‘Digital Mums’ to the web
Three quarters (75%) of women with children under the age of 18 now regularly access the internet across the UK, marking a growth of 7% since 2005, according to new research.
The findings form part of a new ‘Digital Mums’ study from the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA), revealing insights into the digital lifestyles of Britain’s online mums.
The research highlights that 76% of the time digital mums spend online is for personal reasons and that online activities are becoming a valuable and crucial part of their busy everyday lives.
Keeping Mums in Control
The research reveals the wide array of websites that digital mums are using to enrich different areas of their life, from saving time, to carrying out research and making the most of online entertainment. 73% of British digital mums who use all media find that the internet provides what they want quickly and saves them time and 47% state that the internet helps keep them ahead of the game.
Mums in the UK are increasingly using the web as a reference point for their family’s health needs (an increase of 37% year-on-year). Their use of auction sites has grown by 33% and 39% of digital mums are now using price comparison sites.
Not ones to fall behind on local and national news and events, they are also researching and catching up via the web - 58% regularly visit news sites and 58% look for local information online. (7% year-on year growth since 2005)
Age Matters
The research also indicates that across Europe, the websites that digital mums visit, their online activities and shopping habits vary accordingly to the age of their children. Mums who use the internet and have babies and very young children (0-4 years old), are far more likely to visit family and kids websites (61%) and banking and finance sites (63%), whereas women with children aged 16-18 take time out to focus on film websites (49%), possibly a reflection of their family’s interests as well as their own.
Online shopping
Digital mums in the UK are even more frequent online shoppers than women without children. 94% of all digital mums have bought items online, spending an average of €1022 and buying 19 items in just six months. Across Europe, mothers of younger children are the most likely to buy online - 86% of women with children aged 0-9 years old bought a product or service online compared to 75% of women with children aged 10-18. This indicates that online shopping is proving a useful way for mums to get jobs done whilst saving time spent on the high street or in the supermarkets with their babies or very young children - something that is often seen as an unwanted challenge!
Entertainment Value
The research clearly highlights how British digital mums are developing a deeper involvement with online content in using the internet for relaxation and entertainment. There has been a 28% increase since 2005 in the number of mums who regularly listen to the radio online, a third (34%) regularly download music and 18% enjoy online gaming sites. Broadband penetration amongst all UK women has now reached 83% and penetration amongst women with children who use the internet in the UK has increased 49% since 2004.
Keeping in touch
Mums in the UK are also using the internet to engage with other people. The number of mums making telephone calls via the internet has increased by 300% since 2005 and 40% of mums now use instant messenger. They are also getting increasingly connected with tools made popular by Web 2.0: 24% regularly access social networking sites, 14% get involved in blogging and the use of forums grew by 31% – evidence of digital mums’ desire for personalisation and participation.
Media Multi-Tasking Mums
It also seems clear that once the kids are safely in bed, mums are taking advantage of the peace to tackle tasks online or use the web for ‘me-time’ as logging on in the evening is most popular – 65% access the internet between 5.30pm-9pm. Adept at multi-tasking, mums are also likely to mesh their media: 26% use the internet whilst watching TV and interestingly 66% of women with children do something less often as result of the internet.
Alison Fennah, Executive Director of the EIAA says, “For time-pressed, multi-tasking mums, the Internet is increasingly playing a crucial role in enriching their busy everyday lives. Not only does the Internet help mums maximise time and keep control of family life and demands but it is also proving to be a valuable networking tool. It’s great to see a bigger presence of mothers online and to see how the online community is meeting their unique needs.”
Source: www.eiaa.net
Friday, June 15, 2007
Social Commerce Revolution
Seven steps to social commerce revolution
How can the growing popularity of user-generated content be best applied online?
Word of mouth has always been the leading form of marketing. But now, with the growth of web accessibility, web commerce, and tools to share opinions, word of mouth is critical for customers and marketers alike.
If a brand surveys customers after an online purchase and asks how they found the site or why they chose a product, it’s likely the majority will reference something like ‘advice from a friend’.
On the web, word of mouth takes the form of user-generated content. Shoppers desperate to find authentic, credible and relevant sources of product advice follow these dances to make their purchase.
Analyst firm Forrester found that 77% of online shoppers in the US seek out ratings and reviews before making a purchase. 97% of consumers said they trusted recommendations from peers. In addition, a study by Edelman Public Relations (US-based) found that ‘trust in someone like me’ has tripled in three years, from 20% to 68%. Why are people turning to the advice of strangers?
Early Learning Centre, a multi-channel store for children’s products, will soon launch ratings and reviews using the Bazaarvoice platform.
