According to BIA/Kelsey and ConStat, as the US mobile internet population grows (29.2% of mobile phone users logged onto the internet in 2009), so too does the percentage of those people who qualify as “heavy users”.  These are people who use their mobile devices to log onto the internet 10 times or more per week.  Over 21% of mobile web users qualify as heavy users, up from 15% in 2008.  The average number of monthly mobile web session has doubled in that time.

As for myself, I do not have a mobile device that I use to get onto the internet, but once I do (sometime in mid-2010), look out!

Heavy use of mobile text messaging and mobile email have also increased in the last year.  Half of mobile device users texted more than 10 times weekly in 2009, while 20% send and receive more than 10 mobile emails weekly.

Where 20% of mobile users had performed a local search, the number of mobile users performing nonlocal searches did not grow.  In fact, nonlocal search is perhaps the only area that did not see growth in the last year.  Activities such as sending and receiving video, and purchasing online videos and TV shows via mobile devices, all increased in the last year.

According to Rick Ducey, CSO of BIA/Kelsey, “This represents a fundamental and rapid shift in media use, which needs to be considered in determining the appropriate mix of spending levels among local platforms.  Media companies that do not currently offer a differentiated mobile advertising option had better get there quickly.”

According to VerticalResponse, 75% of small businesses will increase their spending on email marketing in 2010, while 70% will put more dollars toward social media.

Other data from the study suggests that a mere 3.8% of businesses with 500 or fewer employees will avoid email marketing next year.  Lower percentages (17% and 23% respectively) said they’d avoid social media or search engines in the new year, while 54% said they’d avoid the use of banner ads.  70% in the survey said that they would not use TV or radio.

In the survey, Bing now finds its name alongside Google and Yahoo in the online search category.

In a separate study, Hurwitz & Assoc. found that 28% of businesses with 20 or fewer employees found email marketing to be an inexpensive and effective way to reach new customers.  25% in the study said that email generated a quick response, so they could see if their campaign was working.  Current users of email marketing cited fast response and ROI as the main benefits of their investment.

Recently, Razorfish conducted a survey of of U.S. broadband users who had visited a community site, consumed or created digital media, and spent at least $150 online in the past 6 months.  The finding suggest that connecting with consumers digitally builds brand awareness, engagement, and loyalty.

25% had produced content to participate in a contest held by a brand

25% were following a brand on Twitter

40% had friended a brand on MySpace or Facebook

The main reasons for friending brands were access to exclusive offers, followed by general fandom of the product or content of the brand in question.

64% of those surveys said they’d made their first purchase with a brand because of a digital experience.  Furthermore, the process of friending, following, and potentially creating content spurred activity along every phase of the purchase funnel – from awareness, to consideration, and on to purchase and recommendation to friends.  According to the report, “Digital experiences not only build a brand, they can also make or break it.  For those brand marketers still neglecting (or underestimating) digital, it’s as if they’ve shown up to a cocktail party wearing sweatpants.”

 

What are you doing to engage customers with your brand through digital media?

 

The data in this article comes from an e-newsletter called eMarketer.  They actually have about half-a-dozen different newsletters, each of which I recommend.

According to a study by Hurwitz & Associates, the old notion that business that increased marketing spending in a recession can expect to see their bottom lines grow as well.  According to their “Small Business Marketing Health Check,” almost two-thirds of businesses that expected increased revenues either had raised or planned to raise marketing spending.  Only one-third of business with flat or declining revenues had increased marketing spending in the same time period.

The study also showed that small businesses planned to shift marketing initiatives toward cheaper digital media and away from traditional channels.  The top three digital channels were social media, e-mail newsletters, and search.

“Making a few changes to incorporate more online tools into the marketing mix seems to be a key ingredient to small business success,” said Laurie McCabe, a partner at Hurwitz & Associates.

What are you doing to ensure the success of your small business?

As advertisers begin to recognize the unique position of mobile devices in the marketing universe, the methods by which this growing and evolving medium is employed will change.  According to the 2009 Netsize Mobile Marketing Survey, certain basic premises about the mobile medium will lead to trends in the use of the platform:

Very Personal: Because of the personal nature of the mobile device, consumers are more receptive to marketing messages that are consistent with how they normally send and receive messages in this personal space.

• One-way SMS messaging is expected to decline, while two-way SMS messaging is expected to increase by a similar percentage
• MMS messages involving pictures or video is expected to double – people love to send images through their mobile devices
• Use of mobile devices for retention and loyalty campaigns is expected to grow by nearly 50%, because consumers prefer the familiar over the unfamiliar when it comes to the messages they send and receive

Highly Interactive: Most time spent on a mobile device involves some type of interactive activity, whether it’s SMS messaging, voice communication, playing games or using apps.

