Twitter to Launch Subscription Service Super Follows, Aims to Double Revenue by 2023

Social-media company detailed its goals at an event for analysts, its first in several years

By Sarah E. Needleman
Updated Feb. 25, 2021 3:32 pm ET

Twitter Inc. TWTR +3.87% plans to introduce a subscription service for content creators and said it would explore tipping, as it looks to double its annual revenue and accelerate user growth over the next few years.

The social-media company on Thursday said the subscription initiative, called Super Follows, will give people an opportunity to receive payments for their content. Twitter expects it to appeal to so-called influencers with large internet followings and plans to launch it this year.

Twitter executives didn’t say when it would roll out tipping or share details on how it will work. The company also didn’t disclose how much of a percentage it would take from sales for that feature or Super Follows.

Dantley Davis, Twitter’s head of design and research, said that “an audience-funded model where subscribers can directly fund the content that they value most is a durable incentive model that aligns interests of creators and consumers.”

Read more.

The Evolving Digital Landscape

 

 

Image courtesy of Leanport Software Pvt Ltd

The Evolving Digital Landscape – 2016
by Steven Copertino

The Digital Landscape continues to evolve in both ways we could have predicted and ways we could never have imagined just several years ago. Below is a listing of things that strike me as particularly relevant and interesting. What are your thoughts?

Snapchat Dominates At SXSW In 2016

• Snapchat did not have a presence at SXSW, nor did they do any advertising there
• Snapchat generated 192 million impressions on Twitter from SXSW – more than any other brand (3/6 – 3/16)
• It’s a messaging app created in 2009 by Students at Stanford University. By early 2016, users were sending      7 billion photos and videos PER DAY – more than tripling between June and Nov of 2015 alone. (FB 8 bill/day)
• The messages self-destruct after 10 seconds – images, videos or text. You can create a story that lasts for 24 hours
• Bought by Facebook for $20 billion in 2014 – Snahchat has over 100 million active users per day
• Brands creating unique content for Snapchat – NatGeo, CNN, MTV, Buzz Feed, Comedy Central, WSJ, Food Network, ESPN, People, Cosmo, Mashable and many others…

“Desktop” Matters Less and Less

• No secret that desktop users have been flocking to mobile in droves
• But only this year did mobile traffic finally overtake desktop traffic
• Growth hasn’t slowed. In fact, some companies are preparing for desktop to stop mattering altogether
• That means it’s more important than ever to have a mobile component to your digital strategy

Video Is Becoming The New Normal

• For a while, written content dominated the digital landscape, but videos are taking over – 20% of digital budget in 2016 vs 17.7% in 2015 (display, search and social higher but video is pulling $ from them)
• Thanks to wider availability of lightning-fast internet (and smaller screens that favor video over text), video content is becoming preferred and more popular among publishers
• Social platforms like Facebook and Twitter are auto-playing videos in news feeds and rewarding video contributors
• Google is considering allowing video ads in its SERPs
• If you don’t already have a video content strategy, it’s time to get one. (don’t forget imagery, data visualizations, illustrations as well)

Omni-channel Is More Important Than Ever

• Studies show that 90% or more of consumers’ interactions with a brand employ more than one device/channel
• For example, a customer might search for a business/product/service with a smartphone and then continue using a laptop or by calling or visiting in person
• It’s very important for marketers to work collaboratively to study ALL channel interactions and customer behaviors and to adjust accordingly – data is key

The Humanization Of Digital

• Social media started this trend years ago by showing brands they no longer control the conversation nor the definition of their brand
• There is a movement towards more “human communication” – content with warmth and humor instead of corporate buzzwords, and making communication more authentic through humor, visuals and storytelling.
• It’s the humanization of digital to make brands feel more real and differentiated
• UGC is a great way to help warm up your digital presence – customer blog posts, customer ratings & reviews, etc. – search engines love UGC!  

