MKT 6321 Final
Awareness: Mobile Web
Key discovery pathways such as mobile search, mobile ads, QR, and posts on social networks, all lead to browser-based content Mobile websites are the foremost concern in the Awareness Phase
Engagement: Mobile Web
Mobile search, mobile ads, emails, and traffic from travel sites and apps logically lead to browser-based content that is accessible to first time or infrequent users. Mobile website remain the primary concern in the engagement phase
Off deck app
you have to go to the Apple, Android store and download if native apps
Specialized platforms
• Don't assume a major social listening platform like Netbase, Salesforce Radian, etc. captures all conversations • For reviews for example need specialized platforms reason is data structure • Big marketing cloud players have added social media listening as module-IBM, Adobe, SF
Mobile payments approx. __% all Starbucks transactions
35%
Ratings & Reviews
90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust opinions posted online by unknown users.
Loyalty: Native Apps
As customers return and become more bonded with the brand, search-based activities lose traction in favor of Native Mobile Apps - which offer a higher degree of usability and customization
The Trinity Approach to Web Analytics
Behavior - clickstream, click density, segmentation Experience - research, A/B testing Outcomes - conversion rates, problem resolution
Bump sales-typically up or cross selling
Bump order/sale is when during checkout, you offer the user, one or all of the following choices: a) Related cross sell e.g., tie if buying a suit, a case if buying a phone b) Value add cross sell-e.g., extended warranty or protection plan-high gross margins c) Up-sell something better than what they are buying-risky as may bring in second thoughts or delays in buying • Bump sale can be made opt out or usually opt in, opt out best if a small % of what they are buying, e.g., if buying a $600 PC a $3 cable tie accessory probably not going to raise objections
Call to Action & SEO
In addition to tags, playlists, adding url in short description, using keywords in titles consider a) Use the card functionality to add a call to action b) Enabling captions
Twitter ad objectives and targeting
Tailored audiences— targeting using your own contact lists, usernames, visitors to web or mobile app who then go to Twitter
Engagement is NOT a good indicator or predictor for
conversions
YouTube TrueView
pay when a viewer watches for at least 30 seconds or to the end of the video (whichever is shorter) or clicks on a card or other elements of your in-stream creative Customers given option to skip ad after 5 seconds
Mobile friendly websites still very
powerful & relevant
Social media strategy considerations
• Use a compensatory model to see based on web analytics data traffic to website, conversions • Determine budget (time and funds required) to achieve some traffic and engagement goals • Measure the impact in some quantifiable wayimprove reviews, ratings, SEO, etc.
Google nearly spends $19 billion to provide preinstalled apps on Android smartphones.
In fact, Google has paid nearly $3 billion to Apple to be the default search engine on builtin web searches on Safari.
Geofencing with apps
Outside • Send messages and offers to loyal customers at the most relevant locations to drive traffic • Allow consumers to save messages and offers Inside store • Message based on triggered events including entry, check-in and exit • Engage with consumers real time
Social Media objectives should be in line with overall business strategy.
Prioritize based on best payback What is the objective and by when? How will you measure success? Shares, traffic to website, etc. Understand the landscapewhat do your customer use? maybe its not Twitter but YouTube (cars)
Social media metrics The Third Step: Manage, Engage and Lead the Conversation
Social media response process Positive - range from satisfied to loyal brand enthusiasts Neutral - could be a basic or complex questions Negative - dissatisfaction with brand's product or service Urgent - abusive comments or serious user aggression
Web Content Management System (CMS)
Web CMS is a platform for publish digital content and has the following basic functionality: • Easy integration with databases • Powerful Publishing Tools -web pages • Robust Content Templates • Comprehensive Search • Built-in SEO Tools • Social Media Integration • Detailed Analytics Note: It can be enabled to also be a shopping cart but that is not the core function-a CMS is not recommended for mid to large volume ecommerce
Reporting
a rehashing of data, even if graphs and charts were added, data is usually provided by in this context the web analytics software management hates seeing this type of report
Google Analytics Audiences section provides
a) a lot of demographic type data about those who visited your website (visitors and customers) b) Critical business information - e.g., LTV & Cohort c) Useful benchmarking features for your industry
The current trend is mostly towards
activity monitors. Fitness & Healthcare have been big drivers for wearable technology thus far.
Key metrics
every platform has their own specific metrics-will cover in their respective sections • Awareness someone came to your page or was exposed to your post/tweet/pin but did not take any kind of action • Engagement - they took an action but did not share it (or amplify) • Amplification -they shared it with others in their social media connections • Conversion-bottom line for your business (e.g., a sale, lead)
• 500+ million users (100M in the US); 250M MAU's globally • Professional networkingstronger for B2B • Recommendations and endorsements • Gain and impart knowledge • Used a lot in B2B for "Social selling" (not ecommerce) • Company page, Groups and Self service ads • Showcase your expertise by being in the Expert section and an active member of groups or create your own group
Desktop or Website Push Notifications
• Browser driven-mobile like apps but for all devices including desktop • Person goes to website and is usually invited • Much less expensive than building an app • Like email or SMS, must be opt in permission based and allow opt outs on every notification sent out • Character limits between 30- 120 characters.
Analog to Digital "Digitization of Businesses
• Business definition: "Analog vs. Digital" e.g., printed vs. ebook, "typical" car vs. Smart Car . If not analog-digital • Growing talk of "digitization strategies" by companies, retailers, and factories-driver is IoT and AI
Issues for mobile commerce adoption in the US
• M-Payment-no one standard • Not accepted everywhere so a hassle...since you have to carry a credit card anyway... merchants know this, so hesitant to invest in special contactless payment capable terminals that may become obsolete soon. • Perception of Security & Privacy
M-commerce
• M-payments slower adoption rate in US than China, in US m-pay approx. 40% of retail sales --expected to be 55% by 2023 (Statista) • Some categories better: local-retail, restaurants, electronic format (music, tickets), urgent but generic (i.e. flowers) • Key marketing considerations: mobile responsive design site or app and "thumb" optimized for small screens --nothing that can down system
Cookie Challenges & Privacy
• Problem with cookie deletions- ~30% deleted on monthly basis • Europe has a policy were websites must disclose use of cookies when user lands on the page first time • Some browsers block 3rd party cookies by default-- latest versions of Firefox, Safari very restrictive • Advertisers should allow Opt out of behavioral tracking-icon from AdChoices next to retargeting ads
SSL certificates
• Provides encryption when a user is on a website: data is submitted or seen by the user is encrypted - -random 128 or 256-bit key • Costs vary, from $15-150 per year • "Shared ssl" lower cost often free from webhost but it doesn't use your domain name in ssl...shared ssl may help for SEO but not certain...never on ecommerce site • Getting an SSL usually requires submitting documentation to proof a legitimate business, see example
QR codes
• QR codes are 2 -D barcodes that can be scanned by a smart phone's camera using an app customers must download (more are being activated by camera and built in) • Static vs Dynamic codes • Action: can take consumers to website but also dial up a number, see a video, game, contest, quote generator, buy something, bring up email or text message • Is it fading away?....Apple's newest phones include QR detector in camera without the need to download a QR reader-if not have to download app., Snapchat own version....jury still out in the US
Social media metrics The First Step: Monitor the Conversation
• Requires moderation & pre- planned action nights, weekend, etc., • Customers do not use the channels designated by a company when they talk about them • The Internet makes it easy for a company to use the channels that customers have selected One can track many relevant items: - Brand name - URL - Key products - Key personnel (names, job titles, etc.) - Competition - Industry
Social media checklist
Social media and content strategy Account logins / Assigned administrators for each platform-Roles and responsibilities Social media guidelines/policies for agencies and employees Brand voice guidelines / brand tool kit Content calendar Monitoring and listening plan Risk and escalation plan-protocol KPIs, tracking, insights, reporting Community guidelines
Facebook page key considerations
- : fresh & frequent content, short postsimages or video--and leverage Instagram 1. Prohibition on "promotional language" on cover image 2. Timeline/activity stream requires work - becomes obvious if no recent activity or engagement by others 3. If someone "Like's" your page (and is set to Public) your posts may appear in their timeline (~2%) 4. Problem with "bought" Likes--You can tease "how many likes to see this outrageous video?
