Weekly Roundup #108 – YouTube, Retention & Millennials

The Listening Habits of the Millennials

A new survey by Acast, which aimed to understand the audio consumption habits of those in the UK, US and Australia, has found that podcasts have maintained their popularity. 23% of the 1335 survey respondents having listened to at least one podcast in the past month, with the data showing that in the UK podcast-listeners tended to be millennials (around two thirds in fact).

When broken down again, the research showed that 27% of the millennial podcast lovers listened once a week, 29% listened to 2 – 4 times a week and 15% listen to over five podcasts per week. Weekday afternoons and evenings proved to be the most popular times for listening, with the peak time falling between 7pm and 10pm.

All of this is of interest to marketers because podcasts have proven to be very successful for advertisements. Acast reasons that podcasts are able to connect with the ‘unreachables’, who they define as,

“Choosy, on-demand media connoisseurs who know when they are being sold to ̶ and are more likely to seek ways to avoid it.”

Whilst 84% of podcast listeners are more likely to pay for the premium, ad-free offering, there are also positive numbers in the other direction. 76% of podcast listeners had followed up on an ad or sponsored message that they had heard on the podcast, 37% have looked for further information, 24% have visited the brand’s website and 18% have shared that information online.

When creating ads for a podcast audience it is vital to understand that listeners are there to relax, so adverts should follow suit rather than creating a jarring or irritating diversion.

Source

Facebook to Remove Third Party Data

Facebook has announced that it is set to remove access to their data from third parties, another step towards tighter regulations for the company.

The changes will occur in Facebook’s ads interface, where it has previously been possible to select categorized audiences from vendors including Acxiom, Oracle Data Cloud, Epsilon and Experian that advertisers could request. Around half of Facebook’s 1,200 targeting criteria come from third-party data sources, which will now no longer be accessible.

With the new rules from Facebook phasing out the use of all third-party targeting capabilities. This includes both private and public, with public categories including behavioral targeting parameters such as purchasing, in-market audiences and so on.

Announced amidst the chaos of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, as well as the impending GDPR, this is a well timed move from Facebook. Ginny Marvin of Marketing Land asked Facebook if they would create proxy audiences to replace the third-party data that will be lost, to which the company replied that nothing is planned yet…

We’ll see.

READ MORE: A Guide to Facebook Remarketing

How Gen X Use Youtube

Nostalgia 

“their ability to tangibly access their nostalgia—and our ability to observe that behavior through data—has changed.” Bloome carries on to say that the, “number of entertainment and celebrity icons from the ’80s and ’90s passing on in 2016, I am sure YouTube saw huge spikes in Gen X searches for Prince, David Bowie, George Michael, and others.”

Current Affairs 

“staying relevant and not feeling left out [which] is important to their identity, so it makes sense that they turn to YouTube to keep a pulse on current events.”

Do-It-Yourself

“both parents worked, so they found themselves home alone more so than previous generations. They took a lot of responsibility for themselves and their siblings, and subsequently developed a sense of independence and willingness to self-start.”

“Gen Xers use YouTube to figure something out on their own.”

5 ways to Increase Customer Retention

Customer retention is the key to longevity in a business – turning one time consumers into loyal paying customers. Help Scout has recently published a list of 22 ways to increase customer retention, and we have picked five of our favourites…

1. Mirror your Customer – there is a cognitive bias called ‘implicit egotism’ in which people prefer products and companies that in some way ‘resemble’ them. To take advantage of this bias, create a very specific and detailed idea of who your customer is, and then craft a message that matches their goals, gripes and ideals.
2. Before and After – it is very powerful to show the customer’s life prior to purchasing your product, and what it is like when they have. To truly capture this effect you must have a solid understanding of what your customers pain is, and how your product is the solution.
3. Word Play – certain words have a strong effect on people, such as ‘free’, ‘new’ and ‘instantly’. So long as your service backs up these word choices, then using these words will improve the customer experience.
4. Kind not Speed – Gallup Group research has uncovered that customers were 9x happier with a service that was ‘courteous, willing and helpful’ as opposed to 6x happier with a speedy service – which is proof that high-quality, friendly service wins over a quick service…
5. Reward Loyalty – Studies have shown that the hardest part of getting people to use loyalty schemes is getting them signed up, and the solution to this is to automatically give away or reward loyalty cards. An additional point here is to make your best or most ideal customers VIPs, or ‘gold members’ – however, to fully capitalise on this, make sure to also create ‘silver members’ as studies have shown that people most enjoy their new ‘gold’ status when they know there is another tier below them…

For further pointers click here.

The Importance of eCommerce in B2B

B2B buyers are relying more and more on online purchases, and 92% of B2B executives in North America feel that eCommerce is ‘critical to business advantage and results.’ Direct web stores are the most common type of B2B eCommerce, which is typically crafted with the help of a consultant who helps to build a digital sales strategy.

Taking their cues from the best eCommerce sites, B2B sites should focus on advanced search, detailed content, custom account specifications and mobile UX. Offering a service that blends online self-service with human-assisted sales is a strategy that has been seen to work very well in the B2B field.

According to industry forecasts, B2B eCommerce sales will grow exponentially in the next few years, outgrowing even B2C (business-to-consumer) sales. With this being the case, B2Bs should enhance their digital offerings to suit their clients needs and expectations.

Read More Here