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About Social Media User Habits and Preferences

The Retail Advertising and Marketing Association released new research this week at the NRF's Retail Innovation & Marketing Conference on the habits of social media users. Comparing social media users to the average U.S. adult, the survey looks at the differences in demographics for each group, including male and female usage as well as age differences in social media users compared to other adults. The survey was conducted by BIGresearch

]]> Highlights of the survey, entitled "Social Media: An Inside Look at the People Who Use It," include:

* Seven out of 10 social media users between the ages of 18-34 regularly use Facebook more than other sites such as MySpace, Twitter and Classmates.

* 71.8 percent of social media users say that after an online search, they communicate with others about a product or service with face-to-face communication.

* More people who use social media prefer to give advice about a product or service rather than receive it.

* Social media users are more likely to use other new media compared to adults 18+.

* 70.6 percent of female social media users regularly use Facebook, compared to 61.0 percent of males.

* More men than women prefer to communicate with others via a cellphone conversation after searching for a product or service online.

To download study CLICK on link below:

U.S. Hispanic Web Publishers Spanish Web Marketing Marketers

Joe Kutchera: "What U.S. Hispanic Publishers and Marketers Can Learn From Spain"

Joe Kutchera - Many U.S. Hispanic publishers and e-commerce sites find that when they launch a site in Spanish targeting U.S. Hispanics many Latin Americans find their site for a number of reasons:

1) Their site has been optimized for search and so other Spanish-speakers find the site
2) 136 million consumers read in Spanish online, most of whom live outside of the U.S.
3) Sites in the U.S. and Spain typically feature better-produced content than in Latin America
4) Since there isn’t enough content in Latin America, Internet users find foreign sites in Spanish via search
5) Many U.S. Hispanic sites don’t have a landing page for users outside of the U.S.
6) It really is the World Wide Web.

]]> Interestingly, publishers in Spain can teach U.S. Hispanic publishers and e-commerce companies about how to best manage cross-border content consumption and grow audiences internationally. During a recent visit to Spain, I learned what a number of Spain’s interactive publishing leaders had to say.

Crossing Borders to visit Blog Networks and ElPais.com

WebLogsSL, a 40-site blog network and blogging consulting company based in Madrid, finds that some of their blogs see up to 30% of their visitors coming from Latin America, especially its technology and parenting blogs, according to Julio Alonso, their CEO and founder. Their auto blogs, on the other hand, see very little international traffic as the car manufacturers produce different models for Latin America than in Spain. Globally, WebLogsSL’s sites receive 13.5 million unique visitors and 56 million page views per month.

When producing health content in Spanish, for example, Julio suggests analyzing the composition of traffic by geography and asking what other companies produce health content in Latin America. If there is a lack of health content in Latin America, then sites from Spain and the U.S. Hispanic market will see more traffic to their sites.

Grupo Zeta, a newspaper conglomerate in Spain, sees about up to 20% of its traffic from Latin Americans who have become fans of niche subjects covered on their sites and blogs, according to Luis Rull, the founder of Evento Blog España and Mecus a corporate blogging design, development and hosting consultancy who works with Grupo Zeta.

Medios y Redes, a 10-site blogging network and blogging consultancy based in Madrid, sees up to 20% of its traffic from Latin America. With the help of a few bloggers in Peru, they recently launched Dogguie.com and now see a majority of its visitors to that site coming from Peru. WebLogsSL has also expanded internationally by launching a new division in Brazil with two new sites: MotorPasion Brazil and tRendências.

Interestingly, the reverse can also happen where Latin American sites attract visitors from Spain. Fayerwayer.com, a popular technology blog based in Chile, has built a fan-base of readers in Spain and shows how publishers can conquer new markets virtually, especially with lower labor costs for writers in Latin America. Fayerwayer.com gets over 2 million visits and 3.9 million page views per month and represents the largest site in BetaZeta, a blog network in Chile with 10 sites, 5.6 million visits and over 12 million page views.

