Marketers are missing big opportunities for digital marketing. According to a new report from Yesmail Interactive, Using Digital Market Intelligence to Drive Multi-Channel Success, many email campaigns and social media marketing efforts don’t align with consumers’ usage or behavior patterns.
The study tracked retailers’ Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and email campaigns over a three month period and analyzed the companies’ marketing efforts during that time to evaluate how successful the campaigns were in increasing consumer engagement. Retailers that were included in the study were Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, American Apparel, American Eagle, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Diesel, Eddie Bauer, Express, Forever 21, The Gap, Guess, H &M, J Crew, Kenneth Cole, The Limited, Old Navy, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Urban Outfitters.
The study results highlighted a few significant opportunities that marketers are missing in their email and social media campaigns. Specifically, companies are running campaigns on the wrong days and at the wrong times. They’re also not integrating email and social media marketing effectively. Following are some findings that can help guide marketers in boosting the success of email and social media marketing campaigns in the future:
- Study Finding: Facebook campaigns get the most engagement on Tuesdays. Current Reality: That’s the fourth most popular day that the companies in this study deployed campaigns.
- Study Finding: Facebook campaigns reach the highest levels of interaction between 10:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. EST. Current Reality: That’s the time period when the fewest campaigns are launched. The most commonly used time to launch campaigns on Facebook is 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. EST.
- Study Finding: The worst day to launch a Twitter campaign (in terms of engagement) is Friday. Current Reality: That’s the day when most campaigns are deployed.
- Study Finding: The time period with the most customer engagement on Twitter is 5:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. EST. Current Reality: More than 4 out of 5 (84%) of Twitter campaigns launch during traditional work hours (9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. EST).
- Study Finding: Monday is the day when YouTube sees the most interaction. Current Reality: Monday is the least often used weekday for companies to launch campaigns on YouTube.
The study also found that email campaigns should launch with social media campaigns rather than sending emails out before a social campaign starts. Specifically, the report explains that Facebook engagement grows by approximately 50% when an email campaign is sent on the same day as a Facebook campaign is launched. Engagement doubles when two emails are sent on the same day as the Facebook campaign is launched. Similar results were discovered on Twitter. One email campaign sent on the same day as a Twitter campaign is launched boosts engagement by 35%, and two emails increases engagement by 50%.
An integrated marketing approach that includes various media is always going to be the most effective plan, but the results from this study reveal some interesting tricks related to timing that many marketers aren’t leveraging yet. Use them and get a jump on the competition!
Image: William Hook
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
