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88.2 million US adults will redeem an online coupon this year
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A digital revolution in couponing coupled with the belt-tightening of the recession have combined to make coupons cool among more than just those clipping the Sunday circular. Digital coupon usage is now firmly a part of the online shopping experience of millions of US consumers.

eMarketer estimates that by the end of 2011, nearly half of US adult internet users, or 88.2 million people, will have redeemed an online coupon or code for use either online or offline in the past year. By 2013, 96.8 million adults will redeem an online coupon.

“Consumer brands are accustomed to promoting their products in stores and in newspaper inserts,” said Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer principal analyst and author of a forthcoming report on online couponing. “But as more shoppers make purchase decisions online before taking a shopping trip, brands are following them onto the internet.”

US Adult Online Coupon Users, 2009-2013 (millions and % of adult internet users)

The growth rate for online coupon users is expected to gradually decline through 2013, as most online consumers predisposed to using digital coupons already do so.

Already, household usage of digital coupons has nearly doubled since 2005. Experian Simmons reported that 12% of households redeemed coupons from email or the web that year; it expects that figure to reach 22% in 2011.

Digital Coupon* Usage Among US Households, 2005 & 2011 (% of total)

“Today’s online coupon users tend to be affluent, highly educated and over the age of 55,” said Grau. “This is valuable input for marketers shaping the different elements of a promotional campaign, such as what products to promote with coupons, where to place the offers and what marketing messages to use.”

What’s Next for LinkedIn?
MAY 24, 2011

On May 19, LinkedIn became the first US social network to go public, leading the way for future social media IPOs. As the media focus on the company's valuation and its implications on the financial markets, LinkedIn continues its day job as an important venue for marketers.

With more than 100 million current members, LinkedIn saw about 0.51% of all site visits to social networks in December 2010, according to Experian Hitwise. Around 25 million US internet users visit the site each month, comScore reports, and while they don’t log in as frequently as Facebook users, they are active in ways important to social media marketers, avidly joining and posting to groups.

LinkedIn Groups Metrics Worldwide, March 2011 (millions)

LinkedIn’s nature as a professionally oriented networking site also gives it a value boost for marketers. Users tend to be willing to provide more personal information about themselves than on general social networking sites like Facebook, leading to greater possibilities for targeted marketing.

At Efficient Frontier’s Social Upfront event in May, Steve Patrizi, vice president of sales for LinkedIn’s marketing solutions business, noted this point. “Marketers are running the same creative on LinkedIn, but it is very targeted thanks to the provided information, and these marketers are successful,” he said. He cited a successful HP campaign targeting small-business owners as an example.

The site has also spent a lot of time in the past year launching new services for its users and advertisers, such as LinkedIn Today and Company Pages.

LinkedIn also has a major presence in up-and-coming international markets that many advertisers are keen to reach. In March 2011, leading up to the eighth anniversary of its launch, LinkedIn released updated statistics about the site and its usage. The data showed that India is the largest source of members outside the US, with 9 million members, followed by Brazil and Canada, both at 3 million. Brazil is the fastest-growing source country of new users, with 428% year-over-year growth in membership in 2010.

Top 4 Countries, Ranked by Fastest-Growing Number of LinkedIn Users, 2010 (% change vs. prior year)

With companies, marketers and other businesspeople focusing on BRIC countries as a growth strategy, the fact that LinkedIn has a solid and expanding footprint there bodes well. As it navigates through new, public waters, international growth will be key to LinkedIn's success.

For Small-Business Marketers, Are Fewer Channels Better?
MAY 23, 2011

Finding new customers is the greatest business challenge for small businesses, according to a February 2011 survey by Bredin Business Information, and small businesses are turning to a wide variety of online marketing channels to do so.

Small-business owners were most likely to say they used websites to find new customers (85.8%), followed by email and search marketing, each used by about three-quarters of respondents. Notably, every online marketing channel showed a dramatic increase in usage between 2010 and 2011.

With a confidence interval of ±5%, the survey results can be used directionally to indicate a great level of experimentation among small businesses using digital marketing, according to Bredin.

Online Marketing Tactics Used by US SMBs to Find New Customers, 2010 & 2011 (% of respondents)

But at the same time as small businesses have expanded their use of online marketing, respondents in 2011 indicated they were much less satisfied with the effectiveness of these channels. Website, email and search were rated most effective for customer acquisition, but even these had dropped since the prior year.

Most Effective Online Marketing Tactics for Customer Acquisition According to US SMBs, 2010 & 2011 (% of respondents)

A rush of small businesses to new marketing channels can mean that less experienced respondents are now reporting on the effectiveness of their efforts, which would naturally be lower than those who have been using a channel for many years. In addition, some small businesses could be overreaching by trying to tackle too many channels at once, without the necessary time and resources.

“There is a fair amount of learning that has to happen for each small-business owner to know how to use and how to measure online marketing tactics,” Stu Richards, CEO of Bredin Business Information, told eMarketer. “In many cases, businesses are struggling, and there’s an opportunity to educate SMBs.”

Small businesses surveyed in April by email marketing software provider Constant Contact also reported that websites and email were highest in effectiveness.

Effectiveness of Marketing Tactics Used by US Small Businesses, April 2011 (% of respondents)

Respondents to the survey were more optimistic about the effectiveness of many channels, especially social media like Facebook.

Mobile Web Users in Western Europe to Double by 2015
APRIL 11, 2011

Around the world, smartphone adoption is the trend, and with it, greater mobile internet usage. The EU-5 is no exception, and eMarketer expects the number of mobile web users in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain to double between 2010 and 2015.

This year, more than 58 million residents of the EU-5 will use the mobile internet at least monthly, according to eMarketer estimates. That will represent less than a quarter of the population.

“Greater use of browsers and apps, in addition to the already widespread use of text messaging, mean enhanced opportunities for marketers to engage customers at every stage of the purchase process, from building awareness all the way through to after-sales service and customer relationship management,” said eMarketer principal analyst Noah Elkin, author of the new report, “Western Europe Mobile: Trends, Case Studies and Best Practices.”

Mobile Internet Users and Penetration in the EU-5, 2009-2015 (millions and % of mobile phone users)

Further good news for marketers is that Europeans are already fairly warm to mobile marketing efforts.

“The willingness of consumers in Europe to interact with brands on their mobile phones—and their growing appetite for perks such as coupons and special offer alerts—have jump-started a new phase in mobile marketing,” said Elkin.

More experienced companies are moving from one-off direct response campaigns to efforts aimed at driving awareness and ongoing customer engagement. Loyalty efforts are likewise becoming more sophisticated, and marketers are placing renewed emphasis on permission-based practices, dovetailing well-established practices of opt-in mobile marketing in the region.

These, along with other factors, will contribute to major increases in mobile ad spending in the region. Mobile ad network aggregator Smaato and research firm mobileSQUARED predict tenfold growth between 2010 and 2015.

Mobile Advertising Spending in the EU-5, 2010 & 2015 (millions)

“Successful mobile marketing demands a comprehensive approach,” said Elkin. “Leading European marketers understand that mobile is central to the ways customers interact with them. Consequently, they know that mobile is central to the health of their brands.”

Posting Strategies that Encourage Engagement on Facebook
APRIL 11, 2011

Companies that post content on their Facebook pages outside normal business hours see engagement rates that are 20% higher than average, according to new data from Facebook marketing software company Buddy Media.

Buddy Media analyzed the Facebook posts and engagement rates for more than 200 clients over the course of two weeks in January and February 2011. The agency measured engagement by looking at comments and “likes,” and factored in fan base size.

According to Buddy Media, 60% of posts were published between 10am and 4pm. However, many Facebook users prefer to log on to the site before or after work, and their engagement with company posts is higher during those times.

By timing content to post when consumers are poised to be on Facebook, companies have a greater chance of being seen in a fan’s newsfeed. Additionally, the study found that engagement rates are 18% higher on Thursday and Friday than the other days of the week.

Facebook Wall Post Engagement Metrics Worldwide, Feb 2011

But that isn’t to say that marketers should only post on those days. Amy Morgan, public relations and social media manager at ConAgra Foods, is part of the team that oversees a Facebook page for Chef Boyardee’s Club Mum program targeting moms. The company posts several times a day.

“When you talk about building a community and building engagement, you need to have a consistent conversation,” Morgan said in an interview with eMarketer on February 22. “As far as Facebook, we post usually once or twice a day. It ebbs and flows, but once or twice a day is usually good.”

While the timing of posts often determines how engaged fans will be, their content is also important. Buddy Media found that shorter is better, as posts with 80 characters or less have a 27% higher engagement rate. Certain words also encourage engagement, particularly those that are instructions such as “like,” “post,” “take” and “comment,” as does asking a question at the end of a post.

For the Club Mum Facebook page, Morgan said that asking fans about their children is an easy way to get them to comment on a post. She said, “It’s about making this personal and really allowing the community to help build that conversation.”

Teens Slowly Increase Online Shopping
APRIL 26, 2011

Internet a big influence for apparel shopping, though not a major destination

Apparel accounts for more of US teens’ spending than any other category, but for most teens, shopping for clothes is still an in-person social activity that happens at brick-and-mortar stores.

According to research from Piper Jaffray, 20% of US teens’ spending went toward clothing as of spring 2011, with a further 8% spent on shoes and 11% on accessories and personal care items.

The leading influence on these purchases was friends—a constant for teens. The internet came in second, above other types of media, such as TV or movies.

Leading Sources that Influence Clothing and Footwear Purchases of US Teens*, Spring 2011

There were demographic differences dividing girls and boys, however, when it came to influence. While friends were most important for all groups, boys said sports were No. 2, followed by the internet. Among girls, by contrast, the internet came third after magazines.

And while the internet may be a big influencer, it’s far from teens’ preferred shopping channel. About three in 10 teens said they liked shopping at specialty stores best, followed by shopping at major chains and discount stores. Just 11% of teens favored online shopping.

Shopping Channel Preferences Among US Teens*, Spring 2011 (% of respondents)

Boys and girls had somewhat different preferences among shopping channels. Among male teens, 15% chose online shopping as their favorite channel, compared to just 7% of female teens, who were more likely than males to prefer specialty, department and discount stores.

Among average-income teens, online shopping experienced only slight growth since fall 2010, although upper-income teens are taking to ecommerce in somewhat larger numbers. The Pew Internet & American Life Project has reported slow gains in the number of teens buying online, which overall reached 48% of teen internet users in 2009.

Several factors hinder teens from buying online, including lack of access to payment methods like credit cards. But for most teen girls, online shopping is simply not social enough for them to give up their trips to the mall.

How Engaged Is Traffic from Social Sites?
APRIL 25, 2011

Person-to-person sharing has become a major way content producers hope to have their information disseminated as social media has offered the chance for content to go viral. Despite studies that suggest email is still the top way people share content, and that search is still the top way people find websites, social sharing—newer and more exciting—is in the spotlight.

According to data from Outbrain, just over 10% of external referrals are from social media sites, compared with approximately 41% from search and nearly a third from other content sites.

External Sources of Traffic to Content Publisher

Referrals from social sites fall overwhelmingly into a few content categories. Social media users are eager to share—and click on—news and entertainment stories, which account for nearly three-quarters of all social media referrals. Industry watchers have posited that one reason for social sharing getting so much attention from the media is their outsize impact on media websites.

