How do you plan on shopping this Christmas season?

 I stumbled across an article talking about integrating Smartphone usage with holiday shopping this season. Maybe I wasn't caught up in the hype for the previous years, but I have never seen such publicity about using phones for shopping until this year.

So, one question puts it. How will you go by on your shopping this season? Are you capable of shopping with your phone? What if you could compare in-store prices to online prices?

Did you find the perfect coffee maker for your husband? Try using a bar code scanning application. As previously stated in my blog, you're able to scan anything and everything with a UPC code, and compare your prices to hundreds of retail outlets instantly. Lets face it, you do want the best bang for your buck, so if you come into this holiday season with ample shopping time, you should be able to receive all of your gifts before Christmas, and at a reduced rate compared to shopping in store and paying extra taxes!

Below you will find a chart about how Smartphone users plan to use their phone this holiday season.

For me? I'll go with compare prices, read reviews, look for promotions, and purchasing items. I'm going to test a theory this Christmas season. For each present that I'll be buying, I'm going to find it in store, read up and learn everything about it, and then compare prices to online retailers. Simply put, if its cheaper online after shipping, I'll go with it as long as they're a trusted seller.

Being a tech-geek will pay off for me this Christmas season...hopefully. How about you?



Multichannel Shopping Key for Holiday Season

Browser or App?

 Application users are multiplying by the second. Over a third of all mobile users used a downloaded application in the month of August, and popularity of apps have increased since. However, polls have recently shown that mobile device users still prefer using a browser compared to using applications.

I whole heartedly agree on this. As an avid user of the iPhone 4, I have to say that most applications, as tacky or interesting as they may be, are simply overrated. Sure, it's fun to watch Netflix on the go. I also enjoy having sports information updated to my phone as I am away from my desktop. However, the laptop/desktop browsing experience is still the way to go as long as you are able to do so.

 Above you will find a poll made by Adobe Systems asking what people prefer to use when using the following features online. After viewing this, I'm more shocked than anything by how mobile device technology has soared over the past few years.

But personally, I believe the article bashes mobile devices a little more than they should be. As much as I am not a fan of 98% of the apps on the App store, the wireless market still has a large share on popularity in many categories. 61% of users prefer to game on applications compared to PC browsers, 55% prefer to listen to music through applications, and 54% now prefer to social network on their wireless devices compared to using a computer. Advertising on Facebook has became popular, but I haven't really viewed many advertisements on the Facebook app. We probably will see this change in the near future.

It is amazing that to see that wirelesses devices aimed for internet usage gained such popularity to the point where now companies are funneling advertisements into wireless devices applications.

While listening to pandora on my iPhone, I periodically keep running into voiced advertisements from Target. I also see banners at the top or bottom on free applications, and when entering certain applications, you are greeted by a landing page advertisement that you must click out of to get to your application.

Its hard for me not to be exposed to advertisements as I do my daily routines, but I now have a multi-advertising device in my pocket.



Users Prefer Browsers over Apps.

iPhone / Barcode Scanning

Mobile devices have vastly changed the shopping experience as we know it. With wireless internet being standard for cell phone users, more and more people are able to compare prices of in-store products. With the iPhone, you are able to download an app that you can scan the UPC code of a product and compare prices with online retailers.

An eMarketer research survey shows that 43% of internet users use scanning applications to compare prices. This has only made a larger competitive advantage for online retailers, as consumers are more price sensitive than ever. Free shipping is also a possibility, and buying out of state in most states allow for an even lower price due to not charging tax post purchase. The article also points out how the app creates a friction between people deciding to make impulse or on the spot purchases.

Retailers will have to begin to creating a new competitive advantage in order to battle these lost profits

Tide

When I enter Tide's website for the first time, I am greeted by a survey asking me for input on 4-6 questions asking for customer feedback. I decided to take part. The questions really were not relevant to my knowledge. The first question was "Based on today's visit, how would you rate your site experience overall?". I haven't even been past the main page! I feel as if I'm being hunted for my opinions before I've even had the chance to fulfill them. As I skip to the main page, Tide greets you with positive customer reviews of their products. I thought this was a great way to connect to the customer to show positive experiences using the product. Being interested in the Tide to Go, Instant stain remover pen, I decided to test to see where the first hyperlink would bring me for a price point. Drugstore.com offers this product for $8.99, receiving 3 pens. But one question arises.

I haven't done business with www.drugstore.com. Personally, the only place I have shopped online was through eBay, Amazon, and other popular retail chains. After learning about privacy policies, I decided to dig into Drugstore.com to see what their privacy policy was.

