Posts Tagged ‘social media marketing’
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
 A gap exists between attitudes towards social media and investment in social media, according to the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) , a trade association for the software and digital content industries, in its new report, ”Marketing in Today’s Economy”
About 90 percent of marketing executives surveyed use social media marketing, and three quarters believe it has a positive impact on their business.
At the same time slightly more than half (54.5 percent) of respondents said their company’s marketing team spends less than 10 hours per week investing in social media. And further,35 percent said they spend only between one and five hours per week on social media marketing.
“Social media has clearly become a widely used tool among B2B marketers and few doubt that it is helping their business,” said Rhianna Collier, Vice President of SIIA’s Software Division.
“But our survey also shows that marketers may not be dedicating the resources necessary to get the results they want from social media marketing. It is remarkable to see that, despite their strong belief in the power of social media, over one-third of marketers are engaged in it for only five hours or fewer every week.”
The SIIA survey suggests that marketers do recognize the need to dedicate more resources to their social media efforts going forward. About 65 percent of respondents cited social media as an area in which they would like to invest more spending, and over 70 percent indicated they expect to increase their use of both Twitter and Linkedin in the year ahead.
Applying same ROI metrics as to other marketing efforts
And importantly, marketers are beginning to apply the same ROI metrics to social media that they do for other marketing efforts, both offline and online. For example, 59 percent of businesses are using social media use web traffic as an indicator of social media ROI, while 53 percent are using qualified leads as a key ROI metric.
Collier continued, “Social media is still a relatively new method for growing a business, but marketers clearly believe it is has value and will require greater investment. And with more marketers now applying traditional ROI metrics—such as qualified leads—to their social media efforts, they are more likely to get a clear sense of what level of investment makes sense. The maturation process of social media is clearly underway, and we can expect to see significant advancements in the coming years.”
The survey looked at wide range of issues, and found a number of other results that are important for marketers—including:
- 75 percent of respondents do not outsource any social media efforts.
- Nearly 60 percent of respondents said that less than 5 percent of their deals began through social network interactions.
- Privacy is the top ethical concern in today’s marketing world.
- Most marketers predict that the biggest trend in 2012 will be greater communication and quantification of value to customers.
The Software & Information Industry Association conducted the survey in conjunction with Lopez Research during the fourth quarter of 2011. The survey interviewed 106 marketing executives, of which 88 percent were business-to-business marketers.
Tags: B2B marketing, SIIA, social media investment, social media marketing
Posted in best practices, Internet/New Media, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
 The introduction of analytics to Twitter brand pages will enable brands to optimise their campaigns more effectively and is likely to result in more investment in the platform according to integrated PR, search and social media agency Punch Communications.
Erica Anderson, Twitter’s manager for news and journalism, indicated in comments from her visit to Columbia University’s social media weekend on 28th January that Twitter is set to unveil a number of new tools for brand pages in the next few months, which will allow brands to more accurately monitor the reach and effect of each tweet published.
Whilst this sounds similar to current tools already available, Punch has indicated that the data will have added weight given that it is coming from a primary source, rather than a third party application.
Pete Goold, managing director of online PR agency Punch, said: “The data that seems set to become available in the coming months will add immense value to the Twitter platform, which already facilitates one to one interactions between brands and their audiences on an awareness and customer services level. Being able to track the exact reach and impact of each individual tweet will enable brands to fine-tune their Twitter strategies moving forward.
“Whilst there are numerous analytics tools available which can look into Twitter in depth, having an analytics platform embedded within the network itself is likely to improve the quality of future campaigns as a whole, meaning that brands must make the most of analytics data and employ the expertise of individuals and agencies who understand what it all means.
“This development may also be part of Twitter’s strategy to try and persuade more brands to invest in the platform from a marketing perspective, since the pool of information and insights which could be available through Twitter is astronomical. With this added revenue, we’d certainly hope that Twitter will continue to invest in providing deeper analytical data in the future.”
Punch Communications is a leading integrated PR, social media and SEO agency, with a wide range of global clients, spanning the retail, gaming and tech sectors.
Tags: Columbia University's social media weekend, Erica Anderson, Pete Goold, Punch, social media marketing, Twitter analytics, twitter tools for brand pages
Posted in Analytics, Internet/New Media, Marketing, social media, Twitter | Comments Off
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012
 Despite the apparent opportunities for growth in the life insurance industry, advancement remains sluggish. But digital marketing might rejuvenate the industry, according to a new study by Acxiom® Corporation (Nasdaq: ACXM), a recognized leader in marketing services and technology.
