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Lucy Nixon

Lucy Nixon

LinkedIn Launches SlideShare Content Ads and Brands Take Notice

linkedinWhen LinkedIn bought SlideShare last year, the marketing world was ignited by the possibilities the most popular social networking site and the most popular professional presentation sharing site could do together.

Many people speculated about what the acquisition would bring to LinkedIn Members. Would LinkedIn Members be able to do more with their SlideShare presentations then simply including links to them from their LinkedIn Profiles (a feature that was possible using the SlideShare add-on within LinkedIn long before the 2012 acquisition)?

This week, brand marketers took notice again when LinkedIn launched SlideShare Content Ads — the perfect blend for business-to-business brands.

SlideShare Content Ads are a part of LinkedIn’s Content Ads program which already includes ways for companies to deliver “content-rich experiences” to LinkedIn members through videos, blog posts, company news, and updates. With the launch of SlideShare Content Ads, brands will be able to target LinkedIn members and display their SlideShare presentations to those members alongside of their regular activity streams.

With a single mouse click, a member can view the entire SlideShare presentation in a pop-up without having to leave LinkedIn. A link will be included in the presentation to visit the company’s website, or the member can simply close the presentation, which brings them back to the activity they were doing before they clicked on the SlideShare Content Ad.

B-to-B brands are likely to jump at the opportunity to test SlideShare Content Ads, particularly because LinkedIn offers excellent targeting capabilities based on members’ profiles. For example, AdWeek reports that advertisers can target people based on their job titles, companies they work for, seniority, company size, and more. Furthermore, performance metrics will include, “an aggregate of non-personally identifiable profile and demographic data of members who see a campaign, including things like job function, industry, and seniority of those that view and click.” Of course, advertisers will also receive traditional digital advertising metrics such as views, average time on presentations, average time spent per slide, and so on.

According to a LinkedIn blog post, the company, “is testing more features that give brands the ability to collect leads directly from SlideShare content, and extend their reach through social gestures including ‘Likes’ and ‘Shares.'” Additional capabilities like those will surely please brand marketers.

Overall, SlideShare Content Ads are a great fit for LinkedIn, LinkedIn members, and advertisers. Getting useful content from a reliable source in front of decision makers when they need it is critical for B-to-B marketers. SlideShare Content Ads on LinkedIn, give brands an excellent opportunity to do exactly that.

The trick will be testing SlideShare Content Ads to identify the types of presentations–from design to length, content, and everything in between–that drive the best results. In other words, many companies follow the strategy of publishing every presentation they have on SlideShare, but not every presentation will be effective as a SlideShare Content Ad. Success will require experimentation, close tracking, and a shift in content marketing and advertising strategy.

Image: Nan Palmero

Consumer Perceptions of Online Privacy Practices Affect 9 out of 10 Brand Purchase Decisions

online purchaseJust how important is it for brands to ensure consumers have positive perceptions of a company’s efforts to keep their private data secure? For 91% of internet users in the United Kingdom, online privacy policies directly affect their decisions to do business with a company. That statistic comes from a study by Accenture from August of 2012, and it tells just a small part of the story.

On Monday, eMarketer reported that 46% of respondents to a 2013 survey by Ipsos MORI and TRUSTe said that they “strongly avoided” doing business with companies that they thought didn’t do a good enough job of protecting their privacy and personal information online. Add an additional 45% who “had a tendency to avoid” doing business with these companies, and you end up with a meager 9% of the sample U.K. internet user audience who claim that online privacy concerns do not affect their online purchasing decisions or behaviors.

This data reinforces the idea that marketers must prioritize building brand trust with consumers. As I wrote in one of my articles for Corporate Eye last week, building brand trust is the number one factor that can motivate consumers to share personal information with your company, which can then be used in future brand marketing campaigns. This finding comes from the 2012 Data Tracking Study from DMA (follow the preceding link to read the details and see the infographic), which reported that consumers are more willing to share private information when they trust the company (47%), the company has a clear privacy policy (43%), or the company provides an essential service (31%).

Bottom-line, now is the time to revamp your online privacy policy and consumer-facing communications related to your company privacy practices. Don’t assume that consumers know your brand, and therefore, trust your company to protect their private information. They expect companies to protect their information, but they don’t typically perceive that companies do enough to keep their personal information safe.

