Yahoo! Peruses the Mobile Market with Assistance from Nokia

Nokia have recently confirmed their agreement with NAVTEQ, who will supply their mapping service and a partnership with Yahoo! who will provide a Mail and Chat service. So, what can we expect?

Yahoo! has in the past has been traditionally quite slow in jumping onto the Mobile Market bus. While Google and Microsoft have developed their own OS, Yahoo! has not been as productive. However, better late than never – Yahoo! has got some help from a very popular and known mobile manufacture that will seriously boost its efforts.

The key aspect that Yahoo! has secured with NAVTEQ and Nokia alliance is that the much recent revised maps and Yahoo! Chat and Mail will be pre installed into all future handsets. This set up is very similar to Google Search being the default search engine on the iPhone, but is it too late?

This market is very competitive and Nokia have locked horns with the likes of Apple, HTC and Samsung on many occasions. So, in summary we have 2 separate business types that are trying to complement each other in their own heavy changing markets. Could it therefore be possible that this partnership could distract either Yahoo! or Nokia from its core business activity and so be detrimental to them?

Having considered all these aspects and elements to the partnership, it potentially might not alter any market position for Nokia or Yahoo!. There is an argument that the main mobile marketing battle is currently raging between the OS for iPhone and Android. The Apple iPhone is the most popular consumer device and this has pushed Google’s search platform further.

The Partnership has a massive hill to climb to compete with Apple and Google. For sure, it may generate a spike in interest and Yahoo! will have their brand name on all supporting devices generating more visibility, but will that worry its competitors enough?

Just to make Yahoo’s intentions a bit harder, Bing have been working towards being a default search engine on other devices, by using offers to users, manufactures and distributors that may become fruitful in the future. However, at present Google is the dominate search engine and without needing to check a crystal ball, they are likely to stay dominate.

Yahoo’s major problem is that the search is not strong enough, while their homepage is littered with news, videos, sounds, popular content and a very valuable email following. Breaking into a fierce market with nothing new will be very difficult.

The mobile internet is a new battlefield for the search giants to attack and hold. With their partnerships with Nokia and NAVTEQ, Yahoo! will be rolling into battle in good stead and moral, assuming that there is something to fight for? We already know the brand name and the financial weight that Apple has and they have stamped their authority on the mobile internet ground. Can Yahoo compete, with or without Nokia?

Reaching a new audience via Social Media

The beauty of Social Media is that you can get messages, a link, or even a collection of pictures to a worldwide audience instantly. The budget compared with other online marketing methods is almost nil and you don’t need a recognised brand name. A good eye catching display with appropriate creativity and a good referral/word of mouth campaign will suffice.

The social media activities have to be linked with the company website to generate the enquiries and the sales. The more creative the better, the more customer interaction the better either locally or internationally. No two businesses will be able to generate the same buzz from a social media site.

A key aspect of the social media link is that it can be the link between driving customers to your website but also by catching them if they try to click away. Therefore, the social media link should be filled with an up-to-date blog that highlights key aspects of the business, customer’s positive feedback and activities that are done in house. The blog will increase the creditability and will maintain a strong personal presence.  Filling pages with URLs and promotions does not really work.

Social media sites are designed and geared to be totally interactive and a forum for ideas and innovations. The key multimedia opportunities must be completed and this would include posting images, videos, reviews and almost any positivity that can be found. It’s possible to say that the Social Media Site is an extension of your own website, and when handled as discussed they are a second online presence.

The mobile internet users are very fickle, if the content is not what you want to see or read about, the results will show this. So, the mobile internet must offer what the audience wants. Showing a few special offers and promotions via the mobile internet will not work very well. You will have to engage with the audience, show them what you have got and why, plus why they should want it.

Social media is revolutionised communication on many levels. It is a platform for business and people to share with the world. Ignoring it could be a massive mistake as you may drift away from the digital age and the whole generation of people that are using it. Social media is not a saturated market, there are still opportunities to be had, but the foundations are very strong for it and your

What is Social Media missing when it comes to advertising and revenue?

As popular and engaging as Social Media is there are a number of issues that restrict its development. Let’s be clear, social media has a very strong and sustained future, but the clue is in the title. It’s Social Media not Commercial Media.

To get over the problems preventing its adverting development, it needs to have more connections and friends in the form of advertisers to concrete its place as a good marketing method.

According to research this may change in 2014, advertising spend is expected to grow to over $3.1billion. That is an increase of $716 million. So, surely this is enough investment to grow Social Media Advertising. Well, by the year 2014, 60% of the total online advertising spend will fall into SEO and PPC methods. This percentage is approximately 10 times what the Social Media would receive.

Therefore, the Social Media market may be a limited market hence why it does not receive the same spend as the SEO and PPC campaigns. While $3.1 billion may sound like a lot of money – in respect to the whole picture it is not.

Facebook and MySpace are today’s most prolific social media revenue generators, and these two websites account for the vast majority of social media online spend. The increase of $716 million that is estimated to boost the social media will either land with MySpace or Facebook.

