May 24, 2013
The next generation of marketers and advertisers have some strong opinions on where their industry is headed, according to results from a report by the MediaSchool Group. Based on a survey of more than 2,000 students aged 20-25 studying advertising, marketing communications, design, PR and events, the study finds that 70% believe that in 10 years, the marketing landscape will be "dominated" by content marketing and "PR thinking." At that time, advertising's job will be mostly to "entertain" rather than "sell," according to 7 in 10. Recent survey results indicate that American consumers already believe that should be the case. Read more »
April 15, 2013
Good - and bad - customer service interactions affect brand loyalty, according to [pdf] results from a survey of more than 1,000 individuals who have had experiences with the customer service of a mid-sized company. The survey, conducted by Dimensional Research and sponsored by ZenDesk, found that 62% of B2B and 42% of B2C customers purchased more after a good experience, while 66% and 52% respectively stopped making purchases after a bad experience. Companies beware: respondents reported being more likely to share bad than good experiences. Read more »
March 25, 2013
About 4 in 5 public relations (PR) professionals measure their PR efforts, but several roadblocks challenge their effectiveness, according to [download page] a new Ragan/NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions survey. Lack of manpower and lack of time (each at 56%) are the chief hurdles to measuring PR, but a significant proportion also say they don't know which tools to use (52%) or that they simply don't know how to measure PR (36%). Read more »
March 18, 2013
Despite a perception that corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability programs can impact corporate reputation, companies that have these programs in place often fail to integrate them into their corporate communications strategies, finds Grayling in its latest quarterly survey of in-house communications professionals. Just 48% of US organizations surveyed (and 66% globally) with these programs say they have been included in communications strategy. Read more »
March 8, 2013
The number of Interbrand 100 brands with a dedicated customer service handle on Twitter has grown from 23 on December 1, 2012 to 30 on March 1, 2013, according to a report from Simply Measured. But while that's a positive trend, brands are still missing the mark when it comes to response rates: the average response rate to all customer service mentions during the analyzed 3-month period was 42%, per the study findings, supporting Socialbakers data showing similarly low rates. Read more »
March 7, 2013
Senior marketers believe that their efforts are under more scrutiny these days, and consistent with that perception, count accountability as their top concern this year, per results from an Association of National Advertisers survey. 64% of the 155 senior marketers surveyed tabbed accountability a top-3 concern, defined by the survey as "developing and measuring return on marketing investments, how and what processes to put into place, what to measure, and how to move from measurement to action." Read more »
March 6, 2013
Modern B2B marketing - increasingly reliant on digital marketing - has been shaped by forces such as tech-tracked ROI and the rise of social media, but one tried and true digital marketing channel remains most important, according to [download page] a study from BtoB magazine, sponsored by Eloqua. Respondents to the survey, who indicate greater adoption of modern marketing practices today than ever before, indicate that email (64%) is their most important digital marketing activity. Read more »
February 15, 2013
56% of Americans agree that now more than ever, they're pro-actively trying to learn more about the companies they hear about or do business with, according to [pdf] results from latest Harris Poll Reputation Quotient (RQ) study. Harris Interactive calls these consumers "seekers," and contrasts them with "bystanders," who are not as active in seeking out information. This year, 56% of respondents were classified as "seekers," up from 50% last year. Read more »
February 13, 2013
64% of 18-24-year-olds want companies to respond to them when they talk about them online, according to [download page] a new e-book containing results from a survey by J.D. Power & Associates and NetBase. Older age groups mirror that sentiment, although just half of the 55+ group agree. While that suggests that in general, consumers want companies to respond to discussions about them online (generally referring to social media), separate results from the survey paint a more confusing picture. Read more »
January 25, 2013
How many times does an informed consumer need to hear something about a company to be convinced it's true? More than twice, for most of them, according to results from the "2013 Edelman Trust Barometer." The online survey of 26,000 general population respondents across 26 countries found that a plurality 35% of those identified as "the informed public" need to hear company information 3 times to believe it, while another 29% need to hear it 4-5 times. Read more »