Amplification
- n is when they took the time to share it with others in their social media connections • Some action (e.g., a "Like" could be seen by their friends) -an active decision by a user to send to others • Examples: shares, retweets (Twitter), "revines" (Vine), "repins" (Pinterest) and even reviews
What is Social TV?
... when watching TV people share (primarily on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook) their thoughts & opinions about what they're viewing and if a device or app to "check-in" to shows • Some companies are trying to leverage this behavior by offering remotes with social connectivity or have created a downloadable app • So far not much traction-string of failures such as GetGlue-users will just do directly on social app (e.g., Facebook)
Business Model Threat: Monster "Platforms"
1. "Transaction platforms" such as Amazon's "Seller program," Etsy or Alibaba (world's biggest ecommerce company). Airnb & Uber more owner or contractor 2. "Technology platforms": encourage developers to use their technology -IBM Watson, Apple, Android, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services
What is the Marketing Cloud useful for?
1. Combines offline & online data (including web analytics & social media) 2. Map 1:1 customer journeys across multiple channels, devices, and customer lifecycle stages-create triggers for real time offers 3. Leverages AI to help you analyze large data sets and provide insights 4. Easy to conduct large scale testing, optimization and personalization in real time
Segments- Key for Insights!
• Segments -you create groups of users to see if they behave or perform differently (better or worse) than the aggregate • Can be dimensions or metrics • Examples of segments - Referral URL - Landing pages - Connection Speed, operating system, device type and browser - Geographical location - First-time visitors Because there can be hundreds of segments (there is a limit in GA on how many used at one time) and thousands of different combinations best to focus on conversion/funnel stages
What is the IoT?
• Sensors and actuators embedded in physical objects linked through wired and wireless networks so internet enabled : "embedded internet" • Term Internet of Things invented back in 1999, initially to promote RFID technology • Use cases, main one's in: Agriculture Energy Environmental monitoring Manufacturing Retail
Blendtec
• Since the Blendtec YouTube channel was created in 2006, their collection of videos have had over 200 million views • Sales of the product that Tom uses in the videos has increased over 1,000%, due primarily to the "Will It Blend"? video series • Tom destroys in the blender user suggested products like the latest iPhone
IG Differences with Facebook
• Skews younger, approx. 60% of Instagram users are between the ages of 18-29 • So far... Instagram has a less cluttered user interface-FB has a lot of tabs like events, shops, groups, product pages, etc.. • More mobile focused • Better engagement rates at this time • Advertising targeting very similar to FB
Drivers for mobile commerce
• SmartPhones enabled for mcommerce. Tablets ironically have dropped as % of mcommerce from a peak of 30% to approx. 23% • 5G=faster connections and wider screen phones • Tech savvy demographic coming of age • Mobile apps if integrated with m-payments more seamless • Apple owners key demographic -Apple Pay has helped
Snapchat
• Snapchat is an MMS multimedia messaging service with 10 billion video views per day and 100+ million users • Target -- year old 13-34 • Message disappearsset it for 10 secs--video, pictures, text, draw on image • Geo filters
Social media best for awareness
• Social media is better at creating awareness & interest (reinforces) and maybe desire but weaker on conversion • Search & email are better in converting customers • Attribution with social media is difficult since top of the funnel
Additional problems in ORM
• Squatted usernames • Squatted domains • Trademark infringement (using Coca-Cola logo without permission) • Doppelgangers (Jim McDonald opens McDonalds restaurant) • Defamatory & False information • Fake profiles (posing as the CEO of Apple)
Mobile native or hybrid app design
• Stickiness is closely tied to UX which starts with the design and a customer experience journey mapping • There are some wire framing tools tailored for mobile apps, see appendix • More consideration for "space distribution: finger interaction to avoid "fat finger clicks" e.g., different ways to fill out forms • Determine the screen flow order (hierarchy) based on content prioritization • Consider the interaction with API phone functionality (e.g., camera)
"Tagging" in social media
• Tagging was discussed in other modules (e.g., SEO) --need to tag using keywords all images, videos, graphics and content, including when possible, geo-tagging for local • The @ symbol refers to a person or business @ibm, etc.. some nuances in different platforms, when you use in Twitter by adding say @homedepot your "tagging" them to a tweet comment • Another way is provided by some social media platforms e.g., Instagram has a tagging feature for people or businesses
Downside of Social Media
Creates expectations-of fresh & unique content Very time consuming-expensive in terms of labor & time Conversations cannot be controlled Negative reviews/comments may be pervasive-requires monitoring In many categories more top of the funnel, awareness and organic social media often not good for conversion/sales
Retailers vs Amazon
Majority product searches on the internet-(approx. 60%) start at amazon.com vs. search engines (around 30-35%). Amazon ramping up locked-in advantages with Amazon Prime, Alexa, Echo, Dash... Google working with big retailers e.g., Walmart, Target, Costco, Home Depot, on commission model (vs. ads). Key driver is home delivery and voice searches. Retailers see 30% increase in average order size with Google Express. Google offers partner merchants priority in search results and option to promote their products through Google Assistant and Google Express.
Content curation formula
- 30-40% of content can be statistics & data from others-give credit and use reliable sources - However 60-70% of content needs to be unique: your opinion and additional research (e.g., surveys) - Content curation is the combination of these which you then share on social media
YouTube Homepage Ads
- Average spend approx. $200,000 - YouTube launched paid subscription for 50 of its channels, will start as low a $1.99 per month
Engagement
- someone took an action but did not share it (amplify) • Varies by platform, e.g., clicked on a post link, entered a comment, "Liked", "followed," viewed a video or picture, used an emoji like wow, Love, etc.. • Importance: shows audience size, intensity and data you can use to see if it results in business outcomes • If possible-not always-capture all engagement metrics separately, don't lump together
Omni-channel
-If you have brick & mortar stores promote online for off line redemptions
3 basic types of mobile friendly websites
-Native application - Hybrid application - web application (responsive design)
Video on Mobile app analytics
-use it to benchmark and get ideas-can see all the app ratings one place
Popular Mobile Wire-framing tools
1. Cacoo 2. Concept.ly 3. Creately 4. Framer 5. Indigo Studio 6. Mockingbird 7. Solidify
Summary key best practices in ecommerce
1. Usability testing -quickly accomplish tasks 2. Follow website conventions (e.g, top and/or left navigation) 3. Mobile friendly, speed, security and state of the art functionality 4. Conversion rate optimization (CRO) conversion and testing focus-LTV to CAC, web analytics, NPS, etc. 5. Bump sales & for some categories/websites a "Funnel"
Brand Channel vs. Regular Channel: create a channel
A. Branded-no ads or competing videos in sidebar B. Even if you don't get branded channel you can in settings stop ads from showing in you ads C. Must request and qualify D. Enable comments but do monitor E. In video itself, don't forget to add call to action --encourage subscribes and url to send them to your website
Mobile apps (native/hybrid) unique metrics
Benchmark within your category 1. Number of downloads 2. Daily Active Users (DAU) (who opened app) 3. Monthly Active Users (MAU) Daily (who opened app) 4. Sessions per DAU 5. Retention measured by day/week/month 6. Stickiness (DAU/MAU) * 100 If 10 is DAU and 1,000 MAU=1%
Conversion: Web & Apps
Brand website content, social networks, local apps and in search play key roles in the conversion phase. Mobile website maintain their importance; native mobile apps also become an appealing option
Geo-fencing app
Digby
Marketing clouds-a look inside
Events and interactions --> merge, match, and enrich --> contexts, interests, and predictions --> personalized targeting and orchestration --> campaign execution in all channels
The downside of social media
It takes time...
