Archive for Market Research

The Market Research Nuggets Most Companies Ignore: Comments on Online Communities

May 22, 2013 / Vanessa DiMauro / No comments
A customer shares an insight within your company’s online community. He somehow found the time in between meetings, phone calls and lunch to share a suggestion, idea or complaint in a discussion thread. “It would be great if the XYZ product would … ,” he writes. What does your company do with that customer input?
Category: Comments, Community Management, listening, Market Research, strategy /

7 Social Media Trends for Consumers: New Research

January 16, 2013 / Patricia Redsicker / No comments

social media researchAre you wondering what the changing social trends are for consumers?

If so, look no further.

In Nielsen and McKinsey’s Social Media Report, consumers were surveyed to discover how they use social networks.

Here are seven key findings from that report.

#1: More Time Invested in Mobile

The survey found that consumers are increasingly looking to their smartphones and tablets to access social media.

While the PC is still the most widely used device when it comes to social media consumption, the study found that time spent on mobile apps and mobile websites accounted for a 63% increase (compared to 2011) in total time spent.

Additionally, 43% of users said they use smartphones to access social media, while 16% connect using a tablet.

social is mobile

Mobile and particularly apps are where people are spending their social networking time.

Key Takeaway: When it comes to consuming social content, it’s all about mobile. For marketers, that means that mobile has to be your top content priority this year.

If you haven’t done so already, here are some ideas to get you started:

#2: Pinterest Usage Continues to Rise

Pinterest continues to experience exponential growth since its launch in 2011. The platform had the highest increase in audience and time spent of any social network across all devices such as PC, mobile web and apps.

spotlight on pinterest

Pinterest continues to be the most popular social networking site on the Internet.

In addition, a May 2012 Harvard Business Review article titled, “Moving customers from pinning to purchase,” states that:

“Pinterest users reported a surprisingly high correlation between pinning and subsequent purchasing: more than 1 in 5 Pinterest users has pinned an item that they later purchased. In the social world, this is a high conversion rate.”

Key Takeaway: As a marketer, remember that product photography is more important than ever when trying to persuade Pinterest shoppers to pin and buy your hottest-looking items. Capitalize on their shopping experience and make your profile as creative and visually engaging as possible.

Also, don’t forget to engage with people who have pinned your items to see if you could nudge them into buying something!

#3: Social Networking Generates Positive Sentiments

One of the most interesting findings in this survey was that 76% of participants said they experienced positive feelings after engaging in social networking.

Some of the words used to describe how they felt were: informed, energized, excited, connected and amused. However, 21% reported negative sentiments after social networking; examples are overwhelmed, anxious and wasted time. 24% remained neutral.

social networking sentiments

Consumers generally feel good after engaging in social media.

Key Takeaway: Social media is saturated with sentiment-rich data. Every update, tweet, blog comment or online review is a critical source of data that can inform your CRM program. As a marketer, you should be very interested in gathering and analyzing sentiment data to see if your social messages are producing the desirable outcomes you’re looking for.

#4: Twitter Drives Social TV

Twitter has emerged as the most powerful driver of ‘social TV’ interaction. That means when people are watching the Super Bowl, American Idol or the elections, they are simultaneously using Twitter to share their thoughts and experiences with friends.

In June 2012, a third of active Twitter users tweeted about TV-related content, which was up from 26% at the beginning of the year.

social tv

Tweeting while watching TV is becoming a very popular social phenomenon.

Key Takeaway: Social TV is still a new concept for marketers. However, considering that an average of 43 minutes are spent each day watching TV (HubSpot), and that many of those viewers are then sharing their experiences online, marketers should find ways to align any TV advertising with their online strategies (e.g., incorporating hashtags or tweetable sound bites in their TV commercials). This prolongs the conversation about brands beyond the TV, while allowing for extended word-of-mouth marketing.

#5: Social Care is the New Customer Care

Social care is a way for companies to provide regular customer service through social media platforms. The study revealed that one in three social media users prefers social care to contacting a company by phone.

Consumers use a variety of channels for social care. For example, they are most likely to comment or ask a question about a company’s products or services on the company’s Facebook page (29%), on their own personal Facebook profile (28%), on official company blogs (15%), on Twitter (personal handle – no mention of company, 14%) and on Twitter (company’s handle, 13%).

social care vs telephone

Social care is transforming the way brands respond to customers.

