Top 6 Reasons Why Social Media is an Effective Channel for Brand Building

There is no doubt that technology is making life simpler and easier day by day. In this digital era, where everything is being digitized, social media is changing the way we communicate with each other. Social media is an effective platform not only for easy and seamless communication, but also for brand building for businesses. A Forrester Research shows that social media is the second top most channel which affects the brand building strategy.

A research carried out by Forrester Research shows that 23% online consumers visit social networking sites several times a day. Refer to the subsequent snapshot to understand the share of frequency of various activities carried out by users.

On an average, Americans spend 2.7 hours per day socializing on their mobile device. 91% of mobile internet access is to socialize. Users spend 49% of their mobile time to access social networking sites.



The top 6 reasons why social media is an effective platform for brand building are as follows:



1. Easy and Seamless Communication



Unlike traditional media, social media is digitally connected to the internet. Users do not have to worry about time because digital platforms can be accessed by the users real time unlike the traditional media i.e. Television. Social media is accessible from anywhere at any time and brands can share messages which can be consumed by users at the time they want to.



2. Massive Impression



The main benefits of using social media for brand building is spreading messages quickly over large groups of audiences and gaining higher impressions in a short span of time since messages spread from one network to another very quickly.



3. Global Reach



The beauty of social media is its global reach. Social media platforms are accessible from anywhere around the globe. Social media is the best platform for those who want to build a global brand. You can share your information with targeted people without wasting time.



4. Two Way Communication



The best part of social media is that it has a two way communication capability. Consumers can directly communicate with brands and vice versa in real-time. Two way communication is very important for brand building because once you know what your customers are interested in, you can make the right decision. Brands can leverage this power of social media for competitive advantage over other channels.



5. Sustainable and Future Oriented





Social media is a sustainable platform for brand building. We all know that the future will be digital, social and global. Everything is being digitized, from wearable things to home appliances. In this digital era, social media is playing a major role in making people more sociable. In this era of social media, Internet technologies create an opportunity for global businesses and have opened the door for global communication.



6. SEO Benefit

Nowadays, search engines start considering social signals as an organic ranking factor. The main objective of search engines is to provide the best answer for user queries and to achieve this objective, search engines start getting the data from the social media channels before providing a search result based on a user query. Now it is very important for every brand to have a strong social media presence.



The points mentioned above provide a strong reason to start using social media platforms for brand building. The next topic will revolve around leveraging social media in brand building.

Microsoft is also Making Giant Steps towards Internet of Things

 

Apple and Google have already moved towards IoT (Internet of Things) and now it looks like Microsoft is going to follow them in future. Since past 5 years or so, all these tech titans are in a kind of race and launching the products on the similar lines. Phones, Tablets, TV’s are just some of the examples of the above given statement. When Apple launched a HomeKit, is was pretty evident that these two companies will surely follow the same path.



Google is already trying to put android everywhere and now Microsoft has now joined AllSeen Alliance group in order to move forward with the Internet of Things. AllSeen alliance is an organization which is pushing for AllJoyn open standard for connecting devices. Some of the prominent members of this organization are- Haier, LG, Panasonic, Sears, Qualcomm etc. All these companies are supporting the protocol of open device communication and global compatibility. Microsoft is the newest member of this organization which is also supporting the same notion.



The simple fundamental of this company is to have an open and effortless communication between the devices of various companies and give a secure and limited technology products to people. It will actually be better to control the TV, Music system, room lights, locks etc. with just one simple remote control or phone. Life become more complicated when we have to use different command tool for different devices. Hence, simplifying the things is indeed something which we all love.



With Microsoft joining the league, it looks like they will be offering their cloud services to all these companies in order to make Internet of Things possible. Currently, some of the Windows 8 device support for staples platform and Microsoft is also selling Insteon gear in the stores. This could be a tiny step, but it speaks volumes about the future plan of Microsoft.



There is no denying that Internet of Things is the future where everything and anything will be connected to the internet and the smartphone will become vital part of our life. Lights, music system, home security, pet feeding, digital keys etc. are already connected with the Internet currently and people are welcoming this change with open arms. If the partnership of Microsoft and all these companies become successful than we soon will see many other things following the route of IoT.



Right now, it is really difficult to say how things will mold with Microsoft coming on board with AllSeen alliance but we hope for the best and wait for the home devices connected with IoT.



Omnie Solutions is an enterprise application development company providing custom web and enterprise mobile application development services to global business. Omnie Solutions has extensive experience and expertise in app development for smart gadgets like Google Glass. Follow Omnie Solutions on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

Why 2014 Will Be the Significant Year for Wearable Technology?

2014 will mark a significant growth for wearable technology. As per the industry predictors, the wearable technology will grow by 350% this year which is HUGE to say the least. Currently, wearable devices are a very small part of technology industry but this notion is all set to change.



Big players such as Samsung, Sony etc. have already launched their wearable devices in terms of smart watches. Apple is launching its smart watch in September 2014 which is likely to bring some new competition in the market. The shipment of apple smart watch is likely to break all records by 2014 end. The main focus of this watch will be health and fitness.



As per the records, 1.6 million fitness bands have been shipped in the second half of 2013. Over 200,000 smart bands have been shipped in the first half of the year. There is no doubt that the growth is tremendous. It is more than 700% in just mere span of 6 months. Hence, one can easily say that the future is golden for the wearable devices.



If the prediction are to be believed than over 8 million units of fitness bands will be shipped in 2014 and about 23 million will be shipped by 2015. The numbers does not only end here as per the Canalys- the shipment of fitness bands would reach the soaring number of 23 million by the end of 2017.