Gamification in digital marketing
Leveraging known behavioral tendencies such as competing and rewards plus Social Media: Amplification equals Gamification: • Increased engagement e.g., can be component of Social TV • Increased feedback • Rich data
MMS (multimedia message service)
MMS can contain: Graphics Audio Visual Images Text • Higher response rates8-12 % lift over text in testing • However larger file size=those receiving will be charged more
The maturity stages of marketing
Mass marketing --> segmented marketing --> event-based marketing --> contextual marketing (is used only for behavioral advertising)
Plugins & Apps are a way to
build engagement
The reality is that engagement does not equal
business results
Bitcoin
disrupter of mpayments? powered by Blockchain • Maybe long term-more likely that many will accept Bitcoin as another option like MasterCard or use a Bitcoin look-alike • Bitcoin uses a lot of computers/time/energy - could be slow • Used in unstable countries with hyperinflation
Bounce Rate
how many visitors viewed only one page and left your website-usually not possible to accomplish a goal with one pageregistrations, blogs and landing pages the exception • Averages vary greatly -benchmark for your type & industry, <40% is good but bounce rate varies greatly by page • A low bounce rate implies a higher likelihood of conversion - this is true up to a point • Red Alert: High bounce rate when coming from PPC • Usability studies + web analytics key to uncover causes
Step 1b: Identify which platforms target market are on and
how much time they spend on them
YouTube in-stream
inserted into someone else's video-usually start or middle of a video
Content curation-is a way to
save time and add more depth to your content
Public domain
statistics from government agencies. Copyright has expired (70 years after authors death-if after 1978)
NFC-(Near Field Communication) and MST
• Android and latest iPhones use NFC (chip-hardware in device). Currently needs a NFC reader • Offers security- but jury still out... • Samsung Pay uses NFC but also magnetic secure transmission (MST) making it more likely to be adopted by merchants as no special terminal is needed unlike NFC onlysimulates credit card magnetic strip
Tracking - Identity resolution
• Drivers - Marketing clouds, DMP's and proliferation of devices, use several browsers and apps--challenging to identify unique users • Touched on in lecture with Data Management Platforms ----the process to match users across platforms, online and offline is called Identity Resolution • Unique ID -emails---(last name and address not unique) • Vendors like LiveRamp, Experian and Throtle offer identity resolution services
Social media Step 4: Measuring tools
• Make sure you have a website analytic software setup (GA)- capturing referrals-which platform (website, emails, social media, search) sent traffic to your website • Also make sure you are using the reporting platform for each social media platform unless you have tool that combines them • Social Media Listening- monitor your social media platforms performance, views, likes, etc. but also public conversations-posts, tweets, on social media for your brand-covered in next section
Common applications of QR codes
• Most popular results of scanning: 1. Coupon/offer 2. Sweepstakes 3. Product information 4. Purchase • Product packaging: popular source of scanning • Home: most popular location for scanning (57% of scanners)
Boost Post
• One additional category of advertising on Facebook related to organic • FB will encourage you to pay for boosting your post visibility with a button next to your posts in the Insights admin area • Mixed jury on it's effectiveness vs. FB's other ad options-limited audiences and optimized for engagement • Test with a small amount of money- "Dream Big-Spend Small"
Google+: Reasons for Failure
• One would have to have inside knowledge from Google but probably a combination of factors • No major differentiating feature vs. Facebookweak positioning • Lack of focus, no upper management buy-in and few resources compared to other ventures • Late entrant-never caught up...Metcalfe's Law basically says the value of a network grows the more people connected to your network (e.g., every time you double the number of active users on your network, you quadruple the networks value) • Late to make it mobile centered • Some Google properties just not well designed and often aside from technical talent poor managerial, usability and product mgt. talent e.g., the 2016-18 redesign of Google Ads was very poorly done
Hulu
• Over the Top (OTT): i.e. NetFlix; cable provider bypassed Hulu Plus: allows viewing in internet connected PC's • Premium programs= more consumer engagement • Innovative ad options and targeting
Pinterest Shop
• Pinterest offers "buyable pins" which allow a product to have a link to a company's website or (via a Pinterest partner like Shopify or BigCommerce) buy on Pinterest-no need for them to leave Pinterest • If a person selects "Buy" they can pay with either Apple Pay or a credit card.
Image search
• Social media platforms have or will soon roll out image search • Pinterest uses Lens app: users with the app share an image with Pinterest e.g., picture of a furniture chair, Pinterest will find that chair or similar-looking chairs based on the image • In module 4, we discussed optimizing for image search
Video Advertising Stats
• Video watching is dominant in some age groups--close to 100% --18-24 year olds • Approx. 230M people view videos in US • Digital video advertising revenue worldwide approx. $46 Billion dollars, 66% mobile • Top verticals are Fast moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) & Entertainment • 81% of businesses use video as a marketing tool
Contextual personalized landing pages
• Based cookiespast visits or purchases, 3 rd party data from a DMP • Can offer personalized real time content based on intent • However keep navigation layout and hierarchy for SEO, do not go 100% dynamic
SMS & Push considerations
• Basic concepts from digital marketing apply such as contact strategy, segmenting, testing, types of offers, sending them to your website for conversions, etc. • Main difference with other mediums is the higher open rates---careful not to misuse and have higher opt out rate • Also text is very short from 34- 160 characters so need to have well-crafted calls to action, add call to action! • Always permission based and respecting privacy laws
Pure Mobile App
- accessed after being installed - interactive UI - Available offline - can make use of phone features like location services, camera - very fast speed - expensive dev costs - needs to be on the app store - approval process is sometimes mandatory
Pure Mobile Website
- accessed through browsing - static, navigational interface - requires connection - somewhat limited features - fast speed - reasonable dev costs - no approval process
Social media Step 3: Content decisions
- identify sources for stories - content curation - formats - voice, style, and benefits
Internet of Things
• 3 rd Internet wave: desktop> mobile>ioT (embedded on things) • Interconnected devices connected to internet (usually wireless) Approx. 28-30 billion connected devices worldwide in IoT. Projected in 2025 to be 75 billion • Leverages Big Data and A.I. for insights and real time implementation of solutions
Challenges for wearables
Overlap between smart watches and smart phones Too many devices per person More limited battery life Tend to be expensive, buggy Usability for some tasks in small screen - voice
A successful social media strategy has 4 key pillars
Step 1: Know your target audience's segmentation variables and map those to social media platforms they use Step 2: Then find within those platforms successful benchmarks based on several measures primarily those that predict conversions Step 3: Content, Frequency (calendar) and alignment with other social media - send them to website Step 4: Determine what to test and establish success metric (awareness, conversions), analytics track and set budget
New Reality in Mobile and AI
real time hypersegmentation some call "contextual" (but that sometimes is used more for ad targeting): • Hundreds of segments are now possible: marketers can set up rules or let AI create real time segments and offers • We can now assign one individual into many segments within a single day based on changing parameters
GPS Tracking
- one of the most useful & prevalent tracking methods • Mobile GPS tracking is used by apps and also by ad platforms like Google, Bing, Facebook for offline conversions (e.g., people see ad but buy in a physical store) • Example-person clicks while at work at 9 am on a Google PPC ad for a pair of shoes at Nordstrom> then at 6 pm on the way home visits Nordstrom where they buy those shoes. The advertiser can see that conversion online in their Google Ad report-if Google Store Conversionsenabled
You Tube advertising/promotional options
- user generated content - YouTube advertising - Google AdWords
Facebook Shop
• Facebook Shop is optional and it shows up on the tab of your Business Facebook page-- currently no fees.... • Facebook ecommerce-most brands that use "Shop" have it as a link to their websites but there is some direct shopping on FB • Facebook Marketplace is different and more like a Craig's list where users sell often used goods, to other users. However, FB says your shop products may appear on Marketplace...which might not be a good thing
Native application
• Fast and best UX-works offline • Leverage phone features (e.g., camera, geolocation) • App store OS, Android and Windows-need to create an app for each OS-level of security • More expensive to develop • Hassle with new versions or changes and potentially supporting multiple versions
web application
• Fast online but does not work offline • No access to a mobile device's features such as camera • Easier and cheaper to build (html 5, JS,CSS) & maintain • No store to submit-downside people may not know it exists
Google Business account
• Google Business is not for social media purposes like posts--that was done in Google+, this is more of a directory and with SEO benefits • Create account at Google.com/business • Use important keywords in your profile description • Enter hours, location and encourage reviews
YouTube Discovery
can appear in search results, watch page or homepage for desktop, mobile and YT mobile app homepage. The ad unit consists of an image thumbnail and up to three lines of text
On deck app
come pre-installed with your device, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, G+ (Android) and less known apps that pay a premium to the device manufacturer (e.g., Apple or Samsung) • On deck more likely to be used but high cost & if too many preloaded and no brand recognition---an issue
Events
• Events are user interactions with content that can be tracked indep. from a web page or a screen load • Examples --watch a video, fill out a form, download a pdf, zoom on a picture, etc. • Can use an event flow to see sequence-great for optimizing especially once you have conversion data
Social Media Calendar
• Execution: who does what/when • Alternate/rotate content/format/vehicles-benchmarking and research should give you some ideas as to best day & times-that should be deciding factor for when • Space/frequency: how much is too much? Test!
