The net result of this issue is that even if you believe you have impenetrable defenses against hackers, your users and your data are vulnerable if a completely different site is hacked, due to password reuse/fatigue. Furthermore, it’s a rare company that truly has an impenetrable defense against hackers.

In addition to security issues, traditional registration on a site also comes along with increased costs. There is a cost to securing and encrypting registration data to prevent the kind of security breaches that have become all too common, but there are support costs, as well. Anyone running a site that requires users to sign in knows that the number one driver of customer support calls is users who can’t remember their credentials. In fact, Forrester has reported that password reset requests comprise 20-50% of the customer support volume for an online business, at an average cost of $70 per password-related support request. Ironically, the very reason why these users can’t sign in is often because they were practicing good password hygiene and can’t remember their secure passwords.

Share 60% of online users have more than 5 unique passwords they have to remember.

There are hidden costs related to traditional registration, as well. In a study commissioned by Janrain, nine out of ten people admitted to having left a website when they could not remember the username or password they had registered there, costing companies customers and potential revenue.

Share 50% of online users dislike the idea of creating new usernames and passwords.

Thankfully, there is a simple solution to these problems, and that is social login—enabling your users to register and sign in using the well-established identities they have already created at sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Yahoo!. Not only can you eliminate the need for site visitors to create yet another account with a username and password that they are likely to forget, you can rest assured that they will still be able to get access to an email address for future marketing efforts.

Share List of networks that provide a verified email address via social login.

The concept of password hassle, or Password Fatigue Syndrome, really resonates with people when you stop to think about how many passwords you have and use on a daily basis. Can you relate to some of the responses in this Harris Interactive study?

Share 40% of online visitors would rather scrub a toilet than create a new password.

Last night, the Technology Association of Oregon honored some of those companies who are putting Oregon on the map with their technology and mission. It can’t be easy to choose just four to put a spotlight on, because Portland has an abundance of technology companies who have or are on the verge of success.

For all of us at Janrain, just to be in the company with the likes of Iovation, Puppet Labs, FEI, Digimarc, Vendscreen and the other nominees for Technology Company of the Year is such a compliment to all that we’ve achieved. And to be selected as the Rising Star Technology Company of the Year is a huge and humbling honor that reflects the smart, dedicated people who bring their talent and passion everyday to the important work we’re doing on behalf of our customers.

Congratulations to all the nominees, winners and those who devote themselves to this incredible technology community. Thanks to the Technology Association of Oregon for acknowledging the great work we, and the entire community, are doing.

By the way, the Portland tech community would likely edit that common goal mentioned above to read: bring the very best technology to the world, and put Portland, Oregon’s Silicon Forest on the global map as the premier community for starting and growing world-class technology companies.

There’s almost always reasons, or benefits, for visitors to register at a site such as expediting checkout, participating in a community, leaving a comment and accessing premium content, but these benefits aren’t always clear or well communicated in a way that compels people to create an account. And since we know that the majority of people dislike registration forms and setting up new username and password combinations, we can’t assume they’ll want to take action on a site without receiving some value in exchange.

The Registration Value Exchange

We address this very challenge and opportunity in our new interactive Prezi slideshow titled Reasons to Register Online: Increase Registration Conversion by Giving More Than You Get. In addition to best practices, we include real-world examples from brands doing a great job of communicating the reasons people should register at their site, and added a bonus checklist of recommended steps to point you in the right direction. You can check it out right here:

We’re pretty excited about our first Prezi, so let us know what you think and whether we should do more of these.

The challenge is that all this activity happens across many social networks. Conversations are fragmented, and it’s easy to miss something if fans can’t keep up with accounts at all on these sites.

Lee Hammond, VP of Technology at Interscope Records understands these common obstacles that stand in the way of building loyal relationships, which led him to work with Janrain years ago. His efforts have significantly improved fan access to artists, encouraged multi-channel engagement, and increased new artist and music discovery. Learn how Interscope Records achieved these impressive results and watched their registration rates soar 10 to 50% across artist sites in this Customer Success Story.

Download Case Study

As its become increasingly clear that consumers’ expectations have evolved to one where they are more open to sharing personal information in exchange for that personalised experience, UK broadcaster, Channel 4, has put forward a strategy that includes viewer registration at the core of their business. Recent research indicates they’re on the right track: 85% of UK consumers would like social login to be offered as an alternative when registering for sites over the standard web registration process.

Once viewers have signed in using social login, they have access to Channel 4 digital content that sits behind the secure sign-in wall, allowing for frictionless movement across programs, content and different devices. As any smart marketer does, Channel 4 clearly communicates the benefits of registering on their site, and explains exactly how their personal data will benefit their experience.

