Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
 Deal seeking has grown significantly in the past year, according to parago’s third annual shopper study, “Let’s Make a Deal.”
It is now a behavior consistently seen in shoppers from all demographics. Deal seeking is no longer just trendy or born completely out of necessity. Shoppers continue to seek out the very best prices and are willing to go out of their way to save even a little bit.
Consumers are rapidly adopting all forms of deal seeking—especially rebates—through mobile, social and online platforms.
Finding deals is emotionally rewarding
Searching for and finding the best value is a practice now cemented in consumers’ path to purchase due to several factors: greater price sensitivity, reduced perceived spending power, advancing mobile technology and easier access to deals online and via social networks.
“Finding deals is emotionally rewarding to consumers, as it makes them feel as though they are doing everything they can to maintain their standard of living. This attitude is evidenced by their willingness to work across social, mobile, print and digital resources to find the very best price,” said Rodney Mason, CMO of parago, a global incentives and engagement company.
“This study sends a clear message to marketers: shoppers’ appetites for deals and discounts can be fulfilled in a variety of ways, especially via mobile and social as well as rebates, which consumers understand offer deeper discounts than other deals” Mason added.
The “Let’s Make a Deal” shopper study can be downloaded for free here.
Key findings from the research include:
- Price sensitivity is up significantly: Nearly 3 in 4 shoppers are more sensitive to price this year due in part to 42% of those surveyed feeling their purchasing power has decreased.
- Deal-seeking behavior continues to grow: Before shopping, 80% of consumers look for deals, rebates and the best prices; only 69% did so in 2012.
- The majority prefer rebates to instant discounts: All income levels believe rebates are easy to complete and worth the extra step for the deeper savings earned vs. instant discount offers.
- Mobile deal finding jumps: This year, 46% of consumers shop where they can use their smartphones to check prices; only 11% did so last year.
- Demand for deals in social networks: 57% of consumers would like access to exclusive values via social media.
The “Let’s Make a Deal” shopper study was conducted in March 2013 via independent online delivery. More than 1,100 consumers, representative of the U.S. population by education, income and sex, responded to a 50-question survey that explored their deal-seeking behavior.
Tags: deal seeking, mobile, online, purchase behaviors, shopping, social
Posted in Ecommerce, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Monday, May 20th, 2013
 Try it, you’ll like it… talk about it and buy it! Keller Fay Group , which conducts word-of-mouth research, today released new findings that support and explain the success of word of mouth marketing driven by an in-person experience.
The research study, “Experience-Driven Word of Mouth: The Key to Powerful Social Marketing” was commissioned by House Party Inc. , a social marketing company.
A lack of solid, projectable research about what motivates consumers to talk about brands — and about the impact of that talk — leaves many marketers to make marketing decisions that fail to fully capitalize on the opportunities that are afforded by today’s highly social marketplace.
This research explores the factors that trigger word of mouth and assesses which have the greatest impact.
Positive brand experience starts conversations
The research finds that the most powerful conversations are started by a positive brand experience, both in terms of quantity and quality. In fact, topline findings show that over 50% of conversations triggered by an in-person experience spark action to pass along and purchase.
For this study, Keller Fay Group looked at the beverage, household product, media & entertainment, technology, and food & dining categories. Results from over 30,000 consumer interviews, ages 13-69, showed:
- Experience-driven earned media sparks the most action, especially when it references the brand’s media/marketing:
- 55% rate it highly likely to spur them to pass it along, 8 points (17%) higher than media/marketing WOM alone.
- 45% rate it highly likely to spur them to seek more info, 8 points (22%) higher than media/marketing WOM alone.
- 56% rate it highly likely to spur them to purchase, 10 points (22%) higher than media/marketing WOM alone.
- After “need,” “good experience” sparks the most earned (17% and 15%, respectively).
- Ads spark just 5%.
- Social media sparks just 3%.
- Experience-driven earned is the most credible
- 63% rate it highly credible – 10 points (19%) higher than media/marketing WOM, at only 53%.
- Over half of experience-driven earned contains strong recommendation to buy/try — 51% of it does, 11 points (28%) more than media/marketing WOM alone
One fast-growing marketer is all over this magic combination. SodaStream, the leader in at-home soda-making, has been shaking up the soft drink market using word of mouth driven by an in-person experience.
According to Kristin Harp, SodaStream U.S.A’s Marketing Manager, “We’ve built our business on word-of-mouth and turbo-charged our campaigns by adding the in-person experience. We have seen that by putting our soda makers and flavors into the homes and hands — and the social networks — of consumers leads to powerful advocacy coupled with sizable lifts in awareness as well as purchase intent.”
Word of mouth provides credibility
According to Brad Fay, COO of Keller Fay Group, “With all the enthusiasm over social media, it is easy to forget that the most powerful WOM starts with a great in-person experience.
While there are many ways to help drive word of mouth, the best is always positive experiences. In fact, 83% of all WOM about products involves someone who has had personal experience with the brand, and without it credibility and likelihood to purchase falls dramatically.”
The research in this white paper comes from Keller Fay Group’s TalkTrack®, a national syndicated program measuring word of mouth in all forms — face-to-face, over the phone, and digitally via texting, social networking sites, and email. Daily WOM volume and metrics in this white paper are based on interviews collected April 2012 – January 2013. During this time 31,108 interviews were completed among people 13 to 69.
Tags: brand experience, conversations, credibility, KellerFay Group, WOM, word-of-mouth
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Monday, May 20th, 2013
 Based on polling more than 500 restaurant decision makers, including 152 who have participated in daily deal campaigns, and taking into consideration what prior research has shown, Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) and the National Restaurant Association are providing restaurateurs with some of the top tactics for success with daily deal marketing campaigns.
While these tactics are specific to restaurants, we think almost any retailer can gain insight into what makes daily deals work from them.
Here’s an infographic illustrating the findings:
Research shows that best practices for restaurateurs to help ensure daily deal success include:
- Prepare staff to focus on customer service, look for upsell opportunities and track offer redemption
- Schedule daily deal timing based on business needs and seasonality
- Estimate and understand the promotion’s impact on profitability
- Measure success by using free tools provided by daily deal company
- Encourage repeat visitors with a customer loyalty program
Results from the recent online survey conducted by Ipsos MediaCT showed restaurateurs who had successful daily deal experiences stood out as experimental marketers that use a variety of different channels and tactics to drive customer acquisition and retention:
- 94 percent engage with customers via social media (vs. 75 percent of non-daily deal users)
- 77 percent have run more than one daily deal
- 73 percent connect with customers via email (vs. 59 percent of non-daily deal users)
- 79 percent monitor online review sites to see what others are saying about their business (vs. 68 percent of non-daily deal users)
- 71 percent have promoted their business with traditional newspaper and magazine ads (vs. 58 percent of non-daily deal users)
“Daily deals remain a very popular form of marketing for our members, and these are some important steps restaurateurs can take to help ensure a greater return on their investment,” said Julia Kanouse, VP, Strategic Marketing, National Restaurant Association.
“This study reveals how daily deals and the analytical tools that Groupon provides have become a powerful and measurable part of an active restaurateur’s marketing mix,” said Sanjay Gupta, VP, Merchant Marketing, Groupon.
Groupon and the National Restaurant Association have an ongoing partnership to provide restaurateurs with educational content and important marketing resources to help their businesses grow. This content will reside on www.grouponworks.com andhttp://www.restaurant.org.
