“My company sells products or services, I should make a mobile app right?! Everyone’s doing it and if I don’t my competitors will have the edge.” Let’s take a closer look at mobile apps and why a business should or should not consider developing one for its customers. Make sure you can answer the 5 Ws: who, what, when, where and why.

Many thanks to eMarketer for its February 9, 2012 article on this subject, for raising a particularly timely issue for us: when to make a mobile app and when to simply optimize a website for mobile consumption. We’ve had more than one client come to us recently about this – often there is a push within the organization to develop a mobile app simply for the sake of it, without much regard to why. eMarketer’s article helps illustrate the point we most commonly raise to our clients who are considering an app – it sounds cool (and of course underscores our company’s commitment to innovation and the future of our business), but would a mobile optimized website fit the bill instead (usually for a much smaller price tag)?

First let’s define our terms. A mobile app is a software application custom built to do something useful (the weather app on your phone) or something fun (Angry Birds). The app takes up space on your phone, just like software you install on your computer, and needs updates periodically that the owner must download. A mobile optimized website, or WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) site, is like a mini website, reformatted to look good on smaller mobile device screens. So it can use the same software as your traditional website uses, i.e., HTML.

The first step in determining whether an app is a good tactic for your particular business objectives is to do some research and find out exactly what your customers or potential customers are looking for in a mobile channel from your company. Look at your web analytics to see what top content is among visitors from mobile devices. Are they coming primarily to search for information? To shop? Are they using an online tool you’ve developed that already lives on your company’s website? Many times, existing web applications can be easily optimized for mobile devices. Getting someone to a website is easier than getting them to bother downloading your app and remembering to actually use it. The Yahoo! And Ipsos chart below reveals interesting preferences among consumers’ mobile activities.

The 5 W’s of App Development:

• Who: which subset of my customers is going to use this app? How big a subset is it and can I justify the investment level to serve a target audience of this size?
• What: what are the required functionalities of the mobile experience? Search, account access, shopping, etc.
• When: when will my customers be using this app? Once in a while or frequently? How can I gauge this?
• Where: where will customers use the functionality my app will provide? Are they already at home? Will they be more likely to need this service on the go?
• Why: does this app satisfy my business objectives by enabling more sales, more searches, more interactions or more of whatever your target behavior is?

Like any item in your budget, make sure your team is thinking through the need, not jumping headlong into an investment that’s missing its business objective. We hope the 5 Ws of app development will help you think it through!

This coming Sunday, people all over the world will be watching the great American sport of football. While the sport hasn’t changed much, the way people watch and communicate about and during the big game has changed considerably. Social media is a way to engage fans and attendees in real-time, monitor sentiment, and react instantly to issues. This year the Super Bowl host committee finally recognized this opportunity and decided to take advantage of it.

The Indianapolis host committee for Super Bowl XLVI has developed a new way to deal with the madness that comes with managing the world’s biggest annual sporting event. The remedy? The Super Bowl’s first-ever social media command center. Strategists, analysts and techies will review and monitor the digital fan conversation via Facebook, Twitter and other platforms in a 2,800 square foot space downtown that opened the week preceding the Super Bowl. Raidious is the digital marketing agency for the Super Bowl and will be managing the social media command center. Some 150,000 people are expected to flood into downtown Indianapolis over Super Bowl weekend.

The social media team’s duties will include:

• tweeting directions to fans in search of parking
• directing visitors to Indianapolis’s best attractions
• standing by to provide information in case of a disaster.

Advanced search tools and analytics will help Raidious and the team in isolating fans in need of help by indexing key words and phrases. For example, a fan won’t need to tweet, “where can I find parking?” to get help; Raidious operatives will be able to pick up on a general phrase such as “parking sucks” to offer assistance. It hasn’t been an easy operation. The command center utilizes more than a mile of Ethernet cable and more than 150 square feet of networked screen space. More than 20 people have been handling the center for 15 hours per day.

Researchers from nearby Ball State University’s Center for Media Design will conduct a study of the command center, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses. Michael Holmes, Director of the center’s Insight & Research Unit, stated in a CNN article, that the command center is an example of the “the ubiquity of social media and the absolute necessity for companies, organizations and communities to use these tools to improve their relations with their customer, audiences and citizens.”  Both Holmes and Raidious said they would not be surprised if the Super Bowl’s first designated social media war-room sets a precedent for other major events.

