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1 Minute Advice: Ups and Downs of Social Media Marketing

Social media continues to be valuable for marketers, but the 2019 Social Media Marketing Industry Report suggest some softening. The annual report surveyed more than 4,800 marketers, mostly in small businesses, who use social media marketing. It found, for the first time in the last five years, a drop in Facebook's share as the most important platform for marketers. According to the report, only 51 percent of marketers plan on increasing their Facebook organic activities, down from 62 percent in 2018. Messenger bots usage is declining as well; only 32 percent of marketers plan on increasing their bot activities, a 7 percent decrease from 2018.

On the positive side, usage of Instagram for marketing is up significantly, and it has become the second most important social platform for marketing, behind Facebook, surpassing LinkedIn for the first time. Over the next twelve months, 69 percent of marketers plan on increasing their Instagram organic activities. YouTube usage is also robust -- 71 percent of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube video.

The free report has lots more valuable data. You can request it here: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-industry-report-2019/

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the new book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Email's B2B eCommerce Power

Here's a surprising statistic: When it comes to buying products online, email -- not ecommerce -- is the leading channel, according to a new study by Sana Commerce, as reported by MediaPost. Of the buyers asked in the study, 42 percent cited email as their "most important purchase vehicle," followed by 28 percent indicating ecommerce and 26 percent indicating phone.

Email continues to show remarkable resilience, despite the rise of social media and texting. It is particularly noteworthy that B2B buyers favor it as an ordering channel.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the new book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Shoppers Check Phones Instead of Interacting with Retail Personnel

 

Reporting on a study done by RetailMeNot, eMarketer suggests "the gap between online and offline shopping continues to close." The study indicates that 69 percent of responding Internet users who are shopping at retail stores look for reviews on their phone, and 53 percent search for deals -- before speaking with a store associate. In addition, 58 percent use their smartphones to evaluate comparable products or services to what they are considering purchasing and 55 percent check product specifications -- all instead of interacting with retail personnel.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the new book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Personalization Across Channels is a Challenge

Marketers continue to face challenges when it comes to personalizing communications across all of the channels they use, according to eMarketer. While more than half (63 percent) of North American and UK consumers say they expect personalization from brands and retailers, only 3 percent of U.S. companies report they have "true omnichannel personalization" when it comes to their marketing. The data, from a March 2019 survey by Evergage, indicates that just one-quarter (26 percent) of respondents say at least half of their marketing channels are connected. What's more, 21 percent didn't have any of their marketing channels connected. Almost three-quarters of consumers (73 percent) believe brands struggle with "rising expectations for a personalized experience."

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the new book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Most Reputable Companies in the U.S.

Marketing Charts has published a list of the "most reputable companies" in the U.S., according to recent data from the Reputation Institute, based on more than 230,000 individual ratings, covering more than 140 nominated companies over January and February 2019. These are the top ten companies with the best reputations, ranked in order:

1. Netflix
2. The Hershey Company
3. Whirlpool
4. Rolex
5. McCormick & Company
6. Barnes & Noble
7. Hasbro
8. Costco
9. Nintendo
10. The Lego Group

Reputation Institute, which did the study, was founded in 1995 with the core purpose of corporate communications as a way to build and protect reputation. You can download a copy of their report here (registration required): https://www.reputationinstitute.com/research/2019-us-reptrak

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the new book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Retail Shoppers Respond to OOH

Out-of-home advertising (OOH) is the most effective tool for driving shoppers to retail stores, according to a recent benchmark study as reported by Marketing Dive. Cuebiq's "Footfall Attribution Benchmarks" indicated OOH boosted average footfall traffic by 80 to 120 percent. Mobile-only promotion came in second, boosting footfall traffic 10 to 89 percent.

In 2018, U.S. OOH revenue in 2018 grew to $8 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent. In the fourth quarter of the year, it increased over 7 percent.

According to Marketing Dive, "That OOH is everywhere and essentially cannot be ignored, along with its likely proximity to a retailer, could be reasons for the powerful impact. Cuebiq researchers also pointed out that OOH has been benefitting from advancing technology and access to more data. Digital billboards are now providing dynamic messaging opportunities and more marketers are finding the channel appealing."