Key Takeaway: Social media has conditioned consumers to get immediate feedback. As a marketer, the risk of failing to meet such high expectations is not just losing customers, but having negative comments about your brand blasted around the user’s network and their friends’ networks. If you can get social care right, you will create a wide gap between your brand and your competition.

#6: Mixed Feelings about Social Ads

Another interesting finding was how people react to social ads. While 33% of people surveyed find ads on social networks to be annoying, 26% are more likely to pay attention to an ad posted by a friend.

Generally a Like is the most common action taken after seeing a social ad (26%), followed by a share (15%) and a product purchase (14%). As far as demographics go, the study found that Asian-American consumers were the most likely to respond positively to social ads, while white consumers were the most likely to be turned off by social media advertising.

not listening

A lot of people find social ads annoying, especially if the ads are not relevant to them. Image source: iStockphoto.

Key Takeaway: Because advertising on social media is more annoying than other digital areas, marketers should proceed with caution and make sure their ads are highly relevant and targeted. On the bright side, many people don’t mind social ads if they’re tailored to suit personal tastes and interests. This presents a great opportunity for marketers to raise brand visibility.

#7: Social Listening a Key Consumer Activity

Social media is transforming the way consumers around the globe make purchasing decisions. Consumers are using social media to listen and learn about other consumers’ experiences (70%); find more information about brands, products and services (65%); and compliment brands (53%).

social listening

Most social media users are listening to other people's experiences.

Key takeaway: We tend to think of social listening as something only marketers and research analysts do. However, it’s interesting to see that consumers are also active listeners. This is an opportunity for marketers to educate consumers through compelling content, improve customer experiences (using social care) and maintain strong customer relationships to uphold a positive brand image.

Your Turn

What do you think? Which of these trends did you find most enlightening? Please share your thoughts and comments in the box below.

Image from iStockPhoto.
Category: Market Research, Mobile Marketing, online strategy, patricia redsicker, pinterest marketing, Research, social ad, social care, social listening, Social Media Marketing, social media trend, social network, social networking, social tv /

8 Content Marketing Trends for B2B

December 27, 2012 / Patricia Redsicker / No comments

social media researchAre you wondering if content marketing can help your business?

If so, look no further.

In this article, I examine a recent study involving 1,416 B2B marketers from North America from the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs.

You’ll discover how B2B marketers were leveraging content marketing in 2012 and where their focus will be next year.

#1: Producing Enough Content Is Top Challenge

In years past, the biggest challenge for content marketers has been creating engaging content. But this trend changed in 2012 with 64% of marketers saying that producing enough content was their number-one challenge.

challenge content marketers

Producing enough content is now the top challenge for content marketers.

It is quite conceivable that this challenge will help to create more business and employment opportunities for content developers. In a related conversation, Nate Riggs, director of social business at the Karcher Group, put it this way:

“This is great news for displaced journalists and (content) producers looking to reinvent.”

Key Takeaway: If your plan is to produce more content next year, think of ways to recycle what you already have.

  • Spread existing content across different formats; for example, create an FAQ for quick tips or turn popular blog posts into a podcast, infographic or ebook.
  • Curate awesome customer letters, testimonials and positive feedback into a relevant, real-world information packet about “Why customers love our brand.”
  • Go back and see what was popular once-upon-a-time that is now buried in your online archives. Focus on evergreen content and republish as posts that speak to current problems in your industry.

#2: Marketers Using Average of 12 Content Marketing Tactics

The study revealed that large organizations (with 10,000+ employees) used 18 content marketing tactics on average, while small companies used 11. Companies of all sizes used an average of 12 content marketing tactics.

average number of tactics

Study found that the larger the company, the more the tactics used.

While it’s clear that resources dictate the number of content marketing tactics employed, it’s a good idea for you to evaluate your budget and figure out how many tactics you can commit to next year. Keep in mind that the more tactics you use, the greater your chances of amplifying your voice and extending audience reach.

Key Takeaway: As you brainstorm your content delivery strategy, become a “real publisher” and try to move away from web-only tactics. Figure out how you can distribute content through various devices and platforms including print. For example, use printed white papers – and yes, even books – as free giveaways after client meetings, workshops or conferences.

#3: Social Media – Most Popular Promotion Tactic

The study revealed that 87% of marketers used social media to distribute content – more than they used articles, email newsletters, blogs and other tactics.

