Digital Marketing Institute

Last week the new version of Digg was taken out of beta testing and set live for the world to enjoy. We first heard about Digg version 4 about four or five months ago at the South by South West Interactive Conference in America when then CEO Jay Aldelson hinted at new features like personalised feeds among other things. Jay Aldelson has since left Digg and was replaced as CEO by founder Kevin Rose.

According to Mashable the new version of Digg focuses on delivering a more personalised experience for the user. The overhauled social network now boasts quicker loading times as well as a “My News” feature (replacing the “Digg Effect”) which displays stories that have been dugg and submitted by people you follow. These are then displayed directly onto your homepage. Other new and improved features include the prominence of the Digg it button which sits at the top right of the page. Once you select a link that you want to Digg, the site will import titles and images and let you write a description of the link making it easy for fellow Diggers to understand and Digg the link.

The homepage has also been redesigned. At the top left of the interface are two tabs, Top News and My News (mentioned above) which is the default homepage for all users. The main difference between the old and new Digg is that now content on your homepage is submitted by people you follow as opposed to the larger Digg community making it more relevant for you. It also now focuses on which of your friend’s dugg the link as opposed to submitted it which is more in keeping with the brand. You can see a screen shot of the new Digg below.

However for those of you who are not such big fans of change the Top News feature pulls articles and links from the wider Digg community and is basically the same as the older version so there’s no need to worry.

Over all I think the new Digg looks cool and it is definitely more user friendly than the previous version. In the same way Facebook took inspiration for its Places platform from Foursquare, Digg are definitely using Twitter as their mews when it comes to finding and suggesting people to follow. Digg have created suggested user lists that divide diggers up into categories in the same way Twitter does but unfortunately there isn’t as much choice as there is on Twitter due to the fact that Twitter simply has more users.

Below is a cool video of Kevin Rose introducing the features of Digg Version 4. In my opinion it is definitely an improvement and although it isn’t perfect it makes finding content that is relevant to you a lot easier. I definitely digg the new Digg but unfortunately still prefer twitter. Have a look and see what you think. As always please leave your thoughts, they are all welcome.

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The mobile phone has evolved to the point where it has essentially become another root to market for brands and means that there is virtually no time of the day or night that consumers cannot be reached whether they are at home or on the move. This has happened because phones have now reached a stage where they can support a level of internet browsing that is similar to that of a PC. Meaning that social media and search marketing is now applicable to mobile phones which is great.

The invention of the telephone revolutionized the way people communicated when it was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 and it has continued to evolve ever since. In the 1980’s phones became portable and were carried around in suitcases that doubled as battery packs to keep them charged. Then in the 1990’s companies like Nokia and Samsung made the mobile phone mainstream and before long they became a necessity. Particularly in business it allowed people to arrange appointments on the go, reschedule meetings at the press of a button and meant that the term “work hours” had effectively become redundant.

The evolution of the humble telephone did not stop there. In the past five years mobile phones have developed beyond a means of communication in the traditional sense. The invention and accessibility of the internet, and people’s desire to be constantly connected has seen the birth of the “Smart Phone”. The smart phone, essentially, has bridged the gap between a desk top PC and a portable lap top. Below is a chart that maps the growth and release dates of smart phones since 2007.

Smart phones have effectively brought the convenience and usability of home internet browsing onto a portable device you can hold in the palm of your hand. This in turn has increased the reach of brands and the opportunities for consumers to gain the best value from their online experience. There are countless examples of how brands have used smart phones to increase profits. It has been well documented by Mashable that many brands have used techniques that involve smart phones to boost profits and increase customer loyalty. Starbucks teamed up with the social network Foursquare, to offer free coffees to people who sign in to particular shops a certain number of times every week. Other brands that have launched similar initiatives include Ann Taylor who is now offering a 15% discount to shoppers who check in at any one of it’s New York city shops (mayors get a 25% discount) and Oscar de la Renta is offering a free iPad clutch to the major of it’s flagship shop on the 17th of July (3 days from now).

