Age of Mobile

Mobile, smartphones, iPhones - here what we hear every now and then. A little more than a decade ago no one could believe that in such a short time mobile will play such a big role in our life. By 2015, 81% of US cell users will have smartphones.

Mobile being a pocket-sized computing device has become an inseparable part of our routine. Remember yourself, when you, by a great mistake, forgot your phone at home – you are lost, you seem to be cut from the whole world. Or, imagine your child has left the phone at home - what happens to you? And you start to wonder: how could people do without a phone before?

Yes, mobile is really a great addition to our lives and now we use it not only for calling and messaging, even many people use it for other purposes more than for its main functionality. It became our newspaper, alarm clock, watch, photo album, map, radio, video, travel guide, organizer, game zone and much more. Even while shopping many people should look up other local stores’ pricing before buying something (73% of consumers say they have used their mobile phone in a store). In short – mobile revolutioned our lives.

Most of the population almost never leaves their phone - while watching TV, eating and even going to the bathroom. 75% of Americans admit to bringing their phone to the bathroom, Digiday.

Here are some interesting facts about mobile:

• 91% of all people on earth have a mobile phone, WalkDigital 
• 29% of the world’s mobile users live in India and China, Mobithinking 
• 50% of mobile phone users use mobile as their primary Internet source, WalkDigital 
• The average person checks their smartphone 34 times a day, WalkDigital 
• 39% of mobile users access social networks from their phones, Business Insider
• By 2016, 88% of local advertising will be delivered on a mobile device, WalkDigital 

January Most Prominent Acquisitions

The year 2014 has just started and here we are with such great changes! The largest companies started the year with new achievements – a promising start not only for them, but for many major companies that want to be the best ones. Apple is the first in the list: 

5.01.2014 - Apple Begins 2014 Acquisition Spree With Buyout of Camera App Creator SnappyLabs

SnappyLabs is the creator of the SnappyCam app which allows the iPhone’s camera to take fast high-resolution photos. 

6.01.2014 - Microsoft Acquisition Enhances Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Corp.acquired Parature - the leading provider of cloud-based social and customer engagement solutions. 

6.01.2014 - Verint to Acquire KANA Software, Transforming the Way Organizations EngageWith Their Customers

Verint Systems Inc. announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Kana Software Inc., a leader in customer service solutions delivered both on-premises and in the cloud. 

8.01.2014 - Yahoo announces acquisition of Android launcher app Aviate

Yahoo, having more than 400 million monthly mobile users, announced the acquisition of Aviate, a company which makes a smartphone app that automatically brings up relevant information or other apps to suit a user's activity. 

13.01.2014 - Google to Acquire Nest

Google welcomes Nest to Google family! Google Inc announced that it has entered into an agreement to buy Nest Labs, Inc. for $3.2 billion in cash. Nest reinvents important devices in the home such as thermostats and smoke alarms. 

And who is the next? I’ll try to update you about the most important acquisitions of the year! 

Stay connected!

Turn Your Website into Live Environment

The majority of website visitors become happy when they find live chat, especially when it’s their first visit to the website and they have lots of concerns. For sure they’ll get answers to most questions, but it will take quite a lot of time. So, the live chat button should be placed on the most visible part of your website.

What are the live chat benefits? There are lots of them; I never heard any negative feedback about "live chat "presence.

Sales Increase

It’s a proven fact that live chat increases sales. Imagine you visited a website and in the variety of choice you doubt which item to buy. You click on the live chat button and receive the needed assistance. You’re sure to make a purchase in case of a good customer experience.

Customer Loyalty

Most of the online shoppers prefer live chat to the phone. Not in all cases they can phone and speak to the rep. It’s easier and convenient to turn for help just clicking a few tabs, this can be done in most situations even then you’re at work. You have a chance of making your customers happy by offering the experience they want and in this way creating customer loyalty. Love your customers and they'll love you back!

“Customer loyalty is priceless”

Customer Service Improvement

Today customer service is a key component of your business success. If the customer is treated properly and in time, your business wins. If you're out of quality, you're out of business.

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echos are truly endless”

Competitive Advantage

Always remember that competition is one click away! Give customers the experience they expect and even more and you’ll keep them by your side forever.

“If you’re not serving the customer, your job is to be serving someone who is”

Customer Feedback

While contacting with your customers, you can ask for a feedback. I have no doubt if you satisfied the customer, he’s sure to give you an innocent feedback, which is the most valuable thing for your company. Build real relationships with your customers, focus on your customer's needs, requirements and questions and your company will benefit!

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”

7 Websites to Answer All Your Questions

In our generation no one has any difficulty in finding a reply to any question. The first thing everyone does is Googling the question. If there is no exact answer, we turn for help. No, it’s not our friends, neither encyclopedia, it’s all about Question and Answer websites. Although you need to register to become a part of the community to ask or answer any question, it doesn’t take much time. So you can choose the best websites, register once and use them for years.

When you become a part of the community, it becomes so interesting not only ask questions, but also give answers to the questions you’re sure to have the exact reply. So try to be active in both asking and answering.

But can we rely on any answer given in the internet? To say the truth, I doubt that all of them are trustworthy. In general I try to search one and the same question in different websites, accordingly made a list of the best Q & A Websites I used to participate to share with my readers too.

I am a member of Quora for years and I always describe it as a professional platform where you can get great solutions to your questions. Quora is created, edited and organized by its community of users; it aggregates questions and answers to different topics. Users can collaborate by editing questions and suggesting edits to other users' answers.

While being in marketing you should be aware of everything spoken about your company. I had no choice, but register in some more question-and-answer websites not to miss anything from my attention.

