Facebook's IPO is a huge milestone for a company that is arguably unlike any other to come before it. Launched in 2004 from a university dorm room, Facebook has risen to become more than just a multi-billion dollar consumer internet star -- it's a cultural phenomenon used by close to a billion people. But the company's public debut is hardly the end of the story Mark Zuckerberg wrote. Instead, it's just the beginning of what could prove to be either one of the greatest tech investment opportunities ever or a passing fad that brought irrational exuberance back to internet stocks. Which one will it be? Naturally, it depends on who you ask. On one hand, Facebook is a force to be reckoned with. It has nearly a billion users, billions in revenue, one of the best-recognized brands in the world and some of the best engineering talent in Silicon Valley. Facebook boosters thus argue that the company is just getting started and its best days are ahead of it. On the other hand, Facebook's current valuation is based on its potential more than its relatively modest earnings and faces significant challenges in realizing all of its potential, including mobile. Skeptics will point out that the company is no spring chicken, saw a quarter-over-quarter revenue decline last quarter and that key insiders are selling in the IPO, hinting that they may believe Facebook's valuation has peaked (or is close to peaking). One thing is for sure: the initial movement in FB shares (up or down) in the next hours, days and weeks will make for great entertainment, but it's what happens in the coming months and perhaps even years that will determine whether Facebook is the next Google, or the next Groupon.

Driving the mobile usage surge is the proliferation of smartphone growth. IDC recently revealed that 59% of all mobile phone owners possess a smartphone as opposed to a basic mobile device, with that percentage expected to rise sharply over the next five years as smartphones continue to replace traditional handhelds. Mobile-social growth impacts everyone, from consumers to brands to investors, though for slightly different yet similar reasons. Facebook needs to monetise that growing number of mobile users without disrupting the user experience.  Too many ads, users cringe. Too few ads, revenue decreases and the markets notices. Today’s social marketer needs to stay on top of these trends as consumers are increasingly interacting with content via smartphones. Marketers must understand the demand that puts on their social content strategy.  As social matures, led by Facebook, brands will need to develop a more integrated POEM (Paid, Owned & Earned) strategy. Facebook underscored this with the introduction of Sponsored Stories and Reach Generator. Consumers are increasingly making the social web the center of their digital world. Yesterday’s brand website is becoming today’s Facebook Page. But this presents incredible opportunities. Below are just a few key ideas for marketers to consider as they strive to better reach today’s mobile-social consumer:  Mobile optimisation now includes social  With more people accessing Facebook via mobile Web, Facebook announced at Mobile World Congress that the company is focusing on building out more effective mobile solutions to aid in app discovery, payments and mobile browser fragmentation.  Marketers should be eager to execute on the bevy of new opportunities this presents to optimise content for mobile and achieve maximum engagement and effectiveness. If you don’t, then you are missing almost 50% your audience, with 488m monthly mobile users (and growing) on Facebook. Bridge the digital & physical worlds Effectively engaging your social consumer while on the go provides many added benefits. Think commerce, location-based apps, and real-time targeting. Mobile marketing allows brands to reach and engage with a consumer when they are closest to activities such as shopping and eating. Delivering consumers real-time deals and coupons by location and activity can achieve tremendous results.  It’s about delivering relevant content at the opportune time.  It’s the blending together of the digital and physical worlds, giving brands a chance to expand and enhance the consumer relationship.  Understand behavior and usage differences As consumers continue to upgrade from traditional cellphones to smartphones, mobile behavior will further evolve, and marketers must stay abreast of the latest mobile consumer behavior data. If you understand the behavior and usage differences, you can deliver more relevant and engaging content.  In our white paper, Social Mobile User Engagement, we explored performance metrics via mobile including: image and text posts perform better; Thursdays – Sundays are more effective posting days; shorter posts are more effective; and post with links receive higher engagements, to name a few.  Further, as smartphone usage expands and speed and download times increase, look for video and rich media content engagement to also increase. Facebook recently unveiled new App Insights metrics, offering mobile referral data from their dashboard to help “understand the traffic your app receives from Facebook mobile sources” and “continue optimising distribution via mobile social channels”. Ensuring that a Facebook app is Flash-free and optimised for whichever screen users are using is vital. Facebook’s new App Insights metrics is a great tool for helping marketers understand where broken experiences may be occurring and helping them hone in on behavior and usage differences between mobile and non-mobile devices.  In the mobile kingdom, content remains king Facebook had never talked so much about mobile than it did at its Facebook Marketing Conference (fMC) earlier this year. It has continued that focus leading up to its IPO.  Revealing Timeline for brand pages, unveiling ads for mobile devices along with several other features and functions, Facebook showed it understands how the location of premium ads needs to be different in a mobile environment vs. desktop web.  All of this followed Twitter’s announcement they it is expanding its mobile advertising strategy, “making promoted tweets visible in its apps for iPhone and Android devices”. All of these upgrades are about content – promoting and highlighting premium content in feeds is just one piece of the puzzle. To garner attention, the content still has to be engaging, feel personal to the consumer, and exhibit relevance. In conclusion The industry is still in the very early stages of the mobile-social revolution, but we know this space will move forward rapidly, bringing changes, developments and opportunities daily.  From our own data, we see that mobile engagement on Facebook more than doubled in just six months for the brands we manage. The percentage of Likes from mobile across our client base went from around 15% in the middle of last year to 40% of all Likes by December. We expect that to hit 60% by the end of the year. By staying focused and having the right partners, marketers can achieve success with today’s new mobile-social consumer.

