“More than 100,000 apps — downloaded more than a million times a day — are now available through Apple’s iTunes store for the iPhone and iPod touch,” according to Ryan Sharrow of the Baltimore Business Journal in his recent article, “Going App”.

I have to wonder what I’m missing out on…my cell phone consists of a purple Motorola MOTO W755, a standard flip phone from Verizon. I can text, send pictures, and take basic video — up until recently, that was enough for me.

Now with the craze of mobile technology, it seems as though cell phones are expected to double as a mini laptop in your pocket!! Sigh…like grade school recess all over again, I am the outcast.

So what does this mean for business marketers? — They to are now craving creative convenience, entertainment, and information at their consumers’ fingertips.

In his article, Sharrow discussed the explosion of mobile apps and how companies are using them to offer convenience and immediacy to consumers. First Mariner Bank, UMBC, and UMMS are just a few of the examples Sharrow touched on. From locating a nearest branch location, guiding a student around campus, or simply driving traffic to websites – you name it, there’s an app for it.

I found UMBC’s future expectations of apps to be the most intriguing. The campus portal architect, B. Collier Jones, visualizes future UMBC apps to go as far as helping a student find a parking spot on campus!! — Any Towson University student would probably cry tears of joy if this were to come to our campus. It’s truly amazing the direction that mobile technology is taking!

As a G.1440 intern, I am learning from the steps the company is taking to stay above the curve on this trend. With our mobile site recently launched, Marketing Manager, Tim Kassouf, is constantly stressing that strategy is key.

G.1440 is capable of mobile site & app development, as well as text sms marketing – aside from technical expertise, the most important aspect to keep in mind is strategy. Companies need to start by figuring out why & how going mobile would benefit their consumers. The key is using the technology to appeal and suit your customer base, and don’t limit yourself to iPhone apps!

Tim has also pointed out that he believes the trend of software downloads like mobile apps may steer more towards immediate web log-ins as faster connections become available and technology develops — the need for actual downloads may dwindle…

I guess I oughta’ start keeping up with technology — as a loyal Verizon patron…perhaps I’ll go try out Tim’s new Droid while he’s in a meeting ;-]

I’m a huge proponent of a well thought out social media marketing strategy.  I’ve seen organizations from small, local businesses to large, international brands do really creative things with social networks to drive excitement, awareness and sales.  I’ve also seen companies establish Facebook pages and flounder to find fans let alone do any real business good.

So, I was excited to see a local Italian restaurant hawking their Facebook page on table-tops:

Seems like a solid, low cost way to stay in touch with customers, and hopefully find new ones.  Instead of following “Field of Dreams” marketing and hoping that if they build it, people will come, they’re offering a pretty good specific promotion, and $5 seems like a good enough incentive to simply fan the page.

Makes sense for them, too!  It only takes one person that loves the garlic bread to start talking, refer one new customer and deliver an ROI on this cheap campaign.  And if the place is having a slow day, they can quickly get a message out with a special daily offer to customers that already know them.

The strategy is simple and I don’t think that their Facebook promotion is going to double their revenue anytime soon.  But I definitely think that this is a great example of a local business taking a great step towards social media marketing.

I also think that I’d like to get my hands on one of those $5 gift certificates!  But there’s only one problem…

Mamma!  Where are you?

I’ll still head over for lunch from time to time, but they’re missing out on the money I would have absolutely spent to subsidize my free $5… It’s a loss for the restaurant, no doubt.  And it’s a lesson that even a good strategy falls flat without execution.

Social media is a great way to share information quickly….that is the good news.  It is also the bad news! The popularity of sites like Facebook and Myspace make it easy for people to stay in touch and keep tabs on what’s new….but, what if people want to share details about you….that you don’t want everyone to know…..then what do you do?

People are discovering that they may be exposing too much information about themselves on social media sites.  In addition to issues related to the practice of YOU sharing too much info about YOU (someone I know recently posted that he was in the bathroom at Starbucks), is the large issue that you cannot control what your friends say about you and to each other. To make matters even worse, even if you block them, they can log on as someone else and continue to post comments for all to see or just post their comments on their own pages.

