▶ Another Excuse to Banish ‘Spray and Pray’ for Good: Mistargeting your messages is a chronic problem in PR—and it’s starting to get worse.
According to the 4th annual consumer survey by social Web company Janrain, 94% of consumers have taken steps to break off communication when they think they are getting mistargeted promotional information, including automatically deleting emails, unsubscribing from lists and never visiting the company’s website again.
The study, which was conducted by Blue Research, took the pulse of 600 social media consumers in October 2013.
Here are some of the nuggets from the study:
• More than half (60%) of the respondents find suggested products/promotions based on their social login profile information useful.
• Nearly half (49%) of the respondents who use social login would allow mobile phone apps to offer special in-store offers.
• Social login users are 78% more likely versus non-users to download a mobile app from a site that is personalized.
Source: Janrain
▶ SMBs Need a Brainwave for Online Marketing: The online marketing curve is turning out to be kind of tricky for small businesses. While more than 94% said online marketing was very important to the growth of their business, only 12% identified themselves as online marketing “pros,” according to a recent global email from marketing software provider AWeber.
The survey provides an aperture for PR pros to enhance their value when it comes to helping their managers navigate the online terrain: 29% of the respondents said they were a bit overwhelmed by online marketing, while 60% of the respondents said they were better at using certain channels more than others.
The survey, which was conducted in December 2013, included 1,486 respondents garnered from the AWeber customer base of small business owners and marketers.
Here are some of the findings:
• The vast majority (89%) of the respondents said they plan to increase their email marketing efforts.
• A majority (74%) of the respondents said they’ll blog more.
• A majority (76%) said they also plan to increase their use of Facebook for marketing.
• More than half (60%) will increase their use of Twitter for marketing. PRN
Source: AWeber
The Measurement Myth
Myth: The research methodology should be determined by the budget.
Truth: While budget is an ever-present consideration, the first step in any research initiative is to determine the objective of the research which, in turn, determines scope, timing and complexity, each of which is a determinant of budget. The presumption of this myth is that good research cannot be achieved within a small budget (or that “good research is too expensive for me”). In such cases, there are many inexpensive approaches, some of which—Google Analytics and SurveyMonkey, for example—are free (apart from the time it will take to use them). Other ways to lower costs without sacrificing research integrity include partnering with a PR research program at one of the top universities. If the research parameters are set properly, even “free” research tools can deliver quality data and actionable insight.
More comprehensive research is required to answer more significant questions, and this usually involves a higher budget. If, for example, the research sponsor faces significant riskthe success of a major new product launch, a competitive threat to the brand or even the death of the companythe situation may warrant a higher-than-average budget to achieve higher levels of data integrity, speed and accuracy. In cases of serious risk, the stakes may be too high for anything less than “beyond-our-budget” research because the benefits of “getting it right, quickly” so dramatically outweigh potential savings accrued in exchange for incomplete data or inaccurate analysis.
Mark Weiner is the CEO of PRIME Research-Americas. If you have a PR measurement myth you’d like to dispel, please contact Mark at [email protected].
This article originally appeared in the February 3 issue of PR News.