Blog : Internet Usage

What is the most valuable asset? Is there a value on your data?

In today’s world, our most valuable asset is no longer a precious metal, a diamond – or any form of fiat currency. In fact, it’s not even a physical product that you can hold. But it’s certainly worth far more than any of the aforementioned items. 

What are we talking about? 

Data. No doubt, our most precious commodity at this point in time is data. But, no matter how precious this data is and how much it’s revered – or how far companies will go to obtain it – it’s not a tangible asset that an organization can measure with a clear value financially. So, where does this leave us? Certainly, companies who have LOADS of data could – on paper, be worth more than what they’re estimated – thousands of times over – if only a uniform method existed to measure the value of data. 

Other digital items have certain frameworks for determining their value – even IP can receive a designated worth. Well, why can’t data? What’s the catch? 

What’s the deal with data? 

Data can do anything any other tangible asset can do – it has all the characteristics. We can move it, store it, and measure it. It’s bought and sold (in the form of different client lists and information – legal or otherwise). For the latter (otherwise), the price that some individuals are willing to pay would make you sick – all in the name of information. But what you can do with that information…is powerful. 

Surrounded by data

Every day you wake up, you’re surrounded by data. All data about you is measured and stored – traded, bought, and sold – during every hour of every day. Data is captured on website forms, email lists, social media sites like Reddit and Facebook, platforms like Robinhood App – and any other mobile app, for that matter. All of this VALUABLE data IS constantly moving – it doesn’t disrupt, and we are rarely aware of it’s change of hands or existence at all. 

But globally, companies everywhere sink billions into the handling of data because they know it’s a precious resource. The question begs – how can they be sure when their billions of investment dollars have returned to manifest as a positive return? 

Defining data

At the core of the term, data is defined as strands of information converted to symbols, letters, numbers, or any other identifying symbol that can be transferred and altered by a computer. Literally, anything that’s identified using letters, numbers, and every symbol in between – is considered data.

In today’s world, hot ticket data includes things like what we buy online, the stuff we search for, how much time we spend on a website, and how we interact with applications and other platforms. 

So, in the business world, how do we break down data into a measurable way to understand how much of a financial impact it has??

Measuring data

All data has a lifeline. It doesn’t necessarily ever die – but it does have a defining lifeline that measures its purpose or what it’s been used for. So from a business standpoint, all of this raw data must be converted into some type of valuable information in a context that has a purpose within any organization or business. Are you following? 

When this transfer is made, this information is then used to make a certain decision regarding your organization – and the result is either a gain or loss – of revenue. 

Understanding the way data works in a business setting – the only way you can truly measure it is to find out exactly HOW a company uses a particular form of data. Are they using data to lower the costs of certain operations? Are they using data to forecast things and increase revenue? Are they using data to find out what caters to their audience to generate income? Get it now? 

But it’s not enough just to be aware of how they leverage data. Remember, everything comes with a price, and overhead must be covered. And yes, data has overhead. How, you ask? 

Data must be captured, stored, prepared, converted, transferred, etc. All of these things cost money. So, the simple thing to do is to measure the total you’ve invested into acquiring and applying the data and subtract this from the monetary benefits you reaped from your hard work of preparing the data for its intended use. 

Essentially, when you invest in data, you’re putting money back into your business. You’re betting on your organization. Did you know that way back in 1992, a rule was created to officially measure the way data and its price impacted your company? 

Yep. It went like this: The cost was $1 to verify new data as it was captured, $10 if you don’t clean the data until it’s in your databases, and $100 if you use it without cleaning it up. 

“What does that even mean?” 

Basically, what was being stated in a round-about way, was that it’s cheaper to guarantee the input of top-tier data than to correct it once the data’s been quantified. This is critical when you compare a human looking for potential errors compared to a mobile app or advanced algorithm using the data, causing it to disrupt every output and workflow beyond the output of this dirty, disgusting data. 

Unhealthy data is worthless

The value of data is relative to the company that needs it – and how accessible and “healthy” it is at the time of need. Prepared in the correct manner, data is invaluable to your company because it does things like optimize your collaborative efforts within your company and between departments – or any relationship for that matter. This can be with customers, partners, vendors – it doesn’t matter. 

And, the most obvious, you can boost your efficiency and productivity by relying on automated tasks created by…DATA! In the end, the price of data…is…..relative. It’s almost like a ransom situation. Seriously. 