Tags: 5 ways to succeed, Best Practices, daily deals, Groupon, restaurants
Posted in Best Practices, Internet/New Media, Marketing | No Comments »
Monday, May 20th, 2013
 The effectiveness of social cues in advertisements varies by the medium the ad appears in, according to a Burst Media survey revealing how and why web users interact with brands via social media.
Among respondents who recall social media prompts in advertising, digital ads (61.0%) and television ads (58.7%) are most effective at driving interaction with a brand’s social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
These are followed by print ads (52.4%), radio ads (41.5%) and outdoor ads (39.4%).
Notably, two-thirds (67.6%) of 18 to 34 year-old respondents—including 73.9% of 18 to 34 year-old women—say digital ads that feature prompts to social media assets are effective at inspiring them to take action.
“We found that marketers who use social sharing and action prompts within advertisements create authentic interactions that drive further engagement,” said Mark Kaefer , marketing director, Burst Media.
“On the digital front especially, display, mobile and sponsored online content campaigns that include social media prompts can virally and exponentially extend campaign reach through consumer status updates, likes, tweets, pins and more.”
Survey Highlights
Web users interact with brands on social media for a variety of reasons.
- More than one-half (53.8%) of women and 44.1% of men who interact on social media via cues in advertising cite “to show my support for a brand that I like” as a reason for doing so.
- The gender divide is even wider with the next most-cited reason, which is to access special offers, coupons and/or promotions: 53.2% of women versus just over one-third (35.5%) of men cite this as a reason.
- Notably, two-thirds (66.7%) of 35 to 44 year-old women cite the access to offers/coupons as a reason to interact with a brand’s social assets.
The majority (65.4%) of all survey respondents have at least one social media account set-up for personal use.
- Facebook—at 53.0%—is by far the leading provider. Google+ follows a distant second, with one-quarter (25.6%) of respondents reporting they use the up-and-coming platform.
- Three-fifths (58.6%) of respondents with social media accounts use them at least once a day, and another one-fifth (22.3%) check accounts at least once per week.
Interestingly, Pinterest and Instagram—as image and photo-driven social platforms—skew towards a female audience.
 One-fifth (21.9%) of all female respondents have a Pinterest account, versus only 4.8% of men. The disparity of Pinterest use between the sexes is even greater among 18 to 34 year-olds: 1-in-4 (25.5%) women in this segment have a Pinterest account, versus just 3.6% of men this age.- Instagram’s audience also skews more female than male—10.4% versus 5.8%, respectively. Again, the gender gap is biggest among respondents aged 18 to 34, as 20.8% of women this age have Instagram accounts, versus 8.4% of men.
Download the full “Expanding the Conversation: Leveraging Social Media for Brand Interaction” Online Insights report (PDF) athttp://burstmedia.com/pdf/burst_media_online_insights_2013_04.pdf.
Tags: advertising, Burst Media, call to action, facebook, Instagram, online, Pinterest, TV
Posted in Facebook, Internet/New Media, Marketing, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Friday, May 17th, 2013
According to newly issued original research, Arnold Worldwidehas uncovered the emergence of what it calls “Sherpa Brands.” Brands that provide consumers with increased guidance while celebrating their successes and accomplishments, ultimately leading consumers to feel more empowered and satisfied.
In the same report, ArnoldOn: Sherpa Brands-Guiding Consumers to New Heights, the agency also revealed that 81 percent of consumers believe it’s important for a brand to guide them to better decisions.
Sherpa Brands make the decision-making process simpler, minimizing stress and providing tools, information and recommendations to help people navigate their personal journeys and make better decisions along the way.
“We call them Sherpa Brands because, like a Sherpa who helps climbers navigate the journey up a mountain with the right information and tools and then stands back so the climber can revel in his/her accomplishment, these brands provide both guidance and the ability for the consumer to celebrate his accomplishment,” said Neela Pal , Managing Partner, Global Director of Business & Brand Strategy at Arnold Worldwide.
Here at the TechJournal, we like this concept. When a brand makes us hunt for information (without guiding us to it) or raises questions without answering them, we often end up buying elsewhere. How about you?
This sharply aligns with the close to 90 percent of consumers who prefer brands that provide the right tools, information and recommendations:
- 87 percent of consumers want brands to provide helpful information
- 86 percent of consumers want brands to make things easier/less complex
- 85 percent of consumers want brands to help provide a solution to a problem
Lots of opportunity
“The ultimate goal of a Sherpa Brand is to guide people through a process, whether it’s a path to better health, financial freedom, or achieving a life goal. And importantly, once they’ve achieved that goal, celebrating and rewarding that achievement. Ultimately, this guidance and support leads to higher levels of trust and brand loyalty,” said Pal.
“Through our research we’ve found that while some brands may have some Sherpa attributes, there is a lot of opportunity for the majority of brands to enhance their marketing strategies to become true Sherpa Brands.”
We’d second that notion. Way too many brands are like celebrities hiding under hoodies and dark glasses instead of leading us where we want to go – or where they want us to go, for that matter.
The Shift to Sherpa Brands
Arnold’s research revealed that in a world of “too”—too fast, too many choices, too complex—people value having more control and being able to make decisions that better reflect their priorities and personal values. Sherpa Brands provide the guidance that enables smarter decision-making and opportunities to celebrate the result, which builds a stronger relationship.
- 65 percent of survey respondents agreed that they “Trust brands that help guide them to decisions that make the most of their daily life.”
- 48 percent of consumers agree that “A brand that helps guide them to the decisions that make the most of their daily life makes them more likely to purchase the brand.”
Sherpa Brands strike a balance between doing everything for the consumer and the consumer doing everything. These brands empower consumers by helping them be in control while rewarding them at milestones along the journey.
Tags: Arnoldworldwide, drive affinity, empower consumers, guiding customers, infographic, Sherpa brands
Posted in Best Practices, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Friday, May 17th, 2013
 Despite being far more tech-savvy than previous generations, Generation Y, the 80-million strong cohort of Americans between the ages of 18 and 35, has not forsaken shopping in stores for online purchasing – as long as retailers keep their offerings “fresh” and interesting, says a new report from the Urban Land Institute (ULI).
The report explores the shopping preferences of Gen Yers, who associate shopping with socializing, and who place a high value on living close to retail (another ULI report released this week found that 62 percent of Gen Yers prefer developments offering a mix of shopping, dining and office space).
They bore easily
It notes that while Gen Yers enjoy shopping and dining out, they tend to bore easily, compelling retailers to constantly update their merchandise and find new ways to engage these consumers.
 The study found that 37 percent of Gen Yers love shopping and 48 percent enjoy it. Half of the men surveyed and 70 percent of the women consider shopping a form of entertainment and something to share with friends and family. The appeal of shopping is particularly strong among Gen Yers who are Hispanic and African American.
Gen Yers tend to spread their dollars around generously, the study found, with more than half visiting a variety of retail centers at least once a month, including discount department stores (the retail type most frequently visited by Gen Y), community shopping centers, enclosed malls, department stores, big-box power centers, chain apparel stores, and neighborhood business districts.
 At the same time, 91 percent of respondents said that they had made online purchases over the previous six months, with 45 percent spending more than an hour a day looking at retail-oriented websites.
“Contrary to what some retailers have feared, we found that Gen Y still does most of its purchasing in stores,” said Lachman, president of real estate consulting firm Lachman Associates LLC and executive-in-residence at Columbia University’s Graduate Business School.
