Hello!

I’d like you to have a quick look to this article:

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008933

To sum up, it states…

“Canada ranked first globally in social media penetration as a percentage of population”.

What are the consequences of this fact? Well, it is obvious that consumers are changing their way of consuming: they are no more using the conventional channels and they are, everyday more, looking for other opinions before purchasing an item. So that, companies must adaptate their marketing strategies to this new way of consumption. And even if this is happening in Canada, since we live in a globalised world, it is necessary that those companies that operate worldwide listen carefully to the consumer’s demands. They must be openminded and willing to explore the use of new technologies, if necessary.

Nowadays it is clear that anyone in business unfamiliar with the issues of Social Media will be placing themselves and their firms at a serious competitive disadvantage.

Ju.

According to an article published in 2008 in the eMarketer website…

Nearly one-half of all Chinese broadband users had posted a comment to a blog, forum or chatroom, compared with only 28% of US broadband users. In China, 58% of all purchase decisions were influenced by user-generated content such as consumer reviews and rating sites, forums and discussion boards, blogs and other UGC. However, in the US, only 19% of purchase decisions were influenced by user-generated content. Search engines were still more influential, according to the study. Among Chinese broadband users, 46% used a search engine to make purchase decisions, compared with 25% of US broadband users.

This article made me think of many things. The first of all was why was there such a difference between chinese population and Americans in terms of consumer behaviour. Is it because the US population don’t trust other’s comments or because Chinese society is more developed in terms of using oline platforms?

The second thing I thought about when I read the article was of the huge impact that Internet and, even more, its usage may have on people and on businesses. According to the report announced by National Bureau of Statistics of China in February 26th 2009, the total population of China at the end of 2008 was 1.32802 billion. If 58% of the purchase decisions of the Chinese population in that year were in influenced by user-generated content this means that… nearly 77 bilion people bought something because they heard of somebody on a online platform.

Isn’t it crazy?

Ju.

Hello again!

Today I would like to encourage you to have a look at this site:

http://www.emarketer.com/

Maybe some of you already know it… They describe themselves as “the go-to authority on digital marketing, media and commerce, offering insights essential to navigating the changing, competitive and complex digital environment.”

What do they do? Well they weigh and analyze information from different sources, so that they can provide businesspeople, marketers and advertisers with the business intelligence to evaluate emerging trends, validate decisions, develop new ways to reach consumers and stay ahead of the competition.

As it could not be different, they also use the tools they explain to do their own marketing strategy… they have their own site, as you have seen but they also have a blog where they post some interesting information for their current users. At the same time, they are using Social Media strategy by using the Facebook and Twitter platforms as a way of engaging consumer’s relationship. Finally, they also use Email Marketing thanks of its Daily Newsletter that allow them not only to inform their customers with the latest news but also to measure conversion rates.

So, it you have never used this website I really think now is the moment! And if you are really interested on market research and trend analysis on Internet, e-business, online marketing, media and emerging technologies you should also sign up for their newsletter! I am sure you won’t regret it!

Ju.

Humans have always had the need to communicate ones to the others. The history of communication dates back to prehistory. Human communication was revolutionized with speech perhaps 200,000 years ago. Symbols were developed about 30,000 years ago and writing about 7,000.

On a much shorter scale, there have been major developments in the field of telecommunication in the past few centuries and, nowadays, many others ways of communicating have been developed. In fact, Internet is one of them; it has allowed people to talk ones to the others on a worldwide scale.

However, Internet is, at the same time, a really useful tool for companies to develop their Communication Strategy. So that, they use this online platform to develop a strategy that will help them engage and foster a relationship with their customers.

In fact, a good communications strategy allows the company to exercise better control over its work and to frame the issues
in a perspective other than research. A communications strategy removes doubt, emphasizes planning, and involves all the project participants in raising the visibility of the research.

When having a more concrete look at this subject, we find two main communication strategies that companies may implement. The first of them is email marketing. According to The Essential Guide to Digital Marketing (by Rob Strokes) email marketing is a form of direct marketing that uses electronic means to deliver commercial messages to an audience. There are many ways that a company can make contact with its customers, for example, newsletters, a way of contacting with the customer and, at the same time, measuring conversion rates. The second of them is social media strategy. The same source states that this strategy is about communities sharing content so, by using this strategy, the company is able to create a two-ways relationship with the customer.

So that, we realize the importance of communication. It was important billions of years ago and, nowadays, on the 21st Century, is still important.

Ju.