How Teens Are Using Social Networks

Eight in 10 teens are using social networks, including nearly 85% of teen girls, nearly 90% of teens age 14-17 and 85% of African-American teens. Here is a glimpse into their social activities.

What Does This Mean To You?

Social networking takes up a large portion of teens time and the differences
in how they use social networking is interesting. Younger teens are more apt to
use it for one to one communication and games while older teens are more likely
to tell everyone they know what they are doing and their opinion – much like teens do offline as well. If you are trying to get your message to teens, social networks could play an important role. For more information on social media and it’s effective use, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
407-420-5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com

Source: Emarketer; Pew Internet & the American Life Project

Socially Responding To Shoppers

Earlier this year, we had a post that talked about how consumers expect feedback through mobile devices. Dealing with customer complaints has always been important – the emergence of social media has made them extremely important. Bad reviews can impact your bottom line.

A recent released survey showed that only about of third of executives think
their customers comment or complain about their products & services through social media. Even if it is just a third of customers (I think the executives surveyed are underestimating how their customers are use social media), that means there is a great deal of negative information about your business and your products.

The survey also showed how companies are using social media to respond to
customer feedback:

What Does This Mean To You?

Nearly one in six companies hardly ever respond to FaceBook comments and almost 30% virtually ignore Twitter feedback. Just because comments or complaints originate socially is not a reason to not respond. In fact, because they are social in nature means that they have openly complained and their friends and followers have already seen it. Also, they will probably share the fact that the company did nothing to remedy the situation.
Comments, even negative ones, are a great way to engage consumers and increase loyalty. Everyone makes mistakes and a peace-offering to a customer can lead to a positive message that they share with their friends. This is just one part of social media management; does your organization have a strategy for social media? For more information on how to make social media work for you, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
407-420-5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com

Source: EMarketer; MarketTools

Holiday Ecommerce on the Rise

There are several organizations that provide holiday shopping estimates.
One of the things they all agree on is that ecommerce numbers are expected to rise this year.

• Ecommerce totals during the November & December Holiday period are anticipated to total over $46 billion
• From 2010 to 2011, That is an increase of nearly 17%
• Since 2008, holiday ecommerce is expected to grow by nearly $18 billion

Organizations predicting retail growth during the holidays
(change vs. prior year):

• International Council of Shopping Centers: +3.5%
• ShopperTrack: +3.0%
• Deloitte: +2.5 – 3.0%
• Kantar Retail: +2.8%
• NRF: +2.8%

What Does This Mean To You?

We all know how important the holidays are to retail businesses.   The economy has been rough on many consumers.  Most price-sensitive shoppers look at online shopping as a way to find better deals and save gas – that’s beyond the sheer convenience of it.  Does your organization allow shoppers to make purchase from your site?  If not, there is a revenue resource you may not be taking advantage of.  For more information on ecommerce solutions, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
407-420-5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com

Source: Emarketer; International Council of Shopping Centers; ShopperTrak; Deloitte; Kantar; NRF

Cyber-Monday And Retailers

Cyber-Monday got its start in the mid 2000’s when most people did not have high-speed internet in their homes, so they would holiday shop on the Monday after Thanksgiving from work.  While the most people have high-speed connections at home and mobile has gained ground on standard internet as a shopping platform, many online retailers still depend on Cyber-Monday and
retailers in general still have specials for use on that day.

• Last year, Cyber-Monday was online retailer’s top day for paid search conversion.  They converted 26% of paid search that day, Black Friday was second at 23%
• Cyber Monday was also their most profitable shopping day
• Close to half of brick & mortar retailers plan on doing special couponing for Cyber-Monday and one-third will offering free shipping for online purchases (An earlier post detailed how free shipping was the offer that consumers said would most likely trigger a holiday purchase online)

What Does This Mean To You?

This is going to be a busy shopping season, 152 million US shoppers plan to hit the stores during this first weekend of holiday shopping.  Cyber-Monday may not have the pull it used to, but it gives you a chance to extend holiday shopping an extra day.  The key is awareness. Utilize all of your marketing tools to call attention to your offers and be sure to promote things like free shipping.  For more information on how to gain bigger results this holiday season, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
407-420-5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com

Source: Marketing Profs; Marin Software’s 2011 Online Marketers Guide To The Holidays; NRF, Shop.org

Happy Thanksgiving

Orlando Sentinel Media Group’s Strategic Marketing Division wishes you, your family & your staff a joyous & safe Thanksgiving.
We’ll be back tomorrow with more Research That Brings Results.

How Shoppers Will Be Using Mobile Devices This Thanksgiving

Piggybacking on yesterday’s post about mobile shopping this Thanksgiving, there is information on what information shoppers will be looking for during this holiday shopping weekend on mobile devices.

• 31% will be using their mobile devices to find updates on sales or promotions
• 27% will be looking for local store hours and directions
• 26% plan to seek new product information and in-store availability
• 26% are interested in product photos
• 18% will searching for retailer apps
• 17% will be using mobile devices for customer support

What Does This Mean To You?

