Study: Social Media Pays Off For Businesses

New research suggests that businesses can see a direct and positive impact on their bottom lines when they make themselves available to customers via social media platforms—especially Facebook.

The University at Buffalo School of Management recently examined data related to individual customers’ participation on a Facebook page and combined it with their actual purchases at a large specialty firm in the Northeastern United States.

The results showed that customers who participate in a firm’s social media visit the business about 5 percent more frequently than those who don’t.

While past studies have shown a belief by many business owners that social media drives sales growth, and that a vast majority of small businesses do network online, there has also been indication that many, if not most, corporate CEOs still don’t fully understand or embrace social media marketing.

Twitter Helps People Lose Weight . . . Really

Was losing weight one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2013? If so, you may want to consider including Twitter as part of your overall fitness regimen.

While many contend emerging social media habits contribute to an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle, new research released by the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health suggests social networks can have positive impacts on health, as well.

Some earlier health-related studies involving social media focused on how people use social networks to gather information regarding medical conditions, or how health care organizations employ social media platforms. But, this particular study was one of the first to explore how individuals could use social media as a support tool when trying to make healthy changes.

The results indicate that, indeed, Twitter can serve as instrumental in supporting weight loss initiatives.

Over a six-month period, researchers followed the weight loss progress of nearly 100 men and women. To qualify as participants, the subjects needed to be either obese or overweight and possess a smartphone (Blackberry, Droid or iPhone/iPod Touch).  Then: 

What Marketers Can Learn From CES

One of the biggest tech conferences in the world, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), was in full swing last month, January 8-11, in Las Vegas.

Gadgets, devices and electronics from the practical (smart appliances that send text messages when the laundry is done) to the quirky (an iMusic BodyRhythm massager controlled by an iOS device) were on display, and an estimated 150,000 were in attendance to see them unveiled.

Some are arguing that in today’s rapidly evolving tech world, the relevance of CES is fading. Granted, big names like Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft didn’t even make it to this year’s event, preferring, it seems, their own product launches. Still, CES 2013 drew a record-breaking crowd and created what appeared to be non-stop publicity for the constant parade of new “must-see” electronics.

What can marketers learn from the success of this year’s CES? Here’s my short list of the key take-aways:

Social Media Dominates Smartphone Internet Time

From young adults admitting  they’re tethered to their smartphones, to the near doubling of tablet sales between 2011 and 2012, it’s obvious that mobile devices have taken the world by storm.

But what are people doing with these gadgets?

As it turns out, mobile device users are spending their mobile minutes to . . . <insert drum roll here> . . . check  their social media accounts.

After interviewing more than 2,600 consumers between the ages of 13 and 64, marketing research firm GfK found that people spend nearly one-third (31 percent) of all their mobile access time on social media –and that’s nearly double the amount of time they pop on to check email (16 percent), the activity that came in second.

“Reading in-the-moment status updates and posting short comments, replies and likes are activities tailor-made for smartphones,” explained GfK’s media Vice President  Robert DeFelice.  “Apps encourage a targeted, deliberate approach to online time that consumers may not even clearly associate with the Internet.”

In a previous study, researchers found that people using laptops and PCs spend their time differently than they do on smartphones.  For example, when connected via PCs, people engage in social media less than 20 percent of the time—about the same amount of time they spend reading email, and only slightly more than time spent watching online videos or searching for information.

But according to these new results,

Is Going Blue The New Going Green?

It’s nearly impossible to walk down the aisle of a supermarket these days without seeing a product boasting “green” in its name or a brand promising to be “environmentally friendly” or “earth-conscious.” From “eco-friendly” cleaners and “green” paper towels to “responsible” soda bottles and “green” shampoo for your (green?) hair, more and more companies are offering versions of products designed to appeal to consumers intent on reducing their footprint on our planet.

What “green” actually means varies from item to item, mind you, given that the standards behind the term are often a bit wobbly. That’s how the term “greenwash” came to be part of our lexicon. After all, when everyone is claiming to be “green,” how can it possibly pack the same kind of ethical or marketing punch?
This confusion/excess has motivated some brands to move on to a new push altogether:

They’re going “blue.”

To differentiate itself from the green movement’s “save the environment” focus, the blue movement is centered on having a positive impact on society in general —whether through a company’s overall mission or through special social good initiatives. These campaigns are also billed as “cause marketing,” a term that better describes how companies engender goodwill through charitable acts and efforts.

Now, as you undoubtedly would expect, goodwill isn’t all that’s generated. Companies are finding that cause marketing does good (and maybe even great) things for their bottom lines, too.

Here are three broad categories of how cause marketing can work: