Couponing
The reason people friend brands on social networks
Our two cents:
The numbers say that nearly half of consumers follow brands because they are seeking discounts. In fact, Nielsen reports that the U.S. exhibits this tendency more than any other country. If that’s true, brands need to ask themselves whether or not their presence on social networks is simply a well packaged coupon site, or if they are truly offering something of value. A good example of that added value is what American Express does in it’s Open Forum. They connect like-minded small business owners to one another in exchange for becoming (and remaining) a card carrying member.
CPG companies are learning: consumers love mobile for immediacy, fun and finding great deals
Our Two Cents:
Some decent best practices on how Consumer Packed Goods (CPG) brands can use mobile to make their offers more relevant and engaging. Marketers should remember that in the CPG category, price is often top of mind. Therefore, the functionality and content that brands deliver to their customers should reflect the “value hunting” behavior shoppers are exhibiting in this current economy.
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Google Mobile Ad Blog
Matt Dorfman, Account Executive, Mobile Ads
Friday, July 8, 2011 | 10:22 AM
Mobile is playing a central role in how customers interact with consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands. According to a recent smartphone study, 79% of users rely on smartphones to help with shopping – 69% for more product information, and another 70% while shopping in the store. (1)
The price-conscious shopper may want to redeem a mobile coupon to save $1 on a tube of toothpaste. Another may want to know the most eco-friendly brand of detergent as they shop in store. Or, the more competitive among us may use their mobile device to win a prize via a promotion for their favorite sports drink.
CPG companies typically rely mainly on brand advertising – often through TV campaigns – to connect with consumers. Mobile, provides new ways for consumers to experience CPG brands and connect with products and offers, yet many CPG marketers are not using mobile to reach consumers – and they are missing out.
Whether someone is looking for offers or trying to find your nearest location, many consumers are searching for you on mobile devices. Google’s research shows that 12% of mobile search queries are related to food and beverage items, and 15% of queries center around home and personal care. So how can CPG marketers mobilize their brands and make sure they stake their claim to the mobile marketing landscape?
Make consumers an offer
First, provide something useful or solve a problem that a customer has. Try couponing on mobile exclusively – and be sure you’re dovetailing with retailers to close the loop.
In December 2010, Adidas offered customers 15% off purchases made in an Adidas store of $75 or more. The mobile Offers Ads campaign doubled in-store coupon redemption and increased the average in-store order value.
Go local
Mobile users are searching for information locally. Now, you can use hyperlocal distance information with location extensions, an enhancement that lets your customers know how close they are to a business. In this case, the business would be a retailer you have partnered with that carries your products. This high-end mobile device feature provides users with down-to-the-block-level detail about a business including address, phone number and location on Google Maps for Mobile.
Just test it!
Run a few mobile-focused campaigns to experiment with mobile advertising. In Q4 2010, Mindshare, Kimberly-Clark’s interactive agency, implemented a comprehensive mobile ad test program honing in on specific brands, devices and keywords. The combination of CPC and click-through rate (CTR) for mobile was 70% better than the same stats on the desktop for the test brand.
Get creative
Think of an experience for consumers that is unique to mobile. To engage Android device users across US, Coca-Cola decided in 2010 to promote a lighthearted holiday live wallpaper app. Says Wendy Clark, Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing for Coca-Cola, “If your plans don’t include mobile, then your plans are not finished.” (2)
We tend to agree. CPG brands need to have a strong mobile strategy, and Google mobile ads can help.
RevTrax develops a way to tie mobile coupons into search campaigns
By translating the information from a URL into a dynamically generated barcode on a printable or mobile coupon, search marketers can integrate a paid-search campaign to a coupon using RevTrax. It ties information about the marketing tactic such as search keyword, ad group, ad network, and creative ID to a landing page where the consumer can retrieve a digital or printable coupon with a unique barcode compatible with the merchant’s PoS system.
After the coupons are redeemed, RevTrax works with clients to understand how search can optimize the campaign and bidding strategy to gain a higher return on investment in the store. “For example, a client might realize that certain keywords generate a much higher in-store transaction size and invest more heavily in those keywords, or might notice that certain search ad creative leads to a higher conversion rate from printed to redeemed coupons,” Sarelson said. “The goal is to make sure that brick-and-mortar merchants have access to real cross-channel analytics tools to measure in-store ROI.