While blog networks have grown their niche audiences across the world, the large newspaper sites have also grown their audiences globally. ElPais.es changed its name to ElPais.com in 2007 just as Grupo Prisa, the corporate parent, changed the paper’s tag line to “El Periodico Global en Español” (The global newspaper in Spanish). At the same time, Grupo Prisa opened their largest newspaper site up to become a free site after years of requiring users to pay for it and loosing audience to ElMundo.es. Visitors from Latin America represent over 50% of ElPais.com’s visitors and so ElPais.com launched a version of its site for the Americas in 2009, with ElMundo.es shortly thereafter following suit.

Moving Editorial Operations to Latin America = Lower Costs

If readers cross borders to consume content and bloggers can build audiences abroad, what does this mean for journalists? Luis Rull sees that fewer and fewer journalists at major newspapers will work in their office. Instead, they will work virtually from home, or writers in Latin America, where labor costs are much cheaper, will replace them. Medios y Redes, for example, pays between one and five Euros per post and up to 20 Euros for a sponsored post. While journalists in Spain cannot support themselves from such a pay scale, in Latin America, it can add up to a decent salary. In the U.S. Hispanic market, AOL Latino, ImpreMedia and Univision all produce content for the U.S. market from Mexico. Televisa of course has been producing TV content for Univision’s U.S. consumers for decades.

While outsourcing editorial is already happening, outsourcing Web development is a few steps ahead. Daniel Rodrigo of Medios y Redes says they outsource their development to Colombia, a trend that Daniel only sees increasing as the media business is forced to cut costs and look for cheaper alternatives. And if a web team speaks English, then they can outsource web development to India where it’s even cheaper than Colombia.

Luis Galan, the Head of eBusiness at ElPais.com and Box.net their ad network, says that freelance journalists will increasingly have 360-degree responsibilities where they each write articles, shoots videos and take photos. In addition, he says that they may offer a pay-to-blog model in the future where ElPais.com would allow influencers to blog on their site as citizen journalists and then promote their entries. While they offer that service for free today, since El Pais is the leading global brand for news in Spanish, Luis wonders how El Pais could sell services around their blogs.

Universal Versus Localized Spanish

Between the Spanish “discovery” of Latin America in the 15th Century and today’s growth of the Spanish-language Internet, the regional differences in Spanish have increased dramatically over the centuries. Even with those differences, millions of Latin Americans visit sites from Spain, which suggests that consumers can overlook a few differences in the Spanish language in exchange for reading helpful, big-picture democratic news and information. More importantly, it points out the need to have a Universal Spanish language online. Don’t most news organizations avoid writing in slang anyway?

Mr. Alonso of WeblogsSL recalls one funny story about how El Mundo reported a bullfight describing a “aparatosa cogida,” or “fatal stabbing” in Spanish from Spain. Unfortunately, that same phrase means “pompous goring” or “pompous f*#king” in Mexico. If you were the editorial director of El Mundo, wouldn’t you at least consider adjusting the Spanish used in your newspaper to make it less sexually offensive to an Internet market, like Mexico, that has more Internet users than Spain? And with a name like “The World,” wouldn’t you hope that the editors would encourage using a universal Spanish?

In addition, he cited The “Concha de Oro” (“Golden Shell” in English) film prize at the San Sebastian (Spain) film festival which provides another potentially offensive example of the differences in Spanish. How do you report who wins a major film prize in Europe when its name means “The Golden Pussy” in Argentina, for example?

Daniel Rodrigo of Medios y Redes cited a number of differences between the Spanish of Latin America and Spain.

