Overdrive Stats

The Fortune 500 meets Social Media

2010-03-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

A study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research reported on the adoption rate and use of social media marketing by Furtune 500 companies. The top 100 companies on the Furtune 500 list were more likely to maintain a company blog as well as a company Twitter account. (27% of companies ranked #1-100 have a Twitter account, while only 19% of companies ranked 401-500 are active in the microblogging community.)

The Fortune 500 companies are gradually adopting social media in their marketing practices. These companies, especially those in the top 100 are considered by many to be indicative of American business in general. However, previous data released by the center for marketing research revealed that more than half of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. used Twitter in 2009.

Source: eMarketer, March 5, 2010

Can Twitter Users Predict the Outcome of the Oscars?

2010-03-04T11:16:00.001-08:00

According to input provided by Twitter users that was released by Waggener Edstron Worldwide, the conversations around Ocscar nominated films could help predict the winners. According to the analysis of the conversations around the films, the "Hurt Locker" seems to be viewed by Twitter users as the more likely winner.

How is this determined? Sentiments were analyzed and since tweets surrounding "Avatar" often mentioned the budget and sales, while those surrounding "The Hurt Locker" tended to mention plot, acting and the direction of the movie. Another aspect that helped in prodicting "The Hurt Locker" as a top Oscar contender is the fact that users who mention the film had an average of 220 followers, while users who mentioned "Avatar" averaged about 110 followers.

Could the wisdom of the crowd be any indication of the Best Picture winner? We'll have to wait until Sunday to find out.

Source: Marketing Charts, March 4, 2010

Small Businesses Embrace Social Media

2010-03-02T06:23:00.000-08:00

The difficult economy has inspired small businesses to adopt social media in larger numbers. According to "The State of Small Business" report from Network Solutions and The Center for Excellence in Service, social media usage by small businesses increased by 24% in 2009. However, while use of social media by small businesses increased, it did not necessarily meet the expectations set for it by social media practitioners.

It is important to note that the one aspect where the performance of social media exceeeded the expectations of the small businesses is the ability to collaborate more effectively externally, such as with suppliers, partners and colleagues.

While social media performance may have not measured up to the expectations of the small businesses, 22% of respondents already find it profitable to use social media.

Source: eMarketer, March 1, 2010

The Changing Demographics of Facebook and Twitter Users

2010-02-25T06:10:00.000-08:00

While the amount of people using the #1 social network in the world continued to increase last year, the demographics of the users changed slightly. Facebook users remain split between generations.

In 2009, the number of Twitter users increased by 900%, from just 2 million users in 2008, to over 20 million users by the end of 2009. The Twitter user demographic that increased most rapidly in the past year is the 18-24 year old set. This shift results in a fairly even split between Twitter users who are over and under the age of 35.

Source: Jamiepappas.com, Comscore 2009 US Digital Year in Review

Social Games - Who's Playing?

2010-02-24T07:21:00.000-08:00

While young males dominate the video game world, a recent study by Information Services Group found that the average social gamer was a 43-year-old woman.

Social games include web-based games, such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars, found on social networking websites.

The survey found that 55% of social gamers are female. Furthermore, more females are avid gamers - 38% play multiple times per day, compared to 29% of males.

Other insights revealed interesting findings beyond gender specifics. For example, Facebook is the most popular social network for gaming, with 83% of respondents logging onto the social website to play a game. Players have about six social games on average, and about 50% of respondents began playing a game because of a friend's recommendation.

With 100 million people playing these games, the industry expects $1 billion in revenue this year.

Source: Mashable; February 17, 2010

Americans Doing More in Less Time Online

2010-02-23T08:52:00.000-08:00

Have Americans become more efficient with how they spend their time online? A report from the Neilson company reveals that in January 2010, Americans spent 8.2% less hours on the Internet. However, while the the time that individuals spend online is down, the number of active US internet users rose 3.8% Increases were also reported in the number of domains visited per person and the number of internet sessions per person in January.

Source: Marketing Charts, February 22, 2010

Twitter Grows to 50 Million Tweets Per Day

2010-02-23T08:40:00.000-08:00

Twitter recently announced that it hit 50 million tweets per day, averaging out to about 600 tweets per second. Back in 2007, users were only tweeting about 5,000 times per day. Last year, the number of tweets grew 1,400-percent to about 35 million tweets per day. These numbers display the microblogging website's increasing popularity and exponential growth.

The statistics do not include tweets from accounts that have been identified as spam.

Source: Twitter blog; Monday, February 22, 2010

What Can First Page Search Results Get You?

2010-02-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

Search Engine Optimization is a top proirity of senior marketers worldwide, ranking just after social networking and improving digital infrastructure within their priorities. This ranking of proirities is reasonable when you consider that across the three major search engines, less than 2% of traffic comes from visitors who ventured beyond the first page of search results. 95.8% of natural search visits from Google were referred by a result on the first page. This percentage decreases slightly for Yahoo and Bing. This is reason enough to make it a proirity to get on to the first page of natural search results and reap the benefits of search engine optimization.

