THE BUSINESS OF SOCIAL. Social media tracker 2012

Transcription

1 THE BUSINESS OF SOCIAL Social media tracker 2012

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3 Contents Executive summary What is Wave? The continuing story of Wave Social movements Will data privacy slow social? The Business Of Social Connecting with social experiences The impact: Summary What does this mean for your business? About this report

4 The business of social Social media tracker 2012

5 Executive Summary The story so far in social networking has been the incredible growth in the numbers of people using them. But Wave 6 shows that in the future the biggest impact will come from the increasing amount of time people are spending on them. Social networks are now legitimate rivals to all forms of media and will continue to have a huge effect on online consumption in particular. Consumers are continuing to move away from increasingly siloed brand websites, viewing it as a one dimensional experience compared to that offered by social media. Brands will need to reach out to consumers in the social spaces if they are to connect online. Attachment to social networks is stronger than ever, with over 40% of people saying they are worried about missing out if they don t visit their social network. As a result users are fully prepared to share their data in return for the benefits they bring. Social experiences deliver very clear value to brands. Understanding the social experiences the consumer wants AND which of these experiences deliver the brand s marketing objectives is the key to unlocking this value. This is an important part of making social media a legitimate platform for brand development. Despite the reluctance of many companies to discuss problems, particularly in social media, our research has shown that actually responding to a customer s issues is one of the most powerful social experiences a brand can deliver. In the future social CRM should be a fundamental part of any brand s communication strategy. The consumer has many devices through which they can interact with a brand digitally but not all of these devices are a suitable environment for every experience. Tablets and smartphones, for example, have very different strengths. Marrying the right experience to the right device is key to creating a compelling social strategy. This report is a brief snapshot of the insight available. You will find contact details if you require further information at the end of this report. 5

6 The business of social Social media tracker 2012

7 What is Wave? Wave is a social media study. Wave has retained the same methodology from Wave 1 to Wave 6, enabling comparison across Waves. All research is conducted by the EMEA Research team in collaboration with the UM network of agencies. The survey is carried out using UM s in-house research system, Intuition. We have surveyed 41, Active Internet Users in 62 countries. All surveys are self-completed and the data collected is purely quantitative. Why the Active Internet User? Active Internet Users are those that use the internet every day or every other day. Social media is driven by Active Internet Users. They drive adoption of platforms and tools and they will determine which tools and platforms become dominant. 7

8 BUSINESS MOTIVATIONAL TEXTUAL SOCIAL 38 countries 23,200 respondents INFLUENTIAL THE BUSINESS OF SOCIAL Social media tracker countries 37,600 respondents August 2009: Xiaonei becomes RenRen 29 countries 17,000 respondents October 2008: Launch August 2008: Over 100M users April 2008: Facebook overtakes MySpace in popularity October 2010: The Social Network film released July 2010: 100M check-ins March 2011: 100M members April 2010: ipad released 62 countries 42,000 respondents December 2011: Over 845M active users June 2011: Over 200M tweets a day There are now more than 3.6Bn images on Flickr June 2009: Launch March 2009: Launch September 2008: First Android phone launch 21 countries 10,000 respondents June 2011: Launch April 2011: Valued at over 3Bn December 2010: 100M users just 2.5 months after launch August 2010: Groupon is the fastest growing company of all time February 2010: Facebook Mobile - 100M users VISUAL September 2011: QQ IM - over 700M active users 15 countries 7,500 respondents March 2007: Launch January 2007: iphone launch July 2006: Launch December 2005: Launch October 2006: Launch September 2006: Facebook is opened to everyone February 2006: Founded April 2005: First video uploaded to Youtube January 2005: Launch February 2004: Launch August 2003: Launch May 2003: Launch January 2001: Launch August 2005: Google acquire Android March 2005: Yahoo acquire Flickr December 2004: Launch January 2004: Launch Delicious September 2003: Launch June 2003: Launch January 2003: Launch March 2002: Launch October 1999: Launch The business of social Social media tracker 2012

9 The continuing story of Wave In 2006, UM embarked on a project to measure the scale and impact of social media across the globe and to explore the changes occurring in communication technologies. To date, we have surveyed more than 136,000 Active Internet Users across 64 countries. Over the course of this project Wave has taught us that growth in social media is unprecedented. However, the real story has not just been one of growth but also of evolution. In a few short years social media has made content creators, sharers and influencers of us all. Wave 1 (2006): demonstrated that social media was living up to the hype. There was a large and active community communicating online. Wave 2 (2007): showed how social media moved from a text-based medium of bloggers and posters to a fully audio visual one full of content creators and sharers. Wave 3 (2008): charted the democratisation of influence, how social media was driving greater means and opportunity for consumers to influence their peers. Wave 4 (2009): examined the reasons behind the huge growth in social media by understanding the motivations to use different social media platforms. It showed that consumers engage with a platform because it meets specific consumer needs and all platforms meet these needs differently. Wave 5 (2010): told us that there was huge demand for social interaction with brands. However, the nature and depth of this interaction varied wildly from person to person and category to category. But those brands that could create the right experience benefited enormously, driving brand loyalty, endorsement and sales. 9

