Social Media Trends

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Social Media Trends Value Across Generations
Carla
Ferraro, Research Fellow
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In the next 30 minutes

• Social Media Growth
• Social Media Trends
• Social Media in Action
• ACRS Social Media Research
• Part 1 Qualitative
• Part 2

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The Rise and Rise of Social Media

• 74 of the world's Internet surfers visit SM
  (Nielsen, 2010)
• YouTube, Wikipedia and Facebook are three of the
  top seven online brands visited
• Time spent using SM rose 210 in 2009 (Nielsen,
  2010)
• Average time per person increased 143
• Average time spent on Facebook and Twitter
  increased 200 and 368 respectively
• Facebook alone catering to 500 million users
• 150 million access via mobile devices
• Twitter growing 579 in annual unique visitors
  (Nielsen, 2010)
• SM marketing to grow 34 annually over the next 5
  years
• US3.1 billion by 2014 (Forrester Research, 2010)

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Most used SM tools globally
Source 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry
Report
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Most popular SM websites in NZ
Source Nielsen 2010 Social Media Report
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Asia Pacific SM Trends

• SM is now one of the most critical trends within
  online
• 3 of the 7 global online brands are SM sites
• Online product reviews are the third most trusted
  source of information when making purchase
  decisions

Source Nielsen 2010 Asia Pacific Social Media
Report
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New Zealand SM Participation

• Online New Zealanders increasing the SM
  participation
• Content sharing the most popular social media
  activity
• Spending an average of 6 hrs per month on SM
  sites

• Source Nielsen 2010 Social Media Report

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The New Age Social retailing

• Shopping meets social networks (Foresee
  Results, 2010)
• 56 of shoppers who interact with social media
  websites have elected to friend or follow or
  subscribe to a retailer
• More than 50 of online shoppers use Facebook,
  and of those online shoppers who engage in social
  media, more than 80 use Facebook
• 49 of respondents who friend or follow
  companies through social media do so to learn
  about special deals and options
• 45 of users do it to learn about products
• 5 use social media primarily for customer
  support
• However, 60 of retailers do not have a presence
  on a social networks
• 85 of Gen Y shoppers participate in social
  networking (PriceGrabber, 2010)

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Friends Store benefits for Levis

• Increased sales with peer recommendation acting
  as a powerful incentive to purchase
• Invaluable feedback on all products
• Seasonal and product analysis and reporting
• Better forecasting of sales
• Design more customised products
• Identify regional liking of products
• Customer input for future marketing campaigns
  and product directions

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Social Media Research
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Research Objectives

• To examine the role of SM within the broader
  advertising and communications mix
• To extend knowledge of how SM compares to
  traditional media consumption
• To develop a comprehensive picture of weekly
  media consumption
• To identify consumer knowledge, value and
  attitudes towards SM in general and SM
  advertising
• To identify and understand generational
  differences

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Research Approach

• Part 1 Media diary
• Self-completion diary of daily media use over
  one-week period. Split by
• New media usage digital, interactive, or
  networked information and communication
  technologies, including the Internet, websites,
  blogs, iPhone applications
• Traditional media usage television, magazines,
  books, or paper-based publications
• Part 2 Focus group discussions
• In-depth focus group discussions to better
  understand SM attitudes and consumption drivers.
  Split by
• Gen Y, Gen X and Boomers

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Sample

Generation Year Sample
Gen Y 1981 to 2000 30
Gen X 1966 to 1980 35
Boomers 1945 to 1965 35
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Part 1 Media Diary
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Diarised SM Participation

• Very High
• Interacting with others (daily)
• Looking at and updating profiles
• Read a blog
• Positing pictures online

• High
• Interacting with others (daily)
• Looking at and updating profiles
• Watching online videos about a product/ service

• Low
• Some activity interacting with others
• Looking at profiles (if exist)
• Posting pictures online

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Weekly Media Consumption Hourly Trends
TV radio as background to dinner/ evening
activities
New media more prominent during working hours
Average hourly consumption across week, all
generations
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Weekly Media Consumption Daily Trends
Consumption reverses and there is a general dip
in new media over the weekend
Average daily consumption across week, all
generations
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New vs. Traditional Media Consumption
Overall new media consumption pattern is
consistent across time of day and by weekday/
weekend
New vs. tradition media consumption (weekday by
weekend), all generations
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Part 2 Focus Groups
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Social Media Experience Perceptions
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SM Experience

• SM experience is first hand for Gen X and Gen Y
• Boomers experience SM via younger generations

Experience Interest areas Tools Knowledge source
Gen Y Solid Connecting and keeping up to date with friends, social planning, photo sharing Many particularly social networking via Facebook and Twitter Peers
Gen X Sound News and information updates, connecting with friends and family, career planning Various particularly professional networking via LinkedIn and news and information websites/blogs and applications Peers and colleagues
Boomers Limited or none Connecting and sharing with family and friends around the world Very few limited knowledge of social networking tools and content building communities but keen to learn Children or younger colleagues
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SM Perceptions

• SM perceptions
• Generally positive perceptions of the value of
  SM, but differences in where value lies

General Positive Negative
Gen Y I can no longer live without it Convenience, entertainment, keeping in touch Many fans of brands, companies, bands There is so much pressure to be available online you miss so much if you go a week without Facebookits addictive and dangerous
Gen X Personal vs. professional value News/ informational content valued Career benefits via LinkedIn connecting with people who can track professional profiles and movements - a very useful way to keep in touch with clients and/or be hunted for a job Highlighted caution in social networking content, particularly personal content posted by others I immediately un-tag myself when someone posts a photo of me as I dont want everyone else to know what Ive been up to
Boomers SM not well understood Value as a means for younger people to easily explore topics of interest SM is amazing, particularly being able to keep in touch with many people so easily, and getting thoughts and ideas out there with quick responses SM less focussed on current affairs younger generations are not absorbing much about world issues Not comfortable with SM anonymity and credibility of this form of communication
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Social Media Consumption
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SM Consumption Gen Y

