Corporate Eye

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Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

Twitter Ads Are Irrelevant to 4 out of 5 Users

twitter eggsNew research from Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. reveals interesting insights into Twitter users’ behaviors and perceptions that brands need to understand. The study found that nearly half of active Twitter users are very engaged and use the platform more than once per day. In fact, daily average use of Twitter isn’t far behind Facebook’s daily average use.

More than one out of two Twitter users (51%) want to learn about news and related events when they visit the platform. Furthermore, more than one out of three Twitter users (37%) use the social media platform to find interesting content and articles. In other words, Twitter isn’t just a communications and broadcasting tool. It’s very much a content discovery tool, which is very important for brands to understand and consider during the development of content marketing and social media marketing strategies.

Two areas of the study results are most important to brands: mobile and advertising. Let’s look at the results in both areas in more detail.

Mobile Twitter Usage and What It Means for Brands

More than three out of four Twitter users (76%) use the platform via mobile devices. Nearly 72% of active Twitter users access the site using mobile apps while more than 13% use Twitter mobile websites. Only 58% access the site via desktop or laptop.

The Takeaway: For brands, this means you need to create content and promotions that are mobile-friendly. Make sure links in tweets and ads lead to landing pages are mobile-optimized.

Twitter Advertising and What Brands Need to Know

Nearly two out of three Twitter users (60%) responded to the Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. survey stating that they have seen an ad on Twitter, but 40% stated that they have never seen ad ad on Twitter. That means one of two things—either ads are so unobtrusive that Twitter users simply don’t realize that they’re ads or Twitter users really aren’t seeing those ads.

The study also found that of those Twitter users who have seen ads, 83% of them do not believe that the ads they’ve seen on Twitter are relevant or useful to them.

The Takeaway: For brands, these findings mean that Twitter advertising investments are unlikely to drive the return on investment they need. Fortunately, Twitter has introduced more audience targeting features to its advertising options. It is imperative that brands use those targeting tools to increase the relevancy and usefulness of Twitter ads so the audience notices them and takes action.

You can follow the link at the beginning of this article to read the full report from Deutsche Bank Market Research.

Image: Garrett Heath

How B2B Buyers Use Content Throughout the Purchase Decision Funnel

decision making mazeFor B2B buyers, brand content and third-party content play critical roles in helping them make purchase decisions. Throughout the purchase cycle, B2B buyers at all levels within the organization consume, share, and discuss both brand content and third-party content and rely heavily on it for vendor selection and product and services selection.

A new study from Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and NetLine Corporation found that online content is highly influential for B2B buyers. The study surveyed executives from 30 different industries and found that three needs drive B2B buyers to actively seek out content to support specific decisions.

Nearly two out of three B2B buyers (62%) seek out content to learn about new market developments and industry practices, while nearly the same number of people (60%) seek out content to discover new solutions that could address specific needs. Just over one in two B2B buyers (52%) seek out content to address a project that is already in progress (or about to commence) for their companies.

The report also found that B2B buyers can be segmented into three categories of buyers in relation to their use of brand content during the purchase process: researchers, influencers, and decision makers. Depending on which category a person falls in, their content needs and consumption habits differ. For example, researchers look for broad content and focus on finding educational content that can help them better understand industry trends and advancements. Influencers are most interested in trusted third-party content and vendor-branded data sheets, technical specifications, and use cases. On the other hand, decision makers want research reports, analyst commentary, and data.

Notice that the three categories of buyers—researchers, influencers, and decision makers—each play different roles within the decision-making process. Researchers are busiest early in the process, but they’re still active toward the end of the process. The activity level of influencers and decision makers grows as decision making moves closer to the end of the decision funnel.

This activity level also correlates with the content use cycle of brand content from the beginning of the decision funnel to the end of the decision funnel and beyond. Following are the three primary steps of the B2B purchase decision making process, so you can see how the data from the study ties to each.

