CM Comment: Definitely watch this one! An updated look at the dramatic shift that is underway in how we communicate. Some points that standout:
- Generation Y and Z consider email passé ... in 2009 Boston College stopped distributing email addresses to incoming freshman.
- The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females.
- 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations, only 14% trust advertisements.
And, of course ...
- What happens in Vegas, stays --- on Facebook, on Twitter, on orkut, on bebo, on flickr, on digg, on myspace, on YouTube.
What does it all mean? "Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers then like traditional advertisers."
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The 4 Biggest Motivators For Social Media Marketing
CM Comment: Some great ideas to think about if you're considering incorporating social media into your marketing mix.
July 28, 2009: summarized from E-Commerce Times -- Whether people are online or offline, the motivators that spur people to share information fall into four buckets: Self-Expression, Status Achievement, Altruism and Self-Serving.
Self-Expression
In the traditional direct marketing world, people are motivated by cash -- or saving it in the form of coupons, discounts, etc. Within social media, the biggest motivator is often self-expression. That means finding a promotion that allows customers to express themselves, such as customizing a Nike (NYSE: NKE) shoe that they can share with their friends.
Status Achievement
Most people like to brag, and that tendency is multiplied by the Web. Creating a promotion that allows customers to improve their status amongst their peers is an effective way to get them to share with their network. For example, Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) might reward loyal shoppers with early access to a new product release, and then encourage them to share this advanced access with their friends. Putting shoppers in a position of power among their peers is a big motivator.
Altruism
In addition to bragging, people also like to do good -- especially when it's convenient. In the above-mentioned airline example, allowing consumers to share carbon offsets taps into a person's altruistic nature. This promotion makes the consumer feel good, not only for helping to save the planet, but also for helping their friends feel good about joining the cause. In this scenario, consumers are motivated to share by the opportunity to do something good -- not because of some physical reward they are going to get back in return.
Self-Serving
While self-serving offers work really well in the offline world (coupons, discounts, etc.), this motivator is less potent in the realm of social networking. However, that's not to say that it can't be effective if done right. Combining a self serving-offer with one that taps into status achievement is one way to maximize results. For example, you can give a person a $100 gift certificate for forwarding a $20 coupon to 10 friends. The consumer wins big -- a financial reward plus status among friends.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/nat8al
July 28, 2009: summarized from E-Commerce Times -- Whether people are online or offline, the motivators that spur people to share information fall into four buckets: Self-Expression, Status Achievement, Altruism and Self-Serving.
Self-Expression
In the traditional direct marketing world, people are motivated by cash -- or saving it in the form of coupons, discounts, etc. Within social media, the biggest motivator is often self-expression. That means finding a promotion that allows customers to express themselves, such as customizing a Nike (NYSE: NKE) shoe that they can share with their friends.
Status Achievement
Most people like to brag, and that tendency is multiplied by the Web. Creating a promotion that allows customers to improve their status amongst their peers is an effective way to get them to share with their network. For example, Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) might reward loyal shoppers with early access to a new product release, and then encourage them to share this advanced access with their friends. Putting shoppers in a position of power among their peers is a big motivator.
Altruism
In addition to bragging, people also like to do good -- especially when it's convenient. In the above-mentioned airline example, allowing consumers to share carbon offsets taps into a person's altruistic nature. This promotion makes the consumer feel good, not only for helping to save the planet, but also for helping their friends feel good about joining the cause. In this scenario, consumers are motivated to share by the opportunity to do something good -- not because of some physical reward they are going to get back in return.
Self-Serving
While self-serving offers work really well in the offline world (coupons, discounts, etc.), this motivator is less potent in the realm of social networking. However, that's not to say that it can't be effective if done right. Combining a self serving-offer with one that taps into status achievement is one way to maximize results. For example, you can give a person a $100 gift certificate for forwarding a $20 coupon to 10 friends. The consumer wins big -- a financial reward plus status among friends.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/nat8al
Media Moguls Rethink Web Advertising In Downturn
CM Comment: Favorite quote is "Internet advertising must evolve from displays and become integrated into the content of websites."
July 27, 2009: summarized from Yahoo News -- The recession-fueled advertising downturn underlines the urgency of using the Web to glean data and target consumers directly, rather than blasting them with a barrage of TV-style ads, media executives say.
