Monday 31 August 2015
Sunday 30 August 2015
Saturday 29 August 2015
Friday 28 August 2015
#SproutChat Recap: How to Attract & Retain Quality Email Subscribers
Email marketing is an art form. There is a lot to test and consider: timing, personalization, formatting, content and more. Before launching any campaign, it’s important to have a solid strategy in place.
This week, Stephan Hovnanian of Shovi Websites joined us for #SproutChat to share his top tips for building a quality list of email subscribers. Hovnanian offered sage advice for setting tactics to ensure you’re fostering a relationship built on trust. Our #SproutChat community weighed in too with some other wise recommendations. Here are three key takeaways from this week’s discussion.
Consider the Full Brand Experience to Increase Conversions
Email should be personal and direct. Customize your messages based on the customer’s stage in the buying cycle as well as the his or her previous engagement with your brand. Your emails should be interesting and relevant in order to compel the recipient to take the next step. While it’s important to scale your efforts through some automation, a smart segmentation strategy will enable personalization to offset sounding robotic.
A1 (a): Map out the entire lead nurturing process, then watch behavior to find pitfalls & leaks. #SproutChat
— Stephan Hovnanian (@stephanhov) August 26, 2015
A1 (b): and design content to meet expectations, build trust, provide value, so you can invite at the right time. #SproutChat
— Stephan Hovnanian (@stephanhov) August 26, 2015
A1 calls to action and values, yes, but also give multiple opportunities to click! #SproutChat
— Jamie (@JamieNRutter) August 26, 2015
a strong subject line. consumers aren’t going to open the email, if it doesn’t entice! #sproutchat https://t.co/YpbNHc2fAw
— jake green (@j4kegreen) August 26, 2015
A1. Eye-catching relevant creative with a clear value proposition & CTA. Reduce to one column––design mobile-first. #Sproutchat
— Brandon Stettenbenz (@UXcelsior) August 26, 2015
Respect the Highly Coveted Inbox With Clear Expectations
When someone signs up to join your email list, state exactly what to expect. Also, let them out of the communications flow easily: The option to unsubscribe should be clear and easy to find. To help manage expectations and keep people in the fold, give them a few options by segmenting types and frequency of emails. Make it readily apparent that you are first and foremost offering something of value—and not just trying to make a sale.
A2: Setting expectations is huge, would you hand over your email without knowing what someone will do with it? #SproutChat
— Stephan Hovnanian (@stephanhov) August 26, 2015
A2. Always set expectations. The more the customer knows, the happier they will be #sproutchat
— Alexander Wilson (@anthrofoodie) August 26, 2015
A2. Always be white hat when it comes to email. Be nice. Be ethical. Be treated as you’d want to be treated. #SproutChat
— Reva Minkoff (@revaminkoff) August 26, 2015
Test, Test & Test Some More
Email tools have come a long way. Find one that offers the right metrics to give you insights into your audience. Test time of day, type of content, calls to action and anything else you can think of—but be careful not to bombard your email subscribers. Still, don’t let them forget about you either. With time and practice, patterns will reveal themselves so that you know clearly what is working and what is not.
A5: You need to combine your email marketing stats with website tracking and goals, so you can get the complete picture. #SproutChat
— Stephan Hovnanian (@stephanhov) August 26, 2015
A5 (b): I look at drop-off rate over the full email series, then tweak timing, content, and triggers to keep them engaged. #SproutChat
— Stephan Hovnanian (@stephanhov) August 26, 2015
One parting piece of advice from Hovnanian, which is worth adopting as your email mantra:
Remember, people sign up to get self help, not to be sold to. The more you learn about them, the higher your conversion rate #SproutChat
— Stephan Hovnanian (@stephanhov) August 26, 2015
Hear more of Hovnanian’s advice through his posts “What to Do Next With Those Landing Page Emails” and “How to Tell if You’re Boring or Overwhelming Your Autoresponder List.”