Traffic Driven to Content Publisher

Significantly, Outbrain also found social media referrals were less engaged than those from search or other content sites. They had fewer page views per session and a higher bounce rate. Outbrain also developed a definition of a “hyperengaged reader” as one who views at least five pages per session. Social media referrals were less than half as likely to be hyperengaged as referrals from content sites or search.

The Outbrain report suggested that content site referrals were already in reading mode, ready to consume more content, and search referrals were actively looking for information, making them naturally engaged. Social media site users, by contrast, make up fewer referrals to content pages, and those who do click are less engaged.

Optimizing Social Media Pages for Search
MAY 2, 2011

Successful social media marketers do a lot more than set up a profile. They invest real effort in creating and distributing content to their followers, facilitating conversations, developing contests or games, and persuading interested consumers to connect with them.

This makes Facebook pages and Twitter profiles valuable landing pages for the brand. But in many cases, those pages aren’t easy for consumers to find via search.

SEO platform BrightEdge found that less than a third of the top 200 brands in the Fortune 500 had Facebook pages that appeared in the first 20 Google results for the brand’s name. Nearly half of brands did not appear in the top 40 results.

Search Engine Rankings for the Facebook Pages of the Top 200 Brands Worldwide, April 2011

SEO for Twitter profiles was in a similar state. Only about a third of brands studied had a profile in the top 20 search results.

Search Engine Rankings for the Twitter Profiles of the Top 200 Brands Worldwide, April 2011

The same SEO best practices that apply to regular webpages can also boost search rankings for social profiles, according to BrightEdge. For example, linking to a Facebook page or Twitter profile from the company’s main site will pass along authority.

In addition, keeping the content on social media pages fresh and recent boosts SEO. Almost half of business-to-business marketers surveyed by BtoB Magazine and Business.com in July 2010 said social media had helped their search performance, most often as a way to drive inbound links, but also because they were able to build out profile pages to increase their rankings.

US Online Ad Spend Poised to Grow 20% in 2011
JUNE 8, 2011

Online ad spending is returning to pre-recession growth levels, with steady increases projected through 2015 as marketers continue to invest more in digital channels.

eMarketer expects US online advertising spending to reach $31.3 billion this year, a dramatic 20.2% increase over 2010 spending. By 2015, nearly $50 billion will be spent on online ads in the US.

“The internet has become as fundamental as television to advertisers,” said eMarketer principal analyst David Hallerman. “As consumers continue to increase their time spent online and as a resurgent economy continues to bolster ad budgets, we’re going to continue to see an influx of dollars toward the internet. More ad formats, such as video, and more channels, especially social media and mobile, are also key contributors to the spending gains.”

US Online Ad Spending, 2010-2015 (billions and % change)

eMarketer benchmarks its US online ad spending projections against data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, for which the last full year measured was 2010.

Online video ads continue to be the fastest-growing format, with an increase of more than 52% predicted this year. Spending on sponsorships is rising quickly as they experience a resurgence due to branding-oriented campaigns. Banners, search, and classifieds and directories will also show strong increases this year.

“High inventory and lower pricing have made banner and video ads increasingly attractive formats for brand marketers, many of which have seen their online ad budgets grow during the past year,” said Hallerman. “The rise of Facebook has been another prime factor in display ad growth.”

US Online Ad Spending Growth, by Format, 2010-2015 (% change)

Search will continue to take the lion’s share of ad dollars throughout the forecast period, and eMarketer predicts search ad spending will reach $14.38 billion this year. Banners, with $7.61 billion in spending in 2011, will represent nearly a quarter of online ad expenditures.

US Online Ad Spending Share, by Format, 2010-2015 (% of total and billions)

Online video’s spectacular growth is still coming from a fairly small base, worth $2.16 billion this year. But by 2013, video ad spending will outstrip classifieds and directories, making it the third-largest online ad format.

“Marketers increasingly see the internet as a place where brand advertising, especially in the form of video advertising, is effective,” said Hallerman. “Combined with greater targeting and measurement than marketers get with TV ads, the growing consumption of online video has done more to attract brands than any other online ad format.”

Партия регионов в четверг запускает обновленную версию своего сайта, а с осени будет представлена и в социальных сетях. Об этом сообщила народный депутат Украины (фракция Партии регионов) Елена Бондаренко, передает “Интерфакс-Украина”.

“Мы запускаем новую версию сайта”, — сообщила она на пресс-конференции в среду в Киеве.

По словам Бондаренко, команда разработчиков сайта руководствовалась необходимостью сделать этот интернет-ресурс более привлекательным и удобным для пользователей. Депутат сообщила, что появится рубрика “Тема дня”, будут более оперативно обновляться фото- и видеогалереи, на сайте можно будет познакомиться с последними новостями парламентской фракции и региональных организаций.

Как отметила Бондаренко, отныне, любой посетитель сайта сможет связаться с пресс-службой Партии регионов и оставить свои сообщения в рубрике “Обратная связь”. Она также рассказала, что информация сайта будет доступна не только на украинском и русском языках, но и на английском. “Сайт оптимизирован для просмотра на мобильных устройствах и планшетах”, — добавила депутат.

Бондаренко также сообщила, что в планах Партии регионов — работа в социальных сетях. “Работа с социальными сетями — это важный инструмент: он абсолютно современный, но, прежде всего, это общение с теми, кто большую часть своей активной жизни проводит именно в интернете. Такие проекты у нас есть. Мы собираемся их запускать с осени”, — проинформировала депутат.

При этом она отметила, что в Партии регионов понимают, что они в этом плане отстают от своих конкурентов. “Регионалы всегда предпочитали работу лицом к лицу, от дома к дому, от квартиры к квартире — такая тактика будет использоваться нами и далее”, — подчеркнула Бондаренко.

Twitter’s Awareness vs. Usage Problem
JUNE 10, 2011

The Pew Internet & American Life Project announced this month that Twitter usage had risen from 8% of US internet users in fall 2010 to 13% in May 2011, a 62.5% increase in penetration. Twitter usage does seem to be growing, but is a bump like that sizeable enough to take it from niche to mainstream?

In May, Arbitron and Edison Research published an update to their social media research indicating Twitter has a long way to go in convincing consumers they want to use the microblogging service.

Awareness of the service was high, at 92%, but just 8% of consumers ages 12 and up said they had ever used it. Although Twitter awareness actually increased 5 percentage points from an already high figure in 2010, usage increased by just 1 point over the same period.

Awareness vs. Usage of Twitter Among US Consumers, 2008-2011 (% of respondents)

To be sure, Facebook has greater awareness than usage, too. Arbitron and Edison found that more people have heard of the social networking giant than use the internet in the US. But Facebook usage is also high, at an estimated 42.3% of consumers and 57.1% of internet uses this year, eMarketer believes.

By contrast, eMarketer estimates just 11% of internet users will access a Twitter account at least monthly this year.

Comparative Estimates: US Twitter Users, 2009-2013 (% of internet users)

eMarketer projected in January 2011 that US advertising revenues on Twitter would reach $140 million this year and $225 million in 2012. That forecast depended, however, on traffic trends improving and the site seeing greater uptake. Pew’s research indicates that usage may not be flattening, but Twitter has thus far failed to make its value proposition appealing to most Americans who have heard of it.

Older Facebook Users Catching On to ‘Liking’ Brands
JUNE 16, 2011

Users ages 55 and up increasingly likely to connect with companies

It took older web users a few years to begin social networking after it had been popularized by the younger set, but they soon became the fastest-growing segment of users on sites like Facebook. Now it appears they are also growing into a specific social media habit that had been more popular among younger adults: connecting with brands.

As recently as September 2010, based on research from Wedbush Securities, it seemed as if Facebook engagement with brands just might not interest users over age 55. At that point, only about one in four of Facebook’s oldest users had “liked” a brand on the site, compared with 60% of those ages 18 to 34.

By November 2010, over-55s had begun to close the gap, however, and by April 2011, nearly half were connecting with brands. Engagement had also risen among 18- to 34-year-olds as well as the 35-to-54 age group over the period. Overall, 59% of adult Facebook users had “liked” a brand as of April, up from 47% the previous September. Uptake among the oldest users appears to have been a major factor in this rise.

US Facebook Users Who "Like" Brands on Facebook, by Age, 2010 & 2011 (% of respondents)

Increased engagement among older boomers and seniors suggests that Facebook users of all ages have some interest in connecting with brand pages, rather than appealing only to young adults. Since most older Facebook users still have not “liked” a brand, there could still be room to grow in this demographic. The climbing level of activity among the middle age group indicates that younger boomers could have just as much potential social engagement with brands as millennials and Gen Xers.

Typically, social media users report connecting with brands to get deals and discounts, as well as information about products and special offers. But what brand fans expect can vary. For example, affluent social media users tended to follow brands because of a preexisting affinity for them, and a desire to be kept informed. Many older users will fall into this group, due to the point they have reached in their careers and their longer opportunity to build up net worth.

Facebook Display Revenues to Nearly Double This Year

Facebook will grow its net US display revenues this year by another 80.9% to $2.19 billion, eMarketer estimates. This will push it past Yahoo! to become the No. 1 display ad-selling company in the country.

This near-doubling of display ad revenues is actually a slowdown in growth for the social networking giant, which posted triple-digit display ad revenue growth in 2009 and 2010 when its display revenues were at relatively low levels. Next year, growth will slow further to just 31.3%.

“Facebook’s supreme popularity—both in terms of numbers of people and amount of time they spend there—creates a plethora of display ad impressions, mainly for its unique form of banners,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst. “And that popularity is also boosting what advertisers will pay for its display ads.”

Google is also posting solid growth this year after more than doubling display ad revenues in 2010. Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL will all make double-digit gains as the total display market rises 24.5%.

Net US Online Display Ad Revenue Growth at Top Five Ad-Selling Companies, 2009-2012 (% change)

The estimate for Facebook is likely on the conservative side, especially for 2012, and may possibly be adjusted upward when eMarketer revises its social network ad revenue estimates in August 2011.

Even so, Facebook will account for 17.7% of the display ad market this year, rising to 19.4% in 2012. Yahoo! will hold on to its second ranking, dropping from 13.1% of the display market this year to 12.5% next year, when Google will edge up to 12.3%.

Net US Online Display Ad Revenues at Top 5 Ad-Selling Companies as a Percent of Total Display Ad Revenues, 2009-2012

“Display revenue growth at Google will come from three main sources: large advertisers who are already Google customers, the range of SMBs who have relied on search for years but are looking to expand their reach, and brand marketers looking to YouTube to widen their video advertising reach,” said Hallerman. “Google is looking to make display a natural extension of search.”

Google’s planned acquisition of online display ad optimization firm Admeld is just the latest indicator of the search company’s increased focus on the display market.

Social media is bringing dramatic changes to nearly every aspect of the TV business. Viewers are using Facebook and Twitter to comment about shows before, during and after they air. Television networks, grappling with the fragmentation of their audience, are experimenting with mobile apps, Twitter promotions and branded social networks in an effort to bring viewers back together. And a variety of other stakeholders are getting in on the social action as well.