Mr. Rodrigo also gave examples of how the Real Academica Española (RAE) is stridently avoiding the English-isms or Spanglish that Mexico and Latin America have easily adopted, especially when it comes to technological terms. For example, RAE translates “CD-ROM” as “cederrón” and “Blue Jeans” as “bluyins” whereas in Mexico they would simply say “CD-ROM” or “Jeans.” Mr. Rodrigo suggested visiting Hoygan.com.es to see some funny examples of mis-spelled Spanish. (“Oigan” is the plural command of “to listen” but in this case its spelled phonetically as “Hoygan.”)

If individual words can be confusing, what about idioms, or slang in phrases? Mr. Rodrigo gave a few examples during a trip he made to Colombia to visit his programming team. Instead of saying “lo siento,” or “I’m sorry,” a few Colombians said “Que pena con usted,” which to him meant “what a pity with you.” Or when he arrived at the airport, they asked him, “Me regalas tu nombre,” or literally “gift me your name,” instead of saying, “Dame tu nombre,” or “Give me your name.”

The slang and idioms of spoken Spanish highlight greater differences between the 22 Spanish-speaking countries than the more formal, written version of the Spanish language. But even newscasters can speak in a formal, spoken Spanish via video. Naysayers of Universal Spanish, such as the language service providers (LSP’s) who translate web sites, say that the Spanish in each country is different. But reading a slightly different version of Spanish is still much easier than reading English online. As such, this points us in the direction of using a Universal Spanish online. Or, at the very least, the Internet just may be the biggest force to linguistically unify the former Spanish empire.

What’s ahead for the Spanish Online?

What does the future hold for Spanish-language media? Mr. Alonso sees combinations of editorial policy and technology that create new products, helping us to relate to and distribute content in new ways. Most media companies today are too focused on content he says. Mr. Rull sees a future with GPS-powered, geo-targeted local content on mobile phones with hyper-niche content.

Mr. Galan thinks that maps will power the next wave of online advertising on HTML pages as well as on mobile applications. By providing local services, sites can better localize their sites. In addition, he says we are in an age of massive disintermediation in the media business. Take a look at Happing.com, Coke’s social network in Spain, which shows how advertisers don’t need media companies as they did before. As such, he sees a future where the relationship between the employee and supervisor will go away and instead the risk will be shared between media, advertising and editorial partners.

In conclusion, during my visit to Spain the attendants at the front desk of the hotels where I stayed were from Latin America. Upon asking them what sites each of them visited regularly, the manager of my hotel in Seville often visited ElDeberDigital.comfrom his native Bolivia. And the attendant at my hotel in Madrid often visited El Comercio’s site from his native Ecuador.

This is an excerpt from Joe Kutchera's upcoming book about the Spanish-language Internet to be published by Paramount Books.

Joe Kutchera runs DotGlobal, a Hispanic and Latin American Internet Marketing Consultancy.

US Hispanic Broadband Internet Access

Research: Hispanics Still Lag in Internet Access - The U.S. Department of Commerce just published the report: “Digital Nation: 21st Century America’s Progress Toward Universal Broadband Internet Access”.

]]> The report confirms that at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, too many Americans still rely on slow, narrowband Internet access or do not use the Internet at all. “Despite the growing importance of the Internet in everyday life, over 30 percent of households and 35 percent of persons do not use the Internet at home, and 30 percent of all persons do not use the Internet at all”, said the report.

43,08% of Hispanics use a broadband (39.74%) or dial up connection (2.98%) at home, while 49.31% uses the internet either at home or anywhere. The percentage of Hispanics who do not have Internet access lies at 50.69% in comparison with a 25.68% ratio for White Non Hispanic.

The data also reveals that demographic disparities among groups have persisted over time. Persons with high income, who are younger, Asians and Whites, the more highly-educated, married couples, and the employed tend to have higher rates of broadband use at home. Conversely, persons with low incomes, seniors, minorities, the less-educated, non-family households, and the non-employed tend to lag behind other groups in home broadband use.

If we want to look at the positive side of the issue, the growing rate is our variable. In October 2009, according to the Census Current Population Survey data, 63.5 percent (75.8 million) of U.S. households used a high-speed Internet – “broadband” – service. This represented a 25 percent increase from just two years earlier (50.8 percent in October 2007).

