Thursday, December 13, 2012

Social Media Forecast to Deliver 50% of Web Sales

A new "infographic" is amping the buzz on social media advertising by forecasting that social media will generate $30 billion in web sales a year by 2015 -- with half of all web sales to occur via social media. Using statistics from Gartner Research, marketing software provider Vocus put together the infographic, with a heavy focus on Facebook advertising trends. According to the data, Facebook already drives 26% of referral traffic to business websites, 20% of shoppers already prefer buying through a brand's Facebook page rather than its website, and one in three businesses already reach out to consumers via Facebook. The general takeaway, however, is that social media marketing has momentum for growth and will need to be a part of most marketing budgets. So figuring out how to use social media effectively should be high on the agenda for marketers in 2013. To see the infographic, go to http://mashable.com/2012/11/01/facebook-sales/

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Surge in Consumer E-mail Data Drives Down Price

The Fall of 2012 saw a big surge in available consumer e-mail lists, driving cost per thousand (CPM) for consumer e-mail to an all-time low, according to Worldata's Fall 2012 List Price Index. Permission-based consumer e-mail averaged $74 CPM in Fall 2012, down $7 from its CPM in Fall 2011 and making it the lowest priced e-mail list category. The second lowest priced category was Donors at $84 CPM. While medium-large business e-mail also saw a drop in CPM, it remained the highest priced domestic category for e-mail list rental at an average $248 CPM. Worldata Senior Vice President Ray Tesi attributed price drops to the increased availability of data in a period of weak economic growth. But not every category got cheaper this fall: The Databases/Masterfiles, Attendees/Members and Newsletters categories all saw price increases compared with 2011. For details, see http://www.listpriceindex.com/currentlpi.htm