Nearly half of adults are uninsured or underinsured, bringing life insurance ownership to a 50-year low.
Though there are a number of factors for the decline in life insurance, the study largely concentrates on carriers not reaching Millennial, Gen X and Boomer generations, many of whom prefer interaction through digital media channels.
Research from the study, “Life Insurance Marketing at the Crossroads,” reveals that consumers want multiple touches that address their unique motivations and current life needs. To accomplish this, life insurance carriers need to consider supplementing broadcast advertising and traditional direct marketing strategies with digital engagement strategies.
Addressable digital channels are a good way to deliver more individualized messaging to specific target audiences, thus increasing the likelihood of interacting with consumers as they research for information.
The report puts forth clear evidence that digital is already a factor in life insurance shopping alongside more traditional methods:
- 68 percent of Millennials used social media as part of their life insurance shopping process
- 43 percent of Gen X conducted searches online to find information about life insurance
- 33 percent of Boomers report online information was among the top three influencers in their final decision
“Birth, death, marriage, divorce and retirement are all significant life experiences that represent valuable opportunities to re-examine life policy coverage,” said Rose Cahill, Acxiom vice president, insurance industry.
“Consumers are already using digital channels to educate themselves and solicit advice about life insurance; therefore carriers should consider using digital to augment their more traditional marketing practices to reach these audiences with personalized messaging. This can lead to a major uptick in upsell and new business opportunities for the industry.”
$5 billion annual potential
Additionally, the study cites that Millennials and Gen X are both still open to direct mail as a means for transacting life insurance business, yet strong portions of each consider email communication and to a lesser extent, website interactivity to be acceptable alternatives.
The data also suggests that conversion of just 10 percent of currently uninsured Millennials and Gen X represents a market potential of more than $5 billion annually.
The study was conducted in June 2011 and included responses from 3,027 respondents representing a sample of U.S. consumers age 18+. The survey addressed a wide range of questions regarding attitudes and behaviors pertaining to how consumers perceive life insurance and how they approach the shopping process.
Tags: Acxiom, digital marketing, direct mail, life insurance, social media marketing
Posted in Internet/New Media, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
 Dave M. Mastovich As we kick off 2012, MaSSolutions offers these 12 New Year’s Marketing Resolutions to help you and your company:
- Embrace Social Media as part of your Marketing & PR strategy. Focus time on creating content relevant to your target audiences and on learning about your marketplace. Less Angry Birds and fun Facebook stuff, more content development and information gathering.
- p,Use LinkedIn as a resource for Pre Call Prep prospecting, networking and competitive analysis. The online professional network is a must for entrepreneurs, marketers and senior leaders.
- Build a keyword rich LinkedIn profile that tells your story and also enhances Search Engine Optimization.
- Instead of just signing up and following celebrities on Twitter, organize your followers by category and scan for valuable content. Retweet what you think is valuable and use other information to enhance your marketing and selling efforts.
- Develop a content strategy for Twitter. Decide what key messages you want to convey and develop a schedule to do so. Continually create an inventory of tweets to increase awareness and follower base.
- Use Facebook for more than pushing information out. Keep abreast of what interests key target audiences and create two way conversations by asking their opinion. Make customer success stories shareable. Address negative comments quickly and honestly.
- Contrary to what some may think, email isn’t dead and can be an important part of your marketing and selling strategy. Segment your target audiences and create email messages that show what’s in it for them.
- Commit to staying current with Social Media tools. It doesn’t have to be a huge time investment–an hour or two a week that’s convenient to you can make a big impact.
- The tenets of successful messaging apply to Social Media. Tell your story with clear and succinct messages that resonate with your target audiences and stay consistent with your overall brand.
- Make customers and employees an extended part of your Marketing Team. As Social Media becomes more a part of our lives, we use our online network to share opinions quickly and easily. Manage these relationships and leverage Social Media so customers and employees spread the good, rather than bad, word about products and services.
- Incorporate Mobile into your integrated marketing strategy. Online purchasing is moving to mobile. Google estimated 44% of last-minute holiday shopping came from smartphones or tablets. Mobile provides a great opportunity to market to unique, segmented audiences at or near their time of purchase.
