Text Messaging Behaviors, Preferences & Personas
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Whitepaper
Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas Living in a Digital Age
What’s Inside?
People communicate more frequently and via more channels than ever before. They are also using a wider variety of media, whether it is messaging friends or reading and responding to communications from their favorite brands. Using multiple forms of media concurrently has also increased significantly. In fact, it’s not uncommon for teenagers to listen to the radio, watch TV, and surf the net at the same time—all while text messaging their friends. For marketers, this means that consumer profiles and habits are changing, and we need to pay close attention just to keep up.
Page 1 Living in a Digital Age
In ExactTarget’s 2008 Channel Preference Survey, we asked 1,500 internet users (ages 15 to 65+) a number of questions regarding their general attitudes and usage of one-to-one communication tools, such as email, phone, text messaging (SMS), and social networking. We learned that there are marked differences between age groups not only in the usage of media, but also their acceptance of and attitudes towards each type. Some of what we learned was not surprising, such as the fact that a majority of people prefer to communicate with friends and family via the phone rather than email. This preference is positively correlated with age. However, other data was quite surprising, such as the survey results showing that 8% of those over 65 use SMS, and 4% subscribe to social networks! Another surprising data point is that 42% of teens prefer to communicate via SMS, yet 62% prefer to receive promotions via email vs. only 1% via SMS.
Page 2 Usage Patterns of Email Page 3 Blended Media and Communication Personas Page 4 Persona: Wired Page 5 Persona: Young Homemakers Page 6 Persona: Retired Page 7 Persona: College Students Page 9 Persona: Teens Page 10 Persona: Established Pros
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved. | 000082808
www.ExactTarget.com
Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Early in 2008, ExactTarget introduced a concept called SUBSCRIBERS RULE! As marketers, we need to recognize that the subscriber is in control. SUBSCRIBERS RULE! is a call to communicate with each subscriber with content, frequency, and media selection that meets their stated preferences. SUBSCRIBERS RULE! is truly about listening to the wants and needs of each customer, and doing your best as a marketer to honor them. But subscribers aren’t the only ones to benefit—Marketers receive a greater level of engagement with their communications, lower customer attrition, and higher ROI. For the past 30 years, direct marketers have focused on demographic data to help determine what each segment of subscribers might like. This strategy clearly worked. However, it fails to meet the complexity of the current market landscape, with ever-increasing brand choices for consumers and a growing number of ways to consume and digest information. We’ve set out to show how success can best be realized by asking customers their preferences and using behavioral observations to catalog and respond to their habits and sensibilities.
Usage Patterns of Email
Our Research Methodology ExactTarget’s 2008 Channel Preference Survey is one of the most comprehensive studies of messaging channel preferences in the industry to date. Data was collected from February 8th to February 15th, 2008 through an online survey of 1,555 internet users owning a cell phone and living in the
One of the questions asked most often in the email industry is, “What is the best time of day to send an email?” The answer we typically provide is, “There are several variables that determine the best day to send email. Success will depend upon your industry, permission level for communication, communication type, etc. Given these factors, we recommend you conduct some testing to determine the best time of day to send for your business.”
United States.
Self-reported data can certainly be suspect, since individuals tend to report themselves in what they believe to be a positive light, or they respond in a manner they believe consistent with the surveyor’s goals. But behaviors don’t lie. As it relates to usage of different communication vehicles and marketing channels, understanding the habits of our consumer base can be quite insightful.
the age of 15. The sample was
The sample contains 220 to 226 respondents from seven age groups and represents consumers above drawn from the TrueSample™ online panel maintained by MarketTools. Individuals in the marketing profession were excluded from the sample.
The chart below shows the results of observations of consumers using email throughout the day, and highlights four variables: Share of Hour, Reach, Episodes per Hour, and Minutes per Episode. Chart: Email Reach and Episodes Per Day
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
An email episode represents an uninterrupted period of time in the inbox. Users may view multiple emails during this time, but their attention to the inbox remains constant. For example, if a user spends 20 minutes straight working in Outlook, they have one 20 minute episode. If the user does something else, such as switching to another application or answering the phone, and comes back to Outlook in the same hour, this is counted as a second episode.
