Loyalty is Fleeting, Consumers SayThere continues to be tension between consumers' desire for personalization and their hesitance to share data that could enable those experiences.December 14, 2018

Three-quarters of consumers across 5 key global marketers agree that they’re loyal to certain brands, but will move on as soon as they have a bad experience with them. So finds Acquia in a customer experience-themed report [download page] that finds... READ MORE

Netflix Takes Top Global Ranking for the Simplest Brand ExperienceThe study's authors report higher shareholder performance for industries that put simplicity at the heart of doing business.

More than half (55%) of consumers around the world are willing to pay more for simpler experiences, according to Siegel+Gale’s latest annual “Global Brand Simplicity Index” report [download page]. Willingness to pay for simpler experiences... READ MORE

83% of Consumers Say They’d Watch A Branded Video For A RewardConsumers favor immediacy and flexibility in their rewards, but the appeal of a small guaranteed reward versus a chance at a large one varies by age.December 13, 2018

Reviews are a critical factor in consumers’ purchase decisions, and it turns out that the vast majority of people would leave one in exchange for a reward, according to survey results from HelloWorld [download page]. The Merkle company examined what... READ MORE

Smartphones Reportedly At Half of B2C Email Clicks in Q3Smartphones were responsible for a larger share of clicks than opens, suggesting growing consumer comfort with the mobile email experience.

Half of all email clicks in Q3 occurred on a mobile phone, reports Cheetah Digital [download page] in a recently-released analysis. The study suggests that consumers are growing more comfortable with mobile email, as smartphones represented a larger share of... READ MORE

Where B2B Marketers Need Help With ABMMarketers are generally doing better at integration with sales than the more technical aspects, such as data and analytics.December 12, 2018

Two-thirds of account-based marketers report that their ABM accounts have achieved greater customer success with their solutions than other accounts, and two-thirds likewise say that their ABM accounts are more likely to provide positive references and... READ MORE

Business Leaders Take Note of Their Customers’ Increasing PowerAlmost 9 in 10 have a clear mandate to transform the customer experience.

Fully 85% of business leaders surveyed around the world agree that the needs of their customers are changing rapidly, and even more (93%) agree that their customers’ expectations are increasing. That’s according to the Global Trends Barometer... READ MORE

[Email Benchmark Report] Mobile, Database and Purchase MetricsYes Marketing's analysis of more than 6 billion emails details industry-specific engagement metrics you can use to benchmark your email program.December 11, 2018

[Sponsored by Yes Marketing] 47% of consumers say email is their preferred channel for brand communications, yet over the last quarter, active subscribers in brands’ databases declined by 16.7% and new subscribers fell by 24%, according to a new... READ MORE

Company Culture and Transparency Rank High in Attracting CustomersWhen it comes to factors other than price and quality, culture and transparency are the most important values that attract consumers.

While there has been ample talk about culture in the context of hiring talent, buyers are also attracted to companies that care. This is according to a new survey of 30,000 consumers conducted by Accenture Strategy [download page] that examines attitudes... READ MORE

How the Median Age of TV Viewers Differs Across PlatformsNetworks' live TV audiences have the highest median age, with VOD viewers considerably younger.

It’s well known that live TV audiences are generally “graying” – as older adults remain wedded to traditional TV and youth gravitate towards digital platforms. New data from Nielsen provides more evidence as to the differing age... READ MORE

Videos Get More Interactions Than Images, And Other Instagram BenchmarksTips on which post types generate the highest interactions on Instagram.December 10, 2018

The more followers an Instagram business page has, the more likely it is to include video in its mix of post types, according to a study from Quintly. As part of its report, Quintly analyzed more than 8.9 million posts during the Q1-Q3 2018 period from more... READ MORE

The Purchase Influencer Hierarchy: Friends & Family > Online Influencers > CelebritiesOnline influencers have swayed a purchase decision for more Americans than traditional celebrities, though.

Influencer marketing content can certainly hold sway over consumers, in particular youth, but it doesn’t appear to have nearly the same power as a recommendation from a trusted friend or family member. In fact, a recent study from SurveyMonkey finds... READ MORE

The Top 5 Most Popular Categories Purchased Online Are…The Fashion and Travel categories lead the way, while FMCG e-commerce is on the rise.December 7, 2018

A majority of online consumers around the world claim to buy entertainment (61%) and service (56%) categories more often online than in-store. And while fewer (38%) say they buy durables such as fashion, IT/mobile and electronics more often online, that... READ MORE

Local Marketers to Focus More on Organic Search As Most Feel Google is the New Local Biz “Homepage”Proximity to the searcher's address is seen as the top ranking factor, but Google may be favoring proximity too much.