However, virtually all demographic groups have increased their adoption of broadband services at home over time. This is particularly the case for the Hispanic population. According to a report on the US Hispanic internet market from comScore, the Hispanic online demographic is expanding more than 50% faster than the overall US online population. This figure narrows the disparities described in the U .S. Department of Commerce

The Girl Scouts Viral Marketing Internet Cookie Sales

Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low would approve of her organization's recent plunge into viral marketing. After all, Low used the then-newfangled telephone almost a century ago to declare her intention to start the Girl Scouts to a friend. Like technology, cookie sales have been part of the organization since its early years. It's a lucrative tradition: The cookies, including Thin Mints and Samoas, bring in $700 million in sales a year.

]]> But cookie sales slipped about 1% last year, prompting the organization to look for new ways to get its message across to potential cookie buyers.

The result? The Girl Scouts posted a video on YouTube called "What can a cookie do?," which has attracted about 24,000 hits since it was posted Jan. 19.

"We're anxious to see how it works because it lets us get our message out in a cost-effective way," Laurel Richie, chief marketing officer of the Girl Scouts of the USA, says. She also hopes the video will help engender trust among those viewing the ad. "There's a greater engagement when a video is passed onto you, because it has the implicit endorsement of the person who passes it on," Richie says.

The video focuses the connection between cookie purchases and how the girls use the funds to help their communities, learn business skills and build self-confidence. Its point: "Every cookie has a mission: to help girls do great things."

While the video aims to get viewers to understand the philosophy behind cookie sales, it also directs viewers to a website where they can find a place to buy the treats. (In full disclosure, I am an assistant leader of a Girl Scout Daisy troop and I have placed a cookie order this year.) Richie says she's "cautiously optimistic" that the video will have a positive impact on sales. For now, it's too early to tell.

Thinking Outside the Cookie Box - Like cookie sales, membership in the Girl Scouts has also slipped in recent years, Richie says. "We're in the middle of rebuilding. We had a membership spike in 2002 and didn't have the sustainability to get it going," she says. "We're hoping we'll be more efficient to not only get new members but retain them."

In 2004, the organization started developing a new business strategy to help it become more relevant to girls and their families. Volunteering opportunities, for example, had stemmed from the post-World War II days when most mothers stayed at home. So the organization revamped, offering flexible opportunities for parental involvement as well as online orientation. To make the organization more efficient, the number of Girl Scout councils, or local offices, was whittled from 312 to 112. Social and viral marketing is the next step in the process.

Still, there's been growth in one quarter: Richie says the organization has seen a spike in interest from Hispanic families, with a 33% jump in Hispanic members during the past six years.

"We're looking at almost every non-traditional way to get the word out," Richie adds. Northern California Girl Scouts, for example, are also using text messaging, phone banks and Facebook to sell cookies this year, according to the Contra Costa Times.

Real Estate Market Digital Marketing

Real estate companies have been slow to embrace online marketing, according to a survey by Brandeis University's International Business School and digital marketing firm inSegment, Inc

]]> According to the National Association of Realtors, 90% of homebuyers start their real estate search online. The survey, a "Digital Marketing Survey of the U.S. Real Estate Industry," conducted in 2009 and released this month, found that 76 percent of surveyed companies commit 40 percent or less of their marketing budgets to digital marketing, preferring traditional venues like newspapers and display ads.

The survey covered three hundred companies nationwide in investment, commercial and residential real estate. The survey was conducted through confidential phone interviews of key decision-makers in each of the companies, according to inSegment.

More than half of participating companies (58 percent) did not run search-engine marketing campaigns. Of those who do search-engine marketing, 33 percent do not invest in search-engine optimization.

