james – Page 8 – Social Media Strategist

Speaking at Digital TV Summit 2012

I will be speaking on a panel at Informa's Digital TV Summit 2012 on the 5th December (day 2) between 12:10-1:00 . The panel will address "Why social TV is the next big thing?"

The areas looked at in detail during this discussion will include:

*How can companies monetize social TV?
*How can traditional TV companies benefit from social TV?
*Does social TV lead to more piracy?
*How important is the companion screen for social TV?

The rest of the panel will consist of Antonio Gioia, Project Manager, Content & Product Innovation, Mediaset Fabienne Fourquet, Director of Digital Content, Canal Plus Mark Ghuneim, CEO, Trendrr and Greg Dale, EVP International, comScore

Other speakers include representatives from BBC, Sky, BT, Canal+, Dutche Telecom, Ofcom, Orange, Playboy and Vodafone. A full list of the speakers can be found here

SMART TV's (aka Social TV's) have exploded into the living room over the last couple of years. In the first quarter of 2012 almost 20% of all TV's Shipped globally were SMART TV's).

Although the panel I' m speaking on will largely focus on Social TV's the event itself will cover all aspects of the TV industry in the EMEA region, with a renewed focus on the operators' perspective. As well as discussing how cable, satellite, IPTV and DTT operators can grow their businesses in mature markets, the event highlights the new players such as online and mobile players. This assesses the impact of newer phenomena such as social television and connected TV sets.

Social TV is one of the hottest aspects of this fast-moving industry. More and more content owners and advertisers are embracing the benefits to be gained from social TV recommendations and engagement. In short "How much will social TV viewing change the future television experience?"

*More information and early bird tickets can be found here
*More information about how your brand could benefit from video marketing can be read here

Eventbrite Marketing

On average, every time an individual shares an event on a social media site, they generate an additional £2.01 in ticket sales for that event. In the UK, the figure is £2.32 generated per share on Facebook, and £1.46 per share on Twitter (Eventbrite 2012)

Further impressive statistics from Eventbrite can be seen in the infographic below:

EventBrite Marketing

Podcasting expert

I provide a high quality podcast service for brands and corporate events. This service entails all aspects of recording, editing and producing a podcast. The entire recording infrastructure is supplied for your event, including providing and setting up all microphones, PA systems and other recording / amplifying equipment (unless you have your own you wish to use), soundcheck and the recording itself.

Podcast at Mozilla for Mobile Heroes

My post production process ensures that your audio recording is later edited to the highest quality, with any aspects specifically edited at your request. Once the podcast has been created, along with any relevant images and metadata I ensure that they are heard by your target audiences and through a variety of Podcast directories and other relevant channels. The high quality audio recording also open up the option of overlay the audio onto high quality videos ensuring that your videos audio is as professional as the available podcasts.

The audio below is from a podcast that I recorded for Mobile Heroes at the Mozilla’s London office.

For more information call 07868 823055

Twitter Statistics, 2012

2012 has been a great year for the micro-blogging GIANT 'Twitter'. Below is a visual breakdown highlighting the amount of accounts and tweets that have been created thus far. It also highlights the countries where Twitter is most active.

Heroes of Mobile Day: London Edition

Last year I was lucky enough to work on the first ever Heroes of the Mobile Fringe festival that ran paralel with Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Ahead of HOTMF 2013 a series of smaller scale events starting in London to keep the buzz going and help build up to the festival in Barcelona during February.

Heroes of Mobile Day: London Edition on Wednesday 17th October

Three discussion panel sessions happening at Mozilla HQ on St Martin’s Lane on Wednesday 17th October. All being well, these will be live webcast, but if you’re in London, you can join the audience as well and participate in a bit of networking at the same time. Each session will run for about 45 minutes with some time for refreshments before and after. You’re welcome to come to one, two or all three sessions, as you wish. They’re free to attend but we are limited in space as we want to keep the atmosphere intimate and to encourage discussion and questions from the audience.

State of the Mobile Nation – This session is sponsored by our friends at Hotwire PR and chaired by Russell Buckley. The discussion will be a review of where we are and where we’re going in the mobile industry and what that might mean for your business. More details and RSVP here. Doors open at 09.30 for a 10.00 start.

Mobile Advertising will Eat itself – This session will also be chaired by Russell Buckley and look at the latest innovations (or not) in the world of mobile advertising. More details and RSVP here. Doors open at 11.00 for a prompt 11.15 start.

(Mobile) Money makes the World go Round – This session will be chaired by Tim Green and will take a look at the world of mobile money, from payments to mobile wallets to the future (if any) for NFC and more. Details and RSVP here. Doors open at 12.30 for a prompt 13:15 start. We will be finished by around 14:00 but you’re welcome to stay for further networking and refreshments.

About the sponsors

Hotwire is an integrated PR and communications agency. Founded in 2000, the agency spans a number of industries including telecoms, media, marketing, consumer, technology, financial services and cleantech. Quickly becoming a global offering, Hotwire has offices in the UK, across Europe, Australia and the US. Suffice to say, the team are passionate about all things mobile and will be on hand to chew the fat with you.

Mozilla Spaces are open working environments where Mozillians can hack,code, design, research, create, engage and contribute to building a brighter future for the web and they are hosting this session. You may be familiar with Mozilla's brilliant Firefox browser for desktop and mobile and more recently, they announced their Firefox OS for mobile.

