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Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius

Email Marketing Keeps on Growing with Coupons Taking Center Stage

email marketing list segmentationEmail marketing continues to grow with no signs of slowing down. According to the 2013 Q4 Email Benchmark Report released by Experian Marketing Services, email volume increased by 11.2% year-over-year during the fourth quarter of 2013, nearly doubling the 5.2% year over-year growth rate recorded during the fourth quarter of 2012.

The fourth quarter 2013 email marketing growth rates marked the fourth consecutive quarter that brand marketing email volume and open rates increased. Following is the year-over-year data collected by Experian about open rates, click rates, and more:

  • Total Open Rate: 24% (up from 23.6% a year earlier)
  • Unique Open Rate: 16.4% (up from 16.3% the prior year)
  • Total Click Rate: 2.9% (down from 3.5% the year before)
  • Unique Click Rate: 2.1% (down from 2.9% in the previous year)
  • Click-to-Open Rate: 12.5% (down from 14.4% a year earlier)

Looking at transactional data, Experian found that results were slightly down. Revenue per email in the fourth quarter of 2013 was tracked at $0.10, which was a decline from the $0.14 tracked in the prior year. Similarly, the transaction rate was reported at 0.08% and the transaction-to-click rate came in at 4.6%—both were down from the prior year. At the same time, bounce rates came in at 2.2% and unsubscribe rates were tracked at 0.12%—both slightly better than the previous year. Finally, average order value stayed the same year-over-year at $179.33.

In a special section of the Experian report, there is a detailed analysis of the performance of coupons in email marketing for the fourth quarter of 2013. Experian found that coupons performed better year-over-year across the board. Here are the key findings:

  • Unique Open Rate: up 14% year-over-year
  • Unique Click Rate: up 34% year-over-year
  • Transaction Rate: up 27% year-over-year
  • Revenue per Email: up 48% year-over-year

Comparing email marketing messages that included coupons that could be redeemed in-store, online, or both, you might be surprised to learn that in-store only coupons had the highest unique click rate of 3.3% (1.8% for online-only and 2.7% for online or in-store). Interestingly, most email marketing messages sent by the brands tracked in this study included in-store only coupons (80%). Only 70% offered online redemption of any kind.

The report shows that some email marketers are actually catching on to the importance of mobile. More than one out of five brands included in the coupon study (21%) enabled consumers to redeem their coupons by showing their mobile devices to an employee while they were in-store. This is a number that should grow very quickly in the near future. Unfortunately, it might not grow as quickly as it should since many brands are still not giving mobile the attention and budget it needs. What do you think?

Image: Ilker

9 out of 10 Consumers Say Access to Content When and How They Want It Is Important

ipad mobile brand marketingIn a new study by Salesforce’s ExactTarget, 2014 Mobile Behavior Report, nine out of 10 U.S. consumers said that having access to content how and when the want it is either important or very important. More than one out of two consumers (54%) said that it’s easier to find the information they need on mobile websites, but the same percentage of consumers also believe that mobile websites fail to provide enough content.

The study results came from a survey of 470 mobile customers as well as Exact Target’s smartphone and tablet tracking data. As part of the research, ExactTarget also tracked visits to ten popular websites via mobile websites and mobile apps and found that many people prefer mobile apps over mobile websites.

Keep in mind, given the statistics in the first paragraph that state consumers think it’s easier to find the information they need on mobile websites but the same number of consumers think there isn’t enough content on mobile websites, it can be assumed that mobile apps currently offer more of the content consumers are looking for than mobile websites offer.

Additional statistics that could affect your brand and mobile marketing strategies follow:

  • 85% of survey respondents stated that mobile devices are a central part of their everyday lives (90% for the 18-24 age demographic).
  • Facebook traffic is fairly consistent throughout the day but traffic to Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube peaks in the morning between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. with a secondary peak in the evening between 9:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. Pinterest traffic peaks in the evening and night.
  • Respondents spend an average of 3.3 hours per day on their smartphones.
  • 41% of respondents use their smartphones and tablets at the same time at least once per day.
  • 91% of smartphone user respondents check their email on a mobile device at least once per day.
  • 90% of smartphone user respondents send or receive text messages on a mobile device at least once per day.
  • 76% of smartphone user respondents use search tools on a mobile device at least once per day.
  • 75% of smartphone user respondents use social media on a mobile device at least once per day.

It’s also important for brands to note that 83% of consumers who responded to the ExactTarget survey believe that a seamless experience across all devices is important to them. In terms of content, 41% of respondents said that they don’t opt into brand text messages because those messages don’t provide meaningful content.

With those statistics in mind, brands need to up their games both in creating more mobile web-friendly content and creating more relevant mobile content across devices and brand experiences. Are you up to the challenge?

Image: Sean MacEntee

Facebook Like or Share – Which Is More Valuable to Brands?

