We Know Teens Text. Do Adults?

Posted by: admin // September 2nd, 2010

One thing’s for sure. If it wasn’t for texting millennials, our vernacular would have far less acronyms like BRB and IDK. Mobile marketers have long embraced teens and their affinity for 160 character communications, but what happens if your target market is comprised of adults? A newly released Pew Research Study, Cell Phones and American Adults, not only analyzes mobile usage of those at an age where finding a prom date is no longer a high priority, but compares their usage to that of the coveted teen demographic. According to report, 72 percent of adults send and receive texts, up from 65 percent in 2009.  Adults who do text send and receive a median of 10 texts per day. While this is five times less than teens (who send and receive 50 texts per day), does less clutter and noise mean a texting campaign more effectively reach adults?

@NeilAndrewJames

Image Credit – textually.org

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Over Half of B2B Marketers Are Missing This Sales Process

Posted by: Neil James // September 1st, 2010

Simply mining the earth for B2B leads isn’t enough. Just as olden prospectors had to convert gold nuggets into jewelry and coins, marketers must have processes in place to ensure that precious leads turn into sales. A recently released chart (shown above) and corresponding article from MarketingSherpa, How Organizations Manage Their Marketing-to-Sales Process, details the prevalency of various marketing processes designed to extract every last bit of potential from B2B leads. Surprisingly, over half of surveyed firms dto have a process for handing leads back to marketing when they’re proven to not be sales-worthy. Is this a reflection of a noticeable crack in the sales funnel, or an indicator of that  handing leads back to marketing doesn’t yield satisfactory return on labor investment?

@NeilAndrewJames

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Should Your Brand Pursue a Text Messaging Campaign?

Posted by: Neil James // August 31st, 2010

We’ve all seen the stats regarding the proliferation of text messaging. According to Pew Research, 72 percent of cell phone owners send or receive text messages. The Wireless Association reports that during 2009, 1.5-trillion text messages were transmitted by wireless carriers.

That said, ubiquity alone does not necessitate inclusion in the marketing mix. Television, despite its saturation in our society, may not be the most appropriate marketing vehicle. If you’re a marketer, how can you tell if a text messaging campaign would be useful in achieving your goals?

In her book, The Mobile Marketing Handbook (a must read for anyone looking to learn more about mobile marketing), Kim Dushinski argues that any brand whose target market is primarily under 30 should employ mobile as a marketing vehicle without hesitation. The statistics to support this, particularly in teens, are staggering. Pew Research reports that two-thirds of teens are more likely to text a friend than talk via cell.

Even if your target market isn’t primarily under 30, a text messaging campaign may still have merit. According to Dushinski, if your target market is likely to have a corporate cell phone with data plan, text messaging campaigns may be effective. Dushinski also states that text messaging campaigns may be an option if more than half of your target audience is likely to use their cell phones for more than making telephone calls.

Why are text messaging campaigns effective? According to the Direct Marketing Association, 70 percent of mobile phone users responded to a marketing text message. In contrast, only 30 percent responded to email offers. This difference in response is likely attributable to the medium’s lack of clutter and noise. Only 10 percent of mobile text messages are spam compared with 65 percent for e-mail.

The first key to developing a text messaging campaign is to understand that it resides completely in the realm of permission marketing. While consumers have been somewhat conditioned to accept junk mail and spam in limited quantities, their relationship with their phone, mobile or otherwise, is considered to be far more sacred and inviolable.

The Mobile Marketing Association’s (MMA) Code of Conduct spells out explicit guidelines that ensure any text messaging campaign, regardless of goal, budget or design, will operate in accordance with privacy regulations. The MMA requires the consumer expressly consent (or opt-in) to all text messaging campaigns and states that this consent does not carry into any marketing initiatives beyond the initial program. In addition, the MMA requires simple, easily discoverable termination (or opt-out) capabilities throughout the entire campaign.

As with any marketing expenditure, explicit outcomes and goals should be designed. Luckily, the goals of a text messaging campaign don’t differ significantly from other marketing campaigns. Text messaging campaigns have been used to acquire new customers, increase product usage, retain existing customers and build brand awareness.

When designing a text messaging campaign, adding value to a customer’s life is paramount. Even a single text message that fails to add value to a customer’s life may be perceived as spam and a violation of his or her opt-in agreement. Once this pact is broken, consumer opt-out is the best-case scenario – long-term damage to brand equity is equally likely.

There are many ways to use a marketing text message to add value to a customer’s life. In her book, Dushinski suggests the following:

* Offer timely knowledge relevant to your customer’s needs
* Provide a financial incentive in the form of a coupon or special offer
* Provide entertainment such as jokes, trivia questions or other forms of engaging content

@NeilAndrewJames

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The Why’s and How’s of Mobile Marketing via Google

Posted by: Neil James // August 30th, 2010

When your neighbor bought a cell phone, it was a trend. When you bought a cell phone, it was an indicator that the world has changed.

