Facebook Revamps Brand Pages

Facebook has changed once again, no surprise there! But this time they made huge improvements to the mobile app. Facebook has been changing the design of its mobile brand pages. This new design has been focused around interaction instead of content, which is easily accessible at the top of the page. New changes to the Facebook web page are coming soon!

Facebook took a different approach by changing their site to be more mobile friendly. More than half of Facebook users access their profiles through their mobile devices, so the change has already proven to be more user friendly.

Mobile Business Apps: Increasing Productivity and Revenue

The buzz is all about mobile business apps! Mobile productivity and process apps went mobile in 2012 and revenue associated with them is estimated to be around $25 billion for 2012. Research firm Strategy Analytics says this number is expected to rise to $50 billion by 2017.

The mobile experience has evolved from simple mobile email and messaging apps to productive apps with content authoring abilities like enterprise resource planning (ERP) and consumer resource management (CRM).

The importance of worker productivity on the go has driven the rapid growth of mobile business apps and has pushed the market revenue to new highs. It’s exciting to see the ways businesses are stepping up to the plate when it comes to mobilizing their business operations.

The mobile device has evolved to fit each and every business need and surely the apps market should be one to watch in the times to come. 

Marketing Predictions for 2013

In 2012, there were increased developments for marketers. Social media sites, such as Facebook, created a massive mobile advertising business. Now the question is, what does 2013 have to offer? Advertising experts got together to show marketing predictions for the year to come.

The first strategy experts explored was “Mobile-First Strategy.” Facebook and Google are two sites responsible for the mobile ad spending tripling to $4 billion in 2012. According to eMarketer, “we expect mobile ads to increasingly become the top priority for advertisers on digital, rather than desktop.” This is the result of consumers spending more time and money on mobile devices.

Next experts explored the revision of “Banner Ads.” Banner ads do not work well on mobile devices, which has lead companies to reconsider using them. However, the ads will not be going away for good, instead businesses are working on a more creative way to post them and become user friendly.

Will 2012 see growth in online ads?

From Online Media Daily: Just as gadget-crazed as consumers, advertisers are expected to accelerate their nontraditional media spends through 2012. MagnaGlobal now expects spending on Internet media (including national and local) to grow by 12.2%, this year. That’s up from the Interpublic unit’s previous forecasts of 10.9%, and, if correct, will represent $35.6 billion and a 20.2% market share.

“Encouraged by the rise of smartphone and tablet usage and the availability of scalable platforms, mainstream advertisers are now fully embracing all mobile formats (display, search, video, in-app),” said Vincent Letang, EVP and head of global forecasting at MagnaGlobal.

Letang expects mobile-related online ad revenues to grow by 53% in 2012, to reach $2.4 bil. “iAd and Facebook in particular will create more opportunities for marketers in various mobile environments in 2012,” he said. With $1.6 billion in 2011, mobile advertising already represents 5% of online advertising, and 1% of total domestic advertising.

That said, Internet media is still driven by paid search, as well as online video, which Letang expects to grow by 24% in 2012 to reach $2.2 billion.

In terms of advertising sectors, technology, finance and telecoms are expected to increase their respective expenditure at higher than average rates, according to the company.

Automotive remains a concern, but more for traditional media buyers, MagnaGlobal notes. In 2010, and again in 2011, a double-digit recovery in car sales was matched by a double-digit growth in automotive ad spend. Going into 2012, however, while new car sales were up in the first quarter, protracted unemployment and steep gasoline inflation could hamper further growth.

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/173666/new-online-ad-forecast-12-growth-for-2012.html#ixzz1tjoq8epQ

2012 : Retailers all about Customer Interaction

In an effort to build customer engagement, capture wallet share and accelerate sales growth, retailers in 2012 will focus on a number of customer-centric functions, including IT and ecommerce investments, enhancing customer service initiatives and, building on their mobile platforms. Those findings are from a new report from the National Retail Federation (NRF) Foundation by KPMG.

Retail Horizons: Benchmarks for 2011, Forecasts for 2012,” surveyed 247 retail executives from various sectors, outlines retailers’ top strategic initiatives for 2012 including merchandising, ecommerce, store and field operations, supply chain and human capital, among others.

“Retailers are poised to enter 2012 with a renewed focus on building up and building out many of their most important operations, hoping to establish a new sense of brand loyalty with all of their customers,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Though customers are always a company’s top priority, customer satisfaction will get a huge facelift this year. From increasing their brand visibility through cross-channel initiatives to providing unique, personalized shopping experiences through every channel, retailers have indicated 2012 is all about the customer.”

According to the survey, nearly 67% of companies rank customer satisfaction as the top strategic initiative for 2012 and, similarly, 82% say customer service strategies will be their top priority in the coming year, up from 75% last year.

For the first time in the survey’s ten-year history, retailers’ websites or online channels eclipsed physical stores as the top channel for marketers (81% for brick-and-mortar vs. 86% online). As such, retail executives say they will invest in programs that directly resonate with today’s shopper. According to the survey, 85 will emphasize  increasing online sales, up from 83% in 2011, and 38% will have a greater focus on increasing mCommerce sales over the next year, up from 29% in 2011. Additionally, more than half (53%) of those surveyed say they will specifically focus on web personalization engines in the coming months, which includes such enhancements as location-based services and tracking methods unique to shopping habits.
To better serve mobile-savvy shoppers in their stores, retailers also stated enhancing handheld technologies, such as mobile point-of-sale, will be a core focus over the next 18 months. While 17% already use mobile POS technologies in their store, an additional 33% indicate they plan further POS investments during that timeframe.

“Compared to the past few years, retailers have turned their attention to growth acceleration, with an emphasis on improved customer engagement strategies and tactics,” said Mark Larson, KPMG’s global head of retail. “Harnessing the vast amounts of customer data they have at their disposal to create unique consumer interactions will be critical, especially as digital sales grow. Clearly the retailers who master the one-to-one customer approach, and who also leverage the full potential of e-and-mobile commerce platforms, will be in a much stronger position to gain wallet share.”

Aiming to grow that customer interaction, 45% of companies are actively developing widgets, gadgets or advanced links that can be incorporated with their social media pages, and another 41% are planning to develop these items over the next 18 months.

Other KPMG/NRF survey findings:
• Thirty-three% reported increases of greater than 5% in same store sales in 2011, up from 21% in 2010. Additionally, 63% reported gross margins greater than 40% in 2011, up from 40% in 2010
• After years of practicing cost containment, this year more than half (52%) of respondents plan to increase their IT budgets
• Nine in 10 (91%) respondents said they will focus on leadership assessment, development and succession, up from 83% in 2011. Additionally, 52% will increase associate training, up from 39% last year
• As the number of multichannel shoppers continues to grow, so will retailers’ focus on price optimization – more than one-third (35%) of respondents will focus on solidifying their price optimization technologies over the next 18 months
• Nearly six in 10 (59%) say new customer acquisition is their top strategic priority for 2012, up from 55% in 2011