Google+ brand pages seeing adoption, engagement growth: report
The future of Google's greatest social networking effort to date, Google+, may be debatable, but the search giant hasn't found it very difficult to lure brands to Google+.
And for good reason: Google+ has been Google's most respectable social effort to date and brands have learned that getting on board services before they get big is often a far better strategy than waiting until it's too late.
39m Americans made a purchase via mobile last year: stats
Mobile commerce has been a topic of great interest for marketers and businesses in the past several years.
And for good reason: with more and more consumers carrying increasingly sophisticated mobile devices with them everywhere they go, the potential to drive commerce in ways never before possible is fast becoming a reality.
There are numerous challenges, of course. The mobile device and OS landscape is highly fragmented, there are numerous security concerns and performance is absolutely crucial.
New research: Cross-Channel Marketing Survey now live
In partnership with Responsys, Econsultancy has launched some new research for 2012, the Cross-Channel Marketing Survey, which looks at the cross-section of different online and offline channels, including integration with email, display advertising, mobile, plus much more.
The research aims to benchmark trends within the market, and the launch of this brand-new survey reflects the growing necessity for companies to take an integrated approach to marketing and remove the organisational barriers that are holding them back.
Kindle Fire now represents over half of Android tablets: report
Thanks to testimony in the Oracle-Google lawsuit over the use of Java in Android, we now know just how high Google's hopes for Android were in 2011.
According to Google VP Andy Rubin, the search giant was looking for Android tablets to account for 33% of the tablet market last year. The good news for Google was that the launch of Amazon's Kindle Fire may have brought Google within striking distance of that figure.
UK business investing more in social media, but failing to measure ROI: report
With literally hundreds of millions of consumers logging on to the internet and using social media every month, it's no surprise that businesses have flocked to services like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Whether they're looking to hawk their wares or listen to what customers are saying about them, there are numerous social media use cases that apply to just about every business under the sun.
But how many of the companies using social media are actually measuring what they're getting from it?
Pinterest revenue per click beats Facebook, Twitter: report
Businesses, particularly those in the retail industry, may have good reason to be skeptical about Facebook commerce, or f-commerce as it's come to be known, but that doesn't mean that social commerce should be written off.
For a growing number of companies, using social media to drive revenue is not just a dream, it's reality.
Econsultancy reports roundup: March 2012
Every month, Econsultancy publishes a range of reports covering best practice, market data, template files, trends and innovation and more. In short; loads of useful stuff.
Econsultancy members (Silver and above) have access to all our reports free of charge, but as our research team is currently firing on all cylinders, I thought it would be useful for new members (and existing ones) to have a quick roundup of everything we’ve published in the past month.
This month we published seven new reports and updates, including the Internet Statistics Compendium, The Econsultancy/Adestra Email Marketing Census, our new SEO Agencies Buyer’s Guide, a B2B trends briefing, a display advertising best practice guide and more.
Hit the jump to discover what's new:
Best Buy is Apple's best iPhone friend
When Apple unveils a new product, its most loyal and eager customers frequently line up outside of its stores in the hopes that they'll be one of the first to get their hands on it.
But as important as the Apple Store is to Apple, when it comes to the iPhone, Best Buy is an increasingly important partner.
Bigger displays are better when it comes to smartphones: report
If you've noticed that smartphone displays seem to be getting larger, there's apparently a good reason for that: size matters to consumers, and bigger is apparently better.
That's according to a study conducted by research firm Strategy Analytics, which surveyed smartphone owners in the U.S. and U.K. about their size preferences.
Payvment study shows sellers use Facebook ads to drive f-commerce
Payvment, Facebook's biggest e-commerce platform, has released its first 'F-commerce Facts' study.
A series of questions was sent to a selection of companies from the company's 100,000 sellers, spread across 12 countries.
72% of the 750 respondents have less than 500 fans, so this provides a snapshot of the way small businesses view their storefronts.
The research doesn't show how successful f-commerce has been for them per se, but does suggest strong adoption of Facebook ads to aid selling (39% have used this method) - with most of those surveyed planning to use them again (70%).