- This year, make sure you live up to your New Year’ Marketing Resolutions.
David M. Mastovich, MBA is President of MASSolutions, an integrated marketing firm focused on improving the bottom line for clients through creative selling, messaging and PR solutions. He’s also author of “Get Where You Want To Go: How to Achieve Personal and Professional Growth Through Marketing, Selling and Story Telling.” For more information, go to www.massolutions.biz.
Tags: Angry Birds, David Mastovich, facebook, LinkedIn, LinkedIn marketing, marketing resolutions for 2012, SEO, social media marketing, Tiwtter, Twitter marketing
Posted in Angry Birds, best practices, Business advice, Facebook, Internet/New Media, Marketing, social media, TechLife, Twitter | Comments Off
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
 Now and then we hear that email, troubled by spam and overfull mailboxes, is not the marketing tool it once was. A new survey disputes that. Sixty percent of business executives surveyed in StronMail’s 2012 Marketing Trends Survey say they plan to increase their email marketing budgets, while 55 percent plan to boost social media marketing.
More than a third, (37%) say they’ll kick up their spend for mobile and search.
Survey Highlights
- 92% plan to increase or maintain marketing spend in 2012
- 60% plan to increase email marketing budget; 55% social media; 37% mobile/search (tied)
- 45% cite data integration as primary email marketing challenge in 2012; 43% lack of resources/staff; 40% content management
- 48% cite increasing subscriber engagement as top 2012 email marketing initiative; 44% improving segmentation/targeting; 32% growing opt-in email list
- 68% plan to integrate email marketing with social media; 44% with mobile; 17% with search
Marketing Budgets Remain Healthy; Email and Social Media Attract Increased Investment
Email marketing (60%) and social media (55%) were cited as the top two areas for increased marketing spend. According to the survey, 51% of businesses plan to increase their marketing budgets in 2012, and another 41% plan to maintain current levels. Only 8% of respondents plan to decrease marketing budgets, which is a slight increase over the 7% reported in last year’s survey. Other areas of increased spend included mobile and search, which are tied at 37%. Direct mail (28%) and tradeshows (23%) are top targets for decreased spend.
Subscriber Engagement is Top Email Marketing Priority; Data Integration is Top Challenge
The top email marketing initiatives for 2012 are increasing subscriber engagement (48%), improving segmentation and targeting (44%) and growing opt-in email lists (32%). Data integration is key to achieving these top priorities, but it is also identified as the primary email marketing challenge in 2012 (45%), followed by lack of resources (43%) and content management (40%). These opposing data points represent an opportunity for email service providers to fill the gap with relevant services.
Marketers Focus on Integrating Email Marketing and Social Media
More than two-thirds of businesses plan to integrate social media and email in 2012, versus 44% integrating mobile and email. The strong ties between email marketing and social media are also emphasized by the 47% of businesses that plan to increase investment in using email to drive growth in their social media channels, such as corporate Facebook and Twitter pages. The next popular areas of investment are batch promotional (44%) and newsletter (39%) programs, followed by real-time lifecycle marketing programs (35%), with an emphasis on winback (68%) and welcome (59%) programs.
Marketers Unclear on Value of Mobile Marketing
More than a third of businesses plan to increase their investment in mobile marketing programs such as mobile apps (29%) and SMS alerts (20%), but there is a lack of consensus on the primary value of this emerging channel. Building customer and loyalty (35%) was identified as the top benefit, followed by expanded reach (29%) and awareness building (28%). However, this is offset by a similar percentage still trying to figure it out (24%) and a smaller percentage citing no value at all (7%).
Full survey data is available at: www.strongmail.com/2012marketsurvey
Tags: 2012 marketing budgets, data integration, email marketing, increasing subscriber engagement, social media marketing, staffing challenges, StrongMail survey, targeting
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, Studies, surveys, reports | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
 Socialbakers,a social media and digital analytics company, says its pre-holiday data findings of leading US retailers shows that Walmart is the retailer likely to win big this holiday weekend, as the study uncovers that it has the most engaged users across its social media platforms.
Walmart has the most number of fans topping the list at over 10 million fans, with over 7,500 fan posts last month. The engagement rate represents fan interactions and although Target ties with an average monthly engagement rate, Walmart has nearly double the number of fans who are actively posting.