International markets drive a new definition of service

International markets drive a new definition of service

For many companies, their market has been redefined because of the internet. A good or service offered to a traditionally domestic market can now catch the attention of an international audience. Being able to understand and respond to the needs of clients from any location provides an advantage to a company.

Most nations employ English as either a primary or secondary language. This approach helps to breach barriers to your business. Having a well-designed website and utilizing search engine optimization strategies will allow customers and clients around the world to see what your company is capable of doing.

Refining the scope of the markets that you want to address is critical when taking your business global. According to Forbes, you want to “Develop a disciplined method to expanding your business and ensure that every new market you explore offers at least one of the following advantages over others:

  • A larger customer base, potentially with a higher willingness to pay
  • Access to cheaper supply of labor or raw material, leading to cost efficiencies
  • Legal, regulatory, or other systemic factors that make it easier to do business.”

Successful international marketing is similar to marketing in the United States. You have to identify customer needs that your company can address. Make sure your products and services, can address them more completely than competitors in that market sect.

Customers will base their loyalty to a company based on how well their needs are tended to, especially on an international scale. Global customer service is important to any consumer. A company with excellent customer service is more likely to get repeat business from customers. Consequently, the company will benefit with greater sales and profits.

As you consider global expansion, one thing to keep in mind is that you never want to make a move that will diminish success and hard work on home soil. Domestic sales are what got you to where you are and will be the key to expanding that success.

Neglecting your foundation and home market to pursue global markets can easily backfire. By maintaining a strong balance between both markets, you will create a strong brand image at home while slowly establishing yourself internationally. This will allow a company to maintain their core mission while responding to its international potential. 

It will take time for a small company to take their business international. But with the right steps and commitment, a small business can find itself competing with larger known businesses and gain the same amount of success. 

What is deep linking?

What is deep linking?

Time is money

Anyone who has used a search engine knows that you can easily waste hours looking for a particular piece of content. If your customers spend too much time or energy searching for your product, sooner – more often than later, you will lose them to readily available content. To combat this waste of time and energy, the practice of “deep linking” has evolved to take that customer to a specific target.

Deep links differ from broader linking practices because the deep link usually bypasses the landing page of the destination website and takes the customer to a specific location deeper inside of a website.

Deep links help to establish control over the conversion process by providing direct access to a specific goal. By taking control of the journey through customer’s conversion funnel, programmers can sidestep the need for a search and take the customer directly to the destination service, good, or data.

Deep links and mobile apps

Companies can include these deep links in a mobile text or an email format. The flexibility and speed of mobiles apps have bridged the continuity gap between the web and the mobile universe. Corporations are able to tailor the customer’s user experience (UX) to be faster and more functional. The journey has been crafted to fit the wants of the customer with the needs of the business.

A deep link is a URL that opens and directs a user to a specific location within an app. When a developer creates an app, they can register a URL scheme with iOS. For example, in our app Agenda, we registered “agenda” as the app’s URL scheme, so any URL that starts with agenda:// will deep link to the app,” – Savvy Apps.

Deep links differ in complexity, due to their intended function. They can range from being very basic to very complicated. Many variables will define the complexity, such as function, audience, and medium. A goal for your website may be the download of a corresponding mobile application. By downloading the application, the user can access the information in an email or text more quickly than going to the website. “When the app has been downloaded, the user can be taken to specific content immediately,” – Branch.

This type of mobile device behavior will only increase in order to keep users engaged and to be able to deliver content and information whenever the user needs/wants it. Deep linking makes applications more appealing, even if the user may not want to download it. Eventually, applications will be favored over websites because the functionality of the application will overcome the functionality of the website. User engagement and experience will drive the continued creation of deep linking.

Colure Media is a New York based advertising and marketing agency. We can help your corporation gain exposure and increase revenue. If you are interested in learning how to connect better with your customers, Contact us now.

Cybersecurity is your responsiblity

Cybersecurity is your responsiblity

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, sponsored by the US Department of Homeland Security. This annual campaign raises awareness on the importance of cybersecurity.

In today’s online age, the number of threats to businesses and their customers increases every day. Almost daily, more information about cyber attacks makes its way into headlines. These attacks range from sensitive information such as credit cards stolen from companies to claims of movies being stolen from production companies such as Disney.

Small businesses are key targets

Yet, big business is not the only target. About 43 percent of cyber attacks target small business, and 60 percent of these small companies go out of business within six months of a cyber attack. So why is cybersecurity important?

