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Social Media Trends Among Female Consumers in 2012

Women trust the information and opinions they read on blogs and social media sites, and they make purchase decisions based on that information. That’s what a February 2012 study by BlogHer and Vision Critical found in a survey of bloggers in the BlogHer community and the broader U.S. online population. Since research shows again and again that women make the majority of purchase decisions, this is data brands need to pay attention to.

According to the study results, women trust the information and advice they get from social media sources with the following breakdown for some of the most popular social media sites:

  • % that trust Blogs = 98% of the BlogHer population; 81% of the U.S. online population
  • % that trust Facebook = 86% of the BlogHer population; 67% of the U.S. online population
  • % that trust Twitter = 85% of the BlogHer population; 73% of the U.S. online population
  • % that trust Pinterest = 85% of the BlogHer population; 81% of the U.S. online population

Now, you might be wondering how that trust translates into sales. According to the study, blogs and other social media sites do drive conversions:

  • Made a purchase based on a recommendation from Blogs = 87% of the BlogHer population; 61% of the U.S. online population
  • Made a purchase based on a recommendation from Facebook = 54% of the BlogHer population; 33% of the U.S. online population
  • Made a purchase based on a recommendation from Twitter = 30% of the BlogHer population; 31% of the U.S. online population
  • Made a purchase based on a recommendation from Pinterest = 53% of the BlogHer population; 47% of the U.S. online population

It’s important to note that this study also found that 41% of the general U.S. online population does not turn to blogs, social media sites, or online information at all when making purchase decisions. There is still a lot of room for growth, and the proliferation of mobile devices will undoubtedly drive that 41% up in the near future. Not surprisingly, when asked “what’s simmering” in media usage, the general U.S. online population showed the most interest in online coupons and deals (e.g., Groupon) and mobile apps.

Building brand trust is critical to brand success, and social media gives companies the ability to do exactly that. It’s an opportunity that can also drive sales that still has room to grow. Brand managers should focus on creating diverse content that’s useful, trustworthy, transparent, and visual in order to appeal to both experienced bloggers and online audience members as well as online and mobile newcomers. BlogHer reports the following as key takeaways for marketers from the study:

“With social media gone mainstream, our motivations to use different tools are diverse. Content helps deliver value, not distraction. Content assets deliver long-term value. Online media is delivering inspiration, not just information. Deeper trust drives better conversion into action.”

What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts on the trustworthiness of social media content and how it affects female purchase decisions.

Image: Green Olive

Pepsi Launches New Tagline for Pepsi Next

Pepsi Next is coming to U.S. consumers and it’s bringing a new tagline that tells those consumers, you have to “Drink it to believe it.”

This isn’t the first time a soft drink brand has tried to launch a mid-calorie beverage with less sugar and calories than the regular version of the soft drink but more sugar and more calories than the diet version. It’s the middle-of-the road choice that Americans haven’t embraced in the past.

Pepsi believes that will all change with the launch of Pepsi Next in late March 2012, because Pepsi Next actually tastes good. Pepsi conducted many taste tests with consumers and its own bottlers. The results were consistently positive. People liked the taste of Pepsi Next. The bigger obstacle for Pepsi would be convincing people to try it when previous attempts by many brands and companies to crack this market have failed.

Enter the new Pepsi Next tagline — “Drink it to believe it.” Very simply, the tagline is telling consumers that you don’t have to believe what Pepsi says about its product. Try it yourself, and then decide for yourself. Once you drink it, you’ll believe it — Pepsi Next is good.

But Pepsi isn’t leaving the success of Pepsi Next in the hands of a five word tagline. While that tagline might help motivate people to give Pepsi Next a try, there is more work to be done to adjust consumer perceptions of mid-calorie soft drink products.

Research and analysis by Pepsi led the marketing team to take a different approach with the messages that describe the features and benefits of Pepsi Next. It won’t be hyped as a low calorie soft drink alternative. The target audience for Pepsi Next isn’t dieters who want to shed dozens of pounds. Instead, Pepsi Next is targeting consumers who want to cut back on the amount of sugar they eat and drink. Check out the commercial below.

To support the launch of Pepsi Next, the company will offer taste tests at many retail stores, including Walmart locations around the country, and a virtual taste test campaign will debut on Facebook. Television, digital marketing, and direct mail will also help boost awareness of the product. Furthermore, Ad Age reports that Pepsi will leverage retailers’ loyalty card programs in order to target consumers who have been cutting back on soft drink purchases (or eliminating them entirely) with special Pepsi Next offers.

Pepsi Next is not Pepsi’s first foray into the mid-calorie soft drink market — a market that has performed poorly in the past for Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and many other brands. Do you think Pepsi Next will be the product that finally pushes this market forward? The marketing behind the effort, including the tagline, taste tests, and less sugar-focused message, seem like steps in the right direction. Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Tesco Scores Big with Delivery Dash Facebook Game

Not only is Tesco the world’s third largest retailer, but it’s also becoming a brand to watch in the social media marketing world. Tesco launched a Facebook Page in April 2011. Today, that Page has over 600,000 fans and ranks as the most popular supermarket Facebook Page in the world.