This makes sense because their audiences (existing and potential customers) typically use social media for personal reasons – a typical case of “fishing where the fish are.”

use by tactics

Social media climbed into first place as the most popular content marketing tactic.

Key Takeaway: As you think about the most effective tactic(s) to use for your content distribution, think about where your audience hangs out and focus on those social channels. If Facebook and Pinterest are major distribution channels for your brand, remember too that images are eye candy and the time to sharpen your image-based content campaigns is now.

#4: LinkedIn – Most Popular Social Media Channel

This was a surprising find. It turns out that LinkedIn was the most popular social media channel for content distribution. More marketers (83%) are using it compared to Twitter (80%), Facebook (80%) and YouTube (61%). Even if the difference in usage between Twitter and LinkedIn is very slim, it still says a lot about a platform that is not considered as sexy as the others.

linkedin

LinkedIn is now the most popular social media channel for content distribution. Image source: iStockPhoto.

Key Takeaway: Marketers should learn how to leverage LinkedIn because key decision-makers are more likely to hang out there than on other platforms. One of the best ways to do this is to become more active on LinkedIn groups.

Find discussions that you can contribute to by adding something helpful and valuable. Then once in a while, modestly mention in an “oh-and-by-the-way” fashion that your business solves this or that problem and attach some relevant content to back it up.

#5: Brand Awareness – Top Content Marketing Goal

Another surprise was that increased website traffic was not the top goal for B2B content marketers. The study found that brand awareness was the number-one priority for 79% of content marketers, followed by customer acquisition (74%) and lead generation (71%).

content marketing goals

As far as content marketing goals, brand awareness trumped website traffic by 19 points.

Nevertheless, website traffic was found to be the most important measure for content marketing success. This presents an interesting juxtaposition, as content marketing success is typically linked to organizational goals. When it comes to brand awareness, website traffic was seen as the measure of success.

website traffic

Website traffic was still the most important measure of content marketing success.

Key Takeaway: Businesses looking to increase brand awareness will benefit if they track specific website indicators such as number of unique visitors, page views, amount of traffic that’s referred to their sites from search engines and even how much time visitors are spending on their site. Google Analytics gives you lot of data to analyze trends and new insights on your website.

#6: Most Content Made In-House

The study showed that 56% of companies are creating content in-house, while only 1% are relying exclusively on outsourced content. But there’s a nice balance of 43% who are developing both in-house and outsourced content.

outsourcing

A good number of businesses are relying on both in-house and outsourced content production. Image source: iStockPhoto.

Key Takeaway: This trend reflects the reality that outsourcing vs. hiring decisions are tough when it comes to content marketing. Content marketing is something that has to be nurtured on a regular basis. If your organization has the resources to produce enough content in-house, then outsourcing may not be needed unless a particular skill set is lacking internally.

#7: Content Marketing Budgets to Increase in 2013

More than half of B2B marketers plan to increase their content marketing budgets for 2013.

budget increase

Notice that only 2% of B2B marketers will decrease their content marketing budget in 2013.

While the report was not specific about in what areas of content marketing budgets would increase, we learned that currently, the average amount of budget spent on content marketing is 33%, which is up from 26% in 2011. This is yet another indicator that the future of B2B content marketing is bright.

#8: Most and Least Effective B2B Content Marketers Compared

The study also found that the most effective B2B marketers spend a higher percentage of their marketing budget on content marketing than the least effective B2B marketers.

comparison chart

There is a direct correlation between content marketing spend and efficiency. However, least effective marketers plan to increase their budgets almost as much as most effective marketers.

Most effective content marketers also:

  • Use more tactics
  • Tailor content to specific customer profiles (or personas)
  • Are far less challenged in terms of producing engaging content
  • Are less challenged by lack of buy-in from top management

Key Takeaway: This is an eye-opener for those who are still on the fence about content marketing. Just as “practice makes perfect” says, we see here that the most successful marketers are those who invested the most resources on trying new tactics to produce compelling content.

Final Wrap-Up

The state of content marketing is bright and B2B marketers are looking forward to doing more with content in the coming year. Content budgets are also set to increase and B2B organizations will be using both in-house and external sources to increase content production.

Over to you. What are your content marketing plans for next year? Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.

Images from iStockPhoto.

Category: b2b research, brand awareness, content marketing, content marketing institute research, linkedin content channel, Market Research, marketing budget, Marketing Tactics, marketing trends, patricia redsicker, Research /

How B2B Marketers Use Social Media: New Research

April 24, 2012 / Phil Mershon / No comments

social media researchDo you primarily market to other businesses?

