Big Data and Omnichannel Retail Analytics

Big data analytics are revolutionizing the shopping experience and the way retail organizations engage their customers. With the array of shopping channels available to the modern consumer - including in-store, online, mobile and membership platforms – retail organizations generate and have access to a wealth of underutilized data. By leveraging open source big data technologies, retailers can turn this data into actionable insights on buying behavior and customer 360 view.

The legacy relational database – long the enterprise workhorse for storing and processing data – is being challenged by an explosion of data generated by internet, mobile and cloud applications. Not only is more data being generated, it is being generated by more sources - social, geo, sensor, machine, network (The Internet of Things), to name a few.

Open source big data tools such as Hadoop and NoSQL enable businesses to become more agile and create value from their data by being able to process, store and analyze large volumes of data from disparate sources. Legacy systems were not designed to handle fast-growing volumes of structured, unstructured and semi-structured data in a cost effective manner. With its parallel processing and cost effective scalability, Hadoop provides businesses with greater flexibility on how they can use data.

The journey to becoming an agile business leveraging big data analytics for greater customer insights is filled with many challenges. Ankur Gupta, Sr. Director of Big Data at Sears Holdings Corporation, shares insights into overcoming these challenges at All Payments Expo Europe this May. In addition to sharing lessons learned, Ankur will discuss several key big data analytics use cases that are essential for a successful omnichannel retail strategy.

Smart Network Analytics for In-Store Customer Insights
Hadoop can be used to store, extract and transform data from network devices (IoT) for use by various business users to generate value for the organization. The ability to perform analytics and continuous reporting on this network data in-house is a big cost saver and delivers added business intelligence capabilities, such gaining insight into customer mobile device usage within guest networks.

Fraud Detection for Loyalty Rewards Program
Using big data tools, organizations can develop an intelligent system that learns from customer online behavior to determine if the customer could be a fraudulent user. By applying machine learning techniques on sets of historical data that have already been defined as legitimate or fraudulent, the system “learns” as the user generates new data. Using parameters of fraudulent use, the system determines if the data is legitimate or if the user is tampering with the data to “game the system” to earn points.

Sentiment Analysis using Social Media Data
Using Hadoop, marketers can gain insight to the perception of their products and brands, such as hashtags used, number of mentions, time of day people are mentioning, tone or any other statistic the business user is looking to discover. Furthermore, marketers can gain unparalleled insight into sentiment about the quality and services of their products; whether those sentiments are positive, negative or neutral. Social media analytics allows business users to see the detail of the overall view of what is being discussed about their product or brand, or those of their competitors.

While there are proprietary tools in the market that give businesses similar analytics capabilities, these tools typically carry a hefty price tag and lack the scalability and flexibility of open source tools. Data is growing and changing faster than ever. By leveraging open source platforms, businesses can build analytics solutions that can easily scale with their data, are flexible to meet new business requirements and avoid vendor lock-in to reduce long term costs.

Ankur Gupta

About the Speaker
As a Senior Director of Big Data at Sears Holdings Corporation and GM of MetaScale, a subsidiary of Sears, Ankur spearheads a team that has expertise in building, deploying and managing enterprise-scale big data platforms for a variety of customer analytics initiatives. An Engineer from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee and MBA from Duke University, Ankur uses his knowledge and skills to manage big data projects for organizations focused on seamlessly connecting digital and physical customer experiences.


Your customers expect a modern shopping experience…are you equipped with the tools and technology needed to provide one? Join Ankur Gupta for his Big Data and Omnichannel Retail Analytics Keynote Address at All Payments Expo Europe. Be sure to register by Friday 17 April to save €200! Just use the code XU2940BLOG.

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Behold: Frictionless, Conversational Commerce!

By Marc Dresner, IIR

If you’re not already familiar with Chirpify, you’re not alone. But don’t be surprised if the name becomes as common to social media vernacular as the network that inspired it.

Many people first heard about the start-up last summer after an 80-year-old artist’s attempt to “restore” a 100-year-old fresco of Jesus Christ in Spain went disastrously, almost comically wrong and the results went viral.

On the heels of the “Ecce Homo” fiasco (as the botched project has come to be known), an artist/musician plastered the messianic mess on a T-shirt and sold hundreds of them. Directly. To her followers. On Twitter. In a matter of hours. Through Chirpify.

