Why Do People Download an App?

Yesterday, we posted an article on how consumers find out about apps they have recently downloaded. Today, we’ll go over information that will help you with the next step in your mobile strategy, Why people down an app.

● 33% of people downloaded because the app was recommended by others
● 31% thought the app sounded interesting or fun
● 24% downloaded because of familiarity with the company or brand
● 18% said access to exclusive rewards or discounts through the app was the reason
to download

What Does This Mean To You?

Your social reputation and social strategy is very important to whether your app gets downloaded or not. Hopefully you are utilizing social recommendations, likes and positive reviews to promote your business. The same tactics you use to garner those can be used to collect recommendations for a mobile solution. Start with your loyalty program. Offer some of your most loyal customers special incentives to try the app . Get their feedback and use positive feedback as promotional material. The negative feedback is good too. Use it as a measuring stick for things you may want to alter before releasing it to everyone.
Make sure your description of the app is not to dry. Remember that description is a selling piece. Create an offer that is worth using. A bad offer is worse than no offer at all.  For more information in creating action with existing customers, please contact:

amfiala@gmail.com

Sources: MarketingCharts.com; Ipsos MediaCT

How Fast Do You Respond?

Before express shipping was commonplace, people didn’t think that 6 weeks was a long time to wait for the thing you ordered during the 2am infomercial. Before laserjet printers, waiting 5 minutes to print up that report on the dot matrix (then pealing the sides) wasn’t a big deal. Before email, 20 minutes to fax that 10 page document was perfectly acceptable. But technology has sped up the time frame of what we all consider acceptable. We want things shipped next day. If the thing you sent to print isn’t ready by the time you get to the printer, it’s frustrating and if the deck that you need doesn’t hit your inbox within 30 seconds of being sent – we check to make sure the network is up and running. But in many cases, businesses haven’t sped up their response time to match customer expectations.

● Eight in 10 businesses believe they offer excellent customer service through social media – over 90% of consumers disagree
● Just 20% of brands respond to messages that require attention – that means 80% of communications go unresolved
● The average brand response time is 15 hours through Facebook and just under 8 hours on Twitter
● Overall 80% of Facebook users expect a response the same day as do 70% of Twitter users
● A large percentage expect it even faster – more than 40% of social
networkers expect a response within an hour and over 30% want to
hear back within 30 minutes

What This Means To You

What are your expectations when it comes to hearing back from one of your vendors?
Consumers have similar expectations. Either they are your customers and deserve the courtesy of a return message because they spent money with you. Or, they are prospective customers and if you do not give them the courtesy of returning their message now, how will you treat them after they buy your product? The first thing your company needs to do is create a strategy for consumer response. Not just time parameters but language that should be used. There is a great story that has to do with the Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident. The first person to issue a response was a Nuclear Engineer for the plant – while he was probably a brilliant person when it came to nuclear energy, his job was not public relations. A few times during the initial media contacts he used the word “Accident” instead of “Incident”. Either is bad – but what sounds worse, an incident at a nuclear reactor or an accident at nuclear reactor. What you say and the way you say it is important. Also determine a level of escalation. what things can a customer service or social media re do to mediate a situation and what needs to be elevated to a manager. For more information on meeting your consumers changing levels of expectation, please contact:

Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Sources: Social Media Today; BrickFish; eMarketer

The Importance of Your Social Reputation

With social media becoming more engrained in the buying process, your social presence is often one of the first places consumers visit and your social reputation could be the first impression consumers see. And you know what they say about a first impression.
Today we’ll look at the amount of negative brand conversations and the sharing of shopping experiences

● Approximately half of all social brand conversations is positive and one in five are negative
● Overall, 95% of consumers will tell someone about a negative shopping experience. 87% will brag about a good experience
● 45% of consumers will take to social media to tell friends and family about a negative shopping experience
● Less than one-third will give online praise for a positive experience
● 35% will leave a negative review about a brand or business
● Less than one in four will give a positive review

Why is this important?