Online Coupon Stats
eMarketer predicts that approximately 50% of all adult internet users in the United States – roughly 88 million people – “will have redeemed an online coupon or code for use either online or offline in the past year.”
And eMarketer sees only continued growth in the coming years. 88 million online coupon redeemers will become nearly 100 million by 2013, eMarketer projects.
“Consumer brands are accustomed to promoting their products in stores and in newspaper inserts,” says Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer principal analyst. “But as more shoppers make purchase decisions online before taking a shopping trip, brands are following them onto the internet.”
Although digital coupon-clipping is about to reach a fever pitch before likely leveling off in the US, slow but consistent growth in the realm of online coupons has been observed since 2005. Experian Simmons reported that a mere 12% of US households redeemed digital coupons in ’05. That figure should spike to almost 22% by the end of 2011.
“Today’s online coupon users tend to be affluent, highly educated and over the age of 55,” Grau adds. “This is valuable input for marketers shaping the different elements of a promotional campaign, such as what products to promote with coupons, where to place the offers and what marketing messages to use.”
Ferrari-Carano Vineyards increase purchase intent via mobile apps, site
Source: Rimma Kats, Mobile Marketer, June 7, 2011
Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery is letting aficionados book tours or private tastings and make reservations via the company’s mobile-optimized site and applications.
Consumers can learn more about the company’s wine collection, take in-app wine notes and find a wine retailer or restaurant via the new mobile offerings. Additionally, consumers can navigate the winery with GPS-enabled maps and redeem special app-only offers.
“At Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery, we’ve noticed that our visitors are increasingly going mobile,” said Cheryl McMillan, public relations and advertising manager at Ferrari-Carano, Healdsburg, CA.
“Our new, free, mobile phone application makes it easier for our customers to interact with us, and access and share information about the winery and sister properties,” she said.
“They can look up tasting notes, a recipe pairing, or a video with the owners and winemakers talking about a wine, find Ferrari-Carano wine near you, book a tour or private tasting, check out events at the winery and around the area, book room reservations and Vintners Inn or dinner reservations at John Ash & Co.”
Ferrari-Carano tapped MacroView Labs to develop the mobile offerings.
Bottling the experience
The company decided to leverage mobile technology in an effort to reach new customers and enhance the experience consumers have with the winery and its sister properties, Vintners Inn, John Ash & Co., Lazy Creek Vineyards, and Seasons of the Vineyard Tasting Bar & Boutique.
Via the mobile app and site, consumers can browse a full catalog of wines and gifts, read the food and wine pairing guide that is filled with recipes and look up tour and tasting information.
Consumers can also browse the Circle of Friends wine club details and sign up for discounts, exclusive events and personalized concierge service.
“Our mobile app will allow the winery to enhance the experience customers have with us, and help them feel more a part of the Ferrari-Carano family,” said Rhonda Carano, owner/vice president of Ferrari-Carano, Healdsburg, CA.
“We see this already with Facebook and Twitter,” she said. “Consumers want to get to know the people behind the brand – the winemakers and the vineyard team.
“This app is one way for them to do that, while at the same time allowing us to provide worthwhile information to the consumer in a highly interactive way.”
Code language
Consumers can also bookmark information about wine tours, restaurant menus and get the word out about the app via social integrations such as Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and YouTube.
Ferrari-Carano has also implemented mobile bar codes on shelf talkers, bottle neckers, case cards, product cards, and advertisements.
Consumers can use their smart phones to scan the code, which points to a You Tube video of the owners and winemakers talking about a wine, a YouTube video about the winery, or a food and wine pairing on the Web site.
“We even have a built-in QR code reader in our app,” Ms. McMillan said. “The technology allows the winery to provide a lot of information to the consumer, while the consumer benefits from an enhanced brand experience before they even make a purchase.
“It’s a great way for us to talk to our customers, or potential customers, as they’re standing in the grocery store isle, or they’re flipping through a magazine at home,” she said.
“It personalizes Ferrari-Carano. QR codes allow us to provide value-rich information to the customer in an innovative and fun way before they’ve even made their purchasing decision.”
