Data provider companies have now become substantial parts of market research teams, they are the ones who cover all the needs for fresh and insightful data. Let’s take a closer look at company data providers, how to find your ideal provider and ways that their data can change your marker research.

Who are company data providers?

Using data in market research sounds all great until the drawback of data collection arises. In fact, in research conducted by Gartner, poor data quality is the primary reason for 40% of all business initiatives failing to achieve their targeted benefits. As a result, new players entered the market to assist companies with data collection for their research.

Company data providers are an organization that supplies fresh, insightful, and constructed data for use of consumption by third parties. A data provider is responsible for collecting the freshest data, storing it, constantly updating it, and ensuring that it is accurate.

By using company data provider services, market research teams will save a lot of their time, which they can use to construct new marketing strategies. In the long run, they will be saving money, since their time will be worth more than paying for company data provider insights.

According to a recent study by Statista, the global market research industry is expected to reach $90 billion by 2025. This once again confirms the need to work with a company data provider, who has all the tools and knowledge to revise data quickly and provide it for your market research and strategy construction.

The main benefits of working with a company data provider

Aside from dealing with the marketing aspect of a company, many of these marketing managers are forced to spend most of their time searching for valuable data. In the meanwhile, the companies that work with data providers experience many benefits from ready-to-go datasets. Here is more information on the benefits of working with a company data provider:

Data availability

The first and foremost advantage of hiring a company data provider is definitely how easy you will be able to access data whenever you need it. Company employees won’t have to work overtime to explore and sort data for their market research, instead, they can access a centralized system where all data is sorted and updated.

Hiring additional employees to work with data collection isn’t a rational decision either, since the costs will equal the same as hiring a data provider. What’s more, is that company data providers have all the correct tools and licenses to collect data which is just another point to their system.

Data accuracy

When it comes to data nowadays, there is a ton of it, so much that you can simply get lost and go off track. In a market research business, there is no room for similar mistakes or inaccurate data points.

That’s why by choosing a reliable data provider who is certified at handling large batches of data, companies can be sure that they are using only accurate data and receiving the most insights they can possibly gather about the market.

Data entirety

The data you are using for your market research must be appropriate and contain all the details provided by a customer. The problem of collecting data on your own is that you can often find free datasets with information, but these datasets don’t provide it all, they can blur out phone numbers, addresses, etc.

Unfinished datasets can take a harmful toll on a business, which is why you should choose a company data provider to supply your datasets. They will always make sure all customer details are provided and appropriate.

Data security

Having all employees deal with data collection and putting it all into one database can become a threat to security. Even though data is a strong foundation for further research, it should be handled very fragilely and strictly.

By hiring a company data provider your data will stay secure between you and the provider. You can then further share certain parts of data on command to a limited set of employees and restrict their access whenever needed. Only in this way, you can ensure data security and prevent any data leakage.

How to select a reliable data provider?

Now that you have learned about the benefits of working with a company data provider, let’s take a look at three aspects you should know when choosing a reliable and high-standard data provider:

1. Coverage and freshness. Always justify what data collection aspects your provider will handle and how often they update their datasets. With access to the freshest data in your industry, you will be getting a huge business advantage.
2. Communication. A key moment to analyze when choosing a reliable company data provider is their feedback and overall communication. It’s important that a provider can cater to your needs and understand your requests with a small explanation.
3. Accurate and secure. Now lastly before committing to a company data provider test whether the information they provide meets your business needs. You should also check their license for data collection and security systems.

The key ways data is changing market research

At its core, data can completely change the way you do business and your success results. Even studies have found that 92% of marketing professionals believe that data is essential to their success. An additional 78% of them say that data is driving their investment decisions. Here are a few ways that data contributes to market research and success:

Customer behavior and preferences

Using data market research companies can detect how customers behave with certain products and services, and this way they can highlight many of their preferences. Behavior trends across multiple channels are stored in databases within reach at all times.

Market patterns and trends

Even though having access to the newest data is important, past data can influence your market research. In older data, you can detect certain patterns and trends and use them to predict the future market.

Targeting and personalization

By combining market research with fresh data insights, marketers can create personalized and targeted campaigns for each customer base. This way they are increasing the chances of reaching the correct audience and making a successful sale.

Final thoughts

As we come to an end, we have set straight that data is the sole foundation of modern market research and success. For business convenience, time-saving, and security, they should hire company data providers who will quickly supply all the data needed to conduct market-changing research. Data providers have all the tools and knowledge to provide the best insights in the market.