10 The expanding Wave universe 41, RESPONDENTS The business of social Social media tracker 2012 COUNTRIES

11 WAVE 1 Australia China France Germany Italy Philippines Russia South Korea Spain UK US WAVE 2 Australia Brazil China France Germany Greece India Italy Japan Malaysia Mexico Pakistan Philippines Russia Singapore South Korea Spain Taiwan Thailand UK US WAVE 3 Australia Austria Brazil Canada China Czech Republic Denmark France Germany Greece Hong Kong Hungary India Italy Japan Korea Mexico Netherlands Pakistan Philippines Poland Romania Russia Spain Switzerland Taiwan Turkey UK US WAVE 4 Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Canada China Colombia Czech Republic Denmark Ecuador Finland France Germany Hong Kong Hungary India Italy Japan Latvia Lithuania Malaysia Mexico Netherlands Norway Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Romania Russia Singapore South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Turkey UK US WAVE 5 Algeria Argentina Australia Austria Bahrain Belgium Brazil Canada Chile China Colombia Czech Republic Denmark Ecuador Egypt Estonia France Germany Hong Kong Hungary India Italy Ireland (ROI) Japan KSA Kuwait Latvia Lebanon Lithuania Malaysia Mexico Netherlands Norway Oman Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Serbia Singapore Slovakia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Taiwan Thailand Tunisia Turkey UAE UK Ukraine US WAVE 6 Algeria Argentina Australia Austria Bahrain Belgium Brazil Canada Chile China Colombia Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Ecuador Egypt Estonia France Finland Germany Greece Hong Kong Hungary India Italy Ireland (ROI) Japan KSA Kuwait Latvia Lebanon Lithuania Malaysia Mexico Netherlands Norway Oman Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Serbia Singapore Slovakia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Tunisia Turkey UAE UK Ukraine US Vietnam 11

12 The business of social Social media tracker 2012

13 Welcome to Wave 6 - The Business of Social Social media remains at the top of the agenda for many brands. However, it is clear that as a medium for marketers it s still very much in its infancy. Popular measures of success, such as Likes, posts or Tweets, are no more than proxies for other more meaningful brand objectives. In fact, by definition, setting these goals suggests you may have already confined yourself to creating a one-dimensional social experience. Perhaps this is one reason why so many social media strategies look the same, using familiar platforms in familiar ways to achieve similar goals. With Wave 6 we intend to address this challenge. Wave 5 The Socialisation Of Brands told us that people want vastly differing social relationships with brands. Wave 6 The Business Of Social tells us what these social relationships can deliver for brands. Do they make people want to spend more time with the brand, do they make them feel valued as customers, or do they encourage people to recommend the brand to others? Our research has revealed a deeply complex environment where different social experiences meet different marketing objectives. An experience that drives brand advocacy in one category simply creates awareness in another. An experience that encourages brand participation for one person does very little for someone else. Knowing the value of an experience means we can build a social media strategy designed to meet a marketing objective, rather than starting with how to exploit an existing social platform. We believe this knowledge is vital if we are to make social media a legitimate platform for the development of brands. 13

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15 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

16 Growth in social networking has slowed FIGURE 1: Thinking about the internet, which of the following have you done in the last 6 months? - Manage a profile on an existing social network (eg: facebook.com) GLOBAL 45.1% 51.4% 61.4% 65.2% Wave 3 Wave 4 Wave 5 Wave 6 The business of social Social media tracker 2012

17 U.S.A. 33.1% 48.3% 58.1% 64.5% CHINA 47.4% 51.4% 68.4% 68.9% U.K. 53.4% 55.5% 58.6% 62.9% BRAZIL 63.6% 53.9% 74.5% 74.3% INDIA 51.4% 62.8% 72.5% 67.1% ITALY 24% 34.4% 53.9% 61.2% SPAIN 29.9% 46.2% 55.5% 59.6% FRANCE 26.3% 43.4% 53.2% 53.5% GERMANY 27.2% 36.6% 37.8% 53.1% RUSSIA 64.8% 66.1% 79.8% 77.1% Wave

18 But as profile creation begins to plateau, active management still grows The social network is beginning to reach a plateau amongst the active internet universe (see Figure 2). As a result, we are going to see growth at a much slower rate from now on. This will naturally put pressure on Facebook as it IPOs. Investors will expect a return on their investment and the growth of the platform will be a key performance indicator. Facebook will need to find ways to get consumers to spend more time with them and further commercialise their services. It is clear however, that active management of a social network profile is continuing to rise (see Figure 2) and time spent on a social networking site will continue to grow, at the expense of other platforms (see Figures 3 & 5). The business of social Social media tracker 2012