Step 1: Information Gathering for RFP Development

Early in the decision-making process, 40% of B2B buyers who responded to the CMO Council survey indicated that they use content to identify potential suppliers and partners. For example, 51% use third-party content to get objective information about best practices and best-in-class solutions. In this early stage, research reports are highly influential and very useful in raising awareness of brands, products, and services.

Brands should keep in mind that the decision making process begins with 68% of B2B buyers searching for content using search engines and portals while 40% go directly to brand and vendor websites. Not to be overlooked, 25% of B2B buyers find content after clicking on an email link sent by a trusted third-party or a friend or colleague.

Lesson for Brands: Early in the decision-making process, brands must be represented in third-party, thought leadership content.

Step 2: RFP Review and Vendor Selection

During the second phase of the decision-making process, B2B buyers look for objective content to support their findings from step one. They use this data as they review RFP responses from vendors. This content comes from third-parties as well as directly from brands, so brands must have their data-driven content readily available.

For 44% of respondents to the CMO Council survey, technical details and specs about products ranked as the second most valuable type of content to make buying decisions. This data-driven content can come from third party reviews, etc., but brands must have it at consumers’ fingertips as well. B2B buyers rely heavily on industry studies, technical specifications, analyst reviews, expert commentary, and third-party content during step two.

Lesson for Brands: During the second phase of the decision-making process, brands must ensure B2B buyers have easy access to data that supports its claims within its RFP response. Furthermore, brands must be represented in third-party content such as expert commentary, analyst reviews, and industry studies.

Step 3: Post-Purchase Supplementation

After the vendor has been selected, the use of third-party and brand content doesn’t end. In fact, the study found that 82% of B2B buyers continue to use content after the purchase has been made to identify potential add-on purchases. They use content for education, to stay current on industry trends that might affect their future purchase needs, and to identify new solutions that could benefit their companies. Just because the single transaction is over doesn’t mean there aren’t ongoing opportunities for brands to connect with these B2B buyers in the future.

Lesson for Brands: After the purchase decision has been made, brands must continue to be represented in third-party content of all kinds, and brands must continue to publish useful, high quality content of their own.

Bottom-line, content isn’t transactional. It adds lifetime value, and brands need to start viewing it as such.

Image: Steven Goodwin

The Most and Least Engaging Brands of 2014

blackberrySince 1997, Brand Keys has conducted an annual study to examine customers’ relationships with brands. The 2014 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index ranking was compiled based on results from a survey of over 30,000 U.S. consumers between the ages of 18-65. As part of the survey, respondents self-selected the categories they shop in and the brands they shop for or engage with in some manner. It’s a comprehensive study that included telephone (70%), in-person (25%), and online (5%) surveys throughout January of this year.

As you would expect, Brand Keys reports that brands which actively engage with consumers experience better sales results than brands that have little engagement with consumers. To be considered a successful brand for the purposes of this study, brands had to score 85% or higher in the engagement index. This year, Brand Keys analyzed 555 brands in 64 categories. Scores are determined using a proprietary fusion of psychological and statistical analyses, including both rational and emotional factors that influence behavior.

The Brand Keys report explains, “The brand whose drivers come closest to meeting (or even exceeding) those of the category ideal is always the one whose customers will demonstrate the highest levels of engagement and loyalty over the next 12 to 18 months.”

Following are some of the brand winners and losers of the 2014 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index:

Most Engaging Brands of 2014 by Category

Following are brands that had the highest engagement rates for a select group of the 64 categories included in the study.

  • Airline: JetBlue
  • Athletic Footwear: Nike
  • Automobile: Ford and Hyundai (tie)
  • Bank: JP Morgan Chase
  • Computer/Laptop: Apple
  • Ereaders: Kindle
  • Instant Messaging Apps: WhatsApp
  • Online Music: Pandora
  • Online Payment Service: PayPal
  • Online Retailer: Amazon
  • Online Travel Site: Expedia
  • Online Video Streaming: Netflix and Amazon (tie)
  • Quick-Service Restaurant: Subway
  • Retail Store (Apparel): Victoria’s Secret
  • Search Engine: Google
  • Smartphones: Apple
  • Social Networking Sites: Facebook and Twitter (tie)
  • Soft Drink (Diet): Diet Coke
  • Soft Drink (Regular): Coca-Cola
  • Tablets: Apple and Amazon (tie)

Least Engaging Brands of 2014 Overall

Following are the 10 brands that ranked as the least engaging in the Brand Keys study. The least engaging brand overall is listed first below.

