The vast majority (96%) of Americans watch TV in their homes, roughly double the number (48%) who now watch video online, according to [download page] a February 2012 report from Nielsen. Yet the proportion watching TV in their homes fell 0.2% year-over-year, while those watching video on the internet grew 4.9%. Mobile subscribers watching video online in Q3 2011 showed the fastest growth, jumping 37% year-over-year and 5% quarter-over-quarter to reach more than 10% of the population. Read More »

The presence of social media in a purchase path proves to drive higher value orders, in terms of revenue per order, than natural and paid search combined, according to [download page] a study released in February 2012 by ClearSaleing. Examining more than 56 billion impressions, 2.7 billion clicks, and $13 billion in revenue through an array of channels from January 1, 2010 to August 31, 2011, the study found that a conversion occurring after social media exposure delivered more than $280 per order, compared to less than $100 per order for natural search, and more than double the average order size across all digital channels, of $135.37. Read More »

41% of tablet owners say they use their device to extend their TV experience to various activities such as looking up, posting, and chatting about what they are watching on TV, according to a January 2012 study from Discovery Communications, which surveyed over a thousand Discovery Viewers on their media habits. Additionally, 53% said they use their iPad while watching TV to find other content. In fact, 43% of the device owners surveyed said they watch TV and go online simultaneously either all the time (18%) or some of the time (25%), compared to 33% of the non-iPad owners surveyed. Read More »

57% of Americans who watch TV say they always notice advertising on the medium, while a further 40% say they sometimes notice ads, according to survey results released in February 2012 by BrandSpark International in partnership with Better Homes and Gardens. Magazines are next, with 30% of readers always noticing ads in this medium, and an additional 56% noticing them sometimes.
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Although roughly 3 in 4 SMBs use email marketing tactics such as organic list growth and web-based sign-up forms to generate leads, just 41% include a sign-up form on their Facebook fan pages, according to a survey released in February 2012 by GetResponse. And while a majority optimize their newsletters with clear, recognizable, branded from field names and addresses, less than half include social sharing icons in their newsletters.
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Although men and women report equal awareness of QR codes (77%), men who are aware of them are 75% more likely than women to have used one (28% vs. 16%) to access product information, according to survey results released in February 2012 by BrandSpark International, in association with Better Homes and Gardens. Looking at age groups, 18-34-year-olds (85%) display the highest awareness of QR codes, with 30% of those having used one. 35-49-year-olds are next, with 80% having heard of QR codes, and 23% of those respondents having used one.
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22% of mobile owners used their device during the Super Bowl to watch a TV ad again, while 17% searched for more information about a product they saw advertised, according to a February 2012 survey from InMobi. Users performed a number of other activities directly related to the game or commercials, including downloading a Super Bowl application (27%), discussing the game (23%), and discussing commercials (16%). Read More »

Viewers enjoy online videos they discover from a recommendation more than ones they discover through browsing, according to a white paper released in February 2012 by Unruly Media. Examining 4 social video campaigns from leading brands in 2011, the study found that 65% of viewers who watched a recommended video enjoyed it, representing a 14% increase from 57% who enjoyed a video found through browsing. Additionally, those who arrived at a video through a recommendation were 41% less likely to say they did not enjoy the video than those who found the video through browsing (7% vs. 12%). Read More »

Facebook ad budgets grew 109% month-over-month in Q4 2011, according to February 2012 data from Kenshoo, which analyzed 100 billion ads delivered on Facebook worldwide by its customers through Kenshoo Social. And while the company notes that some of the growth can be attributed to seasonality, the increase in global Facebook ad budgets compared well to search channels like Google, Bing, and Yahoo which, in aggregate, saw paid search ad budget growth of 27% globally on a quarter-over-quarter basis.
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Benchmark conversion rates for most email types appear higher for B2B than B2C companies in the US, according to [download page] results from an Econsultancy survey released in February 2012, conducted in partnership with the Email Experience Council of the DMA. Within the lead generation category, benchmarks are significantly higher for B2B than B2C companies for newsletter conversion rates (4.1% vs. 1.8%) and sales email conversion rates (3.9% vs. 1.5%). Read More »