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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

2012 Trends: Video Leads Online Ad Growth - eMarketer

US online video ad spending to grow 43.1% in 2012. Whether they think of it as magnetic content or advertising, marketers are increasingly focused on creating video assets. This type of media reproduc

Monday, November 28, 2011

Retail Becomes Fastest-Growing Mobile Category - eMarketer

More than one-third of smartphone users access retail sites. As smartphones become more mainstream, mobile is becoming more pervasive in all aspects of consumers’ lives. And online shopping is quickly

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Screen Size and Conversion Rates

While search advertisers experience higher click-through-rates for mobile phone and tablet search campaigns than for desktop search campaigns (at 166% and 137% respectively) according to a November 2011 report from Macquarie Group, those clicks are less likely to convert to sales in a direct relationship to screen size. The report employed Efficient Frontier advertiser data. Efficient Frontier found that mobile conversion rates were at just 31% of the average desktop campaign’s, while tablet conversion rates were much more on par (96%). Meanwhile, the average cost-per-click (CPC) on mobile phone search campaigns was slightly higher (108%) than for desktop search campaigns, although CPCs for tablet campaigns were on average 85% of desktop search campaign CPCs.

Mobile ROI Jumps, But Remains Behind
Lower conversions for mobile search campaigns resulted in ROI of only 50% of the desktop campaigns, although this represents a significant spike from mid-2010, when mobile ROI was only about 10% of desktop levels. According to Macquarie insight, however, for those Efficient Frontier clients that market high-end/high-value products and services, tablet campaign ROI was more than 50% higher than the comparable desktop metrics.

Tablet Use Peaks Late in Day
The report also found that search activity on desktops, smartphones, and tablets tends to pick up at 8am, with peak usage for all devices occurring in the evening. Mobile phone impressions tend to peak first at about 7pm, followed by desktops at 8pm, and tablets at 10pm. Tablets’ relatively later peak time corresponds with Q1 data from Nielsen, which found that 70% of tablet owners use their devices while watching TV, while another 57% use them while lying in bed.

Mobile Has Shortest Query Lengths
Search engine query lengths appear to correspond with screen size: desktop queries have the longest average word length (2.57) and character length (22.16), followed by tablets (2.1 and 20.22 respectively), and mobile phones (1.18 and 18.12 respectively).

According to September data from Experian Hitwise, roughly 9 in 10 US search queries that month consisted of 5 words or less, while about 7 in 10 consisted of three words of less. One-word queries led with about 26% of the monthly total, while two-word queries followed with 24%.

About the Data: The Macquarie Group analysis was completed with an index built on data from Efficient Frontier’s search engine marketing customers. More than 3 billion monthly impressions representing 30 plus customers were analyzed for the report.

Screen Size and Conversion Rates

While search advertisers experience higher click-through-rates for mobile phone and tablet search campaigns than for desktop search campaigns (at 166% and 137% respectively) according to a November 2011 report from Macquarie Group, those clicks are less likely to convert to sales in a direct relationship to screen size. The report employed Efficient Frontier advertiser data. Efficient Frontier found that mobile conversion rates were at just 31% of the average desktop campaign’s, while tablet conversion rates were much more on par (96%). Meanwhile, the average cost-per-click (CPC) on mobile phone search campaigns was slightly higher (108%) than for desktop search campaigns, although CPCs for tablet campaigns were on average 85% of desktop search campaign CPCs.

Mobile ROI Jumps, But Remains Behind
Lower conversions for mobile search campaigns resulted in ROI of only 50% of the desktop campaigns, although this represents a significant spike from mid-2010, when mobile ROI was only about 10% of desktop levels. According to Macquarie insight, however, for those Efficient Frontier clients that market high-end/high-value products and services, tablet campaign ROI was more than 50% higher than the comparable desktop metrics.

Tablet Use Peaks Late in Day
The report also found that search activity on desktops, smartphones, and tablets tends to pick up at 8am, with peak usage for all devices occurring in the evening. Mobile phone impressions tend to peak first at about 7pm, followed by desktops at 8pm, and tablets at 10pm. Tablets’ relatively later peak time corresponds with Q1 data from Nielsen, which found that 70% of tablet owners use their devices while watching TV, while another 57% use them while lying in bed.

Mobile Has Shortest Query Lengths
Search engine query lengths appear to correspond with screen size: desktop queries have the longest average word length (2.57) and character length (22.16), followed by tablets (2.1 and 20.22 respectively), and mobile phones (1.18 and 18.12 respectively).