Multi-screen usage  Stats from our Multi-Screen Marketer report, produced in association with the IAB, show that 65% of the respondents with a tablet in our study said they were likely to be using a second device while watching television. Even most people with only two screens (TV + computer) are more likely to be online while watching than not (52%). Multi-screening can be positive for publishers and advertisers. Those with tablets are significantly more likely (47%) to take an action (voting, purchasing, etc.) in response to what they’re watching than their peers with three screens (37%).  47% of tablet owners have used a mobile device to respond to something on the screen and 28% have downloaded an application that’s related to a show they watch. Chance of using a mobile device to take action from television prompt: Mobile web usage Almost two-thirds of UK smartphone owners (59%) access the mobile internet everyday, according to stats from Google.  85% of UK mobile users seek local information on their smartphone, and 81% take action using the local content. Mobile search has grown 500% in the past two years. Online research and in-store purchases More than a third of Homebase customers research online before going in-store, according to the retailer's Head of Multichannel Andy McWilliams. Reducing online returns rates By using the Shoefitr tool, which helps shoppers to find the best fit for them, US retailer Running Warehouse has reduced fit-related returns by 23%.  The app has enabled Running Warehouse to increase its profit margins by 2.5%.  Previously, around 65% of the retailer returns were due to size related issues, but now 20% of orders come in from customers that have used the app.  Social media and customer service More than a third of UK consumers (36%) have engaged with brands through social media, according to a survey from Fishburn Hedges. 68% of those who have engaged with brands through social media believe that it “allowed them to find their voice”. More than two-thirds (65%) also believe that it is a better way to communicate with companies than call centres. Twitter's mobile users Twitter now has 10m UK users, of which 80% access the site using mobile. This makes the UK Twitter's fourth largest audience behind the US, Brazil and Japan. It has 140m users worldwide.  Tablets One tablet generates as many website visits as four smartphones, according to data from Adobe's Digital Index Report. By the end of Q1 2012 smartphones accounted for 6.1% of site visits compared to 4.3% on tablet (mainly iPad). Within a year of its launch in Q2 2010 the iPad accounted for 1% of total website visits, reaching 4.3% of total visits by the end of 2011. Facebook and customer acquisition More than a third of UK businesses (36%) now use Facebook to attract new customers, according to data from Basekit. This makes it more popular as an advertising tool than local business directories such as Yellow Pages and Thomson, which are used by 27% of the 500 small businesses surveyed. The use of online advertising is now almost as common as print advertising (20% vs. 21%), and Twitter is also quickly gaining popularity (17%). Marketing emails and mobile Research by STEEL finds that 36% of all consumers are already reading marketing emails on a mobile device. This figure rises to 55% for 18-34s.  However, one in four find marketing emails too difficult to read on their mobiles.  The top area of dissatisfaction is too much scrolling (42%), while 29% state that the layout of emails isn't right for their mobile device and 27% feel there is too much content.  Reasons for opening emails on mobile: Shazam and TV ads According to ITV and Shazam, around 50,000 viewers used the Shazam app to tag the Pepsi MAX and Cadbury ads shown during ad breaks in Saturday’s Britain’s Got Talent final. Shazam recently announced a partnership with ITV to provide interactive TV ads. 