Join Us
Next week’s #SproutChat topic will be “How to Host a Successful Webinar,” featuring Michael Patterson, Sprout Social’s Digital Marketing Specialist, who runs our partner webinar program. See you next Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 2 p.m. CT.
The post #SproutChat Recap: How to Attract & Retain Quality Email Subscribers appeared first on Sprout Social.
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6 Quick Tips to Prevent SEO Annotations From Becoming a Chore
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Thursday 27 August 2015
Vine rolls out new music tools that help you make perfect looping videos
Vine is rolling out a new music-focused tool for video creators on its network called ‘Snap to Beat’. The option, Vine says, will make it a doddle to create looping six second videos that sync perfectly. While that’s possible already if you take the time to work out exactly where your track should restart, the new tool should make it a whole lot easier for people who don’t have the patience for that sort of thing. Once you’ve chosen a track, ‘Snap to Beat’ works out how much of the song you need to make a seamless loop and trims…
This story continues at The Next Web
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How to Get Twitter Followers Who Matter
As the saying goes, it’s quality not quantity that matters. But on the noisiest network there is, how can you expect anyone, let alone a quality audience, to find your great content? Luckily, Twitter is a perfect place to experiment, network, analyze, learn and repeat. And there is more than one way to attract a quality audience.
Here are 10 tips and tricks that will help you increase your follower count in a thoughtful way.
1. Include Social Icons Everywhere
The easiest way to get followers on Twitter that matter is to remind your existing customer base that you are on Twitter. This means including a clickable social icon on your homepage, newsletter and blog. Advertise your username wherever it makes sense, like on a business card or in an email signature.
Include a social sharing widget on each blog post so existing readers can easily distribute your latest posts to their networks and draw further attention to your Twitter account. Depending on which social sharing widget you use, be sure to edit the settings so that your account is tagged in each Tweet. It should read something like, “[article headline] [article link] via [@yourusername]” each time it’s shared.
2. Deliver What You Promise
On Twitter the fastest way a user decides whether or not to follow you is by checking out your bio. Your bio is a 160-character promise to your current and future followers on what kind of content you will be sharing. Make sure it clearly states what your brand stands for, what your interests are and your area of expertise.
After checking out your bio, a user might peruse the last five or 10 Tweets in your feed. Does the content you share meet their expectations? While it’s okay to stray from your strategy every so often with an out-of-the-ordinary message, make sure you get back on track with the next Tweet. You don’t want to confuse your followers or scare away any potential new ones.
The best way to ensure that your customers are always seeing relevant content is to have a “pinned Tweet” at the top of your feed that perfectly represents your brand or shares the most recent news with your customers. It could be a product release, a recent article that featured your business or a general advertisement-like post that sends visitors to your website. To pin a Tweet, click the “more” icon (three dots) and choose “Pin to your profile page.”
3. Don’t Just Tweet About Yourself
As with any social network, your content should be a mix of self-promotion and information sharing—and keep the self-promotion to a minimum. Many follow the 80/20 rule, with 20% or less of self promotion. The good news is that information sharing can help your cause in the long run. Not only will you get more followers and keep the ones you have, but you’ll also establish yourself as an expert in your industry.
4. Share Content Every Day, Multiple Times a Day
Twitter is just about the only network where you can share, and then share some more and then share even more. If your feed hasn’t been updated even within just a few days, users may be less obliged to follow you.
While Twitter is all about living in the moment and sharing what’s hot right now, it doesn’t mean that all of your content has to be sent live. Sprout Social can help you queue up content in advance so you can rest assured knowing that something will be Tweeted out every day. Scheduling content is also a great way to ensure that quality, well thought-out content is shared as opposed to a rushed, last-minute Tweet.
5. Don’t Ignore Everyone Else
Twitter is not a broadcast, it’s a conversation. Your content can’t be completely one-sided. Factor in time to respond to any Retweets, Direct Messages and mentions each day. Be sure to incorporate open-ended questions to your following.