“Experimentation still rules the day,” said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer principal analyst and author of the new report, “Socializing the TV Experience.” “There is a great deal of uncertainty about the paths that social media and TV will take, and the extent to which they will converge over time.”

The many players involved are chasing a small but growing user base. While 43% of online adults have gone online or used social media to engage with TV programming in some way, according to 24/7 Wall St. and Harris Poll, only 17% said they do it while they are watching TV.

US Internet Users Who Have Engaged with TV Shows Online, March 2011 (% of respondents in each group)

But the youngest respondents in the 24/7 and Harris survey—those ages 18 to 34—were significantly more likely than older respondents to have made the social/TV connection. And TV-related properties have become popular in social media. Just as consumers have shown their support by “liking” brand pages on Facebook and following companies on Twitter, they have turned to social media to share their TV-viewing experience.

When it comes to socializing TV in real time, Twitter has emerged as the leader. TV networks have begun to insert hashtags on-screen in an effort to bring real-time conversations together under a common banner, and encouraging actors and other talent to live-tweet to boost engagement.

When “Survivor” host Jeff Probst, for example, began live-tweeting during episodes of the reality program during the spring 2011 season, thousands of viewers followed his lead.

Worldwide Twitter Activity Related to the CBS Show

“Given the amount of activity surrounding social media and TV, some level of convergence is inevitable,” said Williamson. “But trends like timeshifting pose a potential obstacle—there’s not much pleasure in sharing your thoughts about a show when you’re watching it after it first aired. For the networks, social media may be one of the last best ways to bring viewers back together again.”

Корпорация News Corp. продала музыкальный и развлекательный сайт MySpace малоизвестной рекламной компании Specific Media за 35 млн долларов. Об этом сообщает The Wall Street Journal со ссылкой на источники, знакомые с условиями сделки, передают “Ведомости”.

Шесть лет назад News Corp. купила MySpace за 580 млн. долларов.

Specific Media, продавец таргетированной рекламы на других сайтах, сообщила, что привлечет актера и поп-звезду Джастина Тимберлейка, чтобы “перестроить и оживить” MySpace и сделать его местом общения со знаменитостями. Нынешние менеджеры MySpace безуспешно пытались сделать это в течение нескольких лет. Сам Тимберлейк также инвестировал в компанию, сумма инвестиций не раскрывается.

Президент Specific Media Тим Вандерхук сообщил в интервью, что компания намерена построить “цифровую компанию наравне с Yahoo!, AOL, Facebook и другими крупными игроками”.

Сервис микроблогов Twitter в ближайшие два месяца начнет размещать рекламные сообщения в лентах пользователей.

В течение ближайших двух месяцев в Twitter появятся рекламные сообщения. Они будут помещаться непосредственно в ленту пользователей, сообщает издание Mashable со ссылкой на источники, близкие к руководству сервисом.

Сервис уже предупреждал, что планирует внедрять обязательные рекламные твиты, но “агрессивная политика предложений со стороны рекламодателей” ускорила процесс, сообщают источники. Техника такой рекламы уже протестирована. Именно с прицелом на рекламу сервис ввёл “липкие” твиты, которые нельзя просто прокрутить.

Такие сообщения не станут выводиться самыми первыми в ленте, но будут “приклеиваться” к ней, всегда располагаясь в верхней части потока, вне зависимости от того, как часто пользователи будут его пролистывать.

Twitter активно думает о своей монетизации, этому была посвящена встреча директора по финансам Twitter Адама Бэйна с рекламодателями на проходящем в эти дни Каннском фестивале рекламы Cannes Lions. По данным аналитической компании Enders Analysis, доходы компании в 2011 году составят всего $100 млн, что, как признают аналитики, очень мало для сервиса с 300 миллионами подписчиков. Для сравнения: доходы Facebook в 2011 году, количество пользователей которого превысило 750 миллионов, прогнозируются на уровне $3,5 млрд, а Google, предположительно, заработает $2,6 млрд.

“Реклама остается основным источником монетизации для поисковых систем, социальных сетей и почтовых сервисов. Альтернативные модели монетизации, при которых платить пришлось бы самим пользователям, гораздо менее перспективны”, — говорит аналитик ИК “Финам” Татьяна Земцова. Но и

введение подобных сообщений может заставить часть пользователей отвернуться от сервиса, говорит Брайан Тонг из CNet. Если реклама в твиттер-потоках будет таргетированной, то есть ориентированной на интересы конкретного пользователя, она не будет вызывать раздражение у подписчиков сервиса, спорит Кирилл Кукарцев из “ДубльГИС”.

Twitter делает ставку именно на предпочтения пользователей. Кроме “липких сообщений” компания хочет рекомендовать пользователям различные предложения по групповым скидкам по аналогии с технологией Groupon. Предполагается, что сервис сам будет анализировать записи подписчика, вычислять там интересующие его бренды, магазины, места отдыха и выводить в ленту подходящее скидочное предложение из своей базы.

Также компания предполагает введение так называемых promoted tweets, которые представляют собой гибрид контекстной рекламы и обычного поиска. Twitter будет показывать пользователям предоплаченные рекламные сообщения, но выдаваться они будут согласно поисковым интересам пользователей, соответствовать брендам или продуктам, упоминаемым в поисковом контексте. Некоторые бренды, например Coca-Cola, в прошлом году признали успех такой рекламы, рассказывают представители Twitter.

Модели возможной монетизации сервиса достаточно разнообразны, считает руководитель отдела маркетинга и аналитики компании “Интегрум” Игорь Чесноков. Например, возможен вариант, когда роялти за публикацию ссылок будут направляться топовым блогерам. Но, хотя это и вызовет их активность, интерес к их таким блогам будет со временем падать, предупреждает он.

Сейчас Twitter работает с 600 рекламодателями, с которыми уже провел 6 тысяч рекламных кампаний.

Цена рекламы на сервисе за год выросла в четыре раза. Стоимость размещения “промотрендов” — официальных рекламных сообщений — составляет $120 тыс. в день. В апреле 2010 года размещение стоило $25—30 тыс.

Пока у сервиса есть внимание огромной аудитории, размещение рекламы там будет всегда востребовано, уверен исполнительный директор “Бегуна” Борис Омельницкий.

Игорь БАХАРЕВ

Social Network Comments Fuel Offline Behavior
JULY 1, 2011

Comments on social sites about brands and products are encouraging users to take action

Social networks are becoming a part of everyday life for many users, and their offline habits are affected by their participation.

In November 2010, the Pew Internet & American Life Project surveyed US social network users for the “Social Network Sites and Our Lives” report, released in June 2011, and found that 31% of social network users are on Facebook several times a day. Additionally, 21% of respondents use the site about once a day. This is followed by Twitter, which 20% of social network users check several times a day and 13% use about once a day.

As consumers use these social sites several times a day or week, they are also commenting on posts from friends just as often. The Pew study found that 26% of female Facebook users and 17% of male Facebook users comment on Facebook posts at least once a day. Further, the study found that 57% of female Facebook users and 48% of male Facebook users comment on posts at least once a week.

Frequency with Which US Facebook Users Comment on Facebook Posts, by Gender, Nov 2010 (% of respondents)

But social network users are not just responding on social media. The April 2011 “S-Net: The Impact of Social Media” study by ROI Research found that 60% of US social network users were at least somewhat likely to take action when a friend posted something about a product, service, company or brand on a social media site. Only 18% were not at all likely to take action.

The study doesn’t elaborate on what exactly respondents would do, but another question asked specifically what actions US social network users would be more likely to take after following a company or product on Facebook or Twitter. On Facebook, 53% of respondents said the top activities would be purchasing the brand or company’s product and recommending the company or product. For Twitter, the top activities were talking about the company or product (61%), recommending the company or product (59%) and purchasing the brand or company’s product (58%).

Activities that US Social Network Users Are More Likely to Do After They Follow a Company or Products on Facebook or Twitter, April 2011 (% of respondents)

Fans or followers of a brand are influenced by what they see from these company accounts, but they are also influenced by what their friends say about brands or companies that they don’t necessarily follow. It’s another area for marketers to focus on—the reach they have and how their brand fans may influence their own friends and followers.

Google может отказаться от брендов Blogger и Picasa, переименовав их в Google Blog и Google Photo, передает Slon.ru.

Такое решение может быть принято для того, чтобы не размывать бренд в преддверии публичного запуска социальной сети Google+.

Как сообщалось, 28 июня Google представила социальную сеть Google+, которая должна составить конкуренцию Facebook.

Which Europeans are the most enthusiastic, and the most fearful, social networkers

WEB users in Germany are less likely to visit social-networking sites than any of their European neighbours, according to a new study of internet habits published by the European Commission. Only 37% of German internet users make use of such services, compared with 80% in Hungary. Indeed, internet geeks in the EU’s eastern member states seem the most smitten by networking sites, with Latvia, Poland, Slovakia and Cyprus registering similarly high proportions of users. A similar report in 2010 found that Europeans are increasingly concerned about online data privacy. Viewed as a whole, EU citizens are now split over whether to worry about the misuse of personal data on social-networking websites. Curiously, the Commission has also found that European countries with high percentages of social-network users tend to have low percentages of online shoppers (and vice-versa). The suggestion that friending and spending are largely incompatible may be a cause for concern for social networks that still struggle to extract steady revenues from their mammoth memberships.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/07/europe%E2%80%99s-soc...

Shoppers Willing to Connect With Retailers on Facebook
JULY 8, 2011

Internet users follow retailers for more than just deals and discounts

Social commerce may be on the minds of retailers everywhere, but buying through Facebook is still far from mainstream. But it is hard to say whether shoppers are being restricted by the lack of “f-commerce” opportunities on Facebook, or whether retailers are hesitant to experiment before seeing a strong level of interest.

Software provider Ability Commerce found that 79% of the Internet Retail Top 500 retailers have Facebook pages, yet only 12% offer apps or widgets that enable ecommerce transactions on the social network. Meanwhile, according to a joint study by Shop.org, comScore and Social Shopping Labs, more than half (53%) of Facebook users have reached a retailer’s website from its Facebook page, and 35% of online shoppers said they would be likely to make a purchase through Facebook.

Facebook has become the social media venue of choice among online buyers. Compete discovered that the number of online buyers using retailers’ Facebook pages increased 3 percentage points over the previous year, bumping blogs, forums and review sites to second place. Additionally, a third of respondents “like” six or more retailers or consumer products companies on Facebook.

US Online Buyers

The prospect of finding out about sales and promotions is a big lure. Over 56% of those surveyed by Compete visited retailers’ Facebook pages for this purpose, while 58% in the Shop.org study, which included Twitter and a company’s blog in the figure, cited deals as a primary motivation. Learning more about a retailer and keeping up to date on products were also important.

According to Compete, more than 20% of online buyers found Facebook pages “influential” or “extremely influential,” regardless of the channel where the transaction is completed. The numbers show promise for a less established retail offering.

Level of Influence of Retailers

A PowerReviews and e-tailing group survey discovered that more familiar online tools, such as customer reviews, Q&As and forums, beat Facebook for their effect on buying behavior, yet the popular site still fared better than mobile or Twitter.

