In today’s day and age, it should come as no surprise that effective digital marketing initiatives deliver excellent value back to businesses. A strong online presence is an investment that can impact an organization in a variety of ways.

As a branding tool, few other mediums offer the flexibility and responsiveness of the web, which can be refreshed instantaneously to reflect new promotions and embrace user-generated contributions. The phrase “your brand consists of your customers” has never been truer.

Beyond brand equity, effective digital marketing translates to tangible business impacts in the form of sales growth. Social media and email integration allow companies to penetrate a customer’s online repertoire, and a well built website facilitates and encourages online purchases.

The web has also allowed companies to improve the customer service experience. The public nature of company updates and responses on social networks allows companies to show a responsive and caring attitude toward customer questions and qualms. This results in more resolved complaints and a cut in support costs, as online help desks free up bandwidth and expenses previously dedicated to telephone customer service.

A strong digital strategy also permits businesses to reallocate their marketing budgets to more efficient channels, resulting in more effective media buys. The metrics available to tie business performance back to specific digital initiatives result in a more transparent and true assessment of marketing impact.

Lastly, a web presence that inspires and gives people a place to express themselves can result in a breadth of consumer insights. This amounts to a truer form of market research, as opposed to traditional survey research, as analysis is based on organic user contributions.

See the chart above for stats collected by the Boston Consulting group, which recently surveyed marketing executives at over 30 corporations across Europe, Asia, Latin America and the US, researching the benefits of effective digital marketing across the areas of (1) Brand Equity (2) Sales (3) Customer Service (4) Media Buys and (5) Consumer insights.

Sources: Forrester Research, BCG Interviews, BCG Case Work, BCG Analysis

To keep people coming back for more, there is nothing more powerful than saying “thank you”. Here are 4 new ways to reward your loyal customers for visiting your stores, purchasing your products, engaging with your content or creating content for you.

Reward User-Generated Content

What could be more genuine than the marketing your fans create for you?

More than 8 in 10 people say user-generated content from people they don’t know serves as an indicator of brand quality and influences their purchase decision. Surprisingly, 51% say opinions from strangers are more important than opinions from friends and family.

Surely, there is a lot to be gained from loosening the reigns around your brand and creating a space for the people to speak for you.

Ratings and Reviews

Including a ratings and reviews section on your website or Facebook page conveys a willingness to be transparent that assures your audience of the quality of your offering. Set up ways to respond publicly to ratings and reviews to further indicate your responsiveness and caring.

Photos and Videos

Who doesn’t want to be e-famous? Set up a section on your website, promotional microsite, or Facebook page to highlight photo and video submissions from customers. Compose tweets or status updates to call out new entries to your social media audiences. Take inspiration from Oreo’s Facebook profile picture, that the company uses to feature a different Oreo fan every week.

Tweets and Comments

Why not reward your fans for clever tweets and comments around your branded properties? Create lists like “10 Best Responses to #twitterheist Campaign” to highlight text-based fan contributions and compile them into blog posts or company newsletters.

Most of all, keep it genuine. Show people you want to listen, you want to respond, you want to put them in the spotlight to thank them for being a part of your brand.

What is the barcode-like symbol?

You’ve probably noticed recently how QR codes are being used more and more in marketing and advertising initiatives across the globe. Many argue that QR codes have now gone mainstream. But lots of companies aren’t yet up to speed with what they can really offer.

What are QR codes?

QR codes are a form of two-dimensional bar code originally created to track automotive spare parts, and now increasingly used in mobile marketing. For example, if you find a QR code printed on an ad and scan it with your mobile phone, you will be transported, almost instantly, to a specially designed website where you can learn more about the product, get more details on a promotion or perhaps get a discount offer.

How do I generate QR codes?

There are plenty of online sites where you can generate QR codes for free www.qurify.com/en/ is one of many.

What can I generate QR codes for?

You can generate QR codes not only for website URLs, but also for email addresses, social media profiles, text, and even maps.

How do I scan (or read) QR codes?

If your phone doesn’t come with one already installed, you need to download an app called a QR code reader. Basically, the way a QR code reader works is by allowing your mobile phone camera to act as a scanner. Just take a picture of a QR code and you’re automatically transported to the destination page.

What can I use QR codes for?

