SILVERPOP MOCIAL SURVEY: How Companies Are Using Social, Mobile, Local and Email A Silverpop White Paper Email.Marketing.Automation
WHITE PAPER Silverpop Mocial Survey: How Companies Are Using Social, Mobile, Local and Email Successful marketers know that they need to go where their customers are. But in today s world gone mocial, in which mobile, social and local forms of communication mix and mingle with email in new and unexpected ways, where exactly is that? To gain a better understanding of how today s marketers are using and plan to use various mocial mediums to communicate with customers, Silverpop polled more than 500 online marketers regarding their use of social, email, mobile and local forms of communication. We found varying levels of mocial adoption and pinpointed several notable areas in which there is room for growth. Study Findings and Summary While usage patterns and best practices are still developing in the mocial world, Silverpop s survey identified several key trends: Few companies are using social and mobile to drive email opt-ins. Despite the opportunity to drive new customers to the email channel, only about one in 10 companies are offering an email optin on their Facebook pages and even less use SMS to increase email subscriptions. Email lists still trump Facebook and Twitter followers. Though the average ratio of email subscribers to Facebook likes or Twitter followers varies based on industry and company size, companies across the board average several times the number of email subscribers to Facebook/Twitter members and in many cases the ratio is 50:1 or greater. Mobile marketing initiatives are still evolving. Although the majority of respondents plans to unroll mobile apps by the end of 2012, only about 1 in 10 foresees their company using local check-ins. Preference centers have room for improvement. The only constant among the channels offered in preference centers is email, leaving plenty of opportunity for savvy marketers to connect with channelchoosy customers and prospects by providing additional options. Mocial planning and integration is in the early stages. Few respondents said their marketing programs are fully integrated, and most are still wrestling with how to measure and evaluate these initiatives. leveraged to reinforce each other. According to Silverpop s survey, most marketers are making some effort toward achieving integrated campaigns across channels, but there is still ample room for improvement. When respondents were asked to indicate the level of integration within their marketing initiatives, only 17 percent indicated full integration across their email, social and mobile programs. To achieve maximum impact, you should aim to integrate mocial efforts whenever possible, capturing email addresses via Facebook, driving your Twitter followers to your blog with a teaser tweet, and blogging about an exclusive SMS promotion and vice versa. Overall Channel Integration According to Compete.com, more than 250 million active users log on to Facebook on any given day it has become the second most popular destination on the Web. Chatting, tweeting, texting, checking in and even conducting business on mobile devices is the norm, and smart phone apps are moving users off the Web. The world has gone mocial, and marketers must upgrade their programs to keep up. Email, mobile, social media and location-based services each have their own special place in a successful marketing campaign and should be Goals, Measurement and Tracking Just like anything else in marketing, as something grows, you want to measure it. Mocial is no different. You should be aligning your mocial metrics with the key performance indicators your company is already familiar with. Paying attention to more traditional metrics such as exposure, influence and engagement is important when evaluating the success of these channels, but you should also keep an eye on conversions and revenue growth. 2
WHITE WHITE PAPER PAPER Silverpop s mocial study reveals that marketers are currently placing the greatest emphasis on quantity, with half of survey respondents measuring follower growth. While fan base size is important to monitor, it s also critical to observe engagement, reach and sentiment. Are users engaging with you, and if they are, are their comments negative, positive or neutral? And how are these metrics tying back to your overall goals? Keeping an eye on these areas will help you better understand how your messages are stacking up against your customers needs and desired level of engagement with your brand. As consumers become increasingly channel-choosy preferring SMS for flight delay notifications, email for upgrade and mileage status, and a Facebook feed for airline promotions, for example offering more options could be the difference between strongly engaging a customer or prospect and having that contact opt out. As appropriate, offer several types of communication channel choices at opt-in, throughout the relationship and as an alternative to unsubscribing. Building preference centers that give subscribers different channel options, such as SMS, both empowers your customers and prospects and gives you another touch point for connecting with them. Preference Centers Giving customers and prospects options for how you communicate with them is one of the best ways to capture key data, increase message relevancy, reduce list churn and boost revenue. Yet the vast majority of companies continue to offer limited options to subscribers beyond email. According to Silverpop s survey, roughly one out of four companies offered Twitter and Facebook options, and only one out of 10 provided subscribers the opportunity to sign up for an SMS messaging program or download a mobile app. Social Media Presence Location, location, location means two things in a mocial world: remembering that your customers are on the go, and going where they are. To see where survey respondents are currently spreading their mocial mojo, Silverpop examined respondents current presence on social networks and location-based websites. Not surprisingly, the dominant social media channels the surveyed marketers use are Twitter and Facebook. It makes sense why companies want to be on these sites there are more than 200 million Twitter users and nearly 600 million Facebook users, and according to Facebook those users spend more than 700 billion minutes per month on the site. 3
