Mediaboss Marketing

Social business analytics is rising in value among firms, according to a new research report by Frost and Sullivan featured in Information Management. As more midsize firms adopt social business plans to increase productivity, IT professionals may decide to implement more strategies that include analytics tools to enable better business decisions.

Improving Business Decisions

According to Frost and Sullivan, "Companies recognize the value of social media as a marketing and brand management tool, as well as a customer service and support channel." The business use of social media is beginning to encompass more than social platform traffic measurements; as a result, analytics is being considered with increasing frequency. Companies want timely insights into how customers browse and use a firm's products and services. Firms are integrating social business analytics with speech, text and Web analytics to review all the ways in which clients interact with their business. As a result, firms can uncover elusive data, gain a broader view of consumer behavior and make better decisions about the business.

The report also found that social media analytics is being used by firms to improve marketing, customer services and network security, citing by way of example that banking and insurance companies use social media to watch for reports of fraud and hacking. However, the research additionally found that, because the value of social analytics is generally unknown, social media budgets are still not a significant priority among companies.

Midsize Insights

Midsize firms that endeavor to reach clients and partners in new and innovative ways already focus on social business. Companies that go a step further and implement analytics tools can take their business to a new competitive level. These firms understand that the future is social and that gaining new insights from social analytics enables management to make better business decisions. From the data collected, a smaller firm can create actionable plans to reach business goals of improving such areas as client services, marketing and sales. Even so, with limited time, money and resources, IT professionals at smaller firms may not know which offerings are the best choice for their growing needs.

IT vendors that specialize in social business can recommend the right analytics tools to help companies gather the insights they need from a variety of online sources. Firms can also predict customer behavior and identify influencers within a social network channel. IT consultants can offer IT professionals at midsize firms a cost-effective way to integrate valuable social insights into analytics platforms and business processes that suit smaller businesses.

A New Priority

Social business is not showing signs of slowing down and has proven to be an important interactive tool for businesses of all sizes. Midsize firms that prioritize integration of analytics and social will gain a quick competitive edge as they gain valuable insights across marketing, customer service and product development.

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

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Social Media Analytics and Midsize Firms

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) January 08, 2014

Ensemble announced today that Freebie has become the first portfolio company of Ensembles recently launched digital services suite and startup excubator model. Freebie is a next-generation social influencer marketing platform that allows companies to get a tractable ROI by offering free products and experiences to socially influential consumers.

Launched in August 2013, Ensemble's business model is designed to materially increase an entrepreneur's stand-alone odds of success. Powered by a team of digital experts, Ensemble's excubator model aggregates the required skillsets needed for the rapid growth of digitally-focused, early-stage technology companies. Ensembles digital lab-in-a-box services include capital raising, business consulting, technology development and marketing services from Chicago's best-in-class service providers.

Freebie is everything we were looking for in supporting a game-changing startup, including a large market opportunity powered by a great management team, said George Deeb, managing partner of Red Rocket Ventures, a founding member of Ensemble. We have been impressed with Freebies traction and success in driving a social marketing ROI for big-name clients to date. Supported by Ensemble, Freebie will revolutionize the way consumer brands market through social media, via peer-to-peer endorsements instead of paid advertisements.

Freebie rewards socially influential consumers with free products or exclusive experiences in exchange for sending one automated post with their social networks. Consumers are personally rewarded for the value of their social influence, and the engagement potential of their social followers for the offering brands. The higher a users social influence score on Freebie, the higher the value of free products and exclusive experiences he or she will qualify for.

Ben Rosenfield, founder and CEO of Freebie, said, We came to Ensemble because we wanted to work closely with a core group of digital experts who understood how to quickly and affordably scale a startup. I am confident that Ensembles all-star team will help us to accelerate our efforts in a coordinated way from proven industry playbooks.

The Freebie app is currently available for iOS on iTunes, with a web and Android version due out this quarter. For more information on Ensemble services, visit http://www.EnsembleHQ.com.

About Ensemble Founded in 2013, Ensemble is a cooperative cross-marketing alliance of award-winning digital service providers in Chicago, each with specific and unique expertise. The current members include Red Rocket Ventures (business consulting & capital raising), Ora Interactive (technology development & design), Loud Interactive (search engine optimization), SocialKaty (social media marketing) and Walker Sands Communications (public relations). This alliance structure better serves clients, as compared to generalist agencies, allowing member companies to stay deeply focused in their respective skill sets. At the same time, this model offers clients materially higher odds for success, given the deep domain expertise and 20-40 percent cash discounts available to clients that engage the collective services of Ensemble members. Ensembles digital services suite is a next-generation alternative for entrepreneurs looking for do-it-for-me solutions from a team of digital experts.