Bad News doesn’t just travel fast – it travels faster and with more impact
than good news. Because of the weight consumers put in the opinions of
online peers and review sites, a negative review can cost your business from
the moment it’s posted.
How often do you monitor your own social media sites?
Are there unresolved negative comments up there right now?
Do you have a response strategy for negative reviews and posts?
Then only thing worse than ignoring them is taking them personally.
The quicker you can remediate a bad situation, the more likely consumers are excuse a shopping experience that was less than positive.
Being vindictive with a someone who has posted negative information will make you look worse than unprofessional. For more information on creating more customers through your social reputation, please contact:

Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Sources: Dimension Research; Marketingcharts.com

The Power of Online Peers

Our last few posts have dealt with early adopters and social sharing.  Today, we’ll chronicle new research showing just how powerful the opinion of online friends and family are..

●  Nearly half of all consumers will make a purchase based on the  product opinion of an online friend or family member. Nearly one in three are somewhat likely to make a purchase and one in six are fairly or very likely to buy

●  People with children are much more likely to make a purchase because of an online review or information that those without children

● Almost 30% of adults 18-34 are influenced to buy because of an online peer recommendation and more than 20% of consumes 35-44 are moved to make a purchase

● A friend’s online review is less likely to convince a high income individual ($100,000+) to make a purchase.  Over half of consumers in the $50,000 to $75,000 income level have bought something after reading a review from a friend or family member

No matter how much influence you believe you have over your customers, it doesn’t have close to the cache of an online friend of family member.  Think of your own life.
Aren’t you more likely to eat at a restaurant that a friend recommends?
How many movies have you gone to after family member tells you how bad it is?
Think of all the different things you to create the ripple of positive social sharing that turns into a wave of new customers.  Asking someone to “like” you on Facebook should not be the end all, be all of social sharing.  It is just the first step in creating a profitable social reputation.
For more information on how to incorporate social media into a winning marketing strategy, please contact:

Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail

Source: eMarketer; TNS

What Shoppers Want From Your Employees

Your social reputation is extremely valuable.  It is often what either makes consumers shop with you or go to one of your competitors.  One way to ensure your social reputation remains positive is through offering great customer service.  During the holidays, shoppers don’t have much time and look to your employees for advice and assistance.  A new report has been released that looks into what shoppers expect from your employees.

• Over 60% of shoppers expect your employees to be knowledgeable about the products you sell

• Nearly six in 10 want to be checked out quickly

• 56% of shoppers want your employees to let them know about offers & discounts

• Over 40% of shoppers think your staff should greet them with a
welcoming attitude

• More than two-thirds want your associates to price match other retailer’s offers

• Nearly 30% want your employees to have the ability to help them find gifts

What Does This Mean To You?

The staff is often the one thing shoppers remember most about a store.  Good customer service leads to good reviews and loyal customers.  Bad shopping experiences leads to bad reviews and customers business wind up at your competition.  Making sure your staff is educated is paramount.  Educated on what you sell, the offers & promotions that are currently available and what the competition is doing.  While the customer is not right in every single situation – their wants and needs should always be top of mind with you and your staff.  While motivating employees, especially during the holidays can be hard – the cost of an unmotivated, unhelpful employee often shows up in lost sales and missed opportunities.  For more information on how a positive social reputation can make you more money,please contact:
Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Source: Mobile Commerce Daily; Deloitte

Trusted Forms Of Advertising

Consumers tend to connect with and engage with brands they trust. Where you market your company can have a big effect on how consumers view your business. If shoppers don’t trust the products you advertise in, how likely are they to trust your brand? New research looks at the types of media advertising that have earned the most trust with consumers.