You can use QR codes for many different things. You can direct customers to your mobile website or a promotional page for your products. If you sell tools and equipment, you can link your QR code to a video showing how to use them. If you sell property you can use a QR code to direct customers to an online virtual tour of your homes. If you own a restaurant you can point a QR code to Google Maps showing customers how to get there. If you’re an independent professional you can create a QR code for your email address, website, blog or LinkedIn profile. The possibilities are endless.

Source: University of Manchester http://alumni.newsweaver.co.uk/newsletter/1ifi9hrq14a1ugkeyqj6rf

For those of you unfamiliar with the term Lurkers, think of Lurkers as spectators who consume content but do not contribute. The skeptic may go as far as calling them digital parasites, while the visionary sees a new untapped market.

In Internet culture, a lurker is a person who reads discussions on a message board, newsgroup, chatroom, file sharing or other interactive system, but rarely or never participates actively. Research indicates that “lurkers make up over 90% of online groups”

In most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action.

While traditional marketing continues to emphasize branding and creative as the most important features of a campaign, digital promotions are evaluated almost entirely on performance results which are captured and measured digitally. Justifiably marketing budgets are rapidly migrating to new media channels, because traditional perceived success factors, such as emotional stimuli created by the warm and fuzzy feeling of a traditional campaign can no longer compete with actual facts and figures.

Edelman (2011) contends that up to 90% of spend goes to advertising and retail promotions. Yet the single most powerful impetus to buy is often someone else’s advocacy. For this reason numerous new models and performance measures have emerged in the sales promotion industry. A recent UGC video contest we built had 132 entrants and 636,774 video views, meaning 98% of the participants were viewers.

Reach is a vital element of any promotion, however traditional methods continue to produce diminishing returns. Therefore promotions need original engaging content, mainly produced from its own customers.

The digitization and networking of information has forever changed the way marketers and consumers connect. So be prepared to change or risk extinction

Augmented Reality (AR) as a technology has existed for more than 15 years, with tailored applications in industrial automation, theme parks, sports television, military displays, and online marketing (AIB, 2009). Forrester research defined AR as; The concept of AR simply put is the overlay of virtual or artificial information either in the form of visuals, graphics, or text onto a medium, which is then projected over an actual image stream. This additional information can then be augmented to the user either by using a wearable display setup or through a fixed location setup.

The next stage of internet engagement is going to be its connection with physical space. AR will be an important tool in this evolution. Based on a Total Immersions definition, there are 3 types of AR; Web-based AR, Kiosk-based AR and mobile AR. Web-based AR uses PC and webcam with a marker, image or through motion capture. It is the most common type of AR since it runs on Flash and does not require a plug-in or any kind of download. It is also the most economical option and can be easily integrated with social platforms. However, users need to have a webcam in order to use it.

Kiosk based AR is capable of running more powerful AR applications using 3D or facial tracking. It can leverage multiple platforms and can reach broader users through out-of-home or point-of-purchase marketing. Also, the user does not need a marker or a webcam for using it. However, it is relatively more expensive. Mobile AR uses the viewfinder to show the digital information in user’s surroundings. Mobile AR can leverage location and, with smartphone adoption rising, its potential reach is increasing. However, mobile is a fragmented environment, since some smartphones run on different platforms, such as iOS and Android, and the battery life of a smartphone can be an obstacle. Additionally, hype around this type of AR is hard to control. (Adage, 2011)

According to Gartner Inc, AR is one of the top 10 strategic IT technologies and is expected to be a $1.5 Bn industry by 2015 . However, viability of reaching this number is much debated. According to some experts this number will be reachable since AR can be applicable to many industries and has various use cases. On the other hand, some experts argue that this number is not realistic since AR will take time to reach mainstream adaption.

Think about this proposition for a moment, “Everyone has three personas” I challenge you to find someone who doesn’t.

Firstly we have the” ideal persona” this is the person we want to become. Kind of like a vision of who we really want to be.

Secondly we have the “public persona” the one we portray to the world, “this is who I am” in effect the way we want our peers and friends to believe who we are.

And finally we have the real self, “private persona” who you really are.

Usually only our true friends and family ever get to communicate with the “private persona” why is this? I believe that most people are frightened of rejection if people know who they really are. One of the great benefits of working at the forefront of new media and technology is gaining insights that have previously never been tested. For example, we recently developed a Facebook application for one of our media clients to enable their viewers to share what they thought because Real Friends Tell It Like It Is… Face it. What became very apparent was that friends don’t always buy the “public persona” so we built an app that would allow friends the opportunity to share what personas they knew.Face it friends CAN handle the truth. It’s time to tell it like it is.