Flexibility In Loyalty Programs Most Appealing

According to a Global Survey, 72 percent respondents, stated that Loyalty Programs are the key determinant for their shopping decision. According to the report “In fact, almost two-thirds (72%) of global respondents agree that, all other factors equal, they’ll buy from a retailer with a loyalty program over one without.”

All Loyalty Programs are not created equal. Here are some of the insights for features that are found to be more appealing than others, according to The Nielsen Global Loyalty-Sentiment Survey among 30000 online consumers in 63 countries.

Flexibility in Loyalty programs was seen to be the most appealing feature. The ability to earn rewards across channels was seen as one of the draws for a loyalty program. As high as 81 percent respondents liked that they could earn rewards in-store, online or on mobile and 79 percent liked the ability to choose from rewards.

Personalized rewards based on past purchase activity was seen as very important by 77 percent of respondents. Personalized products or service recommendations was seen as attractive by 60 percent of respondents.

Rewards linked to a purchase activity was seen as appealing by 70 percent of respondents. Opportunity to earn bonus was seen to be an important feature by 76 percent of the respondents. Points and rewards for referrals was seen to be important by 67 percent of respondents. Tiered programs were seen as important by 60 percent of rewards programs.

Technology played a significant role in the choice of Loyalty Programs. Some of the features that were found appealing are Integration with Mobile Payment System so that the rewards can be automatically earned and used. The other Technology related benefits that nearly 60 percent of respondents found important are earning of rewards by sharing on Social Networks, Store specific Loyalty program and integration with Third Party programs.

To read more, Click here.

Key Insights From Holiday Shopping Research

Based on research among tens of thousands of shoppers, carried out in December 2015, here are the key insights for marketers and advertisers for Holiday season 2016.

Promotions play a role in influencing purchases – As high as 38 percent consumers sign up for retailer’s newsletters and as high as 35 percent search on the retailer’s website for discounts or coupons.

Takeaway – Ensure that you have a sign up form for newsletters and your offers and coupons are advertised prominently as well as discoverable on your website. Given the high incidence of Mobile traffic, target deals and coupons for mobile searchers and optimize your emails for mobile audiences.

Free Shipping and discounts are the biggest draw, however Free Returns Shipping is a big draw too.

Takeaway – Free returns shipping will help you target first time purchasers and risk averse audiences.

On-Time Delivery is important for Customer satisfaction. Delivery Delays lead to a decline in satisfaction and diminish likelihood to recommend.

Takeaway – Do not over-promise as delays in delivery can lead to an overall decline in satisfaction and negative word of mouth can hurt your brand.

One-day and two- day shipping orders were the least likely to be delivered on- time. The brands need to be prepared for expedited delivery options.

Takeaway – Offer “Order online and Pick Up In-store” as an option to shoppers so that their plans are not hampered by any unnecessary delays and prevent any remorse and negative word of mouth.

Bizrate Predicts nearly 40 percent of orders will be made on Mobile.

Takeaway – Prioritize a Seamless mobile checkout experience. Optimize browsing experience across devices. Advertisers can also plan for cross device targeting and offer seamless experience across devices.

Mobile users compare prices and read reviews in addition to making purchases.

Takeaway – Make Prices and product and store review visible for Mobile users with Mobile responsive designs. With a mobile optimized experience, brands can target cross-device users throughout the buyer journey.

Nearly 58 percent of Holiday Shopper use a phone that is capable of accessing Apple Pay (36 Percent) or Samsung Galaxy (22 Percent).

Takeaway – Support Mobile payments for mobile users intending to use newer payment technology.

For more information, Click here. Bizrate Annual Holiday Study was conducted among N=18,009 online shoppers in the US and Canada, collected between Nov 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015

Source: Connexity

The State Of Branded Content

According to a quantitative study by IPG Lab and Forbes in collaboration with Syracuse University, “Storytelling : The Current State of Branded Content”,Branded content is proven to perform for memorability, brand perception and purchase intent/ consideration. With over 40 different test conditions, for different verticals and different types of content as well as Level of Branding, it was proven that Branded Content works for Brand Performance with high scores for aided and unaided ad recall, purchase intent and consideration.

The key findings from the study are:

Branded Content Works: Branded content is highly effective across the branding funnel and outperforms display ads. In addition to aided recall’s 59 percentage point increase, brand favorability was 7 percentage points higher and purchase consideration was 9 percentage points higher

Branded Content Holds Up Over Time: Despite the loss of novelty often seen with ad products across time, branded content was as effective, if not more so, in 2016 compared to results seen in the 2013 study.

Brand Interest Increases with Branded Content:Branded content may drive lasting interest in the brand. Consumers were 14 percentage points more likely to say they intend to seek out more information about the brand in the future. After seeing Branded Content, viewers are more likely to seek Branded Content from the site.

Don’t Be Afraid to Mention Your Brand:‘Higher Branding,’ defined as 2x the number of brand mentions, caused brands to be perceived as more educational by over 7 percentage points and performs better on mobile devices.

Longer Form Branded Content Drives Millennial Purchase Consideration:18-34 year olds responded better to long articles, driving higher engagement consideration rates and aiding recall.

Branded Content Is Perceived Better:Consumers perceive branded content as being more consumer-centric because it is less about selling products and more about providing value to consumers.

For the complete study, Click here.

Twenty Percent View Eighty Percent Of Smartphone Video

As per the Reach and Advertising impact study by Nielsen, the Top 20 percent of users consume 52 percent of media in terms of the time spent. Furthermore, the Top 20 percent of media users consume 83 percent of Smartphone Video and 87 percent of Stream on PC.

Takeaway

Reach based Targeting such as Radio and Television is less likely to reach the heaviest users. According to the report, “For AM/FM radio as well as live and time-shifted television (the top two platforms for monthly reach), the top group of users drive a much lower percentage of the total usage.”
Conversely targeting the audience based on Time Usage is likely to deliver impressions with the heaviest usage segment, reaching them multiple times, without bringing in the desired reach.

According to Nielsen’s “Total Audience Measurement” the media universe a myriad of choices for advertisers. Among newer media options, Social Media on Smartphones and Apps and Web targeting on Smartphones are possible reach building options.

At the same time, Branded Content has proven to be more effective than pre-roll advertising for Brand performance metrics by delivering results on Affinity, Purchase Intent and recommendation intent. Examples of Branded Content include online video series that educate viewers on a topic while featuring a brand to integrations within a TV show that include special story arcs to highlight specific products.

According to Harry Brisson, Director of Lab Research at Nielsen“While there’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to creating impactful branded content, we’ve identified some common themes in our research and content testing that can be used as best practices for making content resonate with audiences.”

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Takeaways

The five keys for successful Branded Content are Excellent Central Personality, Connection with the audience, Unique and original content, Alignment of Brand and content and Emotional Audience Engagement.

Branded Content has a positive impact on Brand performance. Engaging content, with higher intent to view future episodes has a positive impact on Brand favorability.

Partnering with Publishers brings better return for Brands publishing content as it provides context and publisher’s loyal audiences that Brands can target.

Key Insight For Marketers and Advertisers

Branded Content can increase the engagement rate with your Target Audience. However given the Pareto Principle for Smartphone video, Brands looking at building reach for their awareness campaign are less likely to target the heaviest users. The heaviest users may be your engaged audience however, replicating the profile of heaviest smartphone video users may limit the reach of your campaign. Targeting heavy users for your reach campaign may also prove to be very expensive. Thus it is important to look at building reach by targeting users beyond the existing heaviest users.

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Key Insight For Marketers and Advertisers

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