Month: October 2011

What is a Cloud?

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Growing up we learned about clouds, the ones that we see in the sky.  We learned that they had a number of names such as cumulus, stratus, cirrus and nimbus.  These clouds were responsible for our weather, our views and sometimes our amazement.

In our rapidly changing technology world, clouds have taken on new names; Amazon, Google, Apple, Carbonite and many others.  The term most often used is Cloud Computing.  So what is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing provides computation, software, data access, and storage services that do not require end-user knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services.   Simply put, if you need a music file, Word document, application, picture, object or just about anything else digital, you can now store it and access it from any device in the cloud.

Enjoy the view!

Is Your Business Mobile? Part 2

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Smart devices are taking over!  Get used to it.  What are doing about it?

Comscore, a leader in measuring the digital world, www.comscore.com, recently released a mobile usage study stating that 7% of all U.S digital traffic is now coming from smart phones and tablets.  This is just an amazing transformation for connecting with your customers.

What is driving this growth?

  • Increased WiFi availability
  • ½ of the U.S. mobile population uses mobile media (Defined as those that browse the mobile web, access applications or download content)
  • iPads dominate among tablets in driving digital traffic – iPads delivered 97.2% of tablet traffic. WOW!
  • 50% of users made a purchase on their tablets
  • Tablets are social devices

Consumers use their mobile devices to find local deals.  Mobile consumers are willing to share their location in exchange for real-time offers.  66% are willing to share their information in exchange for coupons, 55% for loyalty rewards and 37% for exclusive sales.

If you want to reach your customers and prospects in the future, mobile will be critical to your success.

Press release link:

http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/10/Smartphones
_and_Tablets_Drive_Nearly_7_Percent_of_Total_U.S._Digital_Traffic

Is Your Business Mobile?

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Small Businesses – Are You Mobile?

Your customers are, are you?

In an era where there are more and more ways to reach and communicate with your customers and prospects, every day challenges us in how to connect and have meaningful dialogue.  How do I capture their attention?  What is it about my brand and my promotions that they care about?  How do I best engage customers for meaningful feedback or to reward them with special incentives that are relevant?

Smart devices provide a new and unique way to communicate with your customers.  Smart phones are projected to hold a 50% market share in the US by the end of 2011 and a 75% market share by the end of 2013.  This new medium provides incredible new opportunities to reach your customers in ways never before imagined.  Are you able to take advantage of these opportunities?

As a local retailer, you know it is all about location, location, location.  Well location now has a completely new meaning.  It is not about the location of the store, but the location of your customers and prospects to your store.  Mobile consumers are willing to share their location in exchange for real-time offers.  66% are willing to share their information in exchange for coupons, 55% for loyalty rewards and 37% for exclusive sales.

The exponential growth in use of smartphones, iPhone/iPads, and tablets (we’ll group all of these into “smart device” for this article’s purposes) attests to our preference for portability.  Unlike the PC or laptop counterparts, we typically keep these devices within 3 feet, 24x7x365(“Will 2010 Be the Real Year of Mobile?” (December 10, 2009), Jason Steinberg”) indicating our strong preference for smart devices as the communication device of choice.

Just as social networking changed the way companies communicate with their customers, so too will the adoption of smart devices.  While any business should consider how to take advantage of this trend, consumer driven companies in particular MUST start incorporating smart phone and device communications as an important part of their overall communications plan.