 Digital Marketing Needs To Be Even More Data Driven

• This is nothing new, but it is. The expectation is for real-time changes based on data and for a personalized experience
• Digital marketing is both an art and a science
• Successful marketing comes from collecting, analyzing and using data about when and where customers spend their time
• In short, data is behavior. Learning from this behavior drives creative messaging and strategic campaigns
• Tracking behavior and tapping into the emotional connection through messaging, ads, social, and design makes all the difference in the digital space
• Content personalization is a consumer expectation

Social Engagement Is Key

• There’s a lot to be learned from your audience online
• You’ll get honest feedback on campaigns and messaging, for one
• Incorporating your fans’ interpretation and opinion of your brand can get you both fresh content and loyal fans
• Create incentive for fans to write, tweet, take photos, share videos, etc
• Reward them for their participation and loyalty by giving them the spotlight in your campaign.
• Think holistic strategy, rather than specific tactics. Each social channel, blog post, email, weblink must have a purpose and drive towards something
• Never post simply to post
• Without engagement or traffic, those posts are a waste of time and money

Social Is Starting To Mean Much More Than “Social”

• Social media apps change a little more every year, but for the most part, those changes have been made to introduce new kinds of social interactions or simplify old ones
• Now, social apps are moving in non-social directions; for example, Pinterest is leading a new trend of social/e-commerce hybrid apps, which offer social functionality combined with purchasable items, and Facebook is developing its own digital assistant

Feel free to share your thoughts.

2015 Predictions for CMOs and Digital Marketing

Gil Press Contributor

In 2015, digital marketing budgets will increase by 8%, according to a recent Gartner’s CMO Spend Report, a survey of 315 marketing decision makers representing organizations with more than $500 million in annual revenue.

Customer experience is the top innovation project for 2015, continuing its role as the top priority for marketing investment in 2014. The survey also found that

• In 79% of companies, marketing has a budget for capital expenditures — primarily, for infrastructure and software
• Marketers are managing a P&L and generating revenue from digital advertising, digital commerce and sale of data
• 68% of organizations have a separate digital marketing budget — it averages a quarter of the total marketing budget
• Two-thirds of companies are funding digital marketing via reinvestment of existing marketing budgets

Earlier this year, IBM found in its worldwide survey of CMOs that CEOs increasingly call on them for strategic input. Furthermore, the CMO now comes second only to the CFO in terms of the influence he or she exerts on the CEO. The survey also found, however, that very few CMOs have made much progress in building a robust digital marketing capability: Only 20%, for example, have set up social networks for the purpose of engaging with customers, and the percentage of CMOs who have integrated their company’s interactions with customers across different channels, installed analytical programs to mine customer data and created digitally enabled supply chains to respond rapidly to changes in customer demand is even smaller. Almost all CMOs, 82% of survey respondents, felt underprepared to deal with the explosion of data.

With this as a background, here’s a summary of what digital marketing and the CMO will look like in 2015, based on observations by Scott Brinker, a leading commentator on marketing technology, Forrester, TopRank online marketing blog, Wheelhouse Advisors, and Brian Solis.

CMOs will take charge of focusing their companies on the customer

CMOs and their marketing teams will become the primary driver behind customer-centric company growth. Leveraging their knowledge of the customer and the competitive landscape, CMOs will advise and council CEOs on how to win, serve, and retain customers to grow the business. They will also lead organizational changes and new collaboration initiatives aimed at unifying all customer engagement activities across the enterprise.

CMOs will poach IT staff to help them manage a rapidly expanding digital marketing landscape

The number of digital marketing tools will grow in 2015 with new startups and large, established tech companies confusing even more that CMO with their numerous offerings. To help manage this embarrassment of riches and move their companies further on their digital marketing journey, CMOs will be poaching IT staff looking for new challenges and better salaries.

CMOs should expect heavy rains from proliferating digital marketing clouds

Digital marketing tools will be increasingly offered as a cloud-based solution (“marketing-as-a-service”) rather than licensed software. Cloud-based solutions will continue to expand their ecosystems, with many small software developers adding apps to existing cloud-based digital marketing platforms.

CMOs will invest in new digital marketing hot areas

Content marketing and predictive analytics will continue to be hot areas of interest and investment for CMOs, but they will be joined in 2015 by sales enablement, post-sale customer marketing, marketing finance, marketing talent management, and new tools based on the Internet of Things, allowing for the integration of offline and online experiences.

CMOs will become brand publishers

CMOs in 2015 will act as heads of a publishing house, overseeing the entire spectrum of brand engagement, increasing the quality of their output, and improving the perceived value of digital interactions with customers and prospects.

