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Archives for 2014

What Brand Marketers Need to Know about California’s New Do Not Track Law

san francisco golden gate bridge californiaEarlier this year, a new do-not-track law went into effect in California (AB370) that requires some website owners (including brand websites) to disclose how they handle web and mobile do not track requests and to clearly explain how third parties are allowed to collect tracking and behavioral data “over time” and “across different web sites”.

The focus on do-not-track laws and guidelines has been increasing for years, and the new California law is just one more step to protect personally identifiable information that websites collect and share on a daily basis. While it doesn’t technically force companies from adhering to a person’s do-no-track requests, it does require websites to openly communicate how they respond to do-no-track requests and how they ensure data is only collected by approved third parties.

The challenge for brand marketers is effectively monitoring compliance across the intricate web (no pun intended) of companies collecting data. For example, brand marketers will need to ensure that the online advertising companies they work with are adhering to the new California law. Procedures will need to be put in place to monitor companies that collect names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, social security numbers, and other personally identifiable information that could be used to contact people directly. This is in addition to securing personally identifiable information to ensure it is protected from theft.

According to the new law, which is actually an amendment of the California Online Privacy Protection Act, brands with an online service (i.e., a website) must disclose:

  • The type of personally identifiable information collected
  • The types of third-parties that the website owner might share that personally identifiable information with
  • The process that the website owner follows for a person to review and request changes to the collected information
  • The process that the website owner follows to notify individuals of material changes to its privacy policy
  • The effective date of the privacy statement
  • The process used by the website owner to respond to a browser’s do-not-track signal about the collection of information about online activities over time and across third party online services
  • Whether third parties collect information about online activities over time and across different online services

How is your company handling do-not-track laws and guidelines for your brand? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

Image: Martyn E. Jones

Brand Reach on Facebook Increased in 2013

facebook iphone desktopThere are over 1 billion Facebook users around the world, and while the number of users continues to increase, there are concerns about the future of Facebook among the marketing community.

New accounts are being created, but many of these accounts are second accounts for existing users who want to keep some of their content out of their personally-identifiable Facebook Profiles. Furthermore, growth is slowing as Facebook becomes a mature product with deep existing penetration in its market. Finally, many people, particularly within the teen demographic, claim they are using Facebook less frequently or leaving Facebook completely.

With these concerns in mind, Socialbakers conducted a study to determine the reach of brand content on Facebook by age group. For each age group, the company took a sample of 960 million Facebook Page Fans for 1,847 brand Facebook Pages from January to December of 2013. Using the data collected, Socialbakers found that brand reach on Facebook in 2013 was up in all age groups except the 13-17-year old demographic. Here are the findings:

  • Age 13-17: Brand reach on Facebook fluctuated significantly during 2013 but ended up in December almost equal to where it was in January.
  • Age 18-24: Brand reach on Facebook increased by 39%.
  • Age 25-34: Brand reach on Facebook increased by 56%.
  • Age 35-44: Brand reach on Facebook increased by 64%.
  • Age 45-54: Brand reach on Facebook increased by 69%.
  • Age 55-64: Brand reach on Facebook increased by 71%.
  • Age 65 and up: Brand reach on Facebook increased by 74%.

Taking a look at the statistics above, brand reach actually increased more for older Facebook users than younger users in 2013. Research would need to be done to determine precisely why that happened, but it’s safe to assume that overall usage of Facebook by older people increased in 2013 thereby increasing brand reach to these audiences.

The data tells us that teens have not abandoned Facebook. Even if they claim to abhor Facebook, they’re still using it. Today, teens and every other demographic are using multiple social tools on multiple devices and usage will undoubtedly start to shift to other platforms in time, but don’t expect a huge exodus from Facebook in the near future. For now, it’s perfectly safe for companies to invest in marketing their brands on Facebook to reach any age group—even the fickle and often elusive teen demographic.

Image: Sam Michel

5 Social Media Marketing KPIs You Shoud Track for Your Brand

social media marketing kpi tracking spreadsheetAre your social media marketing investments driving the results you need? Executives will demand that you prove your budget investments are working, but do you know what you should track to get that evidence?

While follower numbers and number of times content is shared can help you build your case, they don’t tell enough of the story. You need to translate those numbers into something meaningful to your executive team if you want to hold onto your marketing budget dollars.

