If your cell phone surprisingly disappears, this video may explain where it went. Our Behavioral Research Department just loves conducting user experience tests on cell phones, PDAs, and touch screen iPhones. Check it out!
P.S. We promise to take good care of your devices! =)
While doing a little research on email marketing, I came across this nifty site called EmailStatCenter.com. Since I found it to be helpful, I wanted to pass it along to you guys. This site is the first centralized online repository of statistics and research specific to the email marketing industry, with a broad range of topics included.
EmailStatCenter.com provides statistical information for those looking for quick facts, but also provides the name of the reports if you’d like to research further. Let’s face it, if you’re trying to convince people there’s value to an email marketing program, stats will be extremely helpful in your argument.
Here are some facts that I found particularly interesting:
Of the largest online retailers that send welcome emails, 69% of them send their welcome emails in HTML, while the remaining 31% sent theirs in text-only format. - Email Experience Council/RetailEmail.Blogspot (September 2006)
55.3% of marketers surveyed currently use, or plan on using an outside vendor for email marketing. - Datran Media Research, “The 2007 Email Marketing Survey: Looking Forward” (2007)
56% of the world’s heaviest online advertisers revealed that they had budgeted significantly for landing-page A/B tests in 2007. -MarketingSherpa (2007)
The majority of marketers annually allocate less than $250,000 to each of the discrete email functions of acquisition, retention and creative. - JupiterResearch “E-mail Spending and Governance 2007″ (2007)
U.S. marketers spent $300 million on email in 2005. - 2006 Online Retail Holiday Readiness Report, WebTrends
In the last eight months, Second Life has grown like wildfire. Even since May, the world’s total number of avatars has grown from around 6 million to more than 8 million. This growth has made Second Life far and away the largest virtual social interaction world. And with so many brands in-world it looks like Second Life is running away with the competition. Hold up. For users interested in social interaction in virtual worlds, there may be life outside of Second Life.
As of June, more than 50 corporations use and have established a presence in Second Life. Just as some businesses have gotten in, though, some are jumping out. Wells Fargo recently left, and Starwood Hotels has plans to leave as well. Part of the reason is that as the world has gotten so big and there is such stiff competition for brand recognition, some companies are having trouble sustaining avatars’ attention. This could be good news for worlds like There.com, Kaneva and even China’s HipiHi.
Both Kaneva and HipiHi are still in their beta testing stages. However, There.com has emerged as a very possible alternative to Second Life, showing a significant amount of promise.
One interesting aspect of There, which currently has around one million users, is that they are targeting a slightly younger target audience. Many worlds - such as Second Life, HipiHi, and Kaneva - are shooting for the 18-to-34 demographic. More than two-thirds of There’s users are between 13 and 26. There also places higher restrictions on user-generated content. For instance, all objects created in-world must pass a review to ensure all content is appropriate (There is bound by PG-13 style content). Also, all clothing designed for avatars must follow “minimum coverage requirements.”
Despite a slightly younger target audience, There IS similar to Second Life because it is a true social networking world, not a game (like RuneScape or Entropia Universe where users are focused on tasks and objectives). There considers itself a true social networking destination, pitching the world as a place where users can “hang out and make new friends.” Some of the There’s activities include card games, a race track where users can challenge each other, paintball and trivia contests - all of which encourage social interaction. Despite having only a fraction of the users of Second Life, There is able to offer a world with more extensive social interaction opportunities.
In order to separate themselves from Second Life, There must find a niche as a better environment for close-knit social interactions. Users will be drawn to There if they will have a better social experience. However, There still has to focus on luring big brands to establish a presence in-world:
1. The more brands There is able to lure in, the more revenue the site will generate.
2. Users are more likely to stay if popular brands are present. Some analysts say it’s the numerous brands in world that have made it effective.
Ideally, There will find a balance as a world that places a premium on social interaction and one that is a home to big brands.
Marketing in There
The deal that There struck with MTV was consequential in the world’s continued growth. MTV originally started in Second Life, but has since jumped ship to create online environments that better complement its TV series. MTV hired There to create the sponsored worlds the Virtual Laguna Beach, and, more recently, a virtual version of The Hills. In these worlds users can hang out with the real-world cast of the popular MTV shows. “MTV networks is the first to recognize the potential for using social virtual worlds to enhance the viewer experience and build a stronger bond with the audience,” said Michael Wilson, CEO of Makena Technologies, the creators of There.