Ironically, to that point, nary a peep had been uttered about the fledgling company, which raised $1.3 million in a Series A round back in April.

But the significance of several thousand dollars in T-shirt sales didn’t escape the attention of The Wall Street Journal and other business press this time for good reason: The incident officially ushered in the age of frictionless, conversational commerce.

Chirpify Senior Account Manager Heath Black claims that social media heretofore haven’t been successfully deployed in the payments industry due largely to “friction”—too many steps on the current path to purchase between a social network and checkout.

Social media haven’t been successfully deployed in the payments industry due largely to “friction”—too many steps on the path to purchase between a social network and checkout


Heath Black

If you’re starting from a social media platform, he explained, to buy something from a merchant online you must link from the social network to a website, locate the advertised item, log in or sign up and jump through whatever other hoops may be required to make the purchase.

“Friction is burdensome and causes tension,” said Black, “so there’s a high probability that the customer will abandon their quest along the way.”

Worse yet, friction effectively negates the contextual value of a social media interaction.

“The seller starts out talking to an engaged audience, but then has had to pull them off the social medium—out of and away from the conversation—in order to complete the transaction,” said Black. “You lose the social aspect of the sale.”

Chirpify, by contrast, enables merchants and customers to transact financially and relationally at once by eliminating the need to leave the social network.

Chirpify enables merchants and customers to transact financially and relationally at once by eliminating the need to leave the social network

How it works: Chirpify links the user’s Twitter account to a Paypal account. Sellers—individuals, companies, political fundraisers—tweet whatever it is they’re selling. The Twitter user simply hits reply and types in “buy” (or some other short term prescribed by the seller like “gimme”) to complete the transaction in one clean, easy step.

The process is so simple, noted Black, that an independent artist who uses Chirpify remarked that compared to traditional ecommerce, “[Chirpify] feels like street vending.”

“On Twitter, the stream is the street,” said Black. That street currently spans customers in 43 countries. And because the money is routed through Paypal, Chirpify accepts multiple currencies in a secure environment. It’s also platform agnostic—smart or dumb phone, tablet, computer—the device doesn’t matter.

For those looking for proof of concept, Black estimates that Chirpify’s sign-up page—the one and only step that doesn’t involve a direct sale—has a 70% conversion rate (roughly seven times that of the average ecommerce site sign-up).

Chirpify also reportedly significantly outperforms traditional ad click-through rates (0.2%), averaging 1.3%.

But Chirpify’s most compelling feature may be its potential reach.

Black cited a campaign for a Nashville record label promoting free downloads of a new song. According to Black, within 2 hours the listing was re-tweeted 33 times, which translates to 115,000 potential viewers based on the average number of Twitter followers to whom it was re-tweeted.

It’s also worth noting that every re-tweet constituted a defacto endorsement by a trusted, independent source, not a targeted message from a marketer. “These are essentially word-of-mouth recommendations, only they’re broadcasted to anyone who follows the person who passes along the message,” said Black.

Lastly, for those companies grappling with Wannamaker’s dilemma, there’s no issue calculating the ROI on direct marketing through Chirpify. You just look at a tweet and see how it performs (the company collects a 4% commission on each sale).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marc Dresner is IIR USA’s senior editor and special communication projects lead. He is the former executive editor of Research Business Report, a confidential newsletter for the market research and consumer insights industry. He may be reached at mdresner@iirusa.com. Follow him @mdrezz.

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Financial Services Flunk Social Media

By Marc Dresner, IIR

 If Jeffrey Hayzlett were to grade the financial and payment services industries on social media savvy, they wouldn’t receive a passing mark.



The author, international business and marketing authority and former Kodak CMO whose Prepaid Expo 2012 presentation generated considerable buzz, says that financial and payment services—more so than other industries—appear to be willfully ignorant of the changes taking place around them and the potential impact social media will have on how business is done in the near future.



Jeffrey Hayzlett

“A huge portion of the next generation of customers will have never stepped foot inside a bank, a post office or even in stores in certain retail categories,” said Hayzlett.

“They’re going to establish relationships online with entities with which they will never interact in a terrestrial environment. It’s already happening. Look at Amazon, eBay, iTunes…,” he said.



These changes bear profound implications for how companies engage customers, and Hayzlett says they present an attractive but largely unexploited opportunity for financial and payment services providers to build relationships and create highly personalized, meaningful experiences that are very much aligned with business objectives.

