Author Archives: Joanna

About Joanna

Joanna joined SageRock, Inc as an Organic Search Specialist in June of 2007, but has been involved with the online marketing industry since 2000. With a Bachelor's degree in English, she holds a particular interest in research and writing for her clients' campaigns, but enjoys the many other aspects associated with organic optimization. Joanna resides in North Canton with her puppy dog Rufus.

Post-Recession Online Marketing

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There’s this fella I know; we’ll call him “Dad.”  Dad worked his ass off for seventeen years with the same company, climbing the proverbial ladder of success.  Of course, the higher you climb, the further you’re prone to fall when that company to whom you’ve poured your blood, sweat, and tears for decides, “You’re expendable.  Take this branded paper weight as a sign of our gratitude, leave the keys to the company car, and start over, buddy” (I am just the teensiest bit biased, I know).

It was 1989 when my Father was laid off from his job.  I was six at the time, and barely noticed the jostling.  Lucky me: my parents each have a fierce work ethic and a dedication to me and my sisters that left us never wanting for a single thing.  Over the years, however, I’ve realized just how difficult that time was for our family.  Like so many people know now, losing a job can shake your confidence, your belief system, your habits, your life style, your being.

Forever.

So that “whooooooosh” of relief I felt a few months ago when I heard the words recession and over in the same sentence may have been premature.  My parents have been financially sound for decades, yet I think the knowledge exists in their minds that the rug can come out from under you at any given time.  Consumers, and businesses, in the post-recession calm after the storm know this, too; it’s not news: our economy is no longer diseased, but the disease has left it weakened.

A recent study analyzed the long-term impacts felt from this decade’s recession.  Based on the results, they identified “four distinct purchasing and attitudinal groups based upon how they have internalized the current recession and how they plan to spend after the economy improves.”  From August 5th to the 12th, Decitica surveyed 1,055 individuals.  From the results, they were able to identify four major groups.

Decitica Post-Recession Consumer Segments

Decitica Post-Recession Consumer Segments

Each group requires a unique marketing approach.  The more you understand their motivations, the more successful your marketing message will be.

STEADFAST FRUGALISTS want to save money.  They want to save money.  Notice the difference between wanting and needing.  Keep this in mind when marketing to this group.  They are less impacted by marketing messages and brand loyalty.

INVOLUNTARY PENNY-PINCHERS don’t want to have to save money.  They don’t enjoy it, they want nothing to do with it, and report the most severe emotional toll of any other group, admitting to being more scared, stressed, and worried about their futures.

PRAGMATIC SPENDERS are rather aloof to the recession in their day-to-day living.  Thanks to higher income levels, they’ve maintained their lifestyle adequately, curbing spending when necessary, and will be able to easily jump back into their pre-recession spending habits.

APATHETIC MATERIALISTS were the softest hit by the recession, and as such find little satisfaction in saving money or focusing on value.

In regards to how the recession will alter their long-term buying behavior, groups reacted in the following ways.

Decitica Changed What and How Consumers Buy Forever

Decitica Changed What and How Consumers Buy Forever

Read the complete article from MarketingCharts.

Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/joanneteh_32/4097725445/

The Evolving Social Media Landscape

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We, as Web Marketing Specialists, are constantly preaching the benefits of social media to your business, no matter the industry, audience, or sector.  To us, everyone is eligible to participate and appreciate everything from brand recognition to improved ROI.

That’s the trick, convincing someone they belong in the social space.  Each social space carries its own reputation, and thus a pre-conceived notion of its value.  Persuading a business to participate in Twitter is more difficult than persuading them to participate in Facebook, which is more difficult than persuading them to participate in LinkedIn.

Some businesses are very choosy about where they appear in the social space, and they should be to a point.  But this social media zeitgeist is ever-changing; what was a valuable outlet last year may be useless this year; and what is fantastically trendy this year, was non-existent until a recently.

Consider what the Top 10 Social – Networking Websites & Forums of August of 2008 (courtesy of Hitwise via MarketingCharts).

