Consumers Demand Engagement

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Marketers will continue to shift dollars from traditional to digital media in 2010, but simply including online ad campaigns and social media efforts is not enough for an effective marketing mix. According to the Alterian “Annual Survey 2009” report, the maturity of digital and social media requires integration of marketing strategies. Marketers must move from a focus on siloed campaigns to an emphasis on listening to and communicating with consumers across channels.

More than one-half of marketers worldwide reported directing at least “a fair amount” of effort toward integrating their communication strategies to emphasize multichannel consumer engagement.

“The age of sending out silo campaigns is long gone,” according to the report. “The only communications tolerated by consumers are those that are appropriate, timely and relevant—regardless of channel.”

The majority of marketers surveyed recognized social media as increasingly important to the marketing mix, while 14% went as far as to call it critical for success. It is yet another channel to be incorporated into an integrated communication strategy, rather than addressed on its own. And it can provide unique insights into the consumers who can now use earned media to build brands alongside marketers.

Most marketers say they are at least “prepared enough” to take advantage of new techniques in digital and social media, but more than one-third felt minimally prepared. Staff education and training was a substantial concern.

The largest group of respondents said some of their marketing staff had the skills to implement new customer engagement strategies, but that knowledge was generally restricted to personnel in digital roles. Only 17% said most or all of their staff was prepared, although 37% planned further investments in the area.

“Engaging with customers is becoming paramount and the yardstick by which we measure those brands that survive and those that don’t,” said David Eldridge, CEO of Alterian, in a statement. “Marketers now need to appeal to the individual and engage with customers on a one-to-one basis.”

Worldwide Online Search Market Grows 46%

The total worldwide online search market grew 46% in December 2009 compared to December 2008, according to the latest qSearch data from digital research firm comScore, Inc.

US, China Lead in Total Number of Searches

During December 2009, Internet users conducted 131.3 billion online searches, compared to 89.7 billion online searches in December 2008. The US led all countries in total online searches, conducting 22.8 billion. This represents 22% growth from 18.7 billion in December 2008.

China ranked second with 13.3 billion searches, a 13% increase from 11.8 billion a year earlier. Japan came in at number three, growing 48% from 6.2 billion to 9.2 billion searches, followed by the UK, which grew 35% from 4.6 billion to 6.2 billion searches.

Russia, France Lead in Search Growth

Russia experienced the highest percentage of online search growth during December 2009, shooting up 92% from 1.7 billion to 3.3 billion searches. Russia had the tenth-largest number of total searches for the month. Following Russia was France, which grew 61% from 3.4 to 5.4 billion searches. France had the seventh-highest monthly online search total.

Brazil ranked third in online search growth, increasing 53% from 2.4 billion to 3.8 billion searches, which placed it eighth in total number of online searches. Japan had the fourth-highest search growth percentage for December 2009.

Google Dominates Total Number of Searches

Google Sites was by far the most popular search property during December 2009, collecting 87.8 billion searches worldwide, a 58% increase from 55.6 billion in December 2008. Its closest competitor, Yahoo Sites, collected 9.4 billion searches worldwide, a 13% increase from December 2008. Rounding out the top five were Chinese search engine Baidu.com, growing 7% from 8 billion to 8.5 billion searches, Microsoft Sites, growing 70% from 2.4 billion to 4.1 billion searches, and eBay, growing 58% from 1.3 billion to 2.1 billion searches.

Yandex Leads Growth

Matching the explosive growth of online searches in its home country, Russian search engine Yandex had the highest growth of any search property during 2009, growing 91% from 992 million to 1.9 billion searches. Microsoft Sites came in with the second-highest growth percentage, followed by Google Sites. Social networking site Facebook.com had the fourth highest percentage of growth for the month, rising 54% from 1 billion to 1.6 billion searches. Ask Network followed with 43% growth, increasing from 1 billion to 1.5 billion searches. One search property, Alibaba.com Corporation, experienced negative growth, dropping 1% from 1.1 billion searches in December 2008 to 1 billion searches in December 2009.