Your Twitter content strategy should also involve Retweets from other relevant presences. It’s not only good Twitter etiquette but it also shows that you’re up-to-date on the latest news in your industry. Plus, if you share content from others, they may share content from you in the future.
A quick way to get involved in a conversation is by joining a Twitter chat in your industry. You’ll find tons of relevant content to Retweet. If your contributions are clever, you’ll get plenty of Retweets as well.
6. Analyze Your Current Following
Sprout Social’s Discovery feature shows your followers as well as the people who you’ve conversed with and the people who’ve mentioned you under “Suggestions.” Are these the kind of followers and conversations that you envisioned? Analyze whether or not your content is attracting the right people.
Look under “Cleanup” for those accounts that you follow, but that don’t follow you back. Why don’t these people follow you back? Do you wish they did? What could you do to attract these kind of followers? Take what you’ve learned here and incorporate it into your Twitter strategy.
7. Analyze Who You Follow
When was the last time you assessed who you were following? While you want every follower to matter, you also want everyone you are following to matter. The goal is to equalize these two numbers. You don’t want to be following 10,000 people if you only have 1,000 followers.
Take a look and unfollow the accounts that don’t make sense anymore. Sprout Social makes this easy under “Discovery” then “Cleanup.” Find silent accounts—those who aren’t Tweeting anymore—as well and unfollow them.
Now check “Your Followers” under “Suggestions” in Sprout Social’s dashboard to see which of your followers you are not following back. If they’re an influencer, give them a follow and strike up a conversation. You may be able to reach some of their audience if you get a Retweet or strike up a partnership.
8. Explore New Hashtags & Conversations
Stay up to date on conversations in your industry by searching for keywords or hashtags. Then see what other keywords and hashtags are being associated with those conversations. When you find something relevant, incorporate it into your strategy.
Sprout Social’s Smart Search lets you search by keyword within a five-mile radius of a location, and you can save your searches. This is great for businesses who are looking to attract local clients or network within their area. Start up a conversation with anyone you find here or latch on to an existing one. Follow them, and you might not only get a new follower but also a great career connection too.
9. Check Your Stats
Your Twitter analytics dashboard can fill you in on your highest-performing Tweets. There are a couple of different things you can do with this information. For example, you can re-share the same Tweet. If it was popular once, it will probably be popular again. It is unlikely that the exact same followers who saw your Tweet last time will see it again. You can also pay attention to what topics and hashtags helped this post perform well and then incorporate that into your Twitter strategy.
10. Use Images
Tweets are defined by their 140-character limit, but don’t forget about corresponding images. Images help your content stand out in a busy stream of Tweets and can even improve your chances of getting a Retweet.
A few lines of code can make your Tweets look better and perform better. This feature is called Twitter Cards and once you’ve added the code to your website, it improves the content you Tweet from that website. The next link you Tweet will include a rich photo or auto-play video, headline and a teaser of the content instead of just a URL. We recently published a guide to Twitter Cards here.
Go ahead and test out these 10 tips and see which ones give you the best results. As mentioned, because Twitter is such a noisy network, it’s a great place to experiment, learn and repeat.
The post How to Get Twitter Followers Who Matter appeared first on Sprout Social.
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Social Hospitality: How 8 Hotels Engage Guests On and Offline
Customer experience is key. While this can be said of any business, it’s especially true within the travel and hospitality industry. Travelers turn to social media throughout every step of the their journey, from start to finish. For hospitality brands—hotels especially—your work starts even before a trip is booked.
This industry relies heavily on word-of-mouth marketing, most of which takes place online nowadays. But by not being involved in those conversations, you’re taking a big risk. A 2013 Nielsen survey found that of those who used social media to research travel plans, only 48% stuck with their original plans—33% switched hotels.
A focused approach to social media can result in a stronger brand, greater exposure and better relationships with first-time and repeat guests. Here is how some of the hospitality industry’s leaders are using social media to go above and beyond to create exceptional experiences.