Source: eMarketer, February 18, 2010

The Future of Social Media

2010-02-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

Social media has grown increasingly popular in the past few years and has had a significant effect on the way companies do business. In the next few years, more changes will roll out as social media efforts expand outside of a company's marketing department into all aspects of a company's business.

Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst for eMarketer, says advertising will not be the primary revenue driver and notes that others have said advertising has failed as a business model for social media.

Rather, the business models that show the strongest potential are in the areas of analytics, search and television. Additionally, location will become more important to social media with strengthened brand monitoring efforts.

Despite the future changes to social media, one thing will remain the same: the source, or its users.

“The voice of the consumer is only going to get louder and stronger,” said Ms. Williamson. “It will shape what social media is and what it will become. Not too long ago, a company might have made major changes to its products or services based on a few focus groups, some financial planning and a degree of gut instinct. Social media has already changed all that. And more changes will come.”

Source: eMarketer; February 15, 2010

Highlights from Comscore Digital Year in Review

2010-02-12T06:19:00.000-08:00

ComScore recently released it's Digital Year in Review. Here are some interesting and applicable statistics:

E-commerce is down by 2%, marking the first year that the category showed negative growth
The number of unique searchers increased by 6%
Facebook and Twitter both posted triple digit growth
17% of consumers used Smartphones in 2009
86% of online consumers viewed video on the web
80% of U.S. internet users visited a social networking site in 2009

Sources: DMNews, Marketing Charts, February 10, 2010

Superbowl Brings Some Users to Log on While Tuning in

2010-02-09T13:45:00.001-08:00

In 2009, 12% of Superbowl viewers spent time on the Internet during the game. These users spend their time on general interest websites, as well as search, member communities and email.
18% of simultaneous internet users spent their time on a sports website that may or may not have had a direct association to the game on the televisions. The singular website that was most visited by simultaneous web users was Facebook, with 23.5% of simultaneous users visiting the site during the game.

It will be interesting to see what the stats were for 2010.

Moms on Facebook Skeptical of Ads

2010-02-05T07:20:00.000-08:00

Much to the dismay of many tweens, teens, and young adults, more and more moms are on Facebook. Weather these moms are using it as another platform to connect with family and friends, spying on their elusive teenagers or just playing Farmville, advertisers have jumped at the opportunity to talk to the mom market in this social space.

According to data from Lucid Marketing, most moms on Facebook (about 60%) feel neutral about the advertising on the social network. 38% of moms on Facebook actively dislike the advertising. However, while very little Facebook moms feel positive about advertising on Facebook, 16% of moms on Facebook follow more than 10 company fan pages.

In general, Facebook moms are skeptical about advertising offers and prefer advertisers to speak to them on their own terms.

Source: eMarketer, February 5, 2009

Personalized Recommendations Generate Mixed Reactions

2010-02-04T12:26:00.000-08:00

When a consumer visits an e-commerce website nowadays, it is nearly impossible to ignore reccomendations that have been provided by the site. These reccomendations suggest other items that the consumer may be interested in, based on shopping history and stored data. Normally populated by a sophisticated alogarythm, these recommendations intend to predict what the consumer may be interested in purchasing, and entice the consumer to purchase these products from their website.

However, since product reccomendations are becoming more widespread, consumers are noticing and reacting when these recommendations don't meet their interests or needs. According to the Choicestream "2009 Personalization Survey," 59% of consumers reported that they received poor personal recommendations in 2009.

Consumers that were surveyed reported high satisfaction with the reccomendations from entertainment sites such as iTunes and Netflix, and were least satisfied from reccomendations from e-commerce sites in the toy, office supply and shoe companies.

Source: eMarketer, February 4, 2009

Many Viewers Steer Clear of Pre-Roll Ads

2010-02-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

TubeMogul released a report today that highlighted the tendency of viewers to click away from a pre-roll ad before short-form online video. After analyzing over nearly 2 million streams of online video, TubeMogul found that over 15% of viewers clicked away from a video instead of sitting through a pre-roll ad. Video content from magazines and newspapers cultivated nearly a 25% click away rate, while only about 11% of viewers click away from a pre-roll ad before video content from a large broadcaster.

This information my cause advertisers to re-think their purchase of media in the form of pre-roll ads and cause the content provider to reconsider the portion of their audience that is lot because of an advertisement preceding their content.

