Tablet PC vs. PC

With tablet PC sales soaring worldwide and the iPad 3 on its way, I will be looking at whether  tablet pc’s will take over PC’s.

Tablet PC Growth

When Apple announced plans to launch the iPad a couple of years ago, there were those who were unsure of how successful the device would be. Some critics thought that it was neither a PC nor Smartphone and that it had no real use within the market. However, sales for the iPad soared, proving to be a success with the release of the iPad 2 last year and the iPad 3 to be released soon. On the back of the success of the iPad, many companies including Samsung and Toshiba have released their own Tablet PC’s to enter the lucrative market.

 Why is the Tablet PC so successful?

There are a number of reasons for why the iPad is so successful; its main appeal is its approachable touchscreen interface that people universally find easy to use. A study by the NPD Group last year showed that the top three things that consumers have been doing with iPads are surfing the web, writing and checking e-mails and playing games. NPD also found that iPad owners regularly use their devices for social networking, watching videos and reading e-books with their light weight portability making it a real crowd pleaser. This shows that the iPad is a very versatile platform and an ideal means of ‘consuming’ information.

NPD wrote, “While lots of choices and compromises go into the development of any product, especially something as different as the iPad, these results indicate that most consumers are satisfied with their purchase and are increasingly finding ways to interact with their iPad.”

 

Projected Tablet Growth to 2015

 

Gartner researched that Tablet PC’s will be selling 60% as many units as PC’s by 2015. Furthermore, they predict that Apple’s iPad will still have almost half the market by then. Below is a table of Gartner’s sales forecasts from 2010 to 2015:

 

PC Decline

 

Whilst the PC is suffering a decline in sales, tablet PC’s, smartphones and e-readers continue to increase in popularity. It’s a tough marketplace for the PC at this moment of time and they no longer have a monopoly over the marketplace like they used to.  The UK PC market suffered its worst decline is sales for five years in the last quarter of 2011 according to Gartner, a 19.6% decline upon last year. The last quarter of 2011 also saw a decrease in sales by 13. 5% in the professional sector.

 

Other than the increase in the popularity of alternative PC devices, the current economic climate has had just as big an impact on PC sale figures along with the lack of innovation.  Ranjit Atwal, Research Director at Gartner, said:

"The PC has not changed as consumers and users have changed their habits,"

"One thing the PC makers have not done over the last few years is make products that are innovative in terms of compelling features and novel form factors."

 

"There's the need for a fundamental re-think of how we make these gadgets compelling,"

 For more of Ranjit Atwal’s views on PC growth visit, click here.

 PC manufacturers have already tried slashing prices to no avail. The PC market requires innovation more than anything in order to attract consumer interest and to push growth. The only PC platform to have increased its sales figures compared to last year is the Apple Mac, perhaps the most innovative out of all the manufacturers in the table above.

New Hope

There is hope ahead for the PC market with even Gartner predicting that things can only get better, and it’s hoped that major new games with heavily enriched graphics will help to drive upgrades. Ultrabooks released from the end of the last year is also expected to help reignite PC sales figures. The term Ultrabook was provided by Intel for a new generation of portable PC’s featuring their technology, however, it is now being used as a catch-all term for light, thin and ultraportable laptops.

Intel has reported that Ultrabooks have “ultra-capabilities” including greater battery power, instant-on, quick standby and enhanced security features. They also believe that the Ultrabook will be a lighter alternative to tablet devices for those who prefer to work with a full QWERTY keyboard.  To find out about Ultrabooks to be released in 2012 you can click here.

Summary

It’s expected that sales will continue to increase for tablet PC’s in the near future but not at the expense of the PC.  Tablet PC’s are still relatively new and fresh, appealing to the masses.  It’s true to say that the PC has had a tough time of it over the last few years competing with new innovative devices, however there is no doubt that the PC will bounce back in the near future and once again find a place in consumers hearts.It’s expected that sales will continue to increase for tablet PC’s in the near future but not at the expense of the PC.  Tablet PC’s are still relatively new and fresh, appealing to the masses.  It’s true to say that the PC has had a tough time of it over the last few years competing with new innovative devices, however there is no doubt that the PC will bounce back in the near future and once again find a place in consumers hearts.

Burberry Prorsum

Came across this video showing how Burberry has incorporated wonderful and innovative digital methods into the heart of its brand...Cara Delevigne is also extremely hot in this video!!

Using social media to optimise your online marketing performance

Social Media is a great way for companies to drive their marketing activities and to optimise their online performance.

