Watch this video while thinking how publishing must adapt itself to a variety of changes coming our way. As Somersault says, these changes are a playground of possibilities!
The matrix barcode known as QR (Quick Response) code that’s scanned by QR readers in smartphones to take users to websites for more information may be on its way out. Bizmology reports the change could be coming because Google has decided to support another technology.
Until recently, Google widely supported QR codes, using them in its Google Places service to allow people to use their smartphones to find business addresses, URLs, hours of operations, and more. Businesses listed on Places would often put Google-supplied decals printed with QR codes in their windows for customers to scan. Google quietly stopped using the code last month, however, in favor of a new and dynamic technology known as Near Field Communication (NFC). If the technology takes off as Google predicts, NFC may quickly supplant QR codes as advertisement vehicles and send them to the technology graveyard just as fast as they hit US shores.
So what exactly is NFC? It’s is a new type of chip that can be embedded in 2-D items like posters or cards. Similar to QR codes, NFC chips can contain product information and other data. The chips can take the form of tags, stickers, or cards. A person with a NFC-enabled smartphone could wave their phone near a poster with a NFC tag to upload the information embedded in the tag.
This is an interesting development, especially in light of the recent research that US consumers like QR codes.
What will this mean for publishers who have begun using QR codes in marketing material as well as individual products?
Baptist Press (@baptistpress) reports on the surge among Christians to use mobile applications in accessing the Bible, especially in a mobile context.
There are Christian apps on every smartphone platform, but among the two most popular platforms -- Android and iPhone's iOS -- there are literally hundreds of Bible and Christian-themed apps, helping believers with everything from Scripture memorization to lesson preparation to Bible study to witnessing....
The most popular Christian app, by far, is the YouVersion Bible app (@YouVersion), developed by the multiple-site-campus church known as LifeChurch.tv.
Read this article in full. Also see “Christian Apps of the Month.”
Ministries and churches are creating their own apps to further their messages. For example, see the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (@BGEA) mobile site and its “Steps2Peace” app.
Let Somersault create a strategic app for your brand. Be sure to use daily our SomersaultNOW dashboard to remain current with the latest developments in social media marketing and digital publishing. And as long as we’re talking about mobility, be sure to regularly use Somersault’s mobile site for links to other mobile-friendly sites.
Jack Hird (@Jake_Hird), senior research analyst for Econsultancy, offers the following social media stats:
- Twitter has 175 million registered users; 95 million tweets per day; 4 million tweets per hour.
- LinkedIn registrants number more than 100 million
- Facebook population officially is more than a half-billion, but some unofficial counting has it at 640 million. At least 250 million users log in every 24 hours; 200 million access it through mobile devices. The average Facebook user creates 90 pieces of content each month.
- Flickr hosts more than 5 billion images; 3,000 images uploaded every minute.
- Wikipedia now has more than 17 million articles and 91,000 active contributors.
- YouTube video views number more than two billion every 24 hours; more than 24 hours of video are uploaded every minute.
Graham Charlton (@gcharlton) has assembled statistics about the mobile Internet:
- People use mobile search at home in the evening (81%) than any other time or places more frequently than anywhere else (81%), followed by at home on weekends (80%).
- 66% use mobile search while while watching TV, something which should get advertisers thinking, while 61% said they use it at work.
- 75% said mobile search makes their lives easier, 63% said access to mobile search has changed the way they gather information, and 32% said they use mobile search more than search engines on their computers.
- 84% use mobile search to look for information on local retailers, such as opening hours, address and contact details. 82% look for online retailers, 73% find a specific product or manufacturer website.
- Tying in with the crossover in TV viewing and mobile search, 71% learn more about a product or service having seen an ad, 68% use it to find the best price for a product.
Also see Social Media Today’s “Best Social Media Stats and Market Research of 2010 (So Far)” by Tom Pick (@TomPick).
Let Somersault help you create an integrated social media marketing strategy. And be sure to use daily our SomersaultNOW dashboard to remain current with the latest developments in social media marketing and digital publishing.
The above chart and the one below display the results of a recent study commissioned by ad agency MGH (@mghus) in which 72% of smartphone users indicated they’d likely recall an ad with a QR code, a barcode-like image containing information that can be scanned and read using an application on a smartphone, taking the user immediately to a website. MGH says
In short, this data shows that: (1) consumers are interested in interacting with advertising that bears a QR code – thus, the promise of additional benefits in the form of deals, coupons, videos, sweepstakes, social media interactions, etc.; and (2) QR codes can help an ad break through the clutter by increasing the chance it will be remembered, great news for advertisers who have already integrated a QR code strategy into a traditional advertising campaign or are looking to insert them in a future campaign.
View the full survey results in pdf form.
How should you be using QR codes in your marketing communications mix?
Update: The above research is interesting, especially in light of the article QR Codes May Be Going Away.
Does “the cloud” pose another opportunity for book publishers? The chart above indicates that demand for wireless access to the Web is only going to grow in the coming years, as will the diversity of devices used for that function.
Book publishers, organizations, agents, and authors should be thinking now, not only how to profitably publish content for ereader consumption of complete downloaded books, but also ways of monetizing content that resides dynamically and virtually in the Internet cloud. One idea: paid subscriptions, taking a cue from the new paywall business model announced by The New York Times (by the way, here’s an analysis of the announcement by Bloomberg Businessweek and broad coverage links by paidContent).
The New York Times is banking on the strength of its brand, even though people may be able to get the (relatively) same news free elsewhere (see 10 Ways To Get Around Online News Subscriptions And Paywalls). But it may work better with book publishers, since each publishers’ content is (relatively) unique from others.
What do you think?
Chart of the Day (@chartoftheday) compares current tablet ownership with the world population. Two extremes, granted, but not so far-fetched when you compare with mobile subscribers.
The potential for growth in the tablet market for Apple, Google, RIM, and others is still massive. Only 0.3% of the Earth's inhabitants owned a tablet at the end of 2010, RBC analyst Mike Abramsky notes today in a detailed, 88-page report about the future of the tablet market. That means 99.7% of the people on Earth still haven't bought a tablet yet!
What do you think the implications are for publishers, agents, ministries, organizations, and authors as you go about creating content?
Chart of the Day (@chartoftheday) displays the optimistic 5-year predictions by Morgan Stanley on the tablet market. Keep in mind that ALL the devices tracked in the forecast are able to be used to read and/or listen to books. The market is growing.
It appears iPad users are marking content during the day and consuming it later when they can lean back and actually read. According to Read it Later (@readitlater), from a study of 100 million articles saved using its service, people use browsing and bookmarking to time-shift the consumption of content to whatever would be prime time for them (typically 6am breakfast, 9am commute, 5-6pm commute, or 8-10pm couch time, the latter being the most prevalent).
When a reader is given a choice about how to consume their content, a major shift in behavior occurs. They no longer consume the majority of their content during the day, on their computer. Instead they shift that content to prime time and onto a device better suited for consumption.
Initially, it appears that the devices users prefer for reading are mobile devices, most notably the iPad. It’s the iPad leading the jailbreak from consuming content in our desk chairs.
Fast Company (@fastcompany) reports that “one out of every five Americans plans to own a tablet by 2014,” according to a Harris poll. Most want to use it to browse the Web, followed by accessing their email, reading, social networking, watching TV or movies, conducting business, and playing games. The “reading” category grabs Somersault’s attention: 53% predict they’re going to add devices like the iPad to their schedule of absorbing everyday content. Another reason for publishers to be serious about digitizing their material in innovative ways. Read the full report.