The Potential Of Facebook’s Newsfeed Ads vs. IPO valuation (Webtrends) Why do users become disengaged with your email? (Litmus) The ultimate mobile web infographic (Bootstrapper's Guide) Bounce rate demystified (KISSmetrics) This is actually an old one, but a) I haven't seen it before and b) it's good...  Facebook vs Google Display Network (Wordstream) The ROI of tag management (Tealium) (From Econsultancy's The ROI of Tag Management report.)

1. Get the foundations right Bardega said that the fundamentals of a mobile strategy are an optimised website, plus mobile focused search and advertising campaigns. These key elements need to work on mobile – get them right before you move on to anything else. Noting that 60% of UK businesses don’t have a mobile optimised site, he said marketers should also be aware that Google only displays the top two paid search results on mobile compared to three on desktop. Also you get different spelling mistakes on mobile, so your keywords need to be aligned differently. Looking at advertising, it is also important for marketers to ensure that their digital creative works on mobile. A year ago 5% of ads were showing a backup GIF on mobile, but that has increased to 15% due to the number of people viewing ads on devices that don’t support flash. Bardega said that MediaCom has seen a 20% improvement in mobile conversions for businesses that ensure their site, search and advertising are optimised. 2. Accept diversity While media agencies will profess to be able to segment and identify a target audience on mobile, Bardega said that in truth it is difficult to predict behaviour using traditional demographics. Agencies have loads of tools for understanding customers, but the reality is that there’s diversity among demographic groups in the way they interact with mobile. 3. Harness device attributes Mobile is a personal space and offers excellent opportunities for engaging with consumers. Bardega highlighted research that looked at the relationship between how long users engage with a digital ad and the propensity to buy. It found that after 30 seconds of interaction the likelihood to purchase increases by 6%, however it increases by 20% for users who engaged with an ad for 90 seconds. Advertisers therefore need to find ways of delivering engaging adverts through the use of mobile technologies, such as augmented reality. However, it is important to only use the ad formats that are right for your audience. 4. Integrate everything Bardega suggested that businesses should integrate mobile into everything they do. He highlighted a campaign by Alton Towers that saw 5,500 customers attend the theme park for free using a check-in offer run through Facebook. Similarly, Skoda used mobile AR app Aurasma to embed digital content in print ads, achieving 6,000 scans across four publications.  The same campaign achieved an 18% response rate from pre-roll ads and 4.3% from display ads. Overall mobile helped drive a response rate that was 230% higher than average. 5. Be brave Bardega admitted that often with new technologies brands need to be willing to try new ideas. He said NFC marketing campaigns will be the norm in a few years, but for now advertisers need to be brave and trial the technology even if the results are unimpressive. We need to test these methods with consumers. Don’t worry if it’s a success, but think about what learnings can you take forward. 6. Make new friends Mobile is a rapidly changing environment, so brands and agencies should be looking for new partners to work with to help drive innovation in their campaigns. New technologies create new opportunities, so look at who you can be working with alongside your traditional partners.

The news organization's tablet usage (mostly iPad) begins first, at five in the morning, with print following shortly thereafter. As people transit to and arrive at work those consumption methods fall precipitously. Subsequently, mobile phone and desktop access rise, then hold steady throughout the remainder of the working day. Tablet usage begins to pick up again in the evening, and usage of WSJ Live, the company's streaming video app, peaks in the evening at 10pm. Shapira said that this is evidence of either digital video consumption replacing television, or, additive second-screen viewing.  In either case, this level of advanced penetration of owned properties throughout an array of devices and content-formats is an impressive success for the 123 year old brand.  In part, the success of these products is no doubt attributable to the company's aggressive participation in numerous public-ish social media channels. According to a shared slideshow from March, the company maintains over 100 Twitter accounts, with over 2m followers. Social sharing within Facebook is the largest source of traffic referral, and the company maintains 14 brand pages with 600k likes. The company has additionally embraced Pinterest, and is active on Instagram, where it has over 15k followers. As brands consider implementing content strategies, they would be wise to pay attention to publications like this. At one point, the Wall Street Journal was just a newspaper. Now, it has the potential to poach eyeballs away from TV advertisers. It isn't that every brand should desire to become a full-fledged news service, it's that the opportunity to deeply penetrate into the lives of consumers is there, for those who can figure out how to do it.