Think of social media as a big “room” where anyone can talk to anyone at anytime……..you can also jump from “room” to “room” to meet with any of your friends (and their friends). You can also access the conversations for total strangers that do not control their profile and access…..as we are finding out, this is good and bad all at the same time.

Here is a recent example I found of a man and woman that were getting divorced. The wife was posting angry comments on the husband’s Facebook wall. The husband was embarrassed and tried to block the wife from posting any future comments. Ever after the husband blocked her access; she continued to post comments by logging on as another friend.

One last “gotcha” is that HR folks and lawyers can make use of this data too. HR folks and recruiters routinely access social media sites looking for information regarding candidates. Exposing too much information to potential employers about our social lives can be an issue whether we like it or not. Attorneys are using data gathered from Social Media sites in divorce cases where people are posting information regarding boyfriends, girlfriends and gifts.

Why is this happening? The early users of Social Media are aging and employers are becoming more savvy. Social networking is great for connecting, but not so much for disconnecting, therefore resulting in a online tabloid where people are reduced to airing their dirty laundry in front of their friends and co-workers….it is real reality TV.

How did this all start? Well…..with Google. The popular search engine enabled all of us to become private eyes — we can look up anyone and anything on the Internet with the simple click of the mouse. Social media was just the next step to complete and open access to everyone’s “digital dirt” 24X7.

What can I do?

• Remember that once a pic or message is out on the internet, then it is generally out in the public domain for good….so the best thing to do is to not post questionable information.
• Be careful who you friend and make sure that your security settings are as tight as they can be……many profiles let anyone see anything….not good.
• Everyone should make a habit of searching yourself to see what comes up.  This is called Narcisurfing……be sure to go to multiple search engines and see what is out there.
• If you find something about you that is objectionable, you should try to remove it or contact the webmaster of the site and get them to remove it.
• Be sure to manage your profile regularly.

Can you turn the tables? Yes, of course you can. If you are a job seeker, use Google to learn something about your interviewer and potentially establish rapport during the interview. Social media can actually help you. LinkedIn is a great source for useful professional information.

Have fun being social….but don’t be too social….if you know what I mean!

Since its inception, web 2.0 has been all about giving users control and opening a two-way dialogue online. We’ve seen the popularity of sites that allow users to customize their experience, and now Coca-Cola is taking some of the same concepts that have made social networking popular and bringing them offline.

Starting this summer, in selected diners and fast-food chains, Coca-Cola will release its first software-driven drink dispenser. The Freestyle will be the first dispenser that allows customers to mix around with 30 different flavors and over 100 different drink combinations! In addition to all the loads of fun that customers can have with this dispenser, Coca-Cola has added some action packed high-tech features that will blow current business practices out of the market.

Each flavor cartridge is attached to a radio frequency ID chip which gathers data on how much and what kinds of drinks customers are consuming. At the end of each day, this data gets transmitted through a private network (provided by Verizon) to Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta.

In the past, Coca-Cola’s fast-food customers have struggled to keep their inventories stocked and balanced. Now with the Freestyle, Coca-Cola is able to efficiently track inventories and distribute beverage formulas to these customers.

The data also helps Coca-Cola and fast-food outlets decide what to serve and where to promote. Additionally, this data could help Coke recognize popular drink combinations, and in return Coke could opt to bottle those combinations through retail outlets, knowing that their investment will pay off.

In the world today, customization is a great way to appeal to customers and ultimately, Coke is looking to the Freestyle to help increase sales by giving customers more beverage choices. They are spending a pretty penny to track product interest, usage, habits and to give users more options and control. Almost every business can start doing the same sorts of things with a well executed web site and web marketing strategy. It’s cost effective and fast – and you’d get the same benefits.

Coca-Cola is raising the bar. Let’s just hope the lines aren’t too long while you wait to order your Peach Creamsicle Caffeine Free Diet Coke!

Surfing the internet is a part of our everyday life…..we turn to the “net” to get everything from information on our competitors to making dinner reservations……however, surfing has a new threat that you need to be aware of…..hackers are always looking for ways to wreak havoc on your computer and now they’ve found another strategy…..it’s called scareware and the things it could do to your computer should scare you.

