â–¶ Social Media Sea Change: A study by Access Communications on social media usage in corporate communications found that nearly all senior-level corporate communicators surveyed (87%) expect social media to change significantly or dramatically how corporate communications teams reach their target audiences. Additional findings include:
• 89% intend to increase their investment in social media in the coming year.
• 51% say their Twitter usage and capabilities are highly advanced, and 40% say their Facebook usage is highly advanced. Only 30% said that about YouTube usage and 12% about LinkedIn.
• 58% consider social media important for pitching journalists; 65% for securing media coverage; 60% for driving event attendance; and 69% for managing a crisis. Only 38%, however, actually have a social media crisis communications plan in place.
• Many believe social media can help drive Web site traffic (85%) and engage customers (83%), but only 45% consider social media useful or effective at selling products.
• One in five, however, have never attempted to use social media for common communications and marketing-related activities, including to generate sales (22%), drive trial or usage (23%) or source new employees (22%).
Source: Access Communications
â–¶ Texting In for Consumer/Business Transactions: According to a study by mBlox, almost 90% of U.S. and U.K. consumers prefer multichannel options for interacting with businesses, especially texting for appointment reminders, payment reminders and coupon deals. Other findings include:
• While 59% of U.K. respondents choose texting as their preferred choice for businesses to contact them with appointment reminders; just 17% of U.S. consumers said the same.
• One in 10 U.S. consumers choose texting for payment reminders such as credit cards; in the U.K. that number is one in three.
• More than three-quarters of all consumers surveyed use coupons when shopping; 29% of U.K. and 15% of U.S. consumers have used a mobile coupon.
Source: mBlox
â–¶ Teens Talk Media and Entertainment: The Keller Fay Group finds from analyzing data from more than 3,600 panelists in the 13-17-year-old bracket that 74% talk about the media and entertainment category, 18% ahead of the entire population. Other findings include:
• 61% of the younger demographic mentions food and dining brands, compared with 56% of the wider sample.
• 60% of the teen demographic discusses technology offerings, compared with 39% of the population sampled.
• 57% of teens talk about beverages, 56% about retail and apparel, 49% about automotive and 38% concerning personal care and beauty.
• Coca-Cola, Apple and Verizon led the list, in that order, of products cited by name among this audience. Ford, Pepsi, McDonald’s, AT&T, Sony and Nike completed the top 10.
Source: Keller Fay Group
â–¶ User-Generated Video Content Proves Persuasive: According to a study by comScore and EXPO Communications, the highest-performing user-generated product reviews contain many of the sales-effective elements that professionally produced TV commercials include. Comparing and scoring 25 product reviews against TV and digital ads, researchers found the following:
• Clairol, Gain, Mr. Clean Magic Erase, LG Electronics and Apple reviews were among the highest performing videos.
• None of the 25 sample videos rated below average (0-29 points); 68% ranked in the average range (30-50); and 32% ranked above average (51-100).
• As consumers conveyed their experiences, they were more apt to focus on the product and its attributes, including convenience and quality, which are key in increasing an ad’s persuasiveness to a prospective buyer. PRN
Source: comScore/EXPO Communications