You need to quantify the return on investment for your social media marketing tactics just as you do for traditional marketing initiatives. While social media marketing metrics are far from perfect today, you can collect the necessary data to support your current and future social media marketing spending.

Below are five key performance indicators (KPIs), you should start tracking right now. Executives understand and value this type of performance information, and it could make the difference between getting your next marketing budget approved or denied. These KPIs are in addition to the ones discussed above—growth in followers and shares—and growth in link click-throughs.

1. High Quality Lead Generation

Are your social media marketing initiatives bringing in quality leads? Track the number of leads from social media, the number of those leads that actually became buying customers, and the revenue brought in by those customers. Set KPIs to increase the number of quality leads by a specific percentage as well as to increase the purchase value per customer.

2. Sales Volume and Revenue Growth

The most important metric to executives is revenue. Therefore, all of your social media marketing initiatives that require part of your marketing budget dollars, should be measurable. Track the number of sales generated from social media as well as the revenues derived from those sales. Set a KPI to increase both numbers by a specific percentage.

3. Brand Sentiment

Brand sentiment is calculated by tracking the number of positive brand mentions across the social web compared to negative brand mentions. Set a KPI goal to increase positive brand sentiment by a specific percentage.

4. Customer Loyalty and Word-of-Mouth Marketing

Of course, customer loyalty can be measured by tracking the path a customer took before making a purchase. If that path started with social media, then you can measure the customer’s loyalty over time. However, another critical aspect of customer loyalty when it comes to social media is the positive word-of-mouth marketing that loyal brand advocates spread online. Identify your best customers who are vocal across social media and set a KPI to increase their advocacy (through a growing number of positive online conversations and sharing about the brand) by a specific percentage.

5. Customer Engagement

Customer engagement relates to how customers interact directly with your brand using social media. Track frequency, duration, and quality of engagements and set a KPI to increase all three metrics across the board.

What social media marketing KPIs do you find most useful in building your case for a social media marketing budget to executives? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: lustfish

5 Statistics that Define the Digital Marketing Landscape in 2014

statistics graphAccording to an infographic created by Bell Pottinger Wired (shown below), online retail sales in the United Kingdom are expected to increase by 10% each year through 2017. This growth isn’t unique to the U.K. Across the globe, online and mobile sales are on the rise, and the digital marketing landscape is changing to match that shift in consumer buying behaviors.

Using the statistics from the infographic, there appear to be five areas that brand marketers are prioritizing in their digital marketing plans in 2014 and beyond:

1. Mobile

We’ve reached the point in history where marketers need to develop “mobile-always” strategies and tactics. Mobile web browsing is on pace to grow by 50% this year, and 87% of connected devices will be smartphones and tablets in 2014.

2. Video

Visual marketing assets are increasing in value exponentially, and 86% of brands will add video to their websites this year. In fact, many brand marketers will prioritize video over social media in 2014. By 2017, the online video audience will reach 1.5 billion people, and approximately, “two-thirds of the world’s data will be video.”

3. Social Media

Brands need to be where their target audiences are, and that place continues to be social networking sites. In 2014, one in two brand marketers plan to increase their social media marketing budgets to reach the growing audience of social network users, which is expected to grow by 26% by 2015.

4. Content

Content is still considered one of the biggest marketing opportunities for brands, and 73% of business-to-business content marketers are increasing their content production and publishing in 2014 according to the data in the infographic. In fact, infographics will continue to grow in popularity in 2014. This year, 51% of B2B marketers will use infographics (up from 38% last year). Bell Pottinger Wired notes that infographics are the largest growing content marketing tactic this year.

5. PPC

Despite concerns related to pay-per-click advertising click fraud, it’s still one of the most popular digital marketing tactics. In fact, nearly three out of four (72%) of digital advertisers plan to increase their PPC spending this year.

digital marketing statistics 2014 infographic

Do these digital marketing statistics match with your brand’s digital marketing landscape in 2014? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: Wagner Magni

7 Ways to Make Sure No One Buys from Your Brand Website

online shopping bagEarlier this month, I wrote an article filled with statistics from research studies about online shopping cart abandonment rates. According to the data, the average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate is 67.89%, but overall, 90% of online shoppers have placed items into their online shopping carts but ultimately, left the site without completing their purchases.

Today, I stumbled on an infographic from Vouchercloud, shown below, that is filled with so much great information you’re doing yourself and your brand a disservice if you don’t take a few minutes to review it and digest the data.