Definitely multi-channel shoppers
“Gen Yers use the Internet to research products, compare prices, envision how clothing or accessories might look on them, or respond to flash sales or coupon offers, as well as to purchase items; they are definitely multi-channel shoppers.”
 “Gen Yers have grown up with information technology, and they are accustomed to stimulation in the form of music, light, color, and action,” commented ULI Chief Executive Officer Patrick L. Phillips . “Retailers need to continually change their looks, services, and merchandise offerings in order to keep up with this trend-oriented generation.”
One activity that keeps Gen Y on the move, according to the new ULI report, is dining out: 46 percent of the survey respondents said they dine out at least once a week with friends or family; one quarter do so several times each week. Many consider themselves to be serious “foodies.” When they do eat at home, 65 percent shop at least once a week for groceries.
Gen Y is strong not only in numbers but also in purchasing power. Survey respondents’ median income is over $47,000, even though many are in school and are working only part-time.
Over a third of Gen Yers receive financial assistance from their parents. Many grew up relatively wealthy, and less than nine percent have ongoing credit card debt exceeding $6,000.
The findings from the survey have numerous implications for today’s retail property owners, developers and managers, including the following:
- Restaurants at all price points are popular with Gen Y, but owners should be careful of providing tenants with generous improvement allowances to attract them. Young consumers tend to move from one “hot spot” to another; vacancies can result when a hot trend turns cold.
- Enclosed malls remain popular, but can face challenges to retain their appeal among fickle consumers. To keep shoppers visiting, mall owners should refresh interiors frequently, encourage social gatherings, incorporate movie theaters and renovate obsolete ones, add specialty food purveyors and grocery stores, serve as pick-up points for merchandise ordered online, and encourage pop-up stores.
- Malls are big contributors to the chronic inventory of excess retail space in the U.S.; many are ripe for redevelopment. Smaller formats are more suitable for time-conscious shoppers, many of whom may just be looking at goods that they will ultimately buy online.
- Gen Y strongly supports discount department stores and warehouse clubs – a format that could supplant aging malls and be suitable for infill sites. In contrast, power centers with single-focus “big box” stores are losing out to both warehouse clubs and online aggregators such as Amazon.
- Most lifestyle centers target older, affluent shoppers; to attract Gen Y, owners should focus on apparel brands favored by Gen Y, offer more choice in eateries and include specialties such as a gym, salon, “green” grocer, bike shop, pet store and/or dog run, and uniquely local offerings.
The big winners in Gen Y’s multi-channel purchasing patterns, the report concludes, are warehousing and logistics. E-commerce needs both distribution warehousing and “pick-and-pack” operations. Retailers will continue to experiment with different methods of online and in-store fulfillment in search of cost efficiencies and faster deliveries.
Generation Y: Shopping and Entertainment in the Digital Age, authored by ULI Trustee M. Leanne Lachman , president of real estate consulting firm Lachman Associates LLC; and Deborah L. Brett , founder of Deborah L. Brett & Associates, was released during ULI’s Spring Meeting this week in San Diego. It is based on an online survey of 1,251 Gen Yers conducted by ULI and Lachman Associates, a focus group conducted at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, and a literature search.
Tags: fresh offerings, Gen Y, malls, online, shopping, stores
Posted in Best Practices, Ecommerce, Marketing | No Comments »
Friday, May 17th, 2013
 Mother’s Day online shopping grew 15 percent in the week leading up to Mother’s Day, compared to the same time period last year.
Spurred by mobile commerce, mobile percentage of sales reached 17 percent, according to IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) Digital Analytics Benchmark, a cloud-based analysis of the online retail market.
Here at the TechJournal, we see this as more evidence that digital shopping – and particularly mobile – is the future of retail.
With the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimating Mother’s Day sales reaching $20 billion this year, retailers made it easier for consumers to buy for mom through their smartphones and tablets.
According to IBM’s Benchmark, mobile commerce led the way this Mother’s Day. In the week leading up to Mother’s Day, consumers flocked to their mobile devices, with mobile traffic reaching 25 percent, an increase of 43 percent year over year, with the Apple iPhone and iPad as the consumer shopping devices of choice.
As retailers are making it easier for mobile shoppers to browse and buy with a tap of a finger, customizing mobile apps and web sites for on-the-go consumers, the mobile customer experience has become a top priority for retailers looking to streamline the buying process.
In the week leading up to Mother’s Day, mobile shoppers browsed and completed purchases in three-and-a-half minutes, while desktop users took twice as long, more than six minutes, to complete their shopping session.
That three and a half minute shopping experience for mobile is an eye-opener. Does your mobile app let someone make a purchase that quickly and easily? The six-minute mark for desktop online shopping seems reasonable, although when we know what we’re looking for, it doesn’t take more than a minute at one-click sites such as Amazon.
As merchants continue to invest in upgrading support for digital shopping channels, retailers are designing for a MobileFirst market by simplifying the client experience and deepening connections to consumers.
Key findings from the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark:
- In the week leading up to Mother’s Day, online shopping grew by 15 percent, with average order value reaching $209, representing a four percent increase compared to the same period last year.
- Department store sales grew by more than 20 percent in the week leading up to Mother’s Day compared to the same period last year. Retailers simplified the digital buying experience for customers, with iPad conversions increasing dramatically by more than 315 percent, with iPhone conversions increasing 184 percent.
- In the three weeks leading up to Mother’s Day, online jewelry sales steadily increased, nearly tripling with a 180.6 percent increase in that same period. In the week leading up to Mother’s Day, mobile traffic reached 42 percent, up almost 59 percent over 2012. Mobile sales reached 48 percent, an increase of 38 percent compared to 2012.
- Online sales of gifts including flowers and chocolates more than doubled the week just before Mother’s Day compared to the week before, an increase of 140 percent. Mobile percentage of sales was up 109 percent, reaching 28 percent and mobile site traffic was up 95 percent, reaching 34 percent, in the week leading up to Mother’s Day, compared to the same period last year.
- In the week leading up to Mother’s Day, health and beauty sales were up 40 percent compared to the same time last year, with similar mobile commerce gains. Mobile percentage of sales reached 18 percent, a gain of 16.4 percent, with mobile traffic reaching 27 percent, up 33 percent over last year.
By analyzing these trends, Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs), sales, e-commerce and customer loyalty executives can better understand and respond to the needs of customers in terms what and how they prefer to buy.
Tags: department stores, gifts, IBM Digital analytics, mobile, Mother's Day, online shopping
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Mobile | No Comments »
Thursday, May 16th, 2013
 Over the next three years, global organizations will make understanding and interacting with the customer their top priority. So says a new study from The Economist Intelligence Unit Voice of the customer: Whose job is it, anyway?
Yet only 56 percent of respondents to the survey, sponsored by SAS, believe their companies clearly understand the customer today.
Worryingly, many companies find it challenging to restructure their businesses around the customer, having been organized traditionally around products or geographies. Only six in ten viewed their companies as customer-centric and just over half report a clear understanding of customers’ tastes and needs.
So whose responsibility will it be?
So whose responsibility will it be to champion the voice of the customer within the organization? And what new skills and capabilities will they need in order to restructure around the customer instead of products?
The report reveals a disconnect amongst executives on these questions. Nearly one-quarter of CMOs surveyed want a Chief Customer Officer to take responsibility; another quarter see the onus on themselves. Currently, the CMO is considered the voice of the customer at just 18 percent of organizations, trailing the head of sales (31 percent).