Swedish beers

To round off the day, we’ll be celebrating Swedish Beers’ 11th Birthday Party at The Nordic Bar from 18.30 with our friends from Millennial Media,LoopMe Media, Yuilop and Inspiring Interns. Again, free to attend. No formalities, no presentations, just good company, good chat and some free drinks (beer, wine and soft drinks a-plenty courtesy of our sponsors). More details here.

(Information on this page lifted from Musings of a Mobile Marketer and slightly tinkered with).

Blue Badge Style launches first mobile app for stylish, less-able people

Blue Badge Style a guide for a less able, stylish lifestyle, has launched a free mobile application for iPhone and Android (Blackberry app is on it's way). The app is aimed at stylish people with mobility issues (initially in London). The application identifies 'cool' venues near your location and uses its bespoke tick rating system to grade them on style, accessibility and facilities. The team plans to expand the Blue Badge Style offering throughout the UK and then the major European cities.

Founder Fiona Jarvis explains “mobility, or the lack of it, doesn’t mean that I’ve lost my sense of style, but I do want to know what to expect before I arrive at a venue. The Blue Badge Style app means that people with limited mobility and equally importantly, their friends, don’t have to be surprised or embarrassed by a lack of accessibility or facilities at a cool venue. It’s freedom shared!”

The Blue Badge Style app has been jointly developed by Stuxbot and UCL Advances, who offered to help at a recent UCL Mobile Academy course, believing the idea to be one which would improve the lives of people with disabilities. There are plans to introduce a Text To Speech version for the Blind. The aim is for Blue Badge Style to eventually include all disabilities.

As the UK population ages, people with temporary or permanent mobility issues are on the increase. Blue Badge Style estimates from government statistics, that up to 300,000 people in London have mobility issues. Founder, Fiona Jarvis wants to tap into this to create a community of like-minded people for whom style and disability are not mutually exclusive, and encourage them to rate their favourite restaurants, bars, shops, cafes, theatres etc. on Blue Badge Style. The tick rating system scores out of 5 for each category: 1.Access, 2.Facilities and 3.Style, so that users know exactly what to expect from each venue.

Fiona explains “Most people at some point in their life will experience periods of being less able. A sense of style does not diminish when this happens. If anything, it becomes more important”. She continues, “Style is the overriding premise of the website and app, along with a positive outlook on life. With this app you can easily see the best places near you, read our review, check the Blue Badge Style rating and get directions on how to get there. We’re also encouraging like-minded people to post their own reviews. We believe that decreased mobility need not stop you from enjoying a stylish life”.

*Social Media Strategist is currently providing Blue Badge Style with marketing support & user experience consultancy

QR Code Statistics 2012

The number of European smartphone users scanning QR codes via their devices has grown by 96% in the past year, to 17.4m users for the three-month average period ending July 2012, representing 14.1 per cent of the total smartphone audience.

Almost three in every four QR code scans resulted in users receiving product information, making this the most popular type of result across Europe. Germany ranked first for usage of QR codes, with 18.6 per cent of smartphone users making use of the service, several percentage points higher than its European counterparts. The proportion of smartphone users who scanned a QR code during the 3-month period was highest in Germany, at 18.6 per cent, followed by Spain (16 per cent), France (12.5 per cent), Italy (11.9 per cent) and then then UK (11.4 per cent).

Product information was by far the most popular result of a QR code scan, with nearly three in four scans being directed to this result across all EU5 markets. Over one in four scans resulted in event information, making it the second most popular result across the EU5. 19.4 per cent of QR code scanners received coupons or offers, while 13.4 per cent of scans resulted in an app download. 12.1 per cent of the audience also received charity/cause information as a result of a QR code scan.

“Consumer usage of QR codes offers a new and exciting opportunity for marketers to help move consumers further down the purchase funnel,” said Hesham Al-Jehani, European mobile product manager at comScore. “By offering more detailed product information or related content, QR codes bring consumer vital information in their consideration of a particular product or service. With smartphones now in the majority of consumers’ pockets, access to the sort of information they might get on their computer when researching a product online can help retailers improve their conversion in-store.”

QR Code marketing is a easy and quick way to direct a user to a specific location via their mobile phone. It can work well when trying to increase mobile application downloads, social media engagement, coupon usage, information, targeted map etc. For example, scan the QR code below to 'Like' Social Media Strategist on Facebook:

If you would like more information about mobile marketing and how to effectively use QR Codes get in touch

Google Maps on iOS 6 Tutorial

Apple has ditched Google Maps on iOS 6. Google has promised to bring a dedicated app to the new iOS 6 platform, but that app is currently missing in action. But you can still use Google Maps on your iPhone, follow these quick steps and while the experience isn't perfect, you will get a lot of the same benefits as you had before.

Step 1: Open up Safari, and enter the url maps.google.co.uk

Step 2: Click okay when the Notification pop up appears asking whether you are happy for "https://maps.google.co.uk" to use your current location.

Step 3: When the page finishes loading, click on the share icon in the centre of the menu bar at the bottom and click on the "Add to Home Screen Icon", on the next pane click "Add" in the top right hand corner.

Step 4: Your done. When you want to find yourself you can simply click on this icon and as long as you have internet access you'll be able to use the Google Mapping service.