The Ipsos MORI and TRUSTe study found that nearly half of internet users in Great Britain do not trust most companies with their personal information online. When asked if “most companies can be trusted with personal data online,” internet users responded as follows:

  • Strongly agree = 6%
  • Tend to agree = 51%
  • Tend to disagree = 33%
  • Strongly disagree = 10%

These numbers are quite terrible from a brand perspective considering that one of the most important aspects of brand building is developing brand trust. Brand marketers need to aggressively work to change the consumer perception that company online privacy practices are not adequate. This requires both education and proof. In other words, companies need to live up to the privacy expectations that consumers have.

Can your company prove that its online privacy practices sufficiently protect consumers’ personal information?

Image: Pierre Amerlynck

How and When UK Consumers Will Share Private Data with Brands [Infographic]

private data online securityIn the 2012 Data Tracking study published by DMA (sponsored by Equifax) last week, 1193 UK adults shared their opinions about when and how they’ll share personal information with brands. The good news for brands is that the number of consumers who claim to be willing to share private data with brands has sky-rocketed over the past 18 months.

Specifically, the number of people who are willing to share personal data with brands that are “selling products they might consider buying” increased by 48% during the past 18 months. Furthermore, the number of people who are willing to share personal information with brands that are “selling products they have to buy” has jumped from 56% to 63% in the past 18 months. Another significant increase was found in the number of people who are willing to provide their name, address, and email address (referred to as “basic information”) to brands, which  grew by 63% in the past 18 months.

However, not all brands fare as well when it comes to convincing consumers to share personal data. Brands that offer clear security policies and follow best practices to secure consumer trust are having much more success in obtaining consumer private data than brands that don’t prioritize these activities.

You can follow the link above to view the full report and see some highlights in the infographic below. Key findings include:

  • Consumers are most willing to share personal information with brands they already have a relationship with (76%) and when they’re buying products (63%).
  • Consumers are more willing to share private information when they trust the company (47%), the company has a clear privacy policy (43%), or the company provides an essential service (31%).
  • Sales incentives mentioned in the study that are most effective in motivating people to share personal information include free samples (25%), money-off vouchers (25%), discounts (23%), free shipping (20%), and competitions (19%).
  • On average, consumers are most likely to share their name, followed by their email address and their mailing address in that order.
  • Of the activities included in the survey, consumers reported that they are most likely to shared  basic personal information like name, email, and address when they’re buying goods online (79% average), and least likely to share this information when they’re pledging support for a cause.

dma data tracking study 2012 infographic

Brand trust is a critical component of any brand-building strategy, and the results of this study show that building brand trust is the number one factor that can motivate consumers to share personal information with your company that can be used in future brand marketing campaigns. If you’re not already prioritizing your efforts to build brand trust, you need to do so now.

Image: Ayhan Yildiz

Which CSR meaning floats your boat?

Always, there’s a moment when the penny drops.

For me, in comedy, it was somewhere between:

Listeners who are listening will realise Minnie and Henry are talking rubbish.  There are no elephants in Sussex, they’re only found in Kent.  North of a line drawn between two points, thus making it the shortest distance.  (The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler of Bexhill on Sea / The Goons)

and

Why not … collect those little metal bottletops and nail them upside down to the kitchen floor?  This will give a sensation.. of walking on …  little metal bottletops nailed upside down to the kitchen floor. (Design For Living / Flanders and Swann)

The same can be said for CSR, or whatever you want to call it.  There’s always a moment when some word or phrase triggers something in you and that’s what drives you forwards.

For me it was sustainability, although I’ve recently been told that’s passé and business is now all about resilience.

So in this riddle of different CSR meanings, I wonder which of the following floats your boat?

[Read more…] about Which CSR meaning floats your boat?

Livestrong Rebrands as Livestrong Foundation without Lance Armstrong

livestrong foundation logo old newWhat happens when the face of your non-profit organization is publicly disgraced?

That’s what Livestrong faced when cyclist Lance Armstrong admitted to using illegal substances throughout his career. He was stripped of his Tour de France titles and his affiliation with the organization that he helped to start. Call in the crisis team because like so many celebrity brand endorsements before, the man’s revelation brought the brand under a negative spotlight, too.

With the non-profit organization separated from Lance Armstrong, Livestrong has rebranded as Livestrong Foundation with a new logo and a new focus on the foundation, not the man who was once the face of the foundation. The old and new logos are shown above, and most people probably won’t even remember that “Foundation” wasn’t part of the logo in its previous version. However, the redesign does better position the brand away from Lance Armstrong. It’s subtle and simple, but it works.