19 FIGURE 2: Thinking about the internet, which of the following have you ever done? 49% 88% 75% 77% 81% 49% Upload a video to a video sharing site Watch video clips online Create a profile Manage a profile Visit a friend s social network page Wave 1 Wave 2 Wave 3 Wave 4 Wave 5 Wave 6 19

20 But people are spending more time than ever on social networks FIGURE 3: Approximately how much time did you spend consuming the following media in the last 7 days? Hours per week Everyone year olds Television Radio Magazines 4 6 Newspapers 5 6 Internet Social networks 7 9 Microblogging sites 6 7 Mobile phone 8 10 Blogs 5 6 Video sites 6 7 The business of social Social media tracker 2012

21 And the number of social contacts continues to grow FIGURE 4: Approximately how many people do you stay in contact with in your personal life through the following means? 80 Social network 70 i m Instant messenger Average number of people SMS Forum/Message board My personal blog Phone Face to face Text message (SMS) Post/Letter 10 0 Wave Wave Wave Wave

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23 2010 may prove to be the peak for many other social platforms 2010 may have been the high point for many social platforms. Growth in some activities, like blog reading and creation, has stagnated (see Figure 5). In others, like starting a topic on a forum or visiting a photo website, we are seeing a marked decrease. FIGURE 5: Thinking about the internet, which of the following have you ever done? 90% Read blog/weblogs 80% 70% Start my own blog/weblogs Visit a photo sharing website % Ever done 60% 50% 40% Use instant messenger Visit a message board/forum Started a topic on a message board/forum 30% 20% Wave Wave Wave Wave Wave Wave

24 But Microblogging is still rising although yet to be universally adopted Since Wave started in 2006 we have tracked the growth of many emerging technologies and we often see vast differences in the rate by country. Microblogs, e.g. Twitter, fit the typical profile of an emergent social media. Small faltering steps as the platform begins to grow and then suddenly the event horizon is reached and they burst into life drawing in huge numbers of participants. FIGURE 6: Thinking about using the internet, which of the following have you used in the past 6 months? Used a microblogging service (e.g. Twitter, Jaiku) GLOBAL 14.9% 33.2% 42.9% What is different about microblogging though is that the Chinese active internet universe is leading the way with a penetration of 71.5%. Chinese microbloggers are a highly vocal and active community. They are more likely to be highly educated and well paid, viewing microblogging as a tool for self expression (49% in China vs. 32% globally) and sharing experiences (46% in China vs. 30% globally). It s no wonder then that in a few short years using sites like Sina Weibo, Sohu. com and Tencent microblogging have reached mass penetration. Clearly the microblogging platform is becoming a highly influential form of media, explaining why the Chinese government is becoming so heavily involved through new rules of use and the launch of it s own platform. Wave 4 Wave 5 Wave 6 The business of social Social media tracker 2012

25 U.S.A. 8.5% 18.8% 22.1% CHINA 26.3% 53.1% 71.5% U.K. 6.4% 19.3% 62.9% BRAZIL 13.4% 43.9% 47.6% INDIA 24.4% 45.5% 42.9% ITALY 9.4% 11.1% 17.7% SPAIN 11.5% 19.1% 24.8% FRANCE 4.1% 8.8% 12.2% GERMANY 6.2% 7.7% 15.9% RUSSIA 14.2% 19.9% 25.8% Wave

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27 WILL DATA PRIVACY SLOW SOCIAL?

28 FIGURE 7: Please indicate how much you agree (definitely or tend to) with the statement [I am concerned about the amount of personal data that goes online] FIGURE 8: Please indicate how much you agree (definitely or tend to) with the statements [I worry about missing out on something if I don t visit my social network] & [Social networking sites are an integral part of my social life] I am concerned about the amount of personal data that goes online I worry about missing out on something if I don t visit my social network Social networking sites (eg: facebook.com) are an integral part of social life 70% 55% 65% 50% % Agree 60% % Agree 45% 40% 55% 35% 50% Wave Wave Wave % Wave Wave Wave The business of social Social media tracker 2012

29 Concern rises but so does attachment to social networks Currently, one of the most valuable commodities that a social business can own is data. Many are commercialising their platforms by delivering targeted advertising based on a user s data and preferences. This has driven much discussion over the privacy policies of both Google and Facebook in the last 12 months and the knock-on effect is a rise in the concern amongst users (see Figure 7). However, despite this concern, it s clear that social media is becoming an increasingly important facet of social life. We see a huge rise in the number of people saying that the social networks are fundamental to their social life (see Figure 8). Our research shows that concern about sharing personal data online is real and building. However, this concern goes hand in hand with the growing importance that social networks are now playing in users lives. People are sharing as much data as ever before, be this photos, videos or simply updating their profile or status (see Figure 9). So it is clear that users are aware that they are sharing data and, while this is a concern, the perceived benefits brought are too strong or outweigh the risks. 29