Are you wondering, “How does social media work differently for B2B businesses?”

In the 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, Mike Stelzner asked marketers how they’re using social media.

More than 1900 business-to-business (B2B) marketers shared their insights on what’s working with social media marketing and where they’d like to improve.

In this article I’m going to focus on those areas where B2B marketers have significantly different experiences than their consumer-focused counterparts.

Let’s dig in.

B2B Marketers Show Confidence in Social Media

Of the B2B marketers who took this year’s survey, over 93% use social media to market their businesses. While that’s slightly below their consumer-focused brethren (95.2%), there’s been a significant increase since the 2010 survey when only 88% of B2B marketers responded affirmatively.

use social media for marketing

Just over 93% of B2B marketers are using social media for marketing purposes (slightly behind B2C marketers).

B2B Marketers Have More Experience

Based on the results of this survey, marketers from B2B brands are more likely to have 3 or more years’ experience than their B2C counterparts (18% of B2B vs. 14% of B2C).

experience comopared

B2B marketers bring more long-term experience to social media marketing than B2C, but lag behind slightly in the 1- to 3-year category.

Social Media Is Getting Results

When asked about the benefits of social media marketing, B2B marketers noted the following:

  • Over 56% of B2B marketers acquired new business partnerships through social media (compared to 45% of B2C marketers)
  • Nearly 60% of B2B marketers saw improved search rankings from their social efforts (compared to 50% of B2C marketers)
  • B2B marketers are more able to gather marketplace insights from their social efforts (nearly 69% vs. 60% of B2C marketers)
  • The one area where B2B marketers significantly lag behind their B2C counterparts is in developing a loyal fan base. 63% of B2C marketers found social media helped them develop loyal fans, compared to only 53% of B2B marketers.

Observation:

It’s worth considering why more businesses aren’t seeing a direct correlation between their social media efforts and increased sales or reduced marketing expenses. It likely ties back to the #1 question marketers want answered: “How do I measure the effect of social media marketing on my business?”

This question was asked by over 20% of those surveyed. Businesses won’t know if they are seeing results if they don’t know how to measure their efforts.

For some ideas on this, see Nichole Kelly’s article called 5 Tips for Moving Social Media Leads into the Sales Funnel.

What Tools Do B2B Marketers Use?

While almost all B2C marketers (over 96%) use Facebook as a marketing tool, a significantly fewer 87% of B2B brands do the same according to this study. This barely surpasses the adoption of LinkedIn (86.6%) and Twitter (84%).

B2B marketers are also more likely to use blogs (65% vs. 57%) and Google+ (44% vs. 36%).

tools used

B2B marketers use Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and Google+ more than B2C marketers.

Observation:

I recently wrote an article showing how pervasively Facebook has penetrated the social media market. Given this, it may seem surprising to see B2B marketers valuing other platforms so highly, but these experienced marketers clearly understand where their target audience spends their time.

Do you know where your audience hangs out online?

Where Will B2B Marketers Invest More Time?

There is little difference in how B2B and B2C marketers will increase their time investment except when it comes to Facebook, LinkedIn and blogging.

In 2012, B2B marketers are far more likely to increase their use of LinkedIn. In fact, over 76% of B2B marketers will increase their use, compared to only 55% of B2C marketers. These are both increases from 2011 (71% of B2B and 51% of B2C).

71% of B2B marketers plan to invest more time in blogging (compared to 65% of B2C marketers).

A significant majority of marketers will increase their use of Facebook this year, but B2B marketers (68%) lag behind B2C companies (76%).

What Do B2B Marketers Want to Learn?

If you offer educational products or consulting for B2B marketers, you’ll be interested to know that B2B marketers want to learn about Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter, in that order. Only in the case of LinkedIn does their interest surpass that of B2C marketers (56% of B2B vs. 50% of B2C).

The top topics B2B marketers want to learn about (compared to B2C) are:

  • Measuring effectiveness of social media (77% vs. 78%)
  • Converting activities to sales (72% vs. 69%)
  • Discovering best social media tactics (69% vs. 74%)

Only in the case of converting activities to sales do B2B marketers exceed B2C marketers in their desire to learn.

Other Forms of B2B Marketing

It has been properly noted that many other marketing tools (like event marketing) are very social. Social media didn’t suddenly make marketers social. Nor does it replace such valuable tools as email and search engine optimization.

