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Quality Content is Worth the Price

20th April 2012

Social content, blogging, press releases and online articles are the forms of content used most often by marketers according to the survey by Readex Research, sponsored by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and Brandpoint. Marketers see the best results from social content, e-newsletters and blogging.

What’s more, 80 percent of survey respondents said they are willing to pay more for the added value of well-crafted, customized, professionally written copy.

“We consistently hear from our clients that creative and engaging storytelling, customization and professional-level writing are priorities,” says David Olson, senior vice president at Brandpoint. “The survey results bear this out, as respondents cited those qualities as the ones they consider most important when evaluating an outsourcing partner for their content needs.”

The majority (82 percent) of marketers said it’s more important that their website and blog copy be written for people rather than search engines. In fact, SEO expertise ranked fifth among the list of 11 qualities marketers want in a content provider. Marketers consider cost and high volume at a quick turnaround least important when choosing an outsourcing partner to produce content for them.

Marketers also recognize the value of outsourcing. Seventy percent of survey respondents said they plan to outsource content production in the next 12 months. The top three forms of content they plan to outsource are video, infographics and online articles.

“This survey affirms that marketing pros are embracing the value of online marketing, but they also acknowledge the need to stay true to certain fundamentals,” says Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute. “Quality continues to be a key requirement for success across all forms of content marketing. While the Internet continues to revolutionize the way we all do business, the need to tell a clear compelling story through our marketing efforts remains constant.”

For a comprehensive report on the survey results, click here.

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One in four Pinterest users buy things online

20th April 2012

The rise of Pinterest has brought much attention to the small but growing community of image sharers, folks who collect and share images from around the web through social image sharing sites.  Retailers are now searching for how to leverage the new tool for acquisition and engagement.  But are online consumers actually shopping through this channel?

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120228/LA60850LOGO)

A new study from Bizrate Insights suggests that yes, a handful of online consumers are in fact making a purchase.  While awareness of image sharing sites is still relatively low among online buyers as compared to other channels, among those aware, the study finds that over 1 in 4 have purchased an item directly from an image sharing site such as Pinterest, by clicking on an image they saw.

“There has been much speculation on whether online shoppers are utilizing Pinterest for pure inspiration or if it is in fact bringing in sales,” remarks Hayley Silver, Vice President, Bizrate Insights.  “Our goal in launching the Bizrate Insights Image Sharing and Shopping Series is to gain an understanding of how online shoppers are using this new channel and how it is changing over time, ultimately providing retailers with key insights to leverage in their approach.”

These findings represent the first in a series of dedicated consumer pulses Bizrate Insights plans to release over the next few months related to Image Sharing Sites and Shopping.  View the first pulse from the Bizrate Insights Image Sharing and Shopping Series.

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Office Workers Waste 20% of Their Mental Resources With Office Software

20th April 2012

An experiment conducted by Mindlab International at The Sussex Innovation Centre on behalf of Mindjet found that both individuals and groups of office workers are wasting valuable mental resources, performing less efficiently and retaining less information by using traditional office software when compared to visual mapping techniques. The experiment used neurometrics, the science of measuring patterns of brain activity through EEG, and skin conductance, to compare the efficacy of visual mapping software with traditional office software. The results concluded that storing, sharing and managing information through visual maps (rather than in separate spreadsheets, text documents, emails and server files) leads to more accurate and faster information processing and uses fewer mental resources.

According to Lynda Shaw, PhD CPhsychol “The results underscore that the human brain loves visual images and processes information presented in this way much more easily. This is because, unlike traditional ways of working, the brain does not operate like a filing system; instead it stores information in sensory cortical areas and reconstructs meaning based on previously obtained knowledge, tied together by a complex web of connections. Visual mapping emulates this process with visual items that engage more areas of the brain, allowing us to see, explore and understand large amounts of data at once and convey abstract information in intuitive ways.”

Individual participants using visual mapping techniques used 20% less mental resources, performed 17% more efficiently and were able to recall 4.5% more data when completing every day office tasks than individuals using traditional software. Similarly, groups collaborating on a project used on average 10% less mental resources, were 8% more productive and recalled 6.5% more data compared to groups using traditional software. With work-related stress being a major health concern in the developed world, these findings indicate that visual techniques could ease pressure for workers, improving employee and team satisfaction and in turn performance at work.

Chris Harman, Regional Vice President for Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Mindjet, comments: “Digital technology provides us with more ways to access and receive information than ever before. It’s revolutionised the way we can access data and knowledge, however it also means we’re bombarded with information from more sources than we know what to do with and it seems our current working practices just can’t keep up. Research conducted by Mindjet and One Poll last year showed that British office workers struggle to manage this information, with two in three of us feeling that we’re drowning in data at work, one in three emails going unread and the average person wasting two weeks a year searching for misplaced information.

“As most office software was developed in the 1990′s, before the advent of big data and social media, this is hardly surprising. We’ve entered an exciting new phase in the digital revolution but most of the office tools are stuck in the last century and need to adapt to deal with this surge and acceleration in data. New technologies, such as collaborative visualisation software, are being designed to solve these problems and the results of this experiment prove their value to businesses today.”

Dr. Lynda Shaw, PhD CPsychol also explains, “While a hundred years ago linear note taking served us well when office life mainly consisted of reading, writing and simple maths, these days it’s clear that people are struggling to cope with all the information and technology that modern working life involves. Information overload is a new by-product of the evolution of intelligence and information and is a very real issue. However, as we created this scenario, we have the power to work with it. By embracing new ways of working which are better adapted to the way our minds work naturally, we can help employees work more efficiently, reduce stress and as a result cut absenteeism.”