Obstacles for the CMO include the diversity of the CMOs’ current obligations, few of which are currently customer-facing functions. Regardless, whoever aspires to serve as the voice of the customer must draw on customer insights to create an exceptional customer experience that spans all physical and digital channels.
The key to the CMO delivering on an organizations’ evolving customer-centric mandate may lie in the rise of web, social and mobile channels that are poised to take on greater significance in customer engagement.
Social and mobile to eclipse email?
 In the next three years, social and mobile will eclipse e-mail and the corporate website for customer engagement. Few organizations, however, are currently leveraging emerging social and mobile media channels effectively to reach customers.
Just an editorial aside from the TechJournal, but up to now, predictions that email would become less important have tended to be way off base. And people do use mobile to check and even reply to email, especially those who travel for business.
While social media is predicted to become the second most important channel for customer communication, face-to-face interactions will remain the most important customer engagement channel.
“A growing shift to digital marketing also provides a rich foundation for data-driven customer insight,” says Wilson Raj, Global Customer Intelligence Director for SAS. “CMOs are in a prime position to be champions for the voice of the customer—if they shore up digital and customer analytics skills across the marketing organization.”
Tags: business, customer engagement, digital marketing, global companies, mobile marketing, SAS, social media, top priority
Posted in Digital Devices, Internet/New Media, Marketing, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech life/Culture | No Comments »
Thursday, May 16th, 2013
Marketers need to adopt more sophisticate social advertising and marketing tactics if they want to improve their ability to hit objectives.
So says, Kenshoo Social, a global social marketing platform, which has published a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting, “The Key to Successful Social Advertising,” that evaluates how marketers are using social advertising. The goal: educating marketers on how to develop social media strategy and activate the most effective tactics. Findings will also be presented by Kenshoo Social and guest from Forrester in a May 29 webinar.
Based on a survey of large social advertisers (i.e., social media and advertising professionals whose companies spend more than$100,000 per year on social media ads), Forrester found that, while social advertisers use a wide range of organic and paid strategies across a variety of social sites, more than one in three are not satisfied with their efforts.
The findings emphasized the increasing needs for more sophisticated social advertising tactics and methods to better match tactics to objectives.
“Generally, social advertisers get what they pay for,” according to the study. “They are more satisfied with the results they achieve from paid advertising than the results they achieve with less costly organic tactics like branded pages, groups or accounts alone.”
Notable findings from the study include:
Organic posting is the most popular social media tactic, but paid advertising is the most successful. Social advertisers use a wide range of social sites and strategies. The most popular tactic is maintaining branded pages on general social networks, business networks and microblogs. Branded pages alone, however, do not make an effective social marketing strategy.
Social advertisers still are not using advanced optimization tactics. More than half of large social advertisers use ad rotation, but only one-third use granular targeting to reach the right audiences. Most of those who do target primarily use basic criteria like demographic targeting.
Social marketers should pay for promoted content to drive awareness and buy ads to drive sales. The survey measured the tactics of satisfied social advertisers and found that different paid social strategies drove different kinds of success. Social advertisers who paid to promote their branded content were most satisfied with the awareness they created; while those who bought standard social ad units were happiest with their ability to drive purchases. Brand-focused social advertisers and response-focused social advertisers must deploy the tactics proven best for meeting their specific objectives.
“With billions of people around the world actively connecting on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, marketers have eagerly turned to social media to engage their target audiences,” said Aaron Goldman , chief marketing officer of Kenshoo. “Today, most marketers include some type of social advertising in their programs, but the options available to them have increased exponentially, as has the ability to measure the effectiveness of their outreach.
“This research study demonstrates the importance of using advanced technology platforms to create highly-targeted campaigns at scale, leveraging a portfolio approach across promoted content and standard ad units to achieve overall business goals,” Goldman continued.
“Furthermore, marketers must connect the dots across paid, owned and earned media placements to understand the impact of each touchpoint along the path to conversion.”
The Forrester study concludes with four initial steps marketers can use to immediately improve results:
- Start with clear marketing objectives.
- Promote your brand and your content.
- Take advantage of robust targeting.
- Develop a holistic approach for greater success.
Visit KenshooSocial.com/ForresterStudy to download the full complimentary study or KenshooSocial.com/ForresterSocialResearchto sign up for the May 29 Webinar.
Tags: advertising, Best Practices, Marketing, organic, paid, social media, success
Posted in Best Practices, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
 Videology—a digital advertising platform and solutions provider— recently released a report showcasing research on the link between digital video advertising and offline sales results for consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand advertisers.
CPG is an extremely important category for digital video, comprising 22% of total video ad impressions—more than any other sector—according to a Videology Q1 2013 analysis.
“After 50 years of television-centric marketing, (CPG advertisers) know the right television equation to move product off the shelves. But data has the potential to bring this same level of ROI confidence to other media—including digital video, the natural complement to a brand’s television spend,” the report stated.
TV is still king
“Television is still king for CPG advertisers because they know what works and what doesn’t to move product off the shelves,” added Scott Ferber , CEO and Chairman, Videology. “We need to similarly define video’s value by showing how video ad exposure equates to sales success. And, as this study proves, we can.”
Videology analyzed over 186 million video impressions served across online and mobile video for CPG advertisers to determine digital video’s ability to drive key sales metrics including Penetration Lift, Unit Velocity Lift and Sales Velocity Lift using Kantar Shopcom data.
“The proliferation of media platforms offers brands more choice for when, where and how to capture consumers’ attention,” saysKatie Casavant , CEO, Kantar Shopcom . “Brand marketers from across the CPG landscape use Shopcom audience data and campaign impact measurement to optimize their media planning, buying and execution for maximum conversion return.”
Report highlights include:
- All online video campaigns analyzed drove an increase in Sales Velocity Lift from 4% to an impressive 35%.* However, since ad campaigns often correspond to promotional pricing efforts, Sales Lift on its own does not tell the whole story.
- Lift in household penetration is perhaps a truer gauge of performance. An increase in the number of households purchasing a product after exposure to a brand’s video ads ranged from 9% to 28%.*
- When the number of households buying the brand increases (Penetration Lift), more units are sold (Unit Velocity). In the study, lift in Unit Velocity ranged from 8.5% to as high as 30%.*
- Audience targeting based on purchase data performed 20% better than demo targeting.
- Demo targeted ads, however, still drove stronger lift than the control group. Overall, both targeting sets play a role in successful online video campaigns, with demo targeting providing scale and purchase-data targeting driving specific lift metrics.
- Completed views and total reach were the two most important metrics for increasing product penetration and driving units sold. Click through rate was not associated with a higher lift in sales.
*Compared to the control group not exposed to the ad.
This research was conducted using Sales Impact, Videology’s ROI attribution and tracking tool for brand advertisers.
Tags: CPG, lift, Marketing, TV, video
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, video | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
Rich media ads with interactive elements can boost consumer engagement by up to 1,000 percent, according to R2integrated.
In 2012, eMarketer reported that $15.51 billion was spent on display advertising in the U.S., demonstrating that display advertising is still an important and effective medium.
A shift has occurred from the display of primarily flash banners to rich media units, which allows marketers to take advantage of interactive features that help to engage and captivate consumers. R2i details the opportunity and benchmark data for interactive features such as videos, product carousels, data capture forms, and more.