Source: TubeMogul, February 2, 2009

American bargain hunters still look for deals in print

2010-02-02T06:20:00.000-08:00

The recession has spurred many American shoppers to seek out savings, cut out coupons and compare prices before entering a store with

intent to purchase. Although these savvy shoppers are turning to the internet to share coupons and comparison shop, the majority of Americans surveyed still find newspaper and magazine advertising most helpful when they are seeking out bargains. However, while the majority is still turning to print advertising, members of younger demographics are much more likely to look for bargains online. A correlation also exists between level of education and an inclination to look to internet advertising to learn about discounts or bargains. This information can be leveraged to target internet advertising that emphasizes savings to a younger, more educated demographic.

Source: eMarketer, Febrary 2, 2009

Marketers Worldwide Look to Loyalty Programs

2010-02-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

According to the CMO Council, marketers worldwide look to loyalty programs to improve customer retention rates and value, teach them about consumers' motivations and prospects and to help keep a targeted and focused line of communication.

Seventy percent of Internet users would participate in loyalty and rewards programs if there was a form of financial inducement or savings. Only 3% of Internet users see access to an online community of members as an incentive to participate in such a program. One major factor affecting participation in a loyalty program was spam.

What benefits do marketers see in using loyalty club insights and analytics? More than half of marketers use the statistics to acquire and retain higher-value customers. Forty-six percent of marketers look to insights and analytics to improve targeting and segmentation.

Source: eMarketer; February 1, 2010

Social Media and the Integrated Campaign

2010-01-29T07:23:00.000-08:00

As social and digital media mature, they are becoming an integral part of the marketing mix that is most effectively leveraged by communicating to customers across all channels. According to the Alterian Annual Survey for 2009, the age of silo campaigns is over and consumers will now only be receptive to timely and relevant communication from brands, no matter the channel. This shift in media calls for creative media placement and engaging communication within social media or earned media. It is now possible to create a highly targeted, engaging campaign that speaks to consumers on a one-to-one basis that is more likely to elicit a positive conversation.

Source: eMarketer, Janurary 29, 2009

Baby Boomers take their Communication Online

2010-01-28T13:19:00.002-08:00

The generation that once participated in the sit-ins, protests and demonstrations of the 1960s is slowly embracing social networking as their latest communication tactic. These boomers are interested in reconnecting with people from their past as well as keeping current personal connections strong. About 47% of online Boomers maintain at least one profile on a social networking site. (It is important to note that maintaining a profile on a social network is distinctly different from simply creating a profile.) In 2007, the same survey was administered, but only 30% of Boomers said that they maintained a profile on a social network.

Mobile App Usage to Skyrocket in 2010

2010-01-27T13:43:00.000-08:00

A report from DM2PRO and Quattro Wireless predicts mobile app usage will soar for 2010, though spending on social apps will stagnate even though marketers have already developed applications.

This year, the platform of choice is iPhone, although it came in second for 2009. Last year, Facebook was the top platform, with 78.9% of marketers using the social networking site for applications.

The primary reason marketers used a mobile or social application was engagement, though social sites were perceived better for engagement and other top goals including audience targeting, sharing, branding and reach.

Approximately 45% of marketers developed mobile applications to increase mobile usage by a target audience.

Source: eMarketer; January 21, 2010

Time Spent on Social Media Sites up 82%

2010-01-26T06:17:00.000-08:00

The time spent by Global consumers on social networking sites has increased 82% in the past year, according to Nielson. Social networking sites are the most popular online category, based on time spent. Gaming and instant messaging round out the top three most popular online categories.

The unique audience of visitors to social networking sites has also increased considerably in the Global context over the past several years.
Data on Global consumers is collected from the U.S., U.K., Australia, Brazil, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain and Italy.

Source: Nielsonwire, January 22, 2010

Visualizing Data for SEO PPC and Social Media

2010-01-26T05:51:00.000-08:00

Peter Gabriel said it best, " I speak in pictures not in words." One of the first 2D maps ever produced chronicles Napoleons march into Russia [grey] and the return trip home [black]. The width of the lines indicates the amount of soldiers, the bottom shows temperatures and as you can see by the width of the lines the toll weather took on his army.

Huge amounts of information go unused or wasted today in SEO, PPC and SMO. People are unable to visualize relationships in and around the data itself. Using an off the shelf environment like Google Adwords or Analytics, visualizing data demonstrates methods for representing data accurately on the Web and elsewhere, complete with user interaction, animation, and more.

What do the entrance and exit paths users take through a website look like, what would a heat map of links clicked on a website page look like? In visualizing data, you help answer tough questions by simply and graphically telling the story. Even Excel has stepped up it's game with version 2007 and all the built in graphing functions available.

Advanced visualization will continue to become more and more important in conveying complex ideas. Companies like QlikTech, Tableau and Spotfire visualization and analytic solutions far superior to bar and pie charts of most reporting tools. Adobe Flex and AIR,Microsoft’s SilverLight and AJAX via frameworks like Google’s Web Toolkit mark a revolution in the art of visualization tools.

