A new study sponsored by Tribune Interactive has showcased the rising advertising possibilities tablets provide.
72% of tablet owners remembered seeing an advertisement on their device, and more than half said they clicked it, according to the “The Accelerating Mobile Landscape” – compared to the 40% of smart phone users who have done so. 60% of the 1,500 consumers polled said they preferred their tablet over other devices.
These facts shouldn’t undercut the importance of mobile marketing, but they should illuminate the difference between the two, and hence help marketers carve out their strategy. Tablet owners tend to be in the comfort of their own homes when using their devices, and more likely to engage with content like videos, e-books, social media and shopping sites. This permits advertisers to make ads more immersive, as opposed to the more timely messages in mobile advertising.
More businesses and marketers are catching up to this fact – a separate study by the Yankee Group shows that 53% of all advertising will be via tablets by 2014, and it is expected to reach 60% by 2016.
Businesses are finding more value than ever in mobile consumers these days, and for more than the obvious reasons. But with more engaged consumers comes more responsibility for businesses to ensure they retain them.
M-commerce users are more likely to do research on a product or service, purchase it online and share reviews online later on. They also tend to be less sensitive to a product’s cost and more influential via their online feedback.
49% of consumers polled by Greystripe said they were more likely to write a review online, and 51% said the easier something was to purchase, they more likely they would buy. 54% said they actively used their device while in a store to help make a decision.
This high degree of mobile engagement creates many opportunities, such as mobile coupons and full-screen mobile ads, but it also emphasizes the need to make the process as easy for consumers on their devices as possible.
Motorola Solutions recently surveyed a group of businesses, with more than half said they were planning on having in-store Wi-Fi, mobile shopping and/or the ability to buy on a device and pick up in-store within the next five years.
The reasoning varied, whether it be to keep up with competition or to increase their inventory choices, but most importantly to cater to their customers. 30% of M-commerce users polled indicated they wanted the ability to order on their phone and pick up the same day at a business’ location.
The bottom line is consumers are savvier than ever these days thanks to the mobile revolution, and it’s up to businesses to keep up.
Video advertising continues to grow. More than 11 billion video ads were viewed in the United States last month, more than a 9% increase from May and almost twice as much as January of this year. Consumers spent more than 4.6 billion minutes watching video ads in June 2012, accounting for 53% of the U.S. population.
These figures are for ads alone, but users’ love of video extends to content as well. More than 180 million U.S. users watched video last month.
It’s not even August yet, but marketers are gearing up for back-to-school season right now, and for good reason – U.S. families will spend nearly $690 on average this coming fall for their grade school children, a 14% increase from last year. Total spending is expected to reach $30.3 billion, a 33% increase from 2011.
Despite the current economic climate, parents still need to prepare their children grades K-12 for the upcoming school year. That doesn’t mean they aren’t modifying their spending habits, though. According to a recent NRF survey, consumers are:
Shopping for sales more often
Purchasing more generic store-brand items
Comparing prices across multiple stores via ad circulars and newspapers
Using more coupons & simply spending less in general
Among the specific industries to see an increase are clothing (11.6%), school supplies (7.2%), electronics (15%) and especially shoes (23.6%).
These trends are just restricted to grade school. College spending is also expected to rise by more than 12% after a two year decline, according to a separate survey by the NRF. Back-to-school and back-to-college spending combined is expected to almost $84 billion, making back-to-school season the second highest for retailers.
Locally, over 200,000 Howard and Baltimore county parents will turn to the annual BSMG Back-to-School guide for insight for on preparing for the upcoming school year. Contact your BSMG sales representative or call 410-332-6300 to reserve your space before Friday, June 27.
Despite its prominence, it’s been difficult for marketers to truly gauge the impact of social media – but that hasn’t stopped many of them utilizing it for product placement.
In a recent study by social media marketing company IZEA, 55% of U.S. marketers said they had compensated a third party influencer to promote one of their products on a social media channel. The most common channels were blog posts, with tweets not far behind.
Marketers
54% have used a third party blog
47.3% used tweets
Influencers
55.4% of influencers have published a sponsored blog posts
51.8% have done sponsored tweets
The rise of sponsored blog posts and tweets is interesting, considering the average engagement rate for social media sites ranges from .001 to one percent, according to a recent study on Mediabistro. However, 8 out of 10 marketers polled emphasized that the quality of their content was the most important factor when considering having a sponsored post. It’s also worth remembering that while 1 percent doesn’t seem like much, it adds up over time.
