After years of missteps, Apple finally got the cloud shortly before Steve’s death in 2011. Replacing MobileMe with iCloud brought a slew of new features to IOS devices. In-the-air syncing, iMessage, wireless backups and PC-free operation were great starts to the iCloud service, and I think the following additions will put Apple light years ahead of the competition.
1. Unify Apple IDs. I have a trail of Apple IDs dating back to the early days of the iTunes Music Store. My three or so IDs are tied to specific content that I don’t want to part with. And my iCloud Apple ID is different from my FaceTime ID which is different from my Apple Retail ID. Having the ability for Apple ID veterans to merge these identities would cut down on password headaches and improve the overall Apple experience.
2. Optional auto updates for apps. iOS4 does a great job of removing the digital housekeeping tasks from the end user but I find myself updating apps several times a week. I think there should be a setting to allow users to opt-in for nightly updates when available.
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As another year begins we all find ourselves looking back and looking forward. Or, as we say in Marketing Science – analyzing and predicting.
We would also be the first to point out that predictive modeling relies on the analysis of historic data. Or, in regular-person speak – only by looking back can we look forward.
So, stick with us in our predictions for 2012 because as we focus on the future we will be taking some detours into the past.
Prediction #1
Social media measurement will focus less on ROI and more on brand affinity and purchase decisions.
Legend has it that once upon a time, in a land far, far away websites were once considered an expensive and optional marketing channel. (“This interweb thing is nothing more than a fad.”).
There was also a time when social media was viewed by many as a fad. 2008-2009 saw businesses start to take social media seriously. (“Maybe this Zuckerberg kid is onto something.”).
By 2010 executives wanted to know what their social media marketing spends were doing and social media measurement took off. The listening platform industry was born and several companies offered products that measured how much conversation was there about a brand, what were the key topics of conversation, and what was the sentiment of those conversations.
As social media marketing budgets grew, those same executives wanted to know how their spends were performing. And so 2011 became the year of social media ROI (return on investment). A prior post speaks more to this topic.
As we turn the corner into 2012 we predict that the focus on measuring ROI will lessen as companies stop wondering if social media has value and accept that it is now a fundamental part of the marketing mix. The measurement of social media will evolve into measuring its impact on brand affinity and purchase decisions. Social media will stop being viewed in a silo and seen as part of an end-to-end marketing mix.
Is Pinterest the ‘Next Big Thing’ in Social Media?
Pinterest has been getting a lot of buzz recently. The social network, which is essentially a digital scrapbook that allows users to “pin” things they like across the Internet onto their own personal “boards”, is seeing so much traffic recently that they were launched into the 10th spot in Experian’s list of the most popular social networks. So what is it about the site that is capturing people’s (mostly women’s) attention?
It seems that Pinterest is just the combination in a social network that people have been looking for. Rather than posting long arduous blog posts, or even 140 characters in Twitter, Pinterest allows people to click and go. Find something on the Internet that you want to come back to later, pin it, and move on. It’s quick, easy, and most of all, extremely addictive.
Happy New Year! Our teams are back from holiday time with their families and ready for an exciting year ahead. But before we welcome 2012, we thought it might be fun to look back on some of our favorite stories of 2011. It seemed fitting to pick 11.
Here you have a list of eleven posts from across our offices, spanning topics from customer experience and branding to measurement and mobile. It’s a great overview of trends and technologies that shaped the past year of digital marketing.
We thank you for continuing to read Experience Matters and are looking forward to bringing you another year of timely and compelling points of view.
On September 29th, 2011, Bank of America disclosed plans to collect a fee for standard checking accounts. The fee sparked an outcry among Americans threatening to close their bank accounts and move to other institutions.
Americans rallied together for November 5th, Bank Transfer Day (BTD), as an opportune time to make the switch. Community banks and credit unions capitalized by encouraging customers to move their money to the institutions that don’t charge such fees.
In the final week of October leading up to BTD, eight major financial institutions one-by-one decided not to charge debit card fees, falling to the threats made by consumers.
We’ve seen the power of Americans rallying together to stand up and protect their financial needs. When consumers stand as one, even some of the most powerful corporations in the world will listen.
Consumers stood as one on Bank Transfer Day. In the aftermath, Credit Unions picked up 650,000 new customers – more than all of 2010 combined – totaling $4.5 billion in deposits. Big banks stand to lose more. Their reputation is so thoroughly tarnished among the masses that the ten biggest US banks could collectively lose $185 billion in deposits over the next year if they don’t do more to please their customers.
A Changing World: Consumers Gain Control
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Knowing where to focus your time and energy when it comes to executing SEO tactics that will have value and drive rankings, traffic, and conversions is key to building a long term strategy to grow your online business.
Below you will find the 12 most overrated SEO tactics that don’t work. I am sure some of you will disagree with me on some of them, which is ok, but if you disagree with me, ask yourself if the tactic you disagree with is a long term strategy that aligns with building a quality online business and brand.
A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself “would I feel comfortable explaining this tactic to Matt Cutts, Lead of the Google Spam Team, or would I hide my computer screen if he was standing behind me watching me execute it?”.
1. Mass directory submission
If you have a website or search Google, I am sure you have seen those ads for submitting a website to 1,000 directories for $99.99. They claim that you can get hundreds of “high quality” back links for basically no work. This is not a good tactic, especially for new sites. It can hurt your link graph and be a signal to the search engines that since you are receiving a large number of low quality links, your site is a low quality website as well. If you are going to do directory submission I would suggest reading this post to get some information about valuable SEO directories.
2. Reciprocal links
We have all received those emails from random people asking to trade links (most of us just hit delete after getting a good laugh from them). This is an old strategy that was popular years ago when SEO was in its infancy. Read More
