Corporate Eye

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Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

The Quantifiable Value of Return Policies for Brands

In a recent study by Northwestern University and MIT researchers (reported by Neuromarketing Blog), a quantifiable value was placed on retail return policies.  While it may seem like the real value of return policies comes from the positive brand perceptions they create, there are now hard metrics that prove return policies are important and should be well promoted

In the study, researchers determined the specific value that customers put on having the option to return items they purchase online.  As you might expect, the value was closely tied to the perceived risk of a purchase.  However, the study also reveals some specifics about how much more customers are willing to pay for a great return policy.

The study determined that the value of a return policy on men’s shirts equates to $3.19. For women’s shirts, the value is $5.00. However, the value of a return policy on women’s shoes is $15.81. These valuations make sense when you consider the fact that purchasing a man’s shirt is less risky than purchasing shoes for a woman. Without actually trying the shoes on, it can be difficult for women to find the right fit. Men’s shirts are more likely to fit without trying them on than women’s shoes are. It’s a riskier online purchase making the value of a good return policy five times higher for women’s shoes than men’s shirts.

Of course, a good return policy can mean different things to different people, but offering comparisons between your return policy and competitors’ return policies can demonstrate to consumers that yours is more valuable (assuming it’s better than your competitors’ return policies). If your return policy is great, make sure your customers know it, too. They need to understand its value in order to see it as an important benefit to them and differentiator of your brand from others.

You can follow the link to read the complete Northwestern University and MIT study findings. It’s filled with statistical analysis and information you can take to your leadership team to help you sell the need for your brand to have a great return policy.

Image: stock.xchng

Which Brands are Engaging Fans on Facebook Pages?

A new study of over 200 million Facebook page fans conducted by Visibli reveals some interesting findings about how well brands are engaging consumers on the most popular social networking site.

Some of the highlights from the study tell us:

  • Audi Facebook Page fans are highly engaged. The only other brand to rank in the top 5 Facebook pages with a minimum of 100,000 “likes” ranked by Visibli is American Airlines. See the chart below for details.
  • Celebrity Facebook pages are the most active and their audiences are the most engaged. In fact, engagement increases as celebrity Facebook pages grow. The exact opposite is true of brand Facebook pages.
  • Celebrity Facebook pages get twice as many “likes” as brand and media organization Facebook pages get.
  • Media organizations get 2 and a half times as many comments on their Facebook pages than celebrities get and 5 times more than brands get.
  • Half of the “likes” on posts published on Facebook pages happen within the first hour and 20 minutes after the post is published. 80% happen within the first seven hours and 95% happen within the first 22 hours after the post is published.

What can brands learn from this study? First, media organizations are doing a better job of encouraging Facebook page fans to publish comments and join the conversation than brands are. Furthermore, Audi and American Airlines are two branded Facebook pages to review and determine how you can implement similar strategies into your own brand Facebook pages to boost engagement.  Finally, it’s easy to spend less time on your brand’s Facebook page as the audience gets bigger and bigger simply because you’re no longer publishing and interacting in an effort to build your fan base. However, you can’t let your Facebook activities slide just because your audience is growing organically. The online audience is fickle. If you’re not providing fresh and interesting content and conversations, they’ll replace your brand with another in the blink of an eye. Don’t let them get away.

Getting fans to like your Facebook page is only the first step. Once you have them listening, you have to give them meaningful information that they’ll want to share and talk about. That’s how Facebook pages become a successful indirect marketing tool and can help build your brand, business and bottom-line.

What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts about brand Facebook page engagement.

Image: Visibli

Foreign Brands Hold Strong in China

China is a hot spot for brands around the world as more and more companies focus on the huge audience of consumers there. For example, just last month I was interviewed about how the Playboy brand can position itself for future success in Asia, particularly in China, based on my research about the brand in my book Building Brand Value the Playboy Way. You can read that interview and article in English on AsiaOne.com. It’s an interesting read.

Now, research from marketing consultancy R3 reveals that consumers in China are more open to foreign brands than you might think. Every three months, R3 conducts research in 10 cities in China among an audience of 15-40 year old respondents. These people rate brands based on three factors: preference (within a brand’s category), engagement (if the brand is correctly linked with a celebrity or media asset), and values (if the brand has strong values and associations with consumers).

During the first quarter of 2011, 19 of the top 50 brands in China were not from local companies (according to the 10,500 study respondents). While China Mobile, owner of the largest mobile network in the world, ranked at the top of the overall list, it didn’t take the top spot for the engagement rating. That top spot went to BBK, an electronics company in China.

BBK’s enagement rating was closely trailed by Nike’s engagement rating. Why does the athletic-wear company rank so high in China? As Sunny Chen, Senior Researcher for R3, explains, Nike “leads for strong engagement and association with stars and media in China.” Consumers in China like brands that are associated with popular celebrities and media properties. They’re also spending more time on popular social sites in China such as Q-Zone and shopping sites like Taobao, according to R3’s research. Social media has the ability to reach Chinese consumers faster than traditional media, and those consumers are actively looking for information from brands.

Which brands are engaging consumers in China? The top 10 as ranked in Q1 2011 are listed below. You can find the rest in the complete list from R3.

