Is the UK’s retail industry social enough?
Is the UK’s retail industry social enough?
Written by Ben Sillitoe
Just 42 per cent of retail brands questioned in a new survey are utilising the current generation’s favourite tool, social media.
Companies with no presence on portals such as Twitter and Facebook could be missing out on a chance to engage with their customers and strengthen relationships.
The study, which was undertaken by ecommerce solutions firm dotcommerce, indicated that it is surprising there are not more businesses using social media because it does not cost a lot and there is a vast audience to tap into.
Indeed, the research suggested only 12 per cent of retailers use more than one form of social media to communicate with their target audiences, despite the prevalence of tools at their disposal.
Some 24 per cent of the brands assessed had a Facebook presence, but 26 per cent were on Twitter – despite the latter having been around for a shorter period of time and containing a smaller user base.
“Twitter is simpler by nature, which makes it potentially easier for businesses to get going with it quickly, and which may account for the slight preference for this network amongst the brands we assessed,” the dotcommerce report stated.
Marks & Spencer (M&S) is one retailer currently utilising Twitter by informing followers of new product updates and promotions, as well as details about its current marketing campaigns. M&S’ Twitter followers are approaching 7,000 in number.
Other firms may wish to follow in the high street firm’s footsteps in order to stay in tune with their customers.
This past year was not exactly what businesses had been hoping for — the down economy not only took its toll nationally, but posed unexpected challenges for local marketers. Balihoo, the premier provider of Local Marketing Automation technology and services to national brands with local marketing needs, has unique insights into local store marketing trends. Their work to provide solutions to clients — including more than 25,000 local affiliates with more than $180 billion in annual revenue — means that they are on top of the local marketing trends that you will be seeing on a nationwide scale in 2010.
For more information, download Balihoo’s Local Marketing Automation Whitepaper.
Balihoo’s predictions for the first year of the new decade in local store marketing include:
• Local Television: TV audiences may be watching an average of 13 hours a week, but an increase in programming options means that viewers are watching far more programs across the board. This pays off for local TV advertisers, giving them the ability to focus their messages on smaller, more targeted groups of viewers.
Prediction: More local businesses will use TV — particularly cable — to reach these more refined, segmented audiences.
• Local Newspapers: Local newspaper advertising has been rapidly declining as local marketers are looking for a greater ability to target their messages and audiences. Online newspaper advertising, however, has been expanding.
Prediction: Online advertising for local newspapers will halt its expansion and go flat, or even see a slight decline. The year 2010 will be a turning point for news delivered via the web and mobile devices, which are areas in which newspapers typically do not excel. The exception to this prediction: publications — both print and online — that serve rural areas or are focused on hyper-local news.
• Direct Mail: There has been a resurgence in direct mail as no-call lists, e-mail spam rules and untargeted broad media affect local marketers’ ability to reach audiences.
Prediction: Better targeting and new, advanced tools to personalize messaging and track results will lead to a surge in direct mail.
• Mobile: Smart phones are becoming more popular, and technologies are moving mobile advertising from primarily text messaging-based to including images and video. However, Balihoo still sees mobile at the local level as more sizzle than steak.
Prediction: The next year will bring the biggest jump yet in text-based mobile advertising, but more advanced options such as image and video will be limited to all but the trendiest of trendsetters.
• Search Engine Optimization: Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, efforts were popular in local marketing plans in 2009, moving to the forefront of many local marketing budgets as Internet content has become more local and lively.
Prediction: There will be a big push for local SEO as more local businesses adopt the tactic, increasing competition across the board.
• E-mail: E-mail marketing at the local level has been slow-growing because of marketers’ inability to collect relevant customer data.
Prediction: Local businesses will place a greater emphasis on collecting customer data and using it for e-mail outreach.
• Social Media: Social media has been the darling of national marketing efforts for the past few years and has made surprising inroads in local marketing.
Prediction: Social media will continue its dramatic rise as local businesses capitalize on this opportunity to engage with their local customers. YouTube, Facebook and Twitter will be favorites of local marketers, who will leave other social media untouched until later in the new decade.
• Point-of-Purchase: Point-of-purchase — also known as in-store marketing — held steady in 2009. Prediction: There will be a significant rise in these efforts as local marketers look to increase their in-store sales.