• The most trusted form of advertising are recommendations from people you know – over 90% of consumers trust personal recommendations

• 47% trust magazine and TV ads, radio comes in with 46% and just over 40% trust billboard advertising

• Over 25% of shoppers trust ads they are delivered through search engines, one-third trust ads through social networks or video ads and roughly three in 10 trust online banner ads

• Over one in four consumers trust display ads on mobile devices and text ads on mobile phones

What Does This Mean To You?

While personal recommendations may not always be considered a form of advertising, it is one of the most influential factors in consumer purchases.  Think of your own situation.  If a friend recommends a restaurant, aren’t you more likely to try it as well?  Or if someone you know pans a movie, how likely are you to buy a ticket?  You can tell everyone how great you are, but it will never have the influence as a recommendation from a friend.  This is one of the reasons that testimonials and reputation management are so important.
This is where you can leverage the voice of your loyal customers.  Use your customers in testimonials; reward them for “liking” your business and recommending you through social media, incorporate them in pictures or video interacting with you and your products.  The more love you show these brand evangelists, the more likely they are to sing your praises.
Reputation management will help keep your image positive across many digital platforms.  You need to be vigilant in watching your social media presences.  If there are unanswered questions or problem posted about your business, customers are likely to not buy from those companies.  Basically, negative comments about your business or your products are likely to gift wrap sales to your competition.  For more information on creating loyal, long term customers, please contact:
Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Source: Nielsen

Attitudes Of Hispanic Social Networkers

Yesterday’s post looked at attitudes and purchase behaviors of Hispanic consumers.  There is also research on how Hispanic consumers use social media. Hispanics are one of the fastest growing groups for digital adoption and mobile use.  Because of the growth and purchase power of Hispanic consumers, knowing their social media use can help you create new shoppers.

• Over one in five Hispanic consumers nationwide said that social sites are a way for them to tell people about companies and products they like

• One in six Hispanic consumers post ratings or reviews for others to read

• Hispanic consumers were 38% more likely than non-Hispanics to say they follow their favorite brands on social media

• Hispanics were also more likely than non-Hispanic to purchase products they saw advertised on social media

• 27% of Hispanic social networkerss click on links or items posted by others

• One in four Hispanic consumers access social networks from different devices

• 16% of Hispanics said they are more likely to purchase a product recommended by others on social media

What Does This Mean To You?

Hispanic consumers are definitely engaged in social media.  Not only do they follow brands, they are influenced by social media advertising and comments.

Among Hispanic adults in Metro Orlando:

• Two-thirds have accessed a social media site in the past month

• 33% have accessed a social network from a mobile device

• Nearly one in six have spent more than an hour on a social media site in the past week

• 63% have made an online purchase in the past 12 months

Social media can help your business engage Hispanic consumers and create awareness.  Because Hispanic consumers tend to read others comments, make comments themselves and make purchase decisions because of social commentary, reputation management is important.  Not paying attention to
your social reputation can turn away shoppers and cost you sales.  For more information on reputation management and forging relationships with
Hispanic consumers, please contact:
Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Source: Advertising Age; Experian Simmons; The 2012 Scarborough Report, Release 1

Customer Service And Social Media

As a business, virtually everything you do can be considered customer service oriented.  Your social offerings are not any different.  In fact, the nature of social media means your social presence is often the digital face of your company and social interaction point.  How you deal with customers is on full display for other customers and potential shoppers to see.  New research is out that looks at how consumers use social media as a customer service function.

• 17% of consumers in the past year
have used social media to obtain a
service response

• Social media users who have a great experience will tell 42 people – Those who are not on social media will only tell 9 people

• Over 80% of shoppers who use social sites said they have not completed a sale because of poor customer service

• Social networkers who had a bad customer service experience will tell 53 others about the incident

• Less than half on non-social media users reported that they had not completed a sale because of poor customer service.  Those people only told 17 people about their experience.

• Social media users are willing to pay 21% more for brands that deliver great customer service through social media

What Does This Mean To You?

