Media

Ecommerce sales are growing fast, but the vast majority of consumer spending still takes place offline in local stores. A large portion of those sales are influenced by online research, most of which is conducted on the desktop. But increasingly, consumers are taking advantage of the sophisticated capabilities of smartphones to do more of this online research while in a store or on the go.

Companies on Facebook and other social sites are always trying to determine what to post to get fans engaged. While each brand is different, and its fans will respond to different things, there are some common threads that companies can keep in mind when planning social media posts and status updates.

This year alPunto Advertising added the tactic of using “Latina mommy bloggers” to help spread the word about the Los Angeles Philharmonic among Hispanics.

eMarketer estimates there will be nearly 21 million Twitter users in the US by the end of this year, and a sizeable minority of those will use the service at least in part to follow brands.

James Smith is responsible for creating ad solutions and revenue streams through video, mobile, social games and social media content for The Walt Disney Co.’s Disney Interactive Media Group. In this interview, Smith talks with eMarketer’s Tobi Elkin about the future prospects for mobile advertising.

The top reason for following or liking a brand, company or celebrity on social networking sites is to receive discounts and special offers, according to a recent survey of global online consumers conducted by Nielsen.

More marketers than ever believe their brands should be engaging with consumers on social networks—and advertising is an increasingly successful tool for doing so. As a result, worldwide social network ad revenues will surpass $8 billion in 2012 and approach $10 billion by 2013