Types of Mobile Advertising
SMS ads Wap Display ads Search ads App Display ads Push notifications
Google Express
Google Express is a home delivery service, can buy from major retailers like Walmart, Target, Walgreens from Google Express app Products delivered 1-3 days to your home by Google service By 2022, it is forecasted that over half of all US households will have either an Amazon Alexa, Google Home, or other smart voice device. Consumers will continue to place orders via voice and are likely to buy from retailers that make the experience as easy as possible.
Benefits of Social Media
- Interact with customers especially with Brand evangelists & influencers - Potential to go viral - In some categories can account for 25% of web traffic - Can be used for advertising-e.g., FB promoted posts - Feedback loop - Learn more about your audience's likes, dislikes, behavior-- sentiment analytics - It has made niche targeting a lot easier
Copyrighted Fair Use: (Copyright Act)
1. Purpose and character: e.g., educational vs. making money/promotion 2. Nature of the copyrighted work: using factual more acceptable than creative works 3. Amount and substantiality of the portion used : no set %-use common sense 4. Effect of the use on the market for the original-decrease sales
Publisher business model websites often use
CMS-- stickiness is their metric like gaming apps=ads
Social Media Step 1: For your target market, identify User Persona variables
Examples consumer market: Age ranges Gender Educational level Ethnicities Household income Hobbies Urban vs rural Media consumptionwebsites, Klout, TV show magazines, etc. Behavioral- affinity markets (e.g., home and gardening), not easy for non PPC social media selection Any other variable which a social media platform captures and reports
Mobile ad basics
• 72% of US ad spend for mobile • Ads must be responsive, need leverage social • Trend for advertising platforms to merge mobile vs desktop ads-focus on responsive design with mobile focus • Usually platforms such as FB, Google will give you options of sizes/templates for mobile vs desktop • Don't re-purpose desktop creative or run flat lifeless banners
Measure What's Being Said
Not all mentions are equal - They vary in terms of positivity or negativity and influence - All mentions do not require action from company - Some mentions require drastic measures from company - All mentions are an indication of consumer sentiment
Online Reputation Management
• Power shifting to consumers • Repetition-3-5 times • Social media is 24/7/365
Tracking -Digital fingerprints
1. Data from a browser-key 2. Data from cookies 3. Data from tagging-behavior on websitewhat clicked on, viewed, etc. 4. Data from server logs 5. Apps collect the most data-often require consent to everything--GPS, your contact list, etc. 6. For marketers -best thing is to encourage visitors to login, so at least for your website no issues (e.g., users deleting cookies) 7. Possible trend for mega brands-driven by omnichannel/marketing clouds-away from web analytics packages to raw data from multiple sources then analyzed by AI
Dimensions vs Metrics
1. Dimensions are attributes of visitors to your website, usually descriptive words and not numbers e.g., demographics, referrer, age, device, operating system etc.) 2. Metrics are always quantitative-numbers, percentages, ratios that measure one or more of the characteristics of a dimension • Each is collected, processed, reported and queried differently • Metrics by themselves are not useful, need to be associated with a dimension (for example bounce rate of 45% needs to be associated with a web page url) • Metrics appear under the following categories—Acquisition (e.g., new users, sessions), Behavior (bounce rate, average session duration) and Conversions (goal conversion rate, goal value) • Custom dimensions can bring in through API data like weather or CRM
Best Practices in Video
1. Familiarize yourself with platform dynamics, what's popular for your target audience/product; Identify what category best fits your product/service 2. Study popular channels-what to look for (Search results ranking for that topic, number of subscribers; ratio of subscribers to views, average length of videos, number of views, community engagement and amplification) 3. Identify Opinion leaders for your category on say YT: How? What are the traits to look for? 90/9/1 rule 4. Brand Channel vs. Regular Channel: create a channel
Gamification Components
1. Game mechanics: • Points • Levels • Challenges • Leader Board 2. Game dynamics • Rewards • Achievement • Competing • Status • Altruism
Rules to Recover from an Online Brand Attack
1. Have pre-planned response plan 2. Humility 3. Listen 4. Act immediately-direct approach take offline if possible 5. If what they're saying is false.... Options are basically three A) Bury with positive reviews /content B) Contact the forum/review site C) Threaten/take legal action D) Ignore 6. If what they're saying is true.... A) Fix the problem! B) Generate more positive content
ioT Challenges & Breakout
1. Hype vs reality 2. Lack of standards for billions of devices (30B+ in a few years) 3. Data overload 4. Privacy issues 5. Security-e.g., hacking
Four Things Social TV can do:
1. Increase ratings (a little) ↑ buzz leads to ↑ ratings (especially for pilots and finales) 2. Make TV interactive--Trivia, polls, reactions 3. Engage consumers beyond broadcast window 4. Provide new 'hooks' for marketers--Display in-scene product info
Keys to be successful in web analytics
1. Insights vs. reporting mind set- AI starting to come into play but at a very basic level so far 2. Understand definitions of each dimensions and metric: what they represent and do not including time periods: a session, returning user, referrals, source/medium, etc. 3. Make sure you are using higher level features so as to measure profitability and find problems e.g., LTV, attribution and cohort analysis 4. Operational knowledge of analytics platform-how to combine data, export, segment, use regular expressions, etc. 5. Understand the limitations of free platforms-paid versions more robust e.g., Adobe, Watson, Google 360, etc. however are very expensive at $100K per year 6. Have your website tagging done by someone with experience in campaign tracking, event setup, cross domain issues, conversion and ecommerce tagging and most importantly -one who QC's for errors by comparing metrics vs other sources 7. If you sell products/services make sure ecommerce is enabled in GA-so you can track at the product & category level
Websites: basically two types
1. Non-transactional -which uses a website Content Management System (CMS) -it can have lead generation functionality like forms, webinars, videos. Common for B2B, CPG, manufacturer's & content publishers (NY Times, Fox, Better Homes & Gardens) 2. An ecommerce website-sells products or services and takes payments. They usually have CMS but also advanced online sales functionality like mass upload of product images, descriptions, pricing, order fulfillment, etc.
Key Video Metrics & Platform specific definitions
1. View Count -# of times video watched 2. Play rate-the # of plays divided by the total # of impressions 3. Completion rate-% who saw the entire video 4. Engagement or Drop off point within the video (usually quartiles- e.g., 25%) 5. Subscription rate 6. Social sharing rate 7. Comments-engagement 8. Action/Conversions-e.g., CTR to website
Wordpress.org the No 1 CMS-not just a blog
Benefits It's free Super SEO friendly Flexibility-Hundreds of themes and plugins-free and paid -under $100 Plugins-commerce, multiple languages, security, speed, SEO, web analytics Integrates easily with plugins-no coding Nice themes/templates prebuilt Downsides Not that easy for a professional looking website-requires hosting, managing, configuring, etc. Not suggested for ecommerce if any significant volume of orders and/or numerous products Somewhat slow, requires lots of optimization, some plugins and themes are memory hogs
Very Important to always create
Business accounts and optimize all your platform profiles with keywords, tags, links to your website, images & location access to verified account, advertising and administrative and analytics panels
Why Social Media?