Facebook like or shareDid you know that people like Facebook posts eight times as often as they share Facebook posts or comment on Facebook posts? However, for brands, Facebook shares are far more valuable than Facebook likes.

That data comes from a research study conducted by Brian Carter and Marketo called Contagious Content, which found that 3.4% of Facebook Page fans share the average post compared to 0.4% who comment on the average post and 0.4% who share the average post.

The study explains that liking a Facebook post is similar to speaking directly with one other person or identifying yourself in a group of like-minded individuals, but it stops there. On the other hand, sharing a Facebook post means that the person endorses the content to his or her audience. Sharing bad content could jeopardize that relationship. It’s improbable that liking bad content will have the same impact.

According to the data, a highly shareable post affects people in such a way that they are motivated to share it with other people. Just as powerful brands evoke emotions in consumer audiences, shareable content evokes conscious or subconscious emotions in consumers which are so strong they feel compelled to spread the word.

In order to create more shareable Facebook Page content for your brand, the report recommends that you create highly shareable posts, which do one or more of the following:

  • Give the audience something such as discounts that benefit everyone, not just a small group of individuals.
  • Advise the audience on a specific topic, particularly on a problem that everyone has.
  • Warn people about something harmful that could be dangerous to anyone.
  • Amuse people with humorous images and quotes that appeal to everyone.
  • Inspire people with quotes or images.
  • Amaze people with facts or images.
  • Unite people behind a common cause, feeling, desire, etc.

The Contagious Content report also includes some useful data from a New York Times study, which found that 94% of people consider how useful and helpful a link would be to another person in their audience before they share it. Make sure your headlines are clear and explain the benefit of reading or viewing your posts to make it easier for people to decide to share them.

Finally, avoid talking about yourself, being too edgy, being to niche, or asking for likes. The Contagious Content research data found that these mistakes will prevent people from sharing your Facebook posts.

What type of content does your brand Facebook Page get the most shares from? Leave a comment and share your experiences.

Image: Davide Guglielmo via sxc.hu

Combatting Online Advertising Traffic Fraud

online advertising fraudThe problems of online advertising traffic fraud and click fraud affect every brand and publisher. According to Michael Tiffany, CEO of White Ops, a company that uses data and technology to combat fraudulent ad campaigns, even premium brands and publishers are exposed to online advertising traffic fraud. In other words, it has become completely invasive across the internet and no brand or publisher is safe.

Tiffany explains in an interview with Ad Age at the recent Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) Annual Leadership Meeting that it’s hard to accurately quantify just how big of a problem online advertising traffic fraud really is because it fluctuates from day to day. Unfortunately, Tiffany explains, “the ad ecosystem isn’t effective in differentiating real human engagement and the scriptable engagement that bots can do. The bots these days are very sophisticated. They can take sophisticated action like putting things in shopping carts—signals of success that are automated and look like engaged human audiences. If you can’t tell the difference between that and real human engagement, then you’re monetizing bot traffic.”

Tiffany identifies several losers at the hands of online advertising traffic fraud:

  • Advertisers because they pay for impressions or visitors that aren’t real.
  • Publishers because bot traffic artificially increases supply which leads to decreased advertising prices.

“Quality content publishers are essentially competing with fake and that has driven down prices across the board,” says Tiffany. To stop online advertising traffic fraud, everyone in the ad ecosystem needs to join in a coordinated effort.” Tiffany believes that ad space buyers need to make informed decision and standards need to be put in place at all points in the advertising process to combat fraud, including networks, exchanges, and so on. He describes the magnitude of the fight against online advertising traffic fraud as, “an ongoing arms race against an adaptive adversary that makes a lot of money so they can put a lot of resources into defeating us.”

Tiffany’s insights into online advertising fraud are spot on, and you can watch the full interview below for all of the details.

With more people understanding how pervasive and damaging online advertising traffic fraud is, and a larger investment in combating the problem, there is hope for the future. Unfortunately, that hope still seems to be a long way off.

How do you account for online advertising traffic fraud in your digital advertising buying procedures and performance analysis process? Leave a comment and share your thoughts below.

Image: Jakub Krechowicz via sxc.hu

10 Key Roles of a Powerful Content Marketing Team

teamBrand marketing success in 2014 is significantly tied to content marketing success, but is your content marketing team up to the challenge? If not, you’re missing opportunities to expand your brand’s reach, drive word-of-mouth marketing, increase sales, and build brand loyalty.

A powerful content marketing team is staffed by highly experienced and talented marketers who understand not just how to use digital content publishing and sharing tools but also fundamental marketing theory. While your content marketing team might start small, you should be prepared to add headcount and budget dollars quickly because results will be evident sooner than you think.

To help you get started in the development of your content marketing team, following are 10 key roles that can be found in a powerful team. At first, you might choose to combine some of these roles or to outsource certain tasks that would be performed by some of these roles, but use the following list as a road map to ramp up quickly and effectively.