At the Fortune Brainstorm: TECH conference in Pasadena last week, Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Robert Iger opened a discussion about new ways to market to consumers, when he described himself as, "pretty bullish about what technology is going to allow in terms of behavioral tracking."
Executives from AOL, a division of Time Warner Inc, News Corp and IAC/InterActiveCorp echoed similar hopes about the potential to reach consumers online.
As advertising dollars grow ever more scarce, companies have been forced to rethink how they reach consumers and have moved away from the traditional 30-second spot to the kinds of targeted, Internet-driven marketing campaigns that have been talked about for years.
Internet advertising in the United States -- a $23.4 billion market in 2008 -- was down 5 percent in the first quarter of this year and Iger and other executives say the sector may not return to the historic growth trajectory seen before the recession.
Jonathan Miller, head of News Corp's Digital Media Group, believes advertising is undergoing, "fundamental changes ... and you have to tease them out of the recession effects.
"Marketing is on an arc to become more efficient. My dollar should go further. And that says the advertising pool may not grow at the rate that it's traditionally grown at, even out of this recession."
Targeting consumers via demographics, profiling, and their social networks, "you learn a lot about people and you can identify them," Miller added.
The thinking among these media executives is that advances in technology is enabling them to build more detailed profiles of consumers -- which can then either be sold as a commodity or employed in their own marketing campaigns.
AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong, former sales chief at Google Inc, also sees new marketing opportunities from consumer referrals and tracking.
"Where people actually go, what they do, how they do it," he said. "It's not just about data, it's about the insight. If you're Procter & Gamble, or Kellogg's, or Coke or whatever, forget all the data. What is the insight you get out of it? How does that actually change your perception?"
But Ed Moran, director of product innovation for Deloitte, said tracking tastes and developing profiles is fine, as long as advertisers do not make the old media mistake of finding their optimum consumers, only to show them a commercial.
Moran said next-generation advertising will be driven by the tastes and habits of 14 to 24 year-old "millennials" whose lives center on social networks and Internet-enabled handsets.
"A more effective way of reaching these young folks ... is to use their social networks as influencers, rather than bombarding them with ads," Moran said.
To that end, Barry Diller, chief executive of Web giant IAC/InterActiveCorp, said Internet advertising must evolve from displays and become integrated into the content of website.
Even actor and media producer Ashton Kutcher chimed in at the conference, saying the billboard-style display ad is already outdated.
"People who have grown up on the Internet have trained themselves not to see it," he added.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/npt6ke
July 27, 2009: summarized from Yahoo News -- The recession-fueled advertising downturn underlines the urgency of using the Web to glean data and target consumers directly, rather than blasting them with a barrage of TV-style ads, media executives say.
At the Fortune Brainstorm: TECH conference in Pasadena last week, Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Robert Iger opened a discussion about new ways to market to consumers, when he described himself as, "pretty bullish about what technology is going to allow in terms of behavioral tracking."
Executives from AOL, a division of Time Warner Inc, News Corp and IAC/InterActiveCorp echoed similar hopes about the potential to reach consumers online.
As advertising dollars grow ever more scarce, companies have been forced to rethink how they reach consumers and have moved away from the traditional 30-second spot to the kinds of targeted, Internet-driven marketing campaigns that have been talked about for years.
Internet advertising in the United States -- a $23.4 billion market in 2008 -- was down 5 percent in the first quarter of this year and Iger and other executives say the sector may not return to the historic growth trajectory seen before the recession.
Jonathan Miller, head of News Corp's Digital Media Group, believes advertising is undergoing, "fundamental changes ... and you have to tease them out of the recession effects.
"Marketing is on an arc to become more efficient. My dollar should go further. And that says the advertising pool may not grow at the rate that it's traditionally grown at, even out of this recession."
Targeting consumers via demographics, profiling, and their social networks, "you learn a lot about people and you can identify them," Miller added.
The thinking among these media executives is that advances in technology is enabling them to build more detailed profiles of consumers -- which can then either be sold as a commodity or employed in their own marketing campaigns.
AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong, former sales chief at Google Inc, also sees new marketing opportunities from consumer referrals and tracking.
"Where people actually go, what they do, how they do it," he said. "It's not just about data, it's about the insight. If you're Procter & Gamble, or Kellogg's, or Coke or whatever, forget all the data. What is the insight you get out of it? How does that actually change your perception?"