Heidi Cohen quips that we couldn’t have social media without email; how else would you log in to all of these platforms?

That understood, B2B marketers have a somewhat different experience marketing outside of social media. Only in the areas of email and press releases do they invest similarly.

B2B marketers are significantly more likely to use search engine optimization (67% vs. 62% of B2C), event marketing (68% vs. 60%) and webinars (28% vs. 12%).

B2B marketers are much less likely to use direct mail (37% vs. 45%), online ads (33% vs. 43%), sponsorships (25% vs. 31%), television ads (4% vs. 17%), radio ads (8% vs. 25%), and print display ads (25% vs. 47%).

other forms

B2B marketers have very different marketing strategies outside of social media.

In terms of future plans for these platforms, B2B marketers plan to increase their use of search engine optimization (69%), event marketing (62%) and email (61%). These are similar to B2C marketers’ responses, except that event marketing is far less important for B2C (51%).

Businesses Are Social Too

In studying history, one can see countless mistakes made by governments and businesses when they forget to view citizens and employees as human beings. In social media marketing it’s important to remember that other businesses are comprised of real people who behave socially (online and offline).

As demonstrated by this year’s industry report, many B2B marketers have found ways to connect with their audiences. How is it going for you?

What do you think? Please share your experiences and questions in the box below.


Category: b2b, b2b marketers, b2b marketing, Market Research, phil mershon, Research, Social Media Marketing, social media marketing industry report, social media research, Social Media Statistics /

5 Social Media Tips for Finding and Engaging Your Target Audience: New Research

March 28, 2012 / Phil Mershon / No comments

social media researchDo you know where your customers and prospects spend time online?

Marketers have long relied on market research to determine where to spend their advertising dollars on television, radio and print advertisements.

In the last few years, research organizations have begun providing intelligence on how consumers behave on social networks.

The following article is based on new social media research studies.

These findings will help you better strategize your company’s social efforts to match your customers’ behaviors.

#1: Know Where Your Customers Spend Their Time

Three recent research studies show active Internet users spend anywhere from 16% to nearly 25% of their online time on social networks.

In comScore’s 2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus report, researchers found that 90% of all U.S. Internet users visited social networking sites in December 2011. Additionally, consumers are spending 1 out of every 6 online minutes on social networks (16.6%). That’s up from less than 15% at the end of 2010.

share of total time spent on internet

If trends continue, social networks will soon surpass Internet portals like AOL and Yahoo!

Nielsen recently released the State of the Media: U.S. Digital Consumption Report, Q3-Q4 2011. The study found Internet users spend 21.3% of their time on social networking sites. This report shows a much smaller percentage of time spent on Internet portals like Yahoo!

share of internet time by category

Note the significant differences between this Nielsen study and comScore's.

PQ Media found the average U.S. Internet user spends around 33 hours per month on the Internet and about 8 of those hours on social media.

These researchers didn’t disclose their methodologies, so we can’t explain why the results differ so dramatically, though I imagine it’s due to how they defined some of their terms. That said, all three reports show an upward trend in the volume and percentage of time spent on social networks.

Key Lesson:

Your online customers are spending significant amounts of time on social networks. While the average person might only spend 15-30 minutes per day, many people spend multiple hours each week. Your strategic marketing plan should include a steady dose of social media along with email and other marketing strategies that reach your target audience.

#2: Find Content That Will Resonate Deeply With Your Audience

The comScore graphic above shows an upward trend in online entertainment consumption. Given the growing numbers of consumers ages 18-34 who watch videos and engage on social networks simultaneously, it is important for marketers to become skilled at engaging in conversations about hot cultural topics seen in the entertainment industry.

Nielsen’s study revealed that owners of mobile devices are increasingly multi-tasking while watching a TV program. While the majority of people check their email, a significant 44% also visit social sites.

nielsen graph

Nielsen shows what people do on their mobile devices during a TV program.

The top two sites visited while watching TV are the social sites Facebook and YouTube. This paints an interesting picture of people watching YouTube videos while also watching a TV program. It suggests that people want to be engaged.

top websites visited while watching tv

Nielsen also revealed the top 10 sites mobile users visit while watching TV.

What if your brand could engage people in conversations about popular TV shows, movies or sporting events while they are watching it? What if your brand became a trusted thought leader on a hot cultural topic?

I’d like to introduce you to someone who did just that. While he stumbled upon this, maybe you could proactively learn from his experience.

