New Media Morsels Published November - December 2007 Online Media Swing Accelerating Studies continue to be produced showing that businesses are embracing the concept and potential of Online Media more. In the US a survey revealed that 81% of marketers believe that in 5 years time they will be spending as much or more on conversational marketing as on traditional marketing. 57% said they expected to be spending more on conversational marketing, while 24% believe their conversational marketing expenditure will be the same as traditional marketing. Source: 2007 Social Media Survey by TWI Surveys on behalf of the Society for New Communications Research. 31% of respondents in a US survey reported that they planned to spend significantly more on social media applications in 2008, after 59% had said that social media performance in 2007 had met or exceeded their marketing objectives. The majority of respondents cited engagement with their brand as the most important measure of social media performance - 35% reported a positive ROI, while 41% said that ROI was unknown. Source: 2007 Social Media Survey by Prospero Technologies (www,prospero.com) 35% of corporate communicators in the US have said they planned to ‘leverage online social media’ for marketing communications in 2008. 59% said they would be using new media tools such as videos and podcasts to ‘enhance customer and prospect online engagement’ with 55% saying they planned to use blogs and wikis. However, corporate communicators expect social media usage to be even greater in the area of employee communications with 54% saying they planned to use it for this purpose. Source:  www.pollstream.com A survey of senior PR execs in the US, UK and EMEA revealed that social media work is contributing to increased public relations budgets. 86% of US respondents said they are incorporating some form of social media in their campaigns, with 56% in the UK claiming the same. Source:  Brainjuicer on behalf of Lewis PR But, what does it mean when it comes to budgets - now? Third quarter US marketing expenditure that is revealed in “Face of the New Marketer" released November 1 by Coremetrics' "Face of the New Marketer" shows that current online marketing budgets are not reflecting what many are saying are their intentions. As would be expected advertising (33%), online promotion design and implementation (28%), multi-channel campaigns (26%) and email (17%) dominate online marketing expenditure. However, it is significant that search engine optimisation (28%) is clearly emerging as a key marketing tool. Social media (9%) is still a minor percentage of the online marketing budget but how it is being allocated is interesting: 60% of social media budgets is going into user generated media 31% into blogs 25% into RSS feeds 23% into social networks 19% into blogs 17% into online video advertising 16% in wikis The authors of the study make the comment that while three-quarters of US marketing professionals surveyed think that social media marketing—also known as Web 2.0—can give them a competitive edge it is significant that less than 10% of their current online marketing spending went to such tactics. “Marketers are aware of the impact that social media marketing can have on their overall program but view it as uncharted territory, not worthy of their budget," said John Squire, senior vice president of product strategy at Coremetrics, in a statement. “Uncharted territory” - certainly!  But ‘Not worthy of their budget” - perhaps a product of social media still being “unchartered territory”. Note: Figures in the Coremetrics study add up to over 100%. Online Reviews Strongly Influence Purchase Decisions Further evidence has emerged that consumers are turning to the Internet to help them make product decisions. A recent survey by Deloitte’s Consumer Products Group in the US found that 62% of consumers read consumer-written product reviews on the Internet. Of these more than eight in 10 say their purchase decision has been directly influenced by the reviews; either influencing them to buy a different product than the one they had originally been thinking about purchasing, or confirming the original purchase intention. All age groups are engaging in this practice, with seven in 10 of those who read such reviews saying that they share them with friends, family or colleagues. The US research almost directly replicates independent research undertaken in Australia by Network PR, publishers of PR Influences, which showed that 60% of online Australians look for reviews of items they are considering buying.  However, the Australian research did not delve into the habits if these searchers to the extent of the Deloitte study. Search Word Habits Revealed Most Internet users around the world type two words or three words into their favourite search engine when they are looking for something on the Web- in fact 59% do this. That’s the latest research, based on a daily sample of two million Web visitors from 100 countries, from Amsterdam-based research firm OneStat. The research showed: 32% type in two words 27% type in three words 15% type in one word 14% type in four words Insights into search habits is an important element of the search engine optimisation process, a large part of which focuses on identifying the most popular key words and phrases being used by searchers. Media - Pay What YOU want Many of us are familiar with  Radiohead's 'pay what you want' pricing scheme for their latest album, In Rainbows, now indie pop culture magazine Paste is giving its readers the option of paying whatever they want for a subscription. For two weeks, anyone signing up for a new subscription or a renewal can name their own price for a year's worth of Paste (11 issues plus 11 CDs), with a minimum price of USD 1. Website: www.pastemagazine.com (Source: Springwise - October 2007) Mobile coded Media - You’re wearing it! US-based Augme has developed a site that lets users create a unique two-dimensional barcode that can be attached to any garment.  When scanned by a cell phone, the viewer’s phone links up with the website embedded in the code: could be the wearer’s Facebook profile or a favourite cause. Augme also lets users link to profile pages they create on the Augme site. And the revenue model?  An online store selling customisable tshirts. In parts of Asia, the box-shaped codes are becoming as common as URLS and barcodes, and present a streamlined way to access information.? Website: www.augme.com (Springwise Newsletter October 2007) Free landing page optimisation tool Website Optimizer, Google's free multivariate and A/B testing tool, helps online marketers increase visitor conversion rates and overall visitor satisfaction by continually testing different combinations of site content (text and images). You can find out more information here: http://services.google.com/websiteoptimizer/ The Web - not just for the young While the young set dominate usage of the Internet, and are the prime target of online marketers worldwide, the New York Times recently (Sept 12) ran an article pointing out that many new social-networking sites are targeting older users - successfully. The article pointed out that: the number of baby boomers in the US is three times that of teenagers most of them have basic computer skills which enables them to use the Web unlike younger people who flit from one trendy site to the next and are into the latest gadgets, older people are more likely to linger in the one spot online - which is attractive to marketers there are specific areas such as photo-sharing, diet, fitness and health care that particularly appeal to older web users. The New York Times gave examples of a number of US social networking sites that had been established to specifically cater for the ‘baby boomer and graying’ market. Online Health Care Booming Several studies over the last 18 months have shown how strongly US consumers have embraced the Web as a source of health information. Study after study continues to show that consumers are looking for information about health ailments, and products to remedy them - to the point where some medical experts have warned about the dangers of ‘self examination’. Now the 2007 Pharmaceutical Marketing Consumer Preference Index Poll undertaken by Prospectiv (www.prospectiv.com) gives some insight into the online health care. Among its findings are: 75% of respondents regarded the Internet as their most trusted resource for ailment and drug-related information 33% reported doing online health research at least one a month, 27% said they did it every other month, while 40% said they had been online to research health two times or less in the previous six months 54% favour general health web sites while 37% prefer specific ailment-focused sites. Interestingly only 4% preferred pharmaceutical company sites, while 83% expressed concerns   that pharmaceutical ads on television could be confusing and misleading. The research didn’t focus on the importance of social media sites. The US research is in line with independent research undertaken in Australia by Network PR, publishers of PR Influences, which showed that 60% of online Australians had researched health and pharmaceutical products. Network PR, publisher of PR Influences, specialises in Online PR. To read more about their services click here. 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PR Influences: New media morsels