There has been a great deal of attention and research directed at the multi-screen recently, and with good reason. 65% of the respondents with a tablet in our study said they were likely to be using a second device while watching television...and that number goes up for those 18-44 years old. Even most people with only two screens (TV + computer) are more likely to be online while watching than not (52%). The Multi-Screen Marketer explores some of the effects of these behaviors, and tries to lay out an approach for publishers and advertisers. How does the distraction of the second screen affect attention?  When someone has another device at the ready, their attention can shift from the screen the moment they lose interest. Whether it's a commercial break or just a break in the action, they're off and mentally running. Studies have already shown that commercial blocks invite the heaviest multi-screen behavior. We wanted to measure how this could impact advertiser recall. Respondents were asked to identify their favorite television program, and then asked if they could identify specific advertisers associated with it. We expected that the less people fit the mold of the multi-tasker, the more they would recall, but that's not what we found. Overall, 46% of survey takers were able to identify between one and three advertisers. Surprisingly, four screened respondents (TV, computer, smartphone and tablet) were more likely (53%) than those with only two screens (42%). Again, younger tablet owners did even better...61% could recall at least one advertiser. Of course, this doesn't capture some very important pieces of information; we don't know anything about messaging recall or sentiment. You can be sure that studies will fill in these gaps. Does the type of content (TV program) correlate with multi-screen behaviors? Television programs aren't all the same, even if it feels that way when you've got a remote in your hand. Respondents were asked to identify their preferred program types (procedurals, sports, reality, etc.) and given three randomly chosen questions about their behaviors from a total of six possible questions (to avoid overload). Three of the behaviors were "commercial" - related to online shopping, product searches, etc., while the others related to general online surfing and searching for media-related information. Findings are broken down in detail within the report but one of the highlights was discovering that independent drama (Mad Men, Breaking Bad, etc.) is a hotbed for both commerce and non-commerce related second screen behaviors. People are somewhat more likely to shop for products they've seen during the program (show + commercials) and to do things like connect on social networks, than during any other program type. At the other end of the spectrum are procedural dramas. Where are we headed? Connected TV is already here, but few people have bought them so far, and those that have often aren't using them to their full potential. We asked respondents to describe television of the future and the televisions of the future, and to gauge the impact of these expected changes. At the top of the list is the ability to watch anything, anywhere, anywhen. Not surprising and unlikely to be fulfilled any time soon, because of the basic business models of the primary players. The second highest priority is for a television that listens and more importantly, does what we tell it. Voice recognition scored well, as people acknowledge that between multiple remotes, hundreds of channels and piles of accessories, it can be complicated to find or record the content we want.  Other top priorities center around the multi-screen experience. People expect to be able to watch programming on any device, and then move it simply from one device to another as they travel. Naturally, we gravitate to the best available device, but often that is the most available device. Watching a film on a smartphone is sub-optimal, unless you're on a subway, in which case it's sublime. Other Findings The Multi-Screen Marketer looks at a number of other topics including how social is really a private activity, how multi-screeners use online information during the purchase process and how TV viewing is shared among devices. Thanks to the sponsorship of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the report is available to all Econsultancy members, bronze and higher.