Tesco’s approach to leveraging Facebook has always been about building brand engagement by developing an active community on its Page. It’s new Delivery Dash Facebook game (created with Yomego and launched on the Tesco Facebook Page in early March), is targeted to female shoppers and challenges players to pack shopping baskets for their friends. It’s a race against the clock with multiple levels and increasing difficulty. The company reports that the average player is spending 30-minutes per session playing the game.

tesco facebook page

Tesco’s Facebook Page is more than just the Delivery Dash game. It’s filled with interesting and useful content. A Speed Shopping game asks consumers, “How much can you click in 60 seconds?” and The New Price Drop section of the page not only shows current items with new lower prices but also invites people to vote on the products they want to see in The New Price Drop in the future. All three of these elements of the Tesco Facebook Page are examples of excellent, relevant, and engaging content that the target audience is responding to positively.

Of course, the Page also includes some of the elements you’d expect, and those elements are updated frequently with meaningful content. For example, text updates and conversations as well as photos and videos published by Tesco and tagged by other Facebook members are always fresh and relevant. Even the Real Food Recipes section of the Tesco Facebook Page is useful to the target audience. And of course, comprehensive Questions and Notes sections are available as is a section where visitors can find help.

For customers who want to shop at Tesco in real-time, a Tesco Direct section of the site is available for exactly that. Tesco also rewards people who like the brand’s Facebook Page with exclusive offers. Clearly, Tesco is a company that wants to build a loyal and active community on its Facebook Page, so the inclusion of comprehensive Community Rules in the Info section of the Page sets expectations and protects the relevancy and integrity of the Page, the audience, and the brand.

Overall, Tesco’s Facebook Page is one to benchmark. From conversations, photos, and videos, to games, online buying, and exclusive deals and information, the Page succeeds in attracting consumers and keeping them actively involved. Those types of relationships lead to organic brand building as well as increased sales, brand loyalty, and word-of-mouth marketing. That’s the way you use social media tools to build a business!

Mobile Ads Really Are Working!

Mobile advertising is still in its infancy, but already, brands are seeing positive results. A new report from Nielsen shows us just how well those mobile ads really are working.

Nielsen’s study provides data gathered during the third quarter of 2011 for tablet and smartphone owners in the U.S., U.K., Italy, and Germany. Nielsen measured the impact of mobile advertising on these consumers after they saw a mobile ad on their tablet or smartphone devices. According to the report, Italian mobile consumers are more affected by mobile advertising than any other consumer group in the study.

Here are some of the highlights from the study:

  • Overall, tablet owners interact with ads more frequently than smartphone owners.
  • Overall, Italian tablet and smartphone owners are more affected by mobile ads than U.S., U.K., or German owners.
  • Overall, German tablet and smartphone owners are more likely to make a purchase on the Internet with a PC after seeing a mobile ad than U.S. U.K., or Italian owners.
  • Overall, U.S. smartphone owners are significantly less affected by mobile ads than U.K., Italian, or German smartphone owners.
  • U.S. tablet and smartphone users are significantly less likely to make a purchase directly through their connected devices after seeing a mobile ad than U.K., Italian, or German owners.

Some of the specific data is shown in the table below.

Impact of Mobile Ads by Tablet (T=) and Smartphone (S=) OwnersUSItalyGermanyUK
I made a purchase on the Internet via PCT=23%
S=20%		T=32%
S=27%		T=32%
S=34%		T=27%
S=28%
I made a purchase at a store for goods or services that I saw advertised on my connected deviceT=16%
S=6%		T=19%
S=18%		T=18%
S=15%		T=16%
S=14%
I made a purchase directly through my connected device based on an ad I sawT=8%
S=4%		T=13%
S=12%		T=10%
S=8%		T=10%
S=7%
I searched for more information about a business that I saw advertised on my connected deviceT=21%
S=11%		T=26%
S=27%		T=23%
S=20%		T=23%
S=14%
I clicked on an ad to view the full advertisement or product offeringT=24%
S=11%		T=28%
S=24%		T=23%
S=19%		T=23%
S=17%
I used or requested a coupon through an ad I saw on my connected deviceT=13%
S=7%		T=12%
S=10%		T=10%
S=8%		T=10%
S=8%
Source: Nielsen (Q3 2011)

The most important take-away from this study is that consumers are willing to accept and act on mobile ads that they see and encounter on their tablet and smartphone devices. However, there is a lot of room for growth. Brands need to continually test and measure to identify the right mobile marketing mix to drive the best results, and that includes the types of mobile ads and corresponding offers that work.

