>Consumers & Online Buyers Are Tapping Into the ‘F-Factor’ of Social Networking

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Consumers are increasingly tapping into their online social networks of friends, fans, and followers to discover, discuss and purchase goods and services, according to analysis from Trendwatching.com. The consumer trend analysis firm calls this trend the “F-Factor,” with the “F” standing for friends, fans and followers.

Social Sources Become Trusted

As a result of social networking and other online communication technologies, consumers can now use trusted sources they know to obtain information about products and brands, rather than rely on third party advertising or perform extensive first hand research.

Trendwatching.com advises that consumers have always relied on word-of-mouth advice from friends, relatives and associates, but modern technology is greatly accelerating its development as a major influence of purchase decisions.

Facebook Dominates the F-Factor

The F-Factor is currently dominated by Facebook, according to Trendwatching.com.  As of April 2011 Facebook has 500 million active users spend more than 700 billion minutes a month on the website and every month more than 250 million people engage with Facebook across more than 2.5 million external websites.

2010 Facebook data shows the average user clicks the “Like” button nine times each month and February 2011 Ad Age/Ipsos data shows 3/4 of Facebook users have liked a brand.

Consumers ‘F-Discover’ Best of the Best

Trendwatching.com has broken down five key ways the F-Factor influences consumer purchasing decisions. The first, ‘F-Discovery’ involves consumer desires to own or experience the best of the best and their desire for serendipity, excitement, interaction and community. People are curious and interested in what their friends and contacts think, do, eat, read, listen to, drive in, travel to and buy, because this will often be similar to how they want to think, act and buy.

Thus consumers are embracing communities, tools and apps that allow them to dive into and discover selections from friends, fans, followers, and so on.

Consumers Want ‘F-Rated’ Products

Consumers sometimes enjoy finding the best of the best through discovery; they are increasingly able to access personalized recommendations and reviews on something they know they want to purchase. Research from trendwatching.com shows more and more websites will automatically serve up friends’ recommendations, ratings and reviews next to goods and services that people are researching.

‘F-Feedback’ Makes Recommendations Personal

Anonymous reviews aren’t always what consumers need or want; they can lack relevance and context, and consumers with many options sometimes just want an unambiguous or finite opinion. F-Feedback involves consumers actively disclosing their purchasing intentions and reaching out to their friends and contacts for personalized feedback.

Trendwatching.com further advises that with more and more consumers increasingly viewing their online reputation as something to enhance as well as just protect, the quality of answers on Q&A services is rapidly improving.

F-Together Makes Shopping Social

While group buying platforms such as Groupon are revolutionizing local, consumers typically do not know the other members of the group that they are buying with. So, while consumers get to leverage the power of the web to benefit from better deals, the actual shopping experience frequently lacks the F-Factor. Consumers have strong incentives to share certain purchases, especially for F-Factor-friendly experiences such as buying event tickets where consumers can now automatically invite friends to a concert or movie right after purchasing a ticket.

F-Me Individualizes the F-Factor

Trendwatching.com refers to the trend of personalized products and services based on the activities and output of one’s social network as ‘F-Me’. This includes services that turn a user’s Facebook page into a daily newspaper and a user’s Twitter feed into a published journal.

Look for ‘Twinsumers’ and ‘Social-lites’

Both of these types of online consumers were identified by Trendwatching.com in December 2010 as critical to spreading positive word of mouth recommendations. Twinsumers are consumers with similar consumer patterns, likes and dislikes, and who are valuable sources for recommendations on what to buy and experience while  ‘Sociallites’ are consumers who consistently broadcast information to a wide range of associates online.

Social Networking and the integration of social factors with websites, online marketing and eCommerce are imperative in any Internet Initiative today.  Contact Internet Builder Consulting and the Social Marketing Builders social networking experts to build a BETTER website or Social Media Marketing solution today at 816-842-7774.

Robert ‘Dot Com’ Jackson
Internet Builder Consulting – Building BETTER Websites, Social Marketing & Consulting since 1995

>Women & Teenagers Text Significantly More than Men & Other Age Groups

>Nielsen Company data from Q4 2010 shows women send and receive an average of 30% more text messages (717 for women, 552 for men) and 12% more calls made (181 calls for women and 161 calls for men).  No surprise the ‘teenage’ group of 13-17 year olds lead the way in texts with an average monthly volume of 3,276 messages sent or received in a single month. 

Teens use of text messaging is nearly double the next highest age group of 18-24 year old users.  Older adults (age 65 and older) send the least with an average of 46 messages per month.  In terms of cell phone calls Adults age 18-24 are nearly tied for usage with 24-34 year olds at 202 and 201 calls per month respectively.  The trends show teenage usage of technology continues to improve while it may contribute to lower ‘satisfaction’ in terms of personal communication. 

This also illustrates the importance of SMS advertising and mobile websites for businesses wanting to reach millions of users via cell phones.  Contact Internet Builder Consulting for an expert mobile website consultation, SEO or Social Network Marketing.