"There is nothing surprising about the fact that all real estate consumers are on the Web. This is true for just about every industry. What is surprising is that while Google generates approximately 3 billion unique daily searches, only a small minority of real estate players are tapping into the opportunity in a serious way," said Oleg A. Vyadro, inSegment's founder and principal, in a statement.

The survey found that 23.5 percent of companies believed that between 60 and 80 percent of consumers began their search online, and 37.5 percent believed between 40 and 60 percent of consumers did so.

More than half of participants (53 percent) expect to increase their digital marketing budget in the future, the survey also found, while 37 percent plan to keep it at the same level and 10 percent plan to decrease their digital marketing budget.

Companies cited reduced marketing budgets and the "complexity" of digital marketing as the main reasons for the discrepancy.

Among the top marketing objectives in next five years for participating real estate companies: 42.5 percent seek to increase their brand awareness, 35 percent seek to increase return on investment of their marketing budget, and 22.5 percent seek to solicit new clients.

2008 Online Sales Results eCommerce Sales

ComScore today reported that e-commerce sales for the November and December period rose 4% to $29.1 billion, compared with $28 billion a year ago and $29.2 billion in 2007. Through October, sales were down 1% compared with 2008; sales for the holiday season in 2008 declined 3%, after adjusting for the fact the 2008 season had fewer shopping days than the 2007 season.

]]> ComScore had forecast an e-commerce sales increase of 3%. Similarly, some early results have indicated that overall holiday sales may have been better than expected, beating some of the gloomier forecasts for flat to declining sales, compared to a year ago. Even the National Retail Federation, historically optimistic in its forecast had predicted a 1% decline in holiday sales this year. MasterCard Advisors has estimated that retail sales increased 3.6% between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24.

MasterCard Advisors also estimated online sales increased 15.5% between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 and 17.7% in December. An executive from MasterCard was not immediately available for comment as to why the firm's numbers were significantly higher than ComScore figures. The group aggregates sales activity in the MasterCard payments network and combines it with survey-based estimates for other payment forms to arrive at its estimates.

2010 Google PPC Revenues Increase

PPC Revenue is Finally Expected to Rebound in 2010 With Google Being the Prime Beneficiary

By Ron Jackson DN Journal - After an exceptionally long drought in which many saw their PPC revenue drop by 75% or more, evidence is mounting that domain owners will finally witness an end to the carnage in 2010. The latest indication of an upturn came today when Jefferies stock analyst Youssef Squali raised his price target on Google stock (already rated a buy) from $600 to $695 a share (Google closed at $593 today).

]]> Citing increased optimism among advertisers amid an improving macro environment, Squali noted "Our channel checks point to strengthening advertising, e-commerce environment and improving fiscal 2010 outlook, which bodes well for Google. Over 65% of online ad budgets continue to go to Search, with Google claiming the lion's share."

Squali added "Commentary out of Yahoo, AOL and Value Click last week also points to strengthening demand from advertisers." As almost all of you know, Google and Yahoo provide the vast majority of the PPC income received by domain owners.

Adding to the optimism is the fact that online sales were up 3% from November 1 to December 6 indicating that holiday season e-commerce is bouncing back, at least modestly, from last year when it fell 3%.

The big question now is how much of an ad spending increase will filter down to domain

owners? After the massive losses incurred over the past year, a 5-10% up tick wouldn't prompt many people to pop champagne corks, but at least it would be a step in the right direction. It will take many more steps to get back to where we were, but as Lao Tzu, the father of Taoism, said, ""The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." If we can get back up from the canvas and start walking again in 2010, maybe we will eventually be able to break into a sprint.

Regardless of what happens, the enduring lesson from this downturn for domain owners should be to continue looking for ways to diversify and end your dependence on Google and Yahoo. A parking revenue comeback would be most welcome, but if you can find new sources of revenue from your domains, the next inevitable downturn won't have to be as debilitating as the current one has been for so many. Social Media

Black Friday Retail Expectations

Black Friday 2009 came in with lower-than-average spending, with sales figures about even with 2008’s poor performance, according to a survey of nearly 5,000 shoppers.

