Social Marketing to Millennials

To achieve a stake in the Millennial marketplace, you have to stand out from the pack; and with competition more fierce than ever, companies have taken to newer and more “out of the box” methods to communicate their message to younger consumers. 

According to a recent study by the Participatory Marketing Network (PMN), only 28% of those between the ages of 18 and 24 say that the emails they currently receive from marketers are impactful to them.

The majority do agree that they would be open to, and more engaged with innovative emails of which they have more control over the frequency and subject matter. Overall, Gen Y consumers are eager to see "innovative services" which allow them not only better control, but the ability to organize and manage emails coming from marketers.

In other words, as far as Millenials are concerned, there is a fine line between creative, collaborative marketing and the same old spam clogging their inbox. 

Social media has also become a powerful marketing force. Advertisements on Facebook and MySpace have become the newest billboards in the digital space. But according to a survey conducted by Pace University and PMN, while 84% of young consumers notice ads on social networks, only 19% of them find the ads relevant. In other words, these digital billboards are not a magic marketing solution. 

While young consumers did not necessarily find advertisements to be relevant, 48% did however join a brand’s “fan page” on a social network. The main reasons? 

1)      To get news or product updates
2)      To submit opinions, and
3)      To connect with other customers, all of their own volition.

This suggests that half of all young consumers are open to the idea of having a "fan" relationship with a brand in the same way they would with a celebrity or popular music group. 

Again, we return to the notion of control.  

The very act of becoming a “fan” points to a feeling of ownership, a satisfaction of the desire for control. Marketers that best formulate strategies to tap into and galvanize these consumer sentiments will be best positioned for success in years to come. 

Posted by Wally Koval
w.koval@abmmail.com

Decisions, Decisions

The mobile technology and tablet explosion has created a buzz in b-to-b. Revenue from mobile apps will nearly triple this year to $15.1 billion, up from $5.2 billion last year, according to a new forecast from Gartner. A second generation of the iPad is expected to be announced in the next few months. And, what seems like every day, something new is “born” that becomes another platform option to consider integrating with your media strategy.

So what exactly can we expect in the tablet market this year? There are many important factors that could affect your decisions. To help you get started, “What's on the Table for Tablets This Year,” published in the Wall Street Journal today, break down some options.

Happy Tablet Hunting!

The Growth Insurance to Invest In

A question on everyone’s mind: How does Google do it? Innovate. Grow. Dominate. Continually.    

According to IHS Screen Digest, it’s all about the small screen – your mobile device. The research group cites mobile, Google’s “long-term growth insurance,” as one of three revenue growth-enabling pillars, the other two being search and video/display. 

When Google announced its Q4 2010 results yesterday, it singled out its mobile business as one of the company’s star products. By year end, search on mobile devices grew four times more than in 2009. And, according to Mobiledia, by providing a wide slate of phone makers and carriers with its open-source platform, Google has propelled Android into the world's #2 smartphone operating system. 

What does this mean for the b-to-b media industry? Mobile is a growth opportunity you can’t afford to ignore. As mobile technology matures, so does the mobile publishing ecosystem. Smaato predicts that U.S. mobile advertising revenues will surpass $1.2 billion this year and $5 billion in 2015. Publishers, for their part, expect to monetize mobile through a mix of advertising and paid apps. 

Need some tips? Check out the ABM Vital Guide to Mobile Advertising and ABM’s archived webinar series dedicated to the mobile landscape. 

Posted by Kate Patton
k.patton@abmmail.com

Mobile, Tablets and Everything in Between

Let’s face it. Living in a digital world is both enthralling and mind boggling. Today, publishers have endless options of devices and operating systems to think about. From iPhone, Android and the iPad to iPod (touch) and various others, our digital media space isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Mobile platforms and tablets are on the content management distribution plate of publishers everywhere. Before you think about choosing the “perfect” platform for your audience, consider a recent MediaPost article David Koretz, CEO of BlueTie and Adventive, wrote that calls on publishers to rethink their tablet strategies.

Koretz suggests publishers begin thinking like developers and focus on features and experience. He notes that this would require discussions about new apps and features. That type of customer focus, he writes, is what will sell apps and content: “People buy magazines for two reasons: to be entertained or informed. If you entertain users for a few hours each month, they will keep coming back. Trying to replicate page turns and the visual experience is a waste of time. People like your content, not flipping pages.”

Interesting…

Platforms must be infinitely flexible and scalable. At the end of the day, use is driven by experience. So, what should publishers look at before jumping on the mobile bandwagon? Yesterday, William Stofega of IDC sat on ABM’s digital webinar series panel and shared these words of wisdom: “It’s important to recognize who your audience is; people think they have to do mobile [everybody is doing it, so I must]. However, implementation is key. You only have once or twice to get it right.”

Posted by Brittany Agro
b.agro@abmmail.com

Are You Communicating Effectively with Tomorrow’s Business Leaders?

The Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) recently released Phase II of its study, “The Power of Exhibitions in the 21st Century: Identify, Discover and Embrace Change from the Point of View of Young Professionals.” CEIR’s report conveys the importance of actively monitoring the wants, needs and attitudes of the Gen X and Millennial generations, who are now in the workforce and who will continue to advance into decision-making roles as Boomers enter retirement. 

Some of the study’s key findings include: 

• For a majority of young professionals, the motivation to attend exhibitions is to acquire education that will help them be successful in their jobs (51%) and industries (50%).
• The foremost trusted resources for information on available exhibitions are industry associations (56%), exhibition websites (47%) and e-mails from colleagues (45%).
• Interestingly, young professionals do not rely heavily on social media platforms to identify industry exhibitions, explaining that social media is used predominantly for personal reasons.

Young professionals’ suggestions for successful communication include adding testimonials from their peers, focusing messages on their values, and making content accessible on digital platforms like mobile devices. They suggest avoiding condescension in tone and tactics that may mark messages as spam.

Are you following these rules? Are you learning from mistakes? Share your strategies for communicating with young professionals. 

(ABM members are entitled to a free copy of CEIR’s report. E-mail me to request one.)

Posted by Kate Patton
k.patton@abmmail.com

The Social Media Hierarchy

New research conducted by Alinean reveals that ROI success in social media is often driven by level-of-engagement. The findings revealed that social media level-of-engagement, the ability to attract and dialogue with followers, advocates, influencers and readers, drove the capture of new prospects, improved existing customer loyalty and provided a platform for collaborative innovation.

“The research looked at engagement success and how it led to tangible benefits and ROI, revealing that marketers who implemented a layered, hierarchical set of engagement best practices, including content, campaigns, monitoring and collaboration, achieved superior ROI results,” said Tom Pisello, chairman and founder of Alinean.

Here’s a closer look at the “Social Media Hierarchy of Needs,” a term Alinean has applied to these best practices that can serve useful in b-to-b communications.

Tier 1: Content– Achieving social media ROI required a foundation of content, particularly focused on delivering value, presenting new ideas, improving credibility, driving personal connections and providing entertainment.

Tier 2: Campaigns – Users won’t know that the content exists without campaigns, a promotional “push” of messages via the social media channels. Campaigns can include basic messaging like tweeting, updating status, posting discussions and links, and more advanced campaigns such as contests and sweepstakes.

Tier 3: Monitoring – Above the campaigns, monitoring is required to actively listen to the user community. The monitoring can listen for campaign and content effectiveness, advocacy and customer intelligence, trends, competitive intelligence, incidents and issues, as well as responding to direct questions and incident response.

Tier 4: Collaboration – Interacting with the user base is a key differentiating element to the most successful social media campaigns. This includes promoting and participating in collaborative discussions and engaging users in collaborative product reviews, shared designs and innovation, an initiative termed “collaborative innovation.”

Posted by Brittany Agro
b.agro@abmmail.com

Digital or Bust

It seems like every industry, and I mean every industry, is facing one blatant question that isn’t going away any time soon: do we go digital or not? After reading “The Year Ahead for Media: Digital or Die” in The Wall Street Journal this week, I couldn’t help but wonder what’s next on technology’s agenda for media to grasp or become accustomed to in the near future. If you asked me 15 years ago, do you think portable, hand-held devices that people use at home for leisure and business purposes will exist one day? I probably would have responded with: ‘They already do. It's called Gameboy.’ Today, it’s hard to fathom b-to-b communications without webcasts, teleconferences, Skype, podcasts, virtual trade shows, smartphone applications… you get the picture. With all of this technology, social media and gadgets at our disposal, how can the b-to-b industry make the most efficient (and effective) use of its time? What is the best means of digital communications when it comes to connecting with your audience?

Posted by Brittany Agro
b.agro@abmmail.com

Who is Your Social Media Guru?

Roughly 50% of companies have adopted social media marketing in the past year according to recent research by SmartBrief for Social Media and Summus. Managing social media is easier said than done, especially when it comes to assigning its responsibilities: Should it be run by a few people in the marketing department, is it a one-man job, or can the work be outsourced? Let’s have a closer look at some of the benefits to running your social media inhouse.

1. Invaluable Company Knowledge Inherited. When staff members (i.e. the communications or marketing department) are in charge of managing social media, it ensures that those people know everything there is to know about the company.  Not a bad thing if HR decides to contract consultants down the road for anything. You’re going to need “experts” to educate the experts on the company’s infrastructure.

2. Time and Money.  When outsourcing, time can constantly be wasted updating the company on things a marketing department, for example, would always know. Budgeting should be easier when it's added to labor costs of an already existing department.

3. The Millennial Movement. The millennial generation will greatly impact (if it hasn't already) a company’s social media endeavors. With Y’ers in charge of this function, everybody benefits – they understand the role and can teach other staff members.

Where is your company on the social media marketing curve? But more importantly, who is managing it? 

Posted by Brittany Agro
b.agro@abmmail.com