Early Risers
The chart shows that not only does email reach its peak in the morning hours, consumers spend much more time per email episode (up to nearly 13 minutes on average) in the morning vs. just an average of 2 minutes per email episode late in the afternoon and evening.
tend to spend an average of 13
What are the implications to a marketer in light of this data?
Based on data gleaned from ExactTarget’s 2008 Channel Preference Survey, one of the best times to send email is in the morning. Consumers minutes per email during morning hours, vs. 2 minutes per email in the afternoon and evening.
In the morning, consumers tend to dive deeper into email, where in the afternoon they are consistently in-and-out of their inboxes. Perhaps marketers sending newsletters or pitches that require more consumer involvement should consider sending them earlier in the day, when the consumers are more likely to spend the necessary time. Also, marketers relying on promotions with a “quick and clear” call to action could not only survive, but thrive later in the day when consumers are in quick-hit mode.
Blended Media and Communication Personas Subscribers are individuals, each having distinct habits and preferences for media and communication. Even so, there are clear patterns. We know that younger consumers are more likely to use newer technologies such as SMS, social networks, and IM. Does this mean that marketers should turn to these channels to communicate with teenagers? Not necessarily.
About The Center for Media Design
To better understand the unique characteristics of different types of consumers, ExactTarget and the Center for Media Design (CMD) at Ball State University partnered to develop personas of common target audiences. Persona development began with seven groups identified through cluster analysis of behavioral data from Middletown Media Studies II (MMSII), conducted by CMD. MMSII data was collected by observing 350 study participants throughout the day and recording their use of and exposure to different forms of media in 15 second increments. Throughout the day, observers recorded what media participants were using, where they were using it, and for how long. When analyzed, CMD identified seven distinct groups, each of which has clear patterns regarding their use of media. Thus, these groups started from a behavior-based foundation.
of digital technologies for business,
From these groups, demographic and behavioral markers were used to align CMD’s seven audiences with data from ExactTarget’s Channel Preference Survey. By layering on attitudinal data collected in the survey, we were able to augment the media utilization data with information about consumer attitudes toward various marketing messages via distinct channels. In this process, we’re able to create six distinct personas, which represent identifiable target audiences of interest to direct marketers with unique media utilization habits and attitudes toward direct marketing communications.
The Center for Media Design (CMD) at Ball State University is a research and development facility focused on applied research and practical application classroom, home, and community. Funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. has enabled CMD to carry out its mission to enhance innovative, immersive, educational experiences for students in digital technology and to fund collaborative initiatives that speak to the marketplace.
Center for
Media Des lgn
The findings may surprise you. Though the personas do not represent a comprehensive view of all consumers, they do provide a glimpse into how you might structure a campaign targeting these types of consumers, with the ultimate goal of developing a profile and oneto-one communications targeted to each individual subscriber. © 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Persona: Wired
Instant Communication For personal communication
Wired consumers tend to be young males, between the ages of 18 and 34 years old, without kids. They are employed full-time or self employed, have a good income—an annual household income of at least $35K— and have at least a college education.
purposes, Wired consumers first
Media
more than the average person.