“Trust is at the core of this industry,” said Hayzlett. “We trust financial services providers to protect and nurture the things that matter most: our savings, investments, businesses, homes, retirements, etc.

“Finance is incredibly personal and so is social media,” he added. “Through social media, financial and payment services providers can insinuate themselves in people’s daily lives in unprecedented ways.”



Hayzlett’s Take: Social (Media) Life

LinkedIn: “A business card or sign on Main St. displaying who you are and what you do.”

Twitter: “A megaphone with which to shout from your front porch at passersby who stop a minute and then move on.”

Facebook: “Your living room. A brand can bring two million fans into its living room and the engagement is genuine.”

Pinterest: “It’s the digital equivalent of that wall in your teenager’s bedroom with all of the posters, magazine clippings and pictures tacked to it.”

“Social media is about hearts and minds, not ears and eyeballs,” Hayzlett said. “We’re talking about accessing a highly engaged community in a very relevant way.”

From Hayzlett’s perspective, that the financial services industry is not a pioneering force in social media is completely irrational and may ultimately have a deleterious effect on business.

“Your customers have always talked about you,” he added. “The Internet has simply provided scale, so now they have a megaphone.  Whether you choose to participate or not, those conversations are happening.”

Hayzlett notes a slew of emerging, more nimble players like Square are moving aggressively into the space traditionally dominated by massive, monolithic companies. “For the big guys, it’s quickly boiling down to a game of buy or beat. Either way, they need to embrace social media, not fight it.



“Most financial services providers would prefer that the world never change,” he said. “These companies need to start playing in the world in which we actually live—not the world in which they would like us to live—or they risk irrelevance,” he said.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marc Dresner is IIR USA's senior editor and special communication projects lead. He is the former executive editor of Research Business Report, a confidential newsletter for the marketing research and consumer insights industry. He may be reached at mdresner@iirusa.com. Follow him @mdrezz.



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Gaming Theory: A Prepaid Social Media Game-Changer

For those puzzling over where the next breakthrough social media application in prepaid will come from, Ben Jackson, senior analyst in Mercator's Prepaid Advisory Practice, says look to the gaming industry—not the casino kind; think Zynga.

Ben Jackson

“Why is Farmville such a runaway hit? No one saw it coming. The gaming industry really gets social media,” said Jackson. “Expect to see financial planning and payment products, tools and services that draw upon gaming theory.”

Jackson pointed out that with notable exceptions in the closed-loop sector like social gifting, much of the prepaid industry’s social media focus to date (like many other industries) has revolved around marketing and customer service applications, which, while valuable, fall short of truly capitalizing on the “social” aspect of social media in novel, game-changing ways suited to prepaid.

“Gaming is about competition and fun,” Jackson added. “It’s not such an odd fit with finance, especially given that gaming inspires people to set and work toward specific goals.”

Jackson noted that goal-based saving is particularly popular today, so why not embed gaming elements into prepaid products? People’s natural competitive streak may be harnessed for pleasure in pursuit of both short- and long-term financial objectives, whether competing against others or one’s self. The prepaid provider need only furnish an app or launch a community to get people started.

“What if you could compete against your best friend, a sibling or in-law to load a prepaid Christmas card?” Jackson said. “Maybe there’s a broader community, and the first 100 people to load their card—the amount could be set by the community—receive a bonus item or rebate of some sort.” This is often used in holiday promotions and contests now.

It need not be a material or monetary incentive, he added. “It could be a prestige prize: Premium status or access to a special online saver’s catalogue. You saved 10% more than your sister-in-law on the same sweater because you met your prepaid savings goal faster or you beat last year’s saving goal by so much.”

Jackson also noted that there’s an opportunity to incorporate gaming elements into longer-term objectives. Who among your Facebook friends is most on track to meet this year’s financial goals? How about college tuition, for instance?

“Every parent wants their child to have a college education, preferably without sending the new graduate into the world saddled with a mountain of student loan debt,” said Jackson. “But people have difficulty saving, especially for something so far off in the future.

“Gaming-like applications could be a great motivator here because no one wants to look or feel like a bad parent,” he continued. “If you’re tracking savings progress against other parents or working as a ‘team’ with family, friends or even a school-sponsored group, you might be inspired to pay more attention to that college fund.”