But Ed Moran, director of product innovation for Deloitte, said tracking tastes and developing profiles is fine, as long as advertisers do not make the old media mistake of finding their optimum consumers, only to show them a commercial.
Moran said next-generation advertising will be driven by the tastes and habits of 14 to 24 year-old "millennials" whose lives center on social networks and Internet-enabled handsets.
"A more effective way of reaching these young folks ... is to use their social networks as influencers, rather than bombarding them with ads," Moran said.
To that end, Barry Diller, chief executive of Web giant IAC/InterActiveCorp, said Internet advertising must evolve from displays and become integrated into the content of website.
Even actor and media producer Ashton Kutcher chimed in at the conference, saying the billboard-style display ad is already outdated.
"People who have grown up on the Internet have trained themselves not to see it," he added.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/npt6ke
Research Report: Wired - Connecting to the Mobile Marketing Revolution
July 8, 2009: from comScore -- Mobile advertising is still in its infancy but it is expected to grow to $5.7 billion in the next five years. How has the explosion in mobile applications impacted mobile marketing practices? What impact will this most recent wave of smart phones have on mobile video and other more immersive adverting environments? What types of advertising works best on "dumb" phones? Which marketers are actually advertising in mobile and which sellers are attracting the most revenue?
Wired - Connecting to the Mobile Marketing Revolution
Wired - Connecting to the Mobile Marketing Revolution
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Research Report: Fluent - The Razorfish Social Influence Report
July 22, 2009: from Razorfish -- A report on social influence marketing. Key topics include:
- The Razorfish Social Influence Survey, which unearths the importance of social media ininfluencing purchase decisions.
- A feature on how social media is becoming both a paid and unpaid distribution mechanismfor advertising content.
- A look at how social features are becoming integrated into online display advertising.
- A piece on how tools such as Facebook Connect are moving the social graph out onto the Web.
- An introduction to the SIM Score and what it means for marketing.
Research Report: Wireless Internet Use
July 22, 2009: from Pew Internet and American Life Project -- A survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project shows that 56% of adult Americans have accessed the internet by wireless means, such as using a laptop, mobile device, game console, or MP3 player. The most prevalent way people get online using a wireless network is with a laptop computer; 39% of adults have done this.
The report also finds rising levels of Americans using the internet on a mobile handset. One-third of Americans (32%) have used a cell phone or Smartphone to access the internet for emailing, instant-messaging, or information-seeking. This level of mobile internet is up by one-third since December 2007, when 24% of Americans had ever used the internet on a mobile device. On the typical day, nearly one-fifth (19%) of Americans use the internet on a mobile device, up substantially from the 11% level recorded in December 2007. That's a growth of 73% in the 16 month interval between surveys.
Download report at: http://tinyurl.com/lvwuvk
The report also finds rising levels of Americans using the internet on a mobile handset. One-third of Americans (32%) have used a cell phone or Smartphone to access the internet for emailing, instant-messaging, or information-seeking. This level of mobile internet is up by one-third since December 2007, when 24% of Americans had ever used the internet on a mobile device. On the typical day, nearly one-fifth (19%) of Americans use the internet on a mobile device, up substantially from the 11% level recorded in December 2007. That's a growth of 73% in the 16 month interval between surveys.
Download report at: http://tinyurl.com/lvwuvk
What 'Free' Means For Email Marketers
CM Comment: Some ideas definitely worth considering.
July 22, 2009: summarized from EmailInsider -- While not an exhaustive list of the implications the information abundance era will have on email marketing, here are a few of the things we are already seeing as a result.
1. Free is not cheap enough. Consumers are not interested in registering for "free email newsletters." Why should they be? If they want information on a topic, it is easier and timelier for them to simply search for it. If they are required to pay with their email address, consumers demand something that is not only free, but really, really good as well.
2. Permission is the beginning. This year marks the 10-year anniversary of permission marketing. Unfortunately, permission has been used as an excuse to send spam. Recently, I asked a group of new employees to hit the streets and interview consumers about their attitudes toward direct marketing and email. Despite a general sentiment among consumers that permission does give marketers the right to send email to them, most still referred to the majority of these messages as spam.
If much of what is sent with permission is spam, then anything sent without permission is spam -- no matter how relevant. One consumer interviewed said he had a "relationship" with some of the stores where he shopped frequently, that he "was the one who initiated contact, and that this made all the difference." In a world where relevant information is abundant, permission is still required so that you have the right to deliver it.