“Due to the increase in social networking and the focus on user generated content, it’s become increasingly important to effectively engage with our customers and give them a way of contributing towards the site. Adding a ratings and review function is an ideal way of enabling this,” said Matthew Legge, e-Commerce Manager at Early Learning Centre.
“Peer reviews are so much more effective than the brand reviewing its own products – Mums value and trust what other Mums think.”
The steps to a‘social commerce revolution’, and the resulting benefits, look something like this:
1) Get to know your influencers: According to the book The Influentials, approximately 10 to 15 percent of a brand’s customers are ‘influencers’; meaning they have a psychographic profile to share their opinion with others. The profile of an online reviewer spans across multiple demographic segments, but in the main they are the most loyal and frequent purchasers. According to a study by management consulting firm McKinsey, users who post reviews revisit the site nine times more than users who don’t participate, and are twice as loyal. With a ratings and reviews system integrated with a site’s “My Account” login, brands can invite and identify their most valuable customers to share their voice; further cementing the relationship between brand and consumer. From there, companies can launch new relationship campaigns such as discounts or early bird notifications.
2) Accelerate customer purchase decisions: Once authentic reviews from a brand’s most influential customers are visible online, shoppers then have the credible and relevant content they need to make a purchase. With ratings and reviews next to a product, customers get what they need to accelerate a purchase decision. Bazaarvoice clients have seen anywhere from 16% to double conversion rate on products and categories that have reviews. With ‘top rated’ product merchandising, navigation and sorting, brands can create a new purchase path delivering up to 60% higher conversion than other purchase paths.
3) Attract user-content-seeking customers: One of the key benefits of product reviews is that they attract new customers through natural search optimisation. Search engines, and the shoppers who use them, feed on this authentic content, and an increasing percentage of shoppers are searching for phrases and keywords that match review text. Bazaarvoice has analysed web analytics for several clients and found that more detailed searches, such as “Puma shoe reviews”, are growing faster than generic searches such as “football shoes”. Brands can also use ‘top rated products’ merchandising in emails, RSS feeds, and other online marketing to improve the impact of these vehicles. Golfsmith, a US Bazaarvoice client, saw 46% higher revenue per email featuring top rated products.
4) Market and advertise with customer voice: Now that you have the voice of your customer as a digital marketing asset, it’s time to take it offline. Brands can also feature top rated products and quotes from customers in catalogues and advertising to boost their impact.
5) Improve products and assortment: I once attended an online retailer industry conference where the Director of eCommerce for Gap suggested he saw their job to be a ‘trusted editor of fashion’. The best retailers are the trusted editors of products for their customers. What they choose to put in catalogues, online and in stores is a key part of their brand and shopping experience. Product ratings and reviews help retailers choose the right products to buy, promote and merchandise. Moreover, brands can help suppliers improve products they carry.
6) Power your partnerships: Many online marketers short change the impact and opportunity for reviews, limiting their usefulness to the product page. However, they can use the rich data from product ratings to improve their site search and web site navigation (top rated products), integrate with a web analytics platform, improve personalisation and cross-sell algorithms and integrate into email for automated campaigns. One Bazaarvoice client saw a 49% higher conversion and 60% higher average order value when featuring the “Top Rated Products” navigation filter to each category, through an integration with their search partner.
7) Develop a customer-centric culture: The final step of evolution in a user-generated marketing strategy is a change of the culture. Ultimately, brands need to integrate the voice of their customer into their day to day activities, so that employees pay closer attention to what customers are saying about products. As the results from user generated marketing become clear, they will start to look at the reports and leverage the data in many of the ways described above. Once that happens, a higher level of customer-centricity will be achieved than could ever be reached with research reports and focus groups.
Over the past few years, several factors have conspired against marketers to remove them from the driver’s seat. Customers have more control, more choices, more information and more access to opinions of others. At Bazaarvoice we have a Latin motto for the new marketing strategy of today and tomorrow: Aquiro, Sermo, Dilato. Translation: Acquire the conversation and amplify it. With the right tools and strategy, brands can enable their ‘scout bee’ customers to do their waggle dance on their web sites, for the rest of their shoppers.
By Sam Decker
Sam Decker is VP of Marketing and Products for Bazaarvoice (www.bazaarvoice.co.uk), a hosted and managed solution for ratings and reviews and social commerce.
How can the growing popularity of user-generated content be best applied online?
Word of mouth has always been the leading form of marketing. But now, with the growth of web accessibility, web commerce, and tools to share opinions, word of mouth is critical for customers and marketers alike.
If a brand surveys customers after an online purchase and asks how they found the site or why they chose a product, it’s likely the majority will reference something like ‘advice from a friend’.
On the web, word of mouth takes the form of user-generated content. Shoppers desperate to find authentic, credible and relevant sources of product advice follow these dances to make their purchase.