Robert ‘Dot Com’ Jackson

Internet & Technology Expert

Internet Builder Consulting – Building BETTER Websites, Mobile Marketing and Technology Solutions since 1995

816-842-7774

>Facebook Changes…Again – No ‘Comment Button’ and New Options

>Facebook is constantly in flux, if you have seen ‘The Social Network’ it illustrated how the website has teams of people constantly revising, adding or removing options.  Today everyone awoke to the loss of the ‘Comment’ button required to post any comment, note or link to facebook. 

The ‘Comment’ button was removed to make facebook simpler though thousands of people are accidentally posting messages early because they hit the ‘enter’ button to space down but it now posts the message.  Facebook gave users a work around for this enabling people to ‘edit’ posts and comments though it will take some getting used to for many users.  Until this change Facebook Users could push the ’enter’ button to move a line down when posting a comment or add a space between lines.  To space down a line users now need to hold the ‘Shift’ button down while pushing the ‘Enter’ button.

Another feature added earlier this month is the ‘Use Facebook asYour Page’ option enabling anyone who is an administrator of a page to post comments on pages or walls.  Previously there was no clear delineation as to if your post would be made as a page or from your personal account when you were logged in. 

Not all change makes things easier though this methodology has been the norm online for years so it will soon be accepted by Facebook users.  Contact the website and social marketing experts at Internet Builder Consulting to setup, optimize or build you a better website and social media marketing.

Robert ‘Dot Com’ Jackson
Internet Builder Consulting – Building BETTER Websites, SEO and Social Marketing Solutions since 1995
816-842-7774 Corporate Offices

>Microsoft & Bing Search Engine Has the Largest Search Growth

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Microsoft Sites, mostly representing the Bing search engine, reported 13% growth in US explicit core search queries between December 2010 and January 2011, according to comScore qSearch data. Microsoft’s explicit core search queries rose from about 1.97 billion to about 2.22 billion.

Nearly 17 billion explicit core searches were conducted in January 2011, a 3% increase from over 16.4 billion in December 2010. Google Sites ranked first with 11.1 billion searches (up 1%).

Yahoo Sites came in second with 2.7 billion (up 4%), followed by Microsoft Sites, Ask Network with 576 million (no change) and AOL Network with 296 million (5% decrease).

Google Sites accounted for 64.6% of total core search queries conducted in January 2011, followed by Yahoo Sites with 17.9% and Microsoft Sites with 12.8%. Rounding out the top five total core search query providers, Ask Network comprised 3.1% of total search queries, followed by AOL Network with 1.6%.

While all total core search query growth among the top five providers was moderate at best, Microsoft had the best rate, almost 7%, rising from 12% to 12.8%. In contrast, Google’s share grew by less than 1% (64.3% to 64.6%). Yahoo lost about 5% of its share (falling from 18.8% to 17.9%), Ask.com and AOL lost small share percentages.

It is important to track search engine traffic, usage and trends to know where potential customers and buyers are looking online.  To effectively search engine optimize a website and market website companies must stay ahead of the trends and place customers in front of potential buyers.  At Internet Builder Consulting our Search Engine Experts have led the way in SEO, Social Marketing and Website Development since 1995 with more than a decade of instructing classes on the subjects nationally.

Contact Internet Builder Consulting today for an expert consultation at 816-842-7774

Robert ‘Dot Com’ Jackson
Internet & Technology Expert
www.InternetBuilderConsulting.com Websites, SEO, Social Marketing & Consulting since 1995

>Friends with Benefits

>All knowledgeable website and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firms include Social Marketing as an intricate part of any website solution.  A website that is not properly Search Engine Optimized is useless and any Search Engine Optimization campaign is incomplete without Social Marketing.  The key aspect of Social Marketing is communicating ‘socially’ to engage, entice and interact with others rather than simply pushing a message out through a one sided conversation.

Online or offline it is important to connect and make ‘friends’ with others of similar interests, in the same industries and market to the proper prospective customers.  In either situation a one sided conversation will result in lack of results and likely loss of friends or connections.  The key to success is making ‘friends with benefits’ who will connect, communicate and produce online success.  Facebook separated the ‘News’ and ‘Most Recent’ last year to determine which items are considered important while others are simply ‘updates’.  The reason Facebook changed this was to determine what information will be fed to Search Engines and what information is simply shared with only the people directly connected to each other.

Facebook is the # 1 source of referrals on the Internet today with more daily usage than all other websites and search engines including Google.  Search Engines have adopted their criteria and ranking algorithms to include information from social networking websites and online classifieds such as Craigslist in search results in real time.   The way information posted on Facebook is determined to be NEWS or just a Recent Update is determined by a simple hierarchy of criteria with the basic principles being:

1. How many friends or connections you have
2. How much interaction your friends or connections have with what you post
3. How much interaction do your friends or connections have with others
4. Is the post made on a Personal account or properly setup Page
5. The format and content of what was posted is important

This means that no matter how much you post on facebook it will not matter unless your ‘friends’ interact with what is posted.  If you have one ‘friend’ who constantly comments or likes your post it will dilute the interaction leading to lack of results thus you must have several ‘friends’ who interact on a regular basis to see real benefits.  Everything posted must be properly formatted and ideally done through a Page setup for your business, product or service.  Pages receive higher value ratings than personal accounts do and how the Page is setup affects how well it will rank when people search.

