Digital Marketing made easy

Published by TCS (Global Study Trend, 2013) this report captures insights, practices, and trends for usage of social media amongst consumer companies. Some interesting findings: #1: This one is going to make marketers really happy: 38% of those surveyed, reported positive ROI for social media, 44% said "didn't know", only 18% reported negative ROI sentiment. #2: The industries that are successfully using social media are media, retail, high-tech, telco & travel, no surprises here though. #3: Only 3 business functions actively monitor social dialogue: marketing, sales and customer service. Those that should, but are not, are R&D & product management. The complete report can be downloaded here . Though companies do factor in social media spend, its time that it now becomes an integral part of integrated marketing communications, a part of the overall marketing mix. When we do start viewing social media as strategic consumer communication rath...

Can Click to Call be critical to conversions? Google commissioned a study to understand consumer attitudes about click to call within organic and paid mobile search results.  The results showed that 70% of mobile searchers use click to call and that calls are an important channel for consumers.  Key Findings Click to call is one of the most used features on  the mobile Search Engine Result Page (SERP) The study indicated that 70% of mobile searchers have used click to call  to connect with a business directly from the SERP . The ability to call is vital to create & maintain  a strong brand image 47% of mobile searchers say that if a business  does not list a phone number associated with  their search results, they will be more likely to  explore other brands. Click to call is an important tool  in mobile search ad campaigns Adding a phone number to mobile  search ads results in an average click  through rate increa...

A recent study, jointly conducted by Google & Nielsen, to understand mobile consumers’ shopping habits highlights five key findings:  More consumers are spending time researching on their smartphones (15+ hours a week) The research gateway is a search engine (vs a mobile site or app) Proximity is key (69% expect businesses to be within five miles of their location), location based services, anyone? Immediacy is critical (more than half want to purchase within the hour) and mobile influences their purchase decisions (93% go on to buy).  The full report can be read at http://bit.ly/18cZHmY.

Just came across this interesting report published by "IDC Predictions 2013: Competing on the 3rd Platform". Multiple interpretations of the report have hailed  Mobility, Cloud, Big Data and Social Media as the four big trends of 2013. Image credit:  http://www.idc.com/research/Predictions13/index.jsp Key Takeaways: Mobile devices: Sales of smart mobile devices (SMDs) — smartphones and  tablets — will grow by 20%, and drive 57% of all IT  market growth.  Tablet surge driven by minis: Mini tablets (< 8 in. screens) will account for as  much as 60% of unit shipments — a remarkable leap from just 33% in 2012. Rise of "industry platform as a service (PaaS)": The number of industry-focused  public cloud services platforms — less than 100 in 2012 — will increase  tenfold by 2016, while "horizontal" PaaS will become more commoditized.  Big Data — from search to discovery and prediction: Big Data M&A will  cluster i...

Surprise, this one! A study jointly conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology and International Telecommunication Union highlights that only 30% of the people aged 15-24 have spent at least five years actively using the internet---that is, being digital natives. The report further points out a paradox about the concept of digital natives, which is, the gap between the millenials and other generational cohorts is much less pronounced in the developed nations and is much more significant in low-income countries in Asia and Africa. Source:  http://bit.ly/1amolDi

Key Takeaways from the India Digital Future in Focus 2013: ComScore Report 1. India― The World’s Third Largest Internet Population Internet audience grew by 17.6 mn users since March 2012, a YOY increase of 31%. Also useful will be to view the Mary Meeker KPCB Internet Trends 2013 slide deck for Global Internet Users, viewed here (http://slidesha.re/1hih4an) 2. The demographic dividend continues in digital-o-sphere; India’s Online Population Skews Significantly Younger Than Other BRIC Countries , 39% of the population in the age group 25-34.  3. This one was a surprise, the fastest growing web categories in India being apparel, comparison shopping, blogs , and financial information , with blogs showing phenomenal growth, adding 11.6 mn new users and growing @48% 4. No surprises here―top web properties are Google (69K), Facebook (59K), Yahoo sites (38K), figures indicate unique visitors, with Google leading the way in minutes spent per visitor too! 5. Some int...

Customer Loyalty: Beyond Likes, Tweets & Shares from Sumedha Chatterjee