Easy Payments, the Latest Customer Strategy for E-Commerce Operators

The concept of easy payment was examined in relation to ecommerce discussing how this impacts on customers as well as financial institutions and merchants (E- commerce operators). It was discovered that, despite the fact that easy payment strategy opens up vast  opportunities for both customers and operators (merchants) benefit them at both ends, certain issues as  regards the security and guarantee of transactions need to be looked into. The author conclude that it is vital  for financial institutions as well as operators to try to come up with measures to safeguard their interest in the  implementation of the easy payment system so as not to run into a loss.

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Sources: Rashad Yazdanifard ,  Igbanor Stephenie Esimhenor , Ajibola Olatunde Micheal and Arash pour
Seyedi

Facebook & Retailers Need To Improve The User Shopping Experience

Over the past year, Nordstrom, Gap, Gamestop, and JC Penny, just to name a few, have made a strategic decision to back out of the storefronts they had implemented on Facebook. Other retailers have joined the list as well, frustrated with the inability to sell on Facebook, and if there isn’t change, others will join in the “F-commerce” abandonment.

It’s too early to tell exactly whether blame should be placed with Facebook or the retailers themselves, but more importantly, there could very well be implications when it comes time for Facebook’s initial public offering of shares. Facebook will be under serious performance pressure to prove to shareholders that it has the ability to grow its impressive revenue base. Facebook based e-commerce storefronts are an example of a perfect opportunity to do just that, however more strategic attention will need to be placed on both Facebook themselves and the retailers to make the experience worthwhile to users

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Source: Marketair

QR Codes Connect Art on the Wall With Music on Your iPhone

Portuguese artist Nuno Serrão wants to make art viewing more stimulating by incorporating music through an iPhone app and QR codes.

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Source:Mashable

When a company promotes its brand by investing to social media platforms: tools, data, persuasion factors

Before start analyzing this concept on whether or not companies are in position to promote their brands by investing time and money on social media marketing it is necessary to pose certain questions.

Is it sure that the company and its products will have ROI using social media platforms (like Twitter, Facebook fan pages etc. )?

Is there a specific methodology  that will lead to one of the  main objectives (which is the increased number of fans/followers)?

If an agency takes into account certain factors and by taking advantage of the new technologies and carrying out a certain business plan, it is  most likely for this campaign (in social media) to be successful.

Before start analyzing it is necessary to establish some certain facts based on solid and concrete evidence, that should be taken into account.

Facts about social media and companies

  According to Busby et al “with 94 per cent of marketing executives responding to a 2010 survey indicating that they expect to spend more on social media over the following three years.” Thus companies are determined to spend more regarding their social media marketing policy.

  Why is that?  According to Facebook:

More than 800 million active users

 More than 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any giv

 More than 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups, events and community pages)

 Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events

On average, more than 250 million photos are uploaded per day

  On average, people on Facebook install apps more than 20 million times every day

Every month, more than 500 million people use an app on Facebook or experience Facebook Platform on other websites

 More than 7 million apps and websites are integrated with Facebook

Twitter has 175 million  registered users

100 million are active users , almost 40% log in merely to see what other people are saying. 

More than 50 million users log in each day, and the daily average number of tweets is in the realm of 230 million

According to Soboleva “One of the challenges for organisations attempting to develop an effective and efficient Twitter strategy is the lack of theoretical or empirical evidence on use of Twitter” . This means that there is no far an academically evidenced study that can be implemented by other companies for their brands.

36,9% of users follow companies on their Facebook fan pages because these companies offer deals/discount whereas on Twitter it’s  43.5, according to Get Satisfaction.

 “60 percent of businesses believe social media content works best when used for communications, whether with customers, prospects or potential employees. Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms allow companies to interact in a more informal manner that makes brands more accessible.”