Hackers are creating booby traps on the internet to infect your computer and then sell you bogus software to supposedly fix the infection. You will be stuck in a never ending series of pop-ups until you eventually click and buy the software they want you to buy. The software they sell you will not fix the problem, so you end up spending $40 to $80 dollars and end up with an infected pc. In many cases, clicking and buying just makes the pop-ups increase.

By late last year, more than 9,200 different types of scareware programs were circulating on the Internet, up from 2,800 at midyear, according to The Anti-Phishing Working Group.

You can pick up some scareware in many locations……on YouTube the bad guys are signing up and posting comments on videos with enticing links. You watch a video you like, click on the link to another video and bam….you have a bad case of scareware.

In a variation, the bad guys create Twitter accounts and begin broadcasting tweets with enticing links and when you click on the link, you get the same result.

To set a trap in search engines, the hackers post web pages that are optimized with popular key words. This is caused by websites that don’t do a good job of keeping their www sites safe. 91% of websites have vulnerabilities that can be exploited and only 1% have a prevention plan.

Last but not least, hackers buy ad space on popular websites. Generally, they will use an intermediary such as an agency. They mix booby trapped ads with clean ads.

Many of these schemes are originating overseas, however some start right here in the US. In 2008, Microsoft and Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna filed civil lawsuits against Branch Software and Alpha Red, both US companies, charging that they were marketing scareware.
The top-level suppliers, however, continue to operate with impunity, mainly based in Russia. And new affiliates crop up every day, full of fresh ideas to spread increasingly invasive promotions…

So what can you do? AVG’s free LinkScanner tool will help to prevent you from clicking on malicious Web links. AVG has a quality product and it is free.

What should businesses do? They need their www sites to be scanned to find the traps that have been set. Visit G.1440 to learn more about how to protect your business.

Just because something’s on sale, doesn’t mean it’s a deal.

I came across a quick post on one of my favorite consumer blogs with the image below:

Not everyone will spell it out so clearly, but many times, the “sale” isn’t really a deal.  Some Marketers will tout this as the best way to push products.  Mark up the “normal” price, then put it on “sale” for the original price.

I could easily launch into a page-long posting about giving real value to your customers and G.1440’s decade of experience doing just that, but I’ll spare the sales pitch for another post.  Just have a good chuckle at this photo, pass it along to a friend, and try competing with a user-friendly website that demonstrates the value in your products instead of a sign that says “Sale!” just for fun.

DVR penetration is peeking over 30%, and it’s not falling.  TV Advertising is.

I just read an interesting article over at Ad Age: As ratings fall, nets take on ad-skipping.  Basically, between people shifting attention to the Internet and the rise of DVR, TV ratings and advertising are losing ground.  And this article discusses the effectiveness of online video ads that are embedded into network content online and not allowed to be skipped.

Apparently, online video is catching on.  Hulu showed 142 million videos in September – mostly videos from major networks, and one firm estimates that 20% of Americans have watched prime-time shows over broadband. But here’s the kicker:

Recall of unskipped ads on TV is 18%, while recall of unskippable ads online is 50%

To me, the reason is clear: Focus.

Ad Age’s article did mention this significant reduction in ads in online videos – typically down to 3-4 ads for a 60 minute program vs almost 18 minutes on network TV.  It’s undoubtedly easier to focus on the ads themselves when only a few are shown and explains some of the boost in ad recall.

But I’d contend that the user’s attention is always more focused to online video than to network TV – which means as long as viewers watch online, these ads might always be more effective.  (The concern is obviously that networks will inevitably stuff this content with ads giving a user no reason or desire to view online – so tread lightly NBC, et al.)

Consider another interesting statistic that the article doesn’t get into: up to 70% of TV audiences go online while watching.  So not only are there too many ads to recall, but viewers are dividing their attention – and often tuning out when ads interrupt their TV show.

Online video viewers are much more focused – browsing around would shrink or hide the program that they’re watching. That added focus, combined with a less-intrusive advertising model, could mean a bright future for unskipped online video ads.

Your website needs advertising, and your advertising needs your website.  The most interactive and beautiful website is worthless if no one sees it, and all the site traffic in the world is no good unless your website is able to capture attention and translate traffic into customers.

But, as we face an economic slowdown that’s surely effecting everyone, businesses everywhere face the difficult dilemma of tight spending limiting advertising budgets at a time when new business and customers are needed more than ever.  The result? A shift in spending from traditional media to online spending.