Because of this boom in the level of smart phones, both globally and in Ireland Google have taken notice and really improved its offerings within mobile marketing. These improvements are centred largely around bringing search advertising to mobile devises which include sponsored ad listings when viewing Google maps, improved sponsored search ads and click to call (a variation on pay per click). Google released figures on the staggering growth of smart phones and the cultural phenomenon they have evoked. You have already seen the sharp growth of smart phones above and here are some more cool facts that might interest you:

· There have been 3 billion applications downloaded from the iTunes app store in the last 18 months.

· By 2013 smart phones sales will surpass PC sales.

· Over the next three years mobile data will increase by 66 times.

· Half of all internet connections are now mobile connections.

· The world’s favourite device for accessing the internet is now a phone.

I don’t know about you guys but when I heard all of this it made think about whether or not I was being left behind by not having a smart phone? (Especially considering the iPhone 4 is out on the 28th of July). If only we lived in a world where prices decreased as sales increased. Someday! As always let us know what you think.

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You leave your home. Turn on your phone. Get into work and turn on your computer. Sign into a social network.

What’s increasingly likely is you turn on your smart phone when you leave your home and sign in to your favourite social networking application straight away.

So are you actively promoting the fact that you are not in your house?

Please Rob Me is a website that was set up to promote the awareness of careful social networking. The website describes the problems with location based social media sites.

“The danger is publicly telling people where you are. This is because it leaves one place you’re definitely not… home. So here we are; on one end we’re leaving lights on when we’re going on a holiday, and on the other we’re telling everybody on the Internet we’re not home. It gets even worse if you have ‘friends’ who want to colonize your house. That means they have to enter your address, to tell everyone where they are. Your address.. on the Internet.. Now you know what to do when people reach for their phone as soon as they enter your home. That’s right, slap them across the face.”

They even go as far as to highlight ‘opportunities’ for potential thieves. These opportunities are live tweets from people having ‘Checked in’ on Foursquare away from their home.

Although the site makes a valid point, the reality is that we just have to be careful with our privacy settings. This is something that is highlighted again and again with regards to social media. The importance of privacy settings and understanding what and who can gain access to your information is a much broader problem. However, when you are engaging with social media so regularly and actively, it is something all users must be aware of.

Does this spell the end of location based applications? Absolutely not. Location based applications can be extremely beneficial to users. They are also a significant opportunity for marketers allowing brands to geo-target consumers. Soon, we will be walking down Grafton Street receiving offers from the brands we want to communicate with.

Please Rob Me have done brilliantly to raise the awareness of being careful online. Something we at Radical, blogged about recently. There is, however no doubt that certain people wont be careful, adding ‘1 new opportunity’ for thieves in Ireland.

Visit Please Rob Me.

See the Coverage that his site has been getting.

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“This is the year of the mobile”

How many times have you read that statement over recent years? Ever since the I-Phone launched over a year ago and the Android platform was a mere rumour, marketers have been claiming that the mobile movement is about to erupt.

There are more mobiles in Ireland then people, yet there seems to be scepticism to mobile marketing, similar to that felt towards online marketing. A lack of knowledge, a fear that it is a fad and the ever looming recession stop many brands investing in these new media.

The need to occasionally sell online marketing to brands, that still don’t fully understand its value, is mystifying. However, it is more then obvious that the US and UK are spending more of their marketing budgets online than on television or radio.

Although marketing directors are increasingly investing more money online, mobile marketing has found itself in this similar position. Arguably the brands that have been most successful online are the brands that invested it in from the start. The early adopters, or more appropriately investors have reaped the benefits in the long run.

The RTE I-Phone application was released a month ago and it is already amongst the most popular applications in Ireland. This application allows you access to RTE News 24/7 with live streams available if you are in a wireless area. This type of brand interaction is not available in any other medium.

Marketers are now penetrating the one device that consumers carry with them day and night. O2 have benefited from a constant advertising position on the RTE application. They too have applications allowing you to engage with their product offerings, such as Treats and your O2 account. An application is something consumers use to gain information or be entertained. It is similar to an effective online campaign in that users opt in to engage with it.

