Want Your Social To Boost Sales? Be Prepared To Spend The Necessary Time.

Marketers place a very high value on social media. A significant 86% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business, up from 83% in 2012. Yet 88% of marketers want to know the most effective social tactics and the best ways to engage their audience with social media.  

The top benefits of social media marketing are increased exposure (89%) and increased traffic (75%), finds Social Media Examiner in its annual “Social Media Marketing Industry Report”, which surveyed more than 3,000 marketers on their social media activities. A majority also report benefits such as developing loyal fans (65%), lead generation (61%), and improved search rankings (58%), but only 43% say their efforts have boosted sales. Nevertheless, study results indicate that for those willing to take the time, sales will follow.

That is, while only a minority report sales improvement on account of social media marketing, that turns to a majority among those who have been using social media for at least 3 years (47% of the survey sample) as well as among those who spend 11 or more hours a week on social media marketing (representing 36% of the sample). Among those few spending 40 or more hours a week on social, 62% say they’ve earned new business. The researchers found similar results last year, although more respondents are seeing each benefit this year.

The results need to be treated with a little caution, because many marketers still feel unable to measure the ROI of their social media activities. In fact, only 26% of respondents agreed (23%) or strongly agreed (3%) that they are able to measure the return of their social media marketing efforts. That’s a surprisingly low figure, particularly if 43% feel they can confidently attribute improved sales to social.

Another interesting result pertains to the effectiveness of Facebook marketing. The survey finds that 86% of marketers overall find social media to be important to their businesses. Meanwhile, Facebook is the most popular platform, used by 92% of respondents, with 49% rating it their most important social platform. Given Facebook’s almost ubiquitous use, and favorable attitudes towards social media as a whole, one would expect that marketers are positive about Facebook’s effectiveness. But, just 37% either agreed (32%) or strongly agreed (5%) with the statement: “My Facebook marketing is effective.”

That suggests that while respondents feel that social media is an important part of their marketing mix, Facebook marketing may be seen more as a necessary component of their social activities rather than the most effective component.

In social marketing, Blogs are an important element. But, when it comes to understanding their consumer, one very important point is missed. When asked who had blogs to rate their agreement with the following statement: “My blog is optimized for mobile readers.” slightly more than one in four (28%) agreed that their blog was optimized for mobile. B2B marketers were a little more likely to have their blogs optimized (31%), when compared to B2C marketers (26%).

The basic misconnect here is that people do not understand the one truth in the world today: Over 1 million new smartphones are activated every day. This summer we’ll hit the “mobile moment” when for the first time a consumer technology will match the human population in size (7 billion and counting). We are a mobile generation. Why aren’t your blogs, websites and social pages optimized for mobile readers?  

Other Findings:

• B2C marketers were 52% more likely than B2B marketers to agree that their Facebook marketing is effective (44% vs. 29%). Large companies (with 1,000 or more employees) were similarly more likely than self-employed respondents to find their efforts rewarding (46% vs. 29%).
• While 54% of respondents overall said social helps them build new partnerships, that figure rose to more than 60% among those with 3 years or more of experience.
• At least 60% of marketers spending 6 hours or more a week on social media said they saw improvements in their search engine rankings.

We live in a new DNAge. Think MOBILEFirst.

About the Data: The data is based on responses from 3,025 participants. 56% primarily target consumers and 44% businesses. 72% of respondents are aged 30-59, and females represented 62% of the survey sample. 57% are based in the US, with the UK (9%) the next-most heavily represented country.

Retailers Weigh In On The Digital Channels That Best Drive Store Traffic…And Sales.

Some retailers aren’t sold on the concept of digital channels being the primary driver of future growth,  at the expense of stores. But most do see the value of digital channels in driving traffic to stores – and they have some thoughts on which work best once the consumer is actually in the store. Results from RSR Research’s “The Relevant Store in the Digital Age” reveal that nearly all retailers see their e-commerce sites as having a lot (58%) or some (38%) value in driving traffic to stores. And while there’s some angst about showrooming, 87% recognize that smartphones have a lot (50%) or some (37%) value in driving store traffic.

