Digital CPG Blog

Yesterday, we talked about how you should probably be on Pinterest (and we’re featuring it again below!). Today, here are many more places your customers would love to see you:

1. On YouTube As the second largest search engine, YouTube provides moms an easy way to not only search for products, but to also learn how to use them. Create short videos — less than three minutes — that tell moms how to create solutions with your product. Use mom vloggers or mom employees to produce videos in order to create a relevant connection with the female audience.

7. On iTunes More and more moms are listening to podcasts. It’s easy and inexpensive to create a podcast for your brand. Consider what solutions you can offer mom and pull up a microphone. For example, if you are a car company, create product podcasts on travel ideas or destinations for families. If you are a food brand, consider a cooking podcast. If you can’t find a radio guru in your hallways, think about contracting with a mom podcaster to host your show for you.

Many marketers already have the tools they need to realize the benefits of personalization, but most insist on using the same tired techniques when examining “average” consumer behavior. The myth persists that consumers within the same demographic will behave in identical ways.

For example, the “average 32-year-old female” evokes a snapshot image of a married mother of two in a middle-income household of four.

Picture this: Anna is 32. She is single, earns $90,000 a year, and owns a condominium in a trendy urban neighborhood.

Her grocery trips tend to be frequent and quick, and Anna spends little time meandering through the aisles. Instead, she moves deliberately, straight from fresh produce, to cheese and wine, to frozen meals, stopping for a few items in the personal-care section as she checks off her list.

Now another picture: Julia is 32. She and her husband are both employed and pool an annual income of about $150,000. Their schedules are packed with extracurricular activities for their four children. Julia grocery shops just a few times a month and makes an occasion of it. She scours aisles for new convenient but healthy products, browses the magazine aisle, and, as a treat, grabs a latte at the Starbucks kiosk.

In reality, the commonly held view of a 32-year-old female can be wildly different from how actual people in that demographic engage with a brand. Not only do Anna and Julia’s lifestyles diverge from that of the “average” 32-year-old woman, but their behavior is much different.

Consumer research often reveals a frustrating disconnect between perception and reality — what consumers claim to want and what they actually purchase.

For example, while some indicate that email is their preferred way to receive offers and coupons, many shoppers actually demonstrate a higher use of direct mail. Similarly, while some consumers tell us that they never purchase chocolate, their in-store transactions tell a different story.

Behavioral data is a powerful tool for deciphering that disconnect and more intimately understanding the consumer—what they actually want vs. what they say they want.

How will you use behavioral data to segment and target your customers?

Mobile commerce sales will reach $6.7 billion this year. Wowsa!

If 2011 was a year of apps, commerce and analytics, what does 2012 have in store for mobile marketing? Here are five trends:

1. Your Site, App And Brand Will Be Mobile-ized

Half of all mobile phones currently sold are smartphones. By the end of 2012, we may see eight of every 10 phones sold being a smartphone.

To keep up with the growing market, mobile-optimized content becomes the standard.

Brands will also move rapidly to deploy “tablet-specific” applications that better utilize the form. In 2012, app mania will be as much about tablet apps as 2011 has been about smartphone apps.

2. More Attention – and Dollars – Shift To Mobile

A recent eMarketer CMO survey revealed that more than 80% of all CMOs are prioritizing digital — and specifically, mobile — as two areas of focus for 2012 and moving forward.

3. You Will Buy More Stuff Via Mobile (and Social)

According to new research from comScore, 38% of smartphone owners have used their phone to make a purchase at least once. While digital content purchases like music, ebooks and TV episodes were the most popular items bought in September, clothing, accessories and event tickets were also purchased. There’s a place in the mobile commerce sphere for retailers across all verticals.

4. App Mania Continues — But More Meaningful Ones

In 2012, branded apps will be more about loyalty and commerce and less about awareness and engagement. They will deliver value. They may provide special deals or coupons or exclusive content, but they will be stickier and more meaningful.

5. Marksmanship Marketing: Segmentation, Targeting And Optimization

Insights will allow marketers to create personal level profiles for mobile users, tracking attributes and insights into mobile customer behaviors both within the mobile channel and in relation to a brand’s other digital properties. It will also mean more personalization in terms of advertising and content, and exciting new possibilities with geolocation.