Selecting and designing each graph so the data is best represented by the story you want to convey with your clients.Each graph and infographic conveys a unique story of the data you are trying to represent. Visualizing data teaches you how to answer questions and tell a story to your clients, not simply display information that numbs the mind.

2010 Social Media, Geo-location and Community Managers

2010-01-25T06:20:00.000-08:00

First, note that 2010 is the year of geo-location in all social settings. All types of networks, including vertical social sites, will include this variable.

Secondly, we must remain acutely aware of the attempts to limit freedom of use with social networks and exploitative political and administrative environments, interactive blogs and collective creations.

Lastly, metrics are still one of the challenges we face with Social Media strategies. The old techniques of measurement are not sufficient, therefore, it's necessary to learn and try new ways to measure the impact of strategies and tactics in the social sphere.

What we call the digital economy, online networking time, defines the boundaries of what is valid or not, what is effective and what is not in what we call Social Media, social networking and interactive territories. This is the year, the first major methodologies for measuring the degree and depth of actions in social environments will start to galvanize the industry.

For those who can consolidate complex business models, and generate new social platforms if they are "practical" and successful in the social sphere will dominate. The disadvantage to agencies that have been wrong in different actions in social driven campaigns will be final and potentially fatal. Businesses and governments require that any campaign or action in digital media and especially social ones is accompanied by positive, demonstrable results.

The further development of apps for devices using "augmented reality" will play significantly within the social sphere. In this sense, campaigns no longer are a story, to go with a visually appealing format. Social media and augmented realty is becoming a more action-value brand and sales based tool. Use of Mobil Augmented Realities will especially play well in the tourism and sports sectors.

Community Managers will be in high demand, but may enter into crisis when it becomes apparent that their actions are not strategic and engagement platforms designed without a measurable result or KPI. I will be writing further on the Net eStrategy of Community Managers.

Here are eight points to keep in mind when applying any measurement to Social Media:

1. Thanks to Social Media, Public Relations have become far more valuable by allowing more specific measurements, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Increasingly, traditional media becomes less important.

2. One question that Social Media must answer in their measurement is: what is being done to help boost a brand? That is, you focus not only on the number of impressions or the number of messages delivered.

3. The impressions based metrics loses relevance in Social Media because they converge on many other factors.

4. A general taxonomy of metrics, should be formed by exposure: how far we have created exposure to content and message? Commitment: who, how and where the people that interact, influence: the degree of exposure and commitment have influenced the perceptions and attitudes, and Actions: results.

5. Qualitative measurement, to analyze the type of conversation that is being generated between individuals and brands.

6. Measurements should also include the perception that is generated offline and the results given by the actions elsewhere. Attribution management and conversion management will be part of primary audience research.

7. Do not forget to measure the value that is created when you build a community around a brand, it means that people gain commitment and become ambassadors.

8. In Social Media, not the quantity but the quality that was generated around the brand counts most.

Social Followers Interested in Deeper Engagement

2010-01-22T10:17:00.000-08:00

Many consumers who follow brands on social media sites expect something in return, such as a good deal on the product or service; however, a recent study demonstrated that some social media users are also looking for a form of deeper engagement.

A MarketingSherpa survey indicated that 65% of daily social media users followed or friended a brand in order to learn about special sales. On the other hand, only 46% of max connectors - those with 500 or more social connections - followed or friended a brand for this purpose. Rather, max connectors preferred to follow a brand to learn about new products, features and services.

Another survey by Razorfish indicated that 43.5% of consumers followed a brand on Twitter in order to learn more about exclusive deals and offerings. Other reasons consumers followed brands were because they were a current customer, or the brand posted interesting and entertaining content.

Source: eMarketer; January 22, 2010

Social Media Spend Forecast

2010-01-22T05:41:00.000-08:00

In the US Interactive Marketing Forecast, Forrester Research has provided the following graph to represent projected social media spend for 2009 to 2014. The graph represents an increase from $295 million to $1,860 million in media spend for integrated campaigns on social networks. Also represented is an increase of $832 million on agency fees for social media.

If these projections are correct, the media spend on integrated campaigns on social networks will increase by 530%, while agency fees will increase by 198%.

Source: Forrester Research; July, 30, 2009

Time Spent Viewing Online Video Increases 13% in 2009

2010-01-21T09:08:00.000-08:00

According to a recent report from Neilsen, the amount of time spent viewing online video has increased by 13% percent since December 2009. The number of unique viewers of online video has also increase a considerable amount in the same time frame: 10.3%.

Since more people are spending time watching video online, it is worthwhile to note what the top brands are currently for online video streaming. Ranked by total streams as well as unique viewers, the top brands are YouTube, Hulu, and Yahoo. They are followed by Turner Sports and Entertainment, MSN/WindowsLive/Bing and Fox Interactive Media.

Source: Nielsonwire, January 12, 2010