Currently only fitness companies are putting their focus on this technology but gradually media and healthcare professionals are also understanding its importance and giving due though to this technology. The accuracy which can be found through these wearable devices in medical field is something which is not imaginable. These bands are able to record every action which can lead to great accuracy in predicting the patient health.



Wearable technology is a next huge thing because it’s not slowing down. It is spreading its wing and now the companies are also experimenting with the clothes in order to give an edge to their product. Couple of companies have launched the smart clothing line in order to record and maintain the first hand user breathing experience as well as they are working towards providing more accuracy.



This technology is also giving new expansions to the developers, vendors, manufactures. Now they also have to come with an ideas/application which are well synced as well as workable with the wearable devices.
If all the above data is to be believed, we will see some tremendous growth in the wearable technology. Although some cool and useful applications are always welcomed in the tech industry!!



Omnie Solutions is an enterprise application development company providing custom web and enterprise mobile application development services to global business. Omnie Solutions has extensive experience and expertise in app development for smart gadgets like Google Glass. Follow Omnie Solutions on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Why the Retail Shopping Stores are vanishing?

The world is changing fast so does the trends which we use to follow. Earlier there were mails-now there are e-mails, earlier we use to give money cheques-now we do online transfers, earlier people use to phone each other-now they do Skype chatting etc. Trends are really changing and the people who are not keeping the pace with these trends are lacking behind.



Even the shopping trends are changing. People are no longer wandering store-to-store and checking out the clothes/shoes. Buyers are becoming smart buyers and they are purchasing things on-line which is becoming a huge trouble for the retail store owners and beneficial for the e-commerce industry.



The property prices are going really high so does the running cost of the store. All these factors are influencing the cost of merchandise which are getting sold in the store. The e-retailers have an upper hand here because they do not have such operational costs and hence, they are able to give very lucrative offers to their online buyers.



Buyers are also getting benefited from the emerging e-commerce store and they are making all their purchases on-line. Some of the companies are also offering the free pick-up which gives the freedom of size trial to the consumers.



Lately, buyers are becoming smart and they are trying the merchandise in the physical store before buying it on-line. It solves their problem and they also get the huge discounts on their favorite, selected clothes. The buyers do their research online and in a recent survey, 79% of the people have said that they trust online comments more than sales persons and hence, they read the reviews of other people before they actually buys the product. These online shopping portals also have some of the coolest apps which facilitate the buyer to purchase things from anywhere and at any time. This feature is unbeatable for the retail stores who have certain opening and closing time and are available on limited locations only.



More and more companies are opening their e-commerce website in order to grab hold of the e-shoppers but again the problem remain same for the store owners. They really don’t know how to deal with the window shoppers and how to compete with the online stores.



It is important to say that social media is also a huge factor which is driving e-commerce sale because people ask their friends about the reviews of the product they are buying online and also check the comments about the company on their social profiles. Even the advertising is very cheaper on social media if compared to the newspaper/TV/Radio.

While considering all the above said points one can certainly see why these retail shopping stores are vanishing and why e-commerce portals will disappear soon. However, the retail stores have their own benefits and it’s about time that they must cash on those points before it becomes difficult for them to keep their head above the water.

3D & Augmented Reality is Influential the Future of Online Shopping

 

Technology is effective each and every vertical of our life. There is nothing in our day-to-day world which has not being influenced by technology. From the way we study (e-books), to the way we communicate with each other (Facebook, WhatsApp etc.) everything has been changed in last decade or so.



Life is becoming easier for us day-by-day and technology is churning out all the difficult task out of our life and giving us only the easiest things to do. We no longer have to struggle for regular things because now technology is there to simplify the operations.



Even the way we do shopping is going through a radical change. From market to mall, from malls to e-commerce and now from e-commerce to augmented reality based stores. We are doing a very smooth transactions with technology. Retailers are incorporating augmented reality in their online shopping portals to give more comfort to its consumers.



The augmented reality based shopping portals also make sure that the consumers are also at ease. They get the following features from the augmented reality based online showrooms-

• Virtual make-up mirrors


• Virtual try rooms


• Expert advice and comments


• Social media tabs


• Easy and amazing offers

Augmented reality is giving the real life feeling to the consumers where they can feel and see the products. The user can upload the photo of them and see how a particular piece of clothing will look on them. They can mention their size and computer will take out the merchandise of their size.



The experts are always available on-line to help you in making the combination of clothes. They will also suggest you the accessories and make-up to go with it. All these things are missing from the actual physical stores.
More so, with these AR based apps, the user can share the virtual picture of themselves wearing that particular dress on the social media and see what their friends has to say before making the purchase etc. These things cannot be offered by the physical stores.

One of the best feature of these AR online shopping portals is virtual make-up room where one can see the effect of a particular make-up on their face. This feature is really amazing if something is hoping to buy a lip or a nail color because they will be able to see the whole effect of the color on their nails/lips.



Online shopping is slowly becoming the raze for the young generation because of the discount it is offering in comparison to the physical store and the addition of AR is just like a cheery on top for the consumers.



At last, we can just say that soon e-commerce industry will be influenced by the AR and people will be able to get the same experience which they get in the store on these shopping portals. Enjoy shopping shoppers!!



Omnie Solutions is an enterprise application development company providing custom web and enterprise mobile application development services to global business. Omnie Solutions has implemented augmented reality based digital solution, 3D Digital Sand Model, for planning mission critical activities and monitoring the country borders on a 3 Dimensional Digital platform. Follow Omnie Solutions on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.