Almost two-thirds of local marketers (64%) agree that Google is becoming the new “homepage” for local businesses, according to The State of Local SEO Industry Report 2019 [download page] from Moz. Within that environment, it makes sense that... READ MORE

Here’s How Marketers Are Evaluating The Success of Their Digital Display Ad SpendMarketers seem happy with their primary metrics, but also very much open to change.December 6, 2018

Roughly 8 in 10 marketers around the world agree that it’s essential for digital campaigns to drive a direct correlation with business results such as online and offline sales, and a near-equal percentage also agree that the ability to meet business... READ MORE

US Out-of-Home Ad Spend Rises Again in Q3; Digital Fuels Growth WorldwideDigital accounted for more than one-quarter (28%) of US out-of-home spending in Q3, according to the OAAA's figures.

Another quarter, another rise in US out-of-home (OOH) ad spending. This time OOH ad revenues grew by 3.8% year-over-year during the third quarter, per the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA), as the sector continues to roll on for closing in on... READ MORE

How Marketers Are Using Video In 2018The majority of marketers feel that video converts better than other content - but only a third have integrated video data into their CRM or marketing automation systems.December 5, 2018

Video marketers continues to be viewed enthusiastically by marketers, with 83% reporting that video content is becoming more important to them, according to the latest “State of Video Marketing” report [download page] from Demand Metric and... READ MORE

Agencies Seem Confident in the Year AheadAgency leaders are facing numerous headwinds - such as insourcing - even if the trend towards client use of consultancies may have cooled off.

Slightly more than half of agency leaders are reporting both revenue (56%) and profit (55%) growth for 2018, and even more (79%) are confident in more profitable growth in 2019, according to the latest annual Global Digital Outlook from the Society of... READ MORE

YouTube Is A Very Important Source of How-To Videos For More Than One-Third of the Adult PopulationMore than half of YouTube users also say it's at least somewhat important in their purchase decisions.December 4, 2018

Video is an increasingly popular content channel for marketers, as branded video has a high impact on consumers’ purchase decision-making. For brands looking to reach video consumers, new data from the Pew Research Center highlights the importance of... READ MORE

Programmatic Expected to Near Two-Thirds of Global Digital Media SpendSome 83% of digital media will be transacted programmatically in the US this year.

The slow, seemingly inexorable rise of programmatic trading continues. At least that’s the takeaway from a new Zenith forecast, which at the same time has revised downward its outlook for programmatic as a result of new privacy regulations and greater... READ MORE

Are CMOs and Management In Alignment on Marketing’s Goals and Expectations?A new report turns up some interesting perspectives concerning the value of brand awareness and the importance of marketing efficiency.December 3, 2018

More than one-third (36%) of CMOs around the world believe that their role has changed in the past few years to drive more overall business growth, with one-third likewise feeling that their role has significantly gained in importance. So finds The Trade... READ MORE

The US’ Most Valuable Brands: Tech Dominates, Entertainment RisesTech brands are 20% of the number of brands in the top 100, but almost 40% of their collective value.

Technology brands continue to dominate the list of America’s most valuable, according to the second annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable US Brands report [pdf]. However other sectors are making inroads with faster brand value growth year-over-year,... READ MORE

Holiday 2018 Data Hub [Updated]: Cyber Week RecapLooking at the 2018 holiday season, in numbers, including a recap of Cyber Week.November 30, 2018

With Thanksgiving weekend and Cyber Monday (mercifully?) behind us, shopping results are coming out from several sources. Although the precise figures differ from one source to the next, it seems that yet again the key takeaways include a new record for... READ MORE

Mobile Devices Becoming the Most Important Shopping Tools for More US ConsumersAlthough a growing number are interested in mobile payments, the incidence of mobile payments use in the US remains low.

Almost half of US adults (45%) agree that their mobile device is quickly becoming their most important shopping tool, marking a considerable jump from last year, when fewer than one-third (29%) felt that way. So finds GfK in its latest FutureBuy study... READ MORE

Almost Three-Quarters of Americans Over 55 Now Own A SmartphonePenetration is now at 74% for the over 55 crowd - up from 53% just three years ago.November 29, 2018

Older Americans are catching up in terms of smartphone penetration in the US, according to the latest annual mobile consumer survey from Deloitte [download page]. Some 74% of adults over the age of 55 now own a smartphone (up from 67% last year), making them... READ MORE

E-Commerce Grows in the Fashion IndustryStats from several studies report strong growth in the fashion and beauty industries, with male influencers a driving force.

The global online fashion market is predicted to reach $765 billion by the year 2022, a projected increase of $281 billion, or 58%, from this year. In fact, in 4 years, 36% of total fashion retail sales are expected to occur online, up from 27% this year,... READ MORE

MarTech Is Now CMOs’ Biggest Resource Spend, Plus 4 Other Budget HighlightsBudgets are stabilizing and digital is favored over traditional for ad spending.November 28, 2018

CMOs in North America and the UK now spend more on marketing technology than on any other resource area, declares Gartner in its latest annual CMO Spend Survey. This year, the more than 600 senior marketers surveyed estimated spending an average of 29% of... READ MORE

Email Benchmarks: Almost Half of New Subscribers Churn Within A YearOnboarding is critical, as one-third churn within the first month.

On average, 56% of new subscribers remain on program emails lists after their first twelve months, meaning that close to half churn within the first year of being on a list, according to a recent study on subscriber engagement [download page] from Return... READ MORE

The 10 Brands Topping the US Customer Advocacy Rankings in 2018Amazon suffers a rare drop in a brand ranking list.November 27, 2018

There’s a new leader atop the US brand advocacy rankings and it’s not Amazon. This year Band-Aid moves to the top of YouGov’s latest annual rankings as the most likely to be recommended by its customers from a list of 1,630 brands. Band-Aid... READ MORE

Discount Stores Find Strong Appeal With Consumers Across Age Groups and Income LevelsDollar stores are the most popular discount store type, as reflected by increasing store counts over the past decade.

Roughly 9 in 10 US adults say they shop at various types of discount retailers, according to recent survey results released by the NRF. The study indicates that the appeal of these value retailers extends across demographic groups, including Millennials... READ MORE

Brand Trust Matters… A Lot.Trust plays a large role in purchase decisions for consumers, who tend to favor established brands over new startup ones.November 26, 2018

Two-thirds of adults in the US say that trust in a brand has a great deal (31%) or a lot (37%) of influence on their decision when making a big purchase, reports SurveyMonkey in recently-released research. Adults in the US aren’t alone in the... READ MORE

Where Pay-TV Measures Up – And Doesn’t – With Streaming ServicesStreaming services are winning on general content availability and quality, while pay-TV maintains an edge with its sports and local programming.

Pay-TV penetration is gradually falling every year from its peak in 2010, and streaming services likely have a large role to play. New data [pdf] from The Hollywood Reporter (THR) and Morning Consult reveals that among people who stopped subscribing to a... READ MORE

Milestone: Netflix Tops Live TV As The Destination For Viewers’ Favorite ShowsIt's the first time Netfix has topped live TV as the destination for viewers' favorite shows. The signs are that these favorite Netflix programs are going viral.November 21, 2018

It’s the era of peak TV, and it looks like Netflix is winning the content wars over traditional TV. In its latest annual Conquering Content study [excerpt download page], Hub Entertainment Research finds that TV viewers are becoming pickier about the... READ MORE

Mobile’s Now Up to Almost Two-Thirds of US Digital Ad SpendMobile ad spend accounted for 63% of the total in H1 2018, and mobile video ad revenues surpassed desktop video ad revenues.

Online advertising revenues in the US reached $25.6 billion in the first half of 2018, with mobile accounting for 63% of the total, according to the latest revenue report from the IAB and PwC. This represents an overall increase of 23.1% year-over-year.... READ MORE

Smartphones Are Now Responsible For the Majority of Global Digital Video PlaysDigital video is growing quickly, but ad dollars still favor linear TV.November 20, 2018

Smartphones reached a new milestone in this past quarter, declares Ooyala in its latest quarterly Global Video Index [download page]. For the first time in Q2 the devices exceeded a majority share of all digital video plays worldwide, hitting 52%,... READ MORE

Private Label Purchase Intent, Value Perception Remain HighMore than 8 in 10 US adults purchase private label products to save money. That's unlikely to change anytime soon.

Favorable economic conditions aren’t blunting consumers’ appetite for private label products. In fact, 83% of adults surveyed by IRI [pdf] in Q3 2018 reported buying private label products to save money, while 73% said they try new, lower-priced... READ MORE

Personalization Grows More Common; 8 in 10 Report Uplift From Their EffortsCompanies report that only one-third of their tests, on average, produce a clear winner.November 19, 2018

Some 71% of organizations – primarily based in the UK and Europe – undertake some form of personalization in their marketing activity, according to the latest Optimization Report [download page] (previously Conversion Rate Optimization Report)... READ MORE

How Corporate Marketers Use Event DataData and KPIs gathered from events are not only used to improve the experiences, but also to inform wider marketing strategies and planning.November 16, 2018

Corporate marketers use event data to improve event portfolios and experiences in a variety ways, according to a study from Freeman and Chief Marketer. But as the Freeman Data Benchmark Study [download page] illustrates, event data and KPIs are also being... READ MORE

Programmatic Advertisers Grow More Worried About Fraud, Turn to DSPs With Proven Track RecordsAmazon Advertising Platform has edged Google DoubleClick Bid Manager as the most commonly used demand-side platform (DSP).