In a speech (you can follow the link to read the transcript) from Executive VP of Operations from Livestrong Foundation, Andy Miller, which was delivered at the annual Livestrong “State of the Foundation” address on February 28, 2013, the point was made that  the rebranding is part of the foundation’s efforts, “towards becoming more us, more clear, and doing more work.” In other words, Livestrong Foundation wants to become “more us” and “less Lance.” Andy said:

“We accepted the apology he made to us in order to move on and we remain grateful for what he decided to create and helped build. As the world poses the questions, “Is the LIVESTRONG Foundation bigger than its founder? Will it survive?” The answer is a resounding yes. Our success has never been based on one person — it’s based on the patients and survivors we serve every day, who approach a cancer diagnosis with hope, courage and perseverance.”

Livestrong Foundation is taking the rights steps to move past its affiliation with Lance Armstrong, but finding new ways to recoup earnings from merchandise sales will be a tough battle. The “cool” factor that many people felt when they wore a bracelet, jacket, or other item with the Livestrong logo on it has disappeared with the fall of Lance Armstrong’s celebrity status.

The Livestrong Foundation has a tough road ahead of it and changes will need to be made internally to get through this time, but at the end of the day, the organization’s mission is an important one. Hopefully, it will continue to navigate through the negative publicity it’s facing right now and come out on the other side with a stronger brand than before.

I think Andy summed up why this brand can survive a celebrity disaster quite well in his speech when he said:

“The real reason the Foundation took root is that it touched a chord deep in all of us. It inspired us to take action! But we didn’t do it for Lance. We did it for our loved ones. Our husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. We did for our children. We did it for our friends and neighbors. We did it for ourselves. Because we believe in life! We believe living every minute of it with every ounce of our being. And that you must not let cancer take control of it!”

Repositioning the brand away from “the Lance Armstrong charity” and toward “the charity that helps people with cancer” should be the Livestrong Foundation’s top priority. And of course, avoiding dependencies on celebrity endorsements and spokespeople should be at the top of the list of things not to do again.

Yes, Your Customers Are Using Social Networking

social networking mobile iconsUnless your target consumer audience is over the age of 64, the majority of them are using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. In fact, 67% of online adults use social networking sites according to a December 2012 study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, so there are few (if any) businesses, brands, or industries that can claim their customers aren’t online and active in social media.

Brands need to follow consumers. When consumers shifted from listening to the radio to watching television, brands had to follow them by shifting marketing budgets away from radio and toward television. The same thing is happening now, and budgets need to shift from television and other media to online advertising and social media marketing.

Research shows that shifting 15% of the marketing budget to online drives significant results in terms of brand awareness, recall, and reach. Couple those statistics with the data from Pew Internet, and it’s hard to justify not prioritizing social media ad spending. Take a look at the breakdown of social media penetration by age below:

  • 18-29 = 83%
  • 30-49 = 77%
  • 50-64 = 52%
  • 65+ = 32%

It also doesn’t matter how much education a person has. The likelihood that they use social networking sites is similar across the board:

  • Less than high school graduate = 66%
  • Some college = 69%
  • College+ = 65%

Furthermore, household income makes little difference in social networking usage:

  • Less than $30,000 per year = 72%
  • $30,000-$49,000 = 65%
  • $50,000-$74,999 = 66%
  • $75,000+ = 66%

The only demographic characteristics that showed a significant difference in social networking penetration were urbanity where 70% of people who live in urban areas and 67% of people who live in suburban areas use social networking sites versus just 61% in rural areas. Of course, rural areas have less internet connectivity, so this statistic really isn’t surprising. The one area that might surprise you is gender. According to the Pew Internet research report, 71% of women use social networking sites but only 62% of men use social networking sites.

A few more interesting statistics from the Pew Internet study follow:

  • 40% of cell phone owners use social networking sites on their phones.
  • 67% of online adults use Facebook.
  • 20% of online adults use LinkedIn.
  • 16% of online adults use Twitter.
  • 15% of online adults use Pinterest.
  • 13% of online adults use Instagram.
  • 6% of online adults use Tumblr.

It’s hard to believe in 2013 that some brand marketers still have to fight to gain social media marketing budget dollars against executives who claim, “Our customers aren’t using social networking sites.” Next time you face that road block, cite some of these statistics. The question in 2013 shouldn’t be, “Who is using social networking sites,” but rather, “Who isn’t using social networking sites?” Unless your target audience is part of that 33% minority, your customers are using social networking sites, and your brand should be there, too.

Image: Social Media HQ