Smart Phones Are Here To Stay

I don't know if you've noticed yet, but mobile phones are transforming the world. At first it was little by little with the ability to e-mail, browse the internet and talk on the phone at the same time, and download entertaining apps, but recently mobile phones and tablets of all sorts have begun to integrate into every aspect of our lives, from entertainment to healthcare.

Mobile has become global if you haven't yet noticed. Thanks to social networking and factors like the accessibility of smart phones people are connecting ALL THE TIME. Brands have begun creating apps they know consumers will love, price them affordably, reward customers for various (real-time) behaviors and have begun engaging WITH them thanks so various social media sites. If you haven't yet embraced different mobile marketing tactics, you will soon be left in the dust by your key customers.

The market is also going to move towards mCommerce, mobile gaming/entertainment and the purchasing of virtual goods, so if you haven't started thinking about what you're going to do to stay on top, you'd better add mobile into your business strategy.

The most exciting key mobile trend for me has to be tracking where mobile health is going. Mobile health makes it easier for monitoring, diagnosis, wellness and with the adoption of tablets,  electronic health records and medical information will only get easier to track. Mobile health is going to be the biggest global  trend there is, especially thanks to easy solutions such as sending text messages to new mothers, drug addicts or patients with certain diseases.

Moral of the story? Jump on the mobile band wagon before it takes off without you...

Are Demographics Dead?

I don't know about you, but I find TED talks to be some of the most fascinating videos and ideas I've ever watched. I absolutely love browsing through their themes and speakers and watching a variety of speakers talk about their ideas for global change, ideas for new companies and everything else you can find in there. This weekend, I was browsing through anything social media related and Johanna Blakely's Social Media and the End of Gender video really caught my eye.

If you haven't had a chance to hear her talk, her basic idea is that not only is social media going to end the age/gender/etc demographics, but it's going to call for the rise of women's input in entertainment and commercials. She argues that because old media companies are starting to realize that age/race/gender demographics aren't extremely relevant, they're turning to monitoring customers on social media. Because of this, they're realizing it's much easier to discover what their customers are interested in than finding out their age and more information about them.

She argues that old media companies and advertisers need to start searching through taste communities and aggregate WHAT people like and talk about in order to better cater to their needs. She thinks that social media will have a huge impact on the way old media companies once created movies, commercials and TV shows.

In a way, I completely agree with her in that I think as more media companies and advertisers continue to flock to social media sites, once they understand WHO their customers are by monitoring their interests, likes and even blog posts, then they'll be able to better cater to their customers every need and customers will respond positively as well.

There's nothing like feeling respected and appreciated, and I think eventually that's what companies are going to do.  I don't know about you but I loathe most commercials, and maybe if more companies monitored what I liked, they would realize what I'm interested in, and I would start paying more attention to what they're trying to sell me. Once this "gender revolution/social media revolution" begins, it's going to help both companies and customers create long-lasting, respectful relationships.

Just Because You're Doing It, Doesn't Mean You're Doing It Well...

I know that I'm a big believer that all companies need to start getting into the social media world and testing it out. Customers are searching for you on Facebook and Twitter, and if you aren't there, they'll find someone else who is. Also, who wouldn't want to know what's being said about their companies... just because a customer isn't willing to make a comment to you directly, doesn't mean they aren't making it at all and if you can't capture what they're saying quickly enough, the damage will be done.

Now, just because you jump in and start a Facebook Page or a Twitter, doesn't mean you're doing it right. If you aren't willing to try out different methods, experiment with a variety of ideas, or engage with your customers on both positive and negative feedback, you're going to have problems.

One of the most frustrating things to deal with just may be customer feedback and how a company chooses to interact with them. I recently had a horrible experience with a hotel, where they EVENTUALLY responded to my complaint via twitter after I had made one to the hostess, but neither made a difference in my outcome and no one actually helped me. My angry tweets may have done more damage than they realized, as I conversed with my followers about what was going on, where I was, and why I was upset. All their tweet managed to do was confirm they didn't actually care about what was said online, or know what they were doing.

So, when you decide to move your company online, remember that customer service is just as important there as it is in your store or hotel. Customer service is everything.

Is Your Company As Social As They Should Be?

                          

 All brands know the importance of marketing and advertising, which is why they pour MILLIONS upon MILLIONS into their advertisements, strategies, and methods needed to analyze the effectiveness. What they don’t seem to quite grasp yet is the importance of not only incorporating social media into their plans, but that they need to be paying more attention to it.

In a recent Advertising Age article, it discussed the fact that brands FACEBOOKS alone drive more activity and engagement than the website they had previously created. It’s not only driving more page views, but Facebook likes, comments, and more click-throughs to the articles, blogs and photos posted on those websites.

Marketing and advertising strategies need to be able to shift as quickly as possible, especially when all of their consumers are embracing social media via Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and more. Just because these sites don’t offer the types of analytics a company may be searching for, it is much more worthy of the time and money flowing through these departments to get in the social media game even if they can’t measure it as effectively as some other engagements.

Consumers of all sorts are on social media… that’s a fact. Most likely, they are the consumers that you’ve been targeting all along. Most consumers seem to be more heavily influenced by peers and followers on Facebook and Twitter when asking an opinion about a product, which is why it should concern companies who aren’t effectively monitoring the answers. 

Why not invest as much time and money into a medium where you’re consumers already exist, and see what possibilities could arise?  

Location Based Updates...

Foursquare has more than a half million users, 1.4 million venues and more than 15.5 MILLION check-ins.... And has only been around for 1 year! Although the trend hasn't gone mainstream yet, I think it will relatively soon. There are many pros and cons to Foursquare, and it's value hasn't been defined quite yet, but I see many pluses to this start-up.

First of all, many people refuse to use Foursquare because it's deemed "unsafe" to be telling everyone where you are and what you're doing at all times. But twitter and facebook both can find your locations and tweet where you are, while Facebook status updates let people know where you are, who you're with and what you're doing... It's basically the same thing. I think people need to get past this part of it, and see Foursquare and even Gowalla for what they're worth...

Businesses and venues need to start embracing these as well, because once they start offering more discounts and deals for all customers checking in (and special deals to "Mayors", Starbucks) people will be more inclined to check it out and see what good it could do for them. Businesses really need to look into it because it could open so many doors, create brand and product loyalty to their food, products, whatever AND create an entirely new channel to interact with customers. How great would it be to walk into your favorite coffee place, where everyone knows who you are and congratulates you on being the "mayor"... Stupid, maybe... but fun enough for all, and who doesn't want to compete with others to be a mayor when all you have to do is frequent the shop?

I think it will be interesting to see how well these do in the next year and see how they transform. Look out for all of this.