Based on this data, here are 7 mistakes many brand websites make that are causing visitors to click away and abandon their shopping carts. Avoid these ecommerce mistakes or your brand will suffer.

1. Your site is too slow.

According to the data, 57% of online shoppers will abandon your site if they have to wait for something to load for just three seconds, and 80% of those people will never return again. Make sure every page and every element on your website loads quickly.

2. Your site offers too few images and no videos.

For 93% of online shoppers, visuals are the biggest purchase influencer. Offering multiple product views can increase purchases by 58%, and reduce returns by up to 25%.

3. Your site offers no product reviews (or ways to find reviews of your company and brand).

85% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase, and 79% trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Make sure potential customers have a way to read what other consumers think of your products, services, brand, and company.

4. You add charges to shopping carts at checkout or require registration to checkout.

The top two reasons online shoppers abandon their shopping carts are because extra charges are added at checkout (41%) or they’re required to register before they can check out (29%). Make the checkout process as easy and transparent as possible by communicating all fees, shipping times, return policies, and so on before customers reach the checkout page. Also, make sure the checkout process is fast and easy to follow by adding a checkout progress bar. One out of 10 online shoppers (10%) abandon shopping carts because the checkout process is too lengthy.

5. You don’t offer coupons or discounts.

According to the data in the infographic, 57% of online shoppers who made a purchase with a coupon said they would not have purchased the items if they did not have the coupon. Offer discounts as well as an easy way to use those discounts with a simple coupon or discount code redemption process.

6. Your shipping charges are too high.

Nearly one in two online shoppers have abandoned their shopping carts because shipping charges were too high. In fact, many consumers value low shipping charges over fast delivery. However, you should offer a variety of shipping options to meet more consumers’ expectations and needs.

7. You don’t offer the right payment options.

More than half of online shoppers (59%) will abandon their shopping carts if their preferred online payment method isn’t offered during checkout. Offer multiple, secure ways for customers to pay, and your shopping cart abandonment rate should decrease while sales increase.

Check out the infographic with all of the details below.

Ecommerce Checkout and Consumer Psychology Infographic

Infographic via: Vouchercloud

Image: Morgan Akens

Crowdsourcing for Brand Marketing on Pinterest

Your employees don’t have to do all of the work in executing your social media marketing and content marketing plans. As you build your band of brand advocates who are loyal to your brand and drive word-of-mouth marketing to their own audiences, each one of those brand advocates is a brand marketing opportunity.

Don’t ignore your vocal brand advocates. Embrace them by reaching out and connecting personally. As you build a relationship with them, which deepens their emotional connection to your brand, you can crowdsource brand marketing from them. One of the most visual and interactive ways to leverage your brand advocates for social media marketing and content marketing is through Pinterest.

Crowdsource Pins on Your Pinterest Boards by Inviting Guest Pinners

Did you know that you can invite Pinterest users to pin content to any of the boards in your brand’s Pinterest profile? Just navigate to the board that you want to crowdsource images for, click the Edit Board button, and enter the names or email addresses of the people you want to invite in the Who Can Pin? field. Click the Invite button, and your invitation is on its way! Keep in mind, invitations can only be sent to other Pinterest users and you need to be following Pinterest users or one of their Pinterest boards to be able to invite them to pin content to one of your boards.

Encourage People to Pin Content to Your Pinterest Pin Boards

When another Pinterest user receives your invitation, they can choose to accept it or decline it. Boost the number of acceptances you get by emailing invitees directly or sending them messages through Twitter or Facebook before you send the invitation with a personal note explaining why you value them so much that you’re going to invite them to pin content to your boards.

Set Pinning Guidelines but Don’t Be Too Demanding

Keep in mind, you need to monitor your boards to ensure invited pinners are pinning appropriate content. It’s a good idea to give them some guidelines, but don’t make your guidelines so detailed and strict that they become intimidating or frustrating to Pinterest users. You need to give pinners flexibility, or they’ll be too afraid to pin anything to your boards.

Don’t Ignore the Social Media Law of Reciprocity

Finally, be sure to continually acknowledge active invited pinners. Reward their loyalty and make sure they always know how much you appreciate them. Furthermore, don’t forget that social media is a land of expected reciprocity. You need to spend time sharing, liking, and commenting on your invited pinners’ boards and social media profiles in order to reap the biggest rewards from crowdsourcing for brand marketing on Pinterest.

Image: Dave Dyet