  1. China Mobile
  2. Nokia
  3. Nike
  4. Apple
  5. LiNing
  6. Lenovo
  7. KFC
  8. Mengnlu
  9. Sony
  10. Coca-Cola

There is a new world of opportunity for brands to connect with new consumers in the China market. Is your brand there yet? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: Flickr

2010 Online Ad Revenues Jump to $26 Billion in the United States

If there was any question as to whether or not online advertising is doing well, a new report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) gives the answer. In 2010, online ad revenues in the United States grew by an impressive 15% to $26 billion. Clearly, online advertising is a key component of brand marketing plans that shows no signs of slowing down.

The biggest winner in the online advertising realm during 2010 was sponsorships, which according to the IAB and PWC report, grew 88% over 2009 and included an incredible 142% increase in just the fourth quarter of 2010. However, sponsorships make up a very small part of overall online ad revenue. Search advertising holds the top spot at over $12 billion for 2010 (a 12% increase over 2009). Display advertising (including banner ads, display ads, and rich media) takes the number two spot and grew 24% over 2009 to $10 billion in 2010. Digital video advertising jumped by 40% in 2010.

The 2009 and 2010 ad revenue by format data from the report is provided below:

The IAB and PWC conduct this research semi-annually, and the 2010 data report marks the fifth year in a row that annual online advertising revenue has grown. The new report also includes mobile ad revenue in the United States for the first time. With 2010 mobile ad revenue estimated to be between $550 and $650 million, we can expect to see those numbers skyrocket in the 2011 report.

Another interesting finding in the IAB and PWC report relates to the increased focus on performance-based advertising, which made up 62% of online ad revenue in 2010 (up from 59% in 2009) versus impression-based advertising at just 33% (down from 37% in 2009) and hybrid at just 5% (up from 4% in 2009).

Online advertising is growing for a number of reasons. First, customers are spending more time online than ever before. Second, there is a lot of unsold display advertising inventory out there so pricing is attractive to advertisers. Third, there are a lot of opportunities available for advertisers to seize in the “less popular” ad formats such as digital video, sponsorships, and mobile. These advertising opportunities aren’t already taken, so there is still time to make your brand stand out from the crowd in mobile advertising or online video advertising.

What do you think about the current state and future of online advertising? Which online advertising formats do you plan on investing in to advertise your brand in 2011 and 2012? Leave a comment and share your opinion.

4 Ways Content Builds Brands

Content marketing works. I’ve seen it work first-hand for businesses and individuals. In fact, I wouldn’t have a successful business and 8 business books published by leading publishers (including the upcoming Content Marketing for Dummies) if content marketing didn’t work.

But how do you actually use content to build a brand? Keep reading to learn how content can help you build your brand and business.

Amazing content can do several things for a brand:

  1. Authority and Thought Leadership: Amazing content can establish your credibility and expertise, which subconsciously transfers to your brand.
  2. Word-of-mouth Marketing and Brand Buzz: Amazing content is often shared and discussed giving your brand more exposure.
  3. Search Engine Optimization: Amazing content is often linked to from other sites which boosts traffic to it and Google search rankings for it.
  4. Increased Business: Amazing content can help you build relationships with people that can lead to sales.

In a February 2011 survey of marketing professionals in the United States conducted by HiveFire, 42% said they are using content marketing. Of the 68% who were not currently using content marketing to build their brands and businesses, 85% of that group did admit to participating in content marketing activities without even realizing it.

The vast majority of businesses that use content marketing to build their brands do so primarily to increase brand awareness and word-of-mouth marketing. However, many businesses hit road blocks in content marketing simply because they don’t have the resources to create amazing original content as often as they need to in order to stay relevant in the fast moving online space. Whether that’s because they’re unwilling to pay an adequate rate to experienced freelance writers or they’re not looking outside their own walls for content support is not revealed in the study.

There are many “content mills” and content providers who offer content at rock-bottom prices, but you get what you pay for. If you’re ready to use content marketing to build your brand and business but you can’t create amazing content in-house, take the time to find a freelance writer who is qualified and experienced. Amazing content can help take your brand to new heights, but poor quality content can do more harm than good.

Research Offers Tips for Better Facebook Brand Marketing Results

Research from Buddy Media released this month and reported by eMarketer offers insight into how to increase engagement with Facebook users. The study provides interesting statistics for brand managers based on when, what and how to publish content on the most popular social networking site in the world.

According to a small study, the highest user engagement with posts published by brands happens before and after traditional work hours rather than during work hours when most brands actually publish content on Facebook. Since a big part of social media marketing success via Facebook is getting people to read your content, posting updates when fans are more likely to be using Facebook and see your updates in their news feeds is critical.

Following are several findings from the study related to Facebook use by brands and user engagement with those brands:

  • Time: Companies experience a 20% increase in engagement when they publish Facebook posts outside business hours–before 10:00 a.m. and after 4:00 p.m.
  • Day: Engagement rates are 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays than any other days. Saturday is the worst day to post with a 18% decrease in engagement reported on that day.
  • Length: Shorter is better with posts of 80 characters or fewer experiencing a 27% lift in engagement rates.
  • Type: Posts that end with a question see a 15% increase in engagement. Including instructions such as “like,” “post,” and “comment” also helps to boost engagement.

The trick to using Facebook for brand marketing is to consistently provide succinct, great content and conversations that your customers want and need. That doesn’t just happen on Monday through Friday during normal business hours. However, it doesn’t mean that you have to publish content continuously throughout the day, every day. Too much information quickly turns into noise and clutter. Spread your brand Facebook updates out to a few times per day and at different times during the day to reach and engage with the widest audience. This is particularly important if yours is an international brand or your customers can be found in multiple time zones.