turn to phone and email as their primary means of communication. However, SMS and IM are also popular communication methods, with Wired group members using them 50%
Consumers in this group are exposed to more media throughout the day than any other group, primarily though computers. In fact, these consumers spend an average of 8 hours a day on their computers accessing the internet, email, and using some sort of computer software—including games. By comparison, exposure to television and radio is relatively low, but not nominal—they watch nearly 3 hours of television a day. In addition to computer and television time, these consumers are on the phone an average of one hour per day. More than two-thirds of phone time is on a landline phone. With a limited number of hours in the day, how can this be? Most of this media exposure is concurrent, meaning that Wired consumers are probably being exposed to multiple forms of media at the same time. For Wired group members, 61% of media exposure throughout the day is concurrent media use—more than any other group identified. Whether at work, at home, or in the car, these consumers are always digitally connected. Personal Communication Multiple communication channels are leveraged when communicating with friends and family. Email, SMS, IM, social networks, and phone are all commonly used, but for this group SMS use is 53% higher than average, participation in social networks is 51% higher than average, and IM is 31% higher than average. Even so, they tend to turn to phone and email first when communicating for personal reasons. Marketing Preferences Data shows that 20% of Wired consumers have subscribed for marketing communications via SMS, more than any other group. However, they are not particularly interested in promotions, sweepstakes, or polls through SMS. What they really want is customer service. Wireds believe that the communication type determines the channel that should be used. From their point of view, SMS is for urgent customer service issues like financial alerts or travel updates. Email is heavily favored for non-urgent marketing communications such as account updates, opt-in promotions, and surveys. This promotional preference is important for marketers as Wired consumers are avid online shoppers—10% higher than average and are most influenced to shop through email—87% indicate they have been influenced by an email to make a purchase. For the most part, ads and messaging through social networks are not viewed favorably with one notable exception: Wired consumers are open to invitations to participate in sweepstakes advertised on social networks. Finally, while attitudes are generally favorable toward direct mail, this group is not nearly as influenced as other groups to purchase through direct mail. © 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Summary For Wireds, it’s about being connected all the time and using the right channel for the job. For marketers, the big takeaway is that picking the right channel for each communication type is critical.
Persona: Young Homemakers
Minimal Media There are two groups of Young
Young Homemakers are females, between the ages of 18 and 34 years old, who consider “homemaker” to be their primary occupation, and typically have an annual household income of at least $35K.
Homemakers: High Media and Low
Media
of 1-2 hours per day online, and spend
Young Homemakers’ media use is split between two subgroups: heavy traditional media consumers (“High Media”) and low traditional media consumers (“Low Media”). Based on the observational data, the Low Media group is slightly larger than the High Media group. Within the High Media group, television watching is among the highest in the study at just over 6 hours of television exposure per day. For the Low Media group, television viewing is less than 2 hours per day. The High Media group spends more time online—almost 3 hours a day—compared to an average of 1-2 hours per day for the Low Media group. Additionally, the High Media group spends more time reading magazines and newspapers—40 minutes per day—compared to approximately 10 minutes per day for the Low Media group.
Media consumers. The Low Media group is larger and consists of women who watch less than two hours of television per day, spend an average approximately 10 minutes per day reading newspapers and magazines.
Across the board, Young Homemakers spend approximately 40% of their day exposed to 2 or more forms of media concurrently. Personal Communication Young Homemakers spend a lot of time communicating via telephone—the preferred mode of communication with friends and family. Email is the overall favorite for written personal communication (58%), but text messaging (17%) and IM (13%) are also used often. Young Homemakers are well versed in new communication channels. They text, they use social networks, and they IM. The study showed that 99% of Young Homemakers used email, 64% used IM, 54% participate in social networks, and 53% use SMS. Marketing Preferences While Young Homemakers use new media channels like social networks and text messaging, they don’t want marketers bugging them through these channels. They have two channels available for marketers: direct mail and email. Preferably, marketers would communicate with them through direct mail, but they are also open to email. Data showed that 72% of Young Homemakers have been influenced to purchase through direct mail, and 53% have purchased as a result of an email marketing message they received. The only area where Young Homemakers feel email is more appropriate than direct mail is for immediate confirmation of a transaction they initiated with you. Since this is considered a best practice anyway, there is no need to treat this situation differently. © 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Young Homemakers view certain types of communication through the phone as appropriate. They are most in favor of being contacted about customer service alerts over the phone, and are more inclined to view phone surveys as being appropriate than other groups. Overall, Young Homemakers are very open to surveys and questionnaires. While this group is open to phone surveys, they still prefer surveys through email and direct mail. Young Homemakers are average online shoppers, with 78% who indicated they have made at least one online purchase. This statistic aligns closely with the national average, which is 81% for US Online Consumers. Summary Personal communication is a high priority and Young Homemakers don’t want to be interrupted. For them, it is about feeling in control and being heard. Marketers should seek to build an opt-in relationship with this group for email, or leverage their affinity to direct mail with relevant, helpful information and products.