The last few years have witnessed manufacturers of Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) embrace social media with great enthusiasm. When it comes to social media, industry giants like Kraft and P&G have adapted rather impressively, having not just a Twitter or Facebook presence, but also putting immense efforts at being the ‘customer’s brand.’ Let us look at some reasons why CPG brands should give social media marketing its due importance:

• Of the total companies surveyed (The Shopper Technology Institute Study) 76% said that the budget for social media has increased in 2011 compared to the previous year.
• The survey confirms that consumers are willing to connect with brands via social media; although this is mainly influenced by the degree of emotional connection they have with the brand. For manufacturers of consumer packaged goods, this translates into an opportunity waiting to be explored.
• The most commonly used networking channels by CPG brands are Twitter and Facebook. For the 11% that don’t use either one, we recommend they start doing so, considering the fact that Facebook and Twitter are two channels where they are most likely to find their target audiences.
• A joint-study, conducted over a two year period bycomScore and dunhumbyUSA, found a median 21% in-store sales increase among shoppers who had been exposed to online ads for CPG brands compared to those who had not seen them. Almost one-quarter of campaigns received a boost of +40%.; a good reason for CPG manufactures to further increase focus on their online promotional strategies.
• According to eMarketer, 2011 is likely to witness 35% increase in online CPG advertising. Although the growth will slow, consumer products are likely to have as much as 10% of the total ad spending by 2015.

P&G’s re-entry into e-commerce via Facebook indicates just how crucial social media is becoming to CPG brands. The company recently added “Shop Now” buttons to the Facebook fan pages for several of its brands including Gillette, Olay and Tide. The global giant is one of the many CPG companies that are exploring the concept ‘e-tailing’ with renewed interest and are talking internet marketing more seriously than ever before. Considering the fact that the modern consumer is willing to make purchases online, the recent upsurge in social media activity by CPG brands isn’t surprising at all.

We’ll share some more info in tomorrow’s post about how to connect successfully with your CPG customers on social media.

Yesterday, we discussed how CPG brands are winning! with social media. Here’s how you can connect with your social media fans and keep your streak going:

• Social Couponing is Highly Effective: One of the major reasons why people visit a brand’s social media webpage is for discounts and coupons. By offering discounts and giving away coupons, brands a) make their customers feel valued and b) give them a good reason to revisit their webpages. Although some brands are worried that coupons may reduce the premium value of the brand, most agree that social couponing offers unique benefits, one of them being building a loyal customer base. According to a survey from Ipsos Marketing, Consumer Goods, the second most important reason why people visited a CPG brand’s website is to obtain coupons. This explains why the likes of General Mills and Unilever, after partnering with Groupon, have had a solid customer base and a loyal fan following.
• Being Best Friends: It is every CPG brand’s wish to be best friends with their customers. Although coupons and discounts contribute towards making the social consumer feel special, moving up the relationship ladder is all about being available when they have something to say. An overload of sales talk won’t solve your customer’s problems; being best friends is all about listening and responding. Listening in and engaging with your customers online shows that they are important to you and you care enough to be there to soak in the suggestions, act upon complaints and interact with them.
• Going That Extra Mile: When the packaged goods industry ventured into the world of online marketing, it was all about creating interesting online promotional material, offering the occassional discounts and resolving customer complaints when required. This, however, is slowly changing. There are those companies that monitor conversations pertaining to their brands and meet customers’ needs as they arise; and then there are the others that go the extra mile to give their customers much more than they have asked for. General Mills, which has a well connected online customer base, is one such brand.
• Besides marketing their regular range of baked products online, the company also offers gluten-free products aimed at 2% of the population with Celiac disease as well as the additional 10% interested in avoiding gluten, a demographic that was otherwise dismissed as too small and insignificant to target profitably. When the word about General Mills’ gluten-free range was out in 2009, the news spread like wildfire across Twitter and Facebook. Now that’s what we call making customers feel valued!

We’ll finish up the CPG and social media week with do’s and don’ts from real campaigns tomorrow.

A few predictions from MediaPost:

I completely concur with these predictions. What do you think? Is your relationship with mom bloggers changing?

For consumers, Facebook’s Like button is a pathway to getting discounts, promotions and special offers. Marketers have a more narcissistic view, according to a new study.