Mobile shoppers are looking for this information, the retailers who provide it are in the best position to capture revenue and create loyalty beyond the holidays. Mobile also gives you the ability to make quick changes, add value to your sales and deliver increased customer service. There are a wide array of tools you can use to capitalize on Thanksgiving mobile shopping. QR codes, permission based SMS, mobile video and SEO can give you an advantage over the competition and provide the results you need. For more information on effective & efficient mobile strategies, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
407-420-5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com

Source: Mobile Commerce Daily; InMobi

Mobile Critical This Thanksgiving

We’ve had several posts on how important mobile will be for holiday shopping – now there is new research predicting just how important it will be this weekend.  In the past companies would focus their digital retail efforts on CyberMonday, but mobile has changed that.

• It is estimated that 60 million consumers will shop via mobile devices this Thanksgiving weekend
• 45% of shoppers will use devices to compare prices
  (up 22% over last year)
• 36%, or 21 million consumers will make a purchase directly from
  a mobile device
• 29% will use mobile devices to find out about new products
• 27% of mobile shoppers will use their devices during the
  purchase decision
• 15% of shoppers will make purchases on mobile devices in a store

What Does This Mean To You?

The holidays are hectic enough. Stores are crowded, roads are jammed and time is at a premium.  Mobile allows consumers a convenient way to get their holiday shopping done and creates a new revenue stream for you.  The easier you make it for your customers, the more likely they are to spend money with you.  For more information on optimizing your mobile efforts, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
407-420-5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com

Source: Mobile Commerce Daily; InMobi

Mobile Social Networking Continues To Grow

There are some things in our lives that we wonder how we ever lived without.

Air Conditioning
Microwaves
WiFi
Starbuck’s Iced Lemon Pound Cake

Mobile devices are now solidly on that list.  They truly have become integral parts of our lives.  Mobile devices are so prominent that even other things that some people can’t live without – social networking – are becoming mobile-centric.   In the past year, over 70 million people have accessed social networking sites or blogs via mobile devices, that’s up 37% year over year.

Mobile growth across social networks:

• FaceBook: 57.3 million mobile users per month –
  50% growth year over year
• Twitter: 13.4 million mobile users per month –
  75% growth year over year
• LinkedIn: 5.5 million mobile users per month –
  69% growth year over year

How mobile users access social network platforms:

• Mobile Browser: 42.3 million – 24% growth year over year
• Application: 38.5 million – 126% growth year over year

What Does This Mean To You?

How involved is your organization in social media? What is your company’s mobile strategy?  The combination of social media & mobile give consumers an even more powerful position. It also gives you, as a business, a unique way to connect with consumers.  If you do not have a strategy for both mobile and social media, it’s something that you need to get into place.  Take advantage of these
technologies and use them to grow your business, reach your target audience and create awareness of your good & services.  For more information on how mobile and social campaigns can create new revenue streams, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
407-420-5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com

Source: Comscore; Marketing Profs

How To Increase FaceBook Engagement

Social Media is another conduit to for you to turn consumers into loyal customers.  The key to successful social marketing is engagement.
Just having a social presence is not enough – you need to feature things
that build affinity and cause engagement.  A new report has just been released that  analyzes some of the top performing brand FaceBook pages and shows what is  driving their engagement rates.

• Posts that feature photos had an engagement rate
  37% higher than text only posts
• Posts with video had an engagement 15% higher
  than text only posts
• Photo & video posts both had over double the
  engagement rates that featured just a link

What Does This Mean To You?

To truly get the most out of your social media offerings, you need to consider when you post, how often you post and how you post.  If you are not engaging customers, than what good is your social marketing?  Take the time to create a strategy that works hand in hand with your overall marketing campaign.  For more information on how to optimize your social presences, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media Group representative or:
Al Fiala
407-420-5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com

Source: EMarketer; Momentus Media; Web Liquid

Mobile Coupon Redemption Set To Grow

When you combine the fact that so many people have mobile devices
and the tough economy, the fact that mobile couponing is set to grow
shouldn’t be a surprise. But what is surprising is the rate at which it is
going to grow.

• This year, it’s estimated that mobile coupon
  redemption will equal $5.4 billion worldwide
• By 2016, that number is anticipated to grow
  seven fold to $43 billion
• Digital couponers tend to be affluent consumers
  – their average household income tops $100,000

What Does This Mean To You?

Mobile offers your business some great couponing opportunities.
QR codes and permission based SMS are two methods that are quick and
easy to get involved in. These strategies give you business ways to
not only segment and target your coupons but avenues of increased engagement.  You can use these to do more than offering customers 10%
off their purchase or some other generic deal, utilize them to deliver content, product news or a chance to register for deeper discounts.  Mobile coupons are just another example of how engrained the mobile platform has
become.  For more information on how we can help you get started
with mobile couponing, please contact your Orlando Sentinel Media
Group representative or:
Al Fiala
407-420-5702
afiala@orlandosentinel.com

Source: Mobile Commerce Daily; Juniper Research; Coupons.com