Persona: Retired
New Media Immersion Retired consumers are gradually
This group consists exclusively of people who have retired, and includes both men and women, though our sample is skewed toward male respondents (57%). Of this group, 80% have attended college, and 41% received at least a Bachelor’s degree.
increasing their involvement with new media, with approximately 3% using SMS, IM, and mobile email. While traditional media is still favored, many members of this group are trying out the different communication methods that are available.
Media Retired consumers spend more of their day with the television on than any other group (more than 7 hours per day on average). They also spend a significant amount of time reading a combination of newspapers and books. The time they spend reading magazines is consistent with other groups, less than 10 minutes on average per day. And, men tend to spend more time listening to the radio than women. Unlike younger consumers, little of their day is spent with more than one media form at a time. Only 15% of media exposure is concurrent. Relatively, they spend only a small amount of time online. For those people who are online, using email is a central component of their internet experience. Mobile email is virtually non-existent—only 3% have a smartphone capable of sending and receiving mobile email. Personal Communication Retired consumers are 2.5 times more likely to call than to write when communicating with friends and family. For those that are online, 88% say they use email most often for written personal communication and 9% send postal mail. But that’s only 97%, right? Yep, there is a small percentage of retired consumers who have adopted text messaging and IM as primary forms of communication.
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
While low compared to other groups, Retired online consumers are using new communication channels. Our studies showed that 35% use IM, 15% have sent a text message, and 9% participate in social networks. Retired men are more likely to participate in social networks, while retired women are more likely to use IM. The use of SMS is similar for both men and women. Marketing Preferences Retired consumers prefer traditional direct channels. Of interest is the reality that email now fits into this category, along with direct mail and telemarketing. A surprising 81% have purchased online, and 94% say they’ve been influenced by some form of direct marketing to make a purchase. Direct mail has influenced 90% of Retired consumers to make a purchase (25% more than other groups) and 73% have been influenced by email to make a purchase (18% more than other groups). In addition to direct mail and email, they are 33% more likely than other groups to have made a purchase as the result of a telemarketing call; however, their attitude toward telemarketing in general is still not positive. With the exception of these three channels, marketing simply is not welcome or profitable—likely because it is largely not understood.
No Solicitation Here Retired consumers have made it clear that they don’t want to receive messages they didn’t ask for. To get their attention, marketers must take the time to learn what types of information Retired consumers are seeking, and deliver just that.
Attitudes toward unsolicited marketing messages are negative, even for direct mail, where most consumers feel that receiving marketing messages from unfamiliar companies is appropriate. Retired consumers only want to interact with companies they know—demonstrated in the relatively positive feelings these consumers have toward promotions from companies they know, but have not specifically asked for marketing material. When it comes to opt-in promotions, they have similarly positive attitudes toward direct mail and email. They prefer survey invitations through email and sweepstakes invitations through direct mail. In the case of financial or travel alerts, Retired consumers prefer a phone call. Summary Retired consumers prefer to keep it simple. Marketers should also keep it simple and focus on using a combination of email and direct mail. Email is progressive for this group.
Persona: College Students This group consists exclusively of college students. The sample is predominantly 18-24 year olds, but 10% of the sample includes students older than this. Media Media exposure within this group varies dramatically, making generalizations difficult. That said, on average media exposure is generally lower than may be commonly believed, marked primarily by relatively low exposure to television in the typical day. College students are heavy internet users, and spend considerable time reading books, listening to music, and watching movies. Significant portions of their day is spent using media concurrently, with the computer seldom far away. © 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
The heavy time demands of college study and college life shape the media usage for this persona; there may be a tendency to favor media that allows the user control over where and when they are used. Time with media tends to be an even mix between home and school access. Personal Communication College Students use a balanced combination of telephone and written communication with friends and family. It’s commonly understood that College Students are heavy social networking users, especially Facebook. According to our research, 64% say they regularly participate in a social networking site, 56% more than other groups. They are also 22% more likely to use IM and 27% more likely to send and receive text messages. However, some key gender differences exist. College women are 36% more likely to communicate via text messaging than women in other groups, and SMS is the favorite method for personal communication.