  • BlackBerry: 52%
  • Quiznos: 57%
  • Kmart: 59%
  • Sony E-Readers: 60%
  • WOW Search: 60%
  • Sears: 64%
  • American Apparel: 65%
  • Budweiser: 70%
  • Coty Cosmetics: 71%
  • Volkswagen: 79%

For comparison, the least engaging brand, BlackBerry, scored 52% in the Brand Keys index while the most engaging smartphone brand, Apple, scored 81%. The second least engaging brand overall, Quiznos, scored just 57%, which is far below the score achieved by the most engaging brand in the quick service restaurant category. The top spot went to Subway with a score of 90%. Similarly, the Sony E-Reader scored 60% in the brand index while the most engaged E-reader brand, Kindle, scored 96%. Interestingly, two brands owned by Sears Brands, LLC (Sears and Kmart) appear in the list of the least engaging brands of 2014.

What do you think of the rankings of the least and most engaging brands? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image:  Karlis Dambrans

Brands to Benchmark on Twitter – JetBlue, ASOS, and Dell

Twitter smartphone mobile appIt wasn’t that long ago when people asked, “Which brands are on Twitter?” Today, the question is “Which brands aren’t on Twitter?”

Twitter has become an integral part of an integrated marketing plan for most large companies around the world, but some are performing much better on Twitter than others. Who Is Hosting This? put together an infographic in an effort determine which brands rule Twtter. You can check out the infographic below. Following are some highlights from the data.

Customer Service via Twitter

JetBlue takes the top spot for providing customer service on Twitter according to the data in the infographic. The company has the largest Twitter following of any airline, but it still manages to have the quickest average response time to customer tweets at just 13 minutes (79% average response rate).

Other companies that perform well for providing customer service via Twitter are Ford with an average response rate of 75% and Microsoft with an average response time of 42 minutes. Nike also performs well with an average response rate of 80% but a much slower response time of 140 minutes.

Sales via Twitter

ASOS was declared the winner for sales via Twitter based on the infographic data. The online fashion retailer’s award-winning 2013 digital Christmas campaign drove more than $7.8 million in sales to the company. During the campaign, U.S. search engine queries for ASOS increased by more than 50%.

Social Commerce via Twitter

Dell took the top spot for social commerce via Twitter thanks to the success of its @DellOutlet Twitter profile that generated more than $2 million in sales during the first two years after it launched. The company also reported a 34% conversion rate through its @DellCares and @DellCaresPRO Twitter profiles, meaning 34% of complaining “ranters” were turned into satisfied “ravers.”

Brands on Twitter Infographic

Today, consumers expect brands to be available to answer customer service questions via social media at any time of the day or night, and they expect responses from brands to be immediate. Take some time to benchmark the brands that are getting it right and achieving great results using Twitter as a customer service, sales, and marketing tool, and leverage some of the lessons you learn for your own brand’s social media marketing strategy. You’ll surely see an increase in your return on investment!

Image: Frank Mitchell

The Ups and Downs of Social Media Advertising for Brands

bar graph line graph declineSocial media advertising on sites like Facebook and Twitter is still evolving and competition is fierce. As more social media advertising options are launched, prices for ad space drop. Social media sites are moving from a premium-priced, small quantity of ads model to a lower-priced, large quantity of ads model.

This week, a few key stories made the news about social media advertising that create a clearer picture of what’s coming for brands that want to invest in social media advertising in the short- or long-term.

Organic Reach on Brand Facebook Pages Plummets

First, Cotton Delo of Ad Age reported that a new study from Social@Ogilvy found that organic reach of content published on brand Facebook Pages is dropping quickly and steadily. Delo reports that the average reach of organic posts that brands publish on their Facebook Pages, which are not supported by any type of advertising investment, is half of what it was in October 2013 (down from 12.05% in October 2013 to just 6.15% in February 2014). Note that in 2012, Facebook stated publicly that average organic post reach was 16%.