Earlier last month, There yet again made headlines by partnering with Capitol Music Group. The partnership between There and Capitol Music Group works almost exactly like the partnership between BMG and Second Life. As part of that deal, BMG brought in artists like Ben Folds and Talib Kweli to perform on Media Island in Second Life, a complex that BMG opened. Through this project, Folds was able to promote his new album with two live performances.
The Capitol project will bring in stars like the Beastie Boys, Korn, Yellow Card, and rapper MIMS to perform in The Tower, a new nightclub that Capitol recently purchased from There. As an added perk for both users and performers, during each virtual show fans can purchase both virtual and real world band gear, ranging anywhere from a virtual t-shirt to an actual CD.
Capitol is very optimistic about the possibilities of the partnership. “We know that consumers are spending a lot of time in virtual worlds and There.com offers a completely new way to promote music, both emerging talent and recognized artists, allowing artists to really connect with their fan bases,” said Syd Schwartz, senior vice president of digital strategy for Capitol. “Virtual worlds also give us a new revenue channel to promote our artists and sell virtual and real branded merchandise to customers.”
Perhaps netting these projects represents a real advantage for There. Looking back at HipiHi and Kaneva - they each show strong potential for different reasons:
Kaneva is one of the first worlds to blend aspects of a 2-D social networking site, such as MySpace or Facebook, with aspects of a virtual world.
HipiHi is geared towards a booming Chinese population and has been dubbed the “Chinese Second Life.”
However, because both are still in the testing stage, these worlds are relatively unknown - pushing There far ahead of Second Life challengers. I believe it’s only a matter of time before we see more brands launching in There. And with the rest of the competition looking up at Second Life, it is unlikely that they will catch up any time soon. However, with smaller worlds continuing to grow, it is likely that brands will see that Second Life is not the only world in town.
To the naked eye, a dog’s tail wags when he’s happy. But careful study reveals something more. Recently, a team of researchers used cameras to study tail wagging. And in doing so, they made a remarkable discovery. When dogs experience positive emotions, they wag their tails a little more to their right. When they experience negative emotions, they do the opposite.
Sometimes, a dog’s tail wags when he’s not happy. But we’d never know it – even if we watched him very closely. Even if we loved him very much. It reminds me that there’s so much more to this world than we can experience with our eyes alone, that our world is so rich with things to discover … but our eyes are only one of many tools we can use to study it. It also reminds me that sometimes other tools work much better. Because oftentimes, our discoveries are largely dependent on the tools we use to make them. As in the case of dogs. As in the case of many other things …
This study definitely warrants a closer inspection. One interesting trait it measures is the user’s attitude toward technology. The low-tech users are broken down into three groups: Inexperienced experimenters, Light but satisfied,Indifferent, and Off the network. 76% of Inexperienced experimenters were likely to be excited by information and communications technologies, as compared with 48% of people on average. How does this in any way categorize a user as “low tech”? Doesn’t enthusiasm for technology (even if you can’t use it or don’t own it) count for something?
In comparison, let’s look at Connected but hassled, members of the mid-range tech groupwho have broadband and mobile devices, but wish they didn’t. Many members of this group claim to suffer from information overload, and feel they would do just fine without the internet, email or mobile phone.
In the world of web-marketing, where does attitude come to play? As far as marketing goes, isn’t an enthusiastic novice more alluring than a jaded tech-user?
One of the first recorded correlations was the relationship between height and salary. Taller people earned higher salaries than shorter people. That wasn’t good news for me =). But there are actually lots of correlations like this. Some work to my advantage, others don’t. Some make perfect sense and others seem impossible to explain.
Consider this. There’s a strong, positive correlation between ice cream purchases and murder rates. When ice cream purchases increase, murder rates increase. When ice cream purchases decrease, murder rates decrease. If your job was to prevent murder, what would you do with this information?