30 And people are still sharing personal data Updating your profile (62% globally) and status (52% globally) is a fundamental part of the social networking experience (see Figure 9). Also uploading your own content is continuing at high levels. FIGURE 9: What have you done with your social networking profile?, amongst those who have used a social network in the past 6 months 38% 38% 27% 29% 30% 30% 31% 19% 19% 21% 21% Join a celebrity group Dating Organise events Purchased something Make contacts for work/ professional reasons Shared your location Affiliate with or become a fan of a brand Write a blog Upload videos Join an interest group or cause Removed someone from my friend list The business of social Social media tracker 2012

31 59% 59% 62% 64% 43% 44% 44% 47% 47% 49% 52% Join a group Display my interests Play games Used a like button Used live chat Find new friends Update my status Find old friends Upload photos Update my profile Message friends 31

32 Sharing personal data is an accepted risk FIGURE 10: Please indicate how much you agree (definitely or tend to) with the statements [I worry about missing out on something if I don t visit my social network] vs. [I am concerned about the amount of personal data that goes online] amongst those who have created a profile on a new social network. - Size of bubble represents size of audience % agree social networking is an integral part of my social life 75% 70% 65% 60% Russia 55% 50% Germany France Italy Turkey 45% 40% 35% 50% 55% 60% % agree concerned about the The business of social Social media tracker 2012

33 Brazil China Social networking more important Egypt India Mexico S Korea USA Spain UK Canada Poland Japan Privacy more important 65% 70% 75% amount of personal data that goes online 33

34 FACEBOOK IS THE MOST SEARCHED FOR WORD ON THE INTERNET TOP 10 US SEARCH TERMS JANUARY Facebook 2. YouTube 3. Facebook Login 4. Craigslist 5. Facebook.com 6. Yahoo 7. ebay Mapquest 10. Yahoo.com SOURCE: EXPERIAN HITWISE US The business of social Social media tracker 2012

35 The rise of social networking is not a self contained phenomenon. It is having a profound effect on the internet as a whole, way beyond the confines of social media. In 2011, Facebook and YouTube competed with the search engines and have proven themselves legitimate rivals by becoming the most searched and visited destinations on the web. and 10.29% OF ALL WEBSITE VISITS IN THE UNITED STATES, ACCOUNTED FOR A 15% INCREASE FROM 2010 TOP 10 WEBSITES GLOBALLY 1. google.com 2. facebook.com 3. youtube.com 4. yahoo.com 5. baidu.com 6. wikipedia.org 7. live.com (Windows Live) 8. blogspot.com 9. twitter.com 10. QQ.com SOURCE: ALEXA.COM 35

36 FIGURE 11: Thinking about the internet, have you visited an official company / brand website in the past 6 months? 90% 85% 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% Wave Wave Wave Wave FIGURE 12: Thinking about the internet, have you visited an official company / brand website in the past 6 months? 90% % 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% Wave Wave Wave Wave The business of social Social media tracker 2012

37 Is the world abandoning the brand website? One casualty of this battle is the brand website, often a considerable investment for many brands. Since 2008, we have seen a continued decrease in the number of people saying that they visited an official brand website (see Figure 11). The exodus is even clearer amongst the youngest audiences This drop in visiting brand websites is not confined to any one group or demographic. We are seeing this happening equally amongst men and women and across the age ranges too. But, perhaps most significantly, it is amongst the youngest audiences that the exodus is most dramatic (see Figure 12). A fall of 15% points amongst the 16-24s represents the biggest drop of any age group. 37

38 FIGURE 13: Which of these online applications does a good job when you want to... 37% 27% 24% 28% 30% 26% 13% 12% 9% 16% 12% 24% 19% 16% 16% 19% 19% 21% 23% Seek other people s opinions Manage my life better Explore the world around me Meet new people Stay in touch with friends Make contacts for work Promote myself 9% 11% 18% 22% 20% 9% 16% 12% 24% 19% 14% 14% 9% 15% 15% 27% 13% 15% 16%20%24% 45% 51% 43% 36% 18% 15% 23% 22% 13% 19% 25% 23% 22% 12% Keep up to date Hang out or waste time Learn something new Share knowledge 13% 14% 25% 23% 17% 19% 23% 27% 24% 23% 29% 34% 39% 36% 41% 26% 14% 10% 16% 19% 12% 21% 15% 24% 27% 12% 15% 10% 18% 19% 13% 16% 28% 21% 22% Earn respect Share new experiences Feel like I belong Have fun/ be entertained Change opinions Be creative Express myself Make money 12% 11% 22% 20% 24% 12% 14% 19% 18% 23% 26% 9% 16% 11% 9% 10% 16% 21% 16% 26% 30% 34% 32% 38% 16% Official brand websites Forums Photo/Video sites Microblogs Blogs Social networks The business of social Social media tracker 2012