What do you think about the Super Bowl’s first-ever social media command center? Would you like to see major events set up more operations like this? Let us know in the comments.

Last week was a big week for digital.  You may have heard of the recent controversy surrounding SOPA, recent legislation aimed at fighting piracy and copyright infringement. People have been protesting the legislation ever since its emergence but their protests grew to an organized blackout across major websites on January 18th.  This week we take a look at how various websites expressed their dissatisfaction with the proposed laws and how their actions influenced the legislation.

What was SOPA? 

It’s the Stop Online Piracy Act, aimed at preventing foreign-based websites from selling and sharing pirated movies, music, and other products.  Federal law enforcement currently has the authority to shut down such websites that are based in the US but the law would require internet providers to block international websites, block redirected URLs or require search engines to disable links to the offending sites. Opponents to the legislation worry that the broad language of the bill is too broad and would threaten free speech and target sites with user generated content, like Facebook and Twitter. The fever pitch, web-wide protest of these bills that took place January 18  made such an impact that the bill has been pulled from the Congressional docket by Lamar Smith, the chief sponsor of SOPA, “until there is a wider agreement on a solution,” said Smith. He also stated: “I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy. It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products.”

What’s next for anti-piracy legislation?

The success of the blackout has not derailed federal prosecution of file sharing sites.  International site Megaupload was shut down and their owners arrested, facing up to 55 years in jail just because one of their servers was in the state of Virginia.  Many cloud based file-sharing sites are beginning to implement regulations on non-original content to avoid prosecution and even YouTube, Dropbox, and Facebook have reason to be concerned with how anti-piracy regulations will affect their websites.  SOPA might be off the docket, but new laws are already looming in its fading shadow.  An international agreement called ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) is being considered to create international standards on intellectual property rights enforcement.  It has been negotiated between various countries for the past 4 years and is expected to be signed by the European Union this week.  Will there be an anti-ACTA blackout internationally in the future?  Would the web-wide protest seen on January 18th be as effective if it occurred every time a new copyright law was brought to the table?  SOPA was the wrong bill for a very real problem that’s still out there and the powers that be will be working hard to find a new solution.

Here’s a look at how international websites expressed their dissatisfaction with proposed laws on January 18th:

Google

Google’s famous homepage featured a censored block across their logo and a link to an online petition.  Their homepage averages about 1 billion visitors per month, thus providing prime web real estate for its support of the protest.  Google reported that its SOPA page received 13 million page views on Wednesday and approximately 7 million people signed its petition.

Twitter

Twitter spoke out with a tweet to support the millions (2.4 million to be exact) of people that were tweeting about SOPA and PIPA. Even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg tweeted for the first time in two years!

Wikipedia

Many popular websites joined the blackout by updating their homepages in protest.  School children panicked when they could not use popular research website Wikipedia for studying and were forced to research the old fashioned way—using real books!  Wikipedia reported that more than 162 million people saw its blackout page and over 8 million people used Wikipedia’s  link to lookup their elected representatives to protest the measures.  WordPress, BoingBoing, GreenPeace, TwitPic, Firefox, Reddit and many others joined the blackout by updating their homepages by going dark and censoring imagery.

  WordPress

These are just a few examples of how huge, worldwide brands came together to protest against SOPA, but the impact was dramatic.  News coverage blossomed, social media mentions spread like wildfires, and the world took notice of legislation that had the potential to drastically change the internet we know and love.  In short, one day of updated homepages and open discussion made a huge impact informing the public about SOPA and PIPA and any new legislation that may appear in their wake.

As we mentioned last week, a website (and iPhone app) called Pinterest is gaining traction across the web and smart phone industry.  It could become a great opportunity to raise awareness, drive traffic, and gain new customers.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a virtual vision board where users can organize and share images from the web.  Users create boards, which are basically folders of images, to organize their pins into categories.  For example, my personal boards include: Cooking/Recipes, Travel, Outfit Ideas, Marketing, and Random Funnies.  Users then post relevant photos on their boards by linking to websites or Repinning (the same format of Retweeting) other people’s pins.  Users follow one another and explore everyone’s pins in one of the 32 general categories.  It’s a simple concept that combines visual stimulation with the exclusivity of an invite-only website.

Why should my company join Pinterest?