According to September data from Experian Hitwise, roughly 9 in 10 US search queries that month consisted of 5 words or less, while about 7 in 10 consisted of three words of less. One-word queries led with about 26% of the monthly total, while two-word queries followed with 24%.

About the Data: The Macquarie Group analysis was completed with an index built on data from Efficient Frontier’s search engine marketing customers. More than 3 billion monthly impressions representing 30 plus customers were analyzed for the report.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Black Friday Weekend Shoppers Expected to Grow Y-O-Y

nrf-black-friday.jpg

One-third of US consumers say they will “definitely” be shopping this Black Friday, up 23% from 27.1% of consumers in 2010, according to a November survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) conducted by BIGresearch. Data from the survey indicates that up to 152 million people plan to shop Black Friday weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), higher than the 138 million who planned to do so last year. Of those, 74 million say they will definitely hit the stores, while the remainder are waiting to see if the bargains are worth braving the cold and the crowds.
These results are mirrored by a November survey from ConsumerSearch.com, which found that 61% of respondents plan to shop in store this Black Friday. According to the survey, the biggest draw by far for shoppers is the lure of discounts and deals (87%), followed distantly by the overall excitement of the day (37%) and the chance to complete holiday shopping early (30%). Of those who plan to avoid stores on Black Friday, the biggest reasons include disliking the crowds and commotion (78%), hating long lines at checkout (65%), and not wanting to wake up early just to shop for deals (54%).

Whether the greater foot traffic will generate increased spending is unsure, though: according to a November poll conducted by Ipsos on behalf of RetailMeNot.com, just 11% of adults plan on spending more this holiday shopping season compared to last year, while 37% say they expect to spend less.

Ad Circulars Most Popular Sales Tracking Device

According to the NRF, 1 in 2 consumers plan to keep up with advertising circulars throughout the holiday season to keep track of retailers’ holiday sales and promotions announcements. Close to one-third say they will tune in to watch retailers’ holiday commercials and specifically keep track of the email coupons they receive from retailers, while 1 in 4 will seek out coupon websites such as RetailMeNot.com and FatWallet.com. A smaller proportion will follow company sales announcements on social media: 17.3% say they will monitor retailers’ Facebook pages, and 11.3% will check out group-buying sites like Groupon and LivingSocial. Meanwhile, the proportions are slightly higher among tablet owners who plan to shop for or research holiday items this year: 31.2% will check out retailers’ Facebook pages, while 21.3% will seek out group buying sites.

Free Shipping, Discounts Favorite Offers

Results from the RetailMeNot poll show that when it comes to preferences toward promotional offers this holiday season, free shipping (26%) ranks first, followed by a certain percentage off (23%), buy one-get one free offers (20%), and a certain dollar amount off (18%). Free shipping tends to be more enticing to women than to men (31% vs. 21%), while college graduates (31%) and parents (30%) are more likely than others to say that a certain percentage off makes them most inclined to make a purchase.

An October survey from the e-tailing group found free shipping to be the most important site promotion, rated by 73% of consumers as a top 2 very important or critical feature when making a purchase from a website.

Clothing and Accessories Top Intended Gifts

According to the RetailMeNot poll, 54% of adults say they are interested in making a clothing and accessories purchase this holiday season. Other popular items include books, movies and music (44%), consumers electronics (37%), toys (34%), and bath and beauty products/treatments (26%). These results differ markedly from a November BDO USA survey: a majority of merchants responding to that survey believed that consumers electronics would be the top performing product category this holiday season, with just 16% expecting toys to be top performers, followed by apparel (11%), home goods (10%), and lifestyle goods (8%).

Meanwhile, according to the ConsumerSearch survey, nearly one-third of respondents identified toys as the item they dreaded purchasing most. The top reasons why included having to fight through crowds (43%), fear of buying the wrong version or type of product (42%), concern about cost (40%), and fear of not having enough knowledge about the product (38%).

Other Findings

  • 83% of the respondents to the ConsumerSearch survey claimed that they enjoy the holidays more when a store gives them a free gift with their purchase.
  • The RetailMeNot poll found that nearly half of working adults plan to spend time holiday shopping online during work hours this holiday season, including 11% who plan to spend 5 hours or more doing so.

About the Data: The NRF survey polled 8,502 consumers and was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch from November 1-8, 2011. ConsumerSearch.com conducted their survey of members of Research Now’s Consumer Panel in November 2011, polling 1,003 respondents. The RetailMeNot.com poll was conducted November 7-8, 2011. For the survey, national samples of 1,007 adults aged 18 and older from Ipsos’ U.S. online panel were interviewed online.