Social Media Market Research Stats of 2009

Webbiquity recently posted some key numbers that communicated how individuals are using the web. Here are just a few of the interesting stats:

Searchers Using Longer Queries in 2009 by Small Business Search Marketing
Matt McGee:
Single-word search queries declined from 24.5% of all searches in 2007 to 20.4% in 2009, while 4-word searches increased from 13.3% to 14.9% of all searches.

Top 10 Social Media Industry Segments by Sociable Blog
Kevin Stirtz
Which segments generate the most social media buzz? Web applications, media, software and autos are among the most-discussed industry segments in social media.


5 Must-Read Social Media Marketing Studies by Social Media Examiner
Amy Porterfield
*****5 Stars
26 million (1 in 7) U.S. adults use Twitter monthly. Americans spend 17% of their online time on social media sites. And 51% of business users say the most useful social media tool for reaching their audience is…blogs.

Read all of the social media facts here.

Innovations in Market Research with Dr. Howard Moskowitz and Steven Onufrey

You may not recognize the name but Dr. Howard Moskowitz has changed the way you eat. Back in the 1970s when Diet Pepsi asked him to create the perfect sweetness for the soft drink, thereby making the perfect Diet Pepsi Moskowitz went to work - but he found out that there was not a perfect Diet Pepsi but perfect Diet Pepsis. People wanted variety - some liked their soda very sweet, some liked it just a little less. Thanks to his research, we've now have a variety of soda concontions to suit every taste bud. But Moskowitz didn't stop there, he went after spaghetti sauce.

Malcolm Gladwell describes it best: "...in 1986, he (Moskowitz) got a call from the Campbell's Soup Company. They were in the spaghetti-sauce business, going up against Ragú with their Prego brand. Prego was a little thicker than Ragú, with diced tomatoes as opposed to Ragú's purée, and, Campbell's thought, had better pasta adherence. But, for all that, Prego was in a slump, and Campbell's was desperate for new ideas. Standard practice in the food industry would have been to convene a focus group and ask spaghetti eaters what they wanted. But Moskowitz does not believe that consumers—even spaghetti lovers—know what they desire if what they desire does not yet exist. ... When Moskowitz charted the results, he saw that everyone had a slightly different definition of what a perfect spaghetti sauce tasted like. If you sifted carefully through the data, though, you could find patterns, and Moskowitz learned that most people's preferences fell into one of three broad groups: plain, spicy, and extra-chunky, and of those three the last was the most important. Why? Because at the time there was no extra-chunky spaghetti sauce in the supermarket. Over the next decade, that new category proved to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Prego."

We have a fantastic opportunity for you to join Dr. Moskowitz and Steven Onufrey in a complimentary webinar ""Applied Market Research - The Next Generation: Addressable Minds" on April 6th from 2-3PM EST. This is your chance to learn about market research from the best of the best. Use priority code M2246W2BLOG to secure your seat today.

A look back at TMRE 2009: Get Stimulated: Innovating Through Challenging Times

The Market Research Event 2010 is taking place this November 8-10, 2010 in San Diego, California. Every Friday leading up to the event, we'll be recapping one session from The Market Research Event 2009.

Get Stimulated: Innovating Through Challenging Times
Andrew Pek, Author, Stimulated!

Andrew Pek presented in the "Proof" track at last week's 2009 TMRE, and looked at how people could become more creative in the work that they did. He focused on three ways to get stimulated, focusing on The Vibe, The Value and The Verb. We've got to work on better exploiting the brain in order to be more creative and innovative at work. Creativity is essentially a survival skill.

When audience members were asked about their best moments of creativity took place, they responded in the shower, while sleeping, driving, or even at conferences.
The Vibe, one of the core parts becoming creative, is all about managing your energy. Innovation is a vibe, and relies on tuning and turning your thoughts and feelings into a creative energy. Being aware of your thoughts and feelings is key to having a good vibe.

The Verb is to act, pair ideas with your actions. Pursuing ideas is the key to successful innovation. A great way to do this is to pair random words together. What do you need to come up with a creative idea for? One audience member suggested a new flavor of beer. Te audience then came together to think of different flavors of potato chips. This can introduce new flavors that one had previously never thought of.

And finally, Pek looked at Value. What impact do your new innovations have on your company and society?

Archive Webinar - Profiting from Feedback: Achieving Real Business Results with Enterprise Feedback Management

Here's your chance to view MarketTools webinar if you didn't get a chance to view it live, or if you just need a refresher. The hour long web seminar was presented by the following speakers:

Alan Kneale, Vice President, Technical Support Operations, CareFusion
Robert Freeden, Director, Product Support/Repair, CareFusion
Justin Schuster, Vice President, EFM Solutions, MarketTools

View the archive webinar

Top Ten Tips from Market Researchers Using Social Media

Are you looking for new ways to gain candid insights and feedback from your customers? Learn how leading cross-industry market researchers have revolutionized their processes using social media as a driver of results.