1. Executive/Director

The leader of the content marketing team could be a chief content officer, vice president of content marketing, or content marketing director. The title is less important than the function, because this person is responsible for the content marketing strategy. This person also has P&L responsibility for the content marketing team as part of the larger marketing budget. This person goes to the executive-level meetings to ensure the content strategy aligns with the overall business objectives and integrates with all other marketing and business strategies.

2. Editorial Manager

The editorial manager leads the team of content producers. These are the people who write, design, and publish the content for the brand. The editorial manager is also responsible for the content calendar. As the content team expands, this role could split into multiple roles led by a managing editor who oversees a team of editors. Each editor is focused on a specific area of content.

3. Marketing Integration Manager

The marketing integration manager is responsible for ensuring the content marketing plan integrates with the overall marketing plan. This person works with other marketing departments to ensure all opportunities are seized and duplicated efforts are eliminated.

4. Writers/Content Creators

The content creators and writers are responsible for creating all of the content published for the brand. They will create short and long-form content in all forms (written, audio, video, and image). They report to the editorial manager.

5. Data Analyst

The data analyst is the metrics person on the content marketing team. This person measures performance, conducts research, and handles SEO and SEM. The data collected by the data analyst is provided to the marketing integration manager and editorial manager who work with their teams to ensure the data is utilized effectively. For example, the editorial manager works with the content creators and writers to ensure keywords and other SEO tactics are implemented within the brand’s content.

6. Marketing Integration Coordinator

The marketing integration coordinator reports to the marketing integration manager and works with other teams within the marketing department and across the business to ensure content marketing efforts are fully-integrated with other marketing initiatives on a daily basis.

7. Content Social Media Coordinator

The content social media coordinator works closely with the social media marketing team to ensure the brand’s content is seen by the right audiences and drives appropriate engagement. This person also monitors the content and performs social listening tasks to identify content opportunities.

8. Content Designer

The content designer is the graphic designer of the content team. This person performs any design tasks needed to create or enhance the content. For example, the content designer creates custom images, infographics, slide shows, and so on.

9. Content Trafficker

The content trafficker is the traffic cop who ensures all content is flowing through the department in order to adhere to the content calendar.

10. Content Advertising and Promotion Coordinator

The content advertising and promotion coordinator works closely with the digital advertising and marketing promotions teams to develop content assets in support of advertising and promotion initiatives.

Is your content marketing team ready for 2014?

Image: Arte Ram via sxc.hu

Global Mobile Data Traffic Will Increase 11-Fold by 2018

global mobile digitalAt this point, every brand manager knows that mobile should be a top priority, but some companies and leadership teams are slow to make the investment commitments to give mobile the attention it needs today. If you’re looking for data to help you make your case for a larger mobile marketing budget to your executives, there is some compelling data in the Cisco Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2013-2018 that can help you.

For example, the number of mobile-connected devices will exceed the world’s population by 2014. By 2018, the number of personal mobile devices and machine-to-machine connections will be 1.4 times greater than the world’s population, which the United Nations estimates to be 7.6 billion people by 2018. Specifically, the number of mobile devices and connections will reach 10 billion by 2018 (up from 7 billion in 2013), and there will be 4.9 mobile users (up from 4.1 billion in 2013).

If those numbers aren’t compelling enough to convince the powers-that-be that mobile should be a strategic imperative, here is another piece of data which is sure to get their attention. By 2018, mobile data traffic will increase nearly 11-fold globally with an annual run rate of 190 exabytes. For reference, an exabyte equals one billion gigabytes. To give that that 190 exabyte annual run rate some perspective, think of it this way—that’s 190 times more than all mobile and fixed internet traffic generated in 2000. It’s also equal to 42 trillion images or 15 images per person on earth per day for one year. It’s also equal to 4 trillion online videos from sites like YouTube or more than one video clip per person on earth per day for one year.

According to Cisco, the incremental amount of traffic added to the mobile internet between 2017 and 2018 alone will be 5.1 exabytes per month, “which is more than three times the estimated size of the entire mobile internet in 2013 (1.5 exabytes per month).”

In 2012, mobile video traffic made up more than half of all traffic for the first time. In 2013, mobile video traffic made up 53% of traffic, and by 2018, it will make up 69% of all global mobile data traffic. The reason for all of this mobile growth isn’t just more devices and connections. By 2018, Cisco reports that the average mobile network speed will nearly double to 2.5 Mbps (up from 1.4 Mbps in 2013). In fact, it will exceed 2 Mbps by 2016! By 2018, the average smartphone will generate 5-times more traffic each month than 2013 (up from 529 MB per month in 2013 to 2.7 GB of traffic per month by 2018).

The data tells the story of how most consumers will primarily communicate, get information, and be entertained in the very near future. Looking at the numbers, it’s hard to turn down a marketing plan that prioritizes mobile.

Image: ilker