Know the Social Networks Your Guests Use Most Frequently
“We’re focused on building long-term relationships with our guests, and that means we want to be where our guests are.”
—James Geiger, Hyatt Hotels Corporation
You know where your guests are staying tonight, but do you know where they go to ask questions or talk about you? To better serve your guests online you must first know which social networks they’re spending time on.
“Some hotels find their guests love the creativity and photography found on Instagram, while others find that their guests are more interested in the real-time service assistance found on Twitter,” said James Geiger, Social Strategy and Activation Specialist at Hyatt Hotels Corporation.
Knowing where your guests communicate online will help you provide a better customer service experience while enabling you to reach the right people at exactly the right time. To be successful, you’ll need a better understanding of the demographics of each of the major platforms as well as those of your target audience.
“We’re focused on building long-term relationships with our guests, and that means we want to be where our guests are,” Geiger said.
Be an Invaluable Resource Beyond Just Accommodations
Approximately 1 in 5 travelers turn to social media for inspiration within different categories of travel planning, including:
- Destinations: 27%
- Hotels: 23%
- Vacation activities: 22%
- Attractions: 21%
- Restaurants: 17%
“Many guests connect with us on Twitter and Facebook in advance of their stay regarding a special upcoming weekend, requesting ideas for activities to partake in, dining recommendations and other key experiential elements of that sort,” said Courtney Morrow, Social Media Marketing Manager at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas.
In fact, according to a USA Today survey, the No. 1 reason guests contact hotels on social media is for local information. By providing travelers with useful tips about the area, you’re demonstrating that your interest in them doesn’t disappear the minute a guest steps foot outside the lobby doors.
Before social media, hotel concierges couldn’t accompany guests outside of the hotel. But thanks to instant access to sites such as Instagram, Twitter and Foursquare, travelers are never without inspiration.
“Social media has enabled our hotel to act as a ‘digital concierge’ of sorts for our guests that allows us to create an additional personalized communication touch point,” Morrow said.
Trump International Hotel & Tower in Toronto elevated a potential guest’s experience in this way. When Ana O’Reily was looking for information about renting a car, Trump’s concierge team was ready to jump in and assist.
@mrsoaroundworld @Avis @conciergetrump you never know until you ask 
enjoy shopping and we can’t wait to welcoming you and Mr. O!
— Trump Toronto Hotel (@TrumpToronto) June 14, 2015
Meanwhile, The Ritz-Carlton has created an entire campaign around the digital concierge. In June, the hotel brand published its 1,000th tip as part of its World Concierge campaign on Foursquare, which combines insights and tips from 89 of its concierges from around the world.
Many of these tips come from seasoned concierges, such as Atlanta’s Jessica Gorman, who has been providing hotel guests with travel advice for nearly 11 years at The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead. Gorman, who spends little time at home, prides herself on anticipating guests’ needs.
“I always want to be ahead of the guest and know exactly what is new and interesting and what will be best suited for them,” she said.
Similarly, @HyattConcierge on Twitter does everything from offering a friendly welcome to guests who check in on social media to sharing restaurant recommendations to answering guests’ questions. Hyatt keeps the account running 24/7 with help from its teams around the globe.
@stacyLaRue Hope you have a productive day at @HyattMcCormick! If you need anything I am just a tweet away. ^BP
— Hyatt Concierge (@HyattConcierge) August 25, 2015
Sometimes it’s the other way around. The concierges at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago refer to weekly postings on the hotel’s social profiles as a reference to what’s new and fun to do in the area when talking with guests.
By highlighting the expertise of your staff, you’re reassuring guests that you have their best interests in mind. This makes you an invaluable resource for travelers, who will hopefully look back on their trip and associate your hotel with an incredible experience.
Delight Guests Every Step of the Way
Guests don’t wait until they walk into your hotel to start using social media. Travelers turn to social media before their trip is finalized to well after they’ve returned. Although a variety of social platforms are used, here’s a breakdown of what that usage looks like on Twitter:
- About 33% access Twitter before or after a trip.
