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Social Media Recommendations Are More Popular than Face-to-Face

share buttonNew research from Canadean Custom Solutions has found that social media recommendations are how more popular than face-to-face recommendations.

The results come from a survey of 2,000 U.K. consumers over the age of 18. Three out of four of the study respondents use social media websites, such as Facebook, to communicate with other people, and 17% have increased the amount of time they spend on social media websites in the last six months.

Overall, consumers don’t just like to share information, they believe it’s very important. 54% of the survey respondents report that it is important to share information online about things that “excite” them, and 30% have done so more regularly in the past six months. The key to increased sharing among U.K. adults is social media, which has become more popular than face-to-face sharing and communications.

Just 29% of respondents to the Canadean survey said that it’s important to spend time interacting with neighbors and people in their communities. That’s significantly lower (nearly half) than the percentage of U.K. adults who believe it’s important to interact on social media sites.

According to a Canadean press release, survey respondents do still interact with and communicate with friends and family in person, but the trend in choosing to interact with people outside your immediate family and circle of close friends via social media first, is one that continues to grow. Canadean Research Manager Michael Hughes explained, “Social media sites allow consumers to interact with like-minded others on specific sites, and in turn begin to follow trusted brand ambassadors for advice and inspiration, even if they have never actually met the person.”

Preferred communications tools and social “venues” are continually evolving, and savvy brands understand that word-of-mouth marketing via social media conversations and sharing is crucial to driving brand awareness, sales, loyalty, and advocacy. Making it easy for people to share information to their social media connections should be a top priority for every brand marketer today. That’s a key piece of the puzzle that is too often missing from social media marketing campaigns. Furthermore, brands need to reward their most vocal brand advocates, which is another piece of the puzzle that is often not factored into social media marketing campaigns at all.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

Image: Joe Zlomek

U.S. Federal Trade Commission Tells Search Engines to Differentiate Ads

computer mouseIn a letter to search engines and nearly 20 companies providing search tools related to shopping, travel, and so on, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is calling for search engines to better differentiate ads from organic search results.

Of course, this isn’t a new requirement. However, research found that the shading and other formatting used to offset ad results from organic search results has gotten a bit lighter of late, making those paid search results at the top of the page blend in with other results on the page, particularly on mobile devices where color settings can be quite different than the traditional desktop screen.

In its letter, the FTC doesn’t make any new requirements but simply reiterates that ads must be clearly distinguishable from natural results from consumers’ perspectives. There should be no room for confusion, and search engines are given the flexibility to design the paid results distinction in any way they want — as long as it’s very obvious to consumers. The FTC encourages using darker shading for paid results backgrounds and offsetting paid results with borders as well as using text to clearly mark paid search results.

Furthermore, the FTC reminds online advertisers to review its .com Disclosures: How to Make Effective Disclosures in Digital Advertising Guide. This document was released in March 2013, and it’s filled with all of the information a marketer needs to understand when displaying digital ads on U.S. search properties as well as on sites targeting U.S. consumers.

For example, the document provides guidelines for digital advertising that ensure all requirements related to offering clear and conspicuous disclosure are met, including:

  • Proximity and placement
  • Prominence
  • Distracting factors in ads
  • Repetition
  • Multimedia messages and campaigns
  • Understandable language

The FTC .com Disclosures guide also includes 26 pages of examples. Every marketer should read it and understand what is required to stay in compliance and create the best consumer experience possible. After all, deceptive advertising (including providing ineffective disclosures in your digital advertising) can do more damage to your brand and long-term business growth than losing a small number of potential click-throughs. Do you agree?

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

Image: Ramasamy Chidambaram

The Future of Global Retail Is Digital

digital retail futureThe future of global retail is all about digital and mobile. An infographic from ExactTarget (shown at the end of this article) provides a number of useful statistics to support that claim and proves that an integrated marketing strategy is more important than ever these days.