• Integrated Marketing Communications: Historically, local businesses have not done a particularly good job at integrating their marketing communications across multiple channels. As audience sizes shrink and targeting options increase, there has been a renewed interest from local business in pursuing an integrated marketing communications strategy.
Prediction: Local marketers will continue their 2009 trend of pursuing an integrated strategy.
• Measurement and Metrics: A surprising trend in 2009 was the local marketing focus on measuring and optimizing the ROI of their campaigns. Interest in tracking the effectiveness of local marketing efforts reached unseen levels, driven primarily by the state of the economy and new tracking technology that works at the local level.
Prediction: This trend will continue and expand — now that local marketers have learned how to measure success, they will continue to capitalize on it.
• Creative and Branding: Local marketers have been turning to demand generation-based creative that includes a call to action and provides immediate feedback. In 2009, consumers became jaded by the failure of many corporations, and the local marketer is taking advantage of this trend by focusing on the value of their brand.
Prediction: Local marketers will concentrate more on social media, in-store and personal interactions with consumers
Bron: Balihoo
Retail en mobiel internet.
Mobiele toepassingen worden steeds vaker ingezet. Vooral de SMS diensten zijn een eenvoudig en effectief communicatie middel gebleken. Steeds meer bedrijven zetten dan ook SMS diensten in om hun service verlening te ondersteunen. Een berichtje van je garage dat je auto klaar is, een reminder van je tandarts dat je morgen een afspraak hebt. Het is relatief eenvoudig en zeer doeltreffend. Ook is SMS steeds vaker een onderdeel van marketing campagnes, met name de campagnes die gericht zijn op de jongere doelgroepen. Opvallend is ook dat mobiel internet nu echt van de grond begint te komen in Nederland. Er wordt al jaren over gesproken, nu is het dan echt zo ver. Daarbij zien we 2 verschillende soorten mobiel internet: Mobiele websites en Mobiele applicaties.
Download hier de volledige trendvisie
Werkboek Social Media Syntens
Gratis te downloaden een werkboek van Syntens.Met dit werkboek bieden Syntens, innovatienetwerk voor ondernemers, en ECP-EPN, platform voor de Informatie- Samenleving, mkb-ondernemers een praktisch handvat op weg naar slim sociaal netwerken. Het werkboek maakt deel uit van twee programma’s: Digivaardig & Digibewust en Nederland Digitaal in Verbinding. Klik hiervoor de pdf versie.
Social media in 2010
Bron : Tijdschrift voor marketing
Social media is een hot onderwerp, maar krijgt als medium nog maar bar weinig van het mediabudget toegeschoven. Maar dat gaat snel veranderen.
Steeds meer bedrijven geven immers aan het budget voor social media te verhogen, zo laat onderzoek zien. Daarnaast komen er nieuwe tools op de markt om social media beter te kunnen monitoren.
Volgens het Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) en PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) stegen de online advertentie-inkomsten in het derde kwartaal van 2009 naar bijna 5,5 miljard dollar. Dat is maar 1,7 procent meer dan in het tweede kwartaal van 2009.
De langzame stijging noopt marketeers ertoe om nog meer in te zetten op zaken die potentiële groei in zich herbergen, zoals social media-kanalen. In het Social Media and Online PR Report vinden Econsultancy en bigmouthmedia dat 86 procent van de ondervraagde bedrijven volgend jaar meer geld zal steken in social marketingstrategieën. 13 procent houdt de budgetten op hetzelfde niveau als afgelopen jaar.
Overigens komt echte waarde pas als je zwaar investeert in social media, aldus de onderzoekers: 52 procent van de bedrijven die zwaar hebben ingezet op social media, ziet een echte waardetoename, vergeleken met 13 procent van de bedrijven die maar een beetje hebben geëxperimenteerd.
Tools
Daarnaast zijn er nieuwe tools ontwikkeld die het makkelijker maken om social media te integreren in je marketing. Zo zijn er ‘push to social’ knoppen die e-mail integreren met social media, en zjn er nieuwe meetinstrumenten op de markt die social media-data kunnen verzamelen en interpreteren. Vooral Twitter zag een toename van applicaties, bijvoorbeeld om de invloed van twitteraars te meten.
Bron: Marketingvox
Bij onderstaande trends is met name bij 3 een rol weggelegd voor Social Media.
Met dank aan www.popai.nl
In de laatste uitgave van PETS International staat een artikel van Matthew Brown. Hij is hoofd onderzoek bij Echochamber en Brown signaleert een drietal trends in retail, die wereldwijd opgeld doen.