The National Retail Federation said 195 million shoppers hit stores and Web sites over the holiday weekend, spending a total of $41.2 billion nearly flat with $41 billion spent over the 2008 Black Friday weekend.

The number of shoppers increased from 172 million during the 2008 holiday weekend, though the average spent was $343.31 per person over this year’s Black Friday period, down from $372.57 last year. Shoppers in the Northeast averaged $356.81, of which $124.39 was spent online.

CPG Social Media Marketing Problems

www.emarketer.com - Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies and social media are not an easy mix. Because CPG companies tend to focus on reaching a mass audience and have well-honed ways of measuring marketing effectiveness and sales, social media has been a less than perfect fit.

]]> But rather than a hindrance, this can be an opportunity for CPG companies.

“By looking at social media as a way to listen to consumers, respond to their needs and create ongoing dialogue—instead of as another way to advertise to them—CPG companies can reinvigorate their marketing and create new bonds with consumers,” said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “CPGs and Social Media: Much More Than Advertising.”

The CPG industry is turning its attention toward online advertising, but remains firmly committed to traditional media. And consumer products spending on social network advertising represents only a small fraction of the total dollars going to that channel, according to Nielsen AdRelevance. (Consumer goods includes CPG companies as well as apparel and jewelry, automotive supply, home and garden, print publishing, recreational gear, and toy and hobby products.)

Still, the Nielsen figures represent only image-based ad spending, and do not include any other social marketing outlays. Many CPG companies consider social media “earned” rather than paid, and invest in promotional interactions and blogger relations, for example, rather than CPM-based display ads.

“CPGs can use social media to humanize their brand and create loyalty simply by being available when consumers have a problem, question or compliment,” explained Ms. Williamson.

Still, metrics remain a hurdle. Measuring the link between social media engagement and sales is only made more difficult by the fact that many CPG products, such as cake mix and soda, are not typically purchased online. Even so, imperfect metrics are better than none at all.

Mobile Social Networking Usage USA

Social networking is one of the fastest-growing activities among mobile users around the world. And as one of the primary ways mobile users communicate with one another, it is proving a significant driver of Internet usage on mobile devices.

eMarketer predicts the number of mobile users accessing social networks from their mobile devices will reach 607.5 million worldwide by 2013, representing 43% of global mobile Internet users. In the US, mobile social networkers will total 56.2 million by 2013, accounting for 45% of the mobile Internet user population.

]]> “Combining two much-hyped, but still-emerging channels—mobile and social—results in a developing opportunity for marketers,” said Noah Elkin, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “Mobile Social Networks: Marketing by Location Shows Potential.”

The big three destinations of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter dominate the US mobile social networking space as they do the desktop world.

Location-based networks such as Loopt and foursquare have not yet reached critical mass, but are worth keeping an eye on as they work to link people, places and interests. In addition, location-based services can also be used in other contexts to help marketers target social network users with relevant information and offers.

“Location-aware branded applications and utilities that include a social component provide an avenue for marketers to engage their audience directly,” added Mr. Elkin.

But the combination of two emerging channels means that estimating the market for mobile social advertising and marketing is premature, despite the promising user base.

Marketers are talking a lot about social and mobile and, on a slightly smaller scale, preparing to incorporate both environments into their marketing mix. But since both channels are still evolving, combining mobile and social together puts many marketers into a gray area from both a budgetary and oversight perspective, and programs remain small and experimental.

www.emarketer.com

How to Build Brands Online Branding

Building Brands Online - Interactive sales teams with category and relationship expertise, services that provide solutions to marketer challenges and better measurement are just some of the organizational and systemic challenges that inhibit online ad growth revealed in “Building Brands Online,” a study released today by Bain & Company, the global business consulting firm, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). The results were presented in New York at a meeting comprised of senior marketing, advertising and media industry executives.