Here’s R2′s infographic detailing industry benchmarks for rich media that marketers should know:
Tags: consumer engagement, digital advertising, infographic, interactive elements, rich media
Posted in infographic, Internet/New Media, Marketing | No Comments »
Monday, May 13th, 2013
 The Digital Summit is the largest event of its kind in the Southeast. Only a handful of seats remain available for the largest digital conference in the Southeast, the Digital Summit, Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, tomorrow, May 13 and Wednesday, May 14.
This year, in addition to the more than 100 leading digital thought leaders set to present the latest digital strategies and trends at the summit, you’ll get the inside story on two hot topics: the Internet currency Bitcoin and the company disrupting cable and satellite TV delivery models, Aereo.
Chet Kanojia, CEO and founder of Aereo, which grabs over-the-air TV broadcasts and offers them to consumers via Internet connected devices, will talk about his starup’s disruptive technology.
Kanojia says The consumer proposition is what’s important.
 Bitcoins Stephen Pair, co-founder and CTO of BitPay, the leading processor for bitcoin, will provide an overview of the somewhat controversial Internet currency. He talked to the TechJournal about What will make bitcoin succeed or fail,” in advance of his appearance at the Summit.
Speakers will also share the latest best practices and strategies in topics such as social media, email marketing, search, mobile, e-commerce, usability, analytics & measurement, online video, social TV and digital advertising/branding among many others.
A capacity crowd of 1,500 digital marketers, Internet executives, web strategists, entrepreneurs and other digital professionals will connect in Atlanta for two full days of content and networking.
 Speakers represent leading brands such as Google, Twitter, reddit, Mashable, Porsche, Turner, TMZ, Coca-Cola, HootSuite, NASCAR, The Weather Channel, Aereo, Dell, Rovi, HGTV, Forrester, StumbleUpon, Salesforce and Adobe to name a few.
The Digital Summit conference features a keynote from the co-founder of reddit, Alexis Ohanian, and over 80 strategy presentations and discussions, musical acts, the Startup Showcase, preconference workshops, leading digital vendors and hours of attendee networking.
Here at the TechJournal we’ve interviewed a handful of the digital gurus who will participate. It’s only a sample:
Among those you’ll hear are:
Microsoft/Bing’s Matt Wallaert says Behavioral Science is helping build a better tech future and why people prefer Bing to Google in tests.
Mike Perla, director of conversion optimization and creative at Fathom will fill you in on how to Show your client ROI from usability testing.
Aaron Schildkrout, co-founder of the unique online dating site, How About We, talks about a data driven company
 Brian DAmato Brian DAmato, SVP of Analytics at Moxie discusses How to get ROI from digital channels.
Tim Clark, director of optimization for NASCAR, talks about how NASCAR listens to its fans to increase digital channel engagement.
Erik Muendel, CEO and creative director of Alexandria, VA-based Brightline Interactive offers three tips for grabbing attention via digital channels and keeping it.
Social media and marketing consultant Jeff Sheehan explains how Linkedin offers a billboard to 200 million users.
SEO expert Josh McCoy says you should use competitive analysis and enticing content to fire up your SEO.
 Erica McClenny Erica McClenny, vice president of client services withExpion, urges you to break down walls to pop the social media bubble.
Michael Marshall, CEO of Internet Marketing Analysts tells you how to do those backlinks right.
 Brian Wong Brian Wong, founder and CEO of Kiip, one of the top four online ad companies according to Forbes, offers insight into the mobile ad secret sauce – capturing moments of achievement.
Jacques Panis of Shinola, talks about bringing jobs and manufacturing back to the US in Good timing, making watches in Detroit.
Tags: AEREO, AOL, Atlanta, Bing, Bitcoin, Brian Wong, Digital Summit, Google, Josh McCoy, Kiip, Mashable, NASCAR, SEO, speaker interviews, twitter
Posted in Best Practices, Events, Georgia, Internet/New Media, Marketing, social media | No Comments »
Monday, May 13th, 2013
Different media channels drive different social media behaviors.
The findings were revealed today from the TVB (www.tvb.org), the not-for-profit trade association of America’s commercial broadcast television industry, in the organization’s 2013 Cultural Currency study.
In conjunction with Colligent, a social affinity mapping company, TVB married Nielsen Media Research and Kantar Media data with social media behaviors (not conversation) across Twitter and Facebook to identify the quantity and intensity of behavior for broadcast and cable TV, radio and newspapers at the national and local level.
The study has important implications for how TV programmers and marketers can effectively synchronize social media with their traditional media investments.
The Cultural Currency research analyzed social media behaviors among 167 million Facebook and Twitter users across 4400 primetime television programs, 540 consumer brands, 570 TV stations, 1823 radio stations and 358 local and national newspapers.
Roadmap to social media experiences
As more content producers and advertisers turn to social media to build and engage program and brand fans, this study provides a roadmap on how to build social media experiences that will maximize consumer engagement and help programmers and advertisers set the right action standards for success.
The findings showed that fan behaviors that drive Cultural Currency activate a different set of personal interactions and necessitate different strategies for brand engagement. Local broadcast TV viewers are 85% more likely to post photos and videos than users of all media (radio, newspapers, broadcast and cable television), primarily because of their strong connection to community.
 A Samsung Smart TV. Local newspapers outperform all other media in generating retweets (54% more likely), while radio and cable TV users are avid content likers (each 46% more likely).
Across all media channels, broadcast television offered the most balanced set of social media behaviors to activate across content offerings.
Brian Wieser, a leading media industry analyst at equity research firm Pivotal Research Group, highlighted the study’s importance. “This important research from the TVB highlights the growing inter-relationships between television, social media and second-screen content more generally.”
The study unearthed critical insights for programmers and advertisers who build complementary social media experiences to enhance their media investments, including:
- Broadcast TV Builds Brand Fans With its Combination of Big Audiences and Deep Engagement.
Broadcast TV at the national and local level is still the dominant brand-builder in the media landscape, generating as much as192X more brand fans within social media than advertisers in the same category who only purchased cable. The use of social media to prove the correlation of actual media investment with brand affinity is a game-changing insight that provides marketers with the ability to target their most engaged brand fans using the efficiencies of mass reach media.
- Social Media Platforms Are Not Equal Across the Television Landscape.
There is a polarization of platform preference depending on the programming genre. Viewers of mainstream primetime genres, driven by big hit programs, exhibited more active behaviors on Twitter than on Facebook, suggesting that Twitter has established itself as the “in-the-moment,” simultaneous platform for cultural currency traders and that “appointment viewing” is now an interactive “appointment experience” that offers advertisers more opportunities to engage in real-time.
“Mass culture that is accessible to many and used in social exchanges both online and off, provides the Cultural Currency needed to attract, maintain, and grow our relationships with others as well as with brands,” explained Stacey Lynn Schulman (formerly Koerner), Chief Research Officer at TVB.
“In our eagerness to embrace technologies that enhance personalization and customization, our society has become more isolated, and mainstream media products, particularly broadcast TV, provides the glue that connects our virtual and physical lives. Just like monetary currencies, different cultural products provide different value in this new eco-system, and it’s not surprising that Broadcast Television – from local stations to national networks – excels in this regard.”