Key Facebook analytics from the top five US retailers:
| Position |
Retailer |
Number of Fans |
Number of Fan Posts
Last 30 Days |
Average Monthly
Engagement Rate |
| 1 |
Walmart |
10,479,565 |
7,656 |
0.05 |
| 2 |
Target |
6,339,128 |
3,877 |
0.05 |
| 3 |
Kohl’s |
6,030,585 |
3,330 |
0.03 |
| 4 |
Macy’s |
2,945,545 |
1,548 |
0.03 |
| 5 |
JC Penney |
2,128,383 |
659 |
0.03 |
Commenting on the findings, Jan Rezab, CEO, Socialbakers, says: “Savvy retailers are combining traditional banner ads and web pages dedicated to Black Friday specials with Facebook posting and Tweets about deals, coupons, merchandise, and hot tips. This enables them to interact and respond to consumers instantaneously — offering them a massive competitive advantage that converts to increased sales and loyalty at Thanksgiving.”
The study finds that retailers with the most Facebook fans and Twitter followers already have consumers actively engaged, enabling retailers to share information about sales, special offers, and early hours. Socialbakers anticipates these social media savvy retailers will win the day with increased revenue proportional to their level of consumer online interaction.
Socialbakers Social Media Analytics is the Must-Have Measurement Technology for Marketers of Big Brands
In over 60 countries across every continent, Socialbakers’ Engagement Analytics and Engagement Builder enable companies to measure the impact of online presence and the effectiveness of social media campaigns.
“Big name retailers who desire to meet or beat their sales targets know that they need to aggressively compete for the consumer’s dollar in this tough economy. Many retailers have tapped social media to close the gap between getting the consumer to browse to actually buy,” said Rezab. “Our social media analytics helps marketers better understand and orchestrate their social media presence to get the results that they need.”
About the study
Socialbakers conducted the research by using Engagement Analytics http://analytics.socialbakers.com/ which marketers use for sophisticated consumer behavior analyses that can be mined from Facebook pages, places, applications, the Facebook platform, Facebook advertising prices, all in real-time. Research conducted for the top 35 retailers in the US based on the highest number of fans, overall engagement rates and specific content engagement rates. Engagement rate is calculated as the number of fan likes and comments divided by the number of fans.
Tags: holiday shopping, JC Penny, Kohl's, Macy's, social media marketing, social media marketing over the Thanksgiving holiday, Socialbakers, Target, Walmart
Posted in Internet/New Media, Marketing, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 14th, 2011
 Just what are retailers using Facebook and Twitter for marketing doing succesfully?
We asked Link Walls, director of product management at ChannelAdvisor, a global e-commerce software provider that helps retailers sell more across online channels. Walls is hosting the social media marketing session at the Internet Summit Conference, taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, November 15-16, at the Raleigh, NC Convention Center.
Walls filled us in on some the trends ChannelAdvisor is seeing:
“Right now,” he says, “increasing brand recognition on Facebook and Twitter seems to be very valuable to retailers.”
He adds, “Since February, we’ve published the Facebook Commerce Index that tracks the fan counts of the top 500 online retailers that have Facebook pages. Through this we’ve been able to analyze how retailers are acquiring more fans and shoppers with a variety of promotions and campaigns. Retailers are really putting a lot of time and effort into engaging fans on Facebook, as Liking a brand gives them the ability to send you updates. ”
He also noted, “We’re closely watching Facebook and think that Facebook Commerce has great potential to become a new channel for online retailers.”
How Levi’s is belting its jeans on Facebook
We asked Walls what Facebook marketers are doing to sign up fans and keep them engaged.
“Within the Facebook Commerce Index (FBCI), we’ve been watching how retailers are campaigning to increase their fans, and each month it is interesting to evaluate the various ways that retailers are gaining attention—some focus on giveaways, others on community involvement and humanitarian efforts,” he said.
“One example that’s pretty interesting from the FBCI is Levi’s, which has secured a place in the Top 25 for months now. However, where most top social-savvy brands see a 1-5% increase each month, Levi’s clocked 9% growth in October.
“Whereas most Facebook pages are quickly becoming one-visit stops for users looking to score discounts or free products, Levi’s is setting itself apart by structuring its Facebook page around a global, long-term campaign to support Water.org, which has been the main focus of the page since it was created.