The important key points that we have to make is that if you are looking for a great digital marketing channel that is new and receptive for the next 5 years and unless social media finds a brand new business model that is very streamlined, then your online ad spend will be allocated to either Facebook or MySpace. Unless, we experience a sudden collapse of the online market as we know it.

For today and now, Social Media does host a number of opportunities, potentially more for the local business and not the large commercial enterprises. Despite this, SEO and PPC are still regarded as king in online digital marketing.

Android overtake Smartphone, depending on how you wish to see it!

While the Smartphone war is still raging, early indications show that the Android OS is holding a larger market share. So is Android OS beating Apple OS 4?

The Nielson research company have confirmed that the Android OS is the more popular operating system among the Smartphone users. The Android has reached 29% of all Smartphone’s, in contrast with 27% of Apples OS 4 and 27% RIM BlackBerry editions.

However, RIM BlackBerry and Apple were leading the pack in terms of manufacturing the hardware. Plus, RIM BlackBerry and Apple OS do have an advantage because they make and release their own handsets with their own OS systems.

The Windows Phone 7 and the Android OS use third party manufacturing companies including Samsung, Motorola, HTC and HP to build phones that the their respective operating systems are installed onto. This then really boosts the number of users of the Android OS when it runs on handsets from Samsung, HTC and HP.

The Apple OS is installed on to all of the iPhone products so their marketing share will all depend upon unit sales.  In contrast, Android depends on other manufacturers sales efforts.

This does pose the question, have Android users bought a specific phone that has this OS, or did they buy Android regardless of what it was installed on to? If the latter is the reason then their market share of 29% could increase which would be bad news for Apple and RIM BlackBerry.

One operating system that has not been mentioned is the Symbian OS system that is currently managed by Nokia and has been installed onto many Nokia handsets including the N series (N95 – N80). Popularity of this OS in 2004 and 2005 was immediate. However, the Symbian software was reported to be occasionally unreliable and slow between functions. With regards to market share, it was near the top – it now holds only 2%, despite supporting great handsets like the Nokia 5320, X5 and N86.

So, does this prove that the consumers buy the OS and not the phone? The Android has the highest market share when installed into good handsets.  Nokia have always put together handsets that have been easy to use and stylish, but the OS has underperformed.

Another argument could be that Apple and RIM BlackBerry have 27% market share each because of their sales and marketing, and their OS is their own. So if the market share of their two were added together that would make 54%, more than Android.

If consumers do buy the OS, more manufacturers will want the Android on board as it boosts unit sales, so the market share of Android will also increase taking more business away from RIM BlackBerry and Apple. Having said that, the Android is supported across HTC, Motorola and Samsung, three major branded platforms where as the Apple and RIM BlackBerry only supports their own brands.

In summary, Android has more users through its branded manufactures. However, Apple and RIM BlackBerry have possibly performed better as all activities are done in house, with own handsets and OS.

So, the Handset (i.e. iPhone, BlackBerry or Samsung) or the OS (Apple, RIM or Android)? What’s it to be?

Sony Ericsson Fan Base Soars on Facebook

Sony Ericsson had a huge success with social media last year and has no plans to let that slip in the future.  They intend to display product information through rich media using ‘insightful editorial’ to grab customer attention.

Remarkably, Sony Ericsson increased its Facebook fan base from 300,000 to a staggering 3.9 million during 2010, making them the 40^th largest brand.

Ben Padley, VP and global head of online and CRM at Sony Ericsson, said: “Our fan base used to be more male and techie, but now we’re more of a lifestyle brand with universal appeal,” he said. “Our challenge is to engage the superfans at the same time as the new entrants.”

Sony Ericsson plan to profile their fans and match them with specific content and then offer them unique opportunities such as visiting their offices.

Padley went on to say: “Our goal for 2011 is to keep promoting our solid hardware. We’re investigating augmented reality, product tutorials and social media commerce opportunities.”

Bing Challenge Google local with Bing Deals

In competition to Google Offers and Yahoo Local Offers, Bing is launching their own local deals service in America.

Microsoft’s offering will be called ‘Bing Deals’ and will cover 14,000 towns and cities, offering over 200,000 offers to users.

Rather than create their own platform, Microsoft has teamed up with service provider, The Dealmap.

Andy Shu, director of product management for Bing Mobile said, “Bing’s mission is to help you cut through the clutter of the web to make decisions more quickly – whether that’s through our own innovations or by teaming up with industry experts.”

Access to Bing Deals is relatively widespread with access available from desktop PC’s, the iPhone and Android mobile devices.  However, because it does not run on HTML5 software, users will not be able to access the service on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 operating systems.

Bing Deals users can look for offers by location (geolocation when accessing by mobile) and by category.  Offers can be shared with contacts via email and saved.

Google threw their hat into the ring in January by launching Google Offers in an effort to cash in on the ever growing social commerce trend.

It’s not a surprise that it’s not available in the UK yet as Google usually test the water in the US prior to rolling out globally.

As Google reveal that a third of mobile searches are for local businesses, are you mobile search ready?