To be clear, the increase in online advertising is not offsetting the decline in traditional ad spend, and overall US advertising spend will be down about 4% in 2009 according to Media Futurist Jack Myers.  But amidst this decline, emarketer is still projecting double digit growth for online advertising.

Perhaps the hardest hit sector of the media landscape is TV.  According to the November 3, 2008 Advertising Age, TV advertising slipped 1.3% 2008 – even when you include the boost from the election and the Olympics.  Without political spending and Olympic advertising, TV ad dollars would have fallen 2.4%.  This while online advertising is projected to grow some 14-16%.

It seems that in a time when ad dollars are becoming more and more precious, advertisers are counting on the two big promises of Internet advertising – Targeting and Tracking.

These concepts aren’t new!  Every TV show targets a specific demographic which advertisers try to latch onto, and the TV ratings of any given program will give you an idea of who saw what.  But between DVR and the growth of online media, who knows who’s actually watching those commercials.  Online advertisers can reach out to people based on their web history, demographics, and even the interests they express in their social networks.  So instead of paying a lot to reach everyone, they can pay less to reach just the audience that they’re looking to sell to.  Search ads go a step further, reaching out to people actively seeking to buy!

Also, with Google Analytics leading the charge, free tools exist that allow websites to track an absurd amount of user actions with their website.  Ultimately, advertisers can see what ads are working, and make changes on the fly to constantly improve.

Analytical tools are also crucial to understanding how users interact with your website, and how users move through the buying process.  Remember, driving traffic to a website is only half the battle! Once a user’s found you, they’ll need to be able to find what they need quickly.  Online, we all have the attention span of a 5-year old.

I’m sure none of this is groundbreaking stuff, but as the economy scares everyone and shrinks budgets worldwide, the message is important:

A user-friendly website that converts traffic into buyers and informed online advertising is the most effective mix for winning in a down economy.

The web is a necessity.  Having a web presence that reflects your brand and articulates your message is no longer a luxury for successful companies, it’s a pre-requisite for doing business.  However, once you have a beautiful, functional website, the next question is usually pretty clear.

How do I get people to my website?

This is no doubt the number one question for web-marketers, but I’m not so sure it’s the most important anymore.  Because it takes no effort to leave a website, dragging people to a web page is only as good as their desire to be there.  So, the more important question is: How do I engage my target audience?

MAKE THEM WANT TO COME

The obvious part of this lies in designing a website that itself is fun, engaging and useful.  If people can’t find the information that they want and need quickly – they’re gone and good luck getting them back.  A web site MUST start with the user.  What are they here for?  Are you bringing them to what they want, or making them root for it through pages and pages of meaningless corporate nonsense to find it?  There’s a reason that G.1440 has become experts in designing web usability.  This will not only lead to keeping the traffic that you get, but it will inherently drive traffic as more and more users spread the word about your www dot awesomeness.

DON’T CHANGE USER HABITS – COME TO THEM!

But the second part of this proposition is a little more elusive.  Instead of focusing on how to drag people away from what they’re doing to spend time on your company’s digitial brochure, why not bring the message to where they are already?!

This isn’t as simple as just throwing up a MySpace page.  It takes a bit of research, but ultimately you want to know where your target customers spend their time online.  Then take the message to them!  Contribute to the blogs they read, either as a guest writer or as a commenter.  Create applications for the platforms they use.  Be creative!

You can also use your existing users for some of this legwork.  Open your content up for others to use.  A great example is http://www.mtvmusic.com.  MTV just made every music video ever available for embedding (along with a host of other original content).  So now I can share Thriller with all of you – while promoting MTV – how nice of me!

Your website should really only be one part of a multi-media marketing mix.  With social networking, micro blogging, and all the other web 2.0 tools that comprise “social media”, the opportunity to engage your target market has never been better!

Remember the web is an interactive communication medium.  Not a content delivery platform.  It’s not TV: Part 2.  People have to want to see what they’re looking at.  In fact, some of the latest research shows that online ads don’t really work well anyway!

There’s no single solution that will work for everyone, but it’s certainly worth it to put in the time to find a digital marketing strategy that works for you.