According to Experian Hitwise, Pinterest is #9 on the 10 social media websites and has 40 times the number of visits it had six months ago (with 11 million visits in December alone!)  Approximately 58% of visitors are female and 59% are ages 25-44.  While Twitter and Facebook have a strong international following, most of Pinterest’s users are from the United States.  Pinterest works best for brands that allow consumers to see the spirit of their brand – what inspires them, the company culture, and how others are using their products.  It’s a great opportunity to connect brands with customers on a passion-level.  What are your customers passionate about? What is your brand passionate about?

What should my brand do on Pinterest?

Brands like Whole Foods, the Today Show, and Chobani Yogurt are prospering on the site which currently focuses heavily on cooking, crafts, fashion, and humor but it will likely grow to a broader spectrum as the site grows.  Even if your business does not fit into the most popular categories, you can still develop a presence on the site.  Start by requesting an invite—be aware that it often takes about a week to get permission to create an account on the site.

• Search pins by keyword to see what topics relate to your business and what competitors are currently on Pinterest
• Once you have an invite, start creating boards for a variety of inspirations such as:
  • Others using your products/services
  • What captures the essence of your brand or lifestyle
  • Motivational quotes or humor
  • Candid photos
  • Nice offices, cubicles, or break rooms
  • Delicious food your employees have brought in
  • Innovative new design projects
• Create pins for personal content and be sure to link them to your website
• Take a holistic approach to marketing and show consumers how your brand fits into their lives
• Eccentricity is encouraged here!
• Follow users that pin similar content for inspiration and Repin their pins (they will receive an alert when you Repin something.) This will help you gain exposure.
• Gather intel about what is inspiring Pinterest users that your brand could or should be doing
• Humanize your brand.  It’s not only about showing what you do; it’s about showing WHY you do it and what inspires you and your employees to work hard for your brand every day.

Once you get started, you’ll likely be hooked like a few of our Mastermind staffers.  The user-friendly interface is simple, stunning, and a great place to stimulate your creative mind.  Pinterest may not be the best social media tool for every brand but it’s definitely worth exploring.  Do you have a Pinterest account?  Does your company?  Share your tips in the comments below!

1)      Attend networking events.

Business, marketing, and advertising associations regularly have networking events across the country (and world,) and they’re a great place to bounce ideas off other business owners, find recommendations for products, services, and websites to help grow your business.  Just do a Google search for networking events in your area and you’re bound to find great, free opportunities to make new friends, contacts, or customers!

2)      Be more active on Twitter.

Posting and retweeting interesting content is not the only way to be successful on Twitter.  It’s important to follow back your followers and actively seek out new people to follow. There are great websites to help manage your Twitter account easily and better determine which people to follow; try Refollow, Hootsuite, TweetDeck or CoTweet. You can also peruse other tweeters’ lists and friends to find accounts of interest to follow.  Growing your followers and friends is a great way to view new content, raise engagement levels, and potentially raise your Klout score.

3)      Embrace new social media sites.

With relatively new sites like Pinterest, Instagram, and Google+ rapidly gaining steam, don’t put all your eggs in one basket with Twitter and Facebook.   Test out emerging technologies to stay ahead of the curve and find unique ways to grow your business.

• Pinterest is a virtual inspiration board where people “pin” photos of places, DIY projects, quotes, fashion, design and anything they like onto their boards and instantly share the inspiration with others.  There are 5.5 million monthly users (mostly female) and it’s the 6^th most downloaded app on iTunes.  Share design inspiration, event photos, product images, funny items and link them to your site or blog as every “pin” is clickable.
• Instagram boasts more than 10 million users and is a free photo sharing application for iPhone users (available for Android users soon.)   Use Instagram to create and share photos of staff, products, or random funny photos and humanize your company all from your phone.
• Google+ is the biggest contender for Facebook and Twitter’s social media dominance.  With roughly 40 million registered users (74% male), Google+ offers opportunities to segment your friends into groups and selectively share content. It recently opened up the site for brand pages and we expect it to blossom in 2012. It’s worth spending a few hours perusing the site and developing your brand presence.

4)      Don’t neglect YouTube.

