By Nick Johnson - July 9th, 2013
More personalisation on social media is wanted, brand support across social media networks and how email still outperforms other marketing channels.
Consumers support brands after social interaction
According to the latest research from the IAB, a massive 90% of consumers would recommend a brand after they had some form of interaction across their social networks. Focusing on FMCG brands including Twinings and Heinz, the findings concluded that social media interaction could indeed drive high levels of ROI.
Four out of five consumers indicated that they would be inclined to view a brand more positively after receiving a free sample for instance. The study showed that social media is particularly effective in positively shifting attributes like sentiment, recommendation, propensity to trial new products and brand loyalty.
Kristin Brewe, the IAB’s Director of Marketing & Communications and Chair of the Social Media Council stated, “The IAB study shows that, when trying to create deeper emotional connections with consumers, social media is an essential channel for brands. This isn’t surprising since social media is the only channel where it’s possible for brands and consumers to have meaningful two-way conversations, making the strength of connections that much stronger.”
Heinz Beanz engaged with fans about a variety of products during the eight- week study and also promoted its newer “Snap Pots.” The study revealed that posting regularly about the new product drove greater likelihood to trial. Ian McCarthy, Heinz Marketing Manager, commented, “Fans of Heinz Beanz expect to see us regularly in their social channels and react the best to content that’s about the products they love. In the case of encouraging trial for a newer product line, frequency becomes even more important to support the new concept, as the IAB study illustrates.”
Personalisation continues to drive consumer sales
A new infographic from Monetate delivers yet more proof that personalised experiences are driving consumer spending. The use of social login to gain tailored information, trails and offers is driving much of the commerce across social networks. According to the infographic, 75% of users want high levels of personalised content. And when this is delivered, improved levels of sales result.
It seems that businesses are listening with over half of those polled stating they intend to use more personalisation across their online channels. Hand-in-hand with this move must also be a realisation that the personalisation that takes place must be completed with mobile data devices in mind. With M-commerce now a force that can’t be ignored by any corporation, personalisation must deliver its content successfully on every device.
Email still out-performs Twitter and Facebook
With corporations focusing on leveraging the main social media networks, email has been somewhat ignored. Research from Custora shows that email as an effective marketing tool is far from dead. The research indicates that email has delivered nearly 7% more customers to retailers over the past four years.
Custora comments: “Email marketing has been a growing trend in e-commerce, with an increasing number of retailers building communities and collecting email addresses, then converting those “members” into customers. Organic search continues to grow as a reliable channel, (accounting for nearly 16% of customers acquired) reinforcing efforts to complement products with relevant and informative editorial content along with investing in search engine marketing.”
Of course email marketing will inevitably have a social media component. Email is powerful in that consumers have opted in to receive messages, whereas marketing via social media has far less focus. Brands and retailers alike need to pay more attention to how email is being used right across their campaigns to ensure they are not missing out on sales opportunities that can develop into long-term brand advocacy.
Until next time….
The Useful Social Media team.