With the movement to geo-marketing through handsets coming ever closer, the time to invest in mobile is now.

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Well, who knew so much was going on this 9th of February 2010. In addition to being 09.02.10 day (for all you California-lovin’ David Austin Green Fans), it is also the date that marks Safer Internet Day 2010; this year’s theme of which is “Think B4 U Post.”

Organised by Insafe, Radical agree that its an important message to share, especially as we become more and more comfortable sharing our information within the social spaces that help us communicate on a daily basis.

Agata (here in Radical) found all we needed to know on the InSafe site, so we just thought we’d share it with you!

Safer Internet Day 2010 – All the Info!

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I’m sure we all must remember when we were afraid of the year 2000, let alone the next decade. While it’s flown by, the growth in our space is exemplary of how much has happened. Consider online marketing ten years ago or lack thereof; and now (even in Ireland) brands and businesses are investing more and more in Online media, whether it be in search marketing, display advertising, or social media marketing; because it’s a measurable and low-cost option to achieve results.

So on that note, what are the experts saying we can look forward to in the new decade? We’ve rounded up a few snippets for 2010…

eMarketer gives us an overview of their predictions for the UK; which we can of course take learnings from in Ireland. Karin von Abrams writes that…

• While more and more people continue to shop online, e-commerce margins will continue to drop due to the increase in consumer demand for better deals.
• She said that mobile had its “first genuine year” in 2009; and that this will only continue in 2010 due to the number of providers of the iPhone opening up. Tesco selling the iPhone in 2010 is going to “shake up the market” she says. Hmm…
• She also outlines how more publishers of premium content will be tempted to charge for the information, following Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. as a way to monetise the continued shift of users from traditional media online. Will you pay?

Trendwatching.com outlines “10 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2010” that we’ll need to consider online. They emphasise their trends list to be all about the consumer; and not about the market in general. Right, so what do they say…well, here are the top 10:

• Business as Unusual – Societal changes that we’re experiences were set in motion long before the recession. Things are different, we must adapt.
• Urbany – “Extreme urbanisation” in the upcoming years, leading to more sophisticated and demanding customers. This may not be as quick to happen in Ireland; but still relevant over the coming years.
• Real-time Reviews – Whatever you do will be reviewed…in real time.
• (F)luxury – Luxury will be whatever we want it to be, not what was traditional associated to those that can afford it. We are already seeing this happen as we adjust are consumer behaviours as to not seem “uncool” in recessionary times.
• Mass Mingling – Online lifestyles encouraging “mass meetups.” The emergence of Foursquare might help us do that here in Ireland.
• Eco-Easy – We have to make it easier for consumers to be eco-friendly.
• Tracking & Alerting – The new search allows consumers to have more control over the content they consume on the web.
• Embedded Generosity – Making giving and donating painless for the consumer. I sense a trend here…
• Profile Myning – The internet and social web has been around for long enough now that there’s a good amount of information about most brands and business areas on the web, so now’s the time to start mining that information to gain insights which can be built upon.
• Maturialism – Online will bring us an “even more opinionated, risqué, outspoken, if not ‘raw’” environment, since we know that almost anything goes in that space.

We were a big fan of this list; because there are lessons to be learned across all media. Points taken into the New Year…

And while it’s not his predictions for the next decade, Seth Godin’s wisdom is always welcome when we’re thinking about the future of online. His New Year’s Day post discusses how the last decade was full of opportunity for everyone, with our lives transformed forever. While we’re still a bit slower than other markets, Irish men and women have also experiences huge change in daily life because of the internet.

Seth asks us to not plan too far ahead this time; but to think about where you want to be in seven years (rather than ten). So do you want to be a brand leader in the social media space, have an active and engaged community of followers online, a new websites that drives more conversions, or simply learn how to best invest in online; then now’s the time to set those goals in sight.

Look forward to reading, speaking, and working with you all in the New Year. Sláinte to 2010!

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