Key Findings: January 2013
B2B Content Marketers Mixing It Up with Social Media Sites
B2B marketers appear to be warming up to the use of social media. In its annual B2B marketing survey, the Content Management Institute and MarketingProfs found that B2B marketers increased their use of social media to distribute content in 2012 to 87%, up from 74% in 2011. In addition, B2B marketers also began venturing into using a more diverse mix of social media channels. The usual social-media suspects made the top four: Linkedin was the favorite social media site of choice among 83% of B2B marketers distributing content; last year’s favorite, Twitter, was second, at 80%; and Facebook, third, at 80%. Google+ made a big jump to 39% last year from 13% in 2011. But the big news was social image sharing site Pinterest, which debuted in this year’s survey with a surprisingly 26%. Slideshare came in a 23%, Vimeo, 12%, Flickr and StumbleUpon at 10%. Four Square, Instagram, Tumblr and Quora all came in under 8% each. Now, the biggest challenge facing B2B marketers (64%) in the area of content marketing appears to be producing enough content to spread across all those social media channels. ContentMarketingInsitute.com
Internet Advertising Hits Historic High in Q3 2012 at $9.3 Billion
Despite “economic head winds,” businesses invested heavily on internet advertising last fall. According to the latest Internet Advertising Revenue Report published by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC US, the third quarter of 2012 was the biggest on record for the online advertising industry in the US, showing an 18% jump compared to Q3 2011’s $7.8 billion and a 6% increase over Q2 2012 figures of $8.72 billion.
The survey tracks online advertising revenues from web sites, commercial online services, free email providers and other companies selling online advertising. The study is conducted independently by the New Media Group of PwC and sponsored by IAB. Full reports are issued twice a year with top-line estimates issued quarterly.
“Clearly, digital advertising continues its positive trajectory with incredible momentum,” says David Silverman, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP.
IAB’s President and CEO Randall Rothenberg emphasized that online advertising has become an effective way to engage today’s consumers “who are no longer passive, but are active participants in contemporary media online, through social media, and on-the-go with mobile.”
Television is still on top among marketers, securing $34.5 billion in advertising in Q3 2012. To no one’s surprise, only $4.5 billion was spent advertising in newspaper during the same period.
Renewables Advance in 2012 but Shale Gas Still Energy’s Shining Star
Last year was a mixed bag for renewable energy resources, but a continued boon for shale gas in the U.S. Hydrofracturing (fracking) of shale deposits has provided access to a surplus of clean, abundant natural gas at low prices — making it tough for struggling renewables to compete.
Utilities shifted electricity generation from coal to natural gas, decreasing carbon dioxide emissions to the lowest levels in two decades. Even China plans to get on the shale gas bandwagon to feed its growing energy appetite.
Similar drilling technologies have led to a surge of oil production in the United States that could within a couple of decades—with the help of rigorous fuel economy standards—enable North America to produce as much energy as it consumes.
Prospects for solar, wind, biofuels and advanced vehicles “took a decidedly bearish turn” in 2012, however, hybrid vehicle technology is finally profitable. The extension of several key tax credits for 2013 added onto the “fiscal cliff” legislation now offer at least a 12-month window for biofuels and domestic renewable energy resources to stay alive in the market.
While numerous solar panel companies went out of business last year, startups continue to push forward with new solar technology. The U.S. Department of Energy set an ambitious goal to bring the cost of solar power down to six cents per kilowatt hour, less than half of what it is now. Improvements to conventional silicon solar cells that both increase efficiency and lower manufacturing costs are making strides. But to compete with natural gas at a large scale—in the United States now, and perhaps in other places as shale gas is developed around the world—it may need to achieve even lower costs. technologyreview.com
New V-chip Card Uses Single Drop of Blood to Perform 50 Tests
Studies show that per capita U.S. health care costs are high compared to peer countries such as Japan and the U.K. In fact, a recent Forbes article says that healthcare costs in those countries are about half of ours and achieve equally good results. Consequently, it’s no mystery why efforts continue in the area of developing technologies that will reduce those costs.