Read The Complete Article & Related News on Forbes.com

PlayStation Vue Is Cloud-Based TV Service For PS3, PS4; No Cable Required

Image credit: Polygon

New service will let you watch live TV and on-demand content without a cable or satellite subscription.

by Eddie Makuch on November 13, 2014

PlayStation maker Sony has announced an all new, cloud-based TV service called PlayStation Vue. The platform, which lets you access live TV and on-demand content without a cable or satellite subscription, is coming to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. A beta will begin later this month.

Sony isn’t holding back in boasting about Vue, saying the service “reinvents” the traditional TV experience. The announcement came with a statement from Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House, who laid out his vision for Vue.

“Everyday TV is about to become extraordinary with our new cloud-based TV service, PlayStationVue,” House said. “Today’s announcement builds on the historic success of PlayStation 4 and demonstrates what our company is capable of when we embrace disruption and stay true to gamers.”

Vue has a “powerful” user interface, Sony says, which delivers “unprecedented personalization and simplicity.” The service also features recommendation algorithms, which will clue you in on movies and shows based on your previous viewing habits and trending content. You can also use Vue’s “Explore” function to view the entire catalog of on-demand content, filtered by program, genre, ratings, and popularity, among other things.

Sony adds that Vue will help you catch up on live TV programming you might have missed, as the service will make available the past three days of popular shows without requiring you to schedule recordings. You can also save shows to the cloud, where they will stay for a period of 28 times.

As part of the initial invite-only beta (there’s no indication yet as to how you can get in), Vue will offer around 75 channels per market. Such a service will likely live or die based on its network partners, and Vue has many of the big names, including GameSpot parent company CBS and others.

Vue’s current network partners, with descriptions courtesy of Sony, are listed below–more will be announced later.

• CBS: At launch, PlayStation Vue will offer the live linear signal from CBS Television Network’s owned-and-operated TV stations in select leading markets in addition to on-demand prime-time programming.
• Discovery Communications: Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Science, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, Discovery Family Channel, and 11 more brands.
• Fox: Fox Networks Group’s portfolio of national entertainment programming services, including–FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic Channel, and Nat Geo WILD. Additionally FOX Sports’ national and regional programming services–FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, BTN, Fox’s regional sports networks, including YES Network and Prime Ticket. The agreement also covers Fox’s owned and operated television stations.
• NBCUniversal: All local offerings from NBC, Telemundo and regional sports networks as well as Bravo, CNBC, E!, NBCSN, Oxygen, Sprout, Syfy, USA Network, and more.
• Scripps Networks Interactive: HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network, and Cooking Channel.
• Viacom: BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, PALLADIA, Spike, VH1 and more.

Pricing for Vue was not announced today, though Sony says Vue will “change the rules” for how people pay for subscription TV. The company promises “fair and competitive” pricing that’s transparent and doesn’t have hidden fees or charges. Vue subscriptions will be offered on a month-to-month basis, so you won’t be locked in for an extended period of time. It also doesn’t require any equipment or installation charges, since all you need is Internet access and a PS3 or PS4.

The Vue beta will begin in November for select PS3 and PS4 owners. A wider rollout is planned for later, starting in New York and followed by Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. Vue will later be available for iPad, as well as more Sony and non-Sony devices.

“In my opinion, we will continue to see the number of Over The Top (OTT) video options continue to grow. This is a wonderful thing for consumers, but it threatens one of the core revenue streams of companies like Time Warner Cable, Comcast (recently bought Time Warner Cable) Verizon FIOS, AT&T, DISH, DirecTV and other “traditional”  video service providers. By the time most Millennials reach their 30s and 40s, the way video is consumed will have changed completely, and so will the revenue models.”
– Steve Copertino, Former Cable Industry Executive

View full article on GameSpot

The Internet of Things Is the Hackers’ New Playground

July 29, 2014, 5:49 AM PDT By Arik Hesseldahl

Excited about the promise of the shiny new Internet of Things? Good. Because hackers are too. Or at least they should be, according to a study by computing giant Hewlett-Packard.