According to the data, one out of four social media users use their social networks to make buying decisions. More than one out of five consumers conduct a search using a mobile device to do research before they make a decision to purchase a product or service. Furthermore, three out of five would delay making a purchase based on information they found during a mobile search.

Interestingly, 73% of mobile searches are happening when consumers are at home, but a significant number (42%) are actually happening while consumer are in stores actively making purchase decisions. Translation: This (when consumers are physically in stores making purchase decisions) is a critical time for brands to be in front of consumers on their mobile devices with the right messages and information.

Some more compelling statistics that support the digital migration of global retail provided in the infographic include:

  • 18% of consumers say their purchase decisions have been influenced by an online ad during the past year.
  • 90% of consumers report that they trust online recommendations for products.
  • Yearly ecommerce sales grew to over $1 trillion in 2012.
  • 44% of mobile consumers use mobile devices to check prices while they’re in a store.
  • The annual increase in mobile purchase research in 2012 was 47%.
  • 34% of mobile purchase searches are conducted by consumers looking for price comparisons.
  • 27% of mobile purchase searches are conducted by consumers looking for a specific retail store’s website.
  • 23% of mobile purchase searches are conducted by consumers looking for a coupon or discount promotion.

The full infographic is shown below.

social media marketing

This infographic is brought to you by ExactTarget, a leader in social media marketing.

There has never been a time in the history of marketing where one element of a marketing campaign and overall strategy can so seamlessly lead to the next. Brand marketers need to capitalize on this perpetual marketing opportunity to build momentum that leads to long-term, organic, sustainable growth. Silo marketing is dead.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts about the future of global retail, mobile marketing, and digital marketing.

Image: CLUC

Consumers Bored of Gender Stereotypical Ads

gender advertisingThis week, Canadean Custom Solutions released results from a study of consumers in the United Kingdom which reveals insights that advertisers should take note of.

The study asked 2,000 U.K. consumers to share their thoughts about grocery advertisements, and those ads that were aimed directly at men or women did not rate well. 69% of respondents believed that ads targeted to men were “outdated and stereotypical” while 68% of respondents believed ads directed at women were “outdated and stereotypical.”

As you might imagine, the younger the consumer, the more dissatisfied they are with ad content. According to the Canadean press release, 76% of 18-24 year old respondents believe ads targeted at men are outdated. 74% of the 25-34 year old demographic believe that ads aimed at women are outdated.

Some categories fared worse in the survey results than others with beer ads rating the worst. Beer ads were rated as outdated and stereotypical by 36% of the survey respondents, followed by cars (20%) and chocolate (15%).

According to the study, consumers are calling for more unisex ads, particularly in the beer category where 51% of respondents want unisex ad content. These results are very much in keeping with the findings from the redent JWT “The State of Men” report, which found a strong trend toward more fluid genders.

“Conventional ideas about male and female domains, activities, behaviors and styles are evolving: We’re moving toward a more nuanced concept of gender that questions some stereotypes and revises old assumptions. Millennials are leading the way, less confined to traditional gender roles and more willing to break long-standing norms to express their individuality. And Gen Z is poised to hold the least rigidly defined view of gender as they reach adulthood. Three out of four men agree that men and women don’t need to conform to traditional roles and behaviors anymore. The same ratio believes that gender doesn’t define a person as much as it used to.” — JWT, The State of Men Report

You can see the JWT report below.


Clearly, both men and women are not satisfied with ads that stereotype genders using outdated models. Is your brand guilty? Listen to consumers. Leave gender stereotypes behind in advertising, and results should improve.

Image: Edwin Pijpe

Research Reveals Senior Business Leaders Do Not Understand Social Media

broken chainThe results of a recent survey by Stanford University’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance and The Conference Board should come as no surprise to brand marketers who have to fight executives every day for budget dollars to invest in social media marketing activities.

