Month: December 2014

More and more companies are deciding to jump on the mobile payment bandwagon. This new phenomenon is not only beneficial for companies, but also for consumers. Mobile payment makes transactions easy and fast, therefore making lines move faster and more efficiently. You also won't have to worry about fumbling around with your wallet! 

A research firm, Forrester, expects mobile payments to rise significantly in the coming years. This is not too surprising given the surge in mobile usage and the convenience mobile payment provides.

Now, competition between services is beginning to arise. Some retailers have decided to not use Apple Pay, but instead are launching their own mobile payment system entitled CurrentC which will allow companies to track customer data and lowers transaction costs. There is also a new type of payment in the works called FitPay, which uses wearable fitness bands. We will also be seeing  a Click to Collect payment method that will allow consumers to make a purchase online and pick it up at the store.  

When it comes to mobile payments, it will be interesting to see what companies decide to use. The competition is just going to become larger from here, but who will come out on top? 

According to the Buzzfeed Insights Report, social, mobile, and online video are three technologies that are drastically changing media. 

Social media usage has grown and will not stop growing any time soon. Instead of watching television, reading a newspaper, or even going directly to a company website, people are beginning to rely on social media to provide them with the latest news and entertainment. For instance, Buzzfeed articles and videos are shareable which is why they have been so successful through social media platforms. With the rise of social as well as mobile usage, it is paramount that content is compatible for these platforms. 

Mobile is becoming the dominent platform for social media usage, and will continue upward. Because of this, Buzzfeed is beginning to create content for mobile first, resulting in more traffic and more sharing. People aren't just reading more content on their mobile devices, but watching videos too. Watching video on mobile has surpassed watching video on desktop. The usage of online video is even surpassing television!

Buzzfeed has the right idea when it comes to being responsive to the trends of their users. Other businesses should follow in their footsteps and keep up with consumers. We should be seeing an even bigger shift in social, mobile, and online video as time goes on. 

…and it won't be slowing down anytime soon.

From basic observation, it is easy to see that the use of digital media has increased in the past few years, and usage is still steadily moving upward.

According to a report by eMarketer, American adults spend more time on digital media than watching television. What has really driven digital media usage upward is the use of mobile devices, and it will continue to do so. In April, it was predicted that US adults would spend 23.0% more time on mobile devices on average than in 2013!

Social networking has also increased in mobile, and has surpassed social network usage online. As mobile will continue to grow exponentially, you will definitely want to make sure your company has a mobile strategy in place.

The holidays are a crucial time for mobile. So many people purchase new devices that the week after Christmas has become known as one of the biggest weeks of the year for the iPhone and Android App stores. So you should make sure your app is ready.

Here are some ways to make it a Happy Holiday for your station:

• Promote your app on-air! Have your production and air teams create clever ways of reminding your audience that they can listen and interact with you wherever they go. So if they’re headed “over the river and through the woods” for the holiday, you can go along.

• Let your audience create content for you by sending you an audio Christmas card. If you have one of our apps, look for the “Open Mic” feature which can let your audience record and send you audio messages right from the app.

• Don’t forget to promote your events and special programs on your app. With a simple graphic panel, you can remind listeners about programming, station charity events and other things relevant to the holiday season.

• Give your listeners an on-demand Christmas present. A special podcast, or re-broadcast something fun from the archives. Almost any audio content can be packaged as a podcast and delivered to your audience through the app.

So take advantage of all those new Galaxies and iPhones coming out of your listeners’ stockings by adding something of your own for them. MUCH better than a lump of coal.