SMS = No Marketers Allowed College Students will respond to select advertisements, as long as they come in a preferred communication method - such as direct mail or email. Marketers should think again about sending a promotional text message. College Students do not like to be
Even with emerging communication channels, email remains a common tool. Email is universal within this group, and commonly understood to be the default mode of communication, especially for “official” written communication with professors, professional, or other adults. What is this group’s favorite communication tool? Take your pick between Email, IM, Text Messaging, and Social Networks. They are all common.
bombarded with ads on their mobile, and prefer to use text messaging strictly for keeping in touch with friends.
Marketing Preferences College Students are buying online slightly more than the average online consumer, again, with a slight gender difference. In fact, women bring the average up. College men are average online shoppers, while College women are 9% more likely to purchase online than average. College Students don’t credit direct marketing with having significant influence on their buying habits. In fact, 27% claim direct marketing has never influenced a purchase decision. As such, no channel looks great for marketing to college students when compared to the average. In contrast with Teens, however, they have very low opinions of any marketing via text messaging or through social networks. Yes, they use these tools often for communicating to friends. But sadly, marketers simply aren’t invited to the party. Again, direct mail and email are the preferred channels for promotional marketing. Direct Mail has influenced 55% of College Students to make a purchase, and 50% say they have made a purchase influenced by email marketing. “Implied” permission is a major concern for people in this group. They are spam-savvy and understand the concept of permission. No permission? Don’t bother. This is even more pronounced for SMS or social networks. Those “private” channels are completely off limits. Confirmations should definitely come through email. Alerts should be sent either through mail or warrant a phone call, not SMS. Sweepstakes and polls should come through email. They aren’t Teens, and they aren’t into text voting. Summary College Students want to keep personal and business affairs separate. Marketers should remember that email is the channel for “official” communications.
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Persona: Teens This group consists exclusively of high school students between 15 and 17 years of age. Our sample skews slightly higher than average in annual household income. Media To date, we have the least observational data for this group from which to draw broad generalizations. Even so, we know that Teens are heavy media users, but this can be deceptive since media exposure is limited and/or controlled during the school day. Out of school settings, Teens engage heavily with the computer, television, print (in the form of magazines), and music through MP3 players. Aside from reading school textbooks, teens are heavily inclined toward screen-based media, frequently having more than one such medium accessible at a time for inbound or outbound communications purposes, entertainment etc. Use of such media is so broad and commonplace throughout non-school hours that it is fair to say that almost any time is prime time for media use where teens are concerned. Future research focusing on weekends or school vacations would likely show even more use, with subjects being freed of the constraints on media use placed on them in the classroom. Personal Communication Teens are into all things digital. Despite the waning popularity of email for personal communication, the vast majority of Teens do use email. Their use of IM, text messaging, and participation in social networking is significantly more than any other group. Our research shows that 77% use IM (64% more than other groups), 76% participate in social networking sites (more than twice the average), and 70% text message (67% higher than average). Additionally, 42% of Teens prefer text messaging for personal communication, 27% still prefer email for personal communication, 16% prefer IM, and 8% communicate through social networking sites.
Tech Connect Teens are more digitally connected than any other group. IM, text messaging, and social network sites are used by Teens more than any other group. Marketers take note—Teens prefer text messaging above all other modes of communication.
A small pilot study of teen media exposure by the Center for Media Design suggested some of these preferences are gender-based, with female teens spending more time on email and males spending more time with IM. Teens are also the only group where personal blogs are commonly used as a preferred mode of personal communication. Preferences for text messaging and social networking are more common among females, while preferences for email and IM are more common among males. Marketing Preferences Teens are 25% less likely than other groups to have made a purchase online (which makes sense since they are less likely to have disposable income). Today, we often hear that Teens are less likely to be influenced by email to make a purchase and more likely to be influenced by text messaging. However, these statements only paint part of the picture; a deeper look at the numbers shows that these trends are a little misleading.