39 So what then is the role of the brand website? The question, then, is what role does the brand website play in a socially dominated web? If web users are naturally migrating to the social platforms, where does the brand website fit in? The social web is a diverse and multi-dimensional environment allowing people to meet many human needs. As we saw from Wave 5 The Socialisation Of Brands, people use different platforms to meet different needs. Blogs are great for self expression, microblogs (e.g. Twitter) are great for keeping in touch and forums help you seek others opinions. In comparison, the brand website meets very few. Its primary role is confined to information and commerce (see Figure 13). This suggests that the brand website is not the right location for creating an interactive social experience. By comparison the social network platforms are far more powerful places to provide these needs. 39

40 FIGURE 14: Which of these online applications [Social networks e.g. facebook.com] does a good job when you want to? By country FUN SELF-IMPROVEMENT Hang Out or waste time Romania Argentina Denmark Slovakia Japan Norway Australia Sweden UK Learn something new Finland China Express yourself Hong Kong Ireland Greece Manage my life better Stay in touch with friends Share knowledge Have fun/be entertained Ukraine Netherlands Spain Taiwan Belgium USA South Africa Latvia Italy Vietnam Estonia Canada Portugal Poland France Meet new people Make contacts for work Serbia Singapore Turkey Keep up to date Share new experiences Earn respect Change opinions Switzerland Macedonia Chile Feel like you belong South Korea Explore the world around me Thailand Croatia Lithuania UAE Germany Philippines Czech Republic Mexico Malaysia Seek other people s opinions India Austria Lebanon Colombia Kuwait Ecuador Tunisia Make money Russia Puerto Rico Egypt Be creative Qatar Bahrain Hungary Algeria KSA Brazil Oman CONNECTION Promote yourself ENABLEMENT The business of social Social media tracker 2012

41 The power of social networks differs across the world Despite social networking being a truly global phenomenon, this hasn t led to cultural homogeneity amongst communities. It is evident that understanding the role that social media plays and the needs they best meet is important and our research shows that these needs are not uniform. As millions of people across the world flock to join the social networking platforms the nuances between nations become clear (see Figure 14). For social networks, the desire to meet new people is the central need that unites everyone but for other needs cultural differences come into play. In the West, places like the UK and the USA, they are used for hanging out and having fun. In China and Hong Kong it s about learning. In Eastern Europe it s about community and connecting with others, explaining why some of the largest and most engaged social communities in the world reside here. For example, using local sites such as Vkontakte, social networking has reached 77.1% penetration in Russia, one of the highest in our study. When we look at the Middle East, we see that many use social networks for earning respect from others, but also importantly, changing other s opinions. This explains why, during the Arab Spring, users naturally turned to social media to spread information. 41

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43 THE BUSINESS OF SOCIAL

44 The business of social Social media tracker 2012

45 The value of social experiences A word that is frequently used in social marketing is Engagement, often when citing the power of social media and the opportunity it brings for marketers. There is nothing wrong with this; it s a worthy ambition for a brand to try to engage with their consumers. The problem is that engagement is essentially a meaningless term. It could mean anything or everything and is really just used as a proxy for more meaningful brand objectives. With Wave 5 The Socialisation Of Brands we asked some fundamental questions: do consumers want a social relationship with brands and if they do what kind of relationship do they want? This information has allowed UM to guide clients in the social space by understanding the needs of the consumer first and foremost. With Wave 6 The Business Of Social we have taken things a step further. Not just understanding the social experience that consumers want but also, crucially, defining the marketing value that these experiences can deliver to brands. This means we can not only identify the right experiences but also those that best meet our marketing objectives. The results of this research have truly been surprising and allowed us to further understand the incredibly diverse world of social media. Also, in the space of social CRM, the results have some profound things to say about how brands connect with consumers to create the most compelling experiences of all. 45

46 Social needs vary by category... Consumers want varying degrees of social relationship with brands. This can range from very superficial relationships, such as wanting discount vouchers or access to entertaining content, to very deep ones such as helping with product development or being part of a brand community (see Figure 15). FIGURE 15: Thinking about companies that make computer software, which of following statements describes the kind of interaction you would like to have with these companies? To be part of a brand community Access to news about new developments & software upgrades The ability to contact computer software companies and influence product development Discount vouchers for computer software or free software downloads The opportunity to learn something new about different applications Access to unique sponsored events or competitions An opportunity to develop my software skills Access to fun and entertaining content The ability to communicate and share experiences with other users A personal response to my issues / complaints Tools and help to express my creativity and make something worth sharing The business of social Social media tracker 2012