Case Study

Meet Cliff Ravenscraft, also known as the Podcast Answer Man. In 2006, Cliff decided to start a podcast about the TV show Lost. He did this as a personal hobby, but quickly discovered the enormous social power of podcasting when he had over 15,000 subscribers after his third episode.

podcast answer man

As the Podcast Answer Man, Cliff provides training and assistance to podcasters of all experience levels.

Cliff has learned to match his personal interests in technology, television, books and faith with things that attract his growing audience.

For instance, he started a podcast on the popular young-adult books series, The Hunger Games, which has grown an audience of over 15,000 subscribers. He expects that number to double or triple after the movie is released in late March 2012.

Now that he has built a massive audience listening to his more than 20 weekly podcasts, he can promote the products and services he has for sale. Some of his audience members make purchases, but most keep coming back just because they care about the content he is sharing.

What if you could build a massive audience by tapping into the things you and your target audience both care about? That’s what can happen as you become a student of culture and your audience’s preferences and interests.

TIP: Your employees and friends may be some of your best research assistants in this quest.

#3: Focus on Facebook—It’s Where Consumers Spend Most of Their Online Social Time

We’ve known Facebook is the biggest social media site in terms of monthly active users (last published as 845 million). But comScore’s study shows Facebook dominates in two other ways.

First, Facebook is the premier player among all web properties in terms of time spent—and that means engagement.

google exceeds facebook graph

Google exceeds Facebook for monthly unique visitors, but Facebook wins the engagement game.

Second, when compared with other social media platforms, Facebook has achieved an even more impressive percentage of mindshare. Facebook captures 14.6% of Internet users’ time compared to a combined 2% for all other social networking sites. Facebook also captures 16% of all page views.

facebook share of total time online

Facebook's level of engagement has progressively exceeded all other social platforms.

The rise of Twitter and LinkedIn as the second and third most visited social networking sites is evidenced by another comScore graphic. Equally revealing are the rapid decline of MySpace and the ascendance of Google+ and Pinterest. (It should be noted that social sites like Twitter and Google+ likely get significant engagement through mobile devices, third-party apps and other forms of content.)

myspace fell from 2nd to 4th

In just 12 months, MySpace fell from second place to fourth and appears on a further decline.

To highlight the engagement issue even more, comScore shows how Facebook keeps the average user onsite for 7 hours each month. Tumblr and Pinterest have also successfully engaged their users by keeping them onsite for more than an hour each.

average minutes per visitor

Tumblr and Pinterest are the only second-tier sites to successfully keep users onsite for more than 60 minutes each month.

A final sign that Facebook is getting more eyeballs comes through comScore’s findings about display advertising.

top ten us online display ads

Facebook ads receive more than twice as many impressions as Yahoo! sites and eight times more than Google sites.

Key Lessons:

  • If your goal is to engage your customers through social networks, you would be wise to invest in Facebook (and keep your eye on Pinterest, and maybe Tumblr, depending on your demographic);
  • Even though Facebook’s engagement numbers are impressive, if your customers are spending their time on LinkedIn or Twitter, that’s where you should be;
  • If you’re buying online ads, consider the power of Facebook’s display network. If you’re looking for ideas on how to increase engagement on Facebook, check out this Facebook article by Jim Belosic.

#4: It’s Time to Take Video Seriously

Americans are watching increasing numbers of videos online. According to comScore, this number has jumped over 43% to 100 million daily views (that’s roughly one-third of the U.S. population watching a video online each day).

growth in total online video content market

More Americans are watching a growing number of videos online.

Of the 43.5 billion videos viewed in December 2011, over half of those were on Google properties (21.9 billion), primarily YouTube.

With the advent of long-form video content online through vendors like Netflix and Hulu, there’s been an increase in how long users will watch a video from 5 minutes to nearly 6 minutes. This may open the door for marketers looking to produce edutainment videos (combining education and entertainment to produce engaging videos that keep people watching).

The way people watch videos is changing with the advent of mobile phones, notebooks and gaming systems. These differences are especially pronounced in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

For example, Nielsen found that someone from the Asia/Pacific region is more than twice as likely to watch a video on a mobile device as a North American. However, a European is half as likely to watch on a mobile device as the average global consumer.

daily video viewing around the world

Nielsen found users from the Asia/Pacific region exceed global averages in all four categories of video consumption.