…and the Top 10 Social – Networking Sites & Forums of August 2009.

There are some major differences from one year to the next:

  • Half of the sites on 2008’s list didn’t make the list in 2009
  • Three of the sites on 2009’s list were not included in 2008’s
  • Facebook experienced the largest boost in US Market Share of Visits, climbing from 13.50% in 2008 to 39.53% in 2009

What’s my point?  If you’re a business owner who’s not yet made the social media leap, please jump already.  Once you’re in it, stay malleable and keep your eyes open, able to switch to the next great trend in the social space.  Encouraging you to do so is nothing new.  In fact, our frequent pleas to “Pretty, pretty please join the social media circuit” have become platitudes; rendered trite to the point of ridiculousness, as made evident by Mr. Kevin H. Nalty in his article, “The Stupidest Article about Social Media Ever.”   But it’s cliché because it’s true.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredcavazza/3428921418/

The Delayed Purchase

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The capability of placing online orders is no new feat.  For years, online transactions have been a mainstream occurrence, replacing even day-to-day purchases.  eCommerce sites rely on a consumer’s comfort with offering up sensitive information, even in a landscape pitted with fraud and theft.

It is no surprise, then, that security remains a cornerstone necessity to online buying; consumers want to feel safe before they’ll exchange information for goods.  Empirically, a recent McAfee study segmented focus groups between those shown a McAfee “trustmark” versus those who weren’t when completing online orders.  Those shown the symbol were 11% more likely to convert.

Security as it pertains to online buying is a small branch of the larger study completed by McAfee, related to online buyers who abandon the sales process, why they abandon, and what their rate of return is.  From the study, McAfee found that 65% of online shoppers who drop out of the sales funnel prior to completing their purchase typically return within one to two days.

Average Purchase Delay by Group

Why do users delay the sales process?

The study found that most users fall off for one of several reasons, pertaining to:

-          Brand recognition

-          Demographics / Experience

-          Competitors

-          Novelty

-          Price

Paying close attention to your sales funnel is an imperative part to your overall online success, but sometimes these trends will not reveal aspects of consumer behavior such as delayed purchases.  If managing an eCommerce site, ensure you provide as smooth and safe a sales process as possible.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/learnscope/3517487381/

Social Media Marketing and Women

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They say the global recession is ending.  In fact, they say it’s over.  In fact, in fact, they say the world’s populace is turning this sinking ship around to calmer economic waters.

Maybe this is coming across as more optimistic than it ought to.  Most business owners would probably say current economic joy is bunk; although in an interview with Reuters (published September 3rd), chief economist for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Jorgen Elmeskov says, “Compared with expectations a few months ago, we now have a recovery which … may be coming a little earlier and it may be slightly stronger because financial conditions have improved more rapidly than we assumed a few months ago.”

According to the article, Global Recession Ending: OECD, “The OECD forecasts show a third-quarter return to annualized quarter-on-quarter growth in the United States of 1.6 percent, 1.1 percent in Japan, and 0.3 percent in the 16-country euro zone, led by its two largest economies, Germany and France.”

Yippee!  But…

A recent Performics’ study shows that consumers’ economic outlook is not so sunny; especially those of women.  A “2009 Online Buyer Economic Trend Study,” with data gathered from online shoppers from April to July of this year, shows an interesting division in household financial and overall/online spending plan sentiment between men and women.  In April, 53% of both men and women said their current economic status was worse than the same time a year before; by July, however, only 38% of men said the same, compared to 54% of women.  Essentially, women are growing less optimistic about their finances despite global trends reflecting an economic turn-around.

So what does this have to do with your online marketing?

The study reflected how the economic sentiments of women and men correlate to actual spending.

Women vs Men on Economy

When a business especially-reliant on a female customer-base conducts online sales, this is a marketing issue.  Oh, did I mention that another study came out this week?  When it comes to social media marketing, 75% of women are either uninfluenced by “brands hawking products” or are flat-out “turned-off,” according to a study released by Q Interactive’s Women’s Channel in partnership with adTech: Chicago.

Do social networking sites influence what you buy?