It's where the people are and spend their time: • FB has over 2 Billion monthly active users; over 2 billion posts are liked and commented on per day; on average, more than 250 million photos are uploaded per day • YouTube: 40 hours of video footage is uploaded to the site every minute. • Can be low cost and the best way to reach certain niche demographics- mountain bike aficionados • Some if it can help SEO: blogs, videos, comments and reviews more helpful. Does help with recently discovered activity, traffic to your site, number visitors does help so can aide indirectly. Many social media set as do not follow links or set to private
A wearable can be categorized broadly into the following 6 categories:
Lifestyle: Includes Smart Watches, Smart Glasses and Devices used for Voice and Video calling, Gesture Control, etc. Entertainment: Devices used for augmented reality, smart gloves, gesture controlled devices, etc. Medical: Devices used for Cardiac Monitoring, HearingAid, Bionics, Remote monitoring of Patients, etc. Fitness: Devices used for measuring heart rate, distance travelled, skin temperature, etc. Gaming: Devices that use augmented or virtual reality for gaming. Industrial: Devices that help in Hands-Free and Remote operation for business and industrial purposes.
Elements of a Viral Video
Must be Unique Understand what would motivate people to share : • Fun: Old Spice • Unbelievable: Blendtec (blend an Ipad) • Emotional: Pantene • News/Information: Latest iPhone - Monitor how its trending: optimize title, keywords, thumbnail, provocative title - Cross promote on other social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.)
Evolution of Business Models in the IoT
Product - You start out selling core products e.g., appliances, motors. You add the option to connect to the IoT-enabling this via RFID, WiFi, BT, etc. e.g., sell 3D printer Product + Ancillary Services - With IoT enabled products, you can now offer, usually as an upsell, ancillary services such as online monitoring, repair warranties, data analytics, auto-replenish- 3D printer plus resin supplies plus warranty Outcome based - A more extreme business model is one that moves away from the physical product and service pricing model to one that gets paid some % for the outcomes-was very hard previously due to how difficult to monitor. Captures more value and recurring revenue streams-subscription type model-also riskier
Podcast analytics
Provided by most podcast hosts even by directories (iTunes) • Which podcasts are trending • Location of your listeners • Day & time listened • What portions users play over and over • What they skipped • When they paused or stopped
"Showrooming"
Retail chains are fighting back Target asked its suppliers to develop products only for sale at Target, not online anywhere. These merchants don't want online-only retailers to use their physical stores as a showroom for their products and undercut prices.
Use case for hyper-personalized real time offer
Target: McDonald's customers using mobile ordering and payment enhanced app. real time offers Event conditions and trigger: 1. Hot summer day 90 degrees, Saturday at 2:30 pm 2. Target is a 1-mile away from a McDonalds location and heading in that direction 3. This event triggers target's profile and analytics of their ordering history (used McD's app which logged transactions) 4. Prepares push notification message with an incentive based on past product and best incentive for that time of day 5. When the car stops at a stoplight they are sent that push notification for their favorite Milkshake
Gamification
The act of adding any kind of game play mechanics (e.g., competition) to non game scenario to influence people's behavior
Challenges with Cross Device Attribution
The reason cross-device attribution is hard to achieve is due to the lack of a foolproof, accurate way to identify the same user across different devices Two approaches: 1. Deterministic Matching: identifying the same user across different devices by connecting the same unique identifiers together. Example: • A user could log in to their Gmail account on their smartphone, desktop, and tablet. • This allows Google to "deterministically' identify the same user across 3 different devices because they use the same email address to access Google Apps on these different devices. 2. Probabilistic Matching- unlike deterministic matching which uses anonymous unique identifiers to identify the same user across different devices, probabilistic matching, uses a range of different data sets and algorithms to make probable connections The types of data used in probabilistic matching may include the following: • IP Addresses • Device ID's (MAC) • Browser Type • Interests and Web History • Location • Language Settings
Web Analytics & Key concepts
The tracking, collection, recording and analysis of your website data (e.g., clickstream, events) for the purpose of optimizing for business results 1. Business Objectives -what are you trying to accomplish with website? leads, revenue-what type (ads, sales, affiliate, etc.) -basically digital strategy 2. Goals-how to accomplish those business objectives-e.g., subscribers, complete a form, buy something 3. Dimensions & Metrics-more on this shortly 4. Key performance indicators (KPI's)- measurable value that helps you achieve your goals
Reducing user "friction" points is key
Understand mobile use cases - content in context
The key to SMS
is to test for example send triggers • Scheduled : same time or adjusted by user location time zone • 1:1 Optimal Time: use Machine learning to determine the individual's app usage patterns, so as to automatically send messages at a time and/or day when that user is more likely to open. • Behavior-Based: Deliver messages in response to specific behaviors. For example, if a user adds an item to their mobile shopping cart, a behavior-based push reminds them to check out. • SMS (Short Messaging Service) texting: 160 characters and over cell carrier's line so charges unless bundled • Peaked way back in 2012... but 8 trillion texts/year worldwide, Declined with appearance of messaging apps (e.g.., WhatsApp) that bypass carriers billing-OTT (e.g., Verizon, AT&T). • Some messenger apps like WhatsApp, Snapchat skewed to younger demographics • Brands still either SMS if they don't have an app or push notifications
KPIs are the
metrics or factors you can influence to improve results - quantifiable/measurable and actionable - measure factors that are critical to the success of the organization - tired to business goals and targets - limited to 5-8 key metrics - applied consistently throughout the company - KPIs are not refutable
Smart TV's and "ACR"
• 70%+ of TV's sold are Smart TV'sinternet connection-ioT • "Addressable" TV is automated content recognition (ACR)-an optin identification technology embedded in smart TVs that allows content to be recognized by video, audio or watermark cues and matched back to a source database for reference and verification. • ACR can know what content is being watched, even if by DVR or digital app and if delivered by antenna, set-top or streaming • Smart TV mfgs work with ACR vendors (Inscape and iSpot) to create attribution ratings to help advertisers understand impact TV ads have on online activity (e.g., social, search, websites) -amplification • With IP address of those consumers that opt in to TV monitoring, they can track how consumers move through the sales funnel, from Googling for additional information to an actual sales
Creating Content and Opinion: Blogging
• A blog — CMS where entries (blog posts) are typically displayed in reverse chronological order -allows for comments on blog posts • A typical blog features text, images, and links to other blogs and Web sites related to the topic of the blog • The power of blogs: - Especially strong for B2B and B2C where strong consideration/involvement - Target Influencers & showcase expertise - Best social media platform for SEO especially if integrated into your main domain page vs. a stand alone separate website
Cohort Analysis
• A cohort is simply a grouping or subset of visitors based on a certain metric • In cohort, you identify metrics to help determine if visitors from this week or month are worth more or less than the ones from different time period • Cohort can help you identify success or problems from initiatives such as a PPC campaign or users with certain devices (e.g., Apple) using segments
Podcasting
• A digital audio that can be played online or downloaded from the Internet • 67M people in the US listen to podcasts monthly & 42M on weekly basis • Stagnant growth, but a group of hard core users, those who listen weekly subscribe on average to 6 podcasts; 2/3 listened to it on a mobile device • Another content format option but which has its own unique traits • Great for educational, motivational, interviews or seminars--people can listen to while driving, exercising, etc. • Aside from the topic and voice-the format length is key-experiment with 10 vs. 15 vs. 30 minute podcasts • Can be used in B2C and B2B, no need to pay ad rates
Cross Device Attribution
• According to a study by Google, a majority of online consumers who use multiple devices start their purchase journey on a smartphone and then continue on a PC or tablet. • Cross-device attribution - know which events and touch points contributed to a conversion during a customer's journey when spread across different devices.
