Consumers Embrace Social Media for Brand Engagement, AR Poised to Grow, and More

(c) Can Stock Photo The Friday Wrap reviews some of the best, most interesting and newsworthy posts and articles from the last week. The items included in the Wrap are chosen from my link blog, which you are always welcome to visit: LinksFromShel.tumblr.com. I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year?

Digital fully integrated into technology consumers’ lives

A new study from IDG Research Services reveals the degree to which social media, video and mobile devices have become integral parts of consumers’ decision-making processes. The Echo Effect: understanding the Value of Tech Buyers found that 95% of respondents use at least one social media site, where 44% said exposure to tech products positively affects the likelihood that they’ll purchase the product in question. The same number said that seeing the product referenced in social channels also makes them feel satisfied with the company. They’re willing to recommend the company (42%) and experience feelings of brand loyalty (40%). Two-thirds of respondents own and regularly use two or more mobile devices; they spend a third of their time each week accessing tech-related information on a mobile device. Ninety-three percent watch tech-related videos and 72% have forwarded, shared or posted a video. Forty percent watch these videos on a mobile device. “Video viewing also drives purchase behaviors,” according to Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog coverage; “65% of consumers have researched a product as a result of watching a tech-related video in recent months and close to half of them looked for a product in a retail store (45%), visited a vendor website or contacted a vendor for information (45%), or purchased a product (44%).

Failing to answer customer tweets a lost opportunity

In the IDG study above, when respondents were asked how brands should engage in the social space, most answered that they should just answer consumer questions. That’s good advice, considering only 29% of large retailers use Twitter to actively engage with customers. Digital marketer Acquity studied 50 retailers—90% of which had Twitter accounts—and found that fewer companies have set up shop on Pinterest and Instagram, but those that have are more likely to engage with shoppers. “Although most brands are signed up for the major social networks, many struggle to understan d how they fit into their overarching business strategy,” Internet Retailer quote Acquity EVP Jay Dettling.

Consumers prefer doing business with social companies

There’s a theme in the first two items of this week’s wrap. Let’s keep it going. Mass Relevance has shared results of a study that found 59% of consumers are more likely to trust brands that have established a solid social media presence. “Another 60% of those surveyed reported that they are more likely to share a brand’s message if the brand has integrated social media into their digital properties,” writes James Dohnert in an article on ClickZ. Nearly two-thirds say they have made a purchase decision based on content found in social channels. More results: 56% of respondents are more likely to encourage friends to try a product from a social company, and 75% “are already talking about brands on social media channels.” That number leaps to 91% in the 18-34 demographic. And, consistent with the stories above, 63% are more likely to buy a product or try a new service if they read positive comments about them in social channels.

Nearly half of social networkers engage with brands online

And one more: Forrester Research found that the number of people who go online daily, spend more time online and interact with brands while they’re there is on the rise. Forty-five percent of respondents who use social networks have interacted with a brand via social media in the last three months. The number of people who like or follow a brand is up, although Twitter doesn’t seem to be much of a factor, with only 7% saying they follow brands on Twitter and 7% posting feedback to a brand’s Twitter account, according to a Todd Wasserman story on Mashable.

Sharing product information? Facebook is the top social channel

Facebook is the number one social site for consumers to share product information with their networks. Social commerce service provider 8thBridge found that people who shared product information via social media “were heavily predisposed to doing so on Facebook,” according to a report from eMarketer. (The report also noted that a fair number of people don’t share product information at all.) Sixty-three percent or those responding to the survey use Facebook to alert communities to products information; only 25% do so on Twitter. The results may not be terribly surprising given that respondents were Facebook users, “but the data does demonstrate that a majority of those on the social network are willing to create awareness of products.” They share because they want others to know their personal tastes (38%) or want to share a product or experience that made them happy (35%).