Narrowing page focus
“Narrowing its page focus has allowed Levi’s to build on its campaign with quality content, from lengthy documentaries of “Pioneers for Water” to celebrity endorsement videos and real-time pledges. By creating a movement to sustain customer engagement, Levi’s is more likely to increase brand awareness, and ultimately ROI, in the long-run.”
ChannelAdvisor helps more than 3,000 retailers, including renowned brands like Dell, Jockey and ULTA, sell more online with best-in-class software and services for eBay, Amazon, Buy.com, Google, shopping engines and more. It was recently recognized on Triangle Business Journal’s list of Best Places to Work for 2011 and is a finalist for the North Carolina Technology Association Best Product/Service Technology Company Award.
To learn more about ChannelAdvisor’s global expansion, expert software offerings and career opportunities, visit booth #18 during the Internet Summit or visit www.channeladvisor.com.
ChannelAdvisor Director of Product Management Link Walls will host the Social Media Marketing session on November 16th at 4:20 p.m. EST.
Tags: ChannelAdvisor, Facebook marketing, Internet Summit, Link Walls, NC, Raleigh, social media marketing, social media marketing session, Twitter marketing
Posted in Carolinas, Facebook, Internet/New Media, Marketing, North Carolina, social media, Twitter | 2 Comments »
Friday, November 11th, 2011
 Gary Vaynerchuk keynotes the 2011 Internet Summit in Raleigh next week, which is nearly sold-out. Fewer than 50 seats remain for next week’s Internet Summit, which is bringing hundreds of digital media and marketing thought-leaders to the Raleigh, NC Convention Center Nov. 15-16.
The event, which attracts a capacity crowd, offers take-away insight into social media marketing, search engine optimization, ecommerce trends, email marketing, we and mobile analytics, big data, cloud computing, startup fund-raising and much more.
You’ll have access to visionary thought leaders who will share their insight and experience with you. Hear from the founders of companies like Twitpic, TheLadders & HowStuffWorks! Not enough? How about a Keynote from Top rated SXSW keynote and ‘Social Media King’ Gary Vaynerchuk?
That’s just a sampling of the more than 120 speakers and presenters that will be on hand.
We interviewed just a handful of the many presenters. For a preview of what thought-leaders will be presenting at the event see:
The Internet Summit’s Talented Speakers & Presenters include:
- Gary Vaynerchuk, Co-Founder, VaynerMedia
- Marc Cendella, Founder & CEO, TheLadders
- Marshall Brain, Founder, HowStuffWorks
- David Payne, Chief Digital Officer, Gannett
- Noah Everett, Founder, TwitPic and Heello
- Ro Choy, COO, Formspring
- Liz Strauss, Co-founder, SOBcon & LizStrauss.com
- Brian Hitney, Developer Evangelist, Microsoft
- David Perry, Business Development Executive, Google
- Jack Krawczyk, Sr Product Marketing Mgr, StumbleUpon
- Traug Keller, Sr VP of Production, ESPN
- Catherine Cook, Co-Founder, myYearbook
- Eric Ranta, SVP of Value Engineering, SAP
- Micahel Cristinziano, VP Strategic Development, Citrix
- Doug Smith, Dir Product Management, Taleo
- Malin Huffman, Head of Product Development, NetSuite
- Jerry Cuomo, CTO WebSphere, IBM
- Lee Congdon, CIO, RedHat
- Jeff Ragovin, Chief Revenue Officer, Buddy Media
- Peggy Fry, Chief Revenue Officer, Clearspring Technologies
- Mike Relm, Founder, Relmvision
- Bob Young, Founder & CEO, Lulu.com
- Donna DeMarco, Co-Founder & VP, Viddler
- Emily Keye, Marketing Strategist, Bronto
- Tammy Gordon, Dir Social Communications & Strategy, AARP
- Markus, Renstrom, Head of SEO, Yahoo!