47 And these experiences deliver very different outcomes What is very interesting is that each of these experiences deliver very different outcomes. Figure 16 shows that giving people access to new news about a computer software brand drives awareness and education but very little else. Again discount vouchers stimulate transaction and trial but do very little for a computer software brand elsewhere. However a much deeper relationship, such as cooperating in new product development, drives commitment and prompts people to find out more. FIGURE 16: Thinking about the interactions that you have indicated you would like to have with companies that make computer software, which interaction is best? 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Access to news about new developments & software upgrades The ability to contact computer software companies and influence product development Discount vouchers for computer software companies or free software downloads Awareness Education Desire Seek More Trial Transaction Letting you know about the company Giving a detailed understanding of the company and its products Making the company seem more desirable Making you feel closer to the company Encouraging you to at least try out the company or its products for yourself Encouraging you to buy a product from the company Commitment Making you feel valued as a customer Involvement Recommendation Makes you want to spend more time with the company or brand Encouraging you to recommend the brand to others 47

48 The same experiences deliver different outcomes by category The same experiences can deliver very different outcomes by category. Let consumers help you develop products in the movie category and it drives awareness and education but not much else (see Figure 17). Create the same experience in the computer software category and it drives loyalty and prompts people to find out more about the brand. FIGURE 17: Thinking about the interactions that you have indicated you would like to have with companies that make computer software and with companies that produce and distribute movies, which interaction is best? 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Awareness Education Desire Seek More Trial Transaction Commitment Involvement Recommendation The ability to contact computer software companies and influence product development The ability to contact film makers / movie studios and influence movie development The business of social Social media tracker 2012

49 This allows us to be far more focussed on delivering social experiences that meet our objectives FIGURE 18: Thinking about the interactions that you have indicated you would like to have with companies that make computer software, companies that make computer hardware, companies that are involved in the fashion industry and companies & artists that make & distribute music, which interaction is best? Objective - Making you feel closer to the company 50% Computer software Fashion Computer hardware Music 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% Access to breaking news or product launches Ability to contact companies & influence product development Opportunity to learn more Opportunity to develop skills Communicate & share experiences Tools to express my creativity & make something worth sharing A personal response to my issues / complaints Access to fun & entertaining content Access to unique events or competitions Discount vouchers To be part of a brand community 49

50 The most powerful social experience? Brands and companies no longer find themselves in complete control of either the conversation or content being shared about them. While many brands see this as an opportunity, using paid and owned brand assets to drive earned media, just as many don t. A natural fear of amplifying issues around the brand are a legitimate concern. One negative comment can quickly grow to become a real threat to a brands reputation. However, Wave 6 has shown us this is possibly the biggest opportunity that brands have to connect with consumers. If you want to make a customer feel valued, don t give them rewards, simply respond to their issues and complaints (see Figure 19). FIGURE 19: Thinking about the interactions that you have indicated you would like to have with companies in these categories, [A personal response to issues and complaints] is best at? 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 55% Awareness Education Desire Seek More Trial Transaction Commitment Involvement Recommendation Travel Movies Health & beauty Fashion Luxury Telecoms Computer hardware The business of social Social media tracker 2012

51 A personal response to issues / complaints Again and again as we analyse the results from Wave 6 we see the power of social media to create loyalty. What is even more apparent is amongst influencers, those people who often talk about the category, we can see that it not only drives loyalty it creates desire for the brand too (See Figure 20). Responding to a customer s problem is a natural behaviour for a truly social brand and consumers clearly respect and respond to this. 20% 30% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Awareness Education Desire Seek More Trial FIGURE 20: Thinking about the interactions that you have indicated you would like to have with companies in the computer software category, [A personal response to issues and complaints] is best at? By which statement best describes your relationship with the computer software category Transaction Commitment Involvement Recommendation Consider myself a fan of a brand in this category Need lots of information before buying I often talk about this category 51

52 The business of social Social media tracker 2012

53 The Power of Social Experiences A key element for making the social network platforms accountable tools for marketers is being able to evaluate the value they bring to brands. This effort begins with understanding the intrinsic values of the social media platforms and the power of the experiences they can deliver. Wave 6 The Business Of Social has begun to answer this question and now allows UM to plan social strategies from the starting point of brand or business objective. We think this is an important step towards using social media in a more focussed and value driven way. This approach also has implications for social CRM. Social media platforms, such as Twitter, are incredibly powerful tools for customer feedback. Using them in pro-active way to deal with problems very quickly is a proven and powerful driver of loyalty. However, responding quickly isn t always easy and many marketing teams require input from many other areas of the organisation before dealing with a problem. This suggests that a social media strategy should not just be the sole domain of the marketing department, but rather part of a company wide effort including legal, PR, customer support and others. This requires commitment and investment but our research has shown that those brands that accomplish this will benefit greatly. 53

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55 CONNECTING WITH SOCIAL EXPERIENCES