Citing the “Variance in the Social Brand Experience” study from the CMO Council and social CRM firm Lithium, apost from digital intelligence firm eMarketer stated that:

• 57 percent of marketers thought a ‘like’ meant the content on the site was agreeable;
• 41% thought it meant customers wanted to be heard;
• 33% of marketers said they thought customers were looking for incentives or rewards for their ‘like.’

From the consumers’ perspective, the study says they engage with brands through social channels primarily to:

• Be eligible for exclusive offers (67 percent);
• Interact with other consumers and compare experiences (60 percent);
• Find games, contests, and other unique experiences (57 percent);
• Find service and support from their social networking site (50 percent);
• Share ideas for new products and features (41 percent).

There was also a difference between the two groups in terms of perception of customer loyalty. Of the 132 marketers surveyed in the study, only 24 percent thought a ‘like’ meant the consumer was also a loyal customer. Conversely, 49 percent of the 1300 consumers surveyed said they liked a brand because they were already loyal customers.

Most damning was the revelation that, though brands are seeing benefit to the use of social media, less than one-fifth (17 percent) have yet to fully align social channels into the marketing mix.

Ouch.

Bottom Line? Give your customers and fans whatever is valuable to them!  Don’t assume they just want to talk to you. Engage is a huge buzzword, but value is what marketers should really be thinking about.

Spice company McCormick introduced two social media applications on Facebook in December in order to inject itself into as many online conversations as possible. The Merry Merry Menu Planner lets users post menus that friends and family can comment and vote on; the Big Cookie Share provides tools for creating custom digital cookies, which can be sent to Facebook friends with messages.

“At a time when laptops and tablets rival spatulas as the most-used kitchen tool,” the company says in its release, “we are offering our fans new ways to share the holiday spirit and create memorable taste experiences — whether they’re putting the holiday menu up for a vote or frosting Facebook cookies for faraway family members.”

I like both of these applications, and would love to see what the results of their campaign. It looks like in December they had 9100 fans (see screenshot above), but if you visit their Facebook page now, they have nearly 280,000! Quite the increase if most of it came from their new initiatives.

We all understand that in order to effectively market products to consumers you need to have a good understanding of the attitude and behaviour patterns of your target audience. Psychologists have defined six universal traits that have been seen in shoppers and are now being seen in social commerce.

• Social Proof: 81% of customers reach out to friends and family members on social networking sites for advice before purchasing products
• Authority: 77% of online shoppers use reviews to make purchase decisions
• Scarcity: 77% of people like getting exclusive offers that they can redeem via Facebook. We assign more value to products that are less available
• Like: 50% of shoppers have made a purchase based on the recommendation of the people they follow(and like) on social networks. We follow those we like and do the things they do
• Consistency: Purchases made from the brands we trust reinforce our future shopping patterns
• Reciprocity: We have an innate desire to repay favors in order to maintain social fairness, whether those favors are invited or not

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Talent.

Finding staff with suitable digital skills topped the list in a recent survey by E-Consultancy.

We asked participants in the survey about the specific skill areas that they perceived to be the most difficult to recruit for.

Web analytics and data topped the list, followed by social media, and content marketing, indicating that there is already a potential skills shortage in these areas.

When respondents were asked which digital marketing disciplines they anticipated would be the key areas of growth in the coming year, the top answers were social media, content marketing, and web analytics and data.

The fact that those areas of predicted growth in resourcing were the same as those that are already listed as being the most difficult to recruit for means one thing: a looming talent time bomb.

In May this year McKinsey released a report (Big Data: The Next Frontier for Innovation, Competition, and Productivity) that brought sharp focus to this talent crisis in one key area: data.

The exponential growth in data it said,  driven by a growth in data-rich and real-time environments such as social and mobile, embedded internet (the so-called ‘internet of things’) and the increasing focus on analytics and owned media, will mean that the capability of analysing large data sets will become “a key basis of competition, underpinning new waves of productivity growth, innovation, and consumer surplus”.

…

Not far further down the list of areas that are challenging for companies to recruit for came web design and build. This was also notable in being identified as the most challenging area in which to retain staff.

And this doesn’t look like a problem that is going away anytime soon. A campaign to boost the teaching of computer skills and coding is gathering momentum, supported by large technology companies including Google and Microsoft.

What is your company doing to retain top talent in the digital space?