Community/Social Tools that Have an Impact on Their Buying Behavior According to US Online Buyers, April 2011 (% of respondents)

Taken with Compete’s findings, this implies that Facebook is being used by online shoppers more than ever and is continuing to grow in popularity, but has yet to surpass more ubiquitous online community tools in direct influence on purchasing.

Retailers and consumer products companies could give the small but eager group currently connecting with them on Facebook what they are looking for: access to sales. Even if these online shoppers are not yet able to make purchases directly through Facebook, exclusive offers can engender goodwill, loyalty, sharing and increase the likelihood of taking the “f-commerce” leap when it is offered.

Facebook-версия популярной пошаговой стратегии «Цивилизация» открыта для всех пользователей социальной сети. Об этом сообщает Agence France-Presse.

Игра носит название CivWorld и разработана при участии двух игровых студий — 2K Games и Firaxis. Последнюю возглавляет создатель серии «Цивилизация» Стив Мейер.

Сообщается, что CivWorld во многом схожа с версиями «Цивилизации» для настольных компьютеров, но при этом использует и ряд возможностей Facebook. Например, игроки могут объединяться в группы, чтобы совместными усилиями развивать свои территории и обороняться от врагов.

Игра бесплатна, но дополнительные игровые предметы пользователи могут купить за деньги.

Разработка игры велась с октября 2009 года. Тестирование CivWorld в Facebook началось в январе 2011 года, но проходило в закрытом режиме. Сейчас игра по-прежнему работает в бета-версии, но опробовать ее может любой пользователь Facebook.

Конкурентом CivWorld в Facebook будет стратегия Empires & Allies, которую игровая компания Zynga выпустила в начале июня. За первый месяц Empires & Allies удалось набрать около 50 миллионов постоянных игроков.

Начало серии игр «Цивилизация» было положено в 1991 году, когда вышла первая «Цивилизация» для DOS. Задача игрока состоит в том, чтобы пройти этапы развития человечества от первобытного строя до космической эры.

Multitude of sources can complicate media plans

Not long ago, display advertising was considered merely a direct-response vehicle. But with the rise of online video, the increasing success of Facebook and ongoing improvements to audience targeting and buying technology like real-time bidding (RTB), media buyers are returning to display with big hopes—and even bigger ad budgets. eMarketer estimates display spending will reach $12.33 billion this year, nearly two-thirds of which will go toward standard banners.

Today’s display ad buyer must navigate hundreds of inventory providers, including ad exchanges, ad networks and publishers, to emerge with a successful media plan. By approaching the ad buying process objective-first, media buyers can pinpoint select sources to efficiently craft display campaigns.

“The need for better audience scale and efficient inventory purchasing has fueled the rise of ad exchanges and real-time buying platforms,” said eMarketer’s Lauren Fisher, author of the new report, “Buying Display Ad Inventory: Making Sense of Multiple Sources.” “Media buyers are turning to these ad exchanges and demand-side platforms (DSPs) for their massive reach and audience scaling capabilities.”

US Online Display Ad Spending Share, by Format, 2010-2015 (% of total and billions)

The efficacy of each display ad source and inventory buying method depends greatly on campaign objective. Premium inventory sources that work well for brand-based objectives might not work as well for direct-response advertisers looking to retarget site visitors.

For example, premium publishers and ad networks—often used for relevant content or contextual targeting—can be effective at generating brand awareness, according to DIGIDAY and DataXu.

Best Use of Display Inventory Sources/Buying Methods According to US Agencies, Dec 2010 (% of respondents)

“By focusing on objectives, marketers can best determine the appropriate mix of providers that will most likely help them to meet and exceed their advertising goals,” said Fisher.

But still more likely to address complaints to brands more directly

Many social network users are using channels such as Twitter and Facebook to discuss shopping decisions and experiences with their peers. Although often this means they are using social networks as another channel to hunt down the best deals, consumers are also turning to those sites to provide feedback about their experiences with brands.

ROI Research conducted a study that asked social network users why they discuss products and services on social network sites. The majority of respondents said that when discussing products and services, they are comparing prices and talking about sales and specials with their social network friends and followers. Fifty-three percent of the surveyed social network users said they provide feedback to the brand or retailer via social network sites—and 47% said they express disappointment with the brand when they see fit.

Reasons that US Social Network Users Discuss Products/Services on Social Network Sites, April 2011 (% of respondents)

The ROI Research study points out that consumers voice complaints about certain verticals more so than others. Survey respondents listed household products, telecommunications and healthcare and pharma as top categories for expressing dissatisfaction on a social network. Sports-related brands, magazines and newspapers, and alcoholic beverages, on the other hand, received low levels of complaints. The travel industry ranked fairly low on the list—which may come as a surprise given the resources that many travel companies have devoted to responding to consumer feedback on Twitter.

A MarketTools survey focusing on customer satisfaction with US airline carriers indicates that although US travelers may be embracing social networks to express feedback more frequently than in the past, social media as a feedback or customer service channel is still nascent.

Many travelers are using social networks to let their friends and followers in on their travel woes. In fact, the MarketTools survey indicates one out of 10 US travelers has used social media to complain about an airline. Because the complaints are undirected though, they often go unanswered. The survey shows that only one out of four consumers who complained via social media got a response back from an airline.

Although travelers are voicing dissatisfaction to their friends via social media, few travelers actually use sites such as Twitter and Facebook to give direct negative feedback to airlines. Only 2% of travelers who had given feedback or complaints about airline service in the past year said they had done so via social media. Most travelers reached out to the airline customer service department through the website, email or phone.

Method Used to Submit Feedback/Complaints to Airlines According to US Travelers, May 2011 (% of respondents)

Both studies demonstrate that while collecting and responding to feedback over social networks may be a new phenomenon for brands, there is room for growth. Listening and responding to complaints on social media also offers brands a chance to connect with customers in an additional channel, and to potentially increase customer satisfaction.

Advertisers Work to Integrate Mobile into Cross-Platform Campaigns
JULY 15, 2011

Most plan to integrate campaigns targeting mobile users into broader efforts

Mobile advertising is on the upswing, with eMarketer estimating US advertisers will spend just over $1.1 billion on the medium this year, rising to $1.5 billion in 2012. But for many marketers, mobile is still in the relatively early stages, with sporadic or disconnected efforts not tied to an overall marketing campaign.

May 2011 research from Chief Marketer found that 33% of marketers had run mobile campaigns in 2010, and more than half were doing so this year. The survey also indicated that just over a third of marketers had integrated mobile into an overall, cross-platform strategy as of last year. Many more (58%) plan to do so in 2011.

US Marketers Who Have or Will Integrate Mobile into Their Nonmobile or Cross-Platform Campaigns, May 2011 (% of total)

While marketers are adopting mobile advertising and moving to tie it to broader goals, some may be flying blind. More than one in three respondents to the survey said they “assume” their customers are mobile, but don’t have much information about their usage habits or content activities. That can make it hard to target users appropriately through various mobile channels like SMS, display ads or apps.

Knowledge of the Mobile Usage Habits of Their Target Customers According to US Marketers, May 2011 (% of respondents)

The most common tactic marketers reported using to reach mobile users was text messaging (59.3%), followed by 2-D barcodes like QR codes (53.3%). Without knowing about user habits, however, these efforts could fall flat—while many users are aware of such codes and marketer usage is gaining, there is little solid evidence that mobile owners are scanning QR codes with regularity.

By contrast, relatively few respondents to the Chief Marketer survey employed mobile display ads (33.8%), which research shows have higher clickthrough rates than standard banners and are a major growth area in mobile advertising. eMarketer estimates that by 2012, display will overtake SMS for the largest share of US mobile outlays.

Прикоснись к звезде. Heineken

Options for Online Video Ad Viewers Lead to Greater Engagement
JULY 25, 2011

Interactive overlays, dismissible pre-roll offer greater engagement

Unlike TV, the internet affords marketers more than just a platform for message dissemination; it provides a channel through which users can simultaneously view and engage with a brand, product or service.

Still, many marketers have yet to embrace this interactivity; instead, they continue to adapt the broadcast TV ad model, expecting viewers to endure in-video advertisements as the common currency for free viewing. In addition, advertisers often base video ad spending decisions on traditional broadcast view and impression-based metrics, according to video ad network BrightRoll.

Metric on Which US Ad Agencies Are Most Likely to Base Their Online Video Ad Spending, Q1 2011 (% of respondents)

But findings from online video ad provider AdoTube suggest marketers who offer video viewers more choice in their ad consumption are likely to draw greater ad interest—and ultimately engagement—for their brand.

AdoTube found that in Q1 2011 interactive overlays saw a significantly higher clickthrough rate (CTR) than less engaging branded overlays: 1.86% vs. 0.53%, respectively.

Clickthrough Rate for Branded vs. Interactive In-Stream Video Ads Served* to a US-Based Audience, 2009-Q1 2011

Branded overlay was defined as an in-video advertisement overlaid on the bottom third of the video screen. An interactive overlay is similar to a branded overlay but also includes elements like social networking buttons and other sharing capabilities. Interactive overlays offer marketers an additional gauge of how users are responding to their message and interacting with their brand, much more so than viewthrough alone. According to Break Media, 40% of North American advertisers will use video ad overlays this year.

AdoTube saw a steady increase in overlay ads in 2010. In Q1 2011, however, overlays appear to be giving way to another type of ad that offers viewers greater choice—the dismissable pre-roll.

Online Video Ads Served* to a US-Based Audience, by Format, Q1 2010-Q1 2011 (% of total)

Pre-rolls are the most common video ad units, according to Break Media and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

Dismissible pre-rolls like AdoTube’s aptly named Polite Pre-Roll are relatively new to video advertising but are undoubtedly welcomed by viewers. But for advertisers looking to maintain maximum viewthrough metrics, this open invitation to skip ads is cause for concern.

According to a February 22, 2011, article on ClickZ, only 35% of viewers elected to watch YouTube’s newer dismissible pre-roll ads, called TrueView, to completion for advertiser GoPro. For AdoTube’s skippable pre-roll, that number was closer to 45% for Q1 2011. Though these percentages are low, user opt-in—as seen in any interactive channel like email or social media—signals a much more valuable and engaged audience.

Performance Metrics for Online Video Pre-Roll vs. Polite* Pre-Roll Ad Metrics Served** to a US-Based Audience, Q1 2010-Q1 2011

Yet for standard pre-roll ads, viewthroughs were only slightly higher (51%). Still, dismissable pre-roll ads outperformed standard pre-rolls in CTR and engagement rate, again illustrating that when given choice, viewers are more likely to interact and engage with video ads.

Компания Kraft Foods разместила в нью-йоркском районе Сохо интерактивный билборд, изображение на котором меняется в зависимости от настроения пользователей Twitter. Об этом сообщает AdWeek.

Билборд с рекламой пудингов Jell-O следит за "смайлами", появляющимися в сообщениях американцев, пишущих в Twitter. В зависимости от того, преобладают веселые или грустные "смайлы", человек на билборде улыбается или опускает уголки губ вниз. Билборд сканирует сообщения из Twitter каждые семь секунд.

При этом писать пользователи Twitter могут о чем угодно, от своих впечатлений о футбольном матче до ожиданий возможного дефолта в США.