- Dr. Manuel Aparicio, CEO & Co-Founder, Saffon Technologies
- Julianna DeLua, Enterprise Solutions Evangelist, Informatica
- Tony Haile, General Manager, Chartbeat
- Ryan Mannion, Chief Technology Officer, Politico
- David Giambruno, SVP and CIO, Revlon
- Gaurav Howard, Sr. Dir Product Marketing, Marketo
- Michael Lubek, CIO, GE Global Applications
- Angela Connor, Social Media Manager, Capstrat
- Ryan Allis, CEO, iContact
- Prerna Gupta, CEO, Khush
- Kevin Dando, Dir Digital & Education Communication, PBS
- Clint Smith, Co-Founder & CEO, Emma
- Matt Crenshaw, VP of Marketing, Discovery Communications
- Scott Gunter, VP of User Experience, Usability Sciences
- Lindsay Wassell, Partner & Consultant, KeyphraSEOlogy
- Steve Ashley, VP Internet Marketing, Market America
- Dennis Gullitto, APM Product Marketing Manager, Compuware
- Scott Baker, Sr. Mgr Virtualization & Cloud Engineering, NetApp
- Jeramiah Dooley, vArchitect, VCE/Cisco Virtualization
- Gerard Bush, Chief Creative Dir, The brpr Group
- Ted McDonald, Analyst, Verisign
- Rob Ousbey, VP Operations Seattle, Distilled
- David Gudai, VP of Marketing, Storkie
- Glenn Mersereau, Dir of Internet Marketing, PHE
- Jim Tobin, President, Ignite Social Media
- Kevin Pomplun, CEO, SkyGrid
- Sherry Bastion, Web Creative Director, Lenovo
- John Lovett, Sr Partner, Web Analytics Demystified
- Drew Diskin, Dir of Interactive & Web Strategy, Penn Medicine
- Lynette Montgomery, VP Ecommerce, Burt’s Bees
- Noah Dinkin, Co-Founder & President, FanBridge
- Jessica Bowman, SEOinhouse.com
- Todd Moy, Sr User Experience Designer, Viget Labs
- Donna Bedford, Global SEO Lead, Lenovo
- Francis Shepherd, Media Evangelist
- Dallas Lawrence, Chief Digital Strategist, Burson-Marsteller
- Karen Albritton, President, Capstrat
- Thuy LeDihn, Senior Marketing Manager, .ORG
- Adam Covati, Co-founder & CTO, Argyle Social
- Kyle Scott Richardson, Social Media, NC National Guard
- Cara Rousseau, Social Media Manager, Duke University
- Loren Baker, VP of Marketing, Blueglass
- Matthew Muñoz, Partner & Chief Design Officer, New Kind
- Jill Whalen, CEO, HighRankings
- Jason Caplain, General Partner, Southern Capitol Ventures
- David Heaney, Senior Associate, TomorrowVentures
- John Lawrence, Partner & CFO, Longworth Venture Partners
- Brooks Raiford, CEO, NCTA
- Roger Krakoff, Managing Partner, Cloud Capital Partners
- Charles Nicholls, Chief Strategy Officer, SeeWhy
- Jeff Campbell, VP & Co-Founder, Resolution Media
- Gary Storr, Business Architect & Solutions, Nortel
- Jeff Spivey, VP Board of Directors, ISACA
- Doug Hanna, CEO, A Small Orange
- Lisa, Braziel, Strategy Director, Ignite Social Media
- William Blackmon, CEO, LinkMein
- Chris Condayan, Public Outreach, Am Society for Microbiology
- Kyle Scott Richardson, Dir of Social Media, NC National Guard
- Jill Carlson, Marketing Manager, Argyle Social
- John Lane, VP Strategy & Creative, Centerline Digital
- Michael , Gowan, Associate Dir of Web Strategy, Duke Medicine
- Dana Kirchman, SVP Head of Client Operations, Lumi Mobile
Internet Summit is an outstanding learning experience mixed with prime networking opportunities and entertaining keynotes.
There’s even 5 additional hours of intense session digging deep into Social Media, SEO & Search, User Experience & Design and Analytics when you add the pre-conference to your registration.
Tags: AARP, Buddy Media, Capstrat, chartbeat, Clearspring Technologie, cloud computing, David Payne, David Perry, ecommerce trends, email marketing, ESPN, Gannett, Gary Vaynerchuk, Google, Howstuffworks, Internet Summit, Khush, Marshall Brain, measuring social, Microsoft, mobile presence, myYearbook, NC, NetSuite, Noah Everett, online advertising, paid search, Politico, Raleigh, Red Hat, reputation management, SAP, SEO, social media marketing, startup strategies, TheLadders, Twitpic, usability, web & mobile analytics, Yahoo
Posted in Amazon, Apple, best practices, Business advice, Carolinas, Cisco, Cloud, Education, entrepreneurship, Events, Facebook, games, Government/Defense, Internet/New Media, IT, Legal, LinkedIn, Marketing, Microsoft, Mobile, mobile games, North Carolina, smartphones, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Tech Culture, TechLife, Telecommunications, video, Viewpoint | Comments Off
Monday, October 31st, 2011
The Internet and social media have fostered a new type of marketing communication: inbound, vs. the outbound traditional marketing via TV, billboards, and radio.