After navigating to the main page, I was greeted at the bottom of the page to a TRUSTe certified privacy logo. Reading about what TRUSTe is as a company enriched me with trust and confidence in knowing that I was safe to do business with Drugstore.com, without having to worry about spam in my inbox. Also, reading about how TRUSTe's security prevents my bank information from being stolen. I could see how TRUSTe creates a greater return on investment for a business through ensuring customers' safety by paying for a TRUSTe professional package

Search Engines

One thing I noticed different about search engines is what they offer on the front page. When comparing Yahoo! to Google, I noticed that when using Google, you must customize your Google page to include news and other affiliated sites in order to view them when entering the website. When you enter Yahoo! for your first time, you are greeted with all of the choices of what you would like to know on the left pane. The placement of the search engine bar is also in a different location of the screen. Google's search bar is in the dead center of your webpage, while Yahoo!'s search bar is above the most recent news, almost as if Google wants their main objective be revolved around the search bar, compared to Yahoo! wanting to be a top choice in a media outlet. This can be referred to by Roberts 10.

When creating an effective website, establish your sites objectives. Are you appealing to people that want a search engine with a visual of news, movie listings, mail, messenger, and sports after you enter the URL? Or are you appealing to people that specifically want a search engine without having to worry about graphical advertisements, longer loading screens, and unnecessary information hyperlinks?

Newegg!

Newegg is one of the most popular electronic sales websites on the internet. Newegg ranks 427 and in the top .01% traffic rank of all websites, and there are 1,588,455 inbound links to the website. Del.icio.us has 9,777 bookmarked links and Hubspot's website grader even gave Newegg a 99/100 overall in terms of marketing effectiveness!

So, hows does an almost perfect website improve? Well, my first pet peeve is how Newegg displays results after you use their navigation pane. At random, I decided to view laptop notebooks. You can find the results HERE. (Note, for the best experience, make sure to right click and open the link in a new tab)

Do you see what I see? As referenced in Roberts, 10, the website is cluttered with too many small pictures that do not show effective detail of the product. All I see is 20 expensive-priced notebooks with no distinguishing traits except the parts that the notebooks contain. Lets click a random notebook HERE

Clicking details will give you the specs of this computer. What if the consumer has no idea what any of this information means? I'm computer literate, and I cant even compare the "AMD Phenom II Quad-Core P920 1.6 GHZ" Processor to todays standards in computers. I would have to do an excessive amount of research to come to my conclusion. This is also referenced in Roberts 10. If a consumer cannot come to a conclusive answer or becomes frustrated in not understanding the information at hand, the potential sale will diminish as he leaves the site and continues his search. So to be a fan of Newegg, in my opinion, one must be tech-savvy or they might not get too far with comprehending if what they are purchasing is worth the value.

Last, I felt that the subcategories on the left navigation pane were very descriptive, however hard to comprehend. Moving back HERE and viewing the choices, I look at the variety of choices and see hyperlinks named "AMD Phenom  II Triple-Core", "Intel Core i3", "Power PC G4", and other processor types. These are all sorted by the amount of computers that contain each, not by how well each performs. Just a heads up, make sure to acquire the knowledge of your products before purchase, as Newegg only has customer reviews for you to depend on.

The Continued Rise of Blogging

 Social networks and microblogs have in recent years nudged blogging off the social media pedistal. Facebook and Twitter have supplanted blogging as life-streaming outlets. Blogs still continue to be important. eMarketer estimates that this year more than a half of internet users will read a blog at least monthly. Its also projected by 2014 that this number will rise to 150 million Americans.

One reason for this is that blogs have become accepted as part of an online media outlet for readers.

Yet blog writing is still a niche activity. Only 12% of the online population will update a blog monthly, and this number will only escalate to 13.3% by 2014.

Factors that are included in the growth for blogging are the following

• The ease of use of personal blogging platforms and the growing comfort level with blogs as a form of media.
• Social media such as Twitter and Facebook are giving consumers an alternative, less intensive way to communicate their thoughts to the world
• Blogging is no longer a primary way for people to express themselves online

As i read this information, I can see more and more bloggers use Google Adsense. As more and more consumers view blogs, they'll start becoming more exposed to targeted advertisements. Bloggers could really cash in on this theory, if they wish to take a shot at making an income for expressing their opinions online, as the population of viewers are only projected to go up.
The Continued Rise of Blogging