Other digital channels that retailers see as valuable in driving foot traffic are their mobile applications or websites (88%) and their email communications (91%). While retailers are a bit less confident about the ability of their social networking efforts to bring in consumers, 84% still see a lot (33%) or some (51%) value to their social media presence.

When it comes to actually delivering sales in-store, though, retailers are less convinced about their e-commerce sites’ value, ranking it behind their mobile applications and websites and consumers’ smartphones. Specifically, mobile apps or web are rated by 35% as having a lot of value in driving in-store sales, and smartphones by 33%, while only one-quarter see e-commerce sites as delivering a lot of value in that regard. (Social networking presence and email communications are even less highly rated.) That seems to reflect an understanding that consumers are more likely to engage with a mobile app or website in-store than a social networking page or email.

According to new data from Google, consumers using their smartphones for research in-store are most likely to turn to search engines first, and prefer store and brand websites to apps.

We live in a new DNAge. Think MOBILEFirst.          

About the Data: The data is derived from a survey conducted by RSR online from March-April 2013, which received answers from 131 qualified retail respondents. 40% of respondents come from retailers with at least $1 billion in 2011 revenue, and about half are headquartered in the US.

Do You Have A Video Content Strategy?

In the pre-digital days there really wasn’t a need for brands to produce more than the ads that went on traditional media. Now we have entered a new era. No longer is it good business practice to only produce the print ads for the brand. Retailers and manufacturers need to produce an almost constant stream of fresh content to keep up with digital channels and social media and mobile capability. For most companies it’s a pretty big order because making content is a completely different business from what most manufacturers and retailers know. It gets even harder when so much of the content that they now need is video.

Tony Quin in imediaconnection.com attacked this issue in a recent article. “Since inexpensive bandwidth has made high-quality video so easy to get, people want more and more of it. Projections have video representing over 85% of all Internet traffic in a couple of years. So brands need to make lots of videos. The problem, of course, is not just the quantity, but how does a brand make videos that are good enough to stand out? While cameras and equipment are cheap and easy to get, creativity and know-how are still in short supply. Of course, what makes a video good is in the eye of the beholder, but most of us know bad video when we see it, and the last thing any brand needs is to be spreading bad videos.

The challenge is for companies to put in place the capability to produce lots of “good” videos, consistently over time. The problem is that because the budgets are much smaller, it’s not like producing TV commercials, which brands have a lot of experience with. According to the 4A’s, the average cost to make a TV spot is over $300,000 — but for video content, that may be your entire budget for the year.

Question is — do you try and do it in-house or hire pros? For most brands the answer is to hire pros. The advantage, of course, is the wide range of talent and capabilities you can access. The problem is how to keep the costs down. Most agencies focus on developing the creative, and produce a quality product. Thus companies and agencies that specialize in video content for digital channels is ideal.”

But you must have digital content strategy. A company that can do all of that…and that is set up to produce a lot of video content over time, cost-effectively…is the perfect solution. Of course, the videos still have to be good in the eye of the beholder, which to start with would be you.

It’s a new time and a new era in business thinking. Video, whether you like it or not, is THE most important tool you have to communicate with your target audience today. It is time for the entire home furnishings industry to make the move into video now.

We live in a new DNAge. Think MOBILEFirst.           

QR Code Scanning Isn’t Just A Young Person’s Activity

With mobile in hand, they can check out what your sales people are saying and verify the facts. They usually have done some background checking and have investigated what they are looking for. This is the age of ‘showrooming’.

QR code scanning, once the domain of the younger crowd, is becoming more evenly distributed across various age groups, according to data released by ScanBuy. The company, which says it processed a new high of 6.7 million scans via ScanLife in March, reveals that 57% of mobile barcode scanners were aged 35 and older in Q1, up from just 41% a year earlier. In particular, the 45-54 (18% share, from 12%) and 55 and older (14%, from 9%) groups represent rapidly growing proportions of scanners.

During that yearlong period, the biggest drop came from the 25-34 crowd. In Q1 2013, that age bracket constituted 35% of mobile barcode scanners, but that’s now down to 25%.

While QR code scanners seem to be getting older on average, their gender split hasn’t changed that significantly. In Q1, 65% of scanners were male, which is slightly (but not drastically) down from 68% in Q1 2012. In terms of operating systems, Android remains the leader at 57% share, up from 53% a year earlier, while iOS’ share has dipped 2% points to 41%.

