7 in 10 Social Marketers Plan Increased SEO

Seven in 10 (71%) marketers who use social media plan to increase their use of search engine optimization (SEO) in the near future, according to the “2011 Social Media Marketing Report” from SocialMedia Examiner. Furthermore, only 1% plan to decrease their use of SEO and 8% have no plans to utilize it, with 20% intending to keep their SEO usage the same.

 

2 in 3 Social Marketers Will Increase Email

Nearly two in three social marketers (64%) plan on increasing their email marketing efforts in the near future. While the percentage planning to decrease email usage (3%) is slightly higher than that who plan to decrease SEO usage, fewer have no plans for email (5%) and more plan to keep email usage the same (27%).

6 in 10 Social Marketers Will Increase Event Marketing

A significant 60% of social marketers plan on increasing their event marketing and speaking engagements. Another 26% will keep the level of these activities the same, with 13% having no plans to utilize them and 2% planning a decrease.

In addition, SocialMedia Examiner analysis shows B2B marketers are significantly more likely (67%) to increase event marketing than B2C marketers (53%), and the self-employed (70%) and small business owners (65%) are significantly more likely to use event marketing than large corporations (43% to 38% range, depending on number of employees).

27% of Social Marketers Won’t Use Online Ads

Slightly less than half (46%) of social marketers plan on increasing their online advertising efforts, with 27% having no plans to utilize online advertising. Twenty-four percent will keep online advertising levels the same and 3% will decrease them.

Other SocialMedia Examiner data shows large businesses (1,000 or more employees) were most likely to
increase online advertising (53%), and B2C companies were more likely (50%) than B2B companies (42%) to increase their use of online ads.

4 in 10 Social Marketers Won’t Use Webinars

Four in 10 (42%) of social marketers have no plans to use webinars or teleseminars, with another 42% planning on increasing their use of these tools and 15% keeping their usage the same. SocialMedia Examiner says when this is contrasted with the large percentage that employ physical event marketing, it would seem that many businesses are not yet sold on the idea of virtual events.

Furthermore, survey data indicates small businesses were much more likely to increase their use of this marketing tactic. For example, 49% of the self-employed are planning an increase, compared to just 27% of businesses with 500 to 1,000 employees.

B2B companies were significantly more likely (52%) than B2C companies (33%) to use webinars or teleseminars.

Press Releases Only Traditional Media with High Planned Usage

Looking at several forms of traditional media used in marketing, the survey finds that only press releases have a high rate of planned usage, with a combined 80% of social marketers planning on increasing their press release usage or keeping it the same. This contrasts with combined increased/sustained usage rates for media including sponsorships (58%), direct mail (47%), print ads (45%), radio ads (27%), and TV ads (21%).

8 in 10 Social Marketers Use Email

The study also asked social media marketers what other types of marketing they were participating in. The top three included email marketing (81%), search engine optimization (68%) and event marketing (64%).

SocialMedia Examiner analysis indicates B2B marketers were significantly more likely to employ search engine optimization (71% B2B compared to 65% B2C) and event marketing (70% B2B compared to 58% B2C). Organizations with 1,000 or more employees were more likely to participate in event marketing (73%).

In addition, social media marketers with three or more years of experience were more likely to participate in search engine optimization (80%) and event marketing (79%) than the overall respondent group.

9 in 10 Marketers Use Facebook

Nine in 10 marketers (92%) use the Facebook social network as a marketing tool, according to a new survey from SocialMedia Examiner. Data from “2011 Social Media Marketing Report” indicates Facebook is the most popular social network among marketers by a wide margin.

Twitter, LinkedIn Also Popular

The second-most-popular social network among marketers, Twitter, has an 84% adoption rate, meaning Facebook is almost 10% more popular than its closest competitor as a marketing tool. The professional networking site LinkedIn comes in third with 71% marketer adoption. Rather than a specific network, blogs follow with 68% usage, and YouTube/other video sites are used by 56% of marketers.

There is a substantial dropoff of more than 50% between the marketer adoption rates of YouTube/other video sites and their closest competitor, social bookmarking/news sites, used by only 26% of marketers. MySpace comes in last with only 6% adoption as a marketing tool.

7 in 10 Marketers Want to Learn More about Facebook

In addition to being the social network used most frequently by marketers, Facebook is also the social network the highest percentage of marketers (70%) want to learn more about. There are some discrepancies between this list and the list of most popular social networks, as blogs closely follow with 69% of marketers wanting to learn more.