How Moms Use Smartphones for Shopping">How Moms Use Smartphones for Shopping
eMarketer smartphone usage stats point out some important behavioral insight. Marketers shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that just because someone has a smartphone that we will necessarily use the more advanced functionality that the phones provide. Here we see younger moms using their smart phones for inventory checks and downloading coupons. While moms over 45 using only basic level functionality such as store location. Read more.
Text messages: the nearly universal marketing vehicle
Source: Internet Retailer, Kevin Woodward, May 12, 2011
Few marketing channels have the utility and reach of text messaging, industry observers say.
“The appeal of text messaging is that it’s so universal,” says Mark Beccue, senior analyst at ABI Research. Almost any mobile phone can send and receive text messages, he says. This ubiquity means that retailers operating a mobile commerce program do not need to worry about developing mobile apps that run only on certain smartphones, such as an iPhone or Android device, Beccue says.
However, a retailer’s text-messaging program should not consist solely of a list of mobile numbers and sending an occasional short message, he says. There are best practices that can make text message campaigns more effective, Beccue says.
For instance, retailers should personalize the messages as much as possible based on shopper behavior. For example, a retailer might tap into a shopper’s purchase history and note how often the consumer bought a particular product. Then, as the point in that product’s purchase cycle approaches when the consumer is likely to be seeking a replacement, the retailer could send a text offering a coupon for that product, Beccue says.
To keep things simple, smaller merchants especially will want to enlist the help of a third-party vendor, says Nitesh Patel, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics Inc. That’s because many small retailers lack the resources to create a mobile-messaging program, he says.
Retailers also need to ensure their programs comply with laws governing unwanted spam texts, and would rely on vendors for this, says ABI’s Beccue. Spam complaints can lead mobile carriers to block a retailer from using their networks to send consumers text messages, he says.
Retailers drive traffic and sales with text
Up to 35% of consumers who have opted in to receive targeted promotional text messages from a retailer or brand subsequently visit that store or e-retail site, according to research conducted by Placecast Inc., a vendor of text-based marketing services.
And among consumers who visit a store or web site, up to 34% report redeeming the coupon or promotion offered in the text. Placecast surveyed a panel of consumers to understand their actions and also analyzed its clients’ redemption data and analytics to come up with its findings.
Placecast CEO Alistair Goodman says redemption rates can vary, from 11% on the low end to more than 65% depending on how appealing the offer is. “We’ve seen some outliers, as high as 65%, when a retailer delivers a great promotion for an impulse item,” he says.
Placecast clients include outdoor gear retailer The North Face and apparel retailer White House Black Market. The North Face is a unit of VF Corp., No. 138 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. White House Black Market is a unit of Chicos FAS Inc., which is No. 129.
AT&T also entered a partnership with Placecast earlier this year to provide consumers a way to deliver messages from retailers or brands to AT&T customers when they are near store locations or stores that sell the brand’s products. A consumer within a certain geographic range of a Kmart store, for example, may receive a coupon or other offer to redeem with the retailer. Or the consumer might receive an alert from home cleaning products manufacturer S.C. Johnson about a special on its Pledge furniture cleaner at the nearby Kmart. Up to 90% of consumers surveyed indicate they find the text message alerts useful.
Two Out of Three Moms Now Use Smartphones While Shopping
Source: Mobile Marketing Watch, Greystripe collected the data from its expansive network of touch devices during a three-month period from November 16, 2010 to February 15, 2011.
The mobile revolution is being shown some motherly love, according to the findings of a new Greystripe study.
Based on the findings of the report by the mobile ad network, Greystripe says better than 66% of moms are plugged into their mobile devices while engaged in the act of shopping. And as it turns out, smartphone usage extends far beyond making grocery lists and simple organizational functions.
45% of connected moms use their smartphone to locate stores, while another 36% utilize some form of price comparison app or service.
“Smartphones have become the super tool for moms on the go,” said Dane Holewinski, director of marketing with Greystripe. “The majority of moms with smartphones are using those devices for their day to day tasks especially shopping, making them the ideal target for advertisers.”
31% of the moms surveyed revealed using their smartphones to research products, read reviews, and check product availability.
Perhaps most interesting, however, is the swelling number of moms who turn to their smartphones in search of discounts. Greystripe found that 57% of moms now search for mobile coupons via their mobile device.