]]> Key findings of the study “Building Brands Online” include:

* Online ad formats and creative have not evolved to meet marketers’ needs

* Media companies lack category expertise when they sell to brand marketers and engage with them too late in the media planning process

* Marketers want integrated campaigns instead of platform-specific media programs

* While marketers see high value in online advertising and believe that it could be effective at all stages of the purchase funnel, current industry practices inhibit greater investment of brand ad dollars

* Marketers express needs for differentiated services for their brands and believe that media companies and agencies have to meet those differentiated needs for online advertising to grow.

“The study provides a wealth of insights into how brand marketers perceive online media and what the marketers would like to see media companies do for them. The findings led us to develop an interactive advertising action plan for the industry as a whole, but more importantly, so that the sellers of online media can be more effective at garnering their share of brand advertising dollars,” said Sherrill Mane, SVP, Industry Services, IAB.

“Unmet marketer needs create a major opportunity for media companies to collaborate directly with marketers,” said John Frelinghuysen, a partner in Bain & Company's media practice and lead author of the study. “But few media companies currently have the capability to fill the gaps in online sales and service.”

The path forward for media companies consists of six steps based on the needs expressed by marketers:

* Create segmented offerings to meet the separate needs of advertisers who are focused on building brands and those who are looking for direct response

* Make brand-focused marketers a priority by building a sales force of category experts who respond directly to those marketers’ specific needs

* Develop a full range of solutions with more engaging options and formats, including social networks, video and other rich media

* Offer deeper service and support customized to vertical industries, to help advertisers plan, create and measure the brand impact of online ads

* Optimize the ways that ad inventories are sold, with a range of approaches from full-service to self-service to partnership with ad networks and resellers

* Enhance organizational effectiveness by setting the right priorities, clarifying internal roles and accountability and investing in sales staff skills and incentives

“Ultimately, marketers are looking for media companies to offer a true triple-play service model from direct response to awareness to high impact brand engagement,” said Frelinghuysen. “This model is the key to staving off continued price erosion of online inventory.” www.iab.net

Advertising Mobile Marketing Preferences

Mobile Marketing turns some People On - some People Off - Mobile ad spending is poised to grow 27% to $2.1 billion in 2010, according to the Mobile Marketing Association. However, there’s good news and bad news for marketers who are wading into the mobile marketing wars. The good news is the audience for mobile marketing is growing. The bad news is the audience is still relatively small and confined to a limited segment of the market. Marketers who employ mobile marketing to the wrong consumer group risk turning them off, not on, according to an analysis of BIGresearch’s Simultaneous Media Usage Survey (SIMM 14, June 2009) of over 22,000 consumers.

]]> Demographically, consumers who like mobile marketing tend to be young men. They are cell phone-centered and more likely to use social media. On the other hand, those who don’t like mobile marketing tend to be slightly older women who are not as centered around their cell phone or use social media.

The mobile marketing user segment represents a desirable consumer group for specific products such as electronics. They are much more likely to purchase electronics over the next six months than the non-user group: 22.4% plan to buy a computer (v. 13.1%), 20.2% plan to buy a TV (v. 12.6%) and 11.2% plan to buy a digital camera (v. 7.1%).

Since June of 2008, the percentage of people who don’t like mobile marketing has increased. 66.8% don’t like text ads (v. 63.5 in ‘08), 60.2% don’t like voicemail ads (v. 56.8% in ‘08) and 59.6% don’t like video ads (v. 56.1% in ‘08). The percentage of people has also increased for those who say marketers need permission prior to sending an ad (58% v. 55.6% in ‘08) and those who think they are an invasion of privacy (52.1% v. 49.5% in ‘08).

“Marketers are excited about the potential of mobile marketing, but they need to beware,” said Gary Drenik. “Cell phones are perceived by consumers as a very personal form of media and unwanted messaging could be interpreted as an invasion of privacy. There is a risk in the mobile space of turning consumers off and have a negative impact on ROI.”