Technology – such as the ability to skim past TV ads, listen to ad-free radio, and even block online display pop-ups – increases the importance of inbound marketing.
The two-way communications of inbound marketing requires a company to earn a consumer’s attention with engaging content, whether blog posts, podcasts, Facebook interaction or tweets.
Here’s an infographic from Voltier Digital examining the two types of marketing:
Tags: blogs, Digg, direct mail, earn consumer attention, facebook, infographic on inbound vs. outbound marketing, infographics, Internet marketing, LinkedIn, social media marketing, TV ads, twitter, vlogs, Voltier Digital
Posted in Blogging, Facebook, infographic, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Mobile, smartphones, social media, Twitter | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 3rd, 2011
 Scot Wingo, CEO, ChannelAdvisor “If you build it, they will come” no longer works for online retailers: heading into the holiday shopping season, a new survey reveals that active online shoppers increasingly rely on online product reviews as a key element in their buying decisions.
The survey also found they’re increasingly interacting directly with vendors through social media sites like Facebook and Google+, and shows that deal sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial soared in popularity.
The fourth annual Global Consumer Shopping Habits Survey was conducted by ChannelAdvisor, a global e-commerce platform provider that enables retailers to sell more across online channels. The survey included responses from participants throughout North America, Europe and Australia.
With the global economy in a continued weakened state, the company noted that consumer preferences are more important than ever for retailers to take into account as they work to stay profitable during the all-important holiday season and beyond.
Peer-based product reviews are one of the most important factors in the buying decisions of online shoppers, according to the ChannelAdvisor survey. Ninety percent of shoppers around the world who answered the survey said they read product reviews from other shoppers before buying, with 83 percent saying the reviews affect whether they actually purchase an item. In the United States alone, almost half of the respondents (48 percent) said they have posted an online review as well.
“Consumers are increasingly diversifying the places they shop online, which is reflected within this survey and further highlights the need for retailers to expand their reach on every e-commerce channel, including mobile and social,” said Scot Wingo, ChannelAdvisor’s chief executive officer.
“The development of emerging channels within the past year is staggering, supporting our belief that these channels are more than just passing trends. The survey reveals how influential social networks have become, as well as their potential to drive e-commerce moving forward.”
Customer sentiment has increasingly migrated as well to social media sites in the last year, with more than half (53 percent) of those responding to the survey saying that product comments posted to retailers’ Facebook and Twitter pages play a role in their buying decisions.
Increasingly, those retailers are aware of the sites’ growing importance in their efforts, and are seeking to engage potential and existing customers online; the survey indicates their efforts are taking hold. More than one-third of the respondents (34 percent) said they have become “fans” of retailers on Facebook; that number is much higher in the United States, where 46 percent said they have done so.
In addition, 83 percent said they are likely to visit a retailer’s website if it’s been recommended by a Facebook friend.
Other findings from the ChannelAdvisor survey include:
- Google continues as the clear number-one choice globally among online shoppers as a starting point for product searches;
- Purchases made via mobile phone have more than tripled in the past year, to 31% of those responding to the survey (but online shoppers say using tablet computers, like the iPad, is far easier);
- Thirty percent of shoppers worldwide say they are using barcode scanning applications (like eBay’s RedLaser) as an element in their buying decision; and
- “Deal of the day” sites, like Groupon and LivingSocial, have leaped in popularity, with about half of all respondents in the United States saying they use both sites frequently.
A copy of the survey results is available for review at go.channeladvisor.com/US-eBook-2011-Consumer-Survey.html.
Tags: barcode scanning apps, ChannelAdvisor, facebook, Global Consumer Shopping Habits study, Google, Google number one starting point for shoppers, Groupon, LIvingSocial, mobile phone purchases triple, online product reviews, Scot Wingo, social media marketing, twitter
Posted in Carolinas, Facebook, Internet/New Media, Marketing, Mobile, North Carolina, social media, Studies, surveys, reports, Twitter | 1 Comment »
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