Tags: facebook, Marketing, newspapers, social media, TV viewers, twitter
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, social media | No Comments »
Friday, May 10th, 2013
 Maritz Loyalty Marketing unveiled the results of a comprehensive study into U.S. consumer loyalty programs, including what American consumers consider to be the highest rated programs, the first annual Maritz Loyalty ReportTM: U.S. Edition,
“Maritz has been designing and running consumer loyalty programs across North America for more than 25 years,” said Bob Macdonald, president and CEO of Maritz Loyalty Marketing. “Our expertise and unique approach to brand loyalty, combined with the insights we glean from this study, help clients drive significant business results by continuing to improve the effectiveness of their brand’s engagement with customers.”
The following programs rated highest in terms of overall satisfaction within each respective category in the Maritz Loyalty Report:
- Financial Services – Chase Ultimate Rewards (84 percent)
- Entertainment – Carmike Cinemas Rewards (79 percent)
- Retail programs – Kohl’s Rewards (73 percent)
- Hospitality / Hotel – IHG Priority Club Rewards (67 percent)
- Grocery – Kroger Rewards (83 percent)
- Airlines – Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (58 percent)
Room for More Cards – A Cause for Concern
The Maritz Loyalty Report results suggest that 71 percent of members would join more loyalty programs, even though the average member is already enrolled in 7.4 programs. The report also found that members are only actively participating in 63 percent of the programs in which they are enrolled.
“Our study revealed that 47 percent of members have stopped participating in one or more programs in the past year. This number is disconcerting for program operators, yet of even greater concern is that only seven percent of these defecting customers actively defect – meaning, they actually formally request to leave a loyalty program,” said Scott Robinson, senior director of loyalty consulting for Maritz Loyalty Marketing. “Given the high percentage of passive defection, it is paramount that loyalty marketers proactively identify the early warning signs of disengaged members.”
“Our approach to lifecycle management and member communications enables our clients to understand and react to these early warning signs and develop highly engaged members, who are less likely to shop for a competitor brand,” Robinson added.
Getting it Right
Overall, 65 percent of members are satisfied with the loyalty programs in which they participate. The Maritz Loyalty Report also includes customer ratings on more than 35 program attributes. Some of those attributes, also considered key drivers of satisfaction, include:
- Program values: pride of membership, program uniqueness, meeting customer needs, etc.
- Program mechanics: ability to earn and redeem points, quality of rewards, etc.
- Ability to interact with programs: website, mobile, customer support, etc.
- Program innovation: program freshness, access to exclusive events, personalized experiences, etc.
- Communications from programs: means, relevance and frequency of communications, etc.
Top programs rate similarly on many of these attributes, and the top program tends to discern itself from next-best programs by ahigher rating on only one key attribute. In some program categories, such as retail loyalty and airline loyalty, top-rated programs and next-highest rated programs score similarly on all attributes. In these competitive categories, the attribute on which the highest-rated program discerns itself from next-highest rated programs is a secondary and differentiating driver.
“The implication for program operators,” said Robinson, “is that in order to be competitive, especially in categories with many largely undifferentiated programs, it is essential for programs to deliver effectively on both the key drivers of satisfaction and also the secondary drivers of satisfaction.”
Tags: loyalty programs, Marketing
Posted in Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Friday, May 10th, 2013
 New research unveiled shows that engaging with digital coupon users dramatically impacts effectiveness of new product introductions for brands.
Conducted by Millward Brown’s Dynamic Logic, a leader in digital insights, and commissioned by Coupons.com, the study measured effectiveness of site display advertising and/or site sponsorships across three consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands.
Findings showed substantially higher increases in consumer recall and purchase intent, compared to industry benchmarks from Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms ad effectiveness database.
Conducted in January and February of this year, the study evaluated online display and/or site sponsorships on Coupons.com for new product introductions by three well-known CPG brands in the food, beverage and household cleaning supplies categories.
The campaign for the new household cleaning product included display advertising; the campaign for the new food product included a custom site sponsorship; and the campaign for the new beverage product involved both display advertising and a custom site sponsorship.
“Brands marketing to digital coupon users not only benefit from increased ad recall and purchase intent, they also gain awareness among this group of consumers that shops more frequently than the average grocery shopper and spends more each time they do,” said Tony Biancalana, regional vice president of media solutions at Coupons.com Incorporated. “The new research further underscores the benefits for marketers to connect with this audience.”
Research by Coupons.com has shown that a large percentage of digital coupon users are in pre-shopping mode when browsing online coupons. Specifically, 59 percent of visitors planned to visit a grocery store within two days and 43 percent planned to shop within the next 24 hours.2
Increased Consumer Recall of Brand Advertising
Consumer recall for each of the three campaigns greatly outperformed CPG industry benchmarks, helping the brands to attract attention for their new products. 36.3 percent of people were more aware of the brand advertising for the food category product after exposure to the brand sponsorship. In addition, the beverage category product saw an increase of 7.2 percentage points in ad recall and the household cleaning category product experienced an 11.9 percentage point increase in ad recall. For comparison, the average increase in online ad recall for CPG category campaigns is approximately 4.8 percent, according to Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms. By messaging consumers in receptive pre-store shopping mindsets, the average increases in ad recall from the Coupons.com campaigns were 3.8 times better than industry benchmarks.
Increased Purchase Intent For Product Line Extensions
The results provided by Dynamic Logic’s AdIndex Dash®, which measures advertising effectiveness, isolated the increases in purchase intent generated amongst consumers exposed to the advertisers’ messaging on Coupons.com. The additional attention that the three new product launches captured translated to increases in purchase intent for all three brands: +16.6 percent for the food product, +6.6 percent for the beverage product, and +7.0 percent for household cleaning product. These increases are higher than Dynamic Logic’s CPG industry benchmark increase for purchase intent of 1.1%, indicating that shoppers were, on average, 9.2 times more likely to consider purchasing the new products featured on Coupons.com, compared to Dynamic Logic CPG category benchmarks.
Complementary Research on Digital Coupon Users Also Released Today
Additional new research was released today by GfK regarding spending habits of digital coupon users. The report shows that digital coupon users shop more frequently and spend significantly more during each trip than the average U.S. consumer.3 Specifically, the study found that digital coupon users spend 42 percent more on groceries annually ($4,295) compared to average shoppers ($3,035).
The research found that, compared to average shoppers, digital coupon users:
- Make 25 percent more shopping trips per year
- Spend 13 percent more per shopping trip
- Spend 42 percent more per year on grocery purchases
Tags: campaigns, digital coupons, interaction, lift, product launch
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Thursday, May 9th, 2013
Simply Measured says that a year after being acquired by Facebook, 67 percent of top brands are now using Instagram, reaching more than 100 million active monthly users on the network, a 500 percent increase in users since the acquisition.
The Simply Measured Instagram study evaluates brands and verticals in the Interbrand 100, identifying key trends and strategies shaping the way companies engage with consumers through social media. Key findings include:
 Instagram is more powerful than Pinterest. While Facebook and Twitter continue their reign as the dominant social networks, Simply Measured’s quarterly study found that the appeal of visual marketing is on the rise.- To date, Pinterest has attracted a higher percentage of brands, however Instagram is growing faster and proving more valuable. As of May 1, the collective audience of the 76 Interbrand companies on Pinterest was less than 500,000, while Instagram’s 67 companies reach more than 7 million followers.
- Facebook’s impact cannot be overlooked. Since the acquisition, Twitter engagement has steadily dropped, while Facebook engagement is up 23 percent quarter over quarter, spurred by several strategic moves including integrating “like” sharing and introducing web profiles. In total, more than 2 million likes, comments and shares of Instagram photos have occurred on Facebook since the network bought to photo sharing app.