Analyst firm Forrester found that 77% of online shoppers in the US seek out ratings and reviews before making a purchase. 97% of consumers said they trusted recommendations from peers. In addition, a study by Edelman Public Relations (US-based) found that ‘trust in someone like me’ has tripled in three years, from 20% to 68%. Why are people turning to the advice of strangers?
Early Learning Centre, a multi-channel store for children’s products, will soon launch ratings and reviews using the Bazaarvoice platform.
“Due to the increase in social networking and the focus on user generated content, it’s become increasingly important to effectively engage with our customers and give them a way of contributing towards the site. Adding a ratings and review function is an ideal way of enabling this,” said Matthew Legge, e-Commerce Manager at Early Learning Centre.
“Peer reviews are so much more effective than the brand reviewing its own products – Mums value and trust what other Mums think.”
The steps to a‘social commerce revolution’, and the resulting benefits, look something like this:
1) Get to know your influencers: According to the book The Influentials, approximately 10 to 15 percent of a brand’s customers are ‘influencers’; meaning they have a psychographic profile to share their opinion with others. The profile of an online reviewer spans across multiple demographic segments, but in the main they are the most loyal and frequent purchasers. According to a study by management consulting firm McKinsey, users who post reviews revisit the site nine times more than users who don’t participate, and are twice as loyal. With a ratings and reviews system integrated with a site’s “My Account” login, brands can invite and identify their most valuable customers to share their voice; further cementing the relationship between brand and consumer. From there, companies can launch new relationship campaigns such as discounts or early bird notifications.
2) Accelerate customer purchase decisions: Once authentic reviews from a brand’s most influential customers are visible online, shoppers then have the credible and relevant content they need to make a purchase. With ratings and reviews next to a product, customers get what they need to accelerate a purchase decision. Bazaarvoice clients have seen anywhere from 16% to double conversion rate on products and categories that have reviews. With ‘top rated’ product merchandising, navigation and sorting, brands can create a new purchase path delivering up to 60% higher conversion than other purchase paths.
3) Attract user-content-seeking customers: One of the key benefits of product reviews is that they attract new customers through natural search optimisation. Search engines, and the shoppers who use them, feed on this authentic content, and an increasing percentage of shoppers are searching for phrases and keywords that match review text. Bazaarvoice has analysed web analytics for several clients and found that more detailed searches, such as “Puma shoe reviews”, are growing faster than generic searches such as “football shoes”. Brands can also use ‘top rated products’ merchandising in emails, RSS feeds, and other online marketing to improve the impact of these vehicles. Golfsmith, a US Bazaarvoice client, saw 46% higher revenue per email featuring top rated products.
4) Market and advertise with customer voice: Now that you have the voice of your customer as a digital marketing asset, it’s time to take it offline. Brands can also feature top rated products and quotes from customers in catalogues and advertising to boost their impact.
5) Improve products and assortment: I once attended an online retailer industry conference where the Director of eCommerce for Gap suggested he saw their job to be a ‘trusted editor of fashion’. The best retailers are the trusted editors of products for their customers. What they choose to put in catalogues, online and in stores is a key part of their brand and shopping experience. Product ratings and reviews help retailers choose the right products to buy, promote and merchandise. Moreover, brands can help suppliers improve products they carry.
6) Power your partnerships: Many online marketers short change the impact and opportunity for reviews, limiting their usefulness to the product page. However, they can use the rich data from product ratings to improve their site search and web site navigation (top rated products), integrate with a web analytics platform, improve personalisation and cross-sell algorithms and integrate into email for automated campaigns. One Bazaarvoice client saw a 49% higher conversion and 60% higher average order value when featuring the “Top Rated Products” navigation filter to each category, through an integration with their search partner.
7) Develop a customer-centric culture: The final step of evolution in a user-generated marketing strategy is a change of the culture. Ultimately, brands need to integrate the voice of their customer into their day to day activities, so that employees pay closer attention to what customers are saying about products. As the results from user generated marketing become clear, they will start to look at the reports and leverage the data in many of the ways described above. Once that happens, a higher level of customer-centricity will be achieved than could ever be reached with research reports and focus groups.
Over the past few years, several factors have conspired against marketers to remove them from the driver’s seat. Customers have more control, more choices, more information and more access to opinions of others. At Bazaarvoice we have a Latin motto for the new marketing strategy of today and tomorrow: Aquiro, Sermo, Dilato. Translation: Acquire the conversation and amplify it. With the right tools and strategy, brands can enable their ‘scout bee’ customers to do their waggle dance on their web sites, for the rest of their shoppers.
By Sam Decker
Sam Decker is VP of Marketing and Products for Bazaarvoice (www.bazaarvoice.co.uk), a hosted and managed solution for ratings and reviews and social commerce.
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