At the time, it was clear that Johnson was taking some cues from Apple. Make things simple, and the market will reward you. What wasn't clear was whether or not Johnson's strategy would work. Some liked it, while others suggested it could be disastrous. Unfortunately for J.C Penney and its shareholders, the new approach isn't producing the expected result. Last Wednesday, the company reported its earnings for Q1 2012 and the numbers were ugly. Same-store sales dropped nearly 19%. Online sales plummeted 28%. All told, J.C. Penney reported a net loss of $163 million, or 75 cents per share; analysts had expected a net loss of just 8 cents per share. Not surprisingly, the results have sent J.C. Penney shares reeling. They're down more than 20% in the past week, and the company has suspended its dividend to save cash. And it appears things might get worse as reports say that the retailer is looking to wholesalers for steep discounts. The cause of J.C. Penney's disastrous quarter isn't hard to identify: shoppers aren't liking its new pricing. As C. Britt Beemer, chairman of consumer research firm America's Research Group, told the AP, "Consumers want deals, and they're willing to wait for them...When you train customers to shop at big discounts, that customer is not going to change". In other words, J.C. Penney might be offering merchandise to customers at great prices, but they simply won't recognize that they're getting a good deal because, for better or worse, there's no, well, "deal." The result: they don't buy. For his part, Johnson believes he made the right move, and is confident that in time, J.C. Penney customers (or, more accurately, former customers) will come to their senses. Clearly, Wall Street's reaction to the early results indicate that investors aren't so sure about that. There's a timely lesson here for companies using the internet to acquire new customers or reward existing customers. Whether you're promoting a daily deal on Groupon or offering a coupon for a Facebook 'Like', discounts usually carry a cost. When customers come to expect those discounts, the cost is easy to significantly underestimate. This, of course, doesn't mean that all discounting is bad. Coupons and deals are valuable tools when applied appropriately. But when a brand becomes known for its discounts, as was the case with J.C. Penney, it can be very, very painful to separate The Brand from The Deal.

Make your returns policy easy to understand Whether they are checking before purchase, or finding out how to return an item they've just received, the policy should be clear and easy to understand.  Compare and contrast these two returns pages. The first, from Sports Direct, seems designed to deter returns and contains lots of scary language about legal obligations: Lovehoney, on the other hand, explains its policy clearly: Make your returns policy easy to see The returns policy is often a link in the footer, which is fine to a certain extent as people will expect to see it there.  However, the returns policy can influence a purchase decision, particularly in cases where customers aren't 100% certain about a product.  Therefore, a prominent link to the returns policy on product pages can offer customers reassurance that they can return an item easily if they find it's not right for them, and push them towards the purchase.    Don't charge for returns Of course, there are costs involved if you allow free returns, but these costs need to be weighed against the extra conversions it brings, and the potential boost to retention rates.  I bought a £40 lampshade from one retailer a year ago, and had to pay a hefty £10 return fee when I found it didn't fit. I appreciate the retailer has costs to cover, but this charge put me off looking for another on that site, and would make me think twice about ordering from them again.  Also, as Zappos has found, people who regularly return items can be some of your best customers. It says that clients buying its most expensive shoes have a 50% return rate.  According to Craig Adkins of Zappos: Our best customers have the highest returns rates,but they are also the ones that spend the most money with us and are our most profitable customers. Zappos' modus operandi is not to give its purchasers the cheapest footwear on the block, but to give them the best service: hence, a 365-day returns policy, and free two-way shipping. Include clear returns instructions in packaging This is about not annoying customers too much. I get the sense with some retailers that they think making returns harder will reduce overall rates, and help increase profits.  If this is the case, it's short-sighted thinking. It simply means that customers will get so annoyed that they are unlikely to shop with you again. Even worse, they may tell their friends about it, online and offline.  Make it easy for customers. Provide clear instructions and even include a returns envelope to make sure no mistakes are made with the address.  If you offer free returns, shout about it Offering free returns is great, but you should, as with free delivery, shout about it so that customers know about this when they buy: Help shoppers with great product images and video One reason for returned goods is that customers haven't been able to get a decent idea of the product before they place the order. Thus, when it arrives, and isn't as expected, it has to go back.  Retailers can address this issue on product pages, by ensuring that customers get as much visual information as possible.  Simply Group found that using 360 views and instructional videos of its ski products not only increased conversions, but also reduced returns rates, as customers were able to see exactly how each product worked.  Provide detailed product information As above, if customers are armed with all the information they need, they are less likely to return items. So, for items like computers, sites should be clear about the specs, as well as the accessories and leads which are required.  Combining this detail with excellent imagery and video can reduce the need for returns.  User reviews Of course, user reviews are great for boosting sales, but they can also help to reduce returns rates.  