Psychology. It is undeniable that the psychological factor plays an important role. Implicitly we feel  nice when we have the sense that we are a part of a broader group (the case in point a group that is represented by a brand and this brand belongs to a company). We feel important and that our opinion counts for the company and its brands, especially when there is a two-way communication. This two-way communication, can benefit the company in the long run in terms of CRM, customer relationship marketing.  The more popular a brand is, the more likely is to get  more followers/friends. However this does not necessarily mean that it can keep them, if the company follows a catastrophic social media marketing strategy.

However, despite these facts  which are based on solid and concrete evidence, there are tools that can facilitate and organize  a social media marketing  strategy.

Tools that should be taken into serious consideration before and during the social media campaign are the following.

Facebook Fan pages applications. Without mentioning any third companies that offer applications that can be implemented on Facebook Fan page, a company  through its marketing agency can provide vouchers/coupons for users in order to like  the specific Fan page. Coupons which are offered to  unemployed, students with discounts can allure the potential “friends”/buyers.

Examples are the Starbucks or the House of Fraser.  A student who is interested in getting a discount for a certain product  should provide his/her unique number to the online coupon that is available through the company’s fan page and in this way the company will be able to verify the student in case of multiple frauds.

Twitter is dynamic tool that social media marketers can use for their benefit. They can have access to accounts that are not protected by putting certain keywords which are related to the brand that they promote. Simply by putting  the brand on the search tab of Twitter, marketers can have access on the  accounts/users that refer to the product and in this way they can see if the sentiment of the users towards the brand is positive, negative or neutral.

Popular brands can be connected with a catchy hashtag that will connect

Klout is an important tool in order to measure your company influence on others (on Blogger, on Foursquare, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter etc. ). According to Klout : “it provides powerful analysis and tools to help you more clearly understand your own influence, your network's influence, and the topical interests that make each of us special. Using Klout, you can improve your use of social media and better reach your network.”

 For example, if a marketing agency implements a social media strategy for  a brand, e.g. Lipstic from L’Oreal , then in this case the social media marketers should conduct a thorough research on the search tab to find relevant influencers and topics, by putting terms like “cosmetics” and automatically relevant influencers and topics will be at their disposal. Consecutively the social media marketers should add the influencers (physical or corporate entities) in their list and interact with them .

Google alerts

An efficient way to find out what the users think before launching your campaign and during the social media marketing campaign is to find out what users across the Web think about your brand. For example, if we have a brand which is Next, then it would be necessary to keep track of any terms related to Next (clothes, women clothing, men clothing etc) which are related to our brand; thus with the use of Boolean/proximity operators the result types can come from everything or from selected sources (news, blogs, videos and discussions) to the team’s mail. In this way the social media marketers will be able to handle according every source across the Web that is related to their brand.

Brand Visibility Metrics

Social media marketers before and during their social media marketing campaign can have a daily  update on the impact that the brand has across the social web. Indicatively:

“Social Mention is a social media search and analysis platform that aggregates user generated content from across the universe into a single stream of information.

It allows you to easily track and measure what people are saying about you, your company, a new product, or any topic across the web's social media landscape in real-time. Social Mention monitors 100+ social media properties directly including: Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube, Digg, Google etc.”

Also, it provides details regarding the sentiment (negative, positive, neutral), that could be useful for the marketers in order to mitigate any negative sentiment that the brand has.

A similar tool, related to brand visibility metrics is How Sociable.

According to How Sociable “We calculate the magnitude score by taking a sample of one week's activity across the social web and analyzing it to find out what portion of the activity references a brand”

These handy tools, which  social media marketers are going to use are sufficient enough to ensure that the brands of the companies will be developed in order to expand their impact on the social web and its users and at the same time brand visibility metrics tools can provide the necessary assurances that any negative impact will be faced effectively in terms of crisis management (if something comes up) 


*It should be pointed out that different strategy should be followed for every brand.  This passage concerns general practices/rules that should be followed for all brands; however, it is up to the marketers -in conjunction with the company- to create a strategy that matches their needs separately. 


Vagelis Varfis

Taco Bell, Dunkin' Donuts and more test Facebook loyalty scheme

A loyalty scheme run by start-up Plink will give Facebook Credits to consumers in return for purchases at Taco Bell, Dunkin’ Donuts and others.