WHITE WHITE PAPER PAPER YouTube was a surprisingly close third among survey respondents perhaps indicating a growing interest in the power of video to connect with customers and prospects while marketers use of location-based services such as Foursquare and Gowalla shows room for growth. When deciding where you should build a social media presence, it s important to consider where your specific audience is. For example, B2B companies might focus their efforts on Twitter, with B2C companies opting for Facebook. Yet beyond these larger social networks, there may also be opportunities with vertically focused communities or mediasharing sites such as Digg, Flickr, SlideShare and other social media sites that are closely aligned to your subscriber base and their social habits. Bottom line: Your efforts will be lost if you re hanging out with the wrong crowd. In the new mocial world, popularity is important, but not everything. Email to Social Ratio Despite the growing interest in social media, mobile apps and locationbased services, email isn t dead or even dying. Worldwide, there are nearly a billion more email accounts than social network accounts according to research by the Radicati Group, and a 2011 Merkle study found that email is the preferred method of commercial communication for nearly threefourths of adults. While it s important (even crucial) to include newer channels in your marketing mix, it s also important to remember that you will still probably reach many more people via email with the potential to connect via highly relevant, personalized, behavior-driven messages. Silverpop s mocial survey found that, on average, respondents email list size trumps their number of Facebook likes 70:1 and surpasses Twitter followers 90:1. In general, the smaller the email list size, the larger the ratio of email subscribers to Facebook likes. Interestingly, the reverse is true for Twitter, with companies with smaller email lists having a lower email-subscriber-to-twitter-follower ratio. Social media channel to likes or followers Facebook 70:1 Twitter 90:1 Email subscribers to Twitter followers 1 million + 470:1 250,000 to 999,999 280:1 100,000 to 249,999 100:1 100,000 and under 40:1 For B2B marketers, Silverpop s survey suggests the difference may be even greater. For these companies, who likely deal with higher price tags and longer buying cycles, the ratio of email program subscribers to Facebook likes was 88:1 on average, while the ratio of email subscribers to Twitter followers was a surprisingly high 290:1. Audience type to likes or followers B2B Facebook 88:1 B2C Facebook 50:1 Both B2B and B2C Facebook 53:1 B2B Twitter 290:1 B2C Twitter 50:1 Both B2B and B2C Twitter 77:1 Given most companies larger email list sizes, marketers should use the channel to promote their organization s social pages. Within your emails, invite subscribers to like or follow your social network pages, include social-sharing links where applicable, and drive return traffic by announcing special promotions on Facebook, etc. Email subscribers to Facebook likes 1 million + 20:1 250,000 to 999,999 95:1 100,000 to 249,999 160:1 100,000 and under 450:1 4
WHITE WHITE PAPER PAPER Email Opt-ins According to survey responses, using a mocial channel to grow your email database is one area where there s tremendous room for growth. Only 10 percent of survey respondents indicated email opt-ins on their company s Facebook page, and only 4 percent of companies currently offer opt in via SMS. Marketers shouldn t miss the chance to use social pages as a collection point for opt-ins to the email program. If you have a Facebook page, for example, make sure to place an email opt-in link/ form there, following the same best practices you would elsewhere, such as not forcing new subscribers to fill out a detailed form right at the start. And don t forget about mobile. While few people on a trade show floor are walking around carrying a laptop (if they can even get a Wi-Fi connection), most if not all of them will have a mobile device. Encourage them to opt in to your email program via SMS. On the retail side, invite consumers to opt in to your email program at the point of purchase via texting their email address, greatly increasing opt-ins and reducing the bad addresses and bounces that can result from human error when retail employees type in the wrong consumer email addresses. Including an email sign-up on your Facebook page is an easy way to add friends and influencers from the social channel to your email channel, where you can send them personalized, behavior-driven messages. 5
WHITE PAPER Mobile Applications With Juniper Research estimating that 25 billion mobile applications will be downloaded by 2015, apps are becoming much more than a novelty they are developing into a key way to both strengthen the use of other channels and interact with customers or potential customers. Thirty-three percent of survey respondents indicated that their company already has a mobile app, while another 30 percent plan to add one in the future. Of those who are focused on mobile apps, the bulk of attention is being directed at the iphone/itouch and the ipad. While marketers adding this powerful tool to their communication arsenal will likely gain an edge on the competition, they would be wise to pair mobile applications with an email welcome program that provides tips on getting the most out of their respective apps. With industry research indicating that one in four apps is only used once, this would help ensure that downloaders stay engaged with your brand. Local Check-ins Check-ins and daily deals are fast becoming the new coupons. And using the latest marketing technology, marketers can create personalized, location-based marketing messages that are delivered at the time of check-in. Despite the potential of local check-in programs to engage customers, only 1 in 10 survey respondents is currently implementing such a program or planning to do so. Given the inherent relevancy of local marketing initiatives and the growing proliferation of smart phones, tablets and mobile applications, marketers should take a careful look at whether a local check-in program makes sense for their business. Conclusion With billions of people performing some combination of logging onto social networks, downloading mobile applications, and checking in at various locations, it s safe to say that the mocial phenomenon is here to stay. And given the billions of people who use email and the channel s close ties to mobile and social use, how marketers integrate these various mediums will be critical to their success in the years ahead. By thinking more strategically about your mocial goals, leveraging each channel to strengthen the other, and constantly shifting your use of these channels to match consumer usage patterns and expectations, you ll be on your way to achieving success in this new mocial world. Survey Methodology To compile benchmark data that would help marketers learn from each other, Silverpop conducted a detailed survey of more than 500 marketers in April 2011 regarding the use of social, mobile, local and email channels and marketing initiatives. To find out more about Silverpop s Engage platform and how it can benefit your company, please contact our office nearest you. Americas/Corporate Headquarters Silverpop Systems Inc. 200 Galleria Parkway, Suite 1000 Atlanta, GA 30339, U.S.A. Phone: 866-SILVPOP (745-8767) contactsales@silverpop.com EMEA Silverpop Systems Ltd. 52 Upper Street, Suite 119 London N1 0QH, United Kingdom Phone: +44 20 7288 6343 contactsales@silverpop.com German Headquarters Silverpop System Elisabethstraße 91 80797 München www.silverpop.de kontakt@silverpop.de Asia-Pacific Engage Digital Pty Ltd 435 Kent Street Sydney NSW 2000, Australia Phone: +61 2 8070 9230 contactsales@silverpop.com 6