Learn From the Best

Many companies are using video channels well, but many small- and medium-sized businesses have yet to embrace this powerful platform.

I like what Whole Foods has done by creating over 500 videos that have been seen by over 2.8 million people. They provide a wide variety of videos including how-to’s and a funny organic love story series. None of these require professional videography skills. All you need is just a bit of training on how to use YouTube to drive traffic to your website.

whole foods market video

Be sure to watch the funny Organic Love Story video from Valentine's Day (already their most popular video after only 3 weeks).

#5: Consider the Role of Mobile

PQ Media found that 100 million U.S. users access the Internet through smartphones, with 60% of those being business end-users. comScore determined that 8% of all Internet traffic comes from mobile devices.

The time spent on social networks through mobile devices is relatively low (around 5%), but the numbers are still significant. For example, Facebook found that 423 million unique visitors accessed their site in December 2011 through mobile devices.

Nielsen compared how men and women differ in how they access social networking sites. Aside from the obvious choice of computers, mobile phones take second place with women being 10% more likely to access social sites on their phones.

social networking by device

The impact of gender on how users access social sites.

Mobile devices are changing the landscape of retail sales. Shoppers can compare prices, read reviews and get real-time opinions from their friends through social media channels all while on their smartphones. Smart marketers will take this into account when creating content and finding ways to engage customers.

Key Lessons:

  • Be sure your website is mobile-optimized;
  • Create content that is easy to consume and respond to via mobile devices (shorter responses are better);
  • If your audience is business-oriented or located in the Asia/Pacific region, make sure to develop a mobile strategy.

Now it’s Your Turn

What do you think? How does this research inform or inspire your social media plans for the next quarter? Leave your questions and comments in the box below.


Category: cliff ravenscraft, comscore, facebook ads, facebook research, Facebook statistics, linkedin research, Market Research, mobile research, mobile statistics, Nielsen, Online Video, phil mershon, podcast answer man, pqmedia, Research, Smart Phones, Social Media Marketing, social media research, Social Media Statistics, Social Networking Sites, Target Audience, twitter research, whole foods market /

Sports Fans Use Social Media to Cry Foul Against New Mascot

January 31, 2012 / saraheaton / No comments
Irate sports fans turn to social media to protest the unveiling of a new team mascot. Anger erupts further when their comments are deleted from the team's official Facebook page. Censorship and lack of consumer consultation create social media drama among fans. What are you doing to engage your raving fans on social media?
Category: Behavior, Best Practices, community, Community Management, consumer behaviour, Engagement, Exclusive, facebook, fans, Influence, Market Research, Marketing, Research, Social Media, Sports, twitter /

For Dunkin’ Donuts the World of Social Media Runs on ROI

November 11, 2011 / Localspeak / No comments
Dunkin’ Donuts’ inspiring “happy life and work” mantra—America Runs on Dunkin’ – has carried seamlessly throughout the company’s traditional and viral advertising campaigns, reaping the benefits of a stable positive net sentiment throughout the year. A clever model on how a brand can sustain positive sentiment, the company is an exemplary case study in linking a dedicated social media strategy to social ROI.
Category: Analytics, dunkin donuts, Market Research, Marketing, netbase, newMR, Research, social analytics, Social Media, Social Monitoring /

It’s Déjà vu All Over Again for JetBlue

November 9, 2011 / Localspeak / No comments
"A crisis in the making is easily detectable, as our JetBlue social analytics sentiment monitor shows below. But speedy sensible damage control—what a company decides to do, or not to do with the information— is what counts in crisis management. So it came as quite a shock that JetBlue, an award winning company for its consumer engagement in the social media sphere, tolerated the October 29th tarmac snafu in Hartford, CT during the recent Northeast snowstorm. "
Category: Analytics, jetblue, Market Research, netbase, new mr, Research, Social Media, Social Monitoring, Yes /

It’s Déjà vu All Over Again for JetBlue

November 9, 2011 / Localspeak / No comments
"A crisis in the making is easily detectable, as our JetBlue social analytics sentiment monitor shows below. But speedy sensible damage control—what a company decides to do, or not to do with the information— is what counts in crisis management. So it came as quite a shock that JetBlue, an award winning company for its consumer engagement in the social media sphere, tolerated the October 29th tarmac snafu in Hartford, CT during the recent Northeast snowstorm. "
Category: Analytics, jetblue, Market Research, netbase, new mr, Research, Social Media, Social Monitoring, Yes /
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