Jackson added that while a college savings account doesn’t qualify as a prepaid service today, it may tomorrow. “I think we’re going to see the line between traditional checking and savings accounts—anything people access with a debit card—and prepaid products blur over time,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about understanding why people use prepaid products. Figure that out, and then find a social application for it. This is where gaming theory can play a major role,” said Jackson.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marc Dresner is an IIR USA communication lead with a background in trade journalism and marketing. He is the former executive editor of Research Business Report, a confidential newsletter for the marketing research and consumer insights industry. He may be reached at mdresner@iirusa.com. Follow him @mdrezz.

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Mark Your Calendars for the Biggest Event in Payments: Prepaid Expo 2013

This is a unique moment for the world of payments, and the prepaid industry is poised for explosive growth and consumer ubiquity. With the influx of new competition in the ecosystem, what are you doing to maximize your firm’s opportunities? What is your outlook for the future? Now is the time to be proactive and win business. 

The 8th Annual Prepaid Expo, March 4-6, 2013 

Book your seat for the Prepaid Expo today to be a part of the largest industry event for prepaid and payments.

5 Reasons You Must to Attend Prepaid Expo 2013

1. 300% MORE Future-Forward Content: 
More than a day’s worth of content focused on the evolution of payments, including: which innovations will be fixtures or fads, how disruptors are charting new courses in commerce, GPR acceptance and what it will mean for prepaid adoption, and sessions devoted to mobile, NFC, EMV and apps.

2.  Regulatory Content to Mitigate Uncertainty: 
More than a day’s worth of insight from regulators, lobbyists and industry and consumer advocates alike, all to help you interpret the rules and regulations and understand how compliance will affect you.

3. 250+ Retailers in Attendance: 
Two days of content tailored for retailers’ unique needs to grow the gifting category, including in-store marketing and re-selling strategies, eye-catching design, digital gifting, loyalty programs and B2B growth strategies.

4. Senior-Level Decision Makers: 
With more than 50% of Prepaid Expo attendees in C-Level, Founder, President and VP-Level roles, Prepaid attendees meet who matters across the industry. Qualifying executives have access to our exclusive Executive Agenda, which provides executives with three full days of business meetings, executive idea exchanges, private sessions focused on strategy and EXCLUSIVE Q&As with our keynote speakers. Space is limited, so apply by clicking here.

5. Save Money, Miles and Time. 
The stored value community stops for 3 days to attend the Prepaid Expo. You’ll meet 1,700 like-minded peers, acquire new partners and strengthen existing relationships at the meeting place for prepaid and payments professionals.

REGISTER BY OCT. 26 2012 FOR THE BEST RATES & SAVE UP TO $800

* Mention your Prepaid Expo Blog VIP code to SAVE 10% off the standard and onsite rate: XU2648BLOG10

Online: www.prepaidexpousa.com
Email: customerserviceiir@informausa.com 
Phone: 888.670.8200 or 941.951.7885

The Prepaid Expo is THE BEST WAY to scope out the competitive landscape and network with industry peers at this critical time in payments. 

RSVP here and invite your colleagues: 
LinkedIn
Facebook

We look forward to seeing you in person next March!

Get Involved:

Are you looking for a creative way to reach top-level decision-makers? Why not consider sponsoring a luncheon, cocktail party or refreshment break, or an Exhibit Booth? For more information on sponsorship or exhibition opportunities, please contact Terri Sobol at +1 646-895-7473 or email tsobol@iirusa.com. 

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Finance, Payments & Prepaid on Pinterest: What I found

I've become a fan of Pinterest, the latest social network phenomenon, after writing about its corporate innovation potential here. One of the trends that I am always exploring is how social media can be harnessed by the finance industry, both externally for marketing and consumer education/awareness and externally to learn how consumers feel, think or use products and gather insights.

Why Pinterest Makes Cents Sense

As an avid user (and also a analyst/marketer) one of my favorite finds on Pinterest are infographics - lot of data condensed into an aesthetically pleasing one-pager - and Pinterest has them aplenty. Originally, this post was going to be about Pinners Prepaid Should Follow on Pinterest but after a deep dive, I think it might be best to show you the goodies I found on Pinterest and then explain why they matter:

Found:

1. Intuit's The Marketplace in Your Hands Infographic: Mobile Payments

2. The Mobile Payment Landscape in 60 Seconds Infographic

3. Pinned Articles: How Digital Money Spurs Digital Innovation

4. The Payment Revolution is Coming MindMap

5. The Value of Stored Value Cards Infographic

6. NCR Mobile Milestones Infographic

Follow These Pinners/Pinboards:


1. Mobile Experiences Board:

2. Payments Board #1:

3. Payments Boards #2:

5. Credit Card Statistics Board:

Use Pinterest as a Search Engine

1. Search Terms: "Mobile Commerce"

Last One

What Your Wallet Says About You - Now & Tomorrow Infographic

Evolving Technology and Disruptive Innovation 

Adapt or Die. Whenever I talk to clients about social media, I often refer to this principle but it has implications beyond marketing. The pace of technology innovations today is happening at unparalleled speed and affecting every single sector and will transform it. This is our new market reality. The marketplace is changing, and so are the needs of the Prepaid consumer.

Pinterest along with other popular social networks are often underrated by the finance industry or seen as the play things of the idle with little ROI. I see a lot of potential uses for them as tools for which to analyze and research trends, consumer data and the shifting landscape, its players, and filter news. I hope you try it out and enjoy it as much as I do.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” 

― Marcel Proust

About the Author

Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and Managing Editor of the Prepaid Expo Blog. She has worked in media positions at Hachette Book Group, Aol, and Thomson Reuters and has an anthropology and brand-building background. She is also published poet and maintains a literary blog. She will be live blogging during Prepaid Expo 2013, taking place March 4-6, 2013, in Orlando, Florida and hopes to meet you there. She may be reached at vrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.

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The Prepaid Marketplace in Brazil & Latin America

Yesterday, Anabel Perez, the CEO of NovoPayment wrote Digital Money, Mobile Wallets and Latin America at the Huffington Post.

Earlier this year, Marcio Franklin of MasterCard Brazil sat down with Sergio Marcondes, the CEO of Accentiv' Mimetica at Prepaid Expo USA 2012 to discuss prepaid in the Brazilian market. If you are keeping an eye on emerging markets, you may want to take a look at the video below.

Editor's Note:  We encourage you to learn more and become involved with Prepaid Expo 2013, bringing together professionals from leading retailers, processors, financial institutions, service providers and marketers in the prepaid marketplace every year. Over 12,000 people have attended Prepaid Expo USA since 2007 to hear industry experts discuss what's next in the growing prepaid marketplace and where it fits in our new economy. Visit www.PrepaidExpoUSA.com to learn more.

* Thank you! Save 10% off the standard rate when you register for Prepaid Expo 2013, use Prepaid Expo Blog Reader VIP Code: XU2648BLOG10.

About the Author

Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and Managing Editor of the Prepaid Expo Blog. She has worked in media positions at Hachette Book Group, Aol, and Thomson Reuters and has an anthropology and brand-building background. She is also published poet and maintains a literary blog. She will be live blogging during Prepaid Expo 2013, taking place March 4-6, 2013, in Orlando, Florida and hopes to meet you there. She may be reached at vrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.

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Prepaid Expo on Facebook

Image via CrunchBase

We've launched a new page for Prepaid Expo on Facebook and while we would be thrilled for you to "like" us, we want to encourage you and your colleagues to utilize the page to network throughout the year, share news and post questions, best practices and ideas with our worldwide network of prepaid professionals.

www.fb.com/PrepaidExpo

Over 12,000 people have attended Prepaid Expo USA since 2007 to hear industry experts discuss what's next in the growing prepaid marketplace and where it fits in our new economy. Our aim is to continue to bring together professionals from leading retailers, processors, financial institutions, service providers and marketers in the prepaid marketplace at our events every year and in the social space every day of the year.

Related articles

• Live from Prepaid Expo 2012: Harnessing the Power of Social Media to Engage Customers & Drive Your Brand

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• Live from Prepaid Expo 2012: Social Media: The Landscape

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• Live from Prepaid Expo 2012: Social Media: Changing the Prepaid Marketing Game?

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• Live from Prepaid Expo 2012: Arriana Huffington on How to be a Game Changer

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Wrapp App Offers Social Gift Cards Platform - Debuts at Gap, Sephora...

Those of you who joined us in London at the 2012 The Gift Card, Gift Voucher and Reloadable Card Summit, will recall Wrapp, a Sweden-based mobile gift card and retail service, backed by Greylock Partners and Atomico, driving innovation in the estimated $100 Billion industry.

The app has launched across the pond and was unveiled at U.S. retailers including Fab.com, Gap, H&M, Sephora, Brooklyn Industries, The Wall Street Journal, Wayfair, and others, yesterday.