Companies aren’t communicating their BYOD policies

More and more employees are bringing their own personal mobile devices to work and using them for work purposes—as many as 68%, but some accounts. But according to results of a survey from tech company Globo, only 29% of companies have a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy and 42% of respondents “don’t know if their company’s BYOD policy allows IT to have full access to their personal devices,” according to a Bulldog Reporter Daily Dog item. “These findings show a significant lack of communication between companies and their employees with respect to BYOD, an issue that must be addressed.”

Augmented Reality primed for growth in 2013

One technology I can’t seem to get people excited about is Augmented Reality. Yet a VentureBeat piece by Trak Lord—head of marketing for AR company Metaio—offers five reasons why we can expect to see the technology’s star rise in the year ahead. These include the imminent arrival of Google’s AR-enabled glasses and the fact that smartphones will come with AR integrated into the handset. “In 2013, expect to see the next generation of…GPS-based experiences, incorporating not only data from on-board sensors like the gyroscope and camera, but other niche mobile technologies that rely on proximity such as NFC,” writes Lord. We’re also seeing a decline in the gimmicky AR apps as more utilitarian tools take center stage. Finally, we’re likely to see a killer AR app appear in the new year.

New York Times’ Snow Fall project: unifying text and multimedia

If you haven’t had a chance to see Snow Fall—an exercise in multimedia storytelling from The New York Times—don’t miss it. Praise has been heaped on the tale of skiers and snowboarders trapped in an avalanche in the Cascade Mountains. Appearing in the Grey Lady’s online edition, the story marries text, photos, videos and interactive graphics “that blend seamlessly and come alive on the Web page,” according to Jeff Sonderman, writing for The Poynter Institute’s blog. Sonderman interviewed Times Graphics Director Steve Duenes, who said the goal was to “find ways to allow readers to read into, and then through multimedia, and then out of multimedia. So it didn’t feel like you were taking a detour, but the multimedia was part of the one narrative flow.” As organizations seek to distinguish their content,Snow Fall could serve as a blueprint for taking full advantage of the medium’s capabilities. 

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The Top Ten Viral Videos of 2012

2012 has been a great year for video sharing with the ten most viral videos being shared 28 million times compared to the 16.8 million of their 2011 counterparts.

Here’s a look at the ten most shared non-music videos based on the Viral Video Chart by Unruly Media.

This ranks videos based on how many shares they get, rather than their number of views.

Top of the Charts:Invisible Children:Kony 2012

It is somehow reassuring to find that the top viral video of 2012 wasn’t advertising a big multinational brand selling a product. Instead it was a video about humanity produced by a not for profit organisation. If you haven’t seen it yet, you really should, not only because it is compelling and incredibly moving, but also because it is a very fine example of how to make brilliant use of social media.

Amazingly it is 30 minutes long, which normally would be considered too much, especially for a viral video. But it has been hugely successful. How come it has been shared so much? Well, the content itself certainly helps. It is an emotive subject and the film is well crafted and narrated with a really personal approach.

Early on in the film we are told that the video is an part of an experiment.

This is intriguing in itself and makes you want watch it. The messages are about the empowerment of the individual and are the kind of thing people do share, for that very reason.

The marketing strategy is also excellent, encouraging people to take action by showing them how the power of social media is already making a huge difference in this cause by bringing people all over the world together for positive impact.

Even if you don’t donate money, it is primarily about raising awareness in order to put pressure on policy makers and those with the power to do something at a governmental level. The video even identifies the 12 policy-makers it wants you to put pressure on and directs you to their website where you are shown how to contact them.

By also involving key famous influencers such as Angelina Jolie and George Clooney, who have huge followings on social media, the video really becomes contagious.

Runner Up: TNT: A Dramatic Surprise on a Quiet Square

If you saw an enormous red button saying “push to add drama”, how could you resist it?

This promo video for a Belgian TV network is great fun and shows what people do when faced with just such a tempting button, then showing what happens next.

It works almost like a flashmob (remember T-Mobile’s Dance Flashmob of 2009?), by involving members of the public in a seemingly spontaneous happening.

The action is well staged and the film itself uses plenty of cameras in order to capture the all important reactions of the unsuspecting passers-by. When everything returns to normal, they are left dazed and wondering if they just hallucinated the whole thing. Brilliant!