This aims to take advantage of the boom in virtual currency, which is currently a $2.1bn industry.

After registering a credit card with Plink, users are rewarded with Facebook Credits each time they make a purchase in participating stores - Plink then takes a percentage of each sale.

Customers can use the virtual credits to buy additional content while playing games like FarmVille and The Sims

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Source: http://econsultancy.com

House of Fraser targets students with Facebook discounts

The social media campaign mirrors a discount that is already available in-store as House of Fraser (HoF) tries to bring consistency to its online and offline offerings.

The voucher app on its Facebook page was launched in partnership with the National Union of Students (NUS) last week.

After entering their NUS card number, the student is given a code that gives a 10% discount when entered at HoF's online checkout.

The app, which will also offer 'flash sales' discounts, is aims to use Facebook to attract a younger demographic than those who normally visit the House of Fraser website, while encouraging first time purchases among students.

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Source: http://econsultancy.com

7 Ways to Bring Your Community into the Content Creation Process

Content is a critical interface between ourselves and our community. It helps us achieve organizational objectives, reinforce our brand, and communicate key messages.

We, as community managers and content marketers, are well-positioned to create relevant, useful, and interesting content that serves both our audience’s needs and our goals. We live and breathe those goals, and we know our brand identity almost as well as we know ourselves. 

But just because we can do it all on our own, does that mean we should? The truth is, our brand belongs to our community as much as it belongs to us, if not more so. That identity is not a decree that gets passed down; it is shared and, more to the point, it is co-created. While we shape and communicate it, they are out there living it

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Source: http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com

Online word of mouth and consumer purchase intentions

Read here everything you need to know about online word of mouth for consumer purchase

Source: Gerard Prendergast, David Ko and Siu Yin V. Yuen

Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix

The emergence of Internet-based social media has made it possible for one person to communicate with hundreds or even thousands of other people about products and the companies that provide them. Thus, the impact of consumer-toconsumer communications has been greatly magnified in the marketplace. This article argues that social media is a hybrid element of the promotion mix because in a traditional sense it enables companies to talk to their customers, while in a nontraditional sense it enables customers to talk directly to one another. The content, timing, and frequency of the social media-based conversations occurring between
consumers are outside managers’ direct control. This stands in contrast to the traditional integrated marketing communications paradigm whereby a high degree of control is present. Therefore, managers must learn to shape consumer discussions in a manner that is consistent with the organization’s mission and performance goals. Methods by which this can be accomplished are delineated herein. They include providing consumers with networking platforms, and using blogs, social media tools, and promotional tools to engage customers.

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Source: W. Glynn Mangold,  David J. Faulds

The Effectiveness of Electronic Word-of-Mouth Communication: A Literature Analysis

Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication has been one of the most exciting research areas of inquiry. There is an emerging attention on the effectiveness of eWOM communication. The scope of published studies on the impact of eWOM communication is rather broad and the studies appear relatively fragmented and inconclusive. In this study, we focused on the individual-level eWOM research. We conducted a systematic review of eWOM research and identified key factors that are specific to the context of eWOM communication. We believe that this  literature analysis not only provides us with an overview of the current status  of knowledge within the domain of eWOM communication, but also serves as a salient guideline for future research directions.


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Source Christy M.K. Cheung , Dimple R. Thadani

33% of Companies Have a Mobile Marketing Strategy New Data

Mobile marketing is becoming a hot topic in the marketing community. Today, KingFish media released new survey data about mobile marketing. The new report, Mobile Marketing: Plans, Trends and Measurability, includes many interesting insights from marketers. You can download the report for the full research, but for an overview of the findings, we have selected seven interesting data points to share in this post
.


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Source: Kipp Bodnar

Most Companies Have Social Media Strategies

Three-quarters of companies currently have a social media marketing strategy, according toa new study from King Fish Media, Hubspot and Junta 42.