Facebook is the # 1 source of referrals today, buyers are using Facebook to connect with sellers but the most important aspect is the effect on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Content and posts from Facebook will show up on Search Engines when setup and marketed properly providing a double benefit if you have the right friends.

Robert ‘Dot Com’ Jackson
Internet Builder Consulting – Building BETTER Websites, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing and Virtual Tours since 1995
816-842-7774 Office

Internet & Technology Used More by Higher Income Buyers (Your Target Audience)

Higher-income Americans have higher rates of internet and other technology usage than Americans of lower incomes, according to new data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Almost All Higher-income Americans Use The Internet

Currently 95% of Americans who live in households earning $75,000 or more a year use the internet at least occasionally, compared with 70% of those living in households earning less than $75,000. Even among those who use the internet, those with higher incomes are more likely than those with lower income to use technology. Out of the 95% of higher-income internet users:

• 99% use the internet at home, compared with 93% of the internet users in lower brackets
• 93% of higher-income home internet users have some type of broadband connection compared to 85% of the internet users who live in households earning less than $75,000 per year. That means 87% of all those higher income households having broadband high speed internet at home
• 95% of higher-income households own a cell phone compared to 83% of lower income households

The Income Gap Applies to a Wide Variety of Technology Usage

Higher-income Americans are also more likely than those in lesser-income households to own a variety of information and communications gear including:

• 79% of those living in households earning $75,000 or more own desktop computers, compared with 55% of those living in less well-off homes.
• 79% of those living in higher-income households own laptops, compared with 47% of those living in less well-off homes.
• 70% of those living in higher-income households own iPods or other MP3 players, compared with 42% of those living in less well-off homes.
• 54% of those living in higher-income households own game consoles, compared with 41% of those living in less well-off homes.
• 12% of those living in higher-income households own eBook readers such as Kindles, compared with 3% of those living in less well-off homes.
• 9% of those living in higher-income households own tablet computers such as iPads, compared with 3% of those living in less well-off homes.

Wealthier People Use E-Commerce and Make Purchases Online

Significantly more higher-income Americans are conducting e-commerce activities than members of other income groups. Solid majorities of higher-income internet users research products (88%), make travel reservations online (83%), purchase products or services online (81%), perform online banking (74%), use the internet to pay bills (71%), and use online classified sites such as Craigslist (60%).

The Wealthy Also Use Government eCommerce

Overall 82% of internet users (representing 61% of all American adults) looked for information or completed a transaction on a government website between December 2008 and December 2009, according to an earlier
study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. However, high-income internet users are much more likely than those with lower levels of income to interact with government via online channels.

For example, 91% of internet users earning $50,000 or more a year get information or complete transactions on government websites, compared to 76% of those earning less than $50,000 a year. The largest disparity by income exists in the practice of going online for data about government activities. Fifty percent of internet users earning $50,000 or more a year do so, compared to only 31% of internet users earning less than $50,000 a year.

People with the highest incomes are shopping online to make purchases, research future purchases and 95% of them in ALL age groups are using the Internet. To reach online buyers and sell more for your business contact Internet Builder Consulting for a BETTER website, Social Network Setup or Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization today by calling the office to speak with an Internet & Technology Consultant:

816-842-7774 or Request a Website, SEO or Social Marketing Consultation Online.

Robert ‘Dot Com’ Jackson

Internet Builder Consulting – Building BETTER Websites and Online Marketing since 1995

Social Marketing Builders – Building BETTER Social Networking Solutions for Business

816-842-7774 Office

Google Launches Hotpot Local Focused Search with Social Integration

Google Places added a new social element called Hotpot that allows you to make recommendations that are then shared with your friends or contacts.  Hotpot is integrated with Google Places, getting business owners to claim their listings to help Google build their efforts in the online Yellow Pages space, while using social networking to build reviews for their products.

You can add reviews on your smart phone by using Google Maps for Mobile and Hotpot also has its own Twitter account with a likely tie in for users to Tweet their reviews.  Google shared on their Blog last month that about 1/2 of their search traffic was locally focused “More than 20 percent of Google searches now have a local intent, and it’s clear that finding information about what’s immediately around you is important…. With Google Hotpot, we’re excited to take local search to the next level by making it more personal with recommendations powered by you and your friends”.

Yahoo has a similar system called Yahoo Local for several years which also launched social integration features at the Web 2.0 conference November 2009.  Microsoft stated that 53% of searches were of local focus on the Bing search engine thus the Big Three have all seen the value in expanding locally focused content.  Buyers are searching with a local focus to find local companies and services on the Internet – is your business setup on the local business directories?  Contact Internet Builder Consulting today to have our experts setup your local listings online and integrate or setup business social networking for you at 816-842-7774.

Robert ‘Dot Com’ Jackson
Internet & Technology Expert
Internet Builder Consulting – Building BETTER websites, Social Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Solutions since 1995