They can allow customers to avoid potential issues with products, or to find the product that is best suited to its intended use.  Kiddicare is a great example of this. It gets plenty of detail from it user reviews, such as pros and cons, the type of person using it, and best uses.  Here, in a search for car seats for babies, customers can use feedback to find the best car seat for newborns, for everyday use, for grandparents, and so on:  Fitting tools and virtual wardrobes  This is something that has been adopted by fashion sites, as they attempt to get around the fact that customers cannot try before they buy.  One such example, the Shoefitr app, helped an online footwear retailer to reduce fit-related returns by 23%. Others are variable in quality, but anything which can help customers to find the right fit, or to find outfits that match has the potential to reduce returns.  It's not just fashion either, MyDeco's 3D room planner tool helps shoppers to try out room looks before buying furniture:  Offer free home trials Glasses Direct offers shoppers the option of a free home trial. Customers can select up to four pairs of glasses and try them on at home before making a selection.  This neatly gets around one of the major problems of buying glasses online, and the fact that Glasses Direct trusts the customer enough to send frames out creates a great first impression.  Don't quibble over returns Customers will return items for spurious reasons, or will call something a fault when in fact they have broken it.  If a particular customer does this again and again, this can be dealt with on an individual basis, but it's best not to be too strict when customers are returning items.  If retailers do drag their heels on returns, it can be infuriating. I once returned a stairgate which didn't fit to Toys R Us. The member of staff initially refused to accept the return since the box had been opened, and then begrudgingly offered a refund of one third of its value.  As a result, none of my kids' Christmas and birthday presents are bought in that store, and the company has lost sales far greater than the value of that item.  Again, Lovehoney is a great example of this. All manner of returned items, which may or may not have been used, are refunded without question. Many have to be thrown away, for obvious reasons.  It takes the view, that for long term customer retention, it's better not to argue with customers over this.  Ask for feedback when customers return products This is simple, but makes sense. A quick question or two on the return slip can help retailers to uncover problems or trends in returns and enable them to address these issues.   Provide multichannel returns If you're a multichannel retailer, allowing people to return items bought online to local stores is a must.  This is often due to the separation of web and offline channels, and there are organisational issues which many brands are now dealing with.  I've had this experience in the past with Orange, as my father was unable to return a faulty phone ordered online to his local store.  It seems that, while competitors like O2 allow multichannel returns, Orange has yet to change this policy, instead insisting that returns requests are routed through its telesales team. This is a mistake in my book.  For the brand refusing the return, it's a missed opportunity to educate customers about a complex product, or to upsell or cross-sell while the customer is in the store.  Snow Valley's 2011 Online Returns Report found that just half of the mulitchannel retailers it studied allowed in store returns for online purchases.  Customers appreciate the flexibility and convenience of multichannel returns, and will be far more likely to shop with such a retailer in future.  Keep customers informed Let them know when you've received the returned item, and when the refund is being processed.  This will save customers from chasing this information through your customer services team, and they will appreciate the effort. 

Rakuten Ichiba is the largest e-commerce site in Japan and among the world's largest by sales. The compaby has recently acquired Buy.com in the US, Priceminister in France, as well as Play.com. According to Raukten CEO, Hiroshi Mikitani: While some may see e-commerce as a straightforward vending machine-like experience, we believe it is a living process where both retailers and consumers can communicate, discover, and curate to make the experience more entertaining. We see tremendous synergies between Pinterest’s vision and Rakuten’s model for e-commerce. Rakuten looks forward to introducing Pinterest to the Japanese market as well as other markets around the world. Although Pinterest is one of the hottest new social media players to emerge in recent years, and is, according to Experian, the third largest social network in the United States, some will naturally point to a $1bn valuation for Pinterest as further evidence that we're in the midst of a huge bubble. Yes, such a valuation would appear to be frothy, but if there's one hot startup that everyone agrees has the potential to develop a solid revenue model, it just might be Pinterest. Many of the images that Pinterest's users are pinterested in are products, and the company has built an audience with a very appealing demographic. For online retailers, that's apparently translating into more than just potential. According to a recent report, Pinterest revenue per first click beats Facebook and Twitter by 27% and 400%, respectively, making Pinterest a potential game-changer for social commerce. The big question for Pinterest is how well it can execute a monetization strategy. The company must take care in adding commercial aspects to the service, lest it upset users. And the social media darling will want to ensure that the backing doesn't limit its potential to work directly with all retailers. If it can do all this, the future would appear to be bright for Pinterest. Whether the company's possible trajectory justifies a $1bn-plus valuation is another matter altogether but for the Pinterest team, taking advantage of the current market conditions to obtain such a valuation is probably pretty cool.