February 9, 2012
The popularity of Google+ has showed dramatic growth recently, according to February 2012 analysis from Compete, which tracked the the landing page for the main feature of the social network, the +1 button (google.com/+1/button, or plusone.google.com), beginning in November 2011. The page drew over 40 million unique visitors in December alone, with more than 10 times that amount in visits, while also passing 3 billion page views. Read More »
February 8, 2012
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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February 7, 2012
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 »
February 6, 2012
57% of consumers who have completed a customer satisfaction survey said they did so in order to share a good experience, while half did so to improve the company, according to [download page] a survey released in February 2012 by Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB). And although a significant proportion have more selfish motives, such as obtaining discounts (45%), entering into a raffle or sweepstakes (40%), or receiving a free gift (28%), many also complete surveys to praise a specific employee (39%) and to receive better service or products from the company (37%). Read More »
February 2, 2012
31% of North American retailers remain unable to identify their customers at the point of sale (POS), according to [download page] a survey released in January 2012 by Boston Retail Partners (BRP), which also found that no retailers identify customers by mobile device. The most common customer contact information available at the POS includes telephone numbers (38%), customer/identification number (34%), email address (34%), name and address (31%), and member/club number (28%).
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February 1, 2012
66% of global consumers reported switching providers in at least one industry in 2011 due to poor customer service, representing a rise of 3% from 64% in 2010 and 12% from 59% in 2009, according to [pdf] a survey released in January 2012 by Accenture. Surprisingly, consumers switched providers even as they reported increased satisfaction across a variety of service characteristics evaluated: for example, the proportion who were very or extremely satisfied with the politeness and friendliness of employees rose 7% points over 2010 to reach a majority, 54%. Read More »
January 30, 2012
51% of Millennials (born between roughly 1977 and 1995) say that recommendations from strangers through user-generated content (UGC) on a company website is most likely to influence their opinion when making a purchase, compared to 49% who say that recommendations from friends and family is most influential, according to [pdf] survey results released in January 2012 by Bazaarvoice. Read More »
January 30, 2012
The vast majority (89%) of retailers with comparable store/channel sales growth of over 4% (”winners”) agree that their e-commerce platform will ultimately serve as the central point of all digital activity across channels, and 94% agree that the future of online commerce lies more with cross-channel or merged channel capabilities, according to [download page] a report released in January 2012 by RSR Research. Those with comparable store/channel sales growth of less than 4% (”laggards”) also agree, but to a lesser extent: 62% see their e-commerce platform as ultimately becoming their digital platform across all channels, and 70% agree that the future of online lies more with cross-channel. Read More »
January 24, 2012
Ad targeting (placement/content) is projected to be the leading focal point of future data-driven marketing activity, with respondents to a Winterberry Group survey [pdf] released in January 2012 rating it an average of 4.4 on a 5-point scale of data use significance. Other use cases closely following ad targeting in terms of future significance include market research/customer behavior analysis and offer optimization (both at 4.3), as well as content optimization and cross-channel touchpoint optimization (both at 4.2). Read More »
January 24, 2012
32% of “informed publics” in 20 countries around the world say they trust traditional information sources a great deal, representing a 10% rise from 29% in 2011, and remaining ahead of online sources, which rose 18% from 22% to 26% of these respondents, according to survey results released in January 2012 by Edelman. Social media showed the largest growth in trust of the various media sources, with 14% citing a great deal of trust, up 75% from 8% in 2011. Read More »