The internet holds similar properties to a new organism; it is constantly adapting and evolving. Back in the day, all interactions with the internet were very static, you would sit at a computer and get involved. In the last several years, evolvements, asked questions, new technology and reduced costs have made the internet more widespread. Today we expect internet access from 3G and Wi-Fi networks when we are out shopping or having a drink in a coffee shop. The mobile audience today is vast, an audience that is progressively craving more advancements in technology.

It has to be said that this new age of internet access is a full shift forward, opening connections to access the internet where ever the user is. No longer do you have to be sat in front of an old PC, better internet is outside. With this new age come new methods of doing things, including using a search engine.

Google has reported via the Director of Mobile Advertising at Google, that a third of all Google searches on mobile devices are linked to its local area. This may not be a massive revelation to most people, but it does highlight a search trend. So, is the mobile search essential for business websites with this current information? Well, ignore it and you will lose out.

Mobile users can access information very quickly, including specific information matching their initial search. With improved and combined technologies, it is now also possible to generate your location during the mobile search through GPS and signal triangulation. Therefore, the search can produce national results but also very good local results. Business websites need to be compliant with the mobile search to maximise this new search trend.

Just having a traditional marketing campaign is out of date and inaffective with the evolving consumer habits. Being mobile is a growing market, so any business will have to consider how their websites are displayed on a mobile, ie making full use of the screen specifications. Having a small local SEO spend could be very rewarding while highlighting the businesses geographical location.

Locating website geographical locations is very easy to register, and within minutes you could be picking up highly targeted mobile search traffic. It requires optimising your website with local search phrases and making sure that search engines know where you are.

With a tailored mobile friendly website and local SEO, your website will receive more local traffic. Mixed in with more widespread national marketing campaigns to increase visibility and local presence online, then you have an online campaign that is right for today’s world.

Mobile Friendly Website + Mobile Search Spend = SALES

Online businesses will have to consider mobile search advertising spend for their websites as more people are using their Smartphone’s to do research and make purchases. According to a recent study, mobile phone and Smartphone clicks during the months of December 2010 and January 2011 dramatically increased.

This increase in mobile clicks is partly due to the level of research that consumers are doing while shopping on their Smartphone, normally when they are on the high street. However, the main reason is believed to be that more people have access to a Smartphone and can make purchases (with appropriate apps occasionally) very easy. The mobile phone and the Smartphone are a very immediate method to research prices and locate the best price on the move.

It will be more important for any business to utilise any mobile purchasing when driving sales. A conventional website will be visited more and more as research on mobiles grows.  It’s vital that the business website is suitable and clear form a desktop pc and a Smartphone if it wishes to generate sales as Smartphone’s continue to grow in popularity.

SKYPE: Pushing into the Corporate Business Market

Skype are going to introduce a new conference calling service that will allow multiple users to talk at the same time, see each other via online video and share files. The new service is scheduled to be available towards the end of this year, and will be included into the revised revenue based strategy.

This strategy is all about money, because there is a very high majority of the 145 million registered members / users of the Skype service that don’t pay. This no pay percentage is not because they refuse to or just have not paid, it’s because one of the services that Skype offers is completely FREE.

The corporate business market and the video conference calling service is the market that Skype is going to target, but that won’t be easy. Despite having a partnership with Citrix Software Company and a live Skype audience, Skype will be in competition with Cisco System’s WebEx and Microsoft’s Live Meeting.

The FREE service allows 2 people to communicate and meet online on their computer screens. The revised version that will be called Skype for Business, will allow multiple users to be engaged in a conference call and share files.

This Skype for Business unit has received a lot of investment to maximise its expansion effort. The functional aspects of the service will be very simple and immediate; there will be an icon to begin a meeting and a contact list of people you can invite into the meeting.

There have been no indications as to what price the Skype for Business package will be and there is no concrete launch date. However, Citrix wanted to ‘let people work anytime and from anywhere they want to work and communicate’, so use Skype for Business.

Facebook Release the Latest Social Chat Feature – Social Eyes

Facebook is currently the largest social networking website, but that does not stop the creative minds at Facebook from adding another feature to the service. This feature is called Social Eyes – and it connects friends together using video chat.

Social Eyes has been released recently and Facebook members can use the Social Eyes feature via Facebook to video chat with their friends that are on their friends list. Plus, also if a friend is not presently online at that time, there is the option to leave a video message.

The social eyes can operate multiple chats, with mute and pause options.  The means you can control conversations that you don’t want people to hear – which might alter your friends list.

There are other suppliers of this type of video chat, including SKYPE, Apple’s Face Time and Google’s Video. Facebook is more geared towards the social element, building a community chat among your friends.

Facebook has seen the interest in face pointing devices such as netbooks and the iPhone 4. So, the social eyes should fit in perfectly. There is a proposal to develop a business version, to capture the business market with a revenue opportunity through advertising.      

The question is, is this service an enhancement to the Facebook social network package or an attempt to take market share away from SKYPE and Apple’s Face time?