Proven Uses for Twitter in Marketing/Sales
• Already discussed user namehandle (@ibm), hashtags #. RT is a re-tweet --when you share with your followers something someone else tweeted • Quickly Gain Insight: audience is quick to tell companies if they like an idea or not. Virtual focus group • Live Tweet events like a sale/celebrity visit using a specially created event hashtag #TED22 • Alert your followers to promotions, clearance sales, giveaways or news announcements
Social media Step 4: Metrics
• Always calculate the costs (labor, software, images, etc.) incurred from your social media efforts • Calculate your ROP (lecture 1) from any social media campaign (contest) • Segment and see if the LTV from social media customers is different from that of other acquisition sources (e.g., PPC) • If awareness & interest is your goal: consider how to track eventual conversions (attribution) • Determine the conversion rate for each social media platform (LTV to CAC ratio 3:1) • Based on this, decide on budget allocation by platform
Apple's iBeacon
• Apple's has improved their OS to better leverage their iBeacon software • 3 rd party vendors provide the Beacon hardware, software uses Bluetooth that can provide location based info and services (e.g. reviews, coupons) to iPhone/iPads-also compatible w/latest Android OS • You must have special app to receive messaging, must stay for approx. 20 second in that zone to get a message
Page or Event Value
• Assigns a value to pages viewed or events done before completing a monetary goal (e.g., sale) • After conversions have occurred-web analytics spreads out the value of those conversions over different pages and events that happened within the same session • This can lead to page redesigns to make sure visitors are seeing certain content that helps convert
Following
• Available on most social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram -can follow brands or people and vice versa • Following someone (anyone) is used as a tactic to get followers (reciprocity) • However, brands are not people, so normal etiquette doesn't apply! Do it sparingly • If a brand follows someone, that person's updates can appear on the brand's feed unless you can "mute" them (e.g., Twitter) • Consider only following influencers of your brand but even that has risks
Awareness
• Awareness metrics is when someone came to your page or saw your post independent of whether they took any action. • Metrics for this are: a) Reach-how many people saw your posts e.g., 2% of your followers saw your posts on their feeds b) Impressions-measures the number of times your posts were seen (e.g., one person may have been exposed to multiple impressions)
The Challenge with Transactional Platforms
• Because of the competitive clutter, difficulty and expense of customer acquisition activities (e.g., PPC, social media, SEO, etc.): tempting to use these major platforms to sell products • The downside is no customer loyalty to you. Also subject to the whim/changes these platforms can make such as increasing fees, lowering your rank in their platform search results • These platforms are also collecting a lot of data, not just customers but also which products sell, price points, images, descriptions, etc. that can be used against you e.g. Amazon may enter that category
Pinterest layout components and best practices
• Boards: how pins are organized for one profile. Pins have to be pinned to a board. Should have at least 5 boards starting out Move better performing boards to the top • Pins: images, which can link to a website, product or recipe. Rich pins, Buyable, recipe, app, article, movie, place and product pins Need to have at least 15-20 per board however once you get past 50 consider another board so users don't get overwhelmed scrolling Pin titles and descriptions: stay under 180-200 characters-optimize text
GPS Tracking by apps ="contextualized" data
• Business model for free app's=advertising; some apps sell tracking information -collecting latitudes, longitudes, time stamps and device IDs from those "free" apps. • Example: Five days a week a person goes to work at 123 main street> then a grocery store> then home at 651 Vista Lane--where they stay until the next day=app will know based on GPS coordinates where you work (e.g., State Farm HQ is at 123 main street), that you went to a Walmart, and the address of where your live -inferences and rules applied • Agencies -e.g., Ubermedia can append 3 rd party data to that address and get: owners name, # of people in that house, genders, income, etc.) to create segments> marketer can then buy aggregated segment data for contextual ads from that agency
SMS Components
• CSCs (Common short codes) : short phone number, five digits • Must include in each message • STOP: Unsubscribe the sender's number from the service. • HELP: A support request from the sender's number • Can be sent from one cell to another, a PC to phones (software vendors) or phone to a PC • Most businesses use a vendor (who have relationships with carriers) • Building a program is very similar to how email programs were built.
Instagram Shopping
• Can have a Storefront as with FB, same suggestions apply • Can feature certain pictures, tag a certain number of products per image, over a dozen products per carousel, add filters or captions and you're done • Shopping posts display pricing and product details within the Instagram feed and through the Shop button on business profile • If someone taps on a post, prospects can see more details
New features to evaluate with ecommerce platforms
• Can it easily integrate with API's- for example voice commerce (Alexa, Google but also indep. smaller startups) • Chatbots are an important component to be able enable • Does it have any AI/ Machine learning component for dynamic page content - contextual (real time personalization) content • Social selling features & integration • Easy integration with 3rd party fulfillment services such as Google express, Amazon-an issue if software is not open source and not a feature offered • Dropship: orders shipped directly from the manufacturer to your customer-no inventory or fulfillment
Social media metrics
• Classify for your business, which metrics are for awareness, engagement or amplification (we already know what conversion metrics look like-someone goes to your website or social media store and buys something or fills out a form) • Over time, you need to determine which, if any of the metrics that a specific platform has (Like's vs. Shares) is a better predictor of conversions
"Newsjacking"
• Concept popularized by best selling author David Meerman Scott --the art and science of injecting your ideas into a breaking news story so your brand gets noticed. • Identify these breaking new stories with Google trends, a social media listening platform or just by seeing what is trending in Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc.. • Key is to get in early, leverage the hashtags related to the news story • Careful not to pick a sensitive subject
Click Funnel pages
• Conceptually you identify a very common purchase e.g., 80% of customers buy X product that might have some abandonment issues because visitors 'drift" get lost clicking on other pages • Especially true for PPC and affiliate and social media referrals • Limit the navigation menus and options once they land on your page, we discussed landing pages for PPC campaigns previously
Mobile Ad Tracking
• Cookies cannot track ads within apps-can in mobile browser • Mobile devices have hardware IDs which are persistent & unique; not accessible by advertisers showing ads on an app • Apple, Google and the advertising community came up with a software based advertising IDs: the IDFA and AAID, so that advertisers can track ads viewed on mobile apps; consumers can reset data/erase
Importance of iBeacons
• Coupled with TouchID, Apple's fingerprint security on iPhone this could become another payment option • Apple users tend to be early adopters/early majority when it comes to m-commerce so this demographic is highly sought after
Use case: Alexa-Echo or Google Home
• Driver for Google & Amazon to dominate the Home AI powered "Voice Assistants" but Amazon has a big home court advantage • Power shifting away from Brands e.g., have to pay Amazon to promote • Opens need for large Consumer Packaged Product companies (CPGs) to perhaps sell direct-perhaps band together • Major companies all investing in AI text &voice activated commerce, ebay, 7-11, etc. -may be able to leverage their mobile apps
Organic Reach in Facebook
• FB uses an algorithm - Edgerank- to determine if a post appears in a fans NewsFeed • FB claims they use 100,000 individual weights in that algorithm -measures affinity/closeness • Also looks at a person's settings • Bottom line: from 16% back in 2012 to less than 2% and maybe even less...