- Top brands are using Instagram more frequently and with greater impact. Today, 23 percent of active Interbrand 100 companies post more than 50 times a month, up from 20 percent last quarter. In addition, those brands are seeing more than 5,600 engagements per photo, up 16 percent over the previous quarter.
 Nike, MTV and Starbucks top the list. This quarter, Nike became the third brand to reach 1 million followers, joining MTV and Starbucks. MTV saw a 200 percent growth in engagement, due in part to its robust usage of Instagram surrounding the MTV Movie Awards. The network’s unprecedented level of activity was rewarded as it posted 78 photos the day of the show, each averaging more than 16,000 likes and comments.
“A year ago, many people were skeptical about Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram and whether it would hinder the network’s growth. However today it’s very clear that the synergies are not only bringing new users on board, but also creating incredible opportunities for brands to connect with consumers,” said Adam Schoenfeld, CEO of Simply Measured.
Simply Measured’s analytics and reporting capabilities allow brands to track Instagram engagement in-context with other social media campaigns, including most engaging photos, most engaging filters, most engaging locations, cross-posting, keyword analysis and more.
To analyze any Instagram profile for free, visit: http://simplymeasured.com/freebies/instagram-analytics.
Tags: Instragram vs. Pinterest, Marketing, top brands
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Thursday, May 9th, 2013
 The mobile marketing ecosystem generated $139 billion of incremental output to the U.S. economy in 2012, a significant surge from $48 billion in net sales previously reported in 2010.
While the Internet took a decade to begin fulfilling its early promise as an economic engine, mobile has exploded as a major force and an job-creating economic engine in just a few years – and it continues to flourish and expand.
Over the next five years, this figure is set to skyrocket to $400 billion representing an annual growth rate of 52 per cent. To accurately assess mobile’s economic impact, both consumer (B2C) and business (B2B) mobile sales were measured against total U.S. sales in 2012, approximately $33 trillion.
The data was reported in the “MMA Mobile Marketing Economic Impact Study,” commissioned by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), the leading global trade association for the mobile marketing industry.
“MMA Mobile Marketing Economic Impact Study” is the first objective and comprehensive overview of U.S. economic performance across the mobile marketing industry.
Key findings from the report indicate that mobile is an economic engine that will continue to stimulate nationwide growth as a vibrant and lucrative platform. Given that mobile enables marketers to move closer to consumers than ever before, the “MMA Mobile Marketing Economic Impact Study,” clearly proves the value and power that mobile marketing offers to marketers.
Mobile Marketing Sales Impact in United States ($Millions)
|
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
CAGR 2010-2015 |
| Total Sales Impact |
48,627 |
85,300 |
139,003 |
216,931 |
311,566 |
400,971 |
52% |
| Mobile Media Adv |
25,530 |
46,814 |
73,811 |
115,010 |
163,052 |
204,345 |
52% |
| Mobile DR Enhanced Adv |
2,705 |
5,694 |
10,280 |
18,866 |
30,059 |
36,682 |
68% |
| Mobile CRM |
20,392 |
32,792 |
54,912 |
83,056 |
118,455 |
159,943 |
51% |
Source: mLightenment
“Results from this study prove that mobile should not be underestimated as an economic stimulator. Only a few years ago, mobile’s impact was measured by its function as a basic phone and now it is impossible to envision a world without smartphones and tablets,” said Greg Stuart , CEO, Mobile Marketing Association.
“The health of the U.S. economy depends on platforms like mobile that offer unlimited potential for growth and innovation. No other media will evolve at this pace with unforeseen opportunities to reimagine the user experience.”
Mobile to create 1.4 million jobs
Despite a recessionary economy and unstable job market, mobile marketing created 524,000 jobs in 2012 from the combination of advertiser employment as well as product seller employment. Focusing on the next five years, mobile is predicted to generate 1.4 million jobs.
To drill down into mobile’s potential on the marketing ecosystem, mobile marketing spend was measured by industry category. In 2012, marketers and retailers spent $6.7 billion on mobile marketing.
The total expenditure for mobile marketing was calculated from mobile advertising, mobile direct response or enhanced traditional media, as well as mobile CRM. Combined spend across the three categories is forecasted to increase to $19.8 billion by 2015. Mobile advertising alone (includes voice, messaging, web, email, apps proximity and recognition) is projected to climb to $9.2 billion over the next five years.
Mobile Marketing Communications Spending in United States ($Millions)
| $ Millions |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
CAGR |
| Total Mobile Mktg Expenditure |
2,405 |
3,957 |
6,693 |
10,456 |
15,162 |
19,806 |
52.5% |
| Mobile Ad Expenditure |
991 |
1,743 |
3,060 |
4,871 |
7,078 |
9,207 |
56.2% |
| Mobile DR Expenditure |
166 |
336 |
669 |
1,312 |
2,174 |
2,912 |
77.4% |
| Mobile CRM Expenditure |
1,248 |
1,878 |
2,964 |
4,273 |
5,910 |
7,686 |
43.8% |
Source: mLightenment
The study evaluated mobile marketing expenditure across 16 industry groups. Finance, retail (excluding CPG) and manufacturing (excluding CPG) were the three largest industries, resulting in $3 billion or roughly half of the total mobile expenditure in 2012. Surprisingly, the industries that spent more on mobile marketing and advertising also represent the largest markets for mobile employment.
Mobile transforming society
 “Even in its infancy, mobile has irrevocably transformed society,” said Peter A. Johnson , Ph.D., mLightenment. “With the introduction of new technology to increased accessibility and connectivity, mobile has the ability to reinvent itself and remain indispensable to the consumer and marketer relationship.”
To further demonstrate mobile’s effectiveness as a marketing communications tool, Marketing Impact Ratio (MIR) was calculated by measuring mobile sales impact against marketing expenditure. In 2012, mobile MIR peaked at $20.77. After reviewing MIR data, an unexpected insight was raised; mobile marketing has yet to experience the law of diminishing returns.
By reviewing MIR figures for the top four mobile marketing spenders, data indicated that spending more across mobile marketing platforms does not decrease the impact rate. In fact, those that spend more on mobile achieved the highest impact ratio and thus gained the most value for their mobile marketing investment. While this observation requires additional exploration, it has the potential to further distinguish mobile from other media.
A mobile-enhanced economy
Looking beyond the numbers, insights from the “MMA Mobile Marketing Economic Impact Study,” clearly indicate that mobile has sparked a “mobile-enhanced economy” in which mobile converts every object into a medium and every place into an opportunity for a message. By empowering the “always on, always on the go” consumer, mobile has transformed people into interactive, creative, and responsive partners in the marketing process.
“While mobile’s economic value is the heart of this study, mobile is also inspiring the industry to rethink their discipline for a world that is no longer static,” said Joseph Plummer , Ph.D., mLightenment. “As people rely more on mobile devices, they will become ‘co-creators’ in the marketing process and control both the context and content of the overall brand experience.”
It would be impossible to evaluate mobile’s economic impact without addressing privacy and the current legislative climate. In recent debates, government authorities have discussed restricting or limiting the trail of information that mobile offers to marketers and publishers.
The MMA supports self-regulation and transparent communication to consumers about when and how mobile data is collected. There is a risk of overregulating the mobile marketing industry and stifling innovation if some measures being considered go into effect.