The service, billing itself as the anti-Groupon, offers a way to drive customers and activate higher sales in-stores by allowing users to give and share $5-$15 gift cards to friends (the app utilizes the Facebook social graph), which recipients can redeem in store. Some of the cards are available for free and once posted to a friend's wall, others can also add money to the card. "Participating merchants report that each sale averages four to six times the value of the free gift card they let Wrapp users give to their friends."

"Wrapp launched in Sweden in November, and more recently opened its service in the U.K. and Norway. Since then, it has amassed about 165,000 active users that have gifted more than 1.4 million cards."

The debut is receiving a lot buzz because the service sits on the very intersection of the savvy consumer trend of using smartphones to save money in brick and mortar stores, with the collective discount phenomena of services like Groupon, to help retailers bring in in-store shoppers through the influence of their friends and family and because of the synthesis with Facebook's social graph, it can also be leveraged to target certain social and demographics shopper segments as well as gather insights on the market and campaigns.

It will be interesting to see how Wrapp transforms the Gift Card space and its traction, especially during peak holiday shopping season.

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Live from Prepaid Expo 2012: Social Media: Changing the Prepaid Marketing Game?

Recap from Social Media: Changing the Prepaid Marketing Game? Panel:

Moderator: Aaron Mann, CEO, SOCIALARC
Panelists: Mike Fletcher, CMO, GIFTANGO
Douglas Rozen, Senior Vice President, AIMIA (incorporating Carlson Marketing)
Michael Hursta, VP, Prepaid Category Manager, FIRST DATA

What is the value of your customer per transaction - level of intimacy? This concern is unique to the Prepaid space but for the most part the challenges the industry faces are the same as for others.

Online social tools allow you to really get to know consumers in a whole new way - another form of ROI: data.

A social media strategy isn't singular, it should have multiple goals but social media definitely needs to be run from a strategic standpoint.

It also shouldn't work in a vacuum, SMS is popular to use as are other promotional marketing.

Use social media to mine your audience for maximum impact on your future marketing. Who is your customer? Filter/target directly to them.

Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a technology, anthropology, marketing and publishing business acumen.  She will be attending Prepaid Expo USA 2012 and covering the event live via Twitter and the Prepaid Expo Blog. She is a published poet and also maintains a literary blog. She may be reached atvrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.

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Live from Prepaid Expo 2012: Harnessing the Power of Social Media to Engage Customers & Drive Your Brand

Scott Stratten is President of UNMARKETING and he presented our Social Media Keynote address today.

Social media empowers consumers to release and voice their "press release" faster than ever before, globally - your payment app better work.

When things hit the fan, social media is your opportunity to be awesome.

Social media is your front line. Consumers only care about what you do, not your logo, not your branding. Marketing is a verb, it's what your company does every day, everything you do.

Mission statements don't matter. People spread awesome (content)! It's only how it is shared that has changed.

Social media has changed how things are changed, most things are now shared through Facebook.

Even if you hate Facebook or Twitter, understand it because that's where your customers are - don't ignore it.

QR Codes are great for example but use them accordingly - think before you do - use them properly.

Not everyone should use social media. If your company sucks, it will suck harder socially. If you hate people, social might not be the route to go.

Inversely, every one is on social. The niche: human.

Don't try to be everywhere, pick one platform and grow it.

Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a technology, anthropology, marketing and publishing business acumen.  She will be attending Prepaid Expo USA 2012 and covering the event live via Twitter and the Prepaid Expo Blog. She is a published poet and also maintains a literary blog. She may be reached atvrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.

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Live from Prepaid Expo 2012: Social Media: The Landscape

Aaron Mann

We began this morning at Prepaid Expo 2012 with a session on Social Media: The Landscape, 5 Important Trends for Marketers, and Real-World Social Best Practices presented by Aaron Mann, CEO of SocialArc. "Socialarc specializes in the design and implementation of social marketing campaigns that work - for our clients and for their audiences."