Social media users are, well, more social.  They tend to communicate with brands about their experience and expect action from them.  Their activity is the precise reason you need a reputation management strategy.
If these consumers will tell over 50 people about a negative incident, imagine the exponential damage your company can receive because of social media.  The social space and negative comments do not just go away.  A sound reputation management policy can help you mitigate the negative and help you convert them into positive comments.  At the very least you need to engage those with a negative experience and offer to fix it.  Ignoring the problem will only make it worse.  Others will see a company that not only provides bad customer service, they see a company that also doesn’t about care about its shoppers.  Social users who have good experiences will tell others, just not at the same volume.  A social reputation plan will help you use these positive comments and turn them into a testimonial for your business.  Your organization should take advantage of the good stuff and make sure as many people as possible see it.  Rewarding customers for good comments is great and will help foster other positive happenings.  One of the best things about social networkers is that they are willing to a premium to shop at brands that deliver top flight customer service.  If you maximizing are your positive comments, promote it.  This will increase the value of shopping with you – even if you cost a little more.  Just like the song says – you have to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, don’t mess with Mr. In-Between.  For more information on how to grow your business with reputation management, please contact :
Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Source: OnlineMBA.com; Kalena Jordan, SearchEngineCollege.com; sitepronews.com; MediaBistro

Snapshot Of A Google+ And LinkedIn Users

All this week, we’ve given provided usage statistics, demographics and other glimpses into overall social media use, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Today we’re going to look at the other two major social entities – Google+
and LinkedIn.

Google+

• There are over 90 million unique users on Google+

• The vast majority of Google+ users are male (71%)

• 44% of Google+ users describe themselves as single

• 42% of users are on the site are there to look for friends

• The top occupation among users is engineer

LinkedIn

• LinkedIn has over 150 million users

• 75% of users are there for business purposes

• Over 2 million companies have a presence on LinkedIn

• 71% of LinkedIn users have household incomes of $50,000+, more than 20% are in the $100,000+ level

• Half of LinkedIn users are college graduates

What Does This Mean To You

While these two social entities have smaller user bases, both offer your business great targeting options.  These sites are populated with well educated, high earners with good jobs.  LinkedIn is a great social pathway to expand upon any B2B marketing efforts your company maybe doing. The tight focus of these sites underscores the importance of targeting.  Making sure that your message is relevant to the audience on the sites where you might advertise is key.  The people who use these sites are also used to getting a response when they post questions.  Reputation management with these audiences is vital.
They put a lot of faith in the opinion of their peers.  For more information in successful social marketing, please contact:
Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Source: OnlineMBA.com; Kalena Jordan, SearchEngineCollege.com; sitepronews.com

Snapshot Of A Facebook User

Facebook is the world’s biggest social network and to many consumers social media and Facebook are two sides of the same coin.  Many businesses only form of social media presence is a Facebook page.  Knowing what the average Facebook user looks like and knowing their social activities can help you maximize the impact of your Facebook offerings.

• Facebook has over 845 million active users

• The average Facebook user has 130 “friends” and the average visit lasts 23 minutes

• Over 45% of Facebook users are age 45 or older

• Nearly 60% of users are female

• 57% have attended college and roughly one quarter have a college degree

• Almost half of Facebook users have household incomes between $50,000 and $100,000

What Does This Mean To You

Simply having a Facebook page does not equal social media marketing.
Do you have a social media or Facebook strategy?
What are you doing to engage readers?
How are you leveraging your “friends”?
How often you post?
What kind of content do you post?
Having a Facebook page is just the starting point for creating a winning social media strategy.
How important is this audience?
In Metro Orlando, over 55% of adults have accessed Facebook in the past month.
Nearly 40% of these users have household incomes over $75,000+
For more information on to bring your business more success through social media, please contact:
Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Source: OnlineMBA.com; Kalena Jordan, SearchEngineCollege.com; sitepronews.com; The 2012 Scarborough Report, Release 1