Amazon Advertising Platform (AAP) has edged ahead of Google DoubleClick Bid Manager as the most commonly used demand-side platform (DSP) among marketers and advertisers, with 41% using the former as opposed to 35% the latter. That’s according to... READ MORE

Pay-TV Penetration Continues Its Slow Descent From 2010’s PeakThe percentage of adults ages 18-44 with a pay-TV service has dropped by 13% points in just 5 years.November 15, 2018

Pay-TV penetration in the US continues its decline, though it’s by no means a drastic drop. The latest annual survey figures from Leichtman Research Group (LRG) indicate that 78% of TV households in the US subscribe to some type of pay-TV service.... READ MORE

Cash Back is the Most Popular Type of Loyalty Scheme for ConsumersSome 31% of US consumers feel very rewarded by cash back, compared to just 9% for tiered programs.

Consumers value cash for their loyalty over other loyalty schemes, according to a study [report download] from Dosh. Of the 3,000 US consumers surveyed, 83% feel rewarded when receiving cash back (31% of the whole sample feeling very rewarded and 52% a... READ MORE

B2C Marketers Try to Stand Out From the Crowd to Acquire CustomersA heavy reliance on discounts and promotions may not be helping matters.November 14, 2018

Eight in 10 digital marketers are feeling greater pressure this year than last to meet acquisition and revenue goals, and many feel that they’re “running on a never-ending hamster wheel.” So finds SheerID in a survey [download page] fielded... READ MORE

B2B Marketers Focus on Early-Stage ContentAlmost half of demand gen content in 2018 is designed for the early stage of the buying process.

Nearly half (47%) of the content created by B2B marketers in 2018 was created for the early stage of the buyer’s journey, according to a recent study [PDF] from the Content Marketing Institute. Creating content targeted at the top of the funnel aligns... READ MORE

Free Report: Global Email Deliverability BenchmarkReturn Path shares the state of global email deliverability, including inbox placement rates and trends.November 13, 2018

[Sponsored by Return Path] Email marketers have had a busy year. With GDPR coming into effect and mailbox providers like Gmail, AOL, and Yahoo making changes to their platforms and infrastructure, there has been no shortage of challenges. Even with all of... READ MORE

US Consumers’ Attitudes Split on TV Advertising; No Effect Seen on Service ChoiceDislike for TV ads doesn't seem to be directly affecting service subscriptions, but may be starting to have an impact on viewing habits.

Broadband consumers in the US are as likely to not mind advertising on TV (36.7%) as they are to dislike it (36.5%), according to a Q3 2018 survey from Ampere Analysis. The relative acceptance of advertising on TV among consumers in the US (and UK) stands in... READ MORE

B2B Marketers Are Having Difficulties Implementing Analytics TechnologiesData management and analytics technologies are considered the most difficult to implement.

Most marketers today are working on implementing necessary marketing technologies at their organization, according to a new Ascend2 report [download page], which finds that their martech strategies revolve primarily around increasing ROI and improving... READ MORE

85% of Millennials Say They’ve Made A Purchase After Viewing A Marketing VideoMost 18-34-year-olds say they find video more engaging than other forms of marketing content.November 12, 2018

Video marketing has been growing in popularity in recent times, and new statistics from a Brightcove study provide some reasons why that’s the case. Fully three-quarters (76%) of the almost 4,500 adults surveyed in the US, UK and Australia report... READ MORE

Digital Marketers Forecast Increased Spend on Amazon Ads, But Challenges RemainInadequate reporting is a key complaint when it comes to advertising on Amazon.

Amazon is poised to become the third-largest advertising platform in the US this year, and new survey results [download page] from Third Door Media indicate that marketers have plans to dedicate more of their budgets to it in the coming year. Of the 681... READ MORE

Almost Half of Consumers Report Having Abandoned A Customer Feedback Survey. Why?Report recommends making the process simple and concise, with real-time feedback a key feature.November 9, 2018

Some 44% of consumers across the US, UK and Australia say they’ve abandoned a customer feedback survey without completing it, according to a recent study from Medallia [download page]. The report suggests that survey design – and the channels... READ MORE

Google Owns the Three Most Popular Tools For Leading SaaS BusinessesGoogle Tag Manager, Google Analytics and G Suite are each used by more than 7 in 10 leading SaaS businesses.

Beating out the likes of Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft, Google tools are more prevalent in large, high-performing SaaS businesses. Their products, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics and G Suite are the top 3 tools used by SaaS businesses, according to a... READ MORE

C-Suite Execs See Tech Disruption As More Opportunity Than ThreatThe ability to adopt new technologies is both an opportunity and a challenge, though.November 8, 2018

Fully 71% of C-suite executives around the world believe that artificial intelligence (AI) will be a game-changer for economic growth and competitiveness, according to a report from A.T. Kearney [pdf]. That type of optimism surrounding emerging technologies... READ MORE