What’s causing the rapid decline? Speed and clutter could be the biggest factors according to the Social@Ogilvy report. News feeds move very quickly with a massive amount of content published by huge numbers of people. That means Facebook users can’t keep up with all of that content and non-ad-supported posts get lost. The report warns brand marketers to prepare for a time when organic reach on Facebook will be zero—a sentiment that Facebook supports. Delo shares a point made in a Facebook presentation given at last year’s fMC event in New York where Facebook warned brands to look at Page fans as, “a way to make paid advertising more effective, as opposed to a free distribution channel.”

Twitter Ad Rates Plummet

Another social media site seeing a drop in a key ad revenue metric is Twitter. According to Arif Durrani of Campaign, Twitter is attracting more ad buyers and ad revenues grew by 110% in 2013, but ad rates plummeted by 67% in 2013. Looking back a bit further, ad rates were down by 81% from 2012.

Twitter offers more advertising inventory for ad buyers, but in keeping with the laws of supply and demand, all of that added inventory brings prices down. Twitter explains the positive aspect of this decline in prices as providing lower cost advertising options, such as Promoted Products, which attract small businesses, international advertisers, and advertisers with smaller budgets to Twitter.

Tumblr Looks to Expand Sponsored Posts

Since Tumblr was acquired by Yahoo! last year, it was only a matter of time until the site that once boasted it was against monetizing through ads would roll out a full-scale monetization process, including ads. The monetization has begun and this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo! plans to take those efforts to the next step by setting up an ad network that would distribute sponsored posts to third party sites. The first stop on the sponsored posts distribution train would be other Yahoo! sites and other sites that Yahoo! owns with expansion to third-party sites as the next logical expansion.

According to Harrison Weber of Venture Beat, Tumblr might also roll out an ad exchange were advertisers can target audiences using demographic data, similar to Facebook advertising offerings.

Bottom-line

One thing is certain, social media advertising will keep changing. Brand marketers need to view social media advertising as a single tactic within their social media marketing and content marketing strategies. Test, analyze, modify, and test again until you find the right marketing mix to drive the results your business needs.

Image: Wagner Magni

Do Your Employees Buy Your Brand?

shopping bags mallInternal branding is critical to brand building success. If your employees don’t believe in your brand promise, why should anyone else? Internal branding leads to online and offline brand advocacy that too few companies are leveraging.

Taking that concept a step further, internal branding and vocal brand advocacy from employees will be minimally successful at best if your employees don’t actually use your brand. How can they truly talk about your brand, advocate your brand, develop appropriate new products, and sell your product if they’ve never or rarely used it?

Before you say, “I can’t afford to give my product to every employee,” the key here is getting your employees to use your product so they can better advocate the brand based on personal experience. Not every company can afford to give its products to employees for free. In fact, it’s more likely that very few companies can afford to give their products to employees for free.

Consumer products companies get around this obstacle by providing company stores in their larger office locations and intranet stores where employees can purchase brand items at a discount. A small discount won’t do much to motivate people to purchase your brand over competitors’ brands, but if the store is in the building they work in, the convenience of buying your brand is often enough to turn employees into customers.

Be creative with how you enable employees to use your branded products. If they’re like most consumers, once they try your products (and assuming they like your products after trial), they are likely to become ongoing customers. However, they won’t all like your products or want to advocate your brand.

This is why internal market research is so important. A completely anonymous survey that asks employees to explain why they buy the brand (or why not) and what could be improved to motivate them to buy the brand is an effective tool to identify problems with your products and your brand promise. Again, if your employees don’t believe in your brand promise, why should anyone else?

Your employees are your most untapped marketing opportunity. Employees who believe your brand promise give you free publicity by advocating the brand. They’re also more committed to your brand and company success and are better able to make sell, and support your products and brand strategic objectives. Are you leveraging this powerful marketing asset?

Image: pipp