The post The Role of Company Data Providers in Market Research appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Worldwide IT spending is expected to post a major slowdown in 2016, as economic weakness in emerging markets and saturation of the smartphone market combine to result in a significantly slower pace of tech spending growth compared to the past six years, reads a new post from IDC.

Having posted annual growth of 5-6% in constant currency terms since recovery from the financial crisis in 2010, the global IT market is expected to increase by just 2% this year (in constant currency). Total IT spending on hardware, software and services will reach $2.3 trillion in 2016. Including telecom services, total ICT spending will increase by 2% to $3.8 trillion.

This information is derived from the latest data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Black Book.

“Aside from exchange rate volatility, IT spending has been relatively stable for the past five years,” said Stephen Minton, Vice President with IDC’s Customer Insights and Analysis group. “Excluding mobile phones, overall tech spending has continued to grow at 3-4% each year in constant currency terms since we recovered from the disruption of the financial crisis. A solid PC upgrade cycle in 2014 was followed by a major cycle of infrastructure spending in 2015, mostly driven by cloud. IT buyers continue to prioritize software investments like data analytics and enterprise mobility, and have increasingly leveraged the service provider model in order to increase the effectiveness of their IT budgets. Underlying buyer sentiment is strong.”

The post IDC: Global IT Spending Expected to Slow This Year appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

“At $13.3 billion in Q1 2015, U.S. internet ad revenues hit a record-breaking first quarter high,” notes the IAB. “This new industry high represents a 16 percent increase over 2014’s first quarter record-setting total of $11.4 billion.”

The data was revealed in a recent IAB/PwC report.

The reasons?

“Digital screens are an indisputable part of consumers’ lives,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO at IAB. “In turn, interactive is taking on an even more vital role in today’s marketing mix — and these historic figures confirm its growing importance.”

Sherrill Mane, the Senior Vice President for Research Analytics and Measurement at IAB, agrees.

“Brand marketers need to be where the consumers are – and as of today, that is unquestionably on digital,” Mane said “This double-digit growth speaks to the incredible popularity of interactive screens.”

The post It’s a New Record for U.S. Internet Ad Revenues appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

According to Mirela Nemtanu, the company’s manager for corporate communication and public affairs in Romania, “The digital plays a major role: in the cosmetic and beauty area, the percentage of those who search online before buying is 70%. That means that social media is a must.”

She continued, “It is very important to know the consumer. We’ve all transitioned from the classic marketing model to the modern version, in which the consumer is instrumental.”

How well a company communicates online and what its online brand perception is, is now more important than ever, as more and more consumers are going online to find out about the products they want to purchase as the companies that offer them.

“The new 360-degree communication and marketing strategies make it possible to develop a direct relationship with consumers while boosting brand image and positioning,” admits a spokesperson for the venerable cosmetics brand.

The post L’Oreal: 70% of Consumers Are Now Doing Online Research appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The dominance of touchscreen user interfaces will reduce over the next 5 years as more sensors are introduced to mainstream products and entirely new product form-factors emerge, enabling and necessitating new user interfaces like voice, gesture, eye-tracking, and neural.

That’s the prediction from ABI Research‘s recent report which examines popular user interface (UI) methods as well as the natural sensory technologies transitioning from research labs into future product solutions.

“Touch got mobile device usability to where it is today, but touch will become one of many interfaces for future devices as well as for new and future markets,” says Senior Practice Director Jeff Orr. “The really exciting opportunity arrives when multiple user interfaces are blended together for entirely new experiences.”

As mobile applications integrate more technology, the UI must be kept simple enough to be intuitive, ABI says in a press release detailing its new report.

“Packing a mobile device with sensors goes little beyond being a novelty,” adds Orr. “Complexity contradicts good UI design and a critical mass of engaging mobile applications are required for mainstream adoption.”

The post Report: Wearables Are Cool… But Too Complex appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

“Overall, the femtocell and enterprise small cell equipment market has seen robust unit and revenue growth over the previous half-year period, and we remain optimistic that these small cell segments have sufficient market drivers and support among operators to sustain continuous year-over-year unit and revenue growth through 2018,” explains Webb, the firm’s directing analyst for mobile backhaul and small cells.

“4G macro network deployments are underway in many places, and operators are starting to launch 4G-based femtocells to augment mobile broadband services,” he adds. “Boosted by enterprise small cell adoption kicking in to help mobile operators support enterprise-specific voice and data offerings, we believe 4G femtocell and enterprise small cell revenue will climb to $2.3 billion in 2018, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 77 percent from 2013 to 2018.”