The increasing prevalence of cybersecurity attacks on both individuals and businesses emphasizes the need for IT security professionals who specialize in cybersecurity.” Attacks are categorized into three general categories:

  • Cyber security attacks that target hardware and software, such as malware
  • Financial crimes, such as online fraud and phishing schemes
  • Abuse, also known as “sexploitation”

The threat of data leakage via unmanaged devices is serious,’ says Eduard Meelhuysen, head of EMEA at Bitglass. ‘But having a culture of restricting staff access can actually make an organization more vulnerable, not less.” Companies are attacked due to employees misusing company systems far more regularly that one would expect.

Creating a safe environment

Creating a security culture within a company is all about training and awareness. Hackers constantly find new ways to access information, which is why constant awareness of threats is so important. Individuals face the same effect of cyber attacks and may receive less training on how to protect themselves from cyber attacks.

Cyber security procedures should be treated just as important as health and safety procedures have been.

For companies, training can consist of the following:

  • Have a universal security policy
  • Start with basics- learn the difference between each type of attack and how to avoid these situations
  • Make training relevant – training needs to be specific to your organization

For individuals, the following measures will help keep personal data safe:

  • Don’t give out personal information over the phone or via email unless you’re positively sure of whom you’re giving it to
  • Keep your operating system, browser, and anti-virus software updated
  • Create complex passwords that would be hard to guess
  • Never click on links sent via email even if you’re sure they’re legitimate-the safest practice is to go to the company’s website

It’s important to be aware of the risks and threats you might face in cyberspace, but that you also take steps to protect yourself and your data.

The problem with information density

The problem with information density

The volume of data accessed daily on the internet is absolutely staggering. It boggles the mind to grasp that so much of our lives are connected to our keyboards. At some point, the sheer volume of data becomes unmanageable and negates the true value of the content.

Users reach a moment where they can no longer meaningfully examine the available volumes of data. By the sheer size of a search query result, the search engines overwhelm users’ resources. Figuring how to effectively evaluate over 28,000,000 cat videos can be a problem. This is the problem of information density. This is where we live, accessing only snippets of the entire volume of data available to our questions.

Take a moment to examine how ‘we’ use a single minute of our lives on the internet.

Although technology’s advancement helps in many ways, it also brings challenges. Anyone with a camera or a computer can be a journalist. However, we must find a way out of the information density on the web.

Over time, readers establish relationships with certain sites. The key is to have a functional relationship between your site and the user. Give them a source of internet content they trust. If the reader has built a relationship and connection with a journalist or channel, they will certainly consult that source for his content. How they spend their day surfing the net will be determined by your quality of content. 

The way to stand out from the crowd of information is to be credible, research and document your facts, and to provide the content that your customers want to consume. With billions of other options only a keystroke away, be sure that you understand the needs of the consumer.

Colure Media is a Advertising and marketing company in New York. We can increase targeting to reach your audience and brand awareness through marketing and advertising. If you are interested, then contact us now.

Study confirms Americans’ Internet usage headed toward market saturation

Study confirms Americans’ Internet usage headed toward market saturation

The Pew Research Institute has released an analysis of Americans’ internet usage spanning the past 15 years. The study shows our collective internet use pointing toward an end goal of total market saturation. As Pew looked across all demographics lines, they saw two key points:

  • All groups were steadily increasing the level of internet integration into their lives.
  • The rate of increase varied between groups.

Starting in 2000, Pew conducted 97 studies examining how American adults use the internet in various facets of their lives. Amongst the data, four key data points displayed usage within certain communities:

  • Age: Young adults showed the highest level of usage, but senior citizens demonstrated the highest rate of growth for usage within their age group.
  • Education: Adults who are college educated are more apt to use the internet. However, those with less than a high school diploma have shown a steady increase in usage.
  • Financial: Family households with a yearly income above $75,000 reflect a 96% usage rate. Families with annual incomes below $30,000 reflect a dramatically lower usage rate, but that number is steadily increasing with the use of smartphones.
  • Ethnic: English-speaking Asian-Americans reflect the highest usage by ethnicity. All other ethnicities reported lower rates, but all showed proportionally consistent growth.

During the life of this study, Americans have consistently demonstrated a demand to integrate the internet into their lives. If consumer trends continue, we should see this trend of internet access entering more corners of our lives.