It’s all gone social

Social media has led to a fundamental shift in communication, reshaping the way that companies interact with companies. It’s having a great impact on everyday life and companies are continuing to embrace it in order to increase their online presence, engage with customers and to build business.

It’s a mistaken belief that you can simply setup a Facebook and Twitter account, post a few status updates and then bobs your uncle, customers are flocking to your site to purchase your products/services. Only if it was that easy, the fact of the matter is that it can be very difficult to see though a social media strategy with many underestimating the time and effort required to succeed in the digital space.

We believe that all companies should know the fundamentals when building their social network and that’s why we are going to offer you essential tips for running your prime social channels:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Blog
• YouTube

Facebook

Companies should setup a welcome section for its fan page. This will let people know what they can expect from following your brand. It helps to increase signups, your conversion ratings and your ROI. A great landing page with a clear call to action can help your company to save money on advertising costs.

The more likes and diverse comments that the company gets on an update, the more people’s walls and homepages they are shown on, which in turn gives greater exposure to your company. Facebook is a great way to engage with your audience by posting questions, contests, sharing photos or videos and sharing content that will make someone want to keep coming back to the page. It is a great way to drive interactions with your audience.

Google Plus

Using similar tactics to that of Facebook for Google Plus would be an effective way of increasing your presence on that platform. Google Plus was launched last year to compete with Facebook and remains a relatively new social platform with no set guidelines on how to best optimise your marketing performance using this channel. A few quick tips to get you started are:

• To share your blog info on your profile.
• To use strategic keywords and phrases in your status updates, as Google Plus is more open to searching and will allow you to rank higher in traditional Google searches.
• To write unique engaging content for status updates.
• To upload relevant and captivating pictures/videos.
• To make sure that your profile is open to search.
• To use circles to communicate with potential clients, media and prospects. For example you can create a circle for prospective clients and then provide them with industry news, media, and case studies and so on to suit them.
• To use Google Plus hangouts, where you can chat live on video from your computer or mobile device with up to 10 people.

Twitter

When using Twitter, companies should look to share insightful content around their industry and to engage with smart people on subjects that are most meaningful to the company. It is important to build relationships first and then to promote your content.

Spread links that can be retweeted by your audience, whilst retweeting yourself. If you are wondering how to shorten links so that you have more space to comment, simply visit www.bitly.com enter the URL and your link will be shortened to copy and paste. When tweeting it’s good to include the company’s blog post links but it’s more important to comment on other peoples’ tweets. By promoting others over yourself, the company’s twitter following will grow and there is the chance to engage people whilst driving them back to your blog.

The @ feauture is a good way to reply to your audience when you can. In addition, links should not always be about the organisation’s business topic, it’s good to mix it up by having fun every so often and as a result steady traffic should role in.

Blogging

For many companies blogs are their focal point of their online marketing operation. It is an opportunity for them to establish its identity and directly communicate with those interested in the company’s services. However it’s no longer enough just to write content on a consistent basis. There is so much competition in every niche online nowadays that you have to stand out from the crowd and be unique. To do this it is essential to write compelling content, be an authentic representation within your field and interact with your community as much as possible. Everything you do has to be about the reader in order to serve their needs. Adding media such as pictures and videos can help increase interest in your blog.

It is essential to build up relationships with other bloggers, ways to do this include:

• Content promotion off the blog.
• Commenting on other blogs.
• Quickly responding to comments made on the company’s blog.
• Automatic distribution and syndication.
• Repurposing of content.
• Encouraging social popularity.

These are all ways of building relationships. In the long term after building relationships, there is an opportunity to ask other bloggers to write in return for writing about their products and services.

YouTube

YouTube can be a great way to be entertaining whilst also being informative about your company’s products/services. It’s an effective method of marketing, using your visual creative input rather than relying primarily on written content. Videos on your YouTube channel could include:

• Advice guides for products/services.
• Client testimonials.
• A company background.
• Past, present and future projects.
• Product overview.

After Google, YouTube is the second most popular search engine. It is a useful platform to help build your brand.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be a valuable source to network with others in your industry. Essentially, it’s an effective way for working professionals to explore business opportunities with each other. However, LinkedIn can also be a useful source for enticing traffic. Adding links on your LinkedIn profile and email footer can prove to be very effective in building traffic. It would also be positive to post links to social media and blog sites.

To find out how companies are using social media to spearhead their multichannel marketing strategies, visit my multichannel marketing blog.

Here is a great post from the social media top dogs themselves at Mashable, explaining the key behaviours required to succeed in your strategy.