Yahoo!Answers – another big community that allows users to both submit questions to be answered and answer questions asked by other users. The site gives members the chance to earn points as a way to encourage participation.

Answerbag – “Every question deserves a great answer”- a website you can find in all the lists while searching for best Q&A websites. Users ask and answer the questions. Instead of the one question—one answer model, multiple answers to a given question are presented, in descending order of user ratings. A user who has created an account can ask and answer questions, comment on answers, rate questions and answers, and suggest new categories. Users have profile pages where their points and submissions are reviewable by other users.

Askville -  another research site founded by Amazon.com. A place where you can share and discuss knowledge with others by asking and answering questions on any topic.  It’s a fun place to meet many people with similar interests and a place where you can share what you know. Every day you can learn something new or help and meet others using your knowledge.  It’s all about sharing—what you know and what you want to know.

Answers - “Real people are looking for answer” really like the slogan on the website! This website includes WikiAnswers, ReferenceAnswers, VideoAnswers, and five international language Q&A communities. 

Stackexchange – “Expert answers to your questions” - another fast-growing network of 109 question and answer sites on various topics with 4.2 million users. High-quality questions and answers, focused on the most important topics in each area of expertise. 

Answerbank – a real bank of questions and answers!  Choose a topic, ask a question and contributors will supply you with the answer.  If you’re a new member, you can watch an introductory video and start your banking.

All the above mentioned websites are free and all include “technology” category I was mostly interested in. Be active, help yourself and others!

Kindle on Fire – Mayday Needed!

While chat solutions exist for years, Amazon decided to make a customer service revolution. It announced about a new support service available on Kindle HD products called Mayday.

Many people know what Mayday is, but I’m sure not all are aware about its being an emergency word used internationally. It derives from the French expression “venez m'aider", which means "come to help me".

“It’s a little odd when a company selling a new gadget says one of the most exciting features is its “help” button”, mentions “The Seattle Times” tech columnist Brier Dudley. Yet it’s a revolutionary new functionality, which will change Kindle’s future and… why only Kindle’s?

Will this button really help Amazon sell more stuff? In general opinions differ and it’s a normal procedure: some are happy to have a virtual assistant like “Amy” helping them; others express their negative feedback and make many people alter (Amy's real name is actually Amy - Amy Paffrath).

How “Mayday” Works

It’s so simple: you just click on the “Mayday” button and an expert connects with you and it is 24x7, 365 and totally FREE. The goal is – 15 seconds response time. The expert will ask the user to verify his identity before offering to help. You can see the expert on your screen. While some may be concerned about privacy, Amazon assures that the experts will not be able to see you. It’s up to the user to allow the Mayday expert control the screen and even change settings.

From Negative to Positive

People cannot think the same and if opinions don’t differ our life won’t be so interesting. First I’d like to mention negative sides: the Mayday functionality works only with Wi-Fi access and there are people who don’t want to see the expert and more...

• “I am not sure if this is a feasible solution because it would cost the provider a lot of money to provide this level of support for free” (source - Quora)
• "Mayday" is a pretty poor choice of a name for a product/service” (source - Commercialsihate) 
• “I don't want Amazon CS accessing my tablet and looking through my internet history” (source - NeoGAF) 

In opposite to the above said some intriguing software enhancements:

• “This feature is amazing and needs to be in every piece of tech”
•  “As the tech head in my family I wish every single electronic device came with this goddamn button" (source - NeoGAF) 
•  “What really caught my eye is that not only she can help you by telling what to do but she can point stuff in your screen” (source - Youtube) 

• “Just got my Kindle Fire HDX and am trying out the #Mayday feature. Now THIS is customer service. Wow!”(Facebook comment)

And with this “Wow” opinion let’s take every innovation for granted.

"Knowledge is true opinion" Plato

More Calls – More Sales!

Many companies are embracing new technologies in an effort to attract more customers today. Click to Call is one of those technologies becoming more and more popular day by day.

Click to Call turns a website click into a phone call. It makes easy for a website visitor to connect with the company representative and solve the problem immediately.

As stated in the Infographic below “88% of visitors are more likely to contact a company that provides Click to Call solution”. Nowadays Click to Call is widely used in different industries like: technology, shopping, business, health, finances, travelling and more. Let’s see what makes many companies trust in Click to Call solution:

Present Face of Advertising

It was so funny to read about Radio-Television-Internet evolution. You start to realize how much has changed during one decade. It took 38 years to reach 50 million users via Radio, 13 years via Television and… only 4 years via Internet. Today there are lots of families who don’t watch TV at all or listen to the radio. They can find everything in the internet – latest news, films, music and even relatives and friends (although I don’t like the last part “relatives and friends” as it leads to a lonesome life, but I’ll speak about it in one of my future posts).

It’s become easier to target and reach an audience directly, and the traditional television, radio and magazine commercials advertising changed to different channels, like mobile, social networks which target a much more broad audience, raising brand awareness in a short period of time. Old methods are no longer essential in the ever-growing digital world.

Now we deal with tech-savvy consumers who are more in control. As a result, it became more difficult for advertisers to keep consumers interested in the brands. They should come up with innovative strategies creating messages that grab the attention of the audience. Add this is not at all easy – find right consumers, create a right message, choose the right time, and finally provide a great customer service.

“74% of today’s customers use at least three channels when interacting with a company for customer service”, according to Ovum. After all most companies are still using stand-alone, single channel experiences, which irritates many customers, they want to be heard instantly.

Note that 90% of all purchases are subject to social media influence. So let’s be active, creative, interesting and outstanding but at the same time realistic - here what our customers want from us!