March 19th, 2009
Another resource offering empirical findings, in this case they’re citing Nielsen, eMarketer, is a great way to keep up with trends. here’s a piece to share:
According to Nielsen Online, more people in the US and other leading digital countries worldwide are using social networks and blogs than e-mail.
While search and destination sites remain the most popular online activities, social network and blog use exceeded that of e-mail, increasing their reach by 5.4 percentage points.
In addition, time spent on social networks and blogging sites is growing at over three times the rate of overall Internet growth.
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Regardless, marketers should use caution before abandoning simpler media such as e-mail or search for social network advertising.
A 2008 study performed by IDC found that 43% of social network users never clicked on ads, and only 11% of those who did actually purchased anything. Compare that to nonusers, 80% of whom clicked on ads at least once per year; 23% of those who did click bought something.
Online retailers surveyed in an Econsultancy and R.O.EYE study found e-mail marketing to be very cost-effective in terms of customer acquisition, with affiliate marketing and paid search not far behind.
There is a lot of untapped potential in the social media space. But in a recession, when expenditures are shrinking, e-mail budgets are relatively safe. Shrewd marketers will not stop doing the things that are proven to make their clients money.
Tags: Add new tag, email marketing, internet site promotions, search engine optimization, seo