3. Relevance is delivering the unexpected. Relevance says that you should deliver information that people want when they want it. This is true, but if you look at programs that consistently transcend consumers' concept of spam, you will find programs that don't just deliver the information consumers know they want. They deliver information consumers didn't know they needed.
If I know I want to buy something, I can search bargain sites or comparative shopping engines. If I know I want information on a topic, I use a search engine. However, there is information out there I don't know about that is relevant to me. Recommendations from Amazon work so well because they notify customers about books they should like. Amazon isn't simply hoping to get the right offer in front of you at the right time. The company is opening new doors by introducing books to consumers they should know about, but don't yet. This is where email marketers earn the trust of their subscribers.
4. The bigger the brand, the higher the standard. Much of the free debate is centered on the fact that technology now allows anyone with time, energy, and an idea to make that idea widely available. They may not all be good ideas or good content, but that is for consumers to decide.
For marketers, the implications are enormous. Professional content producers are being held to higher and higher standards -- a trend that will continue. If the professionals cannot provide superior content, then consumers will look elsewhere; there are plenty of amateurs happy to fill the void. If brands want to earn the trust of their customers, they need to meet the expectations of consumers who believe big brands with big budgets should be able to use those budgets to deliver really, really good content. Doing so has the potential of opening doors because of the trust it builds. Not doing so opens the door for hobbyists to become trusted experts, putting the brand at their mercy.
"Free" means that there is an ever-increasing level of competition facing our programs, and consumer expectations will continue to grow. While the debate about "free" continues, don't get lost in the details. Take stock of the things that are unquestionably going to be affected and start figuring out how to respond.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/lb3bhq
July 22, 2009: summarized from EmailInsider -- While not an exhaustive list of the implications the information abundance era will have on email marketing, here are a few of the things we are already seeing as a result.
1. Free is not cheap enough. Consumers are not interested in registering for "free email newsletters." Why should they be? If they want information on a topic, it is easier and timelier for them to simply search for it. If they are required to pay with their email address, consumers demand something that is not only free, but really, really good as well.
2. Permission is the beginning. This year marks the 10-year anniversary of permission marketing. Unfortunately, permission has been used as an excuse to send spam. Recently, I asked a group of new employees to hit the streets and interview consumers about their attitudes toward direct marketing and email. Despite a general sentiment among consumers that permission does give marketers the right to send email to them, most still referred to the majority of these messages as spam.
If much of what is sent with permission is spam, then anything sent without permission is spam -- no matter how relevant. One consumer interviewed said he had a "relationship" with some of the stores where he shopped frequently, that he "was the one who initiated contact, and that this made all the difference." In a world where relevant information is abundant, permission is still required so that you have the right to deliver it.
3. Relevance is delivering the unexpected. Relevance says that you should deliver information that people want when they want it. This is true, but if you look at programs that consistently transcend consumers' concept of spam, you will find programs that don't just deliver the information consumers know they want. They deliver information consumers didn't know they needed.
If I know I want to buy something, I can search bargain sites or comparative shopping engines. If I know I want information on a topic, I use a search engine. However, there is information out there I don't know about that is relevant to me. Recommendations from Amazon work so well because they notify customers about books they should like. Amazon isn't simply hoping to get the right offer in front of you at the right time. The company is opening new doors by introducing books to consumers they should know about, but don't yet. This is where email marketers earn the trust of their subscribers.
4. The bigger the brand, the higher the standard. Much of the free debate is centered on the fact that technology now allows anyone with time, energy, and an idea to make that idea widely available. They may not all be good ideas or good content, but that is for consumers to decide.
For marketers, the implications are enormous. Professional content producers are being held to higher and higher standards -- a trend that will continue. If the professionals cannot provide superior content, then consumers will look elsewhere; there are plenty of amateurs happy to fill the void. If brands want to earn the trust of their customers, they need to meet the expectations of consumers who believe big brands with big budgets should be able to use those budgets to deliver really, really good content. Doing so has the potential of opening doors because of the trust it builds. Not doing so opens the door for hobbyists to become trusted experts, putting the brand at their mercy.
"Free" means that there is an ever-increasing level of competition facing our programs, and consumer expectations will continue to grow. While the debate about "free" continues, don't get lost in the details. Take stock of the things that are unquestionably going to be affected and start figuring out how to respond.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/lb3bhq
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