5 Big Social Landscape Trends to watch:

1. Social Commerce: Amazon, Groupon, Etsy, Gilt
2. Makers: Kickstarter, Do Network
3: SoLoMo Convergence: Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook, Yelp
4. Sharing, Discovery & Curation: Twitter, Quora, G+, Stumbleupon, Pinterest, Facebook
5. Game Mechanics: Words with Friends, Sims, CityVille

5 Marketing Trends:

1. Relationships at scale: From Niche to at Scale
2. Always on Strategy: Move away from Campaigns
3. Quality content: Not Quantity
4. Platform Intergration: No Silos
5. Measurement & Business Results: From Experiments to ROI

5 Guiding Principles from SocialArc:

1. Social Strategy Needed: Insights, Strategy, Tactics
Identity:
- Business objectives
- Success Metrics
- Competitive Landscape
- Audience Profile
- Audience Values

Follow @Socialarc on Twitter.


Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a technology, anthropology, marketing and publishing business acumen.  She will be attending Prepaid Expo USA 2012 and covering the event live via Twitter and the Prepaid Expo Blog. She is a published poet and also maintains a literary blog. She may be reached atvrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.

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Social Media Guru Prepaid Expo 2012 Keynote : Scott Stratten, “UnMarketing”

Today we are spotlighting Prepaid Expo's 2012 Guru Leadership Keynotes...Inspiring Your Prepaid Business's Growth through a Full Roster of Business Visionaries 


Here is our Social Media Guru Keynote: Scott Stratten,  discussing “UnMarketing” and how to embrace and understand social media to capture your target market, which is what he will tack about in-depth, live at Prepaid Expo, taking place March 12-14, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Who is Scott Stratten and what is Un-Marketing?

Scott Stratten is the President of Un-Marketing. He is an expert in Viral, Social, and Authentic Marketing which he calls Un-Marketing. It’s all about positioning yourself as a trusted expert in front of your target market, so when they have the need, they choose you.

Formerly a music industry marketer, national sales training manager and a Professor at the Sheridan College School of Business, he has been running his “UnAgency” for 8 years which has become the place companies like PepsiCo, Adobe, Red Cross and Fidelity Investments come to when they need help guiding their way through the viral/social media and relationship marketing landscape and was voted one of the top influencers on Twitter.  His clients’ viral marketing videos have been viewed over 60 million times even before YouTube existed.

His book “UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging” became a national best-seller before it was released, and recently a Globe and Mail #1 Business best-seller, National Post, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon UK best-seller. It was also just named one of the top business books of the year by 1-800-CEO READ and one of the top 10 books of 2010 by Under30CEO.com. He was just named one of “America’s 10 Marketing Gurus” by Business Review USA.

Learn more about all of the Prepaid Expo's 2012 Guru Leadership Keynotes here.

Don't miss your opportunity to join Scott and over 1700+ Prepaid professionals at the 7th Annual Prepaid Expo.

Visit www.prepaidexpousa.com,
Call: 1 888-670-8200
Email: register@iirusa.com

Please mention your priority code when registering to save $100 off the standard and onsite rate: 

XU2548BLOG.

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Social Media Critical to Growth of Prepaid

In an age where 93% of all business marketing participates in social media and even brokers at financial firms are now harnessing the power and reach of social media for research, client communication, and to attract potential clients and prospects, it seems that social media is critical to the growth of Prepaid as well.

While compliance guidelines and regulations continue to worry many in the Prepaid industry, they are not alone. If you speak to any social media thought leader, they will tell you that many corporations face challenges in using social media, both externally and internally. However, it is possible to walk that fine line since social media isn't going away. And when you look at its merit and power to reach and educate clients and consumers far and wide, especially the underbanked, the more it seems like a winning situation.

Just look at these 2011 social media stats released last week:



Here is where we look at whose IS doing social media well. Innovation and progress rarely happen in a vacuum. Sometimes it's as simple as looking at leading experts outside of your industry for inspiration and ideas or perhaps even sitting down together for a business strategy discussion.

Prepaid Expo recognizes the challenges facing prepaid professionals and strives to meet those needs. In an effort to learn from those who have survived the challenges presented by a maturing industry and inspire the seasoned prepaid executives, Prepaid Expo is looking beyond prepaid for inspiration.

First, we will bring the leading experts from Airlines, Pharmaceuticals, Finance, etc., to address the Prepaid Expo audience on how they came out on top when facing similar challenges. Second, we created VIP sessions for each outside expert, giving senior executives the opportunities to get their questions answered by the experts in a private forum like setting.

If you would like a chance to discuss your business needs and challenges with your peers and experts at Prepaid Expo 2012, sign up today and save the date: March 12-14, 2012. We will see you in Las Vegas!

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