July 2010

Marketers steadily integrating social media, mobile with email

July 29, 2010

While emailmarketing is an effective channel, it can be greatly enhanced when paired with other platforms. A new report from eROI suggests that many businesses are complimenting their email campaigns with social and mobilemedia.

According to eROI, 59.1 percent of companies include "share your network" links in their emails, directing consumers to their social media profiles. Nearly three-quarters (73.7 percent) of respondents indicated this had a positive effect on their marketing efforts, which was observed by increased followers and website traffic.

Meanwhile, businesses are also expanding their email marketing initiatives to mobile devices. Nearly one-third said integrating mobile and email was important, while some companies offered limited versions of their website to mobile users. Moreover, 25 percent of respondents said they tailored marketing messages specifically to phones.

With social media growing so explosively, many companies are finding the platform to be a powerful one. More than 100 million Facebook members access the site regularly from mobile devices. The site also recently gained its 500 millionth member overall, making it the first social networking site to hit that milestone.
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Wikipedia ranks highest in social media consumer satisfaction, MySpace is lowest

July 29, 2010

While MySpace was once the most widely used social networking site, it's now on the decline, losing ground to both Facebook and Twitter. A new study shows one reason for the platform's low activity rates: poor customer satisfaction.

ForeSee Results, in conjunction with the American Consumer Satisfaction Index, recently found that MySpace ranked the lowest in customer satisfaction rates among social networking sites. The social media industry overall scored 70 points, while MySpace was scored 63 points.

The site was only one point behind Facebook, which ranked fourth in customer satisfaction with 64 points. Common issues with the site Facebook or MySpace included privacy concerns, navigation troubles, annoying applications and unintuitive news feed controls. Despite low satisfaction rates, Facebook can be used as a huge marketing tool by many businesses - 16 percent of consumers use the site to seek out product recommendations.

Meanwhile, Wikipedia was the most popular, scoring 77 points. Of the respondents, 15 percent used the site for product research.

The product-pushing potential of social media was also observed in a study conducted by Chadwick Martin Bailey. According to the report, more than 50 percent of Facebook users have bought a product recommended to them through the site.

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Online platforms begin to overlap

July 29, 2010

A new report from ExactTarget suggests that audiences of different marketing channels may overlap, allowing businesses to engage consumers across multiple platforms.

According to the survey, 90 percent of consumers who are fans of a brand on Facebook receive at least one marketing email per day. At the same time, 75 percent of Twitter users who follow a brand also receive permission-based emails. Nearly half of consumers (40 percent) use social platforms to supplement news received via email marketing messages.

The reasons consumers follow brands on certain platforms largely depend on what kind of information they seek. While some actively seek out deals, others are looking for product information or reviews. "The things that motivate consumers to go online initially dictate where and how they choose to engage with brands - whether that be email, Facebook or Twitter," said Morgan Stewart, principal of the research and education group at ExactTarget.


By integrating both email and social media marketing, businesses are able to reach a significant portion of online consumers. According to a recent survey from AWeber, 77 percent of businesses consider using the two platforms in tandem to be important.ADNFCR-3257-ID-19915627-ADNFCR






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Some Android apps designed to lift personal data

July 29, 2010

A number of applications running on Android smartphones are reportedly capable of aggregating a user’s personal information and transmitting it to a website based in China. Among the information included in the transmissions are phone numbers, passwords and data related to the subscriber’s mobile phone account and contract.

Web security firm Lookout reported the data theft at the ongoing Black Hat 2010 conference in Las Vegas. Most of the applications responsible for the attacks were created by Jackeey Wallpapers. Lookout is unclear whether or not the data-stealing capability is intentional or not; however, it has advised Android users to avoid downloading any of these applications.

“Even good apps can be modified to turn bad after a lot of people download it,” Lookout's chief technology officer, Kevin MaHaffey, told PC Magazine. “Users absolutely have to pay attention to what they download. And developers have to be responsible about the data that they collect and how they use it.”

The attacks are especially troublesome for security professionals as phones running on the Android operating system have quickly become some of the most popular, according to a report recently released by ChangeWave Research. With more than 16 percent of Americans planning to purchase a smartphone in the next 90 days, developers are planning security improvements to avoid potential issues and lost customers.ADNFCR-3257-ID-19914803-ADNFCR





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Search engine malware tainting Google results

July 28, 2010

A study recently released by web security provider Barracuda Networks found Google to be the search engine most frequently responsible for malware attacks hidden into its search results. Google accounts for 69 percent of search engine malware, while Bing, Twitter and Yahoo round out the top four, Barracuda found in its study.

Cyber criminals have become increasingly adroit at quickly implementing trending topics into their websites containing malware. As a result, Google’s ability to quickly turn a trending topic on Twitter into a popular search topic funnels substantial malware into its search results. The study found Google typically takes 1.2 days to leverage a trending topic, while Yahoo can take up to four.

"Our study shows that attackers have serious efforts devoted towards getting in front of the billions of eyeballs that are using search engines everyday and the millions of users that are connecting on social networks like Twitter," Paul Judge, chief research officer and vice president of Barracuda Networks, said. "Therefore, we continue to analyze their approaches and build new techniques to find them and protect users."

