I recently sat down with Janrain Solutions Engineer Kevin Long to discuss the state of password security and how websites can better protect themselves and their users from security breaches.
Hey Kevin, thanks for sitting down with me to discuss the topic of password security. Given some of the breaches that have been well-publicized recently, I think this is a very timely discussion.
Can you walk me through the process most websites go through to collect and store a password for a new user?
Robert Scoble recently sat down for a lively talk with our founder, Larry Drebes about the Janrain User Management Platform. We love that Robert tells developers that “they need to consider Janrain for their user management system” because in essence, we’ve done all the work so that they can focus on changing the world with their core competencies. Plus Robert shares his own frustrations with setting up a new account at websites as the two discuss the usefulness of social login.
A recent research headline may surprise online marketers seeking higher conversion: visitors to your website prefer to use social login over a traditional registration. In fact, 77% of the people surveyed by Blue Research said they find social login helpful and would like more websites to offer it.
Earlier this month, we published data examining quarterly social login and sharing trends across the 365,000 websites using Janrain Engage. The data demonstrated Facebook’s position as the most popular choice for social login. But our findings also emphasized the value of choice, given that 58% of online users prefer registering on sites with a social identity from Google, Yahoo!, Twitter or other networks.
Similar to prior analyses, we have taken a sampling of sites in prominent industry verticals to measure trends in consumer login preferences. While the overall story arc is similar across these verticals, there are disparate preferences within each segment that merit attention.
Janrain has released support for social network mixi and the timing couldn’t be better. mixi is the largest and fastest growing social network in Japan and a world social network leader. Just last week mixi announced a partnership with Twitter to expand each others reach. mixi’s users have a global range and links Japanese diaspora to the Japanese culture by connecting them to the friends and family of their heritage.
The social media landscape is fragmented. People use Facebook to interact with friends and family, Twitter to follow influencers and share opinions, LinkedIn for their professional network, and Gmail, Yahoo! or Hotmail to communicate directly with contacts. Combined, these networks boast over 1.5 billion accounts.
Coupled with increasing reluctance from consumers to maintain distinct usernames and passwords on each frequently visited site, brands are rapidly seeking ways to leverage social network identities within their own properties. Through a secure process known as social login, these identities can be used to speed up registration on sites across the web. But which identities do people prefer both for sign-in and content sharing?
Personalization is far from an exact science. Despite the torrent of consumer data and merchandising tools at an online retailer’s disposal, product recommendations on eCommerce sites today often are plagued by irrelevance, banality and inaccuracy. Coupled with privacy concerns, this has caused a segment of online shoppers to question the value of personalization.
While consumers have been slow to cozy up to the idea, this isn’t because personalization is a poor merchandising strategy – retailers simply aren’t doing it right. So how do you recommend products that are actually aligned with a consumer’s current interests? Which data sources provide the best window into a shopper’s motivations? These are the questions eCommerce managers should be asking.
The data within a consumer’s social network profile may hold the keys to effective personalization. But before explaining why, let’s start by looking at how eCommerce personalization works today.
When people arrive at your website they come with a purpose and generally want to find what they’re looking for, participate in your online community, or purchase right away. Any hurdles along the way could provide just the reason they need to switch over to a competitor’s website with hopes of a better experience. We’ve all visited the site with a registration form that looks like a college application, or the travel site that requires you to enter your mailing address (again) in order to make a purchase.
By offering a social login opportunity early in a user’s visit you not only remove any friction but the information you receive during that exchange can help you improve that very visit. If a user logs in using their Facebook profile, for example, you’ll know by their interests, activities and other “Likes” that she’s probably interested in buying diapers, bottles or toys for her baby. Why is this important?
The role of A/B testing and optimization is not often discussed in social media. With so much focus on content, timeliness, and channel management, it’s often difficult to articulate a clear testing strategy, and most of the time, social media managers don’t have any ability to test messaging because they don’t control the channel – it’s impossible to measure the impact when you can’t see behind the curtain to understand what’s going on.
But, the social elements of your website are an area where multivariate testing is possible. And the results can be applied across your entire social media strategy. Testing should be a fundamental part of the on-site social media plan.
As any B2B marketer would agree, a primary purpose of their website and online activity is directed at generating leads to turn over to the sales team. And not just any lead, but top-quality leads that represent their target audience, big opportunity, and prospect data that is complete and accurate.
Even with a clear focus on lead generating activities that result in on-site conversion, marketers face challenges to reach their goals. In fact, a recent study by Demandbase indicates that 84% of B2B marketers felt their ability to generate new sales leads using their website needed moderate to strong improvement.
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I recently sat down with Janrain Solutions Engineer Kevin Long to discuss the state of password security and how websites can better protect themselves and their users from security breaches.
Robert Scoble recently sat down for a lively talk with our founder, Larry Drebes about the Janrain User Management Platform. We love that Robert tells developers that “they need to consider Janrain for their user management system” because in essence, we’ve done all the work so that they can focus on changing the world with their core competencies. Plus Robert shares his own frustrations with setting up a new account at websites as the two discuss the usefulness of social login.
A recent research headline may surprise online marketers seeking higher conversion: visitors to your website prefer to use social login over a traditional registration. In fact, 77% of the people 
Earlier this month, we published data examining 
Janrain has released support for social network 
The social media landscape is fragmented. People use Facebook to interact with friends and family, Twitter to follow influencers and share opinions, LinkedIn for their professional network, and Gmail, Yahoo! or Hotmail to communicate directly with contacts. Combined, these networks boast over 1.5 billion accounts.
Personalization is far from an exact science. Despite the torrent of consumer data and merchandising tools at an online retailer’s disposal, product recommendations on eCommerce sites today often are plagued by irrelevance, banality and inaccuracy. Coupled with privacy concerns, this has caused a segment of online shoppers to 
When people arrive at your website they come with a purpose and generally want to find what they’re looking for, participate in your online community, or purchase right away. Any hurdles along the way could provide just the reason they need to switch over to a competitor’s website with hopes of a better experience. We’ve all visited the site with a registration form that looks like a college application, or the travel site that requires you to enter your mailing address (again) in order to make a purchase.
The role of A/B testing and optimization is not often discussed in social media. With so much focus on content, timeliness, and channel management, it’s often difficult to articulate a clear testing strategy, and most of the time, social media managers don’t have any ability to test messaging because they don’t control the channel – it’s impossible to measure the impact when you can’t see behind the curtain to understand what’s going on.
As any B2B marketer would agree, a primary purpose of their website and online activity is directed at generating leads to turn over to the sales team. And not just any lead, but top-quality leads that represent their target audience, big opportunity, and prospect data that is complete and accurate.