Если количество грустных смайлов переваливает за 50 процентов, Kraft Foods отправляет бесплатный пудинг всем, кто в последние несколько секунд написал невеселое сообщение, добавляет Socialtechpop. Отправка пудинга сопровождается приободряющим сообщением в Twitter-аккаунте @JelloMoodMeter.

Билборд был разработан агентством Crispin Porter + Bogusky в качестве продолжения рекламной кампании Pudding Face. Следить за настроением американцев можно в онлайн-режиме на сайте акции.

Это не первый раз, когда Kraft Foods прибегает к помощи социальных медиа в рекламной кампании. В феврале 2011 года компания провела акцию в социальной сети Facebook для рекламы печенья Oreo. Kraft Foods заявила, что намерена собрать 50 тысяч "лайков" за один день и попасть в Книгу рекордов Гиннесса. За сутки компания поставила рекорд в 114,619 "лайков".

Число русскоязычных пользователей Twitter достигло миллиона

Число русскоязычных пользователей Twitter превысило 1 млн. Об этом сообщила сегодня аналитическая группа компании «Яндекс». При этом ежедневно сообщения в Twitter оставляют лишь 64 тыс. русскояычных пользователей. Каждый день в этом сервисе пояляется 370 тыс. записей на русском языке. Из них 8% — это ретвиты, трансляция чужих записей. И около трети — ответы на сообщения.

По сравнению с мартом 2010 года (когда аудитория Twitter на русском языке составляла 183 тыс. человек), активных авторов стало меньше. Тогда хотя бы одну запись в течение дня оставляли 60% пользователей, сейчас, напомним, — 6%. Зато число твитов на одного пользователя в день выросло с 1,4 до 5,8.

Судя по всему, это произошло за счет небольшой группы очень разговорчивых авторов. Один из русскоязычных пользователей в июле отправлял больше 1000 ретвитов каждый день. Еще девять — больше 100. При этом россияне немногословны: средняя длина записи — 78 символов (техническое ограничение Twitter — до 140 знаков в каждой записи).

Около трети сообщений содержат ссылки. 7% из них — это ссылки на новостные ресурсы.

«Критическая масса 10%»: Фундаментальное исследование социальных сетей снова оплатили военные
Юрий Романов

28.07.2011
Интернет, Колонка Юрия Романова, Управление. Boleslaw Szymanski, NS CT, ONR, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, SCNARK, Shirley Ann Jackson, US Army Research Lab, социальная сеть

В прошлую пятницу, 22 июля в онлайн-версии авторитетного научного издания «Physical Review E» Американского Физического общества (APS) был опубликован отчет о проведенной исследовательской работе под названием «Social consensus through the influence of committed minorities» («Достижение социального консенсуса через влияние совершенных меньшинств»). Не прошло и недели, как об этой работе заговорил весь мир.

Шесть ученых американского политехнического института Ренсселара (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, штат Нью-Йорк, США – старейший национальный технический университет, образован в 1894 г.) взялись математически описать и смоделировать на суперкомпьютере процесс, который имел в виду Карл Маркс, когда в 1844 г. писал: «Теория (идея) становится материальной силой, когда она овладевает массами».

В наше время идеи овладевают массами в ходе общения в социальных сетях (здесь понятие «социальная сеть» следует понимать широко – от интернет-сообществ и структур типа Facebook, «ВКонтакте» и подобных им, до общественных и политических объединений, члены которых общаются «вживую»). Перед исследователями стояла задача: найти тот переломный момент (Tipping Point), когда некоторая новая идея начинает приобретать все новых и новых сторонников, пока вся сеть не станет сообществом единомышленников, способных к серьезным и результативным практическим действиям.

Работа финансировалась Исследовательской лаборатории армии США (US Army Research Lab), Исследовательским центром ВМС США (ONR) и научной сетью «Альянс совместных технологий» (NS CTA, альянс координирует исследования по всем направлениям «сетецентической» концепции военных действий - Network-Centric Warfare).

Для выполнения этого и ряда подобных исследований в университете Ренсселара в мае прошлого года был образован Академический исследовательский центр когнитивных социальных сетей (SCNARK, Social Cognitive Networks Academic Research Center). На торжественном открытии Центра президент Ренсселара Ширли Энн Джексон (Shirley Ann Jackson), обосновывая задачи новой структуры, заявила: «Сегодня наши социальные сети являются основным источником информации, советов и идей. Если прибавить к этому «коктейль» из Twitter, Facebook и мобильных телефонов – власть социальных сетей распространяется на весь мир. Мы собрали выдающуюся команду исследователей, которая получит возможность использовать один из крупнейших в мире суперкомпьютеров, находящийся в распоряжении университетского Центра нанотехнологий… чтобы разобраться с процессами, определяющими сегодня глобальный социальный климат».

Справка: Ширли Энн Джексон, афроамериканка, стать на путь науки которую вдохновила, в свое время, речь президента США Джона Ф. Кеннеди, в которой он провозгласил национальный план лунных экспедиций. Она стала первой чернокожей женщиной, получившей степень доктора философии в области физики в Массачусетском технологическом институте (тема диссертации – теоретическая физика элементарных частиц). В 1995 году президентом США Клинтоном была назначена главой Комиссии по ядерному урегулированию. 18-й президент Политехнического института Ренсселара.

На открытии Центра присутствовал член Палаты представителей США Пол Тонко (Paul D. Tonko) и бригадный генерал армии США Гарольд Грин (Harold J. Greene) – представитель «спонсора» – Исследовательской лаборатории армии США (US Army Research Lab), выделившей 5-летний грант в размере $16,7 млн. на проведение ряда исследований явлений, протекающих в социальных сетях.

«Заказчиками», в частности, сформулированы следующие главные направления работ:
- исследование динамических процессов в соцсетях; разработка математических моделей различных типов взаимодействия людей в сетях. По словам директора SCNARK, профессора Болеслава Шимански (Boleslaw Szymanski), «в каждой организации есть определенные отношения между людьми, которые работают вместе – они могут быть «наставниками», «друзьями», «соперниками». Отсюда вопрос: можем ли мы оказать, в какой-то мере, влияние на производительность, например, наставничества?» (выбор приоритетов интересен, не так ли? – прим. Ю.Р.)

- изучение процессов перемещения информации в сетях и исследование различий общения в рамках иерархических организаций и в сети, где «движение информации не всегда соответствует установленной иерархии»,

- изучение способов противодействия вредоносному использованию «состязательности» в сетевом общении,
- изучение «феномена доверия» в социальных сетях. Поиск принципов построения доверия между группами лиц с разнообразными и даже противоположными точками зрения,

- исследование механизмов коллективного принятия решений в условиях сетевого общения и принципов оказания влияния на выбор решения при наличии альтернатив (тоже интересно! – прим. Ю.Р.)

Так вот, в ходе исследования, о котором мы упомянули в самом начале статьи, группа под руководством профессора Болеслава Шимански получила и строго обосновала фундаментальный результат: если в ходе общения не менее 10% участников группы будет искренне и непоколебимо придерживаться некоторой точки зрения, донося ее до сознания других, то через некоторое время эта точка зрения неизбежно будет принята большинством группы.

Что характерно, выявленная закономерность не зависит от типа социальной сети и технологии общения (личные контакты, телефон, интернет). Исследователи построили несколько моделей, одна из которых соответствовала схеме общения «каждый с любым», другая же предусматривала наличие «концентраторов общения» или лидеров. В обе модели были «помещены» «истинно верующие» (true believers) – носители определенных идей, абсолютно убежденные в их правоте и невосприимчивые к попыткам изменить их «мировоззрение». В ходе компьютерного моделирования процессов общения стал наблюдаться поразительный колебательный эффект. Соавтор исследования Самит Шринивасан (Sameet Sreenivasan) описал его словами: «Как только агенты перемен начинают убеждать все больше и больше людей, ситуация начинает меняться. Сначала люди начинают сомневаться в своих собственных взглядах, а затем полностью принимают новые взгляды и распространяют их еще больше. Но даже если «истинно верующие» успешно влияют на соседей, то ничего не меняется в рамках более широкой системы, как мы увидели, при их процентном содержании меньше 10».

Комментируя этот результат, руководитель проекта Болеслав Шимански еще раз подчеркнул, что «когда число искренне придерживающихся каких-то взглядов людей не превышает 10% группы, охваченной общением, никакого видимого прогресса в распространении идей нет. В этом случае для убеждения большинства потребуется время, сравнимое с возрастом Вселенной. Как только это число начинает превышать 10%, идея распространяется как пламя».

How Professionals Use LinkedIn
AUGUST 5, 2011

Most check the site several times a week, and use it for job searching, networking and hiring

A month after its debut as a public company and eight years after its launch, LinkedIn in June 2011 passed Myspace to become the No. 2 social networking site in terms of visitors, according to comScore.

Marketers can gain perspective on how best to reach LinkedIn’s profession-focused networkers by analyzing how they use the site and where they interact. In July 2011, market research firm Lab42 surveyed LinkedIn users and found that the audience is highly engaged: 32% check the site several times a week and 35% check it daily.

Frequency with Which US LinkedIn Users Access LinkedIn, July 2011 (% of respondents)

Lab42 also found that 42% of users update their profiles regularly and 81% belong to at least one group. LinkedIn users are interacting with the site, which means they are also interacting with the companies on the site, as well as seeing the ads served there.

When it comes to the reasons why professionals use the site, employees act differently based on their position. Top level executives use the site mainly for industry networking (22%) and promoting their businesses (20%). Middle management professionals are more prone to use LinkedIn primarily to keep in touch (24%) with others, as well as for industry networking (20%). Entry level employees, not surprisingly, are using the site mainly for job searching (24%) and co-worker networking (23%).

Primary Use of LinkedIn According to US LinkedIn Users, by Job Level, July 2011 (% of respondents)

Usage differences among demographic types are important for marketers to note, particularly if they are trying to target higher level executives or entry level employees with their outreach on the site. Advertising on LinkedIn, which can already be targeted based on education, location, job level and more, can be focused in various sections of the website, including jobs, groups or question and answers.

LinkedIn also has an unpaid marketing element to it, allowing companies to connect with interested parties via groups or answers. Now that LinkedIn is public, no doubt more information will surface about the site and how consumers use it, providing deeper insights for the marketing industry.

На днях аналитическое агентство comScore, опубликовало официальные данные исследования, посвященного поведению пользователей в социальной сети Facebook.

Тщательное изучение американской аудитории пользователей соцсети (в выборке участовало 2 млн. человек, ежедневно использующих интернет) позволило выявить следующее: 27% пользователей регулярно следят за обновлениями в Facebook при помощи оповещений, и лишь 4% по нескольку раз в день проверяют главную страницу профиля в поисках новостей.

Кроме того, 21% времени, проведенного в соцсети, американские пользователи тратят на просмотр профилей друзей, чтение личных сообщений и комментариев к фото. 17% времени отводится на просмотр фотографий; 10% - на работу с приложениями и 25% личного времени пользователя отдается работе с дополнительными сервисами сайта.

Как выяснили аналитики, большая часть рекламного материала изучается в новостной ленте, при этом корпоративные страницы на Facebook посещают лишь 16% пользователей. Это означает, что компаниям лучше сосредоточиться на позиционировании собственных товаров и услуг в ленте новостей, сопровождая рекламные материалы «цепляющими» информационными сообщениями.