You don’t have to produce expensive videos and animations to have a presence on YouTube.  Acquire copies of news coverage, post PowerPoint presentations with audio, and capture Q&A sessions to show your expertise.  Cell phone video is much higher resolution now and can be an easy, cost-effective way to produce videos.    Videos are a great way to add content to websites, blogs and social media pages.  Make sure you tag the videos properly to optimize search and pay attention to which content is performing the best as you plan for new videos.

5)      Embrace downtime.

With smart phones, tablets, and eReaders, it’s hard to truly disconnect and enjoy free time.  Be realistic about your workload and what can and can’t be put off until tomorrow.  We all need to relax and smell the roses more often.   Make time to read a good book (even if it is a business book), enjoy your hobbies, catch up with friends, and spend quality time with loved ones.  As Europeans say, work to live, don’t live to work.

We hope you all have a prosperous and joyful year ahead. What are your business resolutions for 2012?  We’d love to hear them!

I’ve heard it from clients time and time again – ‘ok that makes sense in theory, but really, what IS the best way to calculate social media ROI?’Of course the answer is “it depends,” but it’s important to stop over thinking it! Distill it down to its most basic elements. You measure social media ROI just like you measure ROI on a promotion or an event or a campaign – you set it up to drive whatever desired behavior you’re looking for in your target audience, and then you see how many of those actions take place. Assign a dollar amount, account for your investment and there it is: the elusive social media ROI.

As an agency that handles several socialAORaccounts, we know that every client is different (and yet much the same) and every set of objectives and metrics of success are different (and yet the same). Likewise, calculating social media ROI is going to vary by client and industry as needed, and yet it boils down to the same basic tenets of any marketing program ROI. Are you driving actual sales through your social media channels? That’s an ideal goal for many brands. However, if your particular product or service doesn’t work that way, you need to be a little more creative.

Think backwards through your sales or acquisition funnel: at what point in the funnel can I touch my target through social media?

• Can I generate walk-ins for my stores or leads my sales reps can follow up on?
• Can I collect email addresses for further lead analysis and segmentation?
• Am I creating awareness among new/potential consumers or building loyalty  and brand preference among existing customers?

All of these things have value and you as a company must determine what the value of a lead is (or brand awareness, or an email, etc.). Look at customer lifetime value and understand how a sale gets converted for your particular brand. Pretty basic stuff right? Right – so now gear your social media efforts (campaign level and over time) to achieve those things you value, count them up and stick it all into the formula.

You can listen to every social media ROI webinar out there and read countless articles and blogs on the subject, and come away still not really knowing if you’re doing it right. The simple truth is: it’s right if the math works. To get the math, first get numbers for things like:

• Your company’s value of a lead
• Your company’s value of an email address collected honestly
• What your company feels comfortable valuing an online impression (Facebook post views, ad impressions, comments, likes, retweets, mentions, check-ins, etc. – hint: look at rate cards for publications within your industry)
• Your total investment over a given time period or for the given campaign.

There are so many tricky variables to deal with in social media marketing programs as it is, do not let how you measure success be one of them. Put pencil to paper, go back to the basics, and I think you’ll see the light! And if you’re stuck, give us a call.

- Emily Richardson, Senior Account Supervisor

Everywhere you turn this holiday shopping season, there are discounts and specials on tablets, e-readers, smart phones and other mobile devices.  With prices going down and adoption rates increasing, it’s important for brands to develop content that is compatible with such internet connected mobile devices.  Trends in 2012 Mobile Apps  predicts that the most popular content in 2012 will include: e-commerce, location- based services, mobile payments, mobile messaging and email, and object recognition (smartphone searching and recognizing an item).

According to a recent eMarketer article, here’s the projected growth for internet connected devices in the next few years:

• Tablet users will reach 89.5 million in 2014
• Tablet users will make up 35.6% of all internet users in 2014
• US adult e-reader users will reach 53.9 million by 2014
• Growth in smart phone users is expected to grow to 148.6 million in 2015
• Smart phone users will represent 58% of all mobile phone users in 2015

The demand for these devices creates a growing demand for apps, streaming video and audio, games, e-books, social networking and more. The availability of this content is rising at a rapid rate to meet these demands.  The more consumers accept new technologies, the more comfortable they become with accessing content on these platforms.

This growth and trend provides marketers with the opportunity to aid businesses in customizing content for mobile devices to meet consumer expectations. Marketers must be able to deliver hardware, software, content and social integration to provide the best experience for each platform.