Ah, but a caveat!

According to Drew Ianni, chairman of programming for ad:tech Expositions, online marketing’s success or failure is reliant on the approach.

While brands seem to have such small influence within this space, which is relatively new territory for marketers, over half of the women surveyed have ‘befriended’ or ‘become a fan of’ at least one brand. This tells us there is a willingness among women to partner with brands in social media – but the current dialogue is not where it needs to be…The challenge becomes finding a meaningful, appreciated and successful presence and partnership.

When broaching an online campaign within the social space, your message must be more than just “Hey, come to our site and buy stuff.”  Instead, target the right audience, reflect thought, necessity, and personality, and never run a campaign for the sake of running a campaign.

Photo courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29487767@N02/3338900345/

Twitter-Jacking?

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There are over 30 million tweeters in the world; that’s 28 million more than last year.  Though each tweet may only consist of 140 characters or less, that still equates to a great deal of content.  It is not a shocking revelation, therefore, that not every tweet is a unique snowflake.  If you’re trapped in a traffic jam on your local freeway, for instance, surrounded by hundreds, maybe thousands of other motorists, how many of them are reaching for their mobile device to tweet the news?  How many tweets exist saying, “Stupid traffic!”?

This is not plagiarism.  Case in point:

Twitter-Jacking?

The replication of explicitly unique tweets, however, is a more hot-button topic as of late.  One of the more highly touted examples pertains to a tweet written by @sloganeerist (the blank line indicates an expletive removed to preserve the spiritual well-being of children.  If you’re already privy to those bad words, this is the original tweet).

@sloganeerist tweet

25 people then posted this exact tweet with no credit given to @sloganeerist (see a complete list of people).  First, did every one of those 25 people tweet without credit with malicious intent?  Probably not.  I’ll guess that most people found this tweet funny and wanted to spread the joy.  The issue here is, however, that what they did was plagiarism by Twitter’s standards.  Twitter has said…

Reposting others’ content without attribution is against the Twitter rules

Re-posting another person’s updates without giving them credit and without their permission is a violation of Twitter’s rules.  Accounts re-posting others’ updates (with or without crediting the author)  may be immediately suspended because:

1.  Re-posting others’ updates, regardless of stating authorship, is a potential form of spam

2.  Re-posting others’ updates as one’s own without giving credit to the original author is tantamount to plagiarism

If an account is aggregating or re-posting others’ updates for a legitimate reason, such as collecting and re-posting all updates with the word “dream” into @dreamtweets profile, it’s ok as long as the original author is credited for their update.

If a tweet is re-posted with no citation, there are steps the offended may take to rectify the situation.

Filing a complaint

If an account is re-posting updates without crediting you as the author, you should:

1.  Send an @reply to @spam with the user name of the account.  Our spam team can take a look at the account and determine if it’s a case of spam or a case of confusion about how you re-post updates in the right way.

2.  Send a removal request via @reply to the tweetjacking profile. If you don’t want your updates re-posted without crediting you as author, ask the account owner to remove them from their time line. They have 24 hours to either remove your updates or give you credit for updates that are yours.

3.  File a support request under the spam section.  If the account has not removed your updates from their time line within 24 hours, provide the profile URL of the account that is re-posting your updates, and the URL of your removal request to the account owner, like so: http://twitter.com/hotdogsladies/status/1052012892

Despite these rules, there is an argument as to whether this is really wrong.  A few weeks ago, at a SageRock Friday Meeting extravaganza, we discussed Twitter Plagarism (also known as tweetjacking or twitterjacking).  Half of our group found that, no, it is not wrong.  Their reasoning was that it’s Twitter; and theft of tweets caused no monetary stress, so what did it matter?  The other half considered tweets to be a component of intellectual property, and was therefore off limits to reproduction without citation.  Our conversation ended with no clear agreement.

What is your view on Twitter plagiarism?  If you or your business profile posted content that was shared by others with no citation to your original post, how would you react?

Image courtesy of Elmo Keep http://www.flickr.com/photos/elmo/3192821539/