The ad agency who produced the video, Duval Guillaume, shot the whole thing 11 different times then put together the best footage with the best reactions in the final edit.

In terms of sharability, anybody who actually witnessed the event itself will have told all their friends and undoubtedly searched for YouTube footage having seen the cameras. So the seeds of a viral video were already being sewn at the production stage.

Number 3: Abercrombie & Fitch

Great, upbeat song by Carly Rae Jepsen (ok, so they must have an enormous budget to be able to use it!), and an army of good-looking, extremely fit guys lip-synching and having fun, wearing only their Abercrombie & Fitch jeans. Irresistible.

A feel good promo video which represents the brand values of A&F perfectly.

Their target audience are the university student “college kid” demographic, so this fun, sexy video panders to it perfectly.

Fortunately it is exactly this age range which share videos contagiously when they really like them. Young men want to be the guys in the video (attractive and fun), and everyone who appreciates them and the music will share it. Great combo.

Number 4: DC Shoes: Ultimate Urban Playground

This is a must for anyone who likes fast stunt driving, not to mention the backdrop of the amazing city of San Francisco. DC Shoes specialise in footwear for extreme sports.

The idea of having a city all to yourself as a playground is very appealing especially to the target audience who will enjoy adrenalin rushes and will probably have done something similar to this virtually in video games.

The real thing is awesome. The bridges and steep streets of San Francisco, and even a car ferry, become a stunt race track for an amazing driver (who is of course wearing DC Shoes).

Emotive music at the end, as well as an impressive list of sponsors, which were no doubt rather handy to have involved.

Number 5: P&G – Thank You Mama – Best Job 2012

This is a beautiful film gently promoting some of P&G’s household products. It shows a glimpse into the lives of mothers around the world and the emotional and physical journeys they go on with their children. We see them getting their children up in the morning to go off to their various contrasting yet similar activities, interspersed with the many household tasks they have to do (washing up, laundry etc), and seeing the children grow and meet challenges eventually going on to become athletes in the 2012 Olympics.

Using the Olympics as a focus is clever, as it is topical and something most people can relate to, as is recognising the hardships and joys of motherhood (although a little bit presumptuous as there are plenty of other carers doing the same, but it works well as a catchy title and focus!), so they are onto a winner with the combination.

Number 6: Dancesport Studio: Two Year Old Dancing The Jive

This has to be the lowest budget of the top ten! It is a sickeningly sweet and funny home video of a 2 year old dancing the jive which a dance studio have used to promote their services, using the tag line “It is never too early to start…” Cute kids doing funny things equals very shareable.

Number 7: Melbourne Metro: Dumb Ways To Die

A funny animation showing “dumb ways to die” with a silly catchy song about them to raise awareness of safety around trains and traintracks!

Using humour to get across a serious topic can work really well.

Number 8: Chevrolet: Ok Go – Needing/Getting

A car advert in the guise of a music video. It’s a quirky song which uses sounds made by the car to create the percussion, as it goes on a journey knocking into various sonorous objects on it’s way.

Kind of a mini mobile “Stomp” (if you’ve seen it). See below if you haven’t:

Number 9: Volkswagen: The Bark Side

A canine chorus barks out the Imperial March from Star Wars. Part of a series. Funny and cute wins the day again.

Number 10: PBS Digital Studios: Mister Rogers Remixed – Garden of Your Mind

This is a nostalgic remix of a 1970s American children’s program promoting the original back catalogue of the studio’s programs.

The ad appeals to exactly the age group the network are targeting. Nostalgia is another good hook for virals.

So what does all this tell us? In short, a combination of emotive, empowering, inclusive, recognition-giving, funny, cute, sexy, upbeat, quirky, original and nostalgic makes the perfect social video.

Creativity is key so think twice before shelving your most risky and crazy ideas.