QR codes, or quick-response codes, are a barcode-like graphic that users can scan using free apps on smart phones like Barcode Scanner or QR Reader.  These QR codes are embedded with URLs that automatically open content on smart phones such as video, websites, audio, and text. QR codes are a great, inexpensive way to engage consumers and drive ROI. Test the QR code experience by scanning the image below.  Did this blog open on your phone?

Snaptags vs. QR Codes

Snaptags are slightly different from QR Codes in that any phone with picture messaging capabilities can use them to engage with your brand.  QR Codes require scanner or QR reader apps that are only available on smart phones.  A snaptag is typically a logo with a circle around it called a code ring.  There are gaps in the circle which cameras read similar to a barcode and the breaks can be moved to direct consumers to thousands of different messages.  Mobile phone cameras snap photos of the image and text them to a specific number to begin a text message conversation.  Snaptags require more effort from consumers but it is a great way to engage customers who do not have smart phones.

Engage consumers with custom content

Imagine going to the grocery store and seeing a QR code on the sign for bananas.  You scan the QR code with your smart phone and a video opens showing you where the bananas are grown and information about the farms.  Chiquita Bananas is currently using QR code stickers to direct consumers to its Ultimate Banana Recipe Contest. QR codes give businesses the ability to create custom content to sweeten the deal for end users.  Codes can link to informational videos, instructions, contests, rebate websites, recipes, customer service phone numbers, the main website or any web hosted content.

Choose your message wisely

Be mindful of the user experience and direct users to pages that are optimized for mobile phones.  You only have a few seconds to convince the consumer to keep watching, listening, or reading on their phone’s small screen.  Thus, it’s important to provide information that consumers will find useful or enjoyable. Avoid boring content!  Don’t just post the code on the packaging, signage, or advertising and expect people to know how to interact with it.  QR codes are popular in Asia but they are still building in use worldwide.  A strong call to action will entice consumers to voluntarily engage with your brand and provide instructions for using the codes.

Build your database

QR codes enable you to easily collect information about potential customers and engaged consumers.  Businesses can track when and where the code was scanned, what type of phone was used, collect phone numbers and email addresses, and track repeat visitors.  This is important for ROI and testing different creative to optimize campaigns.

Have you used QR codes or snaptags yet? We’d love to hear your experiences or help you use these codes effectively in your next campaigns.

Klout recently changed its algorithm for calculating scores and scores have since started dropping by 10 points or more across the board.  According to Klout, the new algorithm makes scores more accurate and easy to track changes in scores to specific days.

While previous Klout scores were heavily influenced by the number of posts and followers, now scores include data about WHO is retweeting, mentioning, and reading your tweets every day.  Your score is now dependent on how influential your followers and their friends are on Twitter.  If your friend @JohnDoe retweets your post and he has 50 followers, it will not count as much as if your friend @QueenBee with 500k followers retweets your post.

New Metrics:

1)      You can see how your score has changed by day, week, and month.  On the opening screen, you immediately see how your score has changed over these three time periods and which new users you are influencing.

2)      The three components of Klout, True Reach, Amplification, and Your Network are listed individually so you can see which days your score rose and fell to examine which types of activity works the best (posts, retweets, chats, etc.)

Given these changes, here’s what you can do to increase your Klout score:

• Engage more with influential users.  Retweet and mention users you are following that have a ton of friends and that tweet regularly.
• Post open ended questions.  Engaging conversations are great for raising your score.  The more people who reply, the more exposure you get across their networks too.
• Befriend the popular kids.  While Twitter might not seem like a popularity contest, it helps to be followed by people who have a lot of followers.  With Klout’s new algorithm, the quality of your followers is much more important.
• Track your influence on other networks.  Klout now allows you to connect with Facebook, Google Plus, LinkedIn, FourSquare, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress, Last.fm and Flickr.  Add as many of these accounts as you can and your score should increase.  Unfortunately Facebook is limited to profile pages and does not connect with Fan Pages yet.
• Don’t take Klout too seriously.  Even if your score dropped 15 points don’t stop posting funny photos, random observations, and interesting articles.  Twitter is about having fun sharing content and opinions.  It’s an open conversation!

Klout guards the exact details of their scoring system so we may never fully understand how the score is calculated.  Try out some of the steps above to increase your score but don’t lose hope if you never reach that 100 point score–only Justin Bieber has ever achieved a 100!