OOH is generally defined as outdoor advertising, which can include billboards, on-street advertising, and transit media.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the new book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Demographic Trends Marketers Need to Know About

Here are six demographic trends, as reported by the Pew Research Center, you need to know about. Being aware of this data can help you understand important audience characteristics and shape more effective marketing programs.

1. The largest adult generation in the U.S. is now the Millennials, just slightly outnumbering Baby Boomers this year. Generation Z is entering adulthood; this generation will be the best educated and most diverse generation yet -- almost half (48 percent) are racial or ethnic minorities.
2. Hispanics are projected to become the largest minority group in the 2020 elections, with 32 million eligible voters vs. 30 million eligible voters for African-Americans.
3. The American family is undergoing fundamental change. Among parents living with a child, 25 percent of them were unmarried in 2017. The share of U.S. children living with an unmarried parent reached 32 percent in 2017.
4. The immigrant share of the U.S. population is approaching a record high: 44 million foreign-born people living in the U.S. in 2017 accounted for 13.6 percent of the population, the highest share since 1910.
5. The U.S. unauthorized immigrant population is at its lowest level in more than a decade. There were 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. in 2016, the lowest total since 2004.
6. Incomes are rising in the U.S., but not equally. While household income is at or near the highest level it has been in 50 years, income inequality continues to grow. The share of Americans who are in the middle class has fallen over the last several decades. About half (52 percent) of adults were considered middle class in 2016.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

1 Minute Advice: The "Most Loved Brands" in the U.S.

What are the "most loved brands" in the U.S.? A new survey by Morning Consult is significant because of the large sample size -- 400,000 consumers -- and because it measures "brand love" using consumer sentiment across favorability, trust, community impact and "Net Promoter Score."

The results might surprise you. The top five most loved brands overall, according to the survey, are, counting down from #5 to #1:

5. Home Depot
4. UPS
3. Netflix
2. Google
1. Amazon

Apple and Coca-Cola, traditionally high on such lists, are notably absent not just from the top five, but from the top twenty-five.

The results vary by demographic. The most loved brands among Gen Z (ages 18 - 21) are, from #5 to #1, Oreo, Amazon, YouTube, Netflix and Google. For Millennials (ages 22 to 37), they are, from #5 to #1, Target, YouTube, Amazon, Google and Netflix. Gen X (ages 38 to 53) tracks exactly to the overall survey results. For Boomers (ages 54 to 72), they are, from #5 to #1, FedEx, Lowe's, the USPS, Home Depot and UPS.

Marketers can draw their own conclusions about the brands consumers seem to love the most.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

1 Minute Advice: Modern Marketers Ignore Boomers at Their Own Peril

How many times have you heard it said that modern marketers are relentlessly targeting Millennials? The fact is, they are ignoring a demographic reality in doing so. As reported by Marketing Charts, a new statistical report indicates that it is Baby Boomers, not Millennials, who hold more than half (54 percent) of all US household wealth. In addition, Baby Boomers actually spend more than any other generation. Another report indicates Baby Boomers spend more than $548 billion each year, almost $200 billion more than Gen Xers, the generation next in line in terms of spending.

So why do marketers keep concentrating their efforts on Millennials when Boomers hold the majority of wealth? Maybe one reason is that the Millennials rate of household wealth growth -- 500 percent from 2010 to 2019 -- is impressive, as is the fact that Millennials just recently outnumbered Baby Boomers in terms of raw numbers. Still, Millennials account for only 4 percent of total US household wealth. Time for marketers to wake up to this reality.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

1 Minute Advice: More Than Brand Awareness, Marketers Need Brand Attachment

Today, brand awareness is not enough -- what marketers really need to create is brand attachment. Writing for MarketingProfs, Brian Shilling, branding director at Clarity Quest Marketing, lists the following sequential steps to Brand Attachment:

1. Brand Awareness
2. Brand Familiarity
3. Brand Affinity
4. Brand Loyalty
5. Brand Attachment

According to Shilling, the best way to guide consumers through these steps is with the use of effective content marketing. This involves an intimate knowledge of your audience, developing channel-specific content, providing content all along the customer journey, always staying on brand, and being diligent about testing and measuring.

Read more at: https://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2019/40729/five-real-content-strategies-to-earn-brand-attachment?
(Free registration required.)

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.