Funnel Analysis in web analytics
• Funnel: A defined path that visitors should take to reach the final objective • Click path: steps on website taken by a visitor to a Web site to reach a goal (e.g., clicked 5 different pages) • Funnel analysis is critical to understanding where problems in the conversion process may reside
• Has over 175M monthly active users (Source: Pinterest), 75M in the US • Over 80% of active users are female (65% of total users), popular with Millennial's but evenly spread across age groups and incomes • Most active "pinners" are under 40 • 80% of pins are "re-pins" -lots of user engagement --viral component • Over 50B pins and 1B boards, mainly in certain categories • Pinterest retains and engages users 2 to 3X more than Twitter • Pinterest has Followers, uses hashtags but many are not shown-algorithm • Make sure you add links to images uploaded • There is an Explore and Trend feature which can be used by some categories with "Buy" pins
Hashtags #
• Hashtags # were popularized by Twitter but have expanded to other platforms, can be used with Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ & Pinterest • Hashtags indicate a certain topic(s)- e.g., #super bowl. The purpose it to then facilitate searches, when you see tweet or post and a certain hashtag is mentioned, usually you can click on it and see more extensive postings/tweets • Know within your category, which hashtags are the most popular—piggyback on them • Leverage hashtags across platforms • Keep in mind that in some social platforms, hashtags are not clickable or may not produce accurate search results (e.g., Pinterest)
Mobile consumer behavior
• Highly personal, unlike a desktop, where perhaps many people in a Household (HH) share • Constant checking and engagement with the device • For most people, always with them: business, personal, vacation, etc. • They have become more powerful, a Swiss Army Knife of things, e.g., replaced cameras, video, can live stream events, movies, etc. • Apple device owners however tend to be early adopters (e.g., mobile payments or apps), have larger order sizes, and tend to buy more expensive products than Android users • Use your web analytics package to look at your highest LTV segments and see what device majority use...may change but Apple up there • Searches and website visits on desktop tend to be more exploratory (e.g., crash tests for new cars) and more likely used for mid to high dollar amount purchases • On mobile, use and intent is more local, task and command oriented "find this:, "get directions to"... • Think of this fact, when creating campaigns be it advertising or organic type campaigns • Retail locations are the #1 single out-of-home place for smartphone owners to take action
Domain Name
• ICANN publishes a complete list of Top Level Domains (.edu,. Org, etc.) • Growing interest in Generic top Level domains (gTLD such as .bank or .insurance) • WHOIS : Registrant information associated with domain names is maintained in an online database accessible with the service.-you can get an owner or web masters name
IP Tracking -B2C vs B2B
• IP addresses also provide the geocoordinates of the device at any given time and place • Marketers tend NOT to use IPs for tracking consumers due to privacy concerns but mainly because consumer IPs often dynamic—hard to manage over time • However --in B2B-marketers do often use IPs to identify which company owns the IP address which visited their website. Then using something called reverse domain lookup they can get the company name for that user visit-- Visitor Identification Software
Insights
• If it has too much data, it probably is not analysisreference and put extra data in an appendix • Must have recommended actions-action verbs • Mention ROI or cost savings if proposed actions taken • Provide statistical validation • Assumptions and context • User segmentation-key • Higher level metrics for contextTask Completion Rate (qualitative analysis) or Message Amplification (social media)
Social media e-commerce
• If you decide to use the social media stores- highly recommended that you use plugins and/or ecommerce website platforms that integrate with your ecommerce website (e.g., Shopify) • Best to not put your entire product offering (e.g., Facebook Shop) but teaser products >then send them to your website for next purchase • Rapidly evolving space, contradictory claims and changing options and definitions- many social media giants are constantly experimenting, adding, removing functionality
Real Time Google Analytics
• Important to use when you have recently done some web enhancement, a campaign went live or other change—monitor to see if any issues • However be aware that due to low volume, it might not be statistically significant
Mobile App usage and your business
• In the US, the average number of apps used per day is in the 8-10 range-- depending on the age group. Comscore says 2.5 hours per day average. • Top 4 mobile app categories are social media, music, video, pictures, messenger and gaming-keep this in mind when deciding if to create your own app-it all depends on what category you fall under • Average number of minutes spent per day on retail mobile apps is a small % of the average. Decide if your different and if you could make app more "sticky" • Crowded app landscape: some 3 million Android apps and over 2 million in Apple's App Store. More paid apps sold and better revenue stream on Apple store for apps
Best Practices with QR codes
• Include a text message call-to-action as well as a keyword to text (to a short code) in case the consumer does not have a smartphone • Consider custom QR codes - scanned 2X times more than regular black & white • Clearly state what the customer will get if they scan the code (e.g., a discount) • Assume this is the consumer's first time scanning - include directions
Key components - Instagram
• Instagram Business account • Instagram "stories" is where you can post videos or images to share but they disappear after ~ 24 hours-add location and hashtags • Users can use discovery feature • Have to constantly monitor what is working or changing • Key screens: Photo feed, stories, profile, settings, search, invite, activity, login (FB)
• Launched in 2004, surpassed 2 Billion active users/month, one billion per day • Over 80% come from outside the US & Canada • In the U.S. of those who use the internet-approx. 85% of females and 75% of men use Facebook; 80% have some college • Given the sheer reach, most income groups are well represented in US • The 18-30 year old age group is the most dominant--declines however are expected in the future as Gen Z (born 1996 thru 2012) replaces millennials. Z's prefer messenger apps (e.g., Snapchat) or Instagram • On average, active daily Facebook users access FB 8 times per day (important for possible posting schedules) • FB messenger has 1.2 B monthly users
Instagram Best Practices
• Leverage videos as fastest growing • Mix Business with fun Photos/Videos • Use "stories" to showcase user generated content • Showcase Products • Like and Comment on Images • Use Geo-tags and hashtags!
Benchmarking analysis
• Look for competitors or affinity companies with a large number of followers • Then focus on top engagement posts, tweets, pictures and/or videos • For each platform you have identified as ideal for your target audience, collect approx. 30-50 top performing content • Don't just copy and paste: provide detailed data. Separate by platform, see excel • Then come up with some recommendations- sort results in descending order- if possible identify best days/times, types of images, tone of posts/tweets, etc.
Social media Step 2: Benchmarking--part "art" but mostly "science"
• Look within your category or affinity categories for successful social media initiatives/content e.g., if you sell airplane engines a cosmetics retailer benchmark is not wise; affinity: but if women's cosmetics can look at hair care • Identify those posts, tweets, pins, videos, images etc. that show engagement metrics- (conversion metrics you won't have access to ) - so things like shares, retweets, positive comments, subscribers are more engagement signals than just a "Like"
Social Media Track & Analyze:
• Manage: some platforms help you manage your own social media accounts: one view of all social media platforms, calendar, push content from one platform to many social media accounts, metrics dashboard • Listening: others also monitor and listen to all publically available social media platforms based on urls and keywords your enter (e.g., company hashtag) and categorize as positive or negative, by influencers and other variables • Platforms expensive because data sold to them by Twitter and others, also restrictions public vs private
• Micro blog initially 140 characters -has now doubled.....talk of allowing more characters per tweet • Stagnant growth past few years, approx. 330 Million MAU • Interactive culture of "following" and engagement: great for contests, events & promotions • Many influencers in politics, sports, technology and business use Twitter
Mobile app Push Notifications
• Mobile app functionality - permission based--allows sending messages to the user even when app not open approx. 37 to 43 characters • App's icon and message appear in phone's status bar • Can be text or rich (images, video or sound--50% higher open rate than text) • Security considerations so not hijacked by spammers, hackers
Cookies & Mobile
• Mobile uses cookies but challenging • Influenced by things like device type, if website or app, 1st vs. 3rd party cookies, browser, version and browser settings • Cookies within an app "walled garden" -cookies from one app are not shared with another app • Because of apps specialized features such as voice, push notifications and cookie issues- specialized vendors (e.g., Amazon Pinpoint) but can still use GA, Adobe, IBM as they have app specific modules
Tactics & best practices for all social media platforms
