Customer Acquisition - are marketers overstating the importance of Social Media?

If marketing is going to shine in the digital age, it needs to understand consumer trends, not pre-empt them

According to the DMA’s executive director, Chris Combemale. “Acquiring new customers is essential for business growth, but when 77% of marketers use social media, and only 9% of consumers say they are influenced by social media, something is wrong.”

Following the success of the inaugural Customer Acquisition Barometer last year, the DMA now launches the second round, this year in partnership with customer acquisition agency The Media Octopus (TMO). This year the survey will be expanded from B2C to include B2B acquisition.

The project will again benchmark industry acquisition metrics, but also monitor progress against last year’s results, and check against incoming consumer data protection regulation.

According to Andrew Colwell, head of strategy at TMO: “Quite rightly, businesses place a great deal of importance on acquiring new customers. The good news is that consumers are happy to be acquired – the results of The CAB research will provide senior marketers with the intelligence on how best to go about this.

“Whether you are B2B or B2C, ultimately, it’s all about customers. The 2015 CAB will prove an essential tool for marketers in this respect,” he said.

The research will be in three parts: first, a quantitative survey of more than 1,500 consumers; a survey of marketers; and industry focus groups.

As last year, the report will benchmark verticals such as utilities, automotive, finance and travel, and examine how businesses acquire customers online and offline.

Key findings from last year included:

• The majority of consumers shared data last year.
• Brand websites and email are the preferred ways to connect with brands.
• There was a significant mismatch between marketers’ use of social media (77%), and consumers who say social has influenced a brand decision (9%).
• Rewards can encourage consumer opt-ins.
• Few consumers read privacy policies.

Metrics will include channels, budget allocation, cost-per-acquisition and consumer privacy concerns.

The findings will be revealed at an invite-only event in September.

Chris Combemale, executive director of the DMA, said:

“The first Customer Acquisition Barometer created something unique – benchmarks for finding new customers. As digital technology evolves, it has never been more important to monitor how and why consumers opt in.

“Most consumers shared information last year. Will rising consumer concerns about data sharing force this number down this year? With 79% of consumers ignoring privacy policies, the onus is on marketers to behave responsibly and offer clear opt outs. We very much look forward to working with TMO on this essential piece of research.”

Contact:

Ed Owen, PR and Content manager, DMA

T: +44 (0)7813 664656 |E: ed.owen@dma.org.uk

Andrew Colwell, Head of Strategy, themediaoctopus.com

T. 0161 968 2075 |M: 07736 269 692 |E: andrew@themediaoctopus.com

About The Media Octopus

The Media Octopus is one of the UK’s leading customer acquisition specialists. Working with clients, including amongst others, Travelers, G4S and The British Government, we successfully deliver data driven, integrated digital marketing programs across the UK.

We provide proprietary services; strategic marketing consultancy, data marketing, digital mapping, SEO management, PPC management, web design, social media management, content creation and video marketing.

Quality is key, and in this respect, we are proud, audited members of the Direct Marketing Association, The ICO and RAR.