• Use of one-way banner ads will stagnate, while interactive branded applications and messages will rise by over 50%.
• Prompting of consumer responses, such as with coupons or QR codes, is also expected to grow by 50%

Communications Ecosystem: As mobile devices continue to proliferate, marketers must recognize the impact on behavioral mores and cultural norms that accompany the technology shift.  Violate the norms, and the consequences will be severe.

• Among marketing executives, concern for consumer backlash ranks highly among the inhibitors to using the medium more aggressively.  The quality and validity of an opt-in database is of paramount importance.
• Transactional communication, such as purchase notifications and crisis management, is expected to rise by 30% on mobile platforms as marketers begin to understand that consumers use their mobile devices as a way to keep abreast of important information that affects their day-to-day lives

Many executives readily acknowledge that they lack the knowledge and skill to feel comfortable deploying an effective mobile marketing strategy.  This is encouraging, because the first step on the journey of knowledge acquisition is the recognition that you lack the knowledge and that you need to acquire it.

Despite all the hype, many businesses struggle with how to use Twitter.  Even colleagues in my office shy away from the micro-blogging site due to wariness of the “time-suck factor” and because they don’t understand its purpose.  Yet a recent post from a LinkedIn group called Boot Camp Digital outlines nine effective ways that businesses can employ Twitter for their benefit:

1.) Customer Service – let customers know about the benefits of doing business with your company

2.) Selling Stuff – post links to hot products or to database-gathering splash pages

3.) Building Equity – companies like Home Depot post links for customers to learn about flood tips, fire protection and more, whereas Ford will link to articles about driving patterns in various locales and the differences in how men and women drive, etc.

4.) Positioning as a Thought Leader – distinguish yourself from competitors by providing cutting-edge information to potential customers.

5.) Building Awareness – many companies offer special deals and contests to their Twitter followers, adding a highly engaged, potentially viral online customer base

6.) Direct Communication with Customers or Members – increase customer loyalty, ultimately driving sales and encouraging word-of-mouth

7.) Syndicate Your Content – if your business has a blog, Twitter is one of the best ways to alert readers to new posts

8.) To Reserve Your Name for the Future – set up a “placeholder” Twitter account for possible future use.  This is one of the best things you can do with Twitter RIGHT NOW, particularly if you’re unsure about how to proceed with your tweets.

9.) Listen to Consumers and Learn about Issues – Many business owners can learn about issues (that they otherwise might not be aware of) by monitoring Twitter.

Obviously, a lot of these issues overlap.  The best way for most companies to use Twitter is some mixture of the above listed methods.  Most accounts will include a variety of equity building, awareness, and self-promotion.  Remember, though, that shameless self-promotion is quite transparent.  Savvy consumers will see right through it and stop following you, or worse, they’ll spread negative word-of-mouth.  The key is to provide something of value to potential customers without necessarily asking for anything in return.

You can follow me on Twitter @realjeffbanks.  Happy tweeting!

Does everyone remember the immensely popular 2008 youtube video “Did You Know”, which set a series of factoids about burgeoning global culture to the tune of the Fatboy Slim track “”Right Here, Right Now?”  TVB recently put out its own “Did You Know”-style video that focuses on the benefits of local broadcast television to advertisers.  Among the topics covered in the 6-minute plus video:

statistics on TV viewership

the authority and influence on TV advertising

the consumer purchase funnel

geotargeting

advertising impact by category

the connection of broadcast TV to local TV websites and the wider internet

the rise of mobile platforms

Many proponents of digital media point to the decline of national ratings as a sign of the denouement of Television as the leading communications medium.  TVB makes a compelling case that digital still has a ways to go before to can challenge television as the #1 medium for consumers.  Check out the video, and tell me what you think!

Here’s an email I sent to a decision maker citing a real-world example of how SMS Mobile Marketing can deliver measurable results for businesses selling big-ticket items (client name and personal contact info omitted):

Hi there!

I’ve long advocated a digital presence for XXXXX furniture on WESH-2 Orlando.  One of the great things about digital products is that a nearly limitless array of creative options are available to the client.  Here’s a story about SMS text-message marketing in the furniture category that I just discovered:

“When a chain of Ashley Furniture Homestores in the Carolinas wanted to bolster sales during a slow period this summer, they sent 6,000 text message coupons to customers who had opted in to receive information about special offers.  Billed as a four-day “secret sale”, the chain of eight stores also sent nearly 29,000 emails to promote the sale.  And the text message campaign ended up paying off.  The chain says that $85,000 of the $135,000 in revenue generated from that sale was attributed to the SMS coupon, further estimating that for every $1 they spent in executing the text message campaign, they generated $122 in revenue.”

Source: Nielsen, December 2008 White Paper: The Short Code Marketing Opportunity

Is there a way to incorporate a digital component in XXXXX marketing strategy for 2010?

Warmly,

Jeffrey Banks

Account Executive

WESH/WESH.com/Weather-Plus

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