Smartphone Users Most Engaged with Ads While Shopping
AUGUST 31, 2011

Different mobile activities lead to different behaviors and engagement levels

With smartphones able to perform a variety of tasks, from communicating to information-seeking to shopping and beyond, consumers are spending more time with them than ever. And marketers have more chances than ever to reach them via mobile.

According to research from Yahoo! and Ipsos, smartphone users spend the bulk of their mobile time (38%) connecting, including by voice, SMS, IM, email or social media. They spend just under half as much of their mobile time with search or entertainment, and a relatively small 7% of their time shopping.

But mobile shopping is the task marketers are most interested in when it comes to smartphone users, especially in regards to advertising. The Yahoo!/Ipsos research found that US smartphone users were most likely to recall and engage with ads they saw while shopping on their phone. Nearly two-thirds of users had seen an ad while shopping and more than half that number had clicked on one.

Mobile Ad Recall and Engagement* Among US Smartphone Users, by Mobile Internet Task, 2011 (% of respondents)

Most of those ads are likely to have been seen in a mobile browser, since smartphone users typically preferred to shop using a browser vs. an app. In fact, for three of the top four ad recall activities, smartphone users were likely to be using a browser.

Mobile Internet Tasks for Which US Smartphone Users Use a Mobile App vs. Browser, 2011 (% of total)

Connecting, by contrast, was most likely to be done outside a browser and least likely to involve an ad that smartphone users remembered or clicked on. This is unsurprising, since ads are most likely to seem disruptive when mobile users are conversing with friends and family by calling or texting.

eMarketer expects advertisers to spend $1.1 billion on mobile this year, and display ads, including those based in browsers, are expected to post solid growth, soon becoming the top mobile ad format.

Вероятность приобретения рекламируемого товара или услуги активными пользователями социальных сетей на 78% больше, чем остальными потребителями

При этом Twitter опережает Facebook и YouTube по коммуникационной эффективности. Это один из выводов, к которым пришли специалисты глобальной коммуникационной сети Starcom MediaVest Group Worldwide в новом исследовании, получившем название Social Media Behavioural Index™ (SMBI™).

В исследовании SMBI™ изучалось взаимодействие 6000 пользователей Twitter, Facebook и Youtube в Великобритании с 29 брендами, представляющими 6 секторов: финансы, еда и напитки, здоровье и красота, ритейл, медиа и развлечения, технологии и телекоммуникации. Среди них: Heineken; Capital One; Coca-Cola; Gillette; Boots; Sainsbury’s; Dreams; Sky; Camelot; Samsung; Blackberry и Honda.

Вот некоторые из общих выводов исследования:

· 78% пользователей, взаимодействующих с брендами в социальных сетях, как правило, предпринимают дальнейшие шаги по отношению к бренду – посещают официальные веб-сайты и изучают дополнительную информацию о бренде

· Видео – самый популярный вид контента в социальных сетях, после просмотра роликов 80% пользователей посещают веб-сайты бренда и изучают дополнительную информацию (у конкурсов и игр процент ниже - 68% и 59%, соответственно)

· С точки зрения вовлеченности, самыми популярными действиями на брендированных страницах в социальных сетях являются обмен контентом и комментарии

· Twitter возглавляет список социальных сетей с точки зрения их влияния на дальнейшее взаимодействие с брендом – 89% принявших участие в исследовании согласились, что скорее всего приобретут тот или иной бренд после посещения его страницы на Twitter, 86% опрошенных заявили, что скорее всего сделают выбор в пользу бренда

Social Media Behavioural Index™ (SMBI™) – недавно разработанный метод исследования эффективности социальных медиа

Джим Кайт, Директор по стратегическому развитию Starcom MediaVest Group: “Социальные медиа – это вход в магазин. Если вы понравитесь посетителям, они подойдут к продавцу-консультанту. Но что заставляет их взять товар и пройти на кассу? Social Media Behavioural Index™ - первый в своем роде инструмент для изучения влияния социальных сетей на процесс принятия решения о покупке – в помощь брендам, проводящим кампании в социальных медиа”.

Ник Хадсон, Директор по маркетинговым коммуникациям Heineken UK: "Исследование поможет нам сравнить социальные медиа и оценить влияние того или иного медиаканала на восприятие бренда. SMBI™ дает нам обоснования дальнейшего использования социальных медиаплатформ для взаимодействия с нашими потребителями".

Узнать подробные результаты исследования можно на блоге Starcom MediaVest Group

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Популярный сервис микроблогов Twitter добавил пользователям возможность транслировать сообщения в социальную сеть Facebook.

Сообщения пользователя после подключения его Twitter-аккаунта к аккаунту в соцсети Facebook будут транслироваться в его ленту сообщений в социальной сети. Ранее подобный функционал был доступен только пользователям сторонних приложений для работы с Twitter.

Например, одновременно публиковать сообщения в Twitter и Facebook могут пользователи клиента TweetDeck, купленного сервисом Twitter в конце мая.

Включить новую функцию можно в настройках аккаунта на Twitter, активировав соответствующий пункт во вкладке "Профиль". Затем пользователю необходимо будет войти в социальную сеть и разрешить подключение Twitter-аккаунта.

Представители сервиса отмечают, что в Facebook не будут транслироваться ответы пользователя на другие сообщения, а также переопубликованные сообщения. Кроме того, аккаунт на сервисе Twitter можно подключить только к персональной странице в соцсети.

Представители Twitter отмечают, что при этом друзья пользователя в Facebook смогут увидеть его псевдоним на сервисе микроблогов.

Twitter не планирует выходить на биржу. По словам главы компании Дика Костоло, сервис собрал достаточно средств и не нуждается в IPO. С начала года число активных пользователей Twitter выросло до 100 млн.

Twitter не планирует в ближайшее время выходить на IPO. Как сообщает Reuters, об этом заявил генеральный директор сервиса Дик Костоло. «За последнее время Twitter и без того собрал больше денег, чем я когда-либо видел», — сказал г-н Костоло в ответ на вопрос о возможности размещения на бирже.

Кроме того, руководитель сервиса сообщил о намерениях увеличить объем рекламы, которая впервые появилась в Twitter в 2010 году. «Результаты от размещения рекламы превзошли наши ожидания. Они показывают, что мы можем увеличивать ее присутствие», — сказал Дик Костоло. В частности, будет активно развиваться услуга Promoted tweets — своеобразный аналог контекстной рекламы в Twitter. Теперь рекламные записи вверху страницы увидит гораздо большее число пользователей микроблогов. «Наша рекламная платформа — единственный источник дохода, который необходим нам для сохранения независимости компании», — заявил директор Twitter. Он подчеркнул, что Promoted tweets «выйдут за пределы Twitter.com», а пользователи отныне будут видеть в своих лентах рекламу компаний, которых они не отслеживают.

По словам г-на Костоло, с начала года Twitter увеличил активную аудиторию на 82%. Сейчас 100 млн человек пользуются сервисом микроблогов хотя бы раз в месяц, из них около 60 млн регулярно размещают посты. Половина активных пользователей (50 млн) посещают Twitter ежедневно, оставляя более 230 млн записей в сутки. 55% активных пользователей заходят на сайт при помощи мобильных устройств. Как утверждает директор Twitter, статистика не включает распространителей спама. Ближайшей целью сервиса, по словам Дика Костоло, является «присутствие на 2 млрд устройств».

Глава Twitter призвал не сравнивать сервис с соцсетью Google Plus. Он подчеркнул, что Twitter и Google Plus — разные продукты с «разным фокусом». Г-н Костоло добавил, что не сомневался в способности Google Plus быстро накопить значительную аудиторию. По его мнению, соцсеть от Google привлекает пользователей в первую очередь интеграцией с поисковиком.

Channel, location, size and placement all matter for display ads

The telecom industry is one of the biggest spenders on online advertising. Between 2010 and 2011, telecom ad spending climbed by 7% to $3.62 billion and eMarketer estimates the industry will spend close to $4.6 billion on online ads by 2015. New research suggests the industry has unlocked some key findings in order to achieve high user engagement with its display ads.

Perhaps due to the substantial resources telecom marketers are devoting to online advertising, the industry is enjoying higher-than-average user engagement with its ads. Research from ad solution provider MediaMind (formerly Eyeblaster) suggests that ad placement, banner sizes and the time in which users view ads have an impact on engagement metrics.

According to MediaMind, for every 1 million impressions, web users “dwell” on 70,000 telecom ads and click on 1,800. MediaMind defines dwell rate as impressions that are intentionally engaged with by touch, interaction or click, and by this metric the telecom vertical outpaces nearly all other categories thanks to a dwell rate of 7.5%. Telecom is tied for second-highest vertical in terms of engagement, and trails only the sports category.

Dwell Rate for Rich Media Ads Worldwide, by Industry, Q2 2010-Q1 2011

MediaMind’s research suggests that ad placement, size and format all influence a consumer’s engagement with an ad. For telecom, MediaMind found that ads work best when placed on pages in the travel, technology, homepage, news, entertainment and finance categories. For rich media ads, IM and lifestyle placements were especially effective. Moreover, larger banner ads tended to perform better than smaller ones, and 300x600 and 300x250 were the best performing banner sizes.

MediaMind also found that users are more likely to convert after the first few times they view an ad. After the third impression, conversion rates plummet. Research also consistently shows that users convert at a much higher frequency after viewing mobile ads. Mobile ads for telecom achieve six times the performance of browser-based standard banners, according to MediaMind.

Clickthrough Rate for Telecom Industry Mobile vs. Online Banner Ads Worldwide, Q2 2010-Q1 2011

Although engagement rates for telecom are best-in-class, analysis of DoubleClick data by comScore indicates that clickthrough rates for telecom rich media ads are not quite as noteworthy. According to comScore, telecom CTRs come in at around 0.07%, compared to 0.15% for the automotive industry, the segment with the highest CTRs.

Clickthrough Rate for US Rich Media Ads, by Industry , Aug 2011

Examination of telecom display ads reveals that factors such as placement, format, size and frequency do influence a user’s decision to engage or convert. Marketers from all industries should make note of telecom’s findings in order to create highly relevant ads that consumers will want to engage with.

Facebook перенесла IPO на сентябрь 2012 года, - rbcdaily.ru

Вчера компания Facebook решила передвинуть предполагаемые сроки своего выхода на IPO на осень 2012 года, сообщает Financial Times. Руководство крупнейшей социальной сети решило повре­менить с началом публичных торгов, для того чтобы нарастить функциональность сервиса, говорят источники в компании. По мнению экспертов, изменение сроков может быть связано с неблагоприятной ситуацией на мировых рынках.

IPO компании Facebook, стоимость которой оценивается примерно в 70 млрд долл., первоначально намечалось на апрель 2012 года, теперь же появилась информация о том, что компания начнет публичную продажу акций не раньше сентября 2012 года. «Эта задержка никак не связана с нынешним положением на рынке, — говорят источники The Financial Times. — Глава социальной сети Марк Цукерберг руководствуется исключительно внутренними интересами компании. Г-н Цукерберг решил подождать до следующего сентября, чтобы сотрудники компании, многие из которых являются по совместительству и держателями акций, сосредоточились на своей работе — разработке новых продуктов, а не на торговле акциями и реализации опционов».

