Pay Your Subscribers Some Respect

Today, I received an email offer from a retailer for an online game where I can win discounts. I don't shop here frequently, but ok, I'll bite. Let's see what this is all about. So I click through (score one for the retailer's email marketing manager).

Upon clicking, I'm delivered to the promotional microsite for their new game/contest. The site prompts me to enter my email. This is mildly annoying, since I just clicked through from an email and it would have been simple for the website to recognize me or at the very least, pre-populate my address to save me a minute of hassle. Still, I am not deterred. In this economy, we'll all do a little more than usual for a great coupon. So I enter my address and continue on.



Do I get to play the game? No. I am now greeted with an even longer form! Keep in mind that I have purchased something from this retailer before. Online. Quite recently. So not only am I a registered user, but they already have my address and all of the other information they are requesting. In fact, notice they give me the option to register for their e-newsletter list, which I'm already registered for (that's how I got here!). At this point, I decide it's not worth it and abandon the form.



Why do marketers continue to make it so difficult to interact with their brand when technology should make it so easy? The example above is a clear case of what not to do. When you create landing pages or microsites, use caution and balance friction with incentive, or you'll surely notice high abandonment rates.

LinkedIn to Launch Ad Network

To capitalize on high membership rates and a desirable audience profile, LinkedIn has announced the birth of its own ad network.

LinkedIn will launch the network, in conjunction with Collective Media, on Monday. The CPM (cost per thousand impressions) starts at an astoundingly high $30 at a time when most social networks are struggling to sell at rates of $1 CPM. Text ads are available at a lower cost. LinkedIn is able to demand higher rates because of their affluent and influential customer base. With an average household income of $110,000, 64 percent of LinkedIn members are male, the average age is 41, and 49 percent are business decision makers.

The network will utilize partner sites. LinkedIn browsers will be cookied upon visiting the site. Members will be grouped into different, targetable categories to serve up ads on partner websites. Users will, of course, be able to opt out.

A simpler way to avoid companies tracking your every move? Set your browser to periodically clear cookies.

More details and stats at TechCrunch.

Consumers Look for Bargains Online

With the slowing economy, spenders are more likely to carefully research purchases, often turning to the internet to score the best deals.

New research by a team from the UK found that:

• Price remains the major influencer, with 64% citing this as the most important factor when making an online purchase over the next 12 months.
• 62% of respondents said they are now more likely to consult reviews written by other web shoppers before buying.
• Most (69%) search by product name when looking to purchase online, with brand names the next most searched for (43%).
• Women are more inclined to reduce overall spending during the economic downturn, but they are more likely to consult online reviews than men (64% vs. 58%).
• When comparing the different age groups, it is the “silver surfers” (age 55+), many of whom have paid off mortgages or enjoy higher disposable income, who are the least concerned about the economic situation: 43% said the economy would not affect their spending.
• They are followed by the 16-24 age bracket: 37% wouldn’t change their spending levels.

image via Flickr

TV Still the Main Source of News in America

Despite the rise in popularity of blogs and online news feeds, Americans are still getting most of their news through the good, ol' fashioned TV set.

The unsurprising results of a Pew Research Center's biannual survey, released Sunday, show that younger Americans trend toward online news, while older citizens op for the traditional television broadcasts.

According to Pew, there is now a sizable group of a more engaged, sophisticated and well-off people, called "integrators," that use both traditional and online sources to get their news - accounting for 23% of the surveyed group.

"Like Web-oriented news consumers, integrators are affluent and highly educated. However they are older, on average, than those who consider the Internet their main source of news," the survey said.

The survey also showed that the heaviest news viewers tend to be older and of a less affluent, accounting for the trend to seek out news on TV rather than online. Cable news is gaining popularity with TV viewers, with local broadcasts losing steam.

As expected, there has been an overall decline in the percentage of people who said they read a newspaper the day before [the survey], to 34 percent from 40 percent two years ago.

Those who rely on the internet for their news have a median age of 35 and make up the smallest percentage of the polled audience. However, when combined with the "integrators" who are trending toward online sources as well, this makes up a significant group for advertisers to pursue.

Marketers, Meet 'Generation V'

Below is a recent piece from Marketing Charts, introducing us to a new generation of consumers - one that is not bound by age or social class - but it strictly behaviorally based.

‘Generation V’ Defies Traditional Demographics

The online behavior, attitudes and interests of people from all walks of life are blending together online, cutting across generations and traditional demographics and giving rise to a new online group called “Generation Virtual” (Generation V), according to research by Gartner, which coined the term.

Unlike previous generations, Generation V is not defined by age, gender, social class or geography. Instead, it is based on achievement, accomplishments and an increasing preference for the use of digital media channels to discover information, build knowledge and share insights.

Marketers will ultimately need a separate marketing strategy to reach this generation, according to Gartner.

Within the Generation V community, Gartner defines four levels of engagement - creators, contributors, opportunists, and lurkers - related to the extent to which customers engage with other customers and the level of engagement that businesses and other organizations must have to enable them:

Findings about these Generation V segments:

• Up to 3% will be creators, providing original content. They can be advocates that promote products and services.
  
• Between 3% and 10% will be contributors who add to the conversation, but don’t initiate it. They can recommend products and services as customers move through a buying process, looking for purchasing advice.
• Between 10% and 20% will be opportunists, who can further contributions regarding purchasing decisions. Opportunists can add value to a conversation that’s taking place while walking through a considered purchase.
  
• Approximately 80% will be lurkers, essentially spectators, who reap the rewards of online community input but absorb only what is being communicated. They can still implicitly contribute and indirectly validate value from the rest of the community. All users start out as lurkers.

To address the different needs of these groups, Gartner recommends that marketing organizations segment and support all four engagement levels in the community with appropriate technology and establish goals with plans for determining return on investment (ROI).

“Companies should plan to segment all four levels in the community - each has significant business value,” said Adam Sarner, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Differentiation exists between sectors and industries. Marketers with strong brands attract more creators. Certain industries, such as insurance, draw more lurkers.”

via Marketing Charts