• Most social media platforms now have a "verified account" process—a check mark appears next to your company name showing it is the real thing-they can take it away • Remember that with organic social media (e.g., posts being seen by your followers) only a small percentage will be seen • Follow your corporate branding guidelines so a consistent look on all platforms-this is usually not followed by small companies • It might seem obvious but given the growth of image and video posts, especially with younger demographics or certain categories (e.g., home décor), make sure you invest in good equipment (camera and image editing software), training (lighting is key to great pictures) or outsource it. • If you have a decent social media presence add social media icons or chiclets to your website-decide if at the top or bottom of the page- I suggest the bottom...why? • Keep in mind that with organic social media (not ads) you only have very high level demographic information about who is reading or exposed to your content-the detailed audience targeting we saw in PPC is not there
Omni vs Multichannel
• Multichannel means selling or interacting through different "channels" but "siloed": online, in store, phone, etc. • Omni-channel is integrating those multi-channels for a consistent User Experience (UX) and sharing of data-- people use multiple devices to shop-mobile, desktop, phone, even mail--so that regardless of how they buy or engage-- a seamless experience Example: Buy online but pick or return in store
Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
• Non-compliance fines of up to $1,500 per unsolicited message-Jiffy Lube $47 million settlement • Now requires express and not just implicit consent (had done business with the company) • Requires prior written express consent which can be obtained at website form or text message reply-keep for 4 years
Messaging apps
• Not the highest converting platform, in some cases, it is not currently not possible to do advertising • In general more for awareness type activities, consider for ads Facebook Messenger as best starting point • Consider connecting with your Chatbot or if FB building their FB Messenger Chatbot • If you have your own app might consider pushing something like the IFTT applets communicate with your app but many are encrypted so may not work
Identify your Tone (personality)
• Opinionated: can be controversial, edgy or provocative commentary to get people engaged debate you. (i.e. Why Facebook has no future for marketers) • Authoritative: reputation, track record and resource (indium.com) • Entertaining: you post fun things, competitions, customers having fun with your products (i.e. Wendy's, Blendtec)
• Owned by Facebook, over 250M daily users (>800M monthly users)-started as a photo-sharing app now graphics, illustrations, videos and all shades & filters in between • 70% of US businesses using Instagram, 80% users following at least one brand • Best for visual categorieshome décor, gardening, clothing
Basic best practices regardless of social platform
• Per module 8, benchmark for content ideas on a platform specific basis-what works on Pinterest may not work on Facebook, etc.. • Also pick the best platforms for your demographic—do they use it and with what frequency • In B2B markets, some social media platforms like blogs or YouTube might be more important than say Instagram or Pinterest • Always send social media visitors to your owned platforms like your website or blog-save best products, discounts for those who come to the website to buy
Hybrid application
• Performance and UX not as good as native app-works offline • Leverage phone features (e.g., camera, geolocation) • Can be added to an app store • Cost is lower than native --tweak to work on different app OS platforms vs building from scratch • No icon on mobile "desktop" • Wide spectrum of types -e.g., hybrid from Google PWA-faster hybrids
Privacy issues
• Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is protected by law • Individuals must be informed that their data is being collected i. Choice- allow opt out (if they don't agree, you can deny service if it makes business sense) should separate options, yours vs. transfer to 3 rd parties ii. Security-reasonable efforts to protect (ssl certificates-encryption) iii. Access-people must be allowed to see what is data is held and give them the ability to correct iv. Enforcement-policies must be enforced
Mobile & Big Data Analytics (AI)
• Pre-mobile: target market might have been segmented into 2-5 segments based on their needs and wants, behavior, demographics, etc. • Data in the past was somewhat static, but with the advent of: a) Mobile- e.g., consumers have with them most of the time b) The ability to track users (e.g., GPS) and store large data sets c) New infrastructure tools that allow almost real time processing of large data sets (e.g. Spark) d) Statistical analytics software (e.g., SAS or R or Python) e) Advent of machine learning
Website Tagging
• Tags: collect and share data between your website and analytics platforms and ad networks • Server Log files are another collection mechanism but less accurate than tagging • A tag is a pixel or beacon by which data is collected on a website. Can be a simple 1×1 transparent pixel or image loaded onto the web page or JavaScript code put on web pages • Tags are placed on web page (header/footer) and delivered to a web browser or app when a web page loads- tag management makes easier • Tags are not cookies and cookies are not tags. A tag can be used to set a cookie. Cookies are text-only strings of code placed on a computer or device
Social media metrics The Second Step: Measure What's Being Said
• Take stock of the messages being sent by your own company, which includes: - Web sites and domains owned by your company - Blogs maintained by employees/depts. - Blogs maintained by former employees • Audit all points of contact— This will give an idea of the content that is available to the public and what that content is saying
Texting SMS
• Text messaging: more popular with women & those under 35. Minorities also well representedAfrican American and Hispanic • In US: 270 million active cell phones: 98% SMS capable • Up to 15X redemption rates of paper coupons, also at least 8X times better than email
Social media ecommerce stores
• The term "social selling" is usually meant in the context of salespeople using social media for leads • Companies can create a "Shop" store where available e.g., Facebook • A better option is if the platform offers the option of a "Buy" button that takes them to your website vs using their store • Social media platforms (e.g., FB) that offer shopping platforms provide tools to upload images, product descriptions and an admin panel to manage orders
Cookies
• Tracking mechanism-text file put in browser that stores information about user preferences such as location, to personalize & collect analytics data • Information in a cookie: name, value (data stored), expiration date/time, a domain, if secure • Not shared if different browsers (e.g., Chrome & Safari) • Example basic types a) 1 st party-matches domain user is on b) Session or Persistent (until you delete or expiration date) c) Security d) 3 rd party (ad networks)-weakest e) Zombie (recreates after deletion)
Organic Challenges with Social Media
• Understand that most of your posts, tweets, videos etc. will NOT be seen by your followers on their feeds/their own social media page. • However, they will be seen by those who visit your FB, Instagram page- - so one factor in favor of doing organic • Why are so few being seen? SM platforms claim user experience, clutter issues but also an economic incentiveadvertising
YouTube vs Vimeo
• Vimeo has 715M views per month vs 1.3 B for YT. • Both have SEO benefits-but YT more weighed • YT has a 15 minute limit per video for most accounts, Vimeo has no limit • Vimeo appeals to artistic community • YT is free Vimeo has pricing plans
Measure what's being said by WHOM
• Whether a post is positive, negative, or indifferent can be quickly assessed by reading it; influence is a little harder to establish - Indicators (traffic, links, and subscriber numbers) can assist in assessing the influence of a blog • Factors that indicate credibility - Followers - Re-tweets - Size of the blog's audience - Frequency of posts - Age of the blog
Technical aspects of Podcasting
• You can put the audio file on your website but it's usually a huge file (e.g. 500 MBs) • Best to use a podcast host and have an embedded url on your site, audio can be played from your website but the audio file is actually with a podcast host to avoid slow page loads, monthly charges ~$5-20month • Voice is everything, invest in high quality mic and headphones- research them • Can be put on I-Tunes but not hosted it's a directory which is important as key discovery place
YouTube
• YouTube has over a billion users each day, watching a billion hours of video • Due to Reach-Proxy for TV ads • YouTube reaches more 18-34 year group than any cable network in the US • More than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices • Local YT versions in more than 90 countries --76 different languages (covering 95% of the Internet population).
Type of content
• Your benchmarking should provide some good ideas as to type of content you will want to at least test 1. News: you provide in depth coverage for that topic (your industry technology or niche topics like minor league baseball in Texas, etc.) 2. Expert or Resource: you are the subject matter expert; answer questions, give advice, write "how to articles", whitepapers; videos, interview other experts (i.e. how to maximize your tax deductions or excel for marketing) 3. The Unusual: you focus on subjects as long as relevant to your business that few people talk about (i.e. Profile of web users who are active from 12- 5 am) 4. Showcase your products with demos 5. User generated content or customer "success stories" 6. It can be a combination of all of the above
The Strategy of Dealing with Transactional Platforms
• Your strategy should, as discussed in lecture 1, always be to send prospects to your website-before or after sale • Treat these platforms as a type of PPC shopping ad and do everything you cancoupons, discounts—to make sure future transactions done directly with you Loyalty programs are probably the best retention tool in this environment There is a science to well developed profitable loyalty programs, very easy to loose money if not structured correctlyspecific metrics e.g., LTV and stickiness, points reporting, known redemption behavior and tradeoff they make, etc.