Как пояснил гендиректор «РБК Медиа» Артем Инютин, рыночная ситуация не располагает к удачному размещению компании. «Лучше перенести IPO и получить максимальную оценку, нежели выходить сейчас и проигрывать в цене», — считает эксперт. «На данный момент мировой фондовый рынок переживает не лучшие времена, — отмечает партнер венчурного фонда Foresight Ventures Андрей Казаков. — Естественно, в такой ситуации лучше всего подождать полгода и выйти на биржу с более приличными показателями. Кроме того, внешние проблемы подкрепляются и внутренними: большинство ключевых сотрудников Facebook владеют опционами и хотели бы иметь возможность реализовать их по максимальной цене, что, естественно, и в интересах инвесторов».

Создатель Liveinternet Герман Клименко уверен, что перенос сроков IPO крупнейшей социальной сети обусловлен суммой факторов. «Во-первых, компания сильно переоценена. Совокупность тех авансов, которые выдали Facebook прежние инвесторы, пока никак не была подтверждена структурой выручки. Грубо говоря, компания так и не научилась зарабатывать. Во-вторых, руководство Facebook довольно сильно озаботилось появлением потенциального конкурента — Google+. Так что пока г-н Цукерберг не убедится в том, что и Google снова проиграла на новой для нее поляне, Facebook не будет выходить на IPO, так как ни один инвестор не будет вкладываться в тот бизнес, который в кратко­срочной перспективе может стать вторым по объему и оборотам. Если G+ введет, как и обещали, теги и поиск по записям и начнет активно расти, то Facebook может еще долго оставаться частной компанией», — заключает г-н Клименко.

Версию о том, что рынок IPO не в лучшем состоянии, подтверждает своим примером другой интернет-гигант, разработчик онлайн-игр Zynga, который также отложил начало публичных торгов акциями. Компания изначально планировала прове­сти IPO в начале сентября, однако теперь оно состоится не раньше ноября. Американский сервис коллективных скидок Groupon, планировавший провести IPO в ближайшее время, также принял решение передвинуть сроки.

rbcdaily.ru

Администрация видеохостинга YouTube ввела новейшую функцию, позволяющую пользователям редактировать видео, сообщается на официальном блоге хостинга.

Отныне пользователи будут иметь возможность редактировать размещаемые ролики, пользуясь инструментами самого видеохостинга. На страничке с видео теперь имеется новая клавиша Edit video (Редактировать видео). Доступна стабилизация картинки, поворот, настройка цвета и контрастности, к тому же довление различных эффектов. Обратите внимание, если щелкнуть по кнопочке I’m Feeling Lucky (Мне повезет), сработает автокоррекция цвета в один клик. В том случае если пользователя не устроит результат, он может возвратиться к оригиналу либо сохранить получившийся ролик как отдельную версию видео.

Отредактированное видео сохраняет прежний ID, таким образом сохраняет количество просмотров, комментарии, а все ссылки на него останутся рабочими.

Напомним, 1 июня видеохостинг YouTube при поддержке Nvidia и Mozilla запустил функцию просмотра видео в трехмерном изображении, но, для этого его пользователям понадобится особое оборудование.

Search, display gain share over messaging-based ads
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By the end of this year, eMarketer estimates, 38% of US mobile users will have a smartphone and 41% will use the mobile internet at least once each month. These developments mean an increase in the opportunity for mobile advertising—and an increase in spending.

eMarketer forecasts that advertisers will spend nearly $1.23 billion on mobile advertising this year in the US, up from $743 million last year and set to reach almost $4.4 billion by 2015. This includes spending on display ads (such as banners, rich media and video), search and messaging-based advertising, and covers ads viewed on both mobile phones and tablets.

US Mobile Ad Spending, 2010-2015 (millions and % change)

This year, messaging-based formats still take the largest piece of the pie, accounting for $442.6 million in spending. But in 2012, banners and rich media will be even with search, each getting 33% of spending, or $594.8 million. That will put them ahead of messaging, which will fall to just 28.2% of all mobile ad spending next year. By 2015, banners and rich media and search will dominate further, and messaging will have shrunk to 14.4% of the total—though still growing in terms of dollars.

US Mobile Ad Spending Share, by Format, 2011 & 2015 (% of total)

Video is the fastest-growing mobile ad format, but from the smallest base. Mobile video ad spending, at $57.6 million this year, will grow at a compound annual rate of 69% between 2010 and 2015 to reach $395.6 million.

eMarketer’s mobile advertising spending forecast is based on an analysis of mobile advertising estimates from other research firms, company data from major mobile ad networks and vendors, marketers' mobile marketing strategies, and smartphone and tablet adoption and usage trends.

Twitter собирается приумножить свои доходы благодаря «рекламным твитам» знаменитостей. Гендиректор компании Дик Костоло (Dick Costolo) признал общепризнанный факт, что рекомендации авторитетных пользователей оказывают большое влияние на потенциальных потребителей.

Рекомендации авторитетных личностей внешне выглядят очень естественно и органично. Звезда ненавязчиво высказывает своё мнение о том или ином продукте. Пользователи наслаждаются иллюзорной близостью знаменитости. Предприниматели успешно реализуют свой товар. Весомые проценты за такую эффективную рекламу отсчитываются сервису микроблогов.

Дик Костоло заявляет, что новая реклама в Twitter перспективнее привычной контекстной или баннерной рекламы в Сети. Советы-твиты знаменитостей быстро разойдутся по всему миру, проникнут в мобильные телефоны и смартфоны. Не исключено также, что со временем новая реклама Twitter сможет передаваться как СМС и проникнет на телевидение.

Наблюдения Yahoo Research подтверждают значимость постов известных людей. Уже сейчас 50% твитов являются ретвитами информации, размещаемой всего 20-ю тысячами «элитных» пользователей (0,05% от совокупной аудитории Twitter). К данной категории относятся все те люди, которые имеют огромное число контактов в Twitter, и к которым постоянно приковано внимание его аудитории.

Также исследователи Yahoo Research отмечают, что из 50 млн. ежедневно посещающих сервис микроблогов пользователей лишь часть твитит - остальные заходят, чтобы просто почитать, узнать вести о кумирах.

Напомним, что извлекать прибыль из рекомендаций знаменитостей ещё в сентябре начал Google.

Звёздам доверяют, к их мнению прислушиваются. Однако существует серьёзная опасность, что практика рекламных рекомендаций от знаменитостей приведёт к потере лица Twitter. Сервис микроблогов ценят именно за то, что здесь всегда можно обсудить случайные темы безо всякого коммерческого или какого бы то ни было подтекста.

What Do Facebook Users Expect from Brands?
OCTOBER 7, 2011
Facebook users have both positive and negative expectations when “liking” a brand

Companies are often on the hunt for more “likes” for their Facebook pages, hoping to get more brand advocates and social media fans. However only 42% of US Facebook users think marketers should interpret a “like” in that way.

This data comes from a June 2011 study from ExactTarget, “Subscribers, Fans and Followers: The Meaning of Like,” which found that 25% of US Facebook users disagree that marketers should interpret “like” to mean they are a fan or advocate of the company.

Facebook users themselves have some preconceived notions about what to expect when they “like” a company on the site, and among those who do not become brand fans, many are negative. More than half of users expect to be bombarded with messages or ads (54%), while 45% do not want to give companies access to profile information and 31% do not want to push content from a company into friends’ newsfeeds. These possibilities have prevented users from making brand connections on the social networking giant.

Reasons US Facebook Users Have Not "Liked" a Company on Facebook, June 2011 (% of respondents)

On the flip side, many US Facebook users also have certain expectations of perks they should get after following a company’s Facebook page.

The ExactTarget study found that 58% of US Facebook users expect to gain access to exclusive content, events or sales after “liking” a company, while 58% also expect to receive discounts or promotions. Additionally 47% expect to see updates about the company, person or organization they “liked” in their newsfeed, which bodes well for brands as they work to have their content always show up for their followers.

Expectations US Facebook Users Have After "Liking" a Company on Facebook, June 2011 (% of respondents)

Additionally, younger consumers, ExactTarget found, have fewer expectations and generally “like” brands as a form of expression, not to get certain perks. Meanwhile, older consumers want something of value for “liking” a brand. By listening to what their target fanbase wants out of the Facebook relationship, marketers can get more interaction on their page and encourage more people to “like” rather than avoid brands on Facebook.

Соцсеть Google+ потеряла 60% активных пользователей, - infox.ru

Крупнейший в мире интернет-гигант потерял порядка 60% активных пользователей социальной сети Google+, об этом сообщила аналитическая компания Chitika Insights. Специалисты компании провели исследования на предмет конкурентного противостояния новой социальной сети и ее главного соперника в лице Facebook.

На момент начального запуска регистрация новых пользователей Google+ происходила только по приглашениям от уже зарегистрированных. Это пробудило большой интерес к сервису, число желающих получить приглашение постоянно увеличивалось, и создавалось впечатление, что интернет-гиганту удалось в очередной раз пробудить в людях интерес в отношении социальных сетей. Положение в хорошем смысле слова усугубилось, когда 20 сентября регистрация на сервисе стала доступной для всех желающих. В результате массового притока новых участников трафик социальной сети вырос на 1200%.

Тем не менее, несмотря на явный интерес к сети как конкуренту Facebook, реальность такова, что пользователи, даже зарегистрировавшись, не становятся активными участниками сообщества. Пик трафика на Google+ пришелся на 22-23 сентября, когда информация об открытой регистрации стала общедоступной, однако впоследствии активность резко спала, и активность трафика опустилась до прежних показателей, при которых открытой регистрации еще не было.

Специалисты Chitika Insights утверждают, что главной проблемой социальной сети является отказ в помещении фигуры пользователя в центр сервиса, как это реализовано на Facebook. Поэтому большинство новых пользователей возвращаются в проверенное временем и хорошо знакомое пространство сети Марка Цукерберга. Тем не менее, эксперты Chitika Insights уверены, что, несмотря на нестабильные показатели, Google+ все еще может стать крупным конкурентом и альтернативой Facebook, если будет столь же активно внедрять новые функции и возможности. Вместе с тем, и Facebook тоже не стоит на месте, совершая одну маленькую революцию за другой, поэтому администрации Google+ придется удвоить свои усилия.

infox.ru

Wikimedia Foundation, некоммерческая организация, которая управляет крупнейшей в мире онлайн-энциклопедией Wikipedia, объявила о получении крупнейшего на сегодняшний день гранта в своей истории - $3,6 млн.

Средства организации предоставила Stanton Foundation. По словам представителей Wikimedia, полученные деньги будут направлены на развитие технологической инфраструктуры, которая поддерживает Wikipedia и другие аналогичные проекты Wikimedia, чтобы успешно справляться с растущей аудиторией этих ресурсов.

На сегодняшний день, аудитория всех проектов Wikimedia превышает 422 млн уникальных посетителей в месяц, а Wikipedia является пятым по популярности сайтом в мире.

Также грант планируется потратить на создание нового интерфейса, упрощающего процесс редактирования статей в Wikipedia.

cnews.ru

Internet users receptive to relevant ads

Digital video advertising offers brands a dynamic way to engage their online audience and establish a brand presence.