US Search Behavior Matches Global Behavior

US internet users showed similar online search preferences during December 2009 as the global population did. According to previously released comScore qSearch data, Google Sites led the US search market pack in December with 65.7% of the searches conducted, or almost 9.7 billion of a total 14.7 billion US searches conducted on the most popular US search engines. Bing, the primary search property of Microsoft Sites, displayed impressive US growth during the month, increasing its query volume 6% from November 2009 to nearly 1.4 billion searches, almost 10% of the total.

Holiday Shopping Fuels Traffic Growth at Largest Online Retailers

More than 8 million Australians visited a Retail site in December 2009, representing a 3-percent increase versus year ago. The category was led by Apple.com Worldwide Sites with more than 3 million visitors, a 63-percent increase, fueled by continued growth at the Apple Store site which was visited by more than 1 million Australians. Amazon Sites followed as the second most visited retail destination with 2.5 million visitors, up 28 percent from the previous year. Coles Group Ltd., which includes Kmart.com.au, Target.com.au and Coles.com.au among other sites, ranked third with 1.3 million visitors (up 30 percent), followed by Woolworths Limited with 1.2 million visitors (up 48 percent).

*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Top 10 Retail Subcategories

Computer Hardware ranked as the most-visited Retail subcategory in December with nearly 4 million visitors led by traffic to Apple sites. Comparison Shopping sites followed with 2.7 million visitors, up 16 percent from the previous year, as Web users sought product information and holiday deals. Shopping.com Sites led the Comparison Shopping category in visitation, with significant growth experienced at both GetPrice.com.au and MyShopping.com.au. Other subcategories to see substantial increases in visitation included Computer Software (up 46 percent), Apparel (up 41 percent), Department Stores (up 30 percent) and Consumer Electronics (up 28 percent).

*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study on traffic to top Retail sites in Australia during the 2009 holiday season. The study found that three out of five Australians online visited a Retail site in December, as traffic to the category reached its highest volume of the year with more than 8 million visitors during the month.

“December continues to be the heaviest month for visitation to retail sites as the holiday shopping season reaches its pinnacle,” said Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. “The online channel is an increasingly important component of retailers’ holiday strategies with a growing number of consumers turning to the Web for comparison shopping and purchasing convenience.”

December US Web Stats: Google Stays on Top

The average US web user visited 83 domains, had 51 internet sessions, surfed 2,614 pages and spent an average of 56 seconds per page in December 2009, according to data from The Nielsen Company.

The habits of American internet users have remained essentially the same since September 2009, the last month for which Nielsen reported web use statistics. In September, the average online American visited 87 web domains, had 53 internet sessions, surfed 2,645 pages and spent 57 seconds per page.

Top 10 Parent Companies/Divisions

As it did in September and June 2009, Google came out #1 on Nielsen’s ranking of the top 10 web parent companies/divisions in December 2009. Google had 155.6 million home and work visitors to at least one of its sites or who launched a Google-owned application. Each visitor spent an average of two hours and 21 minutes on the site. In September 2009, Google had 153.9 million visitors who averaged a little more time on the site, two hours and 36 minutes. The remainder of the top five, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook, and AOL, held the same rankings they did in September.

Top 10 Web Brands

Google also retained its #1 position in Nielsen’s ranking of the top 10 web brands, which it held in September and June 2009, the last two months Nielsen released a top-10 list. Google had 146.7 million unique visitors during December, who spent an average of one hour and 40 minutes on the site. Visitor numbers were up slightly from the 144 million unique visitors in September 2009, although average time spent on the site dropped from one hour and 53 minutes.

Yahoo, Facebook, MSN/Windows Live/Bing, and YouTube were the #2 through #5 web brands in December. Facebook, which was ranked #4 in June and #3 in September, switched places with September’s #3  MSN/Windows Live/Bing in December. Facebook had 109.9 million unique visitors in December, each of whom spent an average of six hours and 24 minutes on the site. Both of these numbers were up significantly from September, when Facebook had 105.4 million unique visitors who spent an average of five hours and 24 minutes on the site.