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Exploring the Link Between Customer Care and Brand Reputation in the Age of Social Media

Read more about brand reputation

Source: Nora Ganim Barnes

Trademark Issues in Cyberspace: The Brave New Frontier

Cyberspace raises a variety of thought-provoking trademark and trademark-related issues. While many of the issues and problems that arise may be analyzed and resolved from the vantage point of traditional notions of trademark law, others present thornier questions requiring greater sensitivity to the practical effect of cyberspace on the commercial marketplace.

The cyberspace trademark issue that continues to get the most press is the domain name controversy. Is a domain a trademark? When does use of a domain infringe trademark rights? If someone else registers a company's name or trademark as their domain, what can the company do? Beyond domains lie the vast array of trademark issues that ultimately are likely to be more important than domain disputes. Questions of what constitutes use, and abuse, of trademarks in cyberspace are exploding along with the web. In addition to garden variety trademark enhancement and policing concerns that take new shapes on the Internet, companies must be vigilant in avoiding trademark dilution and think twice before linking to other sites or permitting others to link to the company's site using company logos. Attempting to police trademark rights in cyberspace can be a daunting, but infinitely interesting, task.

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Source: by Sally M. Abel

Crisis Communication and Social Media

The rapid evolution of new media often results in the practice of public relations getting ahead of research.  The practice of crisis communication is ahead of research in terms of social media.  If you look at training seminars and webinars for crisis communication, social media is emerging as a “hot” topic.  A basic definition of social media is the use of technology to facilitate interaction and the sharing of information.  There is a need to elaborate and build greater knowledge about crisis communications and new media with an emphasis on social media.  So this section was developed to begin compiling information on the topic.


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Source: W. Timothy Coombs

ARTICLE 29 DATA PROTECTION WORKING PARTY: Opinion 2/2010 on online behavioural advertising

Behavioural advertising entails the tracking of users when they surf the Internet and the  building of profiles over time, which are later used to provide them with advertising matching  their interests. While the Article 29 Working Party does not question the economic benefits  that behavioural advertising may bring for stakeholders, it firmly believes that such practice  must not be carried out at the expense of individuals' rights to privacy and data protection.  The EU data protection regulatory framework  setting forth specific safeguards must be  respected. To facilitate and encourage compliance, the present Opinion clarifies the legal  framework applicable to those engaged in behavioural advertising.   In particular, the Opinion notes that advertising network providers are bound by Article 5(3)  of the ePrivacy Directive pursuant to which  placing cookies or similar devices on users'  terminal equipment or obtaining information through such devices is only allowed with the  informed consent of the users. The Opinion notes that settings of currently available browsers  and opt-out mechanisms only deliver consent in very limited circumstances. The Opinion
asks advertising network providers to create prior opt-in mechanisms requiring an affirmative  action by the data subjects indicating their willingness to receive cookies or similar devices  and the subsequent monitoring of their surfing behaviour for the purposes of serving tailored  advertising. The Opinion considers that users' single acceptance to receive a cookie may also  entail their acceptance for the subsequent readings of the cookie, and hence for the  monitoring of their internet browsing. Thus, to meet the requirements of Article 5(3) it would  not be necessary to request consent for each reading of the cookie. However, to keep data  subjects aware of the monitoring, ad network providers should: i) limit in time the scope of  the consent; ii) offer the possibility to revoke it easily and iii), create visible tools to be  displayed where the monitoring takes place. This approach would address the problem of  burdening users with numerous notices while ensuring that the sending of cookies and the  subsequent monitoring of Internet surfing behaviour for the  purposes of serving tailored  advertising only takes place with data subjects' informed consent.   Because behavioural advertising is based on the use of identifiers that enable the creation of  very detailed user profiles which, in most  cases, will be deemed  personal data, Directive  95/46/EC is also applicable. The Opinion comments on how advertising network providers  should comply with the obligations that arise from this Directive, notably, with respect to  rights of access, rectification, erasure, retention, etc. Taking into account that publishers may  share certain responsibility for the data processing that takes place in the context of
behavioural advertising, the Opinion calls upon publishers to share with ad network providers  the responsibility for providing information to individuals and encourages creativity and  innovation in this area. Given  the nature of the practice of behavioural advertising,  transparency requirements are a key condition for  individuals to be able to consent to the  collection and processing of their personal data and exercise effective choice. The Opinion  sets out the information obligations of advertising network providers/publishers vis-à-vis data  subjects, referring in particular to the ePrivacy Directive, which requires that users be  provided with "clear and comprehensive information".  The Opinion analyses and clarifies the obligations set forth by the applicable legal  framework. However, it does not prescribe how, from a technology point of view, such
obligations must be complied with.  Instead, in different areas, the Opinion invites industry to  undertake a dialogue with the  Article 29 Working Party with the view to put forward  technical and other means to comply with the framework as described in the Opinion as soon  as possible. Towards this end, the Article 29 Working Party  will contact stakeholders to  request their input. Entities that are not explicitly consulted are welcomed to send their  contributions to the Secretariat of the Article 29 Working Party.