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
It’s important to keep in mind the difference between “relative” and “absolute” preferences when talking about Teens. Across the board, Teens have the most favorable impressions of text-based marketing and marketing through social network sites—but these are relative views. In terms of absolute preferences, they are similar to other consumers in that they prefer traditional direct marketing channels (including email) for marketing communications. 42% of teens say they have made a purchase influenced by an email marketing message (compared to 68% for all other groups). Thus, teens are clearly less likely than average to be influenced through email than other groups. However, only 13% of teens have made a purchase influenced by text marketing, and 12% have made a purchase resulting from marketing through a social networking site. These figures compare favorably against the other group averages for text and social network marketing, each of which have influenced just 5% of consumers to make a purchase. So, yes…teens are clearly more influenced by text and social networks to make purchases than other groups (and are fairly receptive to text-based promotions, polls, and sweepstakes). But when it comes to driving conversions, email still outperforms the influence of text messaging, social networks, and IM combined.
Snail Mail
Despite these encouraging figures about digital channels, Teens see direct mail as the most appropriate channel for marketers to communicate with them. 58% say they have been influenced by Direct Mail to make a purchase.
Email is closely behind, followed by
Teens are much more likely to make a purchase from a direct mail message than any other method. text messaging and social network sites. To get Teens’ attention, targeted direct mailers are the way to go!
Summary Teens are open to marketing through a variety of channels, and nothing is completely off the table—which requires allocating resources to multiple communication channels and providing individuals with a choice.
Persona: Established Pros This group consists of professionals employed full-time, age 35 or more, with annual household incomes greater than $75K per year. 65% are between the ages of 35 and 54 years of age. The sample is evenly split between men and women. Media Established Professionals are moderate media consumers. Television exposure is near average at approximately 3 hours per day, while radio exposure is the highest of any group identified (more than 3 hours per day on average), much of which happens in the car commuting for work. They are online multiple times throughout the day, typically spending more time online at work than at home. They are average consumers of newspapers and magazines.
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Personal Communication Established Professionals have a strong preference for communicating with friends on the telephone. For written communication they use email most frequently—89% use email to communicate with friends. The next most frequent form is through postcards and letters, and a small percentage of Established Professionals communicate through IM and text messaging.
E-Shoppers
Any use of new digital media such as IM, text messaging, and social networking is low compared to other groups. Our research shows that 38% use IM (27% less than average), 44% use text messaging (though not frequently), and 21% participate in some sort of social network (likely related to work). Women are more likely than men to use new digital media channels for communicating with friends and family.
how they prefer to be communicated
Established Professionals like to shop online more than any other group. This is important information for marketers, but what is even more important is with—through email and direct mail.
Marketing Preferences Established Professionals are big online shoppers and are most influenced by direct marketing messages. 94% have made a purchase as the result of a direct marketing campaign, which is 13% higher than average and the highest for any group identified. They are also the most likely to have made a purchase online—92% have done so. Email and direct mail are equal influencers on the purchase decision. 89% have been influenced by email (41% higher than average) and 90% have been influenced by direct mail (21% higher than average). While heavily influenced by direct marketing, their stated attitudes toward it are average. They don’t get excited one way or another about direct marketing…it simply exists, and they depend on it. When it comes to sweepstakes, this appears to translate into more apathy, where their overall attitude toward sweepstakes is fairly low. If you’re going to invite them to participate in a sweepstakes, they prefer it to be sent through direct mail. Surveys and opt-in promotions should be sent through email. Financial alerts warrant contact both through email and via the telephone, but this is the only area where telephone contact is seen as appropriate. Established Professionals have, by far, the lowest overall opinion of telemarketing. Summary For Established Professionals, it’s about email and direct mail...and that’s it. The take-away is that there is big opportunity with this group. Marketers should focus on relevance, because this group has money to spend and does so frequently.