Room to evolve and innovate needed
 In order for mobile sales, employee resources and marketing spend to continue to grow, as the “MMA Mobile Marketing Economic Impact Study” strongly suggests, mobile marketing needs room to evolve responsibly and foster innovation without undue constraint from legislators, regulators or private sector bodies.
“Mobile’s influence extends far beyond the device. It is a catalyst supplementing the growth and revenue across all other mediums, traditional and digital,” said Stuart. “Currently, mobile is at a tipping point. It is not just how big mobile is and will continue to be, but it has triggered a ‘mobile-enhanced economy’ that redefines the entire marketing industry. Restricting its development by overregulating the industry would cause irreparable damage and thus reverse progress.”
Google, mBlox, The Coca-Cola Company, ExactTarget and Target assisted by underwriting the research for the ”MMA Mobile Marketing Economic Impact Study.”
Tags: economic impact, growth rate, jobs, MMA, mobile marketing, US economy
Posted in Digital Devices, Economy/Jobs, Marketing, Mobile, Studies, surveys, reports, Telecommunications | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 8th, 2013
By Allan Maurer
 Mike Perla will discuss how to show ROI from usability testing at the upcoming Digital Summit in Atlanta. If you want to show a return on investment from user testing your digital marketing, you need to get your client involved and on board from the beginning. So says Mike Perla, director of conversion optimization and creative at Fathom.
Perla knows his stuff.
He joined Fathom in 2006 and has over 10 years of experience as a designer, developer and marketer. He regularly presents on the topics of CRO and UX for organization like the Conversion Conference and UXPA. He also frequently hosts webinars with an international cast of CRO experts through the Conversion Rate Optimization Professional Association (CROPA).
His testing case studies are often published by WhichTestWon (WTW), and in early 2013, he won a gold ribbon in the WTW 2013 Online Testing Awards, where his case study was inducted into the WTW Hall of Fame.
He’ll refer to some of those case studies when discussing how to show ROI from usability testing at the Digital Summit in Atlanta next week (May 14-15) where he’ll join more than 100 other digital thought-leaders from brands that include Google, Twitter, AOL, Adobe, the Wall Street Journal and many others.
Usability testing a difficult sell
Usability testing can be “a difficult sell,” Perla notes. “Even if your marketing budget increases, you also always see an increase in the digital channels you can spend the money on. To show ROI, you need, first, to make sure the client believes in the numbers you’re showing him.”
To do that, he suggests, do your user testing on your payment process, implement fixes based on the results, then split traffic between the original process and the new one to see which performs better.
With something like the payment process, “You can tie it right into revenue,” Perla says.
With lead generation clients, you need to develop a simple calculation to get a basic lead value, he adds.
Userlytics tool recommended
He also says that unless you have a background in user testing, you should “Start out small. No one will hand you a bunch of money to do user testing if you haven’t done it in the past.” Since user testing can be fairly expensive, he recommends trying a tool such as Userlytics. It lets you show a video of a user trying your product or process so you can see any place the consumer has trouble.
“You can jump to sections of the annotated video and say, “Hey, here’s someone frustrated with the process. They’ll see that. Once you get the main stakeholder on board by showing them the results of user testing, others will fall in line.”
“Do a test and show it to the client,” he says. “Get them involved so they feel ownership of the project and they’re more likely to participate and help you overcome any hurdles that happen. You might also want to get the IT department, designers and developers of the existing site on board.”
Even if they’re initially reluctant, once you get that, says Perla, “you’re in a much better position.”
Tags: Atlanta, Digital Summit, May 2013, Mike Perla, usability testing, userlytics
Posted in Best Practices, Events, Internet/New Media, Marketing | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 8th, 2013
By Allan Maurer
 Jacques Panis As startups go, Shinola has a story that’s right on time. The company, founded in 2011, is making watches in a 35,000 square-foot facility in Detroit. No one has manufactured watches in the U.S. in 50 years,” notes Jacques Panis, director of strategic partnerships for the firm.
Shinola also diversified and now makes bicycles (in Wisconsin) and stationary products. But in an era when many people use smartphones or other digital devices to keep track of the time, we asked Panis, why watches?
“People are starting to wear watches more and more. It’s a trend,” says Panis. “People look at watches as part of their style or persona. A watch is a fashion piece in a lot of cases. People make a statement with a watch, especially in urban environments and among fashion forward trend-setters.”
Experience spans marketing, branding and sales
Panis has over 10 years of experience spanning marketing, branding and sales. He founded Webosaurs in 2007, an online brand created to educate children globally on the history and diversity of our planet. He collaborated with animation studio Reel FX to expand the Webosaurs project while running the Reel FX interactive division. Panis joinedShinola in 2010 to oversee product development and strategic direction for the company.
He’s among more than 100 digital and marketing thought-leaders participating in the Atlanta Digital Summit next week (May 14-15). The event includes speakers from brands such as Google, Twitter, AOL, Adobe, the Wall Street Journal, AT&T, and many others. Fewer than 100 seats remained for the event, the largest in the Southeast, as of Wednesday (May 8). About 1,500 people are expected to attend.
We’re story-tellers
Panis, who is on an engagement panel, tells the TechJournal, “We’re story tellers at the end of the day and digital channels and social are a big part of our marketing effort.” Shinola tells its story on product specific blogs (dedicated to bikes or watches, for instance) and others. It sold a 2,500 limited edition watches online supported by traditional ads in major newspapers.
So far, however, most of the company’s marketing has been “organic,” Panis says. It does have a good story – bringing manufacturing and jobs back to the United States.
The Digital Summit is the largest event of its kind in the Southeast. People who attend TechMedia’s events such as the Digital Summit often go not only for the programming – whether as participants or audience – but also to find partners, customers, and scope the lay of the digital landscape.
“We’ll be at the show (the Digital Summit) looking for a digital marketers who can help us drive traffic to our site and help us move watches,” he says.
The company isn’t looking for just anyone, though.
“We want a Triple A kind of guy or gal,” Panis says. “We want to shake up how people shop for watches and driving people to our site is critical to how we’re going to run this business. If we can find people to help us drive traffic and refine our funnel, it will be fascinating to see how the rest of the watch industry responds.”
Panis says he’s also looking forward to hearing more about what marketers are up to and how consumers are shopping online.
Tags: Atlanta, Detroit, digital marketing, Digital Summit, Jacques Panis, May 2013, Shinola
Posted in Events, Georgia, Internet/New Media, Marketing | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 8th, 2013
 Facebook is intent on making money, but also, it seems at times, on alienating its consumers. Are you ready for video ads in your newsfeed that play automatically?
Starting in July, Facebook plans to start running auto-playing video ads in your newsfeed.
Ad Age originally reported that Facebook was considering the video ads.
The company may start the videos without audio and give the user the option of playing it with audio.
Reports say it is leaning toward 15-second rather than more traditional 30 second ads.
It’s clear that Facebook needs to come up with ways to generate revenue from its hordes of users. But with all the social networks out there now chipping away at its base, it might want to think twice about alienating users with intrusive advertising.
I don’t know about you, but I’m already a bit flummoxed when I see newsfeed ads when I’m trying to catch up with friends. They’re tolerable, but I suspect autoplay video ads might push some users over the desert the platform edge.
So what do you think? Is this a good move for the social network, or will it just cause more trouble for the already troubled top dog in the social networking kennel?
–Allan Maurer
Tags: auto-play video ads, facebook, newsfeed, revenue
Posted in Facebook, Marketing, social media | No Comments »
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