As a newly enlightened marketer, you’re naturally curious how to incorporate these magical devices into your marketing mix!

It’s important to remember that mobile marketing does not exist in a vacuum. You’re likely already allocating dollars to radio, television, print and digital. Therefore, it’s important to understand the unique advantages of mobile as a marketing vehicle.

Few companies have accrued more marketing data than the mighty Google, which shared some of its insights in a recent mobile marketing webinar, including:

* Over 1,000 people are signing up for a mobile phone every minute.
* Phones will surpass computers as the most popular device for Internet access by 2013.
* By 2013, one-quarter of the population will own a 3.5G handset.

Perhaps most importantly, though, Google reports that consumers are not simply just swapping their desktop for mobile Internet use. As the chart below indicates, desktop usage is strongest from nine to five – working business hours. Mobile usage peaks and, in many cases, exceeds desktop usage during non-business hours.

Google extols mobile as a marketing medium for its reach and level of engagement. People are connected to their mobile device at least 80 percent of the time whether they’re at home, at work or out shopping.

Furthermore, the percentage of complete focus dedicated to a broadcast medium is higher for mobile devices than radio, television and print.

So what type of marketing is a mobile user most receptive to? Overwhelmingly, the answer has been localized marketing. Consider that according to the Kelsey Group and eMarketer, one in three search queries have local intent, and 15 percent of iPhone apps are local.

One of the more effective ways to reach users, particularly on a localized basis, is through Google Adwords. Advertisers can purchase visibility tied to specific search queries (Google Search Network) and to contextual placement (Google Display Network) on a per-click basis.

Advertisers familiar with Google Adwords, though, will find there are some key differences on mobile platforms, including:

Location Targeting: Most people are familiar with Google’s ability to geographically target advertising. Google typically uses an incoming IP address to determine a user’s geographic origin, which has its imperfections. With mobile, however, Google uses GPS location and/or network triangulation through wi-fi to more accurately determine the precise location of a user’s search query. A restaurant looking to advertise to those in a close proximity may elect to run a campaign targeting only mobile devices within one mile of its location with a coupon or promotion.

Device Targeting: Google also allows advertisers to restrict targeting to distinct mobile devices such as iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry, when appropriate (e.g.,  promoting an iPhone app to iPhone users). Advertisers may also use this feature for targeted promotion as well, such as an ad that reads “10% off for Android users!”

Perhaps the most distinctive component of Google Adwords for mobile is the click-to-call feature. A phone number, either national or local, can be attached to a text ad that appears on a mobile device. Users may call the business directly via this ad, and the advertiser is only charged on a per-call basis. Google reports that advertisers employing click-to-call have realized five to 30 percent increases in CTR without cannibalization of URL clicks.

Experienced Google advertisers should not shoehorn their existing campaigns onto mobile devices if possible. According to Google, the average query from a smartphone is less than three words, and keyword lists should be drafted accordingly. Furthermore, Google urges advertisers to remember that mobile users are on the go and looking for immediate action. Ad copy and landing pages should be constructed with this in mind.

Do you use Google to advertise via mobile devices? Has it been successful for you? Share your experience!

@NeilAndrewJames

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88% Will Still Buy Private Label When Economy Improves

Posted by: Neil James // August 26th, 2010

When evaluating competing products, if a consumer is unable to perceive any intrinsic differentiation, price quickly becomes the primary purchasing factor. In this statement lies the breeding grounds of generic, private label goods.

So as the economy has soured and household budgets have tightened, have brands been successful at convincing consumers to make purchasing decisions based on something besides price?

A global survey by The Nielsen Company, as chronicled in The Global Staying Power of the Private Label, attempts to answer this question. Some of the survey’s notable observations included:

* 60% of North American consumers purchased more private label brands during the recession.

* 88% of shoppers globally intend to keep purchasing private label even after the economy improves.

* Store brand unit sales reached an average 22% share across all departments in North America, though there was substantial variance. Dairy products had a store brand unit share of 40% compared to alcoholic beverages whose store brand unit shares were less than 1%.

Nielsen noted that economic pressures are only one factor influencing this rise in private label purchases. Increasingly, consumers cited improvements in the quality and selection of private label brands as significant purchasing factors. Private label brand share, however, typically suffered among products that received strong marketing support (such as candy and beer) or products with greater levels of innovation (such as detergents or cosmetics).