56 Devices Creating a compelling social experience is one part of the challenge. The second is understanding the means with which consumers want to connect with brands. There are now so many ways that a consumer can interact in the social space and many devices through which they can do it. So the question is which is the most appropriate? An app, a website, a widget? Or do they want to access these via a mobile phone, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet device or an internet connected TV? Each of these devices is used very differently and has different strengths and weaknesses. Wave 6 The Business Of Social tracks the usage and power of these technologies and helps us to identify the key way to deliver social experiences to consumers. The business of social Social media tracker 2012

57 People now have many ways to connect with the internet Consumers have many means with which to connect with the internet. On average they own four devices of which the majority of them are used to access the internet (see Figure 21). Average number of devices owned and used to access the internet FIGURE 21: Which devices do you own and which have you used to access the internet in the past 6 months? Laptop / netbook PC Desktop PC Smartphone (eg: iphone) Tablet device (eg: ipad) 2 Mobile phone E-book reader (eg: Kindle) 1 Internetconnected TV Games console 0 Own Have used to access the internet Portable MP3 / video player Portable games console 57

58 PC, laptop and mobile devices are still the main ways to connect Despite the rise of the smartphone for many the laptop and desktop remain the primary means of connection. FIGURE 22: Which devices do you own and which have you used to access the internet in the past 6 months? Size of the bubble represents % who own device. 70% Desktop PC 60% 50% Portable MP3 / video player Mobile phone Laptop / Netbook % Own Device 40% 30% 20% Portable games console Games console Internet-connected TV Tablet Smartphone 10% e-book Reader 0% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% % Use Device to Go Online The business of social Social media tracker 2012

59 As the PC remains the most versatile internet enabled device Although we can start to see the areas where smartphones (e.g. iphone, Blackberry etc.) are encroaching on this dominance. Searching for a location, using a search engine and microblogging are all activities where the smartphone is particularly powerful (see Figure 23). FIGURE 23: Which activities have you carried out using each device in the past 6 months? Joined a group buying community Browsed the internet Shared your location via location-based social network Read blogs Post / write on a blog Upload photos to a photo sharing site Watch video clips online Read a book Shared a video with a friend Read a digital newspaper / magazine Download a podcast Laptop / netbook PC Desktop PC Searched for a location Download a video podcast Smartphone (eg: iphone) Tablet device (eg: ipad) Watched live TV Made a purchase Managed a social network profile 100 Visited a friend s social network page Mobile phone E-book reader (eg: Kindle) Joined an online community Visited a professional social network Used instant messenger Visited a company / brand website Internetconnected TV Portable MP3 / video player Games console Portable games console Take part in multi-player game online Used a cloud-based music recommendation service Downloaded & used an app Sent a text message Visited a forum Read a message on a microblog Used a search engine Wrote / sent a message on a microblog 59

60 Although we can see that smartphone penetration is growing rapidly FIGURE 24: Which of the following devices do you own? Smartphone (e.g. iphone, Blackberry etc.) 28% 28% 61% 44% 45% 47% 22% 59% 44% 31% 43% 18% 38% 37% 37% 33% 43% 28% 40% 67% 43% 38% 34% 35% 44% 25% 27% % own a smartphone >60% 50-60% 40-50% 30-40% <30% The business of social Social media tracker % 37% 45% 34% 24% 16% 36% 53% 37% 36% 42% 26% 39% 22% 20%25% 23% 38% 45%45%29% 28%11% 24% 41% 34% 27% 44% 42% 40% 9% 8%

61 With tablet penetration slowly catching up FIGURE 25: Which of the following devices do you own? Tablet device (e.g. ipad, Samsung Galaxy etc..) 10% 12% 16% 14% 16% 33% 20% 14% 20% 8% 18% 17% 17% 19% 21% 19% 34% 12% 8% 28% 12% 19% 22% 12% 44% 10% % own a tablet device 12% 6% 11% >20% 15-20% 10-15% 5-10% <5% 11% 15% 11% 12% 6% 6% 5% 12% 11% 6% 5% 23% 11% 18% 10% 5% 6% 2% 6% 14% 8% 14% 11% 11% 13% 4% 5% 61

62 Different devices are seen as better at doing different things Different devices have different strengths. When we compare smartphones and tablet devices we see that they offer very different environments for communication. A smartphone (e.g. iphone, Blackberry etc.) is about fun and function. Helping you manage your life and fill in down time. A tablet device (e.g. ipad, Samsung Galaxy etc.) is very good at allowing more leisurely experiences such as creativity and learning (See Figure 26). Even more importantly, the tablet is seen as a better environment for making a purchase. This shows us that when we consider the experience we want to create we must understand which screen is more suited to deliver it. FIGURE 26: You have indicated you own these devices, which of these devices do you think does a good job when you to Smartphone Owners vs. Tablet Owners. % Smartphone owners 55% 50% 45% 40% 35% 30% Smartphones are better when you want to... Find your way Socialise with others Manage my life Organise something Get something done Be creative Hang out or waste time Access information quickly Relax Ward off boredom Read content Explore the world Play a game Have fun / Be entertained Learn something new Watch content 25% Make a purchase Research something thoroughly Tablets are better when you want to... 20% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 55% % Tablet owners The business of social Social media tracker 2012