The lesson here is valuable content spread out over time via social media helps strengthen your brand – BSMG can help.
Grocery retailers are still heavily invested in print products for sales, even at a time where retailers virtually everywhere else are focusing their budgets on mobile coupons and websites, according to coupon and circular insert producer Valassis.
Valassis polled over 50 national and independent grocery stores or chains to establish these results. Among the findings:
90% of grocery retailers use weekly circulars as their main promotional device
50% of retailers saw increases in sales from their circulars
25% saw increased customer retention from their circulars
Newspapers remain the most popular delivery method of their print platforms, followed by shared mail and then directed mail. All three print products led various digital models of promotion by large margins.
Digital media marketing is expanding for grocery stores, though – 66% of the stores polled said they expected to use more digital methods in the future.
Clicks from paid search have increased by 18% globally, while impressions have increased globally by 7%, according to Covario. The SEO & search marketing firm released its latest report this week, which found that global search spending has grown up to 17%
The study also found that while Google still controls the search market with 86% of the market, Yahoo/Bing has seen a 30% increase in the last year.
The report’s author, Charles Gaylord, says that the large growth rate is from its measurability and resiliency, and that it will likely continue to grow through the rest of the year, due to upcoming events.
The debate surrounding placing ads on mobile devices has been an interesting one; the medium is not as conducive for ads as normal desktops or wallpapers, and with the wave of mobile apps continuing to grow, some businesses are reverting to ad-free, paid apps. But there is evidence to suggest that consumers will still interact with the right type of ad on their device, provided it is relevant to them individually.
About one third of smart phone and tablet users have indicated that they will be more inclined to pay attention to digital ads that pertain to their needs and interests, according to a new study from Prosper Mobile Insights. Additionally, 31.4% of those consumers said that the fewer ads they interacted with, the more likely they would be to respond to the ones that did show up.
The study also offered key elements of ads that consumers responded to; such as humor, information, or animation. 4 out of 10 respondents said they would be more likely to pay attention to a video ad than a standard ad, citing that they are more likely to grab your attention, are more enjoyable or that they don’t let a user click away from it until they’ve viewed a portion of it.
Another common form of advertising for devices is the sponsored link or story, with more than 32% saying they would click one at least occasionally.
One lesson to take away from this is to pay attention to key demos and place ads that relate to them in mobile apps or websites. On a larger scale, it also shows that in what is still a relatively emerging marketing approach, no idea should be off the table when it comes to reaching your consumers.
Have you thought about your mobile strategy? Tested it across multiple platforms? Is your website mobile-optimized, or do you have an official app? These are all questions worth asking and evaluating; 5% of all retails sales are influenced by smart phones – nearly $160 billion. By 2016, smart phones’ influence is projected to reach over 19% – roughly $960 billion.
Here are some key stats regarding smart phone users:
70% of all shoppers use their smart phones when making a purchase
Smart phone users are 14% are more likely to make a purchase
Of those who didn’t buy anything, 60% came back at a later date and made a purchase, as opposed to the 22% of non-smart phone users.
Nearly 40% of smart phone shoppers used a third party shopping app; 34% used a retailer’s official app
Fittingly enough, the shopping category with the most smart phone users is electronic/appliance – 49% of shoppers there use their smart phones, with their influence at 8.3%. Among the categories expected to grow are general merchandise, clothing/footwear, food & beverage and books & music.
With the statistics on this area expected to only go up, it’s clear how important smart phone shoppers are, especially considering that they have their targeting medium – their smart phone – with them on a regular basis. Mobile coupons, text alerts and emails formatted for small devices are some of the ways to utilize this data, to ensure that smart phone consumers become your consumers.
A new study sponsored by Tribune Interactive has showcased the rising advertising possibilities tablets provide.
Businesses are finding more value than ever in mobile consumers these days, and for more than the obvious reasons. But with more engaged consumers comes more responsibility for businesses to ensure they retain them.
Video advertising continues to grow. More than 11 billion video ads were viewed in the United States last month, more than a 9% increase from May and almost twice as much as January of this year. Consumers spent more than 4.6 billion minutes watching video ads in June 2012, accounting for 53% of the U.S. population.
It’s not even August yet, but marketers are gearing up for back-to-school season right now, and for good reason – U.S. families will spend nearly $690 on average this coming fall for their grade school children, a 14% increase from last year. Total spending is expected to reach $30.3 billion, a 33% increase from 2011.