One new device may do just that and more. Thanks to scientists at Houston’s Methodist Hospital Research Institute and MD Anderson Cancer Center, an elegant new device could soon radically simplify and streamline blood testing, circumventing expensive lab equipment and wait times. Early tests of the V-chip, a device the size of a business card that costs about $10 to produce, promise to bring accurate and inexpensive blood tests to patients’ homes, remote areas and other point-of-care locations. The technology uses two thin pieces of glass sandwiched together, a series of wells and microfludics to display blood test results as easy to read bar charts directly on the device. Having to give vials of blood and waiting weeks for lab results to get a diagnosis from your doctor may soon be a thing of the past. Nature.com; Methodisthealth.com
Bullets
Business to Business
- 75 percent of business to business companies do not measure or quantify social media engagement. 56 percent of companies that quantify social media engagement only count comments and followers. (http://goo.gl/JTpdC)
- According to Themailhaus.wordpress.com, 47% of U.S. households read catalogs, and only 19% discard them without reading. The amount of customers who trust direct mail over email has actually grown from 29% in 2008 to 36% in 2012. (http://goo.gl/Iv5Xz)
- The digital video audience is growing in both number and time spent viewing content. The latest eMarketer projection shows that by 2014, nearly three-quarters of all US internet users will watch video online at least once per month. Much of the content being viewed is increasingly ad-supported, which puts an ever-greater focus on the metrics used to measure results. (http://goo.gl/IwhBH)
- Shoppers who interact with sales associates are 13% more likely than those who don’t interact to make purchases in-store. (GroupM Next: 314-682-2055)
Brand Strategy
- While marketers may strive to have website visitors fill out a whitepaper download form, or self-identify via the “contact me” button, the reality is that potential buyers are researching your company and products far in advance of their willingness to identify themselves. Studies show that up to 75% of research is done prior to self-identification. (http://goo.gl/TRqdb)
- 22% of online Americans say that they click on search engine ads, finds The Search Agency finds in a survey conducted by Harris Interactive. The results show a fairly significant degree of variation on a geographic level, with the proportion saying they click on search ads far higher in the South (29%) than in the Northeast (20%), West (19%), and Midwest (17%). The study also finds that 18-34-year-olds report being more likely to click on search ads than those aged 35 and older (30% vs. 18%). (http://goo.gl/ScgI4)
- More than three in four consumers say most of the claims that brands make in advertisements are exaggerated, according to a study by Lab42. Specifically, among surveyed consumers, 57.4% say advertising claims are “somewhat exaggerated,” and 19.0% say they are “very exaggerated,” Lab42 reported. Only 2.8% of consumers surveyed say the claims in various ads are very accurate: (http://goo.gl/cmtah)
- Edelman’s 2012 global “goodpurpose” study found a growing number of consumers considered “social purpose,” the leading purchase driver when quality and price were equal. And, increasingly, consumers worldwide didn’t see a contradiction in brands profiting from supporting causes. Seventy-six percent said it was OK for brands to make money as a result of social purpose, a 33% increase from 2008. (http://goo.gl/PtAsi)
Energy
- Small buildings comprise nearly 90 percent of the nation’s commercial buildings and use 50 percent more energy per square foot than larger facilities in part due to inefficiencies, according to the most recent Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. (http://goo.gl/0cntL)
- Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town. Sensible driving is also safer for you and others, so you may save more than gas money. (http://goo.gl/P4pSZ)
- Wind power currently supports 75,000 good quality, well-paying jobs. The U.S. Department of Energy found that with the right policies in place, by aiming for 20% of our electricity needs fueled by wind power by 2030, industry could support roughly 500,000 jobs in the U.S., with an annual average of more than 150,000 workers employed directly. (http://goo.gl/5FycK)
- 2012 was the hottest year in history. The average temperature across the contiguous United States in 2012 was 55.3° (3.2° above normal). This ranks as the warmest year since records began in 1895. (http://goo.gl/CkRB2)
- As of January 2013, the Energy Information Administration reports that exports have risen 217% in the last 10 years, most recently rising to nearly three million barrels per day. The amount of products exported amounts to over 16% of what Americans consume every day. (http://goo.gl/WfTqg)
Healthcare
- Employees who exercise three or more times per week earn 6 to 9 percent more money than those who do not exercise. (2012 study by Vasilios Kostease, PhD, Cleveland State University)
- Adults who frequently engage in mentally stimulating activities are 63% less likely to develop dementia than those who rarely do such activities, a New England Journal of Medicine study discovered. A University of Michigan study found that adults who play a mentally challenging game every day for several weeks can dramatically improve their memory. (http://goo.gl/rVS67)
- Job stress is estimated to cost U.S. industry more than $300 billion a year in absenteeism, turnover, diminished productivity and medical, legal and insurance costs. And 52 percent of Americans report that they have considered workplace stress a significant factor when looking for a new job, declining a promotion or leaving a job altogether. (http://goo.gl/G8SdB)
- Researchers found that sedentary people placed on an exercise program voluntarily began smoking less, drinking fewer alcoholic and caffeinated drinks, and eating healthier. They also did more household chores, used their credit cards less often, and kept up more diligently with study and work obligations. (http://goo.gl/HqbYm)