In the summer of 2010, ATG commissioned a survey to analyze consumers’ online shopping preferences and behaviors. The online survey polled 1,002 U.S. consumers aged 18 and older. Respondents were selected from a panel of more than 2.5 million individuals, who were profiled across more than 500 attributes, such as demographics, lifestyle, and behavioral characteristics.

The survey asked consumers a wide range of questions about:

• What online and offline channels are most likely to lead consumers to discover new products;
• How consumers use mobile devices to browse and research products, and make purchases, and how these behaviors vary by age segment;
• Whether and how often consumers use their social networks to make shopping decisions, and how these behaviors vary by age group;
• Which areas of web stores need to be improved the most;
• When consumers conduct most of their holiday shopping;
• Whether consumers are influenced by website recommendations; and
• The most common factors that lead to shopping cart abandonment.

I highlighted some of the most interesting charts above. Download the entire 26-page PDF report at ATG for lots more data and charts.

Download the free report at ATG »

From self-funded independent projects to big-name Hollywood blockbusters, the movie industry has embraced social media – big time.

Here some of the ways that social media is having an impact on movie marketing and promotion:

• Crowdsourced Screening Locations: In the age of social media, studios can use the Internet to figure out where an interest in a film exists. Paramount used Facebook to promote Paranormal Activity, getting would-be fans to request a screening of the film in their area. The goal was to get 1 million fan requests for the film to enter wide release. That goal was met pretty quickly, but the real proof came via the box office receipts of more than $150 million. Impressive considering that the movie was made for less than $15,000;
• Going Viral: One of the marketing trends of the past decade has been the rise of viral alternate reality campaigns, especially at the movies. For Toy Story 3, Disney and Pixar created vintage toy commercials for Lots-o’Huggin’ Bear, one of the new characters in the film;
• Trailers & Poster Promotions: More and more studios are taking to Facebook and Twitter to debut their latest trailers. For example, Disney used Facebook to debut its first character posters from Alice in Wonderland and has also used Facebook to show off movie trailers;
• The Age of the Facebook App: For movie studios, Facebook offers a way to engage audiences and even directly sell tickets. Fox included apps and promotional tie-ins for its Facebook campaign for Avatar. Disney offered movie tickets for Toy Story 3 via its Facebook Page;

Is your company embracing social media in your marketing mix?

Full story at Mashable »

I came across a good article, with some good first-hand tips, by Lynn Terry of ClickNewz, on how to properly promote products & reviews via Social Media.

Lynn gives an example of a product review she wrote for the best Apple iPad case. She dropped and shattered her original iPad, so she went through several iPad cases before she found a couple that served her needs.

Other people are searching for iPad cases too and asking for recommendations. Lynn replied to one of those tweets conversationally, and included a link to her personal experience (with a video demo).

Blogs also offer some good social media marketing opportunities. You can:

• Leave a comment, linking back to your review in the URL field. This will often offer very little click-through rate, but does count as an inbound link.
• Create a Trackback to their post, if they publish Trackback links. These count as inbound links and also see a higher click-through rate than blog comments. One idea is to do a round-up post as a follow-up to you review that includes links to other blogs discussing the product – with the call to action being to read your review or comparison.
• Find other bloggers who are affiliates for the same product? Offer to let them interview you about your results with the product. Allow them to use their affiliate link to the product in the interview post, with your only requirement being a link back to your review.
• Write guest blog posts for other affiliates, including their affiliate link to the product, with a call to action in your bio or byline at the end that leads them to your review.

Another great resource for product conversations are the many social Q&A sites, such as Yahoo! Answers.

Are you promoting your products via social media properly?

Full story at ClickNewz »

As skiers and snowboarders head online to book vacations and then brag about it, Colorado resorts are amping up their social media and smart phone applications to reach them, offering everything from geotagging to automatic Twitter updates.

Vail Resorts and Aspen Skiing are launching new apps, and resort employees industrywide are also plastering Facebook walls and tweeting about recent snowfall and special deals that might not be available anywhere else but online.

Techies are buzzing about Vail Resorts’ free new EpicMix mobile and online application, which uses radio frequency identification tags on lift tickets and season passes. The RFID tags and new scanners on lift towers let EpicMix track customers’ ski days and vertical feet logged at Breckenridge, Keystone, Vail and Beaver Creek in Colorado and Heavenly in California, without a rider doing anything extra.

Customers who opt in can have that information automatically posted on their Twitter and Facebook updates, and their visits can earn them digital “pins,” similar to what Gowalla and Foursquare offer.

If friends also have Facebook accounts linked to EpicMix, users with smart phones can get alerts about when those friends are on the mountain too and send them messages.

How is your company incorporting social media marketing into your marketing strategy?

Full story at USA Today »