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Why young consumers are not open to mobile marketing communication

This paper explores young people’s motivations for using mobile phones. Older adolescents’ everyday use of traditional and new forms of mediated communication were explored in the context of their everyday lives, with data generated from self-completion questionnaires, diaries and mini focus groups. The findings confirm the universal appeal of mobile phones to a youth audience. Social and entertainment-related motivations dominated, while information and commercially orientated contact were less appealing. While marketers are excited by the reach and possibilities for personalisation offered by mobile phones, young people associated commercial appropriation of this medium with irritation, intrusion and mistrust. In other words, while marketers celebrated mobile phones as a ‘brand in the hand’ of youth markets, young people themselves valued their mobiles as a ‘friend in the hand’. This suggests that the way forward for mobile marketing communications is not seeking or pretending to be young consumers’ friend, but rather offering content that helps them maintain or develop the personal friendships that matter to them.
Read more for mobile marketing and young consumers

Source: Ian Grant, Stephanie O’Donohoe

What motivates consumers to review a product online? A study of the product-specific antecedents of online movie reviews

In recent years online product review forums have been exerting an increasingly powerful  influence on consumer choice. Not surprisingly, several firms are becoming interested in  leveraging this phenomenon, proactively trying to induce consumers to “spread the word”  about their products online (Godes et al. 2005). Interestingly, however, even after one  controls for the variance in sales volumes, there appears to be substantial variance in  consumers’ propensity to discuss different products online. A deeper understanding of the  forces that motivate consumers to write online reviews is, therefore, emerging as a  question of both theoretical and practical significance.


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Sources: Chrysanthos Dellarocas,  Ritu Narayan

Generating positive word-of-mouth communication through customer-employee relationships

Word-of-mouth (WOM) communication, ``informal communications directed at other consumers about the ownership, usage, or characteristics of particular goods and services and/or their sellers’’ (Westbrook, 1987, p. 261), has recently received renewed attention in the marketing literature (Anderson, 1998; Gilly et al. 1998; Money et al., 1998). Positive WOM communication has been recognized as a particularly valuable vehicle for promoting a firm’s products and services. Indeed, given its non-commercial nature, WOM communication is viewed with less skepticism than firm-initiated promotional efforts (Herr et al., 1991).


If you want to know, please click here

Source: Dwayne D. Gremler, Kevin P. Gwinne, Stephen W. Brow, Emerald publications. 

Relationships between Blogs as eWOM and Interactivity, Perceived Interactivity, and Parasocial Interaction

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of a political candidate's blog-a form of eWOM (electronic Word-of-Mouth)-on attitudes toward the website, attitudes toward the political candidate, and intentions to vote. The results showed that interactivity in the form of a blog significantly influenced attitude toward the website, but not attitudes toward the candidate or voting intention. However, perceived interactivity influenced all three dependent variables, but did not interact with interactivity, suggesting that these are two separate constructs. The effects were mediated by parasocial interaction.


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Source: Journal of Interactive Advertising: Kjerstin S. Thorson, Shelly Rodgers