The study also shows that QR code scanning tends to be popular throughout the week, with 14% share of scans occurring each day from Tuesday through Friday during Q1. Scanning volume did go up slightly on the weekend (16% on Saturday; 15% on Sunday) before dipping on Monday (13% share). Scanning volume also tended to rise after lunchtime and see sustained levels of activity until the primetime hours.                                                           

Among other findings, the most scanned QR code campaigns in Q1 connected users to product information, social media, and mobile commerce. The top industries, in terms of scanning activity, were retail, food and beverage, and wireless.

We live in a new DNAge. Think MOBILEFirst.

Consumers Around The World Think Retailers Need To Improve Their Cross-Channel Integration

Forty-Nine (49%) percent of U.S. consumers believe the best thing that retailers can do to improve their shopping experience is to better integrate in-store, online and mobile shopping channels, details a survey conducted by Accenture. That notion is shared by forty-eight (48%) of consumers in the UK, Germany, France, Sweden and Brazil and thirty-eight (38%)in China and Japan. The results point to a desire for an increasingly seamless cross-channel experience, where personalized experiences are provided across every engagement channel.

For example, fifty-three (53%) of consumers want to receive unique pricing, automatic discounts, free returns, or pre-sales based on their loyalty/purchase history…across all channels. Similarly, fifty-three (53%) percent want to be able to earn and use their loyalty rewards in-store, online or on a mobile device.

Consumers also expect integration of product, promotion, and pricing across channels: fifty-one (51%) expect product assortment to be the same across the channels, while forty-nine (49%) share that view of promotions and sixty-three (63%) percent of pricing.  

Nevertheless, there seems to be higher expectations placed on the online channel: eighty-one (81%) percent expect product assortment to be the same or less in-store, while eighty-three (83%) percent expect price (including tax and delivery) to be the same or more in-store. 

Eighty-nine (89%) percent of US respondents said it is important for retailers to let them shop for products in the way that is most convenient for them, no matter which sales channel they choose.

Ninety-four (94%) of US consumers find in-store shopping easy, compared to seventy-four (74%) percent for online shopping and twenty-six (26%) for mobile shopping.

Seventy-three (73%) of US respondents reported showrooming at least once in a 6 months prior to the survey, a figure that rises to seventy-seven (77%) percent among respondents in the European markets and Brazil, and eight-five (85%) percent among those in China and Japan.

Other findings show that same day delivery is not very important. Only twenty-four (24%) percent of US consumers think same day delivery is very important, aligning with research from Boson Consulting Group showing similar apathy to same-day delivery. 

About the data; The data is based on a survey of 6,000 consumers across 8 countries, conducted in November 2012. There were 750 respondents in the US.

We live in a new DNAge. ThinkMOBILEFirst.

Showrooming Secrets

Most customers say they need at least a 20% price difference to abandon the store

Two-thirds of mobile device owners say they check their device while shopping in a store to see if there is a cheaper price elsewhere, according to survey results from Linkable Networks. But what is the minimum price difference that would drive mobile owners to leave a store and purchase online instead?

 The study results suggest that only 5% would leave if the online retailer offered the item for at least 5% less, while a plurality 23% would leave for a discount of at least 20%.

 Not all mobile owners would leave the store they were shopping in because they found a better deal online via their mobile device, though. Among the two-thirds of respondents who check prices while in-store, only 1 in 5 report having left the store many times because they found a better deal, while an additional 26% said they would maybe do so if it were an expensive item, and another 41% if the price differential were high. 14% simply responded that they wouldn’t leave the store.                                      

The study results paint a picture of a more committed store buyer than previous research. Late last year, a study by GroupM found that 45% of customers would leave a store and buy a product online if they found it at a 2.5% discount while comparison shopping using their mobile device. At a discount of 5%, 60% of customers said they would leave, while at a 20% discount, 87% of shoppers would be moved to abandon the store.

About the Data: The data is gleaned from an online survey of 803 Americans conducted on behalf of Linkable Networks from January 7 – 12, 2013. To qualify, all respondents had to identify being 18 years of age or older. Weights were applied to ensure the sample was demographically balanced to reflect the US adult population.