According to the survey of 180 senior executives and corporate directors from public and private companies in all major industries in Canada and the United States, senior business leaders do not understand the importance of social media to their companies. The report authors explain that there is “a disconnect between companies’ understanding of social media and the actions they are taking to apply it to their businesses.

Some of the most unsettling statistics found in the “What Do Corporate Directors and Senior Managers Know about Social Media?” include:

  • 90% of respondents report that they understand the effects social media can have on their companies but only 32% monitor social media to identify risks to their companies and only 14% use social media metrics to measure company performance.
  • Only 8% of directors and 24% of senior managers receive social media reports.
  • 50% of companies do not collect social media information and metrics.
  • 65% of respondents use social media for personal purposes.
  • The majority of respondents do not have formal social media policies at their companies.
  • The majority of respondents have never had a social media expert consult with their companies.

Lead author of the study, Professor David F. Larcker of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, explains that senior business leaders’ lack of understanding of the importance of social media to their companies poses a high level of risk. The study authors recommend that companies identify key performance metrics and risk indicators and monitor those metrics and threats using a listening system. Furthermore, the study authors recommend that companies develop formal social media policies and guidelines for all employees in order to minimize risks.

The challenge for brand marketers has always been trying to convince senior executives that social media should be a priority for both increasing brand awareness and sales as well as protecting the brand and company. The report found that more than two out of three business leaders use social media for personal reasons (primarily LinkedIn), so it’s clear that the majority understand social media and are not averse to it. However, the importance of social media in their personal lives doesn’t transition to the importance of social media for their companies.

Twenty years ago, those business leaders would have done anything to have such open access to consumers, competitors, and their conversations and actions. They have it today, but for some reason, it’s not a priority, and it’s given few budget dollars. It’s time for the disconnect to end, don’t you think?

Image: Sigurd Decroos

85% of B2B Buyers Say Online Content Affects Purchase Decisions

web browserA new study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, the CMO Council’s ROI Center, and NetLine found that 85% of business-to-business (B2B) buyers are either majorly or moderately affected by online content from B2B marketers when making vendor selection and purchase decisions. However, B2B buyers don’t believe that B2B marketers are creating online content that offers enough value or is trustworthy. Content published by industry groups and professional organizations is considered to be both more valuable and more trustworthy.

According to the report, B2B marketers invest $16.6 billion in digital content publishing each year to acquire leads and drive sales, and they invest 25% of their annual marketing budgets on content marketing activities. However, most companies don’t have the necessary strategies or teams in place to create the type of content B2B buyers want, and even fewer have the ability to track the performance of their content marketing efforts.

The “Better Lead Yield in the Content Marketing Field” report was based on an online survey of more than 400 B2B buyers around the world working in a variety of industries. Key survey findings included the following:

  • 28% of respondents share content with more than 100 colleagues. Another 31% share content with 25 to 100 people. That means 59% of respondents share content with 25 people or more.
  • 67% of respondents say that research and white papers from professional organizations is the most trustworthy source of content while just 9% rated vendor white papers as the most trustworthy source.
  • In general, 50% believe that papers from industry organizations are highly valued and trustworthy. 48% believe that customer case studies are valued and trustworthy. 44% believe that analyst reports are valued and trustworthy, and 41% believe that independent product reviews are valued and trustworthy.

The CMO Council concludes that too much B2B content is overly promotional or overly technical. It doesn’t help B2B buyers as they’re trying to make buying decisions. A recommendation is for B2B marketers to form partnerships with organizations and content publishers who B2B buyers already trust. Of course, this is the first step in any social media marketing strategy — find your best audience where they already spend time online and connect with them there to begin building relationships with them.

Today, most B2B marketers are very reactionary in their content marketing efforts, and the results of the CMO Council report highlight the need for marketers to develop strategies first and ensure content is part of a larger, fully-integrated marketing plan.

You can download the full report by following the link earlier in this article.

Image: Bill Oddie