Social bookmarking/news sites and Twitter tie for third with 59% of marketers wanting to learn more, and 55% want to learn more about both LinkedIn and YouTube/other video sites. About 67% more marketers want to learn more about MySpace (10%) than are currently using it.

9 in 10 Marketers Use Social Media

Ninety-three percent of marketers use social media to market their businesses, according to other survey findings. Data from “2011 Social Media Marketing Report” also indicates a significant 90% of marketers said that social media is important to their businesses.

Most Marketers Keep Social Media In-house

Roughly seven in 10 (72%) marketers who engage in social media marketing efforts do not outsource those efforts, according to the “2011 Social Media Marketing Report” from SocialMedia Examiner. However, SocialMedia Examiner notes the number of those who are outsourcing social media efforts has doubled since 2010, from 14% to 28%.

Design/Development Most Often Outsourced

Among marketers who do outsource social media marketing efforts, the most commonly outsourced task is design/development, which 17% say they outsource. MarketingCharts observes that the other most commonly outsourced tasks, such as content creation (10%) and analytics (10%), can also be considered “behind the scenes” functions. “Real time” functions such as community management (4%) and live tweeting (3%) are less likely to be outsourced.

8 in 10 Social Marketers Use Email

The study asked social media marketers what other types of marketing they were participating in. The top three included email marketing (81%), search engine optimization (68%) and event marketing (64%).

SocialMedia Examiner analysis indicates B2B marketers were significantly more likely to employ search engine optimization (71% B2B compared to 65% B2C) and event marketing (70% B2B compared to 58% B2C). Organizations with 1,000 or more employees were more likely to participate in event marketing (73%).

In addition, social media marketers with three or more years of experience were more likely to participate in search engine optimization (80%) and event marketing (79%) than the overall respondent group.

9 in 10 Marketers Use Facebook

Nine in 10 marketers (92%) use the Facebook social network as a marketing tool, according to other study results. Data indicates Facebook is the most popular social network among marketers by a wide margin. The second-most-popular social network among marketers, Twitter, has an 84% adoption rate, meaning Facebook is almost 10% more popular than its closest competitor as a marketing tool.

The professional networking site LinkedIn comes in third with 71% marketer adoption. Rather than a specific network, blogs follow with 68% usage, and YouTube/other video sites are used by 56% of marketers.

There is a substantial dropoff of more than 50% between the marketer adoption rates of YouTube/other video sites and their closest competitor, social bookmarking/news sites, used by only 26% of marketers. MySpace comes in last with only 6% adoption as a marketing tool.

Internet access life changing

A federal parliamentary committee has been told that internet access can be life changing for some people living in regional communities.

John Lindsay, from internet service provider Internode, told the inquiry his company was a strong supporter of the national broadband network (NBN).

But he said the cost of the service to consumers would be a big factor in its success in opening up regional communities to high-speed internet access.

Mr Lindsay said Internode had taken numerous testimonials from customers as the company had rolled out its own high-speed connections.

They had allowed many business people and other professionals, who were facing the prospect of having to move into bigger cities, to continue to live and work in regional communities.

'Their professional lives meant they needed that level of connectivity,' Mr Lindsay told the House of Representatives Standing Committee into the role and potential of the NBN.

'So it really has been life changing for these people.'

In the debate over the merits of fixed line fibre connections and competing wireless services, Mr Lindsay said Internode considered them complementary technologies.

He said long-term contracts that accompanied fixed line services often did not appeal to young internet users or lower income earners who preferred pre-paid wireless connections.

But he said those same people might be lured into using the NBN if the price of connection was kept low.

In its submissions to the inquiry the South Australian government said the commonwealth's commitment to providing high-speed, affordable broadband was to be applauded.

It said the government commitment was also important in that it recognised the need for priority in regional areas.

'Achieving equity, affordability and priority will also enable considerable benefit to all communities,' the government said.

Story source www.bigpond.com.au

Are Digital Marketers Ignoring Baby Boomers?

Boomers spend more time and money online than any other demographic

 

Boomers’ lives are going in many different directions, as empty-nesters, step-parents, grandparents and caregivers. For all of these roles, the internet and digital media are absolutely essential.

eMarketer estimates 78.2% of this cohort is online, nearly 60 million adults. Even as their numbers decline, that penetration rate will remain high through 2015. And they control more than $2 trillion in annual spending.