What Social Followers Want

Socialo Media is about buzz and excitement or is it

Brand marketers want consumers to follow them to build buzz and engagement, but social media users often desire something in return. What they’ve come to expect is a good deal, but many consumers—including the most active users of social sites—are also interested in deeper engagement.

A December 2009 MarketingSherpa survey indicated that learning about specials and sales was the top motivation of those who friended or followed a brand online, supporting the results of earlier surveys. But looking for savings was followed closely by learning about new products, features or services.

Reasons for Friending on Social Sites

Users described as “max connectors”—those with at least 500 social connections—were less interested than average in getting deals. Instead, they cared about new products and company culture, demonstrating the deeper engagement expected by social media power users.

An earlier study, by Razorfish, also found that exclusive deals and offers were the primary motivation of US Internet users following brands on Twitter.

Reasons US Internet Users Follow a Brand

Respondents who friended a brand on Facebook or MySpace responded similarly, though they were more likely to become a fan because they were a current customer (32.9%) than were users of Twitter.

Sharing interesting content that users care about, along with the deals and discounts they have come to expect, will both keep them engaged and spur them to pass along marketing messages.

Digital Tools Help Moms Take Charge

US Mothers Use Technology to Help become better Mothers

Technology usage is not immune to the lifestyle changes motherhood brings. Moms put the focus on simplicity, convenience and multiuse technologies as they look to keep their families closely linked, according to a report from BabyCenter.

More than four in 10 US online moms said they wanted technology that could help them be a better mother. Millennial respondents were much more likely than their Gen X counterparts to seek maternal empowerment through technology and more likely to say they had been helped by tech.

US Mothers on Technology

That help might be managing the family schedule, taking care of the family’s health and wellness, recording and sharing photos and videos, and making the most of mom’s time—all top objectives of mothers that dramatically increased in importance when they had children.

Smartphones and PDAs are a boon for mothers on the go, 69% of whom use them to coordinate and schedule family activities

US moms daily activities

Home networking and digital convergence are also helpful to moms. Forty percent told BabyCenter that technology convergence in the home makes technology more useful for mothers, and 72% said they are now more likely to use their laptop in the kitchen or living room so they can be around their children while they go online.

“Becoming technologically fluent is a must for moms juggling the ever-growing demands of household responsibilities,” said Tina Sharkey, BabyCenter chairman and global president, in a statement. “Tech brands who truly listen to moms and deliver products that empower them and make their lives a little easier will no doubt have the competitive edge in a very crowded marketplace.”

Social Media Plays Growing Role in Home Repair & Maintenance

Fingers now walking on social media sites

Social media is playing an increasingly important role in the home repair and maintenance industry in the US, and it won’t be long before it starts to have an impact in Australia and that is why I am a very strong advocate of small business having a profile on social media sites. Research from the US has found that nearly 30% of higher-income consumers say social media influenced their choice of home maintenance or repair services, a markedly higher percentage than other income groups. This group also had notably high reports of recent maintenance services performed.

Across all demographics, positive and negative comments were the most influential types of social media, Ad-ology found.

For other online media types, ratings websites were the most influential, followed by contractors’ websites. The top-three influential traditional media types were newspapers, Yellow Pages, and direct mail.

“Some companies may be quick to dismiss social media as something that’s only used by young people, and not worth their effort,” said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research. “In reality, social media usage is growing across all demographics and can clearly be a way to reach some very lucrative audiences.”

Other survey findings:

• Licensing/bonding was the most important factor in the choice of a service provider in the Northeast.
• Nearly 7% of respondents had home maintenance done because of the need for emergency repair.
• Of traditional media types, Yellow Pages had the most influence on consumers ages 65-74.

So maybe the saying of “I’m Not Happy Jan” could now be applied to social media.