Jeep

As I goto the Jeep website, I am greeted by the new 2011 Jeep models they have to offer. I quickly notice that I can build my own Jeep online! You're able to choose whatever model choice you desire, starting at MSRP $15,365. Highlighting each type of Jeep shows the gas mileage, horsepower, seating, and towing capacity that each stock model has to offer. As I choose my Jeep Wrangler, I'm brought to a new website that allows me to choose different models such as the Sport, Islander, Mountain, Sahara, or Rubicon model. After deciding on what model you want, the website has you choose the interior and exterior color that the Jeep will be. The third step is where you are able to customize your Jeep the most, you can decide between automatic or manual transmission, what axel ratio you prefer, and what additional features you would like. Under additional features there are about 10 different options you can add to your new vehical. After completing that step jeep provides you with a summary of your customized jeep with all the additional features you added while creating it. You have the option to print this summary page out which is very benefically for consumers who want to be able to take this information to their local dealership.

Roberts chapter 8 talked about how customazation allows consumers to create products based on the needs and wants of an individual customer. Tools that I would like to see in the future from Jeep, would be marketing that consumers can build their own brand new Jeep from a selection of models for as cheap as $15,385. It would be interesting to see Jeep link potential customers in a personalized email to the customizable options of their new jeep and then sending the potential buyers to a landing page to track how many people take advantage of this.

Minnesota Twins Advertising

When I go to the front page of the Official Site of the Minnesota Twins, A continuous video film is played int he top right corner of your screen. For any Minnesota Twins fan, it is hard to look away from, as it shows the Twins biggest plays of the most recent plays. You're able to switch between videos, however after clicking the clip, you are directed to another website where you are greeted by a Panasonic television showing you clip, along with a dove soap commercial before the clip. This is a great example  of getting customer interaction with the website, as explained in Roberts chapter 6. Video improves brand metrics and lifts purchase events, which in this game would be home tickets to a twins game at the new target field, or twins gear.

Customer interaction is also a great way to show advertising, as advertising takes a rear seat as you continuously choose clips of twins highlights to watch.

Strong Growth for Local Online Advertising

The article points out that the growth of online local ad spending will mean that a greater slice of money spent on traditional advertisement spending will decrease. By 2014, BIA/Kelsey expects nearly one in four local ad dollars to be spent on digital marketing.
"The strength and popularity of certain media over the enxt five yeras in the local media marketplace will dramatically affect the distribution of advertising spending for many of the advertising categories," said Tom Buono, CEO at BIA/Kelsey.

My take on this eMarketer article is that if the advertisement spending increases for web based advertising, expect search engines like Google and Bing to only expand as they continue to make more and more money off search engine based advertising. Sites will have more advertisements  and the web may become ad happy, but as Figure 5-2 in Roberts chapter 5 points out, more and more advertisement money will be funneled to web site spending on ads, and more and more people are using the internet as years pass in each category. I expect the internet market to grow even more as online spending for marketing increases as the years go by.







eMarketer Strong Growth for Local Online Advertising

SPAM Review

As I go to SPAM's website for the first time, I keep in mind that I've never purchased or tasted a SPAM product. I'm greeted by a quick pop in which informs me to click a link if I'd like to print off coupons, recipes involving SPAM, and how to upload my own recipes. I didn't even know recipes included SPAM so that was a new one for me. After I clicked out of the pop in, the front page greets me with recipes of what I would like to mix SPAM with, whether its egg, tomato, macaroni, or potatoes. Each choice will give you four different recipes along with pictures of what the main dish would look like.

Now SPAM to me has a stereotype. SPAM was the product that you can keep in your food stock in case the power went out for an extended period of time. I was unaware that people mixed SPAM with other food products to make food dishes, from SPAM and scalloped potatoes, to SPAM with macaroni and cheese, to morning egg and SPAM burritos. The website is very interactive, which is one great key point that Roberts Chapter 4 pointed out. An internet marketing program has three action objectives. To get the visitor to remain on the site longer, to entice visitors to request additional information, and to make sales.

SPAM's website accomplishes keeping visitors on their website through interaction. The website asks you what kind of food you prefer eating, and how you can mix spam with that choice. Very cool. SPAM also entices its consumers to request additional information by looking through a list of recipes to print off from the manufacturer and from other consumers. Finally, SPAM attempts to achieve sales , whether first time consumers or previous purchases, by offering coupons for their products from the moment you enter the website URL in.

In conclusion, other food manufacturers could take  key points from SPAM's website in order to increase their customer base, retain customers, and create the highest possible customer lifetime value.

SPAM's Website.