1. ‘Push for Posh’ (Nastreven van luxe)
Vroeger had je dure retailers, met een luxe winkeldesign, én goedkopere retailers met een simpele winkelinrichting. Dat is helemaal aan het veranderen. Het begon met Zara. De Spaanse mode-retailer koppelde een sjiek winkeldesign aan de verkoop van goedkope kleding. En daarmee veranderde Zara de regels: retailers worden gedwongen om opnieuw te kijken naar hun winkelinrichting.
2. ‘Einstein Time’ (Slimmer omgaan met wachttijden)
Consumenten vinden wachten en tijd doorbrengen in retail helemaal niet erg. Als de tijd maar de moeite waard is. Winkels die er met hun winkelinrichting rekening mee houden dat hun shoppers haast hebben moeten niet vreemd opkijken dat de verblijfsduur-cijfers naar beneden zullen gaan. Apple begon met retailen in een tijd dat de markt werd gedomineerd door winkels als Mediamarkt: eenvoudige schappen gevuld met apparatuur in dozen om zo mee te pakken. De eerste Apple-winkels werden door concurrenten gezien als tentoonstellingen: mooi om te zien; leuk om wat tijd in door te brengen, maar niet geschikt om vanuit te verkopen. Op dit moment heeft Apple de hoogste omzet per vierkante meter winkeloppervlak van alle retailers ter wereld.
3. From Provenance to Do it Yourself (Van bewijzen naar doe-het-zelf)
De trend dat consumenten willen weten waar hun producten vandaan komen is ingezet. Retailers geven via instore communicatie allerleiachtergrond informatie over de producten die ze aanbieden: herkomst, productieproces, inhoud en ingrediënten. Consumenten willen alles weten omdat ze betrokken willen zijn. Die trend zal doorzetten: consumenten willen zelf een bijdrage leveren aan deze informatie-trend. Niet alleen informatie consumeren, maar ook produceren. Ze willen hun mening over een product of dienst kunnen uiten naar andere consumenten en daar een platform voor kunnen vinden in de retailomgeving. In internetretail is dit al heel gebruikelijk.
ROI Social Media the movie
Most companies are planning to invest more in social media next year but are struggling to find the time and resources to manage their activity, according to research. The Social Media and Online PR Report, published by Econsultancy in association with bigmouthmedia, is based on a survey of more than 1,100 companies and agencies.
The research is the most comprehensive study of its kind around how companies are using online PR tactics and social media (including sites such as Twitter and Facebook) for marketing and customer service. According to the report, the overwhelming majority of companies (86%) plan to spend more money on social media in 2010, and a further 13% are planning to keep the same level of budget. The biggest barrier to better social media engagement for companies surveyed is a lack of resources, with more than half of companies (54%) citing this as a significant problem. Nine out of 10 businesses (90%) say that social media is taking up more time internally than a year ago. “The growth of social media and online PR has been meteoric, but until now there have been very few hard facts available on precisely how UK business is using the new channel and what they’re getting in return for their investment,” said Phil Gripton, Managing Director of bigmouthmedia UK. “These statistics – the most detailed yet available – show that while an increasing number of companies are embracing social media, many are struggling to effectively manage their engagement and are consequently failing to make the most of a potentially enormous opportunity.”
The research found that many companies are experimenting with social media without yet reaping any measurable benefits. Only a quarter of companies say that they have gained “real, tangible value” from social media whereas 60% say that they have gained “some benefit but nothing concrete”. However, those companies who have made an effort in this area have typically reaped some reward. More than half (52%) of responding companies who are heavily involved say that they have gained real value, compared to only 13% of companies who have “experimented but not done much”. Michelle Goodall, Econsultancy’s social media and online PR consultant, said: “Before they think about their strategy and the best tactics, companies need to go back to basics and think in detail about how online PR and social media can help them deliver against their business objectives. “The reality is that most businesses understand how to listen, what to measure and where to engage but are struggling to define the value of engagement and reputation in social spaces.”
Bron: Retail News
Black Friday Social Media
Bekijk het bericht en de video over Social Media die retailbedrijven gebruiken in de USA tijdens Black Friday een van de belangrijkste verkoopdagen van het jaar.
Klik hier voor het bericht op ABC News.
