Rx for Ad Agencies Suffering From Direct, Digital and Social Media Confusion or Disorientation

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Yesterday: “Digital” used to be interchangable with online, digital technologies, online video, social media etc. Today: “Digital” is a collection of habits and expectations of modern users” Source: (Augustine Fou, ClickZ)

Facebook has 250 million registered users @ July 2009 (largest on Web) 57% of adults 25-34 belong to a site 75% of adults 18-24 maintain profiles 35% of all US adults are active Myspace and Twitter have more members than the entire US Population! Facebook users spend on average 25 minutes on the site each day. (10min average for Google/Yahoo)

Top 5 Most Trafficked Sites July 2009 Rank 2005 2009 1 2 3 4 5

Two thirds of businesses are planning to integrate the two channels in 2009/10 48% have already formulated their strategy for achieving this. Of marketers planning to increase budgets in 2009, 83% will increase spend in email marketing, followed by social media at 62% Strongmail/Zoomerng 2009 Marketing Trends Survey

Integration with social media accelerators allows them to leverage their most valuable asset,”the customer”, to expand the reach of their message and brand to the customer’s trusted network and communities.

Source: June 2009 Strongmail/Zoomerang Survey

“ What are the benefits of social media?”

The channel is valued, with customer service and brand building being most important . “ For what reasons do you use social media?”

“ What are the reasons why you do not use social media?” While valued, it’s also a cause for concern!

There is a good reason why social networking commands so much consumer time and attention, and its related to what is often referred to as the signal to noise ratio. Consumers are naturally inclined to divert their attention toward high-quality “signal” in the form of personalized, relevant, or engaging content. Source: Email in the age of Social Networking (StrongMail Systems)

This requires a new approach to marketing. The focus becomes how you contribute to the “ signal ” and not contribute to the noise.

“ Take one major global recession. Add slashed and gutted media and marketing budgets. Pour in a generous dose of traditional marketers groping for clients in a digital world. Finally, add social media marketing, for which both the cost and barrier-to-entry is near zero. Blend gently and presto -- social media carpetbaggers, in all flavors and colors of the rainbow.” Source: Rebecca Lieb, ClickZ, Aug 28, 2009

Average number of hours spent online: 7 hours on content sites (42% of their time) 3 hours on community sites (13% of their time - up 63% on 2008) eCommerce sites = 11% of their time - down 19% on 2008)

Despite the rising number of mobile users and their increasingly sophisticated habits and mobile devices, currently advertising and marketing dollars flowing to mobile lag behind consumer usage of the channel.

M obile marketing has an additive effect on other advertising and marketing efforts, and can bridge the gap between digital and traditional campaigns . It is also flexible, lending itself to both direct response and brand reinforcement campaigns . (Source: eMarketer, June, 2009)

To prove the success of their campaigns, marketers need analytics. But many report frustration with understanding and using the Web analytics tools necessary to prove their success to management!

While difficulty using analytics tools frustrates many marketers, they also recognize the need for more resources and expertise. Fully 72% of respondents to the Unica survey had no full-time worker devoted to analytics.

Social media has created a fundamental shift in the way we all communicate. In the process, we sometimes lose media, develop new media and in some cases see traditional media adapt to the new sociology and technology. Source: Socialnomics, www.socialnomics.com

Buying social media does not work 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 brands are links to user generated content. 90% of people who can Tivo ads actually do it. 25% of Americans have watched a short video on their phone in the last month. 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in readership because we no longer search out news, the news comes to us. By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers, and 96% of them will have joined a social network. If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest between the USA and India. A true example of a global community. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females. 80% of twitter usage is on mobile devices. There are over 200,000,000 blogs out there.

Branding as we know it, is for all intents and purposes dead. Now it’s all about “Brand Experience” or as Forrester describes it, “Brand Engagement” Consumers are gravitating towards those media/channels that provide easy access to information, advice and recommendations, plus allow them to socialize and be entertained at the same time. In the process, these consumers are building and refining their own trusted personal networks. People targeted through a consumers social connections convert at 300 to 500% higher than those targeted through traditional media channels. Source: StrongMail Influencer Campaign Data 2008/2009

As consumers change to pulling information as they want or need it, push marketing becomes less and less relevant no matter how “targeted” the marketer thinks it is. Also, keep in mind that conversations cannot be bought either, and if they are the community often quickly finds out and retaliates. Those of you who are direct marketers will be disappointed to hear that targeting is dying too! Source: A New Definition of “Digital”. Augustine Fou, Click Z.

Core skill sets will be Direct/CRM, Data/Analytics and Digital. Experts in understanding consumer habits and expectations in this new media environment. Truly unbiased filter that prioritizes the media/channels and identifies the ones that will yield the greatest ROI. Embrace techniques that cultivate genuine and open dialogue with customers, where brands quietly listen and learn, and then respond with new features and product innovations that better match the needs of the consumer. Tools to help deploy, monitor and measure campaigns across all these new media channels. Avoid the temptation to shout messages at consumers disrespectfully or target thousands of people multiple times (reach and frequency).

The opportunity is clear. Forget about continuing to structure your agency in silos like brand, direct, digital and social marketing, and start to think about People2People marketing. If you can integrate your marketing efforts and succeed in motivating customers not only to interact with you, but to share their personal networks with you, you will have created a powerful channel for your brand in the marketplace.

“ Companies deeply engaged in seven or more social channels (blogs, branded social websites, Facebook, Wikis, ratings and reviews etc.) significantly surpassed their peers in terms of both revenue and performance.” Companies investing heavily in social media significantly surpass their peers in terms of revenue and performance! Source: Altimeter/Wetpoint, “Enggement db” July 2009

Branding Dead Targeting dead Ultimate is the sharing

Rx for Ad Agencies Suffering From Direct, Digital and Social Media Confusion or Disorientation

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