- 39% use Twitter mid-journey.
- Almost 20% use Twitter to share feedback throughout their travel experience.
Build Excitement Before Guests Arrive
Usage spans the entire travel process, so it’s important to develop and maintain strong relationships with your guests. This is something you should start doing before your guests even arrive. For example, your social media pages can act as a point of reference for travelers.
Pinterest, Google+, Instagram and Facebook are a good bet for this effort. If you have a profile on any of these platforms, be sure to include important information, including in-room amenities, overall hotel accommodations and events around town. If you can answer guests’ questions before they arrive, you’ve helped them start their trip off on a good note.
“All of our social media links are included on reservation confirmation and pre-arrival emails,” said Emily Dille, Marketing Manager at Arizona Grand Resort & Spa. “And if a guest posts about an upcoming trip, we take the opportunity to comment and let them know we look forward to their visit.”
@cismo we look forward to having you!
— Arizona Grand (@ArizonaGrand) May 28, 2015
Stay Attentive During Their Stay
Take time to get to know your guests and their preferences. Do they request an additional towel? Are their pillows arranged a unique way? Do you notice a particular snack missing from the minibar? Make note of what they ask for and what they’re using in the room.
“Sometimes we know so much about our guests’ preferences by the time they check out that we enter it into their profile to ensure that the next time they visit us, we can surprise and delight them,” said Kelly Kroyer, Social Media and Marketing Manager at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel. “The little gestures go a long way.”
You’ll also want to pay attention to social media for details that might explain why your guests are staying with you or opportunities to make someone’s stay special.
“We’re in the business of caring for people so they can be their best, and listening and responding through social is a natural extension of that purpose,” Geiger said. “We are constantly looking to surprise and delight guests with something specific to their preferences and reason for traveling.”
Hyatt did just that after a guest posted a picture of a sonogram and expressed sadness that he couldn’t be there at the doctor’s office to witness the momentous occasion in person. The hotel saw the man’s social media post and quickly put together a “man-package” of various beers, bacon and other snacks with a handwritten note to congratulate the father-to-be.
@dallasites101 So glad you enjoy!
— Hilton Anatole (@HiltonAnatole) August 9, 2015
When a couple Tweeted about celebrating their wedding anniversary at The Hilton Anatole—where they stayed over their wedding weekend—Morrow and her team recreated the amenity experience from 20 years prior, which included a bottle of Champagne and a piece of wedding cake.
Extend The Experience Even After Their Stay
Guest relations don’t end the minute someone checks out. After their stay, guests will be telling everyone they know about their trip as well as their experience in your hotel. How you treat guests following their stay can influence where they—and others—stay in the future.
Fernanda Williams, Social Media Administrator at Sky Hotels, went above and beyond to help an international guest who had misplaced an item during one visit. Worried about long-distance calling charges, the guest reached out to the hotel through Facebook. Williams contacted the hotel, found the lost item and mailed it back to the guest promptly.
Even something as simple as a Retweet or a thank you can turn a great stay into an exceptional experience.
“Once a guest has left, we will often Regram a great photo, or in the case of group or business meetings, we will thank them for choosing our hotel to host their program,” Dille said.
This could also lead to more social engagement from your guests. According to Iconosquare, 76% of Instagrammers said receiving likes encourages them to post more, while 65% said they’d feel flattered if a brand liked one of their posts.
A simple greeting, such as this one from Trump Toronto, will help ensure your repeat guests receive exceptional service every time: “We keep track of our conversations and ensure that if they return to the property we Tweet or comment back by saying, ‘Welcome back’ or ‘Glad to have you back again @TrumpToronto’,” said Jeanne Marie Castor, Marketing Coordinator at Trump International Hotel & Tower.
Continuously Listen & Be Ready to Act
“In my experience, showing that we truly care and are concerned about the guest experience goes a long way.”
—Courtney Morrow, Hilton Anatole Hotel.
