87 percent of American use Internet: Pew

According to the Pew Research Center in 2014, 87 percent of American adults have used the Internet as of 2014, a dramatic increase since 1995, when only 14 percent of American adults used the Internet.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Technology, data analysis are key challenges for marketers: Study

As the marketing world shifts to a heavier technology focus, marketers are navigating the increasingly challenging task of finding those with technical skills and mathematical skills in order to both utilise technology to the fullest extent and fully analyze and optimize their programs. Doing both of those things will enable them to keep up with the challenges of marketing as it intersects big data analytics, according to the Adobe study.

That said, there are indications in the study that show marketers are starting to solve their analytics and technology shortfalls from 2012 to 2013. Twenty-nine percent of the respondents in 2012 said their marketing department does not have the technical skills to utilize their technology fully, while only 21 percent said so in 2013.

Meanwhile, 26 percent of the respondents in 2012 said they did not have the mathematical skills to analyze and optimize its marketing programs, while 21 percent said so in 2013.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

M-commerce, data analysis are key marketing skills: Study

Looking to the future, the global marketers surveyed are increasingly focused on how mobile users research and buy products, with 56 percent of the 2013 respondents saying these objectives are very important, and 30 percent saying they are quite important, according to the Adobe study.  Meanwhile, using online and offline data to optimize the customers’ experiences is very important to the respondents; mobile is clearly the priority for 2014 and beyond.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org 

Axel Springer Goes Anglophone to Seek Audiences outside Germany

Leading German publisher Axel Springer plans to become an Anglophone publisher to seek international audiences by offering coverage in formats outside German, Media Guardian reports.

Embarking on this new ground, the Axel Springer academy created an English-language reporting project titled, “Generation Separation” wherein young German journalists were offered with the task of reporting live from 15 different countries in English for 10 days, Newsroom.de reports.

Marc Thomas Spahl, director of Axel Springer Academy aims to run many more projects in English, like these at the academy. This move follows his recent visit to the Silicon Valley start-up OZY.com and seemed like an inspiration drawn from Carlos Watson, founder of OZY, the US leading arts and culture magazine launched in September 2013. Axel Springer further happens to be OZY’s largest investor.

“Our students from Berlin will in future write about music, trends, youth issues for OZY”, said Spahl. Watson “was excited about the idea. Therefore it is a win-win situation.”

As a part of the project, 18 reporters in five teams visited a total of 15 European countries and researched stories about the crisis topics of right-wing populism, economic crisis, and movement towards autonomy, extremism and ethnic conflicts. The stories reported, addressed one key question, “Is the younger generation dissociating itself from the idea of Europe, is there a "Generation Separation?,” according to a press release by Axel Springer.

The results of this multimedia project are now available at www.generation-separation.eu.

Asserting a firm belief that it is not required for German journalists to translate all their articles into English, Spahl said, “But if it makes sense, as it does now in our European project and there is an audience, then it is worthwhile. What you should always do, when dealing with a topic which has international relevance, is to also send out ‘teasers’ in English and to specifically share these via the social networks to potential multipliers, bloggers etc,” MediaGuardian quoted.

Axel Springer is not the only one seeking an international audience. According to recent reports, Handelsblatt, the Düsseldorf-based business title, has launched an English-language global edition to tap international markets.

By: Savita V Jayaram

Engagement is main goal for marketers: Adobe study

Both marketers and their clients most value engagement tactics in their marketing priorities, according to the “Digital Trends for 2013” study by Adobe and Econsultancy.

“Engagement equates to a strong brand tie, leading to a higher lifetime value, product loyalty and customer advocacy. But there is no standard definition or metric for engagement, nor do most organizations fully understand the migration from engagement to revenue,” the study stated.

Content marketing and conversion rate optimization were tied for the top digital marketing priorities for 2013, followed closely by social media engagement, according to the study.

Content marketing is on the ascendancy, as corroborated by multiple reports in 2013 and 2014, with 39 percent of the marketers from around the world saying it’s a top priority in 2013, compared to 29 percent saying so in 2012.

Conversion rate optimization also garnered 39 percent of the respondents’ favor in 2013, compared to 34 percent in 2012.

“More companies have come to realize that even small uplifts in conversion rates brought about by improvements in processes and technology can translate into significant financial gains,” according to the study. Social media engagement continues to be a key priority, with 38 percent of those surveyed saying so in 2013, compared to 39 percent in 2012.

Meanwhile, marketers also reckon that content marketing is also the most important marketing priority for its advertising clients, with 38 percent of the respondents saying so in 2013, compared to 21 percent in 2012. Content marketing was followed by mobile optimization  also with 38 percent of the respondents saying so in 2013, compared to 37 percent in 2012.

Social media engagement is far less important a priority for marketers’ clients, diminishing from 54 percent in 2012 to 37 percent in 2013.  Other priorities are taking precedence, including content marketing and a new category for 2013, targeting and personalization.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org 

Increased conversion rates top marketer priority in 2014: Study

Salesforce.com and exacttarget.com conducted its global 2014 State of Marketing study in 2013 with 2,500 survey respondents, and created a snapshot of marketers’ view of marketing return on investment and priorities for 2014.

The respondents’ priorities for 2014 are driving increased advertising conversion rates (47 percent); increasing and improving brand awareness (46 percent); and collecting, measuring and using behavior-based data (29 percent).

The conclusion of the study for marketers were:

• Focus on customer engagement by mapping your customer journey to understand where customers want to engage with your products.

• Develop a clear strategy based on your data about customers.

• Consider channel options, including mobile, social media, video, email and beyond.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Digital video advertising presents 10% of digital revenue: Pew

Video advertising represents a powerful advertising revenue source for publishers and broadcasters. Digital video advertising made up almost 10 percent of all digital advertising adspend in the United States, and is growing more rapidly than digital advertising as a whole, according to the “State of the News Media 2014” report from Pew.

Video ads typically fetch more per unit than any other type of digital advertising, and the number of units of video advertising is skyrocketing on both Internet and mobile platforms. Publishers such as Vice, the Huffington Post, The New York Times and others are making a growing portion of their revenues from video advertising.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Valuations are biggest obstacle to media company acquisitions: study

The biggest obstacle to acquiring new companies is by far the inflated valuations of worthy targets, illustrated by the $18 billion valuation of WhatsApp, recently purchased by Facebook. The respondents who said hefty valuations were barriers to acquisitions grew from 42 percent in 2013 to 47 percent in 2014, according to the Econsultancy study.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download a free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org