• Role in daily life
• Facebook has replaced the common diary I
  still have a paper diary with family members
  birthdays in it, but Ive missed two this year
  already because theyre not on Facebook
• Helps to organise it reminds me for
  birthdays, events,...Id forget or miss out
  otherwise

• Consumption drivers
• Dual purposes (1) letting the whole world know
  whats going on in your life, and (2) gives you
  instant recommendations like a great bar to
  visit
• To follow the movements of celebrities
• To create content for example via a blog to
  keep in touch with family, post photos, and we
  all have the password so everyone can interact
• To arrange to meet people and stay in touch,
  planning social events you can find out who
  will be coming within 38 hours, and make a
  decision from a distance on whether or not to
  participate

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SM Consumption Gen X

• Role in daily life
• Quick interactions with others
• Posting and reviewing relevant comments (e.g.
  The Age online)
• Convenience, particularly the ability to do
  two things at once, find information, gain
  real-time updates from friends and family
• Brings issues to the foreyou cant get away
  with anything anymore

• Consumption drivers
• Review sites in planning purchases or travel and
  sending links to others used for decision-making
  purposes
• iPhone applications to find information while
  out and about, i.e. Lonely Planet
• Reviews and testimonials for candid opinions
  hearing of a product or service from others
  helps me to make a decision People can be brutal
  - thats what I use it for
• Instant status updates SM provides quick,
  short, sharp bursts of information but Facebook
  can do the same and more
• LinkedIn perceived as Facebook for business
  and as a great way to connect with your
  professional network, new and old

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Social Media Consumption Boomers

• Role in daily life
• Split in terms of general media consumption,
  some using the Internet and email at work, some
  doing so at home for social and informational
  purposes, and some engaging with Facebook
  although not very often
• Limited as most consume TV and radio more than
  new media

• Consumption drivers
• To communicate with friends and relations
  overseas and interstate, and enable easy photo
  sharing
• Facebook somewhat useful for staying in touch
  with people
• Majority use new media such as email and limited
  and infrequent use of Facebook such as a couple
  of times a month My personal network of
  friends have given up on me ever responding on
  Facebook, their messages are 6 weeks old before I
  reply

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Social vs. Traditional Media Assessment
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Social vs. Traditional Media Gen Y

• Women have a strong preference towards
  magazines in that they allow you to hold them in
  your hand, for instance reading it with a coffee
• Traditional media more akin to relaxing You
  can sit down with the papers on a weekend,
  reading full articles whereas social media is
  higher maintenance and more constant, its harder
  to get away from

• Control You dont have control over
  traditional media whereas you can often opt in or
  out for social media
• Reading consumer reviews and stories for
  products and services of interest assists in
  pre-purchase research by weighing up the good
  versus bad reviews
• The ability to build content I like that I
  can add my own comments in different forums
• Search functionality No matter what I buy, I
  always search online first

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Social vs. Traditional Media Gen X

• Interactive nature favourite authors replying
  to posts and interacting with other readers blogs
• Speed and ease of access to relevant content
  Using The Age online, I can quickly scan through
  for the things I are most interested in
• Transparency You cant hide behind social
  media

• Traditional media can be enjoyed passively it
  allows me to sit back and enjoy the content
  without getting too involved, compared with SM
  where it is difficult not to comment, and it
  makes you feel forced to participate
• Concern regarding the credibility of online
  reviews and recommendations if believed to be
  written by staff of the company, review was
  disregarded or acted upon with caution

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Social vs. Traditional Media Boomers

• Platforms such as MySpace seen as useful for
  brands and organisations to build awareness and
  share content
• Majority recognised significant business
  opportunities in using SM All you have to do is
  be updated

• Impersonal and encourages less face-to face
  communications with people and brands
• Message frequency is uncontrollable and adds
  more pressure to already reduced personal time

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Social Media Advertising Preferences
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SM Advertising Preferences by Generation

• Must be permission-based communications

• Updates and offers from brands of interest
• Do not want to be sold to via Facebook as a place
  for connecting with friends
• Keen to discuss advertising messages and offer
  with friendship network
• Highlight engagement as opposed to a mere
  presence
• Expect a brand to respond to user content see no
  reply as being ignored by the brand

• Interested in having a conversation with a
  brand, not only about an offer but the category
  they are in and lifestyle they address
• Tailored and exclusive offers appreciated and
  opportunity to pass to interested others
• Reinforce SM advertising with traditional media
  important for raising brand awareness and in
  essence to say yes its real

• Spam a primary concern spam should be outlawed,
  its unsolicited
• Social and traditional media should complement
  each other legitimise message If Id only heard
  about it online, I might think it was dodgy
• Limited in that there is a strong preferences for
  traditional forms of advertising

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So what?
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• SM is a permanent part of media consumption
  behaviour
• Generation differences in terms of SM
  engagement, with the most extensive awareness and
  adoption among Gen Y and Gen X
• New media, including SM, consumed alongside
  traditional forms to (a) reinforce communications
  and (b) provide credibility
• Consumers happy to be exposed to SM
  advertising, if permission-based
• Facebook not a platform for selling due to
  its personal nature, however important tool for
  conversing with brands of interest and keeping
  up-to-date
• SM is about two-way conversation (i.e. brands
  need to respond to consumer content)
• A multi-channel marketing strategy is most
  effective As a combined effort, sure theres
  some things youre going to miss, but you might
  check something else out like through MX or
  Facebook... brands cant rely on just the one
  medium