Highlights from the new report, excerpts of which were shared with MMW, include:

• Worldwide femtocell and enterprise small cell equipment revenue reached $144 million in 1Q14, up 6% from 4Q13
• LTE femtocells, the highest ARPU products in the market, are a driving force behind revenue growth, though W-CDMA femtocells still make up the dominant proportion of unit shipments
• The residential segment led with 59% of femtocell revenue in 1Q14, ahead of the enterprise small cell segment
• These are distinct markets in their own right, and Infonetics expects to see increasing specialization from vendors and operators alike
• Integrated femtocells grew to 8% of total units in 1Q14 and are anticipated to account for about a third of unit shipments by 2018, predominantly into the residential segment
• Femtocell/enterprise small cell equipment revenue market share leaders in 1Q14 are, in alphabetical order, Airvana, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, and ip.access

The post Mobile Broadband Services a Higher Priority for Operators appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Collectively, all of the tweets issued throughout the social network’s existence amount to a vast array of data.

Now, at the behest of the microblogging giant, Twitter is making it possible for researchers to access these enormous reserves of information. Contained within this data, TechCrunch reports, are insights – “from flu trends to New Years celebrations” – that could be used for the edification or betterment of humankind.

Researchers can apply to get free access to Twitter’s public tweets and historical data through one of its official data resellers Gnip.

“What if the next generation of data scientists could have access to social data for their research? And what if we could help increase the quantity and quality of published research using social data?” asks Chris Moody, CEO of Gnip. “Exploring what might be possible has led to an exciting new collaboration between Twitter and Gnip.”

Moody says Twitter is now accepting Data Grant proposals for non-commercial, academic research. It should be noted, however, that the submission period will run through March 15th.

“Twitter will select a small number of recipients on April 15th,” Moody says. “Gnip will provide grantees with the data they need for their research projects, and Twitter engineers will be available for research support.”

What potential do you believe historical tweets hold for the future?

The post Your Tweets Are Now 'History' appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

According to the latest market research and corresponding data from Canalys, the client computing market climbed 17.9% in Q4 of 2013 to 158 million units.

Not surprisingly, Apple claimed the largest market share with 19.5%. Consequently, Apple’s PC market share now leads that of Dell’s and even HP’s.

Apple’s 26 million iPads gave it 34% of the tablet market, up from 27% in the prior quarter, the firm said, helped by the introduction of the iPad “Air” and the refresh of the iPad Mini in October. In total, Apple’s tablet and PC units combined added up to 30.87 million units, up 15% from the prior-year period.

Barron’s reported Wednesday that these impressive numbers also put Apple ahead of Lenovo, which placed second with an 11.8% market share.

With regard to Android, the outlook is positive. “Competition is mounting and Android tablets are falling in price, which will put pressure on Apple’s market share in 2014,” researchers at Canalys project.

The post Mobile Continues to Erode PC Dominance appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

No, that statement was not written by someone drinking vodka. It’s not even a cute reference for drunk texting. We literally mean that a text message has been sent via vodka.

Here’s the skinny.

According to published reports Friday, the aforementioned researchers succeeded in their task by sending a “chemical signal” four meters across the lab with the aid of a tabletop fan.

Using a method also known as molecular communication, the programmable experiment uses chemical signalling from the evaporated alcohol found in vodka. The message is demodulated by a receiver that measures the rate of change in concentration of the alcohol molecules, picking up whether the signal strength increases or decreases.

“We believe we have sent the world’s first text message to be transmitted entirely with molecular communication, controlling concentration levels of the alcohol molecules to encode the alphabet, with single spray representing bits and no spray representing the bit zero,” explains nariman farsad, one of the experiment’s designers.

Hard to believe? Check out the full study report here.

The post Move Over Mobile Marketing, Meet ‘Molecular Marketing’ appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Details were published in Infonetics’ latest Mobile M2M Modules report, which provides market size, analysis, forecasts, and trends for mobile machine-to-machine (M2M) modules by technology, vertical, and region.

“The mobile M2M module segment of the M2M market scaled to new heights in 2012 and then again in the first half of 2013, but as with any evolving industry, this is happening amidst a dynamic, and at times challenging, environment,” explains Godfrey Chua, directing analyst for M2M and connected world at Infonetics Research.

“We expect the next 12 to 36 months to bring further industry consolidation and continued vetting of M2M business models,” Chua continues. “These factors, when coupled with macroeconomic issues including a tepid U.S. recovery and uncertainty in Europe and the ongoing transitions between technology platforms (2G to 3G to 4G), temper the near-term growth prospects of mobile M2M modules. Overcoming these challenges will be key to laying the foundation for the accelerated growth we anticipate in a few years.”

To review these and other findings from the new Infonetics report, click here.

The post Vendor Consolidation Continues in the Mobile M2M Module Market appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.