We live in a new DNAge. Think MOBILEFirst.          

Half Of Mobile Phone Owners Always Have Their Device Within Arm’s Length

Smartphone penetration is exploding. 

Research showing consumer addiction to mobile phones continues to filter in. Here’s another stat to add to the arsenal: according to a new study from Arbitron and Edison Research, 52% of mobile phone owners always keep their device within arm’s reach, and another 30% do so most of the time. And more Americans aged 12 and up use a cell phone (30%) than a dedicated alarm clock (22%) or clock radio (15%) to wake up in the morning.

That rises to 59% among Americans aged 18-34.

The study reveals that smartphone penetration continues to steadily rise, up from 44% of Americans aged 12 and up last year to 53% this year. (Recent comScore estimates indicate that 55% of mobile phone subscribers owned a smartphone  during the 3-month average ending in January 2013, up from 42.7% the previous year.)

Over the past year, smartphone penetration has grown most quickly among older groups, according to the Edison Research and Arbitron study, with these demos tending to have the most “catching up” to do. But, penetration is up across all age groups, including:

. 11% growth among 12-17-year-olds (60% vs. 54%);

. 14% growth among 18-24-year-olds (75% vs. 66%);

. 16% growth among 25-34-year-olds (74% vs. 64%);

. 28% growth among 35-44-year-olds (69% vs. 54%);

. 24% growth among 44-54-year-olds (51% vs. 41%);

. 26% growth among 55-64-year-olds (34% vs. 27%); and

. 55% growth among the 65+ group (17% vs. 11%).

The most popular activities on smartphones, per the report, are making or receiving calls (97%), sending or receiving text messages (94%), taking pictures (90%), browsing the internet (83%) and using social networking sites (63%), with QR code scanning (21%) on the other end of the spectrum of identified activities.

Sorting by daily usage, the top 2 activities remain the same, but browsing the internet (61%) and using social networking sites (46%) leapfrog taking pictures (39%).

About the Data: In January/February 2013, Arbitron and Edison Research conducted a national telephone survey offered in both English and Spanish language (landline and cell phone) of 2,021 people aged 12 and older. Data were weighted to national 12+ population figures.

We live in a new DNAge. Think MOBILEFirst.          

Despite Increase Of Other Social Platforms, Facebook Still The Most Used

More Business Owners Say they Find LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube Effective But Could Be Doing More

Small business owners are increasingly finding social media platforms other than Facebook to be effective marketing vehicles for their organizations, per results from a new Constant Contact survey. Among the 8 in 10 respondents surveyed in December 2012 using social media for marketing (a notably higher proportion than other surveys such as this one have found), 29% found LinkedIn to be effective, up from 10% in the May 2012 survey, while one-quarter saw Twitter as effective, up from 7% in the earlier survey.

Not to be outdone, YouTube (15% vs. 3%), Pinterest (9% vs 1%), Yelp (6% vs 2%) and Google+ (5% vs 1%) are also gaining more interest from small business owners as effective social media marketing platforms. Still, none of those hold a candle to Facebook, which 82% find effective, up from 75% in the May 2012 survey.

The results appear to be in direct contrast to earlier survey findings from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Vistage International, in which LinkedIn emerged as not only the most commonly used social media tool by small businesses, but also the most positively perceived.

Both studies found evidence that small businesses could be doing more with their social media marketing. The WSJ survey turned up fairly low rates of regular usage of social media, and the Constant Contact study finds that just one-quarter of respondents post to Facebook daily, with that figure falling to 13% on Twitter and less than 5% for the other platforms identified. The numbers are not much better when expanding to weekly postings: 32% report posting with that regularity on Facebook, 18% on Twitter, and no more than 10% on any other platform. While many small business owners are using these platforms, they’re not terribly active on them.

A little help might spur them on, though. Asked which marketing activities they need help with, a majority cited social media marketing, the most of any activity identified. Next up, email marketing, following by websites, online advertising, and online listings.

About the Data: This Constant Contact-sponsored survey was administered in December 2012 to 1,100 participants in the Constant Contact Small Biz Council, a research panel of US small businesses and nonprofits recruited from the Constant Contact customer base. This is the third installment of an ongoing study about the state of small businesses and the ways they connect with and grow their audiences. Results include responses from respondents across a range of business-to-business and business-to-consumer industries.