“The baby boomers grew up being chased by marketers and advertisers that tailored products and brands to appeal to them,” said Lisa E. Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “Digital Lives of Boomers: Reaching Them Online.” “Now the median age of this cohort is 55, and many boomers feel as if they have dropped off many marketers’ radar.”

Boomers spend more time and money online than any other demographic. Younger boomers (ages 47 to 55) spent an average of 39.3 hours online per month in 2010, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Older boomers (ages 56 to 65) averaged only slightly less, at 36.5 hours. A lot of that time was spent shopping—and buying. Forrester Research reported that boomers spent an average of about $650 online over a three-month period in 2010, compared with $581 by Generation X internet users (ages 35 to 46) and $429 by millennials (ages 18 to 34).

Boomers also stay connected on the go. eMarketer estimates 86.9% will have a mobile phone this year, and 16.9 million boomers will access the internet from a mobile browser or installed app. In 2015, that number will reach 25.4 million, or nearly 40% of boomer mobile users. This is a market that content providers, game publishers and brand marketers should not pass by.

Marketers who widen their messages to include boomers would be wise to make their efforts ageless, rather than targeted at an older set.

“Boomers are immediately turned off by association with old age, infirmity and decline,” said Phillips. “Most brands do not want to ‘age’ their products with blatant appeals to older consumers. The win-win is to create an overarching brand message that gives a nod to boomers, but also includes younger adults and even grandchildren.”

This often means turning a negative—fears about failing health, for example—into a positive, such as showing the benefits of products that contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

NBN Co suspends tender over value

The builder of the national broadband network has suspended its construction tender following concerns about value for money.

NBN Co head of corporate services Kevin Brown said the company would not build the network 'at any price'.

'We have thoroughly benchmarked our project against similar engineering and civil works projects in Australia and overseas and we will not proceed on the basis of prices we are currently being offered,' Mr Brown said in a statement on Friday.

'NBN Co is confident it can secure better value for money by going a different route.'

Mr Brown said NBN Co had open the option of continuing negotiations at a later stage.

The government proposes to build a $36 billion optic fibre broadband network to 93 per cent of Australian homes, businesses and schools.

Mr Brown said NBN Co would change tack in arranging a builder for the broadband network.

'Today we are commencing discussions with an alternative different party about how to get the job done,' he told ABC.

Mr Brown said the prices on offer from a final list of five bidders was dearer than the NBN Co was prepared to pay.

'It was double digit above what we were expecting,' he said.

'It is our view that having done extensive benchmarking about what a fair price is, we believe there is another way to get there.'

Opposition broadband spokesman Malcolm Turnbull said NBN Co had no option but to suspend the tender process because putting optic fibre into every house in Australia was enormously expensive.

'I imagine they had no choice because the cost of this exercise appears to be well above even their high-end cost estimates,' Mr Turnbull told ABC Radio.

That explanation was more likely than bidders trying to rip off the NBN Co, he said.

'It's easy to say price gouging, but what does that mean?

'It's a competitive market (and) there's a number of contractors that have been contacted.

'Normally competition gets you the best price.'

Mr Turnbull said it wasn't necessary to run fibre into every home to ensure fast broadband access.

Story source: www.ninemsn.com.au

Mobile vs. Social: The Status of Marketing Integration

Email has best integration with mobile and social tactics

 

Integration has been a buzzword for social media marketers for a while now. As efforts—and budgets—in social media evolve from experimentation toward more serious campaigns, questions of how well social is fitting into the marketing mix abound, and true integration can seem distant.

According to research from marketing software solutions company Unica, marketing integration is very much a work in progress, and for more than just social media. Adopting cross-channel campaigns is a challenge, and many barriers remain to integrating online and offline data. And for social media and mobile, tactical integration with the rest of the marketing department is often a ways off.

The Q4 2010 survey of marketers in Europe and North America found that social sharing links in emails and web offers were the best-integrated social media marketing tactic, with 62% of respondents saying the sharing links were run as part of integrated campaigns. A majority of respondents were also integrating applications and widgets, social media advertising and location-based games into the rest of their efforts.

For mobile marketing tactics, the picture was similar. Again, email was best-integrated: 64% of respondents said mobile versions of email messages were part of integrated marketing campaigns. Mobile messaging, location-based targeting and mobile websites were also integrated by a majority of marketers.

Mobile applications, which marketers are often warned to avoid if they don’t have a clear connection to the rest of a company’s marketing, were most likely to be discrete from other campaigns.