It’s only natural for guests to share their experiences, both good and bad, on social media—but many of them don’t wait until they’ve returned home to do so. In fact, 72% of travelers post to social networks while still on vacation, so it’s very important to keep a close eye on social mentions.
Imagine a hotel that has a screen displayed in the lobby so guests can see what others are saying about their experience on social media. Now imagine that a guest is unhappy with the wait at the hotel’s restaurant and Tweets about it. Not only does that guest’s followers see that he’s dissatisfied, but all of the other guests staying at that hotel do too.
If his complaint goes ignored, everyone following that Tweet will assume that the hotel isn’t interested in customer service. But if the hotel responds quickly, they’ll rest assured knowing that, if they were in the same situation, they’d be heard and get a response.
There’s a huge opportunity for the travel and hospitality industry to improve in this area, according to data from the The 2015 Sprout Social Index. Currently, the average response time for this industry is 11.5 hours. That means if a guest complains about room accommodations on social, nearly half a day passes before a reply is issued. What’s worse, only 11.3% of messages requiring a prompt response even get one at all. Smart hotel companies recognize that actually engaging with customers via social could yield a competitive advantage.
“We are watching out for both negative and positive engagement on social media,” said Colin Diaz, Director of Public Relations at BLVD Hotels. “When the negative occurs, it is equally important to address it publicly and handle it offline.”
By responding openly, anyone following the Tweet knows that the hotel is listening and really cares about providing good service. Taking the issue offline or in private after that initial response is key because it gives the guest your full attention and shows you’re serious about getting the issue resolved.
Faced with a similar situation, Dille’s team at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa took action immediately and connected an unhappy guest with an on-duty manager.
“Putting the guest in touch with someone whom they could speak to directly made all the difference and turned a frustrated guest into a happy one,” Dille said.
@LRobiner Sorry for any convenience. I’ll pass along your mention to FedEx so they can consider price adjustments.
— Hilton Anatole (@HiltonAnatole) August 12, 2015
An angry Tweet can spiral out of control very quickly, so even if you don’t have a solution in place right away, acknowledge the issue and let guests know you’re willing to resolve it. They’ll understand if you’re personally unable to fix the issue, but will appreciate you putting them in contact with someone who can.
“In my experience, showing that we truly care and are concerned about the guest experience goes a long way,” said Morrow, who answers every guest review, complaint, accolade and comment that’s posted to the Hilton Anatole’s social channels.
But don’t let your desire to solve problems deter you from other engagement opportunities either. Monitoring for customer complaints shouldn’t be the sole purpose of your social listening strategy.
“To us, every conversation about our brand is important,” Geiger said. “Our approach to social care isn’t just about service recovery; it’s about making a human connection with guests and building guest relationships at any point in the travel journey.”
The post Social Hospitality: How 8 Hotels Engage Guests On and Offline appeared first on Sprout Social.
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[Twitter Chat] The Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media Marketing
With nearly one month ‘til ASCEND Digital Marketing Summit takes place October 18-20 in Philadelphia, we want to introduce you to our lineup firsthand.
We’re hosting three special #AWeberHour Twitter Chats, featuring a sampling of our amazing speaker lineup. And since it’s our last chat of the season, we’re going big.
Join us Wednesday, September 2 from 2-3pm EDT as we explore the do’s and don’ts of social media marketing. If you’re using social in your business strategy, you won’t want to miss this.
Our Guest Panelists
Andy Crestodina, @crestodina
Andy Crestodina is Co-founder and Strategic Director of Orbit Media, an award-winning web design company in Chicago. A top-rated speaker and writer, he has provided web strategy and advice to more than a thousand businesses over the past 15 years. He has written hundreds of articles on content marketing for dozens of blogs and media websites, including content strategy, search engine optimization, social media and analytics. He authored Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing.
Jason Falls, @jasonfalls
Jason Falls is one of the most widely read and respected voices in the digital marketing and social media industries. He leads digital strategy for Elasticity and shares his no-nonsense ideas regularly at JasonFalls.com. He loves Louisville, sports and bourbon.