“Organisations are recognising that in order to truly put the customer at the heart of the business, they have to find a way of offering highly relevant and engaging content,” says Russell Loarridge, European Sales Director, Janrain. “Extrapolating what customers want based upon basic profile information will no longer be enough as digital content becomes increasingly personalised.”

The registration solution and social login was first used on Channel 4’s popular Million Pound Drop, which aired during September. An average of 96,000 unique people played along online per episode during that series.

“Through registration, our audience gain a deeper, more rewarding viewing experience as they watch the show live with the benefits of the interactive experience –and in turn, via the social login information, we have a greater insight into our audience which in turn informs our viewer engagement strategy.” says Steve Forde, Head of Viewer Relationship Management at Channel 4.

All of us agree with Russell when he says, “We are absolutely delighted to be part of Channel 4’s vision to put the customer at the heart of the business and have welcomed working with a great team at Channel 4 who have such clarity of vision.”

At the same time, social media is continuing to impact retail in a variety of ways. Sprout Social says that 74% of people rely on social networks to guide a purchase decision – and I’m not surprised. With word-of-mouth marketing becoming an increasingly important consideration for retailers, ecommerce and marketing teams must work together in order to ensure the strategies and programs are in place to impact social references.

The rise of online sales and the growing importance of social media collide to create a significant opportunity for retailers over the upcoming years. Many innovative retailers have discovered that social commerce is what happens on their own website when they integrate social elements like social login, social sharing or the ability to shop with friends into their existing online shopping experience. The future of social commerce lies within leveraging the popularity of social networks to grow sales at the retailer’s own site.

Take a look at three examples of retailers doing this well and what they’re doing.

Samsung Highlights Strong Product Reviews

Shoppers most often turn to consumer reviews when it comes to seeking information on product performance and quality before they buy, so presenting authentic user-generated reviews on product pages provides an opportunity to increase purchase conversion. People want to know what other people’s real-life experience with the product has been like, and whether they’d recommend it to a friend.

A recent study by Weber Shandwick reveals that the most influential reviews include key elements: they seem fair and reasonable, are well written, and contain product specifications and technical data. When you have all these elements of good reviews, a best practice is to highlight the very best like Samsung does.

UGG Expedites the Checkout Process

UGG is doing a great job of focusing on the shopper’s checkout experience and removing obstacles that could possibly interfere with a purchase. They know that 86% of consumers admit to leaving a website when faced with a registration form so they also offer social login as a means to create an account while expediting the checkout process. Shoppers can choose to use their Facebook, Google or Yahoo! profile to pre populate some of the required fields and bypass those hurdles.

And if shoppers leave the site before purchasing those boots, UGG sends them an email reminder. With social login, UGG collects a verified email address to use in remarketing efforts. One click from this email and the shopper is back at their cart, ready to checkout with those boots.

Macy’s Taps Into the Social Graph

Shopping is a social experience, and one of the main reasons is that we like to ask our friend’s for their opinion on our purchases. Macy’s gives online shoppers tools to get that type of feedback on products from their friends using a polling widget on their site.

From any product page, shoppers can create a poll by adding a few products that they’re interested in to the tool. Once the poll is created, the shopper shares it directly to their Timeline for friends to see, along with a message asking for their opinion by voting for a product.

48 hours later, the shopper has input from her friends on products that she’s interested in, and Macy’s has earned impressions from her friends by tapping into the shopper’s social graph.

When you look at commerce leaders today and those making the headlines, many are being recognized for demonstrating innovation in these key areas and responding to shopper’s expectations for a more social experience when shopping online. These retailers are finding that the technology exists to not just offer a consistent brand experience online but to truly take the online shopping experience to a whole new level.

What innovative examples have you seen where retailers integrate social elements into their online shopping experience?

“We knew it was the perfect time to implement new solutions that would support direct customer relationships and allow us to engage with our product users in ways that offer true value for them.” – Matthew Moller, Director of Digital Engagement, Samsung

A critical step in developing valuable relationships is having a reliable way to reach customers: a verified email address. Matthew recognized early on that making it easier for customers to register and create an account would open the door to these relationships. Janrain social login was the right solution to reach his objectives, offering customers a simple method to create a new account, that also gave Samsung permission to access a verified email address and other useful profile data.

Samsung found the Janrain solution incredibly valuable because they often miss out on the direct customer connection when people buy their product from carriers, eCommerce sites or retailers. Now they can better know their customers, learn more about them and improve their marketing communications.