The company’s Fortinet network security unit conducted an analysis of the 10 most popular consumer Internet things on the market and found 250 different security vulnerabilities per product for an average of 25 each. Unfortunately HP doesn’t identify each product but does describe them in broad brush-strokes: They were from the manufacturers of “TVs, webcams, home thermostats, remote power outlets, sprinkler controllers, hubs for controlling multiple devices, door locks, home alarms, scales and garage door openers.”

As a basic rule, these devices often run stripped down versions of the Linux operating system, and so will have many of the same basic security concerns that you might expect to be in place on a server or other computer running Linux. The problem is, the people building them aren’t going to the effort to secure them the way they would a more traditional computer.

What’s happening says Mike Armistead, VP and general manager of HP’s Fortify unit, is that manufacturers are rushing to get their products on the market without doing the harder work of locking their devices down against the most basic kinds of attacks.

Magnifying the potential for the problem is the fact that once one device is compromised, overlapping vulnerabilities can lead an attack from one to the other. If that seems like alarmist paranoia, remember that one of the most damaging hacking attacks in history, the Target breach, in which information on more than 70 million people was compromised, was carried out by way of an attack on a system used to manage and maintain the heating and ventilation system in the company’s stores.

Read the full article on RE/CODE

Woman drops cell phone in toilet, two die in rescue attempt

In China, a woman’s husband and her mother-in-law are overcome by the stench of a cesspit, all because a brand-new phone was feared lost.

by Chris Matyszczyk  @ChrisMatyszczyk  June 8, 2014 4:00 PM PDT

“It’s only a phone,” is an argument that is constantly lost on those who fear they’ve lost their phones.

In the latest tragic incident, a woman in Xinxiang city, Henan, China dropped her phone when she went to an open-pit toilet.

It fell into a cesspit.

The phone was brand new. As the South China Morning Post reports, it cost 2,000 yuan (around $320).

First her husband jumped in. He was overcome by the fumes. His mother also jumped in. When she encountered breathing difficulties, the woman’s whose phone it was jumped in too.

The waste was reportedly only knee-deep. However, despite rescue attempts by neighbors, both the woman’s husband and his mother died.

The tragedy unfolded in five minutes.

Read the full article on CNET.com

B2B Approach To Social Media

B2B Approach To Social Media (click here)

 

Vysk QS1 Case Encrypts Phone Calls Against Hackers, Spies

April 24, 2014, 4:04 AM PDT By Bonnie Cha

Smartphones, just like computers, are vulnerable to hackers, who target mobile devices with malicious software to access your personal information. There are security apps that can help prevent this, but one San Antonio-based startup thinks it has a better solution.

Today, Vysk Communications introduced the QS1, a protective smartphone case that the company claims makes it virtually impossible for others to eavesdrop on and capture phone conversations and also encrypts text messages and photos. It does so by incorporating a proprietary encryption processor and its own microphone into the case. The Vysk QS1 also has two mechanical camera shutters for blocking your phone’s front and back camera.

With the case on, you can activate one of two privacy modes: Private Call Mode and Lockdown Mode.

Private Call Mode requires a $9.95 monthly subscription but gets you the full gamut of security features. With the accompanying Vysk QS app (available for Android and iOS), you can make private VoIP calls to other subscribers over Vysk’s encrypted network. The company says no one will be able to listen in on your call, and no data, such as caller ID, phone numbers and call times, is recorded.

The Vysk QS1 will also generate an untraceable number when making calls to non-Vysk users, and if someone does try to hack into your phone call, they’ll be met with a piercing buzzing sound. Other features of the subscription service include encrypted private messaging, voicemail and pictures, remote wipe and password protection, among other things.

Meanwhile, Lockdown Mode jams your phone’s microphones and blocks the cameras. A subscription is not required to use these features.

But why choose a clunky and expensive ($229) case over one of the free or cheap security and privacy apps?

Vysk believes its hardware approach is stronger because software-based solutions are still vulnerable to malware and hackers. The company also considers the QS1 to be a better alternative to the upcoming Blackphone, since it allows people to keep the phone that they like and use every day.

The Vysk QS1 is compatible with the iPhone 5 and 5S and the Samsung Galaxy S4 and S5. Preorders begin on May 15, and the case is expected to ship in early Q4.

Read the full blog post on re/code