According to online video provider Eyeview and travel site KAYAK, personalized video ads can have positive brand-boosting effects for advertisers.

To test whether personalized online video ads had a brand impact, Eyeview split respondents into two groups. The first group was shown a generic KAYAK ad; the second a more personalized, localized ad featuring real-time flight deals for their local airport.

The study found online video ad personalization and relevancy resulted in a 37% lift in reported purchase intent, a 100% lift in brand favorability and 73% lift in brand loyalty. Clearly, personalization can increase the ability to remember and relate to online video ads, ultimately creating a more powerful branding effect.

Overall, respondents were generally receptive to the personalized video ads. When asked to rate their perception of the personalized video ad on a Likert Scale, 66% felt positively about the ads while only 12% had negative sentiment about ad relevancy. Twenty-two percent were neutral.

However, the generally positive attitude toward personalized advertising is not necessarily reflective of the industry at large. Personalization—often made possible through the use of some form of audience data and targeting technology—is largely received with mixed sentiment by internet users.

CrowdScience found 41% of internet users worldwide said they are tired of irrelevant advertising; however, 37% remain suspicious of ads that appear to be targeted or personalized to their interests and, likely, their demographic or personal information.

Undoubtedly, this creates something of a Catch 22 for marketers. Brands should keep in mind that favorability for ad personalization will vary across industries. For instance, internet users are likely to be more comfortable with personalized ads that highlight retail, entertainment or travel preferences than they are with those that feature relevant financial services or health-related ads that lead internet users to question just how much personal information a company might know.

When Consumers Tweet Complaints, Should Brands Respond?

OCTOBER 26, 2011

Consumers view brands that respond via Twitter positively

For many social network users, Twitter is both a water cooler and a complaint department. Although most are there to engage with peers, many consumers are using Twitter to talk about their experiences with brands—and from time to time share their grievances. As more and more brands have joined Twitter, consumers’ expectation for interaction with brands has risen.

According to customer experience research company Maritz Research, nearly half of consumers who tweeted a complaint directed toward a brand expected the company to respond—or at least to read their tweet. However, only a third of those consumers received a tweeted response from the mentioned brand.

Consumers ages 55 and older are particularly expectant of a company to read their complaint on Twitter. Gen Y and Gen X consumers, who tend to be more active on Twitter, were less hopeful that a company would read their complaint—perhaps because they believe those expectations will not be met.

Despite the gap between consumer expectations and brand delivery, consumers are overwhelmingly positive when brands take the time to actually respond to them on Twitter. The Maritz study indicates that 86% of Twitter complainers would have liked or loved to hear from the company regarding their complaints—and out of those who heard back, 75% were satisfied with the company’s response.

Many brands are responding to tweets and mentions in order to maintain their reputations and sustain important customer relationships. According to a Forrester Consulting social media report commission by Dell, 58% of US marketers believe that listening and engaging with consumers through digital media will help with customer perceptions of their brand. Also, 56% said their social media efforts would aid in building long-term customer relationships.

Responding to customer complaints, although often thought of as a customer service function, can help increase positive branding—and therefore work in a marketer’s favor. Social media-savvy airline Virgin America has found that engaging with consumers via social networks helps build loyalty.

When consumers tweet @VirginAmerica during their travels—whether it be a question about the airline’s in-flight entertainment or a complaint about a flight delay—the airline does its best to respond.

“People are surprised that anyone there is listening, especially in the airline category,” Abby Lunardini, vice president of corporate communications, told eMarketer in a September 26, 2011, interview. She added that the engagement bolsters positive experiences and helps the airline improve its services. It also leads customers to fly with Virgin America again.

“Engendering loyalty is really important and definitely has a strong economic component,” Lunardini said. “Because once people fly with us, they usually stick with us.”

What Encourages Facebook Engagement?

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Brands that include photos and calls to action see higher engagement rates with those posts

Companies on Facebook and other social sites are always trying to determine what to post to get fans engaged. While each brand is different, and its fans will respond to different things, there are some common threads that companies can keep in mind when planning social media posts and status updates.

Digital marketing agency Web Liquid analyzed 16 brands and more than 1,500 brand posts from March to May 2011 to see which Facebook posts saw the most engagement, such as comments and “likes.” Web Liquid found that Facebook posts with photos saw a 0.37% engagement rate, higher than posts with videos (0.31%), text only (0.27%) or links (0.15%).

Momentus Media, which provides marketing software for use within Facebook, came up with similar findings, even when analyzing the top 20,000 Facebook pages and between 10,000 and 250,000 posts overall. Facebook posts with photos saw a 0.21% engagement rate, while videos saw 0.11% engagement rate and links saw 0.07% engagement.

Within the text of a post, companies can encourage action by asking fans to “like” or comment on the post. Momentus Media found that Facebook status updates that contained the word “like” saw a 0.38% engagement rate and those that said “comment” saw a 0.14% engagement rate. Text updates without “like” or “comment” saw 0.11% engagement.

While these statistics are interesting, brands should determine which tactics work best for their Facebook page and their fans. Additionally, the upcoming changes to Facebook’s Timeline feature and brand pages will change the way consumers interact on the social network.

Facebook’s new Timeline relies heavily on photos, so it seems that posts with photos and videos will continue to perform well for brands. And as Facebook introduces more verbs beyond “like,” companies could develop interesting ways to increase engagement on their pages. By testing different types of posts and continuing to learn what spurs a reaction, marketers can keep up with what content fans prefer on their brand Facebook pages and keep engagement up.

Girls ages 12 to 17 take to Twitter

Teens have some of the highest social networking penetration of any age group. eMarketer estimates that 81% of internet users ages 12 to 17 will use social networks at least monthly this year, rivaling the 90% of online 18- to 24-year-olds and the 82% of 25- to 34-year-olds who will do the same. And while usage increases overall may be low at such high levels of saturation, that doesn’t mean teen social media activity is stagnant.

Pew Internet & American Life Project, in partnership with the Family Online Safety Institute and supported by Cable in the Classroom, found in July that 16% of online teens used Twitter, doubling the 8% figure found in September 2009.

Teen girls were more than twice as likely as boys to use the microblogging service, at 22% vs. 10% of the respective populations. Moreover, black internet users were more than three times as likely as whites to do so, and also significantly more likely than Hispanics. Older teens were also more active, as were those with lower household incomes. In each respect, Twitter usage mirrored the demographic differences in overall teen social network users—but amplified them significantly.

Older teens’ increased social participation extended to every activity Pew studied, except gaming.

Twitter is still far from being teens’ social network of choice, though. Most teens (59%) have an account on just one social site, and for 89% of that group, Facebook is that site. Among teens with multiple accounts, 99% have profiles on Facebook. Even in the multinetwork user group, only 29% had an account on Twitter in addition to other sites.

Marketers Use Online Video to Complement, Not Cannibalize, TV Ads
DECEMBER 28, 2011

Display, TV and print all sources of digital video ad budget

The growing enthusiasm for online video advertising signals that the web can and should continue to capture a larger share of brand dollars. Though advertisers and agencies are often increasing their investments in digital video advertising at the expense of offline branding efforts, findings from DIGIDAY and Adap.tv suggest funding also comes at the expense of current display advertising budgets.

According to a November 2011 study, advertisers were more likely to fund their online video advertising efforts from offline channels such as print and broadcast TV than their agency counterparts. Advertisers most often planned to shift budget from print (41%), while 29% said they would take dollars from broadcast TV to fund their digital video advertising efforts. Just 24% planned to pull from display.

Channels Their Clients Plan to Shift Budget from to Fund Online Video Ads According to Agencies and Advertisers in North America, 2010 & 2011 (% of respondents)

Agencies said boosts to online video budgets would most come at the expense of display (43%), indicating a general move away from less dynamic ad formats, such as banner ads, in favor of those with greater engagement potential.

In addition, 39% of agencies said they would fund video from broadcast TV budgets. Though findings appear to suggest advertisers and agencies are shifting budgets away from TV toward video ads, more than half (56%) of respondents viewed online video as a direct complement to—and not a replacement for—their TV ad programs. Just 11% looked to online video to replace their TV ads.

In the past year, both advertisers and agencies have shifted their primary video advertising objectives from brand awareness to brand engagement, perhaps suggesting marketers are moving away from viewing digital video as a mere extension of TV ads and moving toward embracing online video for its ability to more directly engage viewers in a dynamic way.

Online Video Ad Objectives According to Advertisers in North America, 2010 & 2011 (% of respondents)

By enabling video ads with social sharing and other calls to action, marketers can use digital video as a springboard to additional online engagement on social networks, their website and even mobile apps.

Mobile is a growing area of interest for video advertisers, yet publisher offerings lag brand adoption. For example, 42% of advertisers and agencies have purchased iPhone-compatible video ads, yet only 35% of publishers supported such ads. Differences for Android video ads (31% vs. 28%, respectively) and iPad ads (41% vs. 35%) were similar.

Platforms for Which Advertisers Buy Online Video Ads vs. Online Video Ad Platforms Supported by Publishers in North America, 2010 & 2011 (% of respondents)

Publishers that are able to offer brands such ads in the coming months will likely contribute to the growth of both online video and mobile ad spending as marketers look to extend their video footprint beyond TV and across screens to achieve greater brand engagement.

Social Networks More Influential in Emerging Markets

JANUARY 5, 2012

Social network usage grows in emerging markets; users there more open to brands

In September 2011, eMarketer estimated worldwide social network ad revenues would surpass $8 billion by the end of 2012, with the US accounting for just under half of the total. Non-US revenues were expected to grow faster, as marketers attempt to increase brand awareness, market share, and profits in fast-growth countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) and beyond.

Pew Research Center’s “Global Digital Communication: Texting, Social Networking Popular Worldwide” report found that in these large emerging markets, including Mexico and Indonesia, social network penetration ranged from 56% to 86% of internet users. In some markets, especially those with relatively low overall internet penetration, that put social network usage higher than the US’s 60% of internet users.

Unlike in developed markets, where growth in social network usage has plateaued, emerging markets are experiencing double-digit increases. Social network penetration was highest in Indonesia and Russia, at 86% for each in May 2011, up from 63% and 76%, respectively, in 2010.

While not included in the Pew study, social networking may be even more common in Brazil. A study by local ad agency F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi found that penetration reached 93% of internet users in August 2011.

Aside from zeroing in on a large number of internet users, social media marketing is also more effective in emerging markets than more established ones. The TNS “Digital Life 2011” study found that users in BRIC, Indonesia and Mexico were more likely to view social networks as a good place to learn about and buy brands and products than users in developed markets like Canada, the UK and the US.

What could explain the large spread between developed and emerging markets? In developed markets, users are accustomed to third-party ecommerce sites and payment methods and mainly look to social networks for keeping up with friends. In emerging markets, ecommerce is untested and new; knowing the person or brand, even virtually, can engender more trust among users.

Social media marketing is important in the US and other developed markets, but higher levels of trust in emerging markets suggest that social networks can play a bigger role in the purchase cycle there. In the TNS report, Larry Bruck, senior vice president of global media and marketing operations at Kellogg Company, is quoted saying, “Digital is a business enabler, not just a marketing enabler.” In the emerging world, social media, not just digital, provides an opportunity to enable new business for savvy brands.