We live in a new DNAge. Think MOBILEFirst. 

“Buying American” Generally Matters More To Women

A majority of American adults believe that it is important to “buy American” across a variety of product types, according to results from a Harris Interactive survey, even if the definition of what constitutes an “American” product is not universally shared by respondents. Interestingly, while there were few gaps in the importance placed on “buying American” among Republicans and Democrats responding to the survey, women were more likely than men to feel it more important for each product category identified. Women are the key.

For example, women were:

10% more likely to consider it important for furniture purchases (78% vs. 71%);

11% more likely to consider “buying American” important when purchasing major appliances (79% vs. 71%);

15% more likely to place importance on this factor when buying clothing (77% vs. 67%);

14% more likely to find it important for car purchases (74% vs. 65%); and

20% more likely to consider it important when buying home electronics (72% vs. 60%).

On each count, 18-35-year-olds were significantly less likely than any other generation to believe that “buying American” is important to them.

The survey finds that the definition of what constitutes “buying American” isn’t universally agreed upon. Three-quarters agree that a product needs to be manufactured within the US for them to consider it “American,” while a slight majority believe that it needs to be made by an American company for them to consider it “American.” Close behind, 47% agree that a product needs to be made from parts produced in the US for them to consider it “American.”

As the researchers note, the company perceived by respondents to be the most “American” – Ford – increasingly has cars that include parts produced abroad. Other companies showing up in the most “American” list – such as GE and Levi Strauss – also outsource some of their operations overseas.

Regardless of the extent to which these companies’ products meet consumer definitions, “Made in America” packaging can influence consumers. A study released last year by Perception Research Services found that about 8 in 10 shoppers notice “Made in the USA” claims in packaging, and about three-quarters of those believe that such claims make them more likely to buy the product.

According to the Harris survey results, the most commonly-cited important reasons for “buying American” are to keep jobs in America (90%), to support American companies (87%), and due to quality (83%) and safety (82%) concerns with products assembled outside of the US.

About the Data: The Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between December 12 and 18, 2012 among 2,176 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

Data for the “What company do you consider to be most ‘American’” question was conducted online within the United States between January 2 and 4, 2012 among 2,126 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

We live in a new DNAge. Think MOBILEFirst.           

Brand Social Network Sites Are Being Used More For Service Than For Marketing

While there is a lot of talk surrounding how consumers are using social media and how companies are using social media to create sales, the fact is, according to a new “Social Media Benchmark Study” released by JD. Power and Associates, its a mixed bag. In looking at how well different industries are using social media sites for marketing and servicing needs, the findings suggest that not all are adept at doing both. Among the results the study finds that of the 23,200 US consumers surveyed who have interacted with a company via a social media channel, 67% had done so for servicing versus 33% for marketing.

It should be noted that the report defines marketing engagements as including “connecting with consumers to build brand awareness and affinity, in addition to promoting coupons and deals”, while servicing engagements include “answering specific consumers questions or resolving problems.” 

The study finds some significant demo discrepancies in the two forms of engagement. For example, 18-29 year old respondents were less likely than the 30-59 and 50+ groups to have interacted with a company in h marketing context (23%, 39% and 38% respectively). However, the younger demo was more likely to have engaged with brands from a servicing standpoint (43%, 39% and 18% respectively).

The rising use of social media as a customer service channel has been well documented. However, some brands are not necessarily responding very well. For example, according to Socialbakers, in Q4, 2012, brands left 45% of questions posted to their Facebook pages unanswered. On Twitter, the results were worse. Brands responded to only 32% of the questions posted to their profiles. 

The question is: why use social media if you don’t use it as both a service and marketing platform? It is absolutely important to maintain a constant surveillance on brands social media platforms. Why? According to J.D. Powers, 87% said that the social marketing interaction they had with the company “positively impacted” their likelihood to make a purchase from that company. 

It’s time to understand social networking means attention to what is being said. Think of it as a personal conversation. If someone is standing next to you and asking you a question, do you just ignore the question and the person who is talking to you or do you respond in kind? 

Business integrity matters.