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Premium Domain Name Promises Excellent Returns

20th April 2012

Domain names have become the real estate of the online world. In particular short and memorable names can easily sell for six-figure sums at auction, delivering significant returns for investors keen to avoid the turbulence of today’s stock markets. The auction of APPS.net [http://apps.net ] is currently underway and looks set to attract contenders from the booming markets of software and app development, as well as domain prospectors looking for a solid medium-term investment. The auction begins April 19th and runs until April 26th, 2012.

The domain’s value lies in its close ties to the world of “apps”, small pieces of application software that can be installed on a whim on your smartphone. As the descendants of the humble cellphone, smartphones allow you to do far more than just make calls and write or receive text messages; with smartphones you can also access countless online services, use the phone as a navigation system, play games, set up bank transfers, control various devices remotely, and much more. This is all thanks to the versatile fields of application offered by apps.

In March 2012, for example, the world-renowned iPhone manufacturer, Apple, announced that it had sold more than 25 billion apps to date – and the number is growing by the day. Originally a search-machine operator, Google now also offers Google Play, its own extremely successful marketplace for these mini-applications. It is no wonder that the software giant Microsoft is integrating a corresponding platform in Windows Phone devices and even in the forthcoming Windows 8 operating system. The Mozilla Foundation, known for its Firefox web browser, harbors similar plans with a store for web applications.

But apps are by no means only intended for mobile use. In fact, they are also used in Blu-ray players, HDTV receivers, and TVs. In the latter’s case, this has spawned the term “smart TVs”. Even in the PC sector, the internationally established term “apps” is gradually replacing the sluggish designations “programs” and “software”. The vendors all have one thing in common: The mini-applications can be submitted by practically anyone and made available for download either free or for a charge, whereby many developers have made their fortunes.

The basic requirement for this is, of course, a good idea, but the name also plays a significant role in ensuring sustained and widespread success. It should be as short as possible and easy to remember, without deviating too far from the core competence. This sounds like an insurmountable task in the era of a booming apps market and various name-related legal battles. It is therefore even more astonishing that the Internet domain APPS.net [http://apps.net ] is available to buy by auction from April 19th, 2012.

The domain is more a type of virtual real estate than simply an Internet address. With APPS.net [http://apps.net ], shrewd software and app developers face a unique opportunity to secure a concise, memorable domain name for their products and services. Since the commercial significance of the short name is very high and the only international alternative (APPS.com [http://apps.com ]) already belongs to one of the world’s largest software companies, experts in the domain sector feel that a six-figure sale price is realistic, despite the low minimum bid.

Considering the versatile usage possibilities and high resale value, however, the projected price still seems low. In 2010, for example, in keeping with the motto “sex sells”, the domain sex.com [http://sex.com ] was sold for 13 million USD, after selling for over a million less four years earlier. Likewise, a company from Gibraltar reaped massive rewards in 2007 for the sale of the domain poker.de [http://poker.de ], which sold for 695,000 EUR (960,000 USD).

Interested parties can follow the auction of APPS.net [http://apps.net ] from April 19th, 2012, via the link to the domain. Sedo.com [http://sedo.com ], the world’s biggest marketplace for Internet domains, is acting as the auction house. Those interested in purchasing APPS.net [http://apps.net ] must first be certified accordingly by Sedo.com [http://sedo.com ], which can take a number of working days. Last-minute bids can therefore only be submitted by registered users. APPS.net [http://apps.net ] is currently owned by Branchenpresse Verlag GmbH, a specialist online-media publisher in Munich, Germany.

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Ensure your digital downloads are insured

19th April 2012

With millions of Brits owning the latest laptop, smartphone, digital music player or tablet computer, MoneySupermarket.com [http://www.moneysupermarket.com/home-insurance ] is warning UK gadget lovers to ensure their home contents insurance covers not just their devices but their digital downloads and software too.

Analysis from Britain’s number one comparison site reveals the cover offered for digital downloads varies between home insurance policies. For example, the maximum level of cover for digital content is GBP500 with home contents from AXA Insurance, while LV= and Direct Line both provide cover up to GBP1,000, and Hiscox covering up to GBP2,500 (per incident). Other home insurers however, offer no cover at all for digital downloads, despite the rising popularity of digital content in the UK (see notes to editors).

The research also found some insurers make distinctions between covering digital downloads and software stored on home entertainment equipment and computers compared with how they cover data downloaded on mobile phones. It’s important to be aware of any differences should you need to make a claim.

Peter Harrison, insurance expert at MoneySupermarket [http://www.moneysupermarket.com ], said: “Gadget-lovers are spoilt for choice, with the array of laptops, smartphones, tablets and multimedia home entertainment systems on offer. Buying one or multiple devices can be costly, and users won’t think twice about taking insurance to cover the cost of losing or breaking these high value items. However, I’m sure many people don’t consider protecting the content on these devices; the cost of downloading antivirus software, photo editing suites and other programmes soon adds up and it’s important to have adequate insurance should the device be damaged, broken or stolen. It’s easy to overlook the value of digital downloads and computer software as they are out of sight and potentially out of mind.

“I’d advise homeowners to be sure they have sufficient protection against loss or theft of digital downloads. Check the details of your home contents insurance to see if you have cover in place and if you are unsure after reading through your policy documents, speak to your insurer to clarify if you do have cover and to what extent. It’s worth spending some time to value your virtual content to ensure you have adequate cover for all your digital downloads as the upper limits on many policies can be modest. Where possible, keep copies of invoices or bank statements as proof of purchase in case you need to make a claim.”

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