Some people say that they’d increase the presence of law enforcement in ice cream shops. This is based on the notion that murderers like to buy ice cream – perhaps to make themselves feel better about killing people. If this notion were true, murderers would definitely be a lot easier to catch. Just sit in an ice cream shop and wait. Eventually, they’ll be there. Others say that they’d prevent known criminals from purchasing ice cream. This is based on the notion that ice cream sets off some kind of murderous trigger in people who have criminal tendencies. By making sure that criminals don’t get access to ice cream, we could make society safer. We could also prevent people from becoming criminals in the first place. Restricted access to ice cream would be just another negative consequence of becoming a criminal. Still others say that they’d put a ban on ice cream sales all together. This is based on the notion that anyone can become a murderer after eating ice cream – that people who eat ice cream are like time bombs waiting to detonate. Kids everywhere would be devastated by the ban but it would be totally worth it in the end. After all, human life is much more important than dessert.
Hmmm. These all seem like decent plans until you do a little research to find out more about the relationship between ice cream and murder rates. Truth is, there’s a third variable that influences both. It’s the weather. When the weather is hot, people are more inclined to buy ice cream. When the weather is hot, people are also more prone to violent acts.
Research agencies like to talk about relationships between variables. Clients get excited by these findings and both like to make plans based on interpretations. But relationships between variables can be misleading. Variables can be correlated withoutcausing variations in one another. In science, we say…
It’s good to identify that relationships between variables exist. But it’s better to determine why they exist. In this industry, we must be careful when interpreting reports of correlation and making recommendations based on findings like these. If not, we may end up making recommendations that aren’t useful — or that even backfire when we’re trying to reach our goals. If not, we may end up arming cold ice cream shops with law enforcement personnel when they are desperately needed in the hot streets.
People can’t always accurately report on their behavior — even if they have the best of intentions. Take the guy who tells you he’ll never date a smoker. What does he end up doing? Marrying one. Take the girl who says she’ll leave her guy in a heartbeat if he cheats. He cheats, she stays. If we can’t trust people to accurately report on what they’d do in their significant lifetime partnerships, how can we trust them to accurately report on whether they’d buy a Coke or a Pepsi?
In Marketing, you have a real advantage if you can assess and predict human behavior. But this can be hard. Researchers in user experience sometimes say that direct observation is the only method that really works. But observing users can take so much time and so much money.
I’m of the opinion that survey methods can be used to assess and predict human behavior, at least in some cases. But you have to really work hard to ask the right questions and provide the right response sets. That’s the key.
Say someone is on trial and claims insanity. How do you determine whether they’re truly insane or whether they’re trying to get out of a conviction? What kinds of questions would you ask if you could only administer a survey? This is a difficult question. If you write a question that asks, Are you insane? and the defendant responds Yes, where does that really get you?
Some people believe that survey methods can’t be used to assess things like insanity. I disagree. I believe that if you are thoughtful, you can come up with questions that will work.
Consider this question. True or False: Demons visit me on Tuesday afternoons. Now if you were pretending to be insane, how would you answer this question? Well as a former Professor of Psychology, I’ve asked hundreds of students this question. What answer would they be looking for to determine whether someone was truly insane? Most students say True because they think that indicates you’re insane. But that’s too easy. How do we know they aren’t just saying True because that’s what they think we want to hear? A few students say False because the True response sounds like a trick. But if you answer False, you’re saying you’re not insane and that doesn’t seem to work either. So which response best identifies insanity?
Truth is, neither response identifies insanity. Instead, the response that I’d be looking for goes something like this. The defendant raises their hand and says … I’m confused. Demons do visit me but they typically come on Mondays and Fridays… and in the mornings. I don’t know how to answer this question.
And with that, you have your answer.
This is an extreme example but hopefully you see the point. Using surveys to assess and predict human behavior isn’t always easy. But if we are thoughtful, we can devise question and response sets that work. Over the years, I’ve come to believe that survey writing is not just a science — it’s an art.
CNN.com recently posted an article that commented on an AP-AOL survey and the discovery that there is, brace yourself, yet another generation gap between teens and adults and the way these demographics use technology. Specifically, the AP-AOL poll took a closer look at the outrageous amount of instant messages (IM) that are traded back and forth on a daily basis by a younger American audience.
Although instant messaging has been available for almost 10 years, there are some, mainly adults, that either find this electric form of real-time communication unacceptable, or more commonly, incomprehensible.
The AP-AOL poll revealed a number of statistics that once again compliments the idea that America’s youth are more likely to comprehend and utilize the ever growing technological tools that are available in today’s marketplace.
