Although the rivalry between Facebook and Google is already high, a new study from Appcelerator and the International Data Corporation (IDC) indicates some surprising results that will likely heat up the competition even further. The study, which surveyed, more than 2,000 mobile developers, found that 39 percent of developers plan to focus on Google initiatives instead of Facebook’s social graph this year.
Since this was a bit of shock to everyone, Michael King, Appcelerator’s principal mobile strategist, told us that the companies actually did a follow up survey to find out what was really happening. As he explained to WebProNews, developers think Google is better in terms of its network assets such as YouTube, search, maps, and Android. They also felt Google was better about engaging with them and offering guidance for how they should develop social applications for mobile.
King said that Facebook really needed to step up its efforts because, if not, Google could move ahead of it.
The study also found that developers have a smaller interest in Android apps, but that both HTML5 and cloud development are on the rise.
Do these results come as a surprise to you, or did you expect developers to gravitate toward Google instead of Facebook? Please share your thoughts.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Mar 24th, 2012. 
Popular forum Topix and Equation Research recently conducted a study to learn more about the relationship between the Internet and politics. The companies surveyed 1,000 U.S. voters and found that people are increasingly turning to the Web for their political information.
WebProNews spoke with Chris Tolles, the CEO of Topix, who told us that voters are trending online because they get a more balanced view. The study also found that voters are going online in order to participate in political discussions and debates.
Tolles told us that this trend would increase in the coming years as voters strive to have a “personal relationship” with news. He also said that politicians would have to learn how to leverage online platforms such as Topix, Facebook, and Twitter, to ensure that they are connecting with the conversation.
Where do you go for your political information? Let us know.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Jan 29th, 2012.
Social media campaigns are absolutely everywhere now. Seldom that original, and often poorly executed, the space is becoming so turgid with a mix of good, bad, ugly and downright embarrassing examples of campaigns that it’s becoming harder to stand out from the crowd.
But as with everything, there are a few shining stars in the ether, and one of those in the social media space is KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Granted, they are incredibly vocal and they are never not doing something, but there are 3 campaigns in particular that stand out for me from KLM that deserve some recognition.
KLM Surprise
First up is the KLM Surprise campaign. KLM wanted to reach out to KLM passengers in the real world to reward them for flying with KLM. They monitored check-ins on Foursquare at KLM locations and did some social media monitoring to find the people that mentioned KLM in their check-in. When they had a picture of who the person was, their activities, interests and personalities, they hunted them down, bought them a small gift, and gave it to them as they waited for their flight.
This campaign really punched above its weight for a few reasons. The numbers paint the first picture: 1 million impressions on Twitter alone came from the few weeks of gifting. The shady area of impression analysis aside, that’s a pretty major number and one to shout about (which they do indeed do). The other side, and the real gem here, is their insight in taking the offline conversation back into the real world, albeit briefly, and managing to turn an average day in a few customers lives into a pretty awesome day that they felt the need to share. Brands these days are so hung up on the digital conversation that they often forget the power of the offline element too.
Tile & Inspire
The Tile & Inspire campaign is another great example of KLM both engaging their fans but also re-affirming their Dutch brand identity in one fell swoop. Using a Facebook app, fans could upload a photo of themselves that would be made up in the style of a delft tile and entered with a chance of being painted onto a real Boeing 777-200.
In doing this, KLM sent out a very clear message to their fans: we’re serious about you. We want to have our customers woven into the fabric of our brand, and we’re excited about a future where our customers shape how the world perceives us. It’s an important lesson – if a brand is not sincere in their involvement of their customers then they won’t reap the rewards that they are after.
Live Tweet
The Live Tweet campaign took a bunch of KLM employees (140 to be precise) and used them as a ‘live’ tweeting medium for a single day. Each person had a character, and they were used to spell out tweets as replies to the tweets that KLM were receiving.
Yes there will be those that are screaming that they are just re-hashing the work of W+K on the Old Spice campaign, and yes there is some cross over, but it was executed pretty well. The purpose of this campaign was to highlight their social media services – to let people know that there are people on the other end of Facebook and Twitter 24/7 waiting to help out. It’s just another example of how KLM is telling their customers that they are invested in being as accessible and helpful as they can be, and social media is one of the best ways that this can happen.
You can pretty much sum up KLM’s ideas on how important their social media audience is with this advert; drawing a parallel between football fans and the passion inherent in supporting a team with an airline is an unusual association to create, but with the hyperbole aside, it’s one they seem to believe in none the less.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Oct 14th, 2011.
What do consumers think of Google+, the new “social layer” from Google that’s the company’s answer to Facebook?
Laura Lippay of How’s Your Pony? answers that question by using NetBase Insight Workbench to develop an in-depth case study of Google+. The case study features half a dozen infographics that communicate study results visually. As a teaser, here are a couple of them:
Check out the complete case study here: “Are People Loving Google+ or Hating It?”
Great job, Laura!
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Aug 11th, 2011.
Performance marketing agency Performics recently sponsored a study from ROI Research and found that 59 percent of users believe LinkedIn is their most important social networking account. The report called “The Impact of Social Media” or “S-Net,” surveyed 2,997 active social networkers.
According to Daina Middleton, the CEO of Performics, the economic turmoil has added to the popularity of the professional network. The report also showed how social media has influenced the behavior of consumers while also creating new opportunities for them and businesses.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Jul 5th, 2011.