About Freebie Freebie is a next-generation social influencer marketing platform that allows companies to offer exclusive access and free products/remarkable experiences to socially-influential consumers who serve as brand ambassadors to their social followers on social networks. Freebie leverages peer-to-peer endorsement to bring companies increased awareness/traffic/sales, valuable analytics at the social influencer level and a clearly measurable ROI on the companys social marketing spend all by letting the product sell itself through organic word-of-mouth marketing via social influencer communications. With Freebie, users are personally rewarded for the value of their social influence. To learn what free products and amazing experiences may be waiting for you, check out http://www.freebieapp.com or download the free iOS application.

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Freebie Chooses Ensemble’s “Startup Excubator” to Accelerate Growth

(PRWEB) January 07, 2014

Custom Loyalty Marketing is launching its services into the business sector. The company is celebrating by providing new and established businesses with a free app design. The business must be new to working with Custom Loyalty Marketing to receive the offer. The offer is valid until February 15th of 2014. To take advantage of this offer, business owners simply need to call 773-802-9977.

Custom Loyalty Marketing helps put companies of all industries on the social media map. From email marketing and app development to web development and social media marketing, Custom Loyalty Marketing handles it all. Were results driven but customer service is our number one priority, said Phil Tomich, CEO. There are a lot of marketing companies available. However, our designers are better and we streamline projects so clients see progress and results. Im so confident in our app designs that Im willing to give business owners a free app design!

Members of the media are being invited to speak with Phil Tomich of Custom Loyalty Marketing to discuss current social media and app development trends. Were also going to be hosting a series of webinars, perfect for entrepreneurs seeking social media help but want more information first, finished Tomich.

Custom Loyalty Marketing utilizes all the required staples to develop and design amazing apps for varied industries. All their restaurant apps include Open Table and QR notifications. Additionally, their custom designs for realtors include crystal-clear photo galleries for each property. We do amazing things with our apps. The entire point is to make the buying process easier for the customer so the company may benefit financially and grow sales.

Custom Loyalty Marketing was developed by Phil Tomich in 2013 after he saw a need for strong customer service within the tech development and design industry. Mixing innovative design and coding work with an experienced team that appreciates exceeding customer expectations was important to him. Custom Loyalty Marketings clients already include Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Florida, CPR (Cell Phone Repair), Yakitori Sake House, and more! http://customloyaltymarketing.com/

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Custom Loyalty Marketing Offering Complimentary App Development to Business Owners

TF2 [Live Commentary] - Censorship 🙁

By: Happy 😀

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TF2 [Live Commentary] - Censorship 🙁 - Video

Back in 1983, approximately 50 corporationscontrolled the vast majority of all news media in the United States. Today, ownership of the news media has been concentrated in the hands of just sixincredibly powerful media corporations. Thesecorporate behemothscontrol most of whatwe watch, hear and read every single day. They own television networks, cable channels, movie studios, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, music labels and even many of our favorite websites.Sadly, most Americans don't even stop to think about who is feeding them the endless hours of news and entertainment that they constantly ingest. Most Americans don't really seem to care about who owns the media. But they should. The truth is that each of us is deeply influenced by the messages that are constantly being pounded into our heads by the mainstream media. The average American watches 153 hours of television a month. In fact, most Americans begin to feel physically uncomfortable if they go too long without watching or listening to something. Sadly, most Americans have become absolutely addicted to news and entertainment andthe ownership ofall that news and entertainment that we crave is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands each year.

The six corporations thatcollectively controlU.S. media today are Time Warner, Walt Disney, Viacom, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., CBS Corporation and NBC Universal. Together, the "big six"absolutely dominate news and entertainment in the United States. But even those areas of the mediathat the "big six" do not completely controlare becoming increasingly concentrated.For example, Clear Channel now owns over 1000 radio stations across the United States. Companies like Google, Yahooand Microsoft are increasingly dominating the Internet.

But it is the "big six" that are the biggest concerns. When you control what Americans watch, hear and read you gain a great deal of control over what they think. They don't call it "programming" for nothing.

Back in 1983 it was bad enough that about 50 corporations dominated U.S. media. But since that time, power over the media has rapidly become concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer people....

In 1983, fifty corporations dominated most of every mass medium and the biggest media merger in history was a $340 million deal. [I]n 1987, the fifty companies had shrunk to twenty-nine. [I]n 1990, the twenty-nine had shrunk to twenty three. [I]n 1997, the biggest firms numbered ten and involved the $19 billion Disney-ABC deal, at the time the biggest media merger ever. [In 2000] AOL Time Warners $350 billion merged corporation [was] more than 1,000 times larger [than the biggest deal of 1983].

--Ben H. Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly, Sixth Edition, (Beacon Press, 2000), pp. xxxxi

Today, six colossal media giants tower over all the rest. Much of the information in the chart below comes from mediaowners.com. The chart below reveals only a small fraction of the media outlets that these six behemoths actually own....

Time Warner

Home Box Office (HBO) Time Inc. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. CW Network (partial ownership) TMZ New Line Cinema Time Warner Cable Cinemax Cartoon Network TBS TNT America Online MapQuest Moviefone Castle Rock Sports Illustrated Fortune Marie Claire People Magazine

Walt Disney

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Who Owns The Media? The 6 Monolithic Corporations That Control ...