Jason Miller, @jasonmillerca
Jason Miller is author of the Amazon #1 best seller “Welcome to the Funnel,” and leads global content marketing for LinkedIn Marketing Solutions. Previously, he was the Sr. Manager of Social Media Strategy at Marketo and spent ten years at Sony developing and executing marketing campaigns around the biggest names in music. Jason contributes to Content Marketing Institute, Social Media Examiner, MarketingProfs and Copyblogger and has presented at numerous industry conferences.
Nathan Latka, @nathanlatka
After selling $70,000 worth of Facebook campaigns from his dorm room, Nathan dropped out and has since raised more than $2.5 million from a Forbes billionaire while supporting more than 250,000 small business owners as they look to capture emails and drive sales from Facebook. He has been featured in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and numerous other publications.
How to Participate
1. Create a Twitter account.
2. Follow @AWeber and our guest experts.
3. Follow the hashtag #AWeberHour using our tweetchat room or your favorite Twitter application (e.g., Twitter.com, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, etc.), and be sure to include the hashtag in your tweet.
The post [Twitter Chat] The Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media Marketing appeared first on Email Marketing Tips.
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8 Ways Content Marketing and SEO Can Work Together
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Wednesday 26 August 2015
Organic Trade Group Rallies Members & Supporters For “Myth-Busting” Social Media #OrganicFestival
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
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Don’t Ignore the Store, Even as Online Holiday Sales Continue to Soar
In 2014, according to comScore, there were $2 billion in sales on Cyber Monday, alone, which represented an increase of 17% year over year from 2013. Additionally online sales were up 24% YOY between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.
And finally, overall for the 2014 holiday shopping season, online sales amounted to $26.7 billion, up 16% from the previous year.
Clearly, when it comes to holiday shoppers all retailers need to concern themselves with is online, right?
I mean, no one shops in-store around the holidays anymore after all.
Hold That Thought
In the fall of 2014, Oracle Marketing Cloud, in partnership with Edison Research, began a multiphase study to examine the habits of holiday shoppers. And unlike previous snapshot studies of consumer intent or self-reported behavior, the project involved both quantitative and qualitative studies of the same sample of consumers during two distinct time periods:
- October: When consumers are generally in the planning stages.
- Mid-December: When consumers have either largely finished or are still actively engaged in holiday shopping.
We then applied those findings, added in some specific ways to learn from past behavior and spending habits – and put it all together in one gift-wrapped eBook entitled Turning 2014's Holiday Trends into 2015 Revenue.
Take a look at this video, which is part of the qualitative aspect. You'll see a trend developing quite quickly in terms of what holiday shoppers said they would do in October vs. what they actually did, Mid-December.
The trend is reminiscent of the classic line "best laid plans often go awry" isn't it? Clearly these consumers had every intention of doing a sizable amount of their holiday shopping online yet when push came to present, as it were - they reverted to the old stand by of going to a retail location.
Ok, so perhaps you're thinking "That's great but that's a small sampling you showed me. What did the quantitative results show?"
Glad you asked, Sparky.
Turns out the qualitative portion of the study was even more pronounced as survey respondents said right from the jump they planned to spend more in-store than online.
To take it even a step further, the closer you get to Christmas, the more likely consumers will shop in-store.
Behavior & Emotion
Ok so now we have a glimpse into the mind of holiday shoppers as it relates to online vs. in-store. They key next is to get into a consumer’s frame of mind during the holiday season.
“As a marketer it’s your job to find a way to tie your products to what your customers care about—and to start to think about all of these different ways that people are purchasing such as when they’re purchasing, and where they’re purchasing,” says Wacarra Yeomans, Vice President, Creative Services, Oracle Marketing Cloud.
To see just how behavior and emotion plays a role and how to then create messaging strategies to reach your customers and prospects this holiday season be sure to download Turning 2014's Holiday Trends into 2015 Revenue.
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