63 What impact do multiple devices have on media consumption? As the number of devices that the consumer can use to access the internet grows, unsurprisingly, time spent online, including time spent on social networks, also grows dramatically (see Figure 27). Clearly the rise in mobile devices will transform our daily media consumption and this is already having an detrimental effect on traditional print media, although not an immediately catastrophic one. The interesting fact, though, is that television seems unaffected. This data suggest that TV, rather than being a rival to social media consumption, is a perfect partner through second screening, people accessing media via another screen (either a P.C. or mobile device) whilst watching TV. This data again suggests that not only should we consider the device best suited to deliver the social experience but how we should also consider using multiple screens in combination to deliver it. FIGURE 27: Approximately how much time have you spent consuming the following media in the last 7 days by the number of devices used to access the internet Average hours spent consuming media in last 7 days Number of devices used to access the internet Browsing the internet TV Social networks Magazines Newspapers 63

64 Connecting devices to experiences FIGURE 28: You have indicated you own these devices, which of these devices do you think does a good job when you to FUN Portable MP3 / video player Play a Game Portable Games Console Games Console Ward Off Boredom Relax Have Fun/ Be Entertained Hang Out or Waste Time Socialise With Others INFORMATION Learn Something New Desktop P.C. Research Something Thoroughly Access Information Quickly Watch Content Mobile Phone Laptop/Netbook P.C. Organise Something Read Content Be Creative Internet Make a Purchase connected Smartphone Find My Way TV Explore the World Around Me Manage My Life e-book Reader Get Something Done Tablet device ORGANISATION ACTION The business of social Social media tracker 2012

65 Connecting experiences to screens Marketers are now faced with enormous choice when thinking about how to connect with consumers. Never mind the fragmentation in traditional media, the growth of internet connected devices means that we cannot just think about the media itself, social or otherwise, but also the screen through which it is delivered. Penetration of these devices differs enormously (see Figures 24 & 25), and video-on-demand services delivered by smart TV s are fast growing. In South Korea, South Africa and Russia the mobile device is king. But it s not just the penetration of these technologies we must consider but also their relative strengths. As we try harder and harder to create powerful social experiences it s clear that the ability of these screens to deliver them differs enormously. Wave 6 The Business Of Social, delves into these attributes in far more depth than is available in this report. We also look at the power of apps and the role of m-commerce. We think that understanding where to best deliver the experience will become increasingly important as these technologies grow. 65

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67 THE IMPACT: SUMMARY

68 The business of social Social media tracker 2012

69 The impact: summary Our research shows that social experiences can be very powerful, creating strong connections with the consumer. However, it also shows that knowing this is not enough. We also need to know the value that these bring. These experiences need not be complicated. The consumer is often the most powerful advocate and ally of a brand: Wave 6 - The Business Of Social demonstrates that even simply responding to a customer s problems creates more loyalty and advocacy than any reward programme could. So it is no good spending time and investment on a social experience that you don t know the value of or doesn t meet your brand s challenges. It s necessary to look at both the consumer s needs and your own objectives if you are to build something that not only connects to the consumer but also helps build value for your brand. 69

70 The business of social Social media tracker 2012

71 What does this mean for your business? What are the social dynamics of your category? How are your consumers currently behaving in social media? What kind of social media experience are they looking for? Which of these experiences best deliver against your brand s marketing objectives? Which devices and social platforms are best able to deliver this experience? Wave 6 The Business Of Social is an in-depth study and there are many other aspects that we are unable to cover in this report. If you want to know how to operate in the new social media landscape and what this means for your business please contact: EMEA Glen Parker Research Director - EMEA Glen.Parker@umww.com NORTH AMERICA Huw Griffiths EVP Global Director of Research Huw.Griffiths@umww.com APAC Natalie Pidgeon Director IQ and Insights - APAC Natalie.Pidgeon@umww.com LATIN AMERICA Mario Mejia Strategic Director - Colombia / LatAm Mario.Mejia@umww.com 71

72 About this report Wave 6 - The Business Of Social is part of UM s on-going research programme aimed at exploring the massive changes occurring in communication technologies The studies have been conducted annually since The research is conducted by the UM EMEA research team in collaboration with the UM global network of agencies. If you have any questions about the research or future Wave projects please contact the authors of this report: Glen Parker Research Director EMEA glen.parker@umww.com Lindsey Thomas Senior Research Executive EMEA lindsey.thomas@umww.com The business of social Social media tracker 2012

73 This report is printed on Cocoon Silk 100: a paper produced using eco-sensitive technology from 100% recycled & de-inked waste paper (FSC certified) Designed & illustrated with love by

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