Digital American Newsletter

21% of Americans (and dropping) are active on Twitter. The same percentage (and rising rapidly) listens to podcasts monthly. Yet marketers spent only $34 million total on podcast advertising last year.

Here’s what you need to know to decide if podcasts should be part of your marketing mix.

• 57 million Americans listen to podcasts monthly, including 24% of 25-54 year olds.
• Monthly podcast engagement jumped 75% in the past 2 years, driven by Serial (the most popular podcast of all time that received tremendous media coverage), simplified listening technology and improved content.
• Listeners are richer and more educated than the national average. They are also more likely to be on social media and follow brands.
• Half of all weekly listeners spend more than 3 hours per week with podcasts.
• On average, users listen to 5 podcasts per week.
• Podcast listeners spend the biggest share of their total listening time (cleverly called “share of ear”) with podcasts. AM/FM radio comes in second.
• 71% prefer to listen to podcasts on portable devices, a dramatic increase since 2013.
• Home is the most popular listening location, followed by the car.

 
All data points to more consumers listening to more podcasts in the future.

Sources: Convince and Convert 2016, Edison Research 2016, Pew Research 2016, Social Media Examiner 2016

One word. Three syllables. Rhymes with “clicks.” There’s a big sports event this month. I can’t mention its name, location, or even specific precious metals, or Brandology risks being sued by the organizing body.

Really. I’m not making this up.

All words, hashtags, pictures, and even congratulations related to the competition are legally off limits to everyone except full sponsors. Everywhere. Including social media.

Companies that sponsor an athlete—but not the event—are forbidden from sharing updates. The athletes themselves are restricted. A business cannot retweet a sponsor’s tweet without legal consequences.

This is a fascinating example of not understanding the power of social media. On the surface, these rules appear to protect sponsors by ensuring non-sponsors don’t steal their thunder. In reality, they reduce the event’s exposure and diminish the value of sponsorships.

Social media is a powerhouse for sports. Each year, over 60% of fans use it to talk about games, athletes and sponsors. Not this month if you’re a business. 78% of brand engagement on Twitter comes from retweets. Not now.

Sharing is the engine that drives social’s enormous impact. I believe organizers and official sponsors have lost far more in awareness, brand building, and positive connections than they have gained by protecting their intellectual property.

Sources: Adweek 2016, Business Side of Sports 2016, Chicago Tribune 2016, Inc. 2016, Media Daily News 2016

We’ve got so much on our plates that it’s easy to decide to ignore Pokemon Go.

That would be a mistake.

Less than a month after its launch in the US, Pokemon Go has more daily users than Twitter and more minutes of engagement per day than Facebook.

What’s more, Pokemon Go gives us a peek into an entirely new type of marketing—Augmented Reality Marketing.

To appreciate the marketing opportunities, you first need to understand the game’s basics. Drastically simplified, Pokemon Go players use their smartphones at real world locations to collect virtual Pokemon, gather items that help them in the game (at Pokestops), and fight opponents (at gyms.)

Businesses are leveraging Pokemon Go to drive brand awareness and customer traffic.

• McDonald’s became the first official sponsor of the game, paying to have Pokestops or Pokemon Gyms in each of their restaurants in Japan.
• Local businesses are buying Lures that attract Pokemon (and Pokemon Go players) to the Pokestop nearest them. Lures can be purchased for a few dollars an hour.
• Other brands are increasing their social media following by posting where rare Pokemon are located.

 
Even if the Pokemon Go craze fades, the next augmented reality game will arrive and the smartest marketers will be ready.

Sources: Daily Mail 2016, PC World 2016, SurveyMonkey 2016, TechCrunch 2016

Subscription boxes have gone mainstream. They are certainly attracting average consumers. More important, some large, traditional brands have launched boxes, and more are rumored to be in the works.

Should your brand get involved? Here’s what you need to know to become an instant expert in subscription commerce.

• 10% of Americans currently receive a subscription box. 5% of the population subscribes to three or more.
• Consumers love to receive monthly boxes because they evoke a sense of discovery, are a little indulgent, and can be personalized.
• Beauty products make up 40% of the market.
• Big brands that have already jumped into subscription commerce include Wal-Mart, Adidas, Sephora and Starbucks.
• Mainstream brands have built-in advantages when they launch boxes. First, consumers like receiving branded products because they believe they are more valuable. Second, well-known brands have lower consumer acquisition costs so they can scale faster than start-ups.
• Subscribers are very fickle. 61% of those who have ever tried a service have cancelled it.
• Top reasons for cancelling are cost, unappealing products, boredom, and switching to a competitor.
• The secret to successful subscription commerce is making each box surprising and exciting, plus offering consumers a great value—defined as contents worth double the monthly fee.

Sources: AMMO2 2016, Fast Company 2015, MGI Research 2016, UPS 2016

Would you be interested in a marketing tactic that 61% of consumers like? That over 20% of your target market will engage with every time they see it?

It’s time to get reacquainted with email marketing.

Amid all the noise about content marketing, influencer marketing, and the latest bright, shiny thing in social media, email marketing tends to get lost. It shouldn’t.

Consumers of all ages prefer to hear from companies via email than any other medium. It even scores #1 with Millennials—69% choose email over social media, text message, online video and TV.

People are addicted to email. 58% of Americans check email first thing every morning.

Millennials use email more frequently than other generations. 70% read their email in bed 57% in the bathroom (eeewww…) and 27% while driving (I can’t even think about that.)

Email marketing drove a quarter of all Black Friday online sales in Fall 2015. That’s more than any other marketing tactic.

Finally, email marketing usually pays out. 88% of email marketers say they can prove they drove positive ROI with their efforts.