Interesting Digital Marketing Stats!

Last week seems to have been the week of interesting digital marketing statistics. There were stats released that cover everything from AdWords right through to mobile ad spend and China! The following are my top 5 as well as some loose interpretation around them.

1. AdWords

This one stirred up quite a bit of controversy as it was stated that 40% of consumers didn’t realize that the Google AdWords listings were “paid for” adverts as opposed to organic listings. This stat on its own is not too frightening until you compare it with data which says that 81% of users click on AdWords links as opposed to organic listings.

Stats released by Bunnyfoot and featured on eMarketer.

Some interpretation : Ok, so for a while now there has been some rumblings about the very faint and almost invisible colour distinction between the Google AdWords and Google Organic listings on a SERP. Some could argue that this is highly manipulative from the search giant as they are furthering their own cause and tricking their users into thinking that all results are made equal! On the other hand it could also be argued that there are ranking algorithms in place for AdWords that ensure that ads are not shown for “irrelevant” search terms and that the quality of the listing is equal (if not better) to that of the organic listing.

My take is that Google is not a “not-for-profit” organization and that they have shown their ranking algorithms apply to both organic and paid for listings. Users are more techno and internet savvy than every and should be able to tell the difference between the two types of listings.

2. mCommerce and eCommerce

Foresee, a customer experience analysis firm have recently shown that customer satisfaction with mobile commerce (mCommerce) appears to be gradually improving year-on-year, to the extent that the mCommerce experience is almost considered to be on par with desktop. The study – which started in 2010 – found that customer satisfaction with desktop websites in the UK scored 74 on the study’s 100-point scale, compared to 72 for mobile retail experiences.

Some interpretation : Retailers have not been asleep while the digital revolution has taken place. Mobile sites using responsive design or in fact purely native design are now pretty much commonplace with all the major retailers. The major increase in mobile device usage has forced retailers to invest in their mobile platforms and they are now beginning to see the return on their investments.

3. China online

The Chinese may not have been able to get access to Facebook yet (at least not legally); but that has not stopped them from embracing online shopping to the fullest! Alibaba.com – a research firm predict that Chinese consumers are going to spend in the region of 117 Billion Pounds online in 2013! This number surpasses all other countries including the UK, US and Western Europe.  Interestingly – 12% of the total online spend in China will come from a mobile device!

Some interpretation : The population of China is immense and there are 242 million of them that shop online. That number in itself is greater than the American online shopping population. Quite simply they are a country with a techno-savvy community that understands the value of shopping online.

4. Mobile spend is on the up

According to IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking. mobile sales values are continuing to rise. In 2012 the total value of revenue through mobile devices came in at 7.5 Billion Pounds across both smart phone and tablets. This trend relates heavily to the fact that mobile retailers have done their homework in getting their online shop fronts  mobile enabled. What’s more though is that the sale of mobile devices (meaning tablets and smart phones) are on the rise.

Some interpretation : This one is pretty self-explanatory. More mobile devices and a better online user experience means that mobile spend (mCommerce) is going to keep increasing and eating away at the traditional desktop spend.

5.        Mobile usage is on the up

Optimising email campaigns for mobile has never been more important than it is right now. Checking emails has been listed as the most common activity on a smart phone.  The Nielsen Mobile Consumer survey  found that 68% of UK smart phone owners use their device to check emails while only text messaging (92%) was more popular an activity. Mobile web browsing and social networking came in third and fourth with 66% and 63% respectively.

A quarter of the respondents said that they use their devices for online shopping.

Some interpretation :  Due to the nature of the mobile devices, they are always on and always with us; it only makes sense that the usage figures are on the rise. It now makes more sense to swipe a tablet that to fire up a laptop. It is easier and quicker which is why we naturally choose to use them.