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Retail Consumers Still Prefer Email Over Social Media

26
July
2010

Recent studies show that despite the “social media craze” email marketing is still the most effective promotional channel for retailers.


Ryan Moss
Lead Strategist

Nowadays everyone is talking about social media and every company, big or small, is getting involved. While there are certainly many reasons for a business to utilize social media, a new study shows that retailers might want to think twice about where they are allocating their online marketing budgets.

According to a recent study conducted by CrossView, a cross-channel commerce solutions provider, email marketing is still the most effective promotional channel for retailers. The survey interviewed shoppers in four states and based on their responses, concluded that nearly 40% of shoppers prefer to receive retail promotional messages via email. Direct Mail (23%) was the second most popular channel and text messages were third with 18%. Only 9% of shoppers said they prefer receiving promotional messages on social media sites. Additionally, none of the shoppers said they were likely to go to a store strictly because of receiving a social media promotional message.

Going hand and hand with the CrossView study is one conducted by ExactTarget earlier this summer. The study compared U.S. Internet Users by age group who have opted-in to a brand’s email newsletter, “liked” a brand on  Facebook or followed them on Twitter. Not surprising is that email opt-ins are the most dominant option regardless of age group.

U.S. Internet Users Who Subscribe to Opt-in Emails, Are Fans of Brands on Facebook or Follow Brands on Twitter by age

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Fractured Attention Span Friday: 10 Social Media Stats To Ponder

19
March
2010

Stats that may or may not blow your mind, but understanding the implications is essential. And the questions they pose that all digital marketers need to answer.

Blake Bowyer (@BlakeBowyer)
Media Program Analyst

1 – In 2009, US marketers spent 13% of online marketing time on social media, the second-largest share of any tactic. Then why is it still so clumsy?

2 - 6/10 consumers said their chances of buying from a company increased when they followed it on Facebook. What value are they getting? Savings? Intimacy? Exposure?

3 – The same above applied for Twitter … at a clip of 8/10! Are users following companies on Twitter just to get deals?

4 – The average number of tweets per hour is around 1.3 million. How quickly are yours running through the feeds?

5 – 72% of marketing executives said they were planning a social media strategy in 2010. How many will actually be strategic?

6 – 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States. Are you a multinational? Regardless, you’re speaking globally.

7 – Number one reason execs use social media is “brand-building”, at 82%. Sounds great, but how many are using different definitions?

8 – Foursquare is nearing 16 million check-ins. When are small businesses going to seize this opportunity?

9 – 47% of baby boomers maintain a user profile on at least one social network. You know who isn’t bothered by your parents stalking you on Facebook? Businesses.

10 – 42% of social media users check their email 4 or more times a day, compared to 27% of those who aren’t active on social media. You didn’t declare email dead already, did you?

Reflect on these questions while you daydream this afternoon. Happy Friday!

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What Is A Good Email Open & Click Rate?

6
July
2009

New study reveals average email open and click through rates, but marketers should still base analysis on internal results.

Ryan Moss
Media Coordinator

Everyone who uses email marketing asks two very important questions. What is a good open rate? What is a good click-through rate? To answer these questions many email marketing experts, myself included, recommend comparing your results internally. You should look at your own analytics and use those numbers as your points to evaluate your campaign. The rationale behind this is that there are so many variables out there that effect email campaigns that comparing your campaign to Company X’s campaign wouldn’t be very beneficial. These variables include the quantity and quality of your list, the day and time you sent the email, the subject, your company’s reputation, etc.

With that being said, it is certainly acceptable to compare your results to your industry’s average, but be careful not to make that your main focus. One place to look for these numbers is the recent ‘Email Marketing Metrics Report" that MailerMailer released. As seen in the charts below for both open rates and click through rates, small and medium sized lists (below 1,000 people) performed the best.

If you are going to use industry averages, use them only as a general comparison point and instead focus more attention on your own internal results.

What Is A Good Email Open & Click Rate?
What Is A Good Email Open & Click Rate?

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Social Networking Surpasses Email

10
March
2009

Social networking now accounts for almost 10% of all internet time according to the latest Nielsen report, surpassing email in internet activity popularity.

Keith Vera
Account Manager

Social networking now accounts for almost 10% of all internet time according to the latest Nielsen report, surpassing email in internet activity popularity. The report “Global Faces and Networked Places” looks at data from December 2007 through December 2008, and finds that not only do “member communities” exceed email in participation; the sector is experiencing twice as much growth than any of the 5 most popular online spaces.

“Global Faces and Networked Places”

Much of this growth can be attributed to the increasing popularity of social networks among an older demographic. As reported by Christine Pepin in February, females over the age of 55 are one of the fastest-growing Facebook user segments, growing by 175% over the last quarter alone, with males over 55 growing over 137%. This new growth helps put over 45% of all Facebook users over the age of 26.

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Survey Reveals Which Online Marketing Tactics Produced the Highest ROI in 2008

5
February
2009

MarketingSherpa’s year-end survey shows which tactics yielded the highest ROI and how marketers should adjust budget planning for 2009

Christine Pepin
Media Coordinator

During 2008 MarketingSherpa and Ad:Tech surveyed over 1,200 marketers to determine which online marketing tactics were used most often and how much money was spent on these various programs.  The results of the survey can help marketers adjust their budgets for 2009 to achieve the highest ROI for each program.

MarketingSherpa ROI vs. Budget in 2008

As seen in the chart above, email is the most commonly used tactic  by marketers and also ranks very high on ROI, as the budget required to successfully execute these programs is relatively small compared to other tactics.  The affordability of this particular program is likely the reason for 90% of marketers participating.  Over 50% of respondents report “great” ROI on paid search, more than any other tactic presented in the survey.  This is largely due to a marketer’s ability to track how many conversions are resulting from each dollar spent. 

After paid search, marketers reportedly spent the most on display ads, such as banners and buttons. This is very alarming because less than 15% of those surveyed indicated that this tactic was generating a good ROI.  With the economy forcing companies to cut back on spending, marketers may be shifting their dollars into more revenue generating tactics.

The chart below illustrates the importance of including search engine marketing programs in a marketing plan for 2009.  Paid search and search engine optimization rank among the top three highest ROI generators and are two of the most commonly used tactics. This chart also shows that poorly targeted online advertising, such as pop-ups and emails to rented list, yield a poor ROI.

MarketingSherpa Top ROI Generators

The survey also prompted marketers to indicate what tactics they planned to invest in during 2009.  The benefit of paid search remains clear, as 57% reported increasing spending on this successful ROI generator.  Despite last year indicating a low ROI for display ads, 29% of marketers will continue to spend money on traditional online ads.  This is very surprising; considering one out of three respondents indicated that they deliver a poor ROI and only 13% said they were great.  Perhaps the stresses of an ailing economy will force marketers more than ever to truly focus on the programs that produce the highest ROI.

MarketingSherpa Spending Projections in 2009

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