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Authors Morgan Stewart Director, Research and Strategy ExactTarget Chip House Vice President, Marketing Services ExactTarget Mike Bloxham Director, Insight and Research Center for Media Design Ball State University Michael Holmes Associate Director, Insight and Research Center for Media Design Ball State University
About ExactTarget ExactTarget, Inc. is a leading provider of on-demand email marketing software solutions. The company’s suite of on-demand one-to-one marketing applications enable clients to send business-critical and event triggered communications to increase sales, optimize marketing investments, and strengthen customer relationships. ExactTarget offers four editions of its on-demand software application along with integrated solutions such as ExactTarget for AppExchange and ExactTarget for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. ExactTarget offers a range of optimization services including support, implementation and training, integration, deliverability, account management, design and deployment and strategic consulting. ExactTarget’s software powers permission-based email communications for thousands of organizations including CareerBuilder.com, Expedia.com, Florida Power & Light, Gannett Co., Inc/USA TODAY, the Indianapolis Colts, The Home Depot, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Liberty Mutual Group, Papa John’s, and Wellpoint, Inc. For more information, please visit www.exacttarget.com or call 1-866-EMAILET.
About the Center for Media Design The Center for Media Design at Ball State University is a research and development facility focused on the creation, testing, and practical application of digital technologies for business, classroom, home, and community. These efforts are accomplished through the Digital Exchange initiative—a program that explores how digital technology can drive innovative communication in both the classroom and the workplace.
Center for
Media Des lgn
CMD engages in multidisciplinary digital media research and content development projects that explore how digital technology will touch the way we live, learn, work, and play. The Center for Media Design was originally established through a $20 million Lilly Endowment grant for an initiative called iCommunication. A second $20 million Lilly Endowment award was given to Ball State and the Center for Media Design in December 2005 for the new Digital Exchange initiative. © 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Whitepaper
Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas Living in a Digital Age
What’s Inside?
People communicate more frequently and via more channels than ever before. They are also using a wider variety of media, whether it is messaging friends or reading and responding to communications from their favorite brands. Using multiple forms of media concurrently has also increased significantly. In fact, it’s not uncommon for teenagers to listen to the radio, watch TV, and surf the net at the same time—all while text messaging their friends. For marketers, this means that consumer profiles and habits are changing, and we need to pay close attention just to keep up.
Page 1 Living in a Digital Age
In ExactTarget’s 2008 Channel Preference Survey, we asked 1,500 internet users (ages 15 to 65+) a number of questions regarding their general attitudes and usage of one-to-one communication tools, such as email, phone, text messaging (SMS), and social networking. We learned that there are marked differences between age groups not only in the usage of media, but also their acceptance of and attitudes towards each type. Some of what we learned was not surprising, such as the fact that a majority of people prefer to communicate with friends and family via the phone rather than email. This preference is positively correlated with age. However, other data was quite surprising, such as the survey results showing that 8% of those over 65 use SMS, and 4% subscribe to social networks! Another surprising data point is that 42% of teens prefer to communicate via SMS, yet 62% prefer to receive promotions via email vs. only 1% via SMS.
Page 2 Usage Patterns of Email Page 3 Blended Media and Communication Personas Page 4 Persona: Wired Page 5 Persona: Young Homemakers Page 6 Persona: Retired Page 7 Persona: College Students Page 9 Persona: Teens Page 10 Persona: Established Pros
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved. | 000082808
www.ExactTarget.com
Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Early in 2008, ExactTarget introduced a concept called SUBSCRIBERS RULE! As marketers, we need to recognize that the subscriber is in control. SUBSCRIBERS RULE! is a call to communicate with each subscriber with content, frequency, and media selection that meets their stated preferences. SUBSCRIBERS RULE! is truly about listening to the wants and needs of each customer, and doing your best as a marketer to honor them. But subscribers aren’t the only ones to benefit—Marketers receive a greater level of engagement with their communications, lower customer attrition, and higher ROI. For the past 30 years, direct marketers have focused on demographic data to help determine what each segment of subscribers might like. This strategy clearly worked. However, it fails to meet the complexity of the current market landscape, with ever-increasing brand choices for consumers and a growing number of ways to consume and digest information. We’ve set out to show how success can best be realized by asking customers their preferences and using behavioral observations to catalog and respond to their habits and sensibilities.