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Year in Review: Lessons from Two Social Marketing Hits

Making sense of conflicting predictions

With over a billion Facebook users worldwide, everyone’s life has been touched in some way by social media. The question, however, is how brands can best leverage this medium. With Gartner predicting that half of all web sales will come from social and mobile by 2015, we must learn how to judge the value of social media. Everything from final sale attribution, to number of touch points, to social’s influence on various aspects of the marketing and sales funnel, plays a role in companies benefiting from and measuring the results of social media.

We’ve started the legwork for you, combing through the best social marketing stories from 2012 and analyzing what sets the winners apart from the losers. Read on for two key lessons from social marketing hits, and download our white paper Top Social Engagement Lessons from JetBlue, Zappos, Fab.com, and Kirkland’s for in depth reviews and takeaways from 5 of your favorite brands. 

Success generating revenue with social endorsement: Zappos

As a digitally focused company, Zappos found itself poised to take advantage of social media, and it has successfully leveraged the social space in a way many companies have not: to drive direct revenue.

Using social evangelism to drive revenue

Zappos engages in Social Activation by allowing customers to easily share their purchases across Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, which results in tangible monetary benefits. For each ‘Share’, Zappos earns $33.66 on Twitter, $2.08 on Facebook, and $0.75 on Pinterest in incremental revenue. The brilliance of facilitating and promot­ing social endorsement comes from the fact that this revenue does not actually rely on Zappos’ so­cial media presence, but rather it relies on the social graphs of their customers. When a customer ‘Shares’ a Zappos purchase, they post it to their own social network rather than a Zappos-owned presence, by­passing the need for a strong social following on Zappos’ part.

Image 1: Zappos provides a clear call to action to share, while also providing options that give users control over the amount of information to share with their social networks

The lesson: Facilitate customer activation to drive sales through social

While a strong social presence is essen­tial for overall success, what sets Zappos apart from other companies successful in social engagement is their ability to leverage consumers to sell products for them. Gartner believes that 50% of all web sales will soon come from social and mobile, and if the $33.66 Zappos earns for every pur­chase shared on Twitter is any indication of influ­ence potential, they’re right on track.

Success integrating social onsite to increase paying customer base: Fab.com

Go to Fab.com and click “Log in”. If you’re hesitant to create yet another account, don’t worry: Fab allows you to log in using your existing Facebook account. Where Fab.com sets itself apart is in the integration of Facebook into the core design of their website, effectively driv­ing website traffic through social media.

Creating a website with social built in

In addition to eliminating the need for a traditional login, Fab.com has done everything from facilitating and incentivizing social endorsement to actually creating a live “newsfeed” on the site using Facebook Open Graph. This Newsfeed populates in real-time with user activity like purchases and ‘favorited’ items on Facebook, taking advantage of consumers’ influence over each other and allowing users to browse and buy this socially shared content directly from Facebook or their website.

Image 2: Sample of the live user-populated newsfeed built into Fab.com

Using these tactics, in just four months Fab was able to double its referral traffic from Facebook and ex­pand its membership from 1.8 to 3.2 million users, with 50% of these new members joining as a result of Facebook. Even more impress­ive is that these socially involved members generate twice the lifetime value of members who do not en­gage with Fab using Facebook, combining the short-term benefits of an increase in paying customers with long-term benefits of higher lifetime value.

The lesson: Incorporate social media into your website

Fab.com proves that the value of social marketing expands beyond the platforms themselves.  Creating an engaging social experience across both social and traditionally non-social channels will play an ever-more important role for marketers. The more social value Fab creates – such as adding recommendations based on friend’s purchases in the live stream – the more users will purchase their products and share with their social graphs.

Success requires shifting your strategy

Zappos and Fab.com succeed with social marketing because they don’t treat it as a separate “social” initiative. Both companies built social media into their e-commerce solutions, combining on-site and off-site social marketing tactics to maximize their results through increasing awareness and engaging in customer service on Facebook, Twitter, and other social channels, while integrating user-generated social purchases into their e-commerce framework. Socially engaging consumers wherever they spend their time, either in the newsfeed or on your website, will be the key for success in the coming years.

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