If you are responsible for Market Research, here's 10 sessions YOU CAN'T MISS at the Social Media & Community 2.0 Strategies Conference:

1. SOLAR WINDS Outsources Product Development to their Community:
Crowd Sourcing Powered
Dawn Lacallade, Community Manager and Strategist, SOLAR WINDS

2. HUMANA INNOVATION CENTER Leverages Social Networks to Help Quitters of the World Unite!
Greg Matthews, Director, Consumer Innovation, HUMANA

3. EBAY Uses Community for Voices of the Customer Product Development Input
Garnor Morantes,
Manager, Community Input,
Online Forums, EBAY

4. P&G, VH1 & BURT'S BEES Make Social Media a Real Part of Market Research & Consumer Insights Programs

Lucas Watson, Global Team Leader,
Digital Business Strategy,
PROCTER & GAMBLE
Michael Desmarais,
Vice President,
Strategic Insights & Research, VH1
Paula Alexander,
Director, Global Knowledge & Insights, BURT'S BEES

5. DELL Leverages Community for Insights and Innovation
Caroline Dietz,
Communities and Conversations, DELL

6. PFIZER Does Large-Scale Social Media Market Research: With Details and Without Bias
Robin Spencer, Senior Research Fellow,
Innovation & The Idea Farm, PFIZER

7. LINKEDIN Brings Online Communities Offline for Product Feedback from Brand Drivers
Matt Warburton,
irector, Enterprise Community, LINKEDIN

8. STARWOOD HOTELS Uses Non-Traditional Insight Driven Community Building
Stephen Gates,
Interactive Creative Director,
STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS WORLDWIDE

9. SEARS Formulates Social Media Business Goals BEFORE Engaging to Measure Success and Ensure ROI
Robert Harles,
Director, Social Media & Community, SEARS

10. ALLSTATE Leverages Social Media to Establish Dialogue with Consumers to Co-Develop New Services
Bob Wasserman, Vice President,
E-Business, Director, ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY

Download the conference brochure the full agenda and session descriptions.

complimentary webinar: "consistent brand conversations = persistent brand dialogue"

"consistent brand conversations = persistent brand dialogue"

Join us for a complimentary webinar on
Thursday, March 25
2-3PM EST

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/247241465
mention priority code: M2246W1BLOG

About the webinar:
the art and science of branding continues to evolve as the need to connect with the consumer becomes more intimate due to their choices and marketplace offerings. how your brand behaves in the messaging of its value proposition is directly proportional to how your consumer will experience your intended brand promise. with today’s information-rich, savvy consumer, they not only expect the best of your brand; they demand it. that said, how your brand aligns consistent messaging internally will or will not deliver engaging experiences with your consumers. this applied ability to behave consistently is most apparent when speaking to consumers across varied lifestages.

what you will learn:
• how creative-driven strategies will provide a platform for compelling brand messages
• how brand-alignment inside and across disciplines, is required for consistent
brand messaging outside.
• the potential of how a brand tagline is a rallying-cry across all age-demographics
• how to influence provocative internal conversations for alignment
• the requirement of synergy with creative and marketing teams

about riCardo crespo:
A celebrated creative director and respected branding thought-leader in the areas of strategy and creative, riCardo crespo brings to the advertising industry a keen eye for creative excellence and a valuable point of view as a CREATIVEronin. He consistently delivers a unique and valued perspective as a professional with applied experience from both the agency and client side. crespo is a frequent contributor on design methodologies and the strategic value of design + creative in the branding development process. riCardo's vast and varied experience includes leadership posts with such advertising giants as McCANN ERICKSON, Saatchi & Saatchi and Bozell Worldwide.

riCardo's passion for outstanding design and meticulous execution translate into a dedication to excellence in all aspects of his work.

CALL FOR PRESENTERS: The Market Research Event 2010

Email kvazquez@iirusa.com by Friday, March 19, 2010

From: Krista Vazquez
Re: The Market Research Event 2010
Event Date: November 8-10, 2010
Location: Hilton Bayfront San Diego, San Diego, CA
Deadline: Friday, March 19th, 2010

Krista Vazquez, Conference Director, The Market Research Event is now recruiting speakers for the 2010 program.