Usage Patterns of Email
Our Research Methodology ExactTarget’s 2008 Channel Preference Survey is one of the most comprehensive studies of messaging channel preferences in the industry to date. Data was collected from February 8th to February 15th, 2008 through an online survey of 1,555 internet users owning a cell phone and living in the
One of the questions asked most often in the email industry is, “What is the best time of day to send an email?” The answer we typically provide is, “There are several variables that determine the best day to send email. Success will depend upon your industry, permission level for communication, communication type, etc. Given these factors, we recommend you conduct some testing to determine the best time of day to send for your business.”
United States.
Self-reported data can certainly be suspect, since individuals tend to report themselves in what they believe to be a positive light, or they respond in a manner they believe consistent with the surveyor’s goals. But behaviors don’t lie. As it relates to usage of different communication vehicles and marketing channels, understanding the habits of our consumer base can be quite insightful.
the age of 15. The sample was
The sample contains 220 to 226 respondents from seven age groups and represents consumers above drawn from the TrueSample™ online panel maintained by MarketTools. Individuals in the marketing profession were excluded from the sample.
The chart below shows the results of observations of consumers using email throughout the day, and highlights four variables: Share of Hour, Reach, Episodes per Hour, and Minutes per Episode. Chart: Email Reach and Episodes Per Day
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
An email episode represents an uninterrupted period of time in the inbox. Users may view multiple emails during this time, but their attention to the inbox remains constant. For example, if a user spends 20 minutes straight working in Outlook, they have one 20 minute episode. If the user does something else, such as switching to another application or answering the phone, and comes back to Outlook in the same hour, this is counted as a second episode.
Early Risers
The chart shows that not only does email reach its peak in the morning hours, consumers spend much more time per email episode (up to nearly 13 minutes on average) in the morning vs. just an average of 2 minutes per email episode late in the afternoon and evening.
tend to spend an average of 13
What are the implications to a marketer in light of this data?
Based on data gleaned from ExactTarget’s 2008 Channel Preference Survey, one of the best times to send email is in the morning. Consumers minutes per email during morning hours, vs. 2 minutes per email in the afternoon and evening.
In the morning, consumers tend to dive deeper into email, where in the afternoon they are consistently in-and-out of their inboxes. Perhaps marketers sending newsletters or pitches that require more consumer involvement should consider sending them earlier in the day, when the consumers are more likely to spend the necessary time. Also, marketers relying on promotions with a “quick and clear” call to action could not only survive, but thrive later in the day when consumers are in quick-hit mode.
Blended Media and Communication Personas Subscribers are individuals, each having distinct habits and preferences for media and communication. Even so, there are clear patterns. We know that younger consumers are more likely to use newer technologies such as SMS, social networks, and IM. Does this mean that marketers should turn to these channels to communicate with teenagers? Not necessarily.
About The Center for Media Design
To better understand the unique characteristics of different types of consumers, ExactTarget and the Center for Media Design (CMD) at Ball State University partnered to develop personas of common target audiences. Persona development began with seven groups identified through cluster analysis of behavioral data from Middletown Media Studies II (MMSII), conducted by CMD. MMSII data was collected by observing 350 study participants throughout the day and recording their use of and exposure to different forms of media in 15 second increments. Throughout the day, observers recorded what media participants were using, where they were using it, and for how long. When analyzed, CMD identified seven distinct groups, each of which has clear patterns regarding their use of media. Thus, these groups started from a behavior-based foundation.
of digital technologies for business,
From these groups, demographic and behavioral markers were used to align CMD’s seven audiences with data from ExactTarget’s Channel Preference Survey. By layering on attitudinal data collected in the survey, we were able to augment the media utilization data with information about consumer attitudes toward various marketing messages via distinct channels. In this process, we’re able to create six distinct personas, which represent identifiable target audiences of interest to direct marketers with unique media utilization habits and attitudes toward direct marketing communications.
The Center for Media Design (CMD) at Ball State University is a research and development facility focused on applied research and practical application classroom, home, and community. Funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. has enabled CMD to carry out its mission to enhance innovative, immersive, educational experiences for students in digital technology and to fund collaborative initiatives that speak to the marketplace.
Center for
Media Des lgn
The findings may surprise you. Though the personas do not represent a comprehensive view of all consumers, they do provide a glimpse into how you might structure a campaign targeting these types of consumers, with the ultimate