Cutting edge apps, software, websites and gadgets are sparking big changes in the workplace. Consequently, traditional performance reviews are no longer making the cut, and with good reason.
How are social and digital tools changing performance reviews? The following key players in the social goal and performance space talk about the effect of digital tools and the future of performance management.
Brand advocates are consumers who actively promote the brands, products and services they love and provide marketers with a volunteer army of supporters who disseminate recommendations to friends and family.
Social media influencer and advocacy company Zuberance found, in a January 2012 study, that US internet users are making more recommendations than ever before, across a variety of industries. On average, the US internet users studied by Zuberance made 9 recommendations per year.
via What Marketers Should Know About Brand Advocates – eMarketer.
The tidal wave of content being published online is astronomical. As more content continues to be produced, new methods for sorting, filtering and displaying content have come into being. As the astute AJ Kohn put it, AuthorRank is Google’s attempt at “fusing the web of people with the web of documents and creating a more savvy view of Internet influence.”
via Why AuthorRank Matters & How to Leverage It [Infographic].
While several US-based sites like Facebook and Twitter might get most of the publicity, social networking is a worldwide phenomenon that eMarketer predicts will encompass nearly 1.5 billion internet users by the end of this year.As of December 2011, eMarketer estimates, just over 1.2 billion people around the world used social networking sites at least once per month. That represented 23.1% growth over 2010, and double-digit growth will continue throughout eMarketer’s forecast period, though the rate of change will decrease as the market matures.
via Where in the World Are the Hottest Social Networking Countries? – eMarketer.
While Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have been at the top of the social media heap in the US for several years now, new services and relaunched versions of older ones are rapidly gaining popularity among consumers and marketers.
“Many internet users are turning…to social networks that offer a more focused experience than Facebook, even as that site positions itself as the social destination for sharing, curation and consumption of content,” said eMarketer’s Kimberly Maul, author of the new report, “Beyond Facebook and Twitter: Visually Focused Social Sites See Growing Interest.” “In the case of several popular or up-and-coming sites, this means giving users the ability to express themselves—and often to become tastemakers—using photos and other visually oriented material.”
via Users and Marketers Warm to Niche Social Networks – eMarketer.
The relationship between social media and privacy has long been a controversial one, but with recent privacy breaches, ever-changing privacy settings and an overall increase in the things we share in social media, there is now renewed attention to the troublesome topic.
via Social Media and Privacy | The Sad State of Social Media Privacy [Infographic].
Analytics programs can give marketers amazing insight into their marketing campaigns, but this wealth of data comes with a cost. There’s just so much information – and so many possible combinations of metrics and reports to track – that many marketers get overwhelmed trying to make sense of it all.
But don’t let data overload stop you from using analytics to improve your marketing effectiveness.
Our free ebook highlights the essential inbound marketing metrics for data-driven decision making, along with advice for how to use that data to improve and optimize your marketing efforts.
via Free Ebook: Introduction to Inbound Marketing Analytics.
Increased consumer demand for more personalized and relevant brand experiences has made customer segmentation and targeting an imperative for companies.According to a November 2011 survey from Acxiom and DIGIDAY, though the majority of US advertisers and agencies were able to identify and segment their customer base, few were capable of doing so in a way that delivers a personalized experience in real time and across multiple channels.More than half 58% of advertisers and 39% of agencies said they were able to track and segment their best customers. However, agencies were more than twice as likely 12% to be able to incorporate both online and offline data into the segmentation process, compared to just 5% of advertisers capable of this more advanced approach.
via The Challenges of Cross-Channel Data Integration – eMarketer.
Digital agency Beyond released the study for Social Media Week, along with the below infographic. Beyond makes six predictions about where sharing is headed based on the responses of 2,000 social media users in the U.S. and UK, between ages 16 and 40, who are active on either Twitter, Facebook or Google+. Among those users, 98% were active on Facebook, 60% of whom log in several times daily.
First, sharing to selective lists — the Google+ Circles model — is on the rise. While only 40% of social media users have grouped their friends and followers into lists, the concept appeals to 62% of users.
Second, frictionless sharing — Spotify songs shared to Facebook, for example — is on the rise. Some 67% of social media users have allowed an app to post to their profile, listened to a song that was automatically shared to their profile or read an article that was automatically shared to their profile.
Third, discounts and giveaways will spur sharing of branded content. People are more willing to share content if there are incentives. Some 60% of social media users say they would opt to post about a product or service if they were offered a discount or deal.
Online privacy continues to be one of the most debated industry issues. One need only note the amount of attention given to Google’s privacy policy changes over the early part of 2012 to discover many of the common sensitivities surrounding this topic.
According to online privacy service provider TRUSTe, just 10% of US adults reported being worry-free regarding their online privacy. Though the level of online privacy concern varied in degree, a large percentage of respondents reported significant unease: 21% worried frequently, and 23% always worried about their digital privacy.
via US Consumers Hold Businesses Accountable for Online Privacy – eMarketer.