The Market Research Event is the industry's leading conference showcasing the business value of market research and introducing the very best of what's new in the market research field. Recognized for consistently delivering high quality content and speakers who are willing to share real stories, TMRE has earned the reputation as the "World's Top MR Event." The 2010 event is projected to attract nearly 1000 attendees with more than 60% representing end users and clients. Get involved today. All speakers will receive a free pass to attend the event ($3000+ Value).

Read on for submission guidelines.

Note: Submission deadline is Friday, March 19, 2010.

Content areas include:
Segmentation
Marketing & Media Mix
In-store Research & Shopper Insights
Trends
Research & Social Media
Analytics & Measurement
Marketing & Brand Insights
Management & Leadership
Insight Driven Innovation
Business to Business Research
New Tools, Techniques & Methodologies
ROI
Neuroscience/Biometrics

NOTE: Suggestions for alternate topics also accepted. Sessions can be presented as a case study or interactive/roundtable discussion.

All submissions must include the following:

1. Compelling and benefit oriented session title
2. 75 word description of proposed topic
3. 2 bullet points identifying key take-aways
4. Short bio for proposed speaker (include name, business title and company)
5. Contact information including e-mail address and phone number for proposed speaker.

We encourage you to forward this to your colleagues.

Are You Familiar With ‘Haul’ Vloggers?

There is a new phenomenon happening on YouTube and market researchers are taking note. New York Magazine reports that they're called "haul videos" and consist of girls videotaping themselves showing the world what they just bought at the mall. Like, they go home, plop down in front of their webcams, and pull their new purchases out of shopping bags. And discuss each item in way too much detail.

Here's some more buzz on this phenomenon:

Are You Familiar With ‘Haul’ Vloggers?
Young female vloggers show off their hauls

We're interested to hear what you think of this burgeoning phenomenon. Will (or would) you use this as research?

2010 Explor Award Call For Submissions

The EXPLOR Awards is an annual case study competition, honoring technology innovation in marketing research. Innovation leaders, from global corporations, research agencies and academia, are invited to submit high impact cases where technology and innovation have advanced the research and insight process. A world-class judging team selects the top four candidates to be presented at The Market Research Event, November 9-10 in San Diego, CA.

We are seeking impact-oriented submissions that focus on research-enabling technologies that ultimately enhance the research process, data collection, or dissemination of information. Our goal is to highlight companies that are positively influencing and making an impact in market research and our profession.

The 2010 Submission form can be found here. The deadline in April 9, 2010. We look forward to your submissions!

Increase Touch and Engagement Using Social Marketing – Scott Chappell / Sessions College Podcast Interview

This blog is co-posted with StevenGroves.com.

In this episode we talk with Scott Chappell, who is the Chief Marketing Officer for Sessions College of Design (Sessions.edu), and a presenter at the MeasureUp Conference in Chicago on March 10, 11, & 12th, 2010. Sessions.edu offers online classes for the design community from real experts (author, educators and others) in an asynchronous format, pairing student with instructors in a meaningful dialog about how to develop your design sense and knowledge of the industry. His presentation at MeasureUp is titled ‘Blog, Tweet, Repeat: How Social Media improved lead acquisition, sales and the lifetime value of your customers’ and in this episode, we get to meet Scott an find out about the Sessions.edu social media efforts.

Scott talks about how social media is used by Sessions.edu and how it has supported an almost 10 fold expansion of the number of monthly ‘touches’ with the Sessions Design College audience of prospective student, current students and graduated alumni. Scott explains how he has embraced the premise of Marshall McLuhan in that “the medium is the message”, but he cautions that too many contacts to an audience can cause them to disengage. In Sessions case, while social media has allowed them to dramatically increase the number of messages, the reality is that there needs to be quality and sincerity otherwise you run the risk of turning off the audience.

The biggest understanding that has come from the use of social media is that a successful launch has to be gradual and that he needed to segment the conversation to be able to increase the touch points. Sessions.edu established messaging in three different categories – Culture, Industry & Sell. With this segmented messaging schema, Scott talks about how each has a particular characteristic and supports a conversation or connection in a specific area of the relationship with the audience. The recipients have been very open to the connections because each communication is about something different and Scott says it has ‘enriched the conversation’ and allowed the brand to flourish.

Under lessons learned, he cites trying to use every social tool for everything – he’s come to recognize that the content has to match the discussion and the relationship you want to have with your audience. He suggests that your listeners, followers, and community members need to get something from the conversation and that is a more a function of the quality of the conversation and message than the quantity of messages delivered.

Play / Download Scott Chappell / Sessions College Episode 1 Podcast Here

To get our posts as they happen, follow us on Twitter (@ROISocialMedia) or subscribe to SocialMarketingConversations.com via email or your RSS Reader.