With substantial malware appearing in its results, Google’s status as the second-most-popular website in the world can lead to countless infections. Only Facebook is visited more frequently than Facebook, according to website rankings from Experian HitWise.ADNFCR-3257-ID-19913509-ADNFCR





Twitter users unwilling to pay for service

July 27, 2010

Despite its popularity, Twitter recently learned few - if any - of its more than 80 million users are willing to pay to use the service. A survey conducted by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Journalism found none of the people it surveyed would pay for the service even if it became required for use of the popular social media website.

While Twitter has no plans to charge anyone for its services, the Annenberg report believes its survey results represent a trend in internet use - even people who rely heavily on the web are unwilling to pay for almost anything.

“Such an extreme finding that produced a zero response underscores the difficulty of getting internet users to pay for anything that they already receive for free,” said Jeffrey Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future at Annenberg. “Twitter has no plans to charge its users, but this result illustrates, beyond any doubt, the tremendous problem of transforming free users into paying users. Online providers face major challenges to get customers to pay for services they now receive for free.”

Since first arriving in 2008, Twitter has become an integral aspect of the enterprise world due to the free marketing it provides companies looking to expand their customer base.ADNFCR-3257-ID-19911312-ADNFCR





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500 million 'like' Facebook

July 26, 2010

Facebook has gained its 500 millionth member, solidifying its position as a valuable marketing tool for reaching a broad number of consumers.

As recently as two years ago, the site had only 100 million members and was in close competition with MySpace. In a short period, the social network has exploded in terms of popularity, gaining 100 million members since February 2010 alone.

As USA Today notes, the majority of the site's new members are joining from abroad. Nearly three-quarters (70 percent) of Facebook users live outside of the United States.

"It has changed in a lot of ways," Randi Zuckerberg, marketing manager for the social network, told USA Today. "Instead of looking at Facebook as a tool to look up other college students, you really feel like you can look up almost anyone in the world."

Offering access to half a billion consumers worldwide, Facebook has become an integral part of many company's branding initiatives. According to a recent report from the Direct Marketing Association, 82 percent of business-to-customer companies use social media, while 71 percent use digital marketing as a form of brand building.ADNFCR-3257-ID-19908417-ADNFCR







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InformationWeek: 56 percent of companies looking to secure new applications

July 26, 2010

A study recently published by InformationWeek found 56 percent of companies plan to implement security protocol in hopes of eliminating risks related to their use of Web 2.0 applications. As items such as widgets and more advanced source code become commonplace in web design, cyber criminals will continue to target these items to carry out targeted attacks.

The study found 61 percent of companies have standardized certain processes to alleviate concern regarding security breaches. By automating library calls, organizations can remove the threat of human error negatively impacting their network. InformationWeek believes the remaining 39 percent should adopt similar steps to avoid issues with widgets for social media applications or other items appearing on their websites.

“The ease with which the author was able to penetrate our sample Web 2.0 employee management application is possible because developers of web apps often forget to protect against legitimate users,” Lorna Garey, content director of InformationWeek analytics, said.

Sixty-four percent of the participants reported privacy breaches as the biggest threat to their company. For any organizations with compliance responsibilities, a vulnerability in a third-party application can lead to the type of breach that can draw the ire of regulators. A number of new laws adopted by states and countries require extensive security measures to protect their residents’ data.ADNFCR-3257-ID-19909230-ADNFCR





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Adobe adds to marketing with social media tools

July 25, 2010

Adobe recently announced the availability of web-based software solutions designed to aid companies in their online marketing plans. Many of the tools help organizations leverage the growing importance of social media in web marketing initiatives, which have become an integral aspect of branding and other business-critical operations.

Among the tools is an application designed to provide better options for companies looking to purchase advertisement space on popular social networking website Facebook. The solution includes an item providing optimum analytics information, which will allow companies to process information quickly and target specific demographics within the Facebook network. Furthermore, Adobe included solutions designed to boost marketing campaigns on smartphones and other mobile devices, which may prove invaluable as these items continue to become more pervasive in enterprise and consumer life.

“Our focus remains on meeting customer needs and driving innovation into the Adobe Online Marketing Suite,” Josh James, senior vice president and general manager of the Omniture business unit for Adobe, said. “The suite, now bolstered by the resources available through Adobe, continues to resonate with existing and new customers.”

Adobe has released other items in recent months to make its design tools more adaptable to needs of its users. It added the ability to support 3D animations to its popular web design tool Flash earlier this month.ADNFCR-3257-ID-19907453-ADNFCR





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Advertising experts see new legislation as bad for industry

July 22, 2010

Interactive Advertising Bureau Vice President of Public Policy Mike Zaneis will testify before Congress regarding a pair of bills currently circulating Capitol Hill, which would limit the advertising industry. The laws attempt to regulate the use of newly available consumer information found on the web as a result of expanding communication, social media and other factors in the name of privacy.

While limiting advertising activity may seem like a good thing in the eyes of consumers, it may adversely impact the fragile U.S. economy. An IAB study found advertising accounts for $300 million of economic activity every year aside from the money spent by consumers as a result of the advertisements they see.

“The interactive advertising industry has a long and successful history of protecting consumers’ privacy rights through effective self-regulation,” said Zaneis. “Given the free content and services that consumers enjoy because of advertising revenue, it is imperative that any new laws be carefully tailored.”

The advertising industry has evaded much regulation from the U.S. government in the past, and IAB, among other industry leaders, has proposed a form of self-regulation in response to the proposals currently under consideration.ADNFCR-3257-ID-19905569-ADNFCR





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