According to the poll that surveyed 1,013 adults and 500 teens:
- Almost three-fourths of adults who do use instant messages still communicate with e-mail more often. Almost three-fourths of teens send instant messages more than e-mail.
- More than half of the teens who use instant messages send more than 25 a day, and one in five send more than 100. Three-fourths of adult users send fewer than 25 instant messages a day.
- Teen users (30 percent) are almost twice as likely as adults (17 percent) to say they can’t imagine life without instant messaging.
- When keeping up with a friend who is far away, teens are most likely to use instant messaging, while adults turn first to e-mail.
- About a fifth of teen IM users have used IM to ask for or accept a date. Almost that many, 16 percent, have used it to break up with someone.
Though the AP-AOL poll uncovers some interesting statistics, let’s discuss these results juxtaposed to another form of a new age communication channel: e-mail. Should companies scrap their e-mail campaigns for something new and shiny? Before we write off this technology, let’s think about what happened when e-mail was introduced. Did everyone stop sending memos and correspondence via snail mail? No.
The adoption of IM in the younger generation doesn’t mean that marketers have lost the tool of e-mail. Conversely, it means that we’ve gained yet another medium to reach a different audience. There is only one thing a marketer can do in this fast-paced environment if they want to survive – keep up.
We live in a society that relies heavily on the progress and evolution of technology. Teenagers are not only immersed in these technological advancements on a daily basis, but are, more importantly, interested in learning and utilizing these new tools that streamline the lengthy and obsolete customs of a distant past.
There are some demographics that will continue to rely heavily on traditional offline marketing campaigns as their major source for consumer research. The older generations of America’s population have not all purchased a ticket on the trendy technology train. Rather, they still rely on advertisements that they have grown accustomed to, trust, and, more importantly, comprehend. Much like Gen X, the e-mail generation will continue to see e-mail as a useful tool to receive targeted information.
That is why it is important not to jump ship when something ‘new’ or ‘better’ comes along. E-mail isn’t Betamax. E-mail isn’t IM. But e-mail is here to stay.
The AP-AOL poll should be a wake-up call for the marketing community. Reminding us that there is still time for traditional and interactive marketing to co-exist and serve as a poster child for corporate America’s beloved ‘synergy.’
Sometimes, we are successful not because of what we do – but in spite of what we do. I think of that often as I watch the user experience industry grow.
While user experience training programs are emerging, sound research methodology is not often emphasized. As an industry, we try to compensate by use of expensive recording equipment, artificial lab environments and complex software. Executive level stake holders are often excited by these technologies. But with few people with the skills to make sense of the data that is generated, we are often left with impressive recordings that mask worthless findings. There’s a saying that sums up this problem quite well.
Unfortunately, sound science is often hard for executive level stake holders to assess – particularly when they don’t have much of a scientific background. There’s a Catch-22 in this business. You need to have knowledge and skills to be able to assess knowledge and skills in others. Without these, you can never really be confident about the quality of your resources and the findings that they report. Executive level stake holders often see the lipstick, but not the pig. They think…Hey, what a pretty lipstick color, so red, so sparkly. They don’t think…Hey, wait a minute guys, it’s a pig!
Far too often, businesses are much more willing to invest in costly material resources as opposed to high salary human resources. Perhaps material resources feel more permanent – a more sound investment. But there is a vast difference in what each investment can yield. Namely, material resources are useless without human resources who know how to properly utilize them.
What businesses really need is not expensive recording equipment, artificial lab environments and complex software. It’s resources who have sound scientific training – those who have a firm grasp of proper research methodologies and analyses. These people can find far more with a pencil and paper than many can find with the most expensive recording equipment in the world. In fact, these people would likely argue that expensive recording equipment often stands in the way of accurate findings – particularly when operated by amateur researchers.
When I left academia, I ‘took off my scientist hat’ to work here in the real world – but I’ve carried it in my hands. I’ve come to believe that this industry needs to reach a consensus on more than usability principles, goals and heuristics. This industry needs to build a methodological foundation on basic science and hold itself to higher scientific standards. High tech research methodologies are far too often smoke and mirrors, nothing more – they are a crutch.
At Spunlogic, we have a lot of great experience and unique ideas to share. From work with clients to new approaches and trends, in this award winning blog you'll find Spunlogic experts sharing their opinions and ideas on all aspects of interactive marketing.