Socially Inhibited Americans Reports

This report adds new insights to an ongoing debate about the extent of social isolation in America. A widely-reported 2006 study argued that since 1985 Americans have become more socially isolated, the size of their discussion networks has declined, and the diversity of those people with whom they discuss important matters has decreased. In particular, the study found that Americans have fewer close ties to those from their neighborhoods and from voluntary associations.

]]> Sociologists Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin and Matthew Brashears suggest that new technologies, such as the internet and mobile phone, may play a role in advancing this trend. Specifically, they argue that the type of social ties supported by these technologies are relatively weak and geographically dispersed, not the strong, often locally-based ties that tend to be a part of peoples’ core discussion network. They depicted the rise of internet and mobile phones as one of the major trends that pulls people away from traditional social settings, neighborhoods, voluntary associations, and public spaces that have been associated with large and diverse core networks.

The survey results reported here were undertaken to explore issues that have not been probed directly in that study and other related research on social isolation: the role of the internet and mobile phone in people’s core social networks.

This Pew Internet Personal Networks and Community survey finds that Americans are not as isolated as has been previously reported. People’s use of the mobile phone and the internet is associated with larger and more diverse discussion networks. And, when we examine people’s full personal network – their strong and weak ties – internet use in general and use of social networking services such as Facebook in particular are associated with more diverse social networks.

by Keith Hampton, Lauren Sessions, Eun Ja Her, Lee Rainie

Brand Marketing Messages on Social Media Sites

Consumers open to Branding, Marketing Messages on Social Media Sites - Performics and ROI Research released findings from a joint study that provides strategic insights into how users adopt social networking sites and the actions they take across those sites.

The survey of more than 3,000 U.S. consumers comprised 100 plus questions to determine how various segments of consumers use social networks in their daily lives, specifically in regard to finding out about different types of products and in relation to other media channels. The study found that marketers who embrace the medium and communicate relevant messages in consumers’ language and on their terms could gain customers and grow sales.

]]> According to the study, consumers are willing to engage with – and buy from – brands on social networking sites. In fact:

- thirty-four percent of respondents have used a search engine to find information on a product/service/brand after seeing an advertisement on a social networking site

- Thirty percent of respondents have learned about a new product, service or brand from a social networking site

- Thirty-two percent or respondents said messages about printable coupons on social sites resonate with them

- Twenty-eight percent of respondents said messages about sales or special deal notifications resonate with them

Many marketers have previously shied away from direct branding or selling on social media sites for fear of alienating consumers. However, marketers need to keep tabs on consumer behavior as social networks continue to gain steam.

“Social networks are creating a monumental shift in how people communicate with each other and with brands,” said Michael Kahn, SVP of Marketing at Performics. “The results of this study can help marketers better understand where and how consumers interact with social media sites and what types of offers and communications engage them and motivate them to act.”

The study also shows the immense opportunity for engaging with consumers on specific social networking sites:

- Forty-six percent of respondents say they would talk about or recommend a product on Facebook

- Forty-four percent of Twitter users have recommended a product

- Thirty-six percent of YouTube users say that they have gone to an online retailer or ecommerce site after learning about a brand on a social network site

“The numbers are staggering. One in four respondents have four or more active social network accounts and more than one quarter access their Facebook or Twitter accounts at least once a day via their mobile phone,” notes Scott Haiges, President of ROI Research. “We knew that these sites are extremely popular for socializing, but the level of interest for branding and promotional marketing content is surprisingly large.”

What about those consumers who don’t partake in social networking? Performics and ROI also asked the 30 percent (about 1,000 respondents) that didn’t qualify to take the full survey why they choose not to use social networks. Seventy-seven percent cited a lack of interest, while 28 percent noted privacy concerns and 27 percent indicated they just didn’t have the time. Only 13 percent said they didn’t “want all the connections.”

For more information at www.performics.com