Samsung priorities

A top priority for Samsung is a commitment to keep their customer profile data safe and secure to maintain the trust they’ve built with consumers. Leveraging Janrain social login allows them to create a personalized experience and expedited registration without requiring users to register a username or password. Samsung also wanted an innovative partner that is constantly evolving within a rapidly changing environment, which Janrain has proven to be.

Results: High value customers

By offering account creation on their site using social login, Samsung is definitely removing hurdles for customers ready to register a new product. In doing so, Samsung is collecting valuable data on these customers, including a verified email address. This has significantly improved their email marketing efforts as they have found that social login users are:

• 34% more likely to open email
• 63% more likely to click through a link in the email
• 506% more likely to leave a product review

“The quality of profile attributes that we’re adding to the Samsung customer database is powerful data that has the potential to significantly impact our future marketing programs.” - Lee Talbott, Sr Manager at Merkle, Samsung’s CRM agency partner

Read the full Samsung Customer Success Story

Roadrunner Records’ Director of Web Properties, Jeremy Rosen immediately saw an opportunity with Janrain’s social login and social sharing tools to offer an easy way for website visitors to quickly set up an account and share content they like with their social networks to foster discovery and conversations.

“Once you’re logged in, it’s really easy to share. Just one click to share to Facebook or Twitter, or with email contacts.” –  Jeremey Rosen

Turn up the volume on engagement

By enabling visitors to easily share content to their Facebook Timeline, Roadrunner Records amplifies awareness of their artists across the open graph. Each story published to Facebook by music fans reaches an average of 105 friends though the Newsfeed and receives 50 pieces of feedback (a Like or Comment). And because people trust endorsements from people they know, 43% of audience-shared stories are clicked on. On average, each post shared to a social network sees 26 clicks back to the website.

Roadrunner Records artists are reaping the benefits of online engagement and awareness as a result of integrating Janrain social login and social sharing technology on their site.

Read Full Case Study

See it in action!

Driving much of this success is Robert Stone, DPSG Director of Interactive Media, who saw a greater opportunity to “interact with their consumers, on their own terms, by streamlining the process that initiates that engagement with DPSG brands”.

Stone knew that by removing any friction associated with traditional registration, they could help fans engage with their favorite brands more easily – on their websites as well as within their marketing campaigns on microsites and Facebook. The first deployment of Janrain social login was on a popular, ongoing engagement campaign right within the Facebook platform:  the Every Bottle Wins! campaign.

This campaign runs right within the 7UP and Sunkist Soda’s Facebook pages and allows users to redeem codes and deposit credits for these brands, as well as Sundrop, A&W Root Beer and Canada Dry all without leaving the Facebook interface. Upon arrival at the Facebook app page, fans choose an existing identity like Facebook, Google, or Yahoo! to create an account or log in to get redemption started.

Winning Results

By making it easy for fans to engage with the brand,

• 93% of new fans register at the Every Bottle Wins! page in order to redeem credits
• Once fans have logged in, they’re encouraged to engage with the brand and the community seamlessly with ongoing promotion campaigns within Facebook
• With social login, DPSG earns permission to access social profile data to better understand their fans and improve their future marketing engagement

View full Case Study

So many in fact, that centralization of updates, posts and news could have a positive impact on fans’ fragmented engagement and boost affinity. Interscope Records has long believed in making engagement easy for fans, which is one reason they chose Janrain years ago for their user management platform needs.

The new Interscope.com is a gold record

I had the privilege to get a sneak peak at their beta site a few months ago when our client, Lee Hammond was in town to speak with me at the Bandwidth conference. I was immediately impressed!

Attention, time and engagement is fragmented as people devote these precious resources across an increasing number of communities and social networks which makes it difficult for everyone to connect in a meaningful way. Interscope Records has recognized the need to unify the multiple streams of content into one home base for fans to get real time updates and engage with their favorite artists without having to visit multiple sites.

Streaming real-time tweets, news and posts at a central location, Intercope.com, with our partner Echo’s technology has created an immersive experience for music lovers. When they’re ready to comment, share or engage, fans can use social login as to quickly create an account with an existing profile from Facebook, Twitter or others like Google.

The social web is constantly evolving based on new technology, sites and networks, in conjunction with users’ expectations, needs and wants. The challenge for marketers goes beyond staying fresh and top of mind, but providing the content, resources and experiences that your audience wants today while looking forward at the same time. As organizations continue to increase onsite engagement and activity, we’ll recommend that they look to Interscope.com as a model of providing a high value user experience.