackberry?

Blackberry is certainly way ahead when it comes to the number of available devices in use globally. Many organizations have thousands, if not tens of thousands of Blackberry devices interlinked and almost “wired” into the very way they do business. The company has certainly set the standard for reliability, uptime and functionality. Companies have found that they can scale the corporate use of the Blackberry and a certain number of applications have been specifically designed for the platform, enabling the device to be far more than just a phone or e-mail communications device. RIM has a bulletproof network operations center and relay facilities, ensuring that when there is any downtime, you hear about it right away on the national media.

Contrary to Blackberry, which has a well-deserved reputation as being a “business” phone, iPhone has emerged into the popular culture and is a must-have accessory if you are “with it.” You could argue that it is not designed for competent and regular e-mail use, possesses only a virtual keyboard, which has retained a share of criticism for its design, but overall, it’s a much more diverse product. This is where the key to its business future lies. We all know what an “app” is by now and there are tens of thousands of options available for iPhone users, growing by the day.

Forward thinking organizations have jumped in feet first and designed their own enterprise style applications specific to their business. This is one of the iPhone product’s greatest strengths, as the number of applications and thus the potential for productive interaction between layers of different business executives are unlimited. However, the iPhone network performance may not be as robust as its Blackberry opponent. Blackberry devices and services are available from more than 200 carriers around the world and specifically tailored for the enterprise operation. In the United States, iPhone users are currently restricted to one carrier. RIM works directly with technical people at enterprise level and designs services and products accordingly. iPhone, on the other hand, largely relies on an ecosystem of application vendors.

The fact that iPhone is able to reach much further into popular culture and is becoming that “must have” accessory for our personal lives, means that it will likely see much more widespread adoption at the corporate level, if nothing else due to the fact that people do not want to carry two phones – one for business and one for work. Issues related to support, security, capability and operating system strength must all be addressed. Apple is clearly investing more in enterprise support for iPhone and future generations will undoubtedly balance criticisms.

Are you for the Blackberry, or for the iPhone?

Matthew Toren

Technology Highs of 2009

Doesn’t it seem as if the pace of technology change is accelerating? We live in exciting times as we are actually seeing the way that we interact and communicate change before our very eyes. Who is to say where we will be in 10 years time at the end of this new decade, as so much has happened in the world of technology in 2009 alone.

Twitter, as a way of communication, has become mainstream, as witnessed by search engine giant Bing’s revelation that Twitter was the second most searched topic of the year. Companies are really finding how powerful this medium can be, so long as they’re able to dig through the irrelevancy that can threaten to overtake it and get through to their targeted markets. Twitter still faces a challenge to keep the attention of those who initially expressed an interest, as only 5% of Twitter users can be described as being deeply involved.

Since Apple launched its iPhone, the face of personal communication technology has changed almost out of all recognition. Telecom giant AT&T can in large part thank Apple for this invention and for the exclusive deal that allowed AT&T to market the iPhone and really turn around the company’s profitability. During 2009 alone the iPhone has exploded into popular culture and the ubiquitous “app” has become almost an addiction for many. Tens of thousands of applications are available for the iPhone or the iPod on almost every conceivable topic or subject. The other smartphone providers are really scrambling to catch up.

Cloud computing really started to capture our imagination this year. We think that it will accelerate as we go through 2010 as it gives users a tremendous amount of flexibility and allows them to further break away from the shackles of a desktop computer system. Surely at some time in the not-too-distant future we will be using third-party service via the Internet to run all our applications. Would you bet, with Google, that the operating system of the future should be essentially just a glorified browser? Cloud computing allows users to access only what they need, can be scaled relatively simply and quickly and can be a great way to operate your business by trimming the fat and only using what you really need.

When Microsoft and Yahoo collaborated to form Bing, it wasn’t too long until it was announced that real-time search results would be available, through a collaboration with Twitter. Google followed quickly thereafter and Facebook is in the picture too, as our social media revolution continues to gather steam.

Helping to quench our ravenous thirst for information, the enterprising Amazon introduced us to Kindle, a cool piece of technology that allows us to download full-length novels wherever we should be, several at a time if need be and to read them at our leisure. The Kindle device fits neatly in the palm of your hand and you can adjust the size and rendition of the text according to your comfort level. Amazon reports that its customers bought more Kindle books than physical books on Christmas Day this year, as the downloading frenzy continues.

What buzzed your interest in ’09?

Adam Toren

Take Google Analytics to the Next Level

Testing and tracking are two of the most important parts of any Internet marketing campaign, yet a large number of people choose to ignore, partly because they don’t fully understand how to go about doing it and partly because they are too engrossed in just trying to get hits and conversions. There are a variety of programs and solutions designed to help you analyze the traffic that your website receives, but Google Analytics is not only the best known, it has an amazing amount of features at no charge to you.

Because of its power and usability, programmers have been hard at work coming up with options to enhance GA, some of which recognize that in its original form the package may be difficult to understand, hard to access and due to its “invisibility” may prevent the account holder from seeing valuable events or trends as they are happening. We all have serious constraints on our time, yet there are certain tasks that we should never overlook and should maintain on a regular basis – tracking and testing and referring to your GA account included.

One of the most highly recommended plug-ins is simply called Better Google Analytics and is in common with many such plug-ins, best accessed through a Firefox extension. This plug-in makes the original much more user-friendly and easy to navigate, incorporating a search option and making the goals and funnels features more intuitive. You will need the Greasemonkey Firefox plug before you activate.

If you find yourself coming to the sudden realization that you have forgotten to check your GA performance over the last few days, you may be interested in a script that could prompt you when something unusual happens. To get e-mail alerts from GA, install this script. You can specify certain parameters, including a drop in visitors or a sudden page count increase, triggering an e-mail alert to your inbox. If you are managing a number of sites you can be very specific and only receive reports from certain ones. Sometimes it is important for you to be aware of an episode asap, allowing you to react accordingly.

Site Scan is a very simple and generally free service, enabling you to receive a complete audit of your GA installation. Simply enter your URL and e-mail address and you will receive, in short order, a diagnostic. If certain pages are not being tracked, you can act.

Everyone loves the iPhone these days and now you can get an app for GA as well. This will enable you to view your statistics from multiple accounts and if it encourages you to keep in touch with your performance more often, we’re all for it.

Over at Google Conversion University, our Californian friends are intent on giving us the lowdown about GA. You can log in here and take a number of IQ tests with the aim of making you a more knowledgeable user. You are able to refer and experiment within your own account as you go and if you still scratch your head whenever “analytics” is mentioned, this is a great place for you to go, enabling you to take your exploration to the next level.

How do you keep track of your GA performance?

Adam Toren