@NeilAndrewJames

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A Troubling Statistic For Companies That Enrage Customers

Posted by: Neil James // August 25th, 2010

Mel Gibson. Alec Baldwin. Christian Bale. Men who all could have benefited from remembering to hold their breath and count to 10.

When one of your customers becomes angry, by the time they can take action, a cooling-off period has generally elapsed. And while that may be a small comfort to United Airlines (as this video shows), time introduces the all-important apathy that dulls a wronged customer’s motivation to harm your company.

That cooling-off period, however, may be going the way of Mel Gibson’s career. According to a recent Pew Research publication, More Cell Phone Owners Use an App for That, 23 percent of cell phone owners have accessed a social-networking site using their phone.

What does that mean for brands? When your call center, wait staff, or sales force behaves unprofessionally, if the customer owns a cell phone, they can share their anger online right away. The average person has 130 Facebook friends and 120 Twitter followers. It doesn’t take long for an embarrassing incident to echo throughout the social graph.

What does this mean? If your brand treats customer service as an afterthought, technological changes in how we communicate are working against you. Increasingly, your customer service house needs to be in order.

@NeilAndrewJames

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Relevance Radio #1 – Social Media’s Role in Advertising

Posted by: Neil James // August 24th, 2010

In our debut episode of Relevance Radio, the Russell Herder marketing podcast, we discuss social media’s role in paid advertising and how it ultimately moves the needle with executive creative director, Brian Herder. Although well-established in the realms of PR and CRM, Herder talks about how the immediacy, credibility and accountability of the dialogues created by social media will play an increasingly important role in corporate communications. In addition, Herder addresses the future of social media and why a customer’s willingness to spread your brand’s message will become more and more critical in the years to come.

@NeilAndrewJames

 
 Social Media's Role in Advertising [6:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (31)

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Marketing Executives Choosing Between the Big Idea and ROI Metrics

Posted by: Neil James // August 23rd, 2010

As the fear of the stock market crash slowly recedes into memory, the shackles constraining marketing budgets begin to uncoil.  Marketing executives with newfound budgetary freedoms must now decide how to strategically allocate precious dollars. How are they doing so?

Jack Loechner of MediaPost analyzes a recent Forbes Insights report addressing this topic in his article, Marketing Budgets and Accountability Increasing. While three-quarters of marketing executives expected their budgets to stay the same or increase in 2010-2011, the most important attribute in their marketing strategy varied by total budget. Fifty-eight percent of marketers with a budget less than $1 million identified tools and measurements for ROI as most important. In contrast, marketers with budgets exceeding $1 million cited an overarching “big idea” as most necessary.

In addition, the Forbes’ study uncovered a host of marketing insights, highlighted by the following:

* Responding to what drives the development of marketing measurement and accountability programs, 65% of marketing executives cited a desire to make their programs more strategic, while 40% sought to justify spend to senior executives.

* The percentage of respondents who believe the CMO is ultimately accountable for marketing effectiveness grows from 55% to 71% once their budget exceeds $1 million.

* Used by 59% of marketing executives,  “lift” in sales volume was the most popular metric of  marketing success, exceeding cost-per-acquisition (42%) and brand awareness (41%).

@NeilAndrewJames

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Are Televisions and Landlines Still Considered Necessities?

Posted by: Neil James // August 20th, 2010

“Our necessities never equal our wants,” mused the fabled Benjamin Franklin. So what is a necessity and what is a want? Pew Research recently explored this topic and uncovered some interesting insights in its newest report, The Fading Glory of the Television and Telephone. Of particular interest to marketers are Americans’ changing views of traditional ad platforms and communication tools as a necessity, including:

  • 42 percent of Americans consider the television set to be a necessity, down from 52 percent in 2009 and 64 percent in 2006.
  • Landline phones are considered a necessity by only 62 percent of Americans, down from 68 percent in 2009.
  • Of 18 to 29 year olds, only 46 percent consider a landline and only 29 percent consider a television set to be a necessity.
  • 47 percent of Americans consider a cell phone to be a necessity.

@NeilAndrewJames

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Facebook Places: What it Means

Posted by: Neil James // August 19th, 2010

Are you just getting used to what geo-location services such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Yelp mean to your business? Take warning, as a familiar, blue-furred, 800-pound gorilla has crashed the party. Facebook launched its own geo-location service, “Places,” and Augie Ray chronicles the implications in a blog for Forrester, Facebook Places: What It Is, What It Isn’t, and Why it May Change the World. Ray discusses how Facebook’s massive size, over 500-million users, brings scale to the table for the first time in the geo-location industry. Ray also speculates on how Places will provide an avenue for Facebook to dip its oversized, simian toe into the mobile advertising business.

@NeilAndrewJames

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