To support the effort in uncovering the ROI question in social media, we’ve set up a Fan Page at Facebook, and a LinkedIn Group. Come join us and let us know what the pressing issues are in your efforts to determine an ROI in your social media presence!

Empowering a Team and Thinking Outside the Corporate Box = Success in Social Media – An Interview with Aneta Hall / Pitney Bowes – Podcast Episode 3/3

This is co-posted with StevenGroves.com.

Our conversation with Aneta Hall / Emerging Media Manager for Pitney Bowes (PB) has been very informative to say the least.

If you would have told me a year ago that a 90 year old company would be an innovator in enterprise social media, I’m pretty sure I would not have believed you. After the time spent with Aneta, I can tell you that a 90 year old company is being really innovative in the enterprise deployment of social media and they’re showing a measureable ROI.

In the last two episodes we’ve covered elements of how PB has done it too. First, they approached it from an understanding that social media is not a set-and-forget proposition; they recognized a need for needed a sustainable program that at the same time, did not inhibit individual participation. They also understood that they needed to put some tools in place, watch key performance indicators (KPIs) and apply metrics, looking for the ROI; those efforts have led to a $300K saving in call-center deflections in a 3 month period.

I know that Guy and I are looking forward to connecting with her at the MeasureUp event in Chicago next month and to put a live presence with the enthusiastic personality she has shown in the podcast series here.

In this episode Aneta lets us know that while they do set certain measures and metrics in place, they are certainly open to evaluating them and updating policy as PB learns what actually makes a difference to their customers and to the bottom line. We open the discussion referring to the Twitter, Facebook and online forums that PB maintains, but Aneta tells us that social media at PB is not about an overarching corporate social presence. At the end of the day social media is about people connecting to people, and it needs to be a sustainable level of one-on-one social media interactions with PB employees taking the lead.

Play / Download Aneta Hall / Pitney Bowes Episode 3 Podcast Here

Presented by:

A 3-Tiered Model for Measuring Social Media Success and How Social Media Saved Pitney Bowes $300K – An Interview with Aneta Hall / Pitney Bowes-Part 2

This post is co-posted with StevenGroves.com.

In episode 1 of the interview with Aneta Hall / Emerging Media Manage at Pitney Bowes (PB) and a presenter at the 2010 MeasureUp Conference in Chicago in March, we talked about the need to develop a sustainable effort and a need to provide guidance to the staff that supports the interaction with customers, prospects and stakeholders.

In this episode, Aneta talks with Guy Powell and myself about how the elements of a relevant online strategy for PB includes traditional elements, like before social media came to onto the scene, but now it has changed many of the ways PB structures campaigns to their audience.

Play / Download Aneta Hall / Pitney Bowes Episode 2 Podcast Here

To get our posts as they happen, follow us on Twitter (@ROISocialMedia) or subscribe to StevenGroves.com via email or your RSS Reader.

To support the effort in uncovering the ROI question in social media, we’ve set up a Fan Page at Facebook, and a LinkedIn Group. Come join us and let us know what the pressing issues are in your efforts to determine an ROI in your social media presence!

Presented by:

Complimentary Webinar - Profiting from Feedback: Achieving Real Business Results with Enterprise Feedback Management

Profiting from Feedback: Achieving Real Business Results with Enterprise Feedback Management

Time/Date: Thu, Mar 11, 2010 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

Complimentary Webinar: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/916296592
Mention priority code MWS0022Blog

CareFusion increased its overall customer satisfaction by 26 percentage points after implementing an Enterprise Feedback Management solution. Attend this webcast to learn how they did it.

Many companies are struggling with how to capture feedback from their customers, partners, and employees – and how to transform this feedback into real business results. Typical questions include:
• What are the critical steps in implementing a successful customer feedback program?
• How do I prevent the feedback from just ending up in a report with no business impact?
• How is enterprise feedback management affecting the bottom line?

CareFusion, formerly part of Cardinal Health, has successfully implemented the MarketTools CustomerSat enterprise feedback management solution across its service organization, elevating customer satisfaction to more than 90%.

Join us for this one-hour webcast to learn:
• The 9 critical steps in designing Enterprise-Wide Feedback Systems, and the costly mistakes to avoid
• How CareFusion moved from ad-hoc surveys to a systematic feedback program that translates to better service at every customer touchpoint
• How CareFusion improved overall customer satisfaction by 26 percentage points
• And much more….

Speakers
Justin Schuster, Vice President, EFM Solutions, MarketTools
Alan Kneale, Vice President, Technical Support Operations, CareFusion
Robert Freeden, Director, Product Support/Repair, CareFusion