Social Media Working Better for Retention Than Acquisition

Social media marketing has been around for years and as marketers tackle the best ways on how to push their brands onto social media, it is emerging that marketers' top goals are brand awareness and creating customer loyalty. Customer acquisition is sought to be as less important, as viewed by the chart below

Data gained through July 2010 shows that customer acquisition is taking a backseat for marketing on social media, at 19%. In Roberts chapter 4, direct marketing strategies are discussed on how customers are acquired. It all begins with the acquisition stage, as the customer makes a single purchase, engaged in a demonstration or sample, but is not yet committed to the brand. I can understand why Marketers have their objective as brand awareness or customer growth, as it could be more of a difficult task to create customer acquisition through marketing online. When a consumer views an advertisement on their social media website that they are not familiar with, the first notion they make is if the product is relevant to their needs. If the product is not relevant to their need, then the consumer shuns the ad. If the product is relevant to their need, they will compare it to what they currently use, but if they see no real relative advantage to purchasing the new product, then the consumer has the choice to also ignore the ad, unless they wish to see out more information.

As I use my common sense, I agree with marketers intentions of establishing loyalty of the product. As a consumer purchases a product, they must be reassured that they made the correct purchase. It makes the consumer feel better about their purchase seeing advertisements of their product. Lets take the iPhone 4. If the consumer purchase the product, and views iPhone 4 advertisements on why the iPhone is better than the competitors phones, they are reassured they made the correct purchase, which creates loyalty, and even a repurchase in years to come.

Brand awareness is another great goal to have. As you put your product online, the more times a consumer views it, the more it gets memorized into their head. When a person becomes in need of the product, they will first remember the product that they've seen the most by advertisement. This could be your product.


The eMarketer article continues to explain how budgets of customer acquisition have doubled twice between 2008 and 2010, the spending in customer acquisition is lower than the spending in customer growth and loyalty, and brand awareness.

In conclusion, the spending for customer acquisition is an inexpensive marketing channel for small businesses, and is utmost the primary goal as they try to establish themselves. However, the spending of large companies overshadows customer acquisition attempts with attempts to create customer growth and loyalty.


Social Media Working Better for Retention than Acquisition

McDonalds

What do you think about when McDonalds comes to your mind? Fast food? Dollar double cheeseburgers? High calories? Unhealthy food? These are all stereotypes that come to my mind . After I went to McDonalds website for the first time ever, I see a new ball game McDonalds is trying to play. Their main advertisement in flash format features the new Angus Snack Wrap. McDonalds has taken the 1/3 pound Angus burger and made it into a wrap, filled with vegetables, pickles, tomatoes, cheese, and sauce. It seems that McDonalds is attempting the healthy approach to fast food.

Next, There are hyperlinks on the main page that advertise how McDonalds has Chefs.

<---This cant be real!!

I really don't understand how a low budget fast food restaurant has chefs. Maybe the times have changed. Maybe McDonalds wants to get rid of their fat food name. 

One link that I approved of was viewing how McDonalds makes their Iced Coffees for their McCafe. As a coffee fanatic, I drooled over pictures of coffee beans all the way to the topping of the whipped cream for the Mochas. 

Overall, I feel that McDonalds has changed their ways. Advertising that they have Chefs on their website, investing and creating the McCafe, and moving to make new snack wrap options have all tried to appeal to the "health-aware" population. For those who are coming to the McDonalds website for information on their food will find great value. The addition of reading information on the website such as promotions on new food products, the food menus to decide what to order, nutrition guidelines to determine what to eat and what not to eat, and being able to search for McDonalds locations within 40 miles of you will help increase customer value and convenience for the customer.

The influence on mobile devices in social media's future

The Influence of Mobile on Social Marketing's Future

As more and more smartphone devices help put the world wide web into more and more American hands, there is speculation that mobile technology will play a larger role in all forms, including social media.

In a survey, 17% believed more usage of social media for mobile platforms would be noticed, and 12% cited an uptake in mobile location-based social networking, as seen by the following chart.

The biggest marketing opportunity in the mobile industry lies with the ability to use location data to bring consumers timely messages when they are already nearby and possibly considering a purchase. With these tracking opportunities, Social media by mobile will bring in marketing opportunities. People that are using their  mobile device while in town will be catered by marketing opportunities quickly. A person might be undecided on a purchase, and these advertising opportunities brought to you by your smartphone can sway the consumers opinion. Information is a powerful driver and is the greatest value a consumer can have when they make decisions.The information that is received through the smartphone is delivered in a quick, speedy manner, as characterized by internet marketing driver three.