Image: Robert Scoble

What Facebook Timelines for Pages Mean to Brands

Last week, Facebook launched its Timeline feature for Facebook Pages. That means business and brand Page administrators can choose to switch to the more visual timeline design or stick with the traditional layout. However, Timelines for Facebook Pages will eventually become mandatory, so brands that haven’t switched yet will need to do so by March 30, 2012 when Facebook will automatically update any Pages that still use the old Page format.

The trick is figuring out how to leverage the Facebook Timeline to make a brand Facebook Page better than ever. To date, that’s a challenging task.

The good news for brands is that Timelines in Facebook Pages offer a more visual experience that often translates into more sharing and higher engagement. However, there is a cost associated with making a Facebook Page more visual. The page layout has to change. Facebook Pages that use the Timeline feature no longer include tabs across the top of the Page or links in the left sidebar, which brands have been using to drive visitors to specific brand information and experiences. Finding specific content is a bit more difficult with the Timeline layout, and without tabs and links, brands can’t control the landing page that people see when they visit the Page. Those are some definite negatives of Facebook Timelines.

However, Timelines make it easier for brands and businesses to feature important content. At the top of a Facebook Page with the Timeline enabled is a large photo, and beneath it are links to native Facebook apps (such as photos). To the right of those native apps are three image thumbnails that represent application boxes (what would be referred to as tabs in the prior design). Make sure your most important information is easily accessible through those three visible application boxes. Visitors can expand and scroll through additional application boxes to find more content, but those first three boxes that are visible above the fold and with no additional effort required by the user to see them are the most important. You can change your featured content at anytime to match your marketing calendar.

You can also pin one piece of content so it’s featured at the top of the timeline until you unpin it. Again, this is a great way to highlight your most important content and messages. Additionally, the milestone feature in Timelines offers a great way to tell more of your brand story by sharing milestones related to your company, brand, products, and customers.

Another great feature that comes with Timelines is the ability for brands to communicate with Facebook members via private messages. Rather than cluttering the Page Timeline with very specific content that doesn’t add value to the broader audience, brands can communicate directly with people and build deeper relationships with them.

The most important thing brands need to know about the Facebook Page Timeline feature is this — if you want to use Facebook for marketing purposes, you’ll need to switch to the Timeline layout before the month ends. Don’t worry about flipping the switch immediately. Instead, plan your strategy for your Facebook Page Timeline. It’s very different from the traditional Page layout. You’ll have more success with your Page if you make the switch with a great looking (and functioning) Page design rather than simply trying to fit what you’ve been doing on Facebook into the new Timeline layout.

What do you think of Timelines for Facebook Pages? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: MoneyBlogNewz

Brand Loyalty Programs Are a Big Hit for U.K. Brands

Brand loyalty programs are traditional marketing tactics that never go out of style. Consumers always love to feel like they’re getting something in return for brand purchases that they’d probably make even without receiving rewards.

Of course, the goal for the brand is to use the loyalty program as leverage to ensure those consumers make those brand purchases again and again.

A study by Promise and Lightspeed Research conducted in late 2011 shows that every U.K. internet survey respondent in the survey belonged to at least one brand loyalty program, and 50% of respondents belonged to three or more brand loyalty programs.

Promise and Lightspeed Research found that brand loyalty programs that offer frequent and tangible rewards are the most attractive to consumers. For example, programs that reward points that members can convert into cash are extremely popular.

Following is the breakdown of brand loyalty program membership among U.K. internet users by type as found in the study:

  1. Points-based loyalty program = 92%
  2. Credit card-based loyalty program = 28%
  3. Mobile phone-based loyalty program = 27%
  4. Coffee shop loyalty program = 26%
  5. Air miles, frequent flyer, and other airline loyalty program = 19%
  6. Hotel loyalty program = 12%
  7. Independent, local business or organization loyalty program = 6%
  8. Other loyalty program = 3%
  9. Car hire loyalty program = 2%

Based on these study results, it’s incredibly obvious that point-based programs that translate to cash are the most popular by a landslide with U.K. internet users. They are more than three times more likely to be a member of a points-based brand loyalty program than the next most popular option — credit card-based programs.

Interestingly, some brand loyalty programs are more likely to be favored by specific demographic audiences. For example, 27% of the entire survey respondent population belonged to mobile phone-based loyalty programs, but 43% of the 18-34 year-old demographic group belong to mobile phone-based loyalty programs.

One of the main complaints U.K. consumers have about brand loyalty programs is the need to carry around so many membership cards in order to gain and use accrued points and rewards. Mobile phone-based loyalty programs remove that problem and make program participation much easier. It’s safe to assume that the biggest loyalty program growth rates in the coming years will come from mobile phone-based schemes.

Are you ready to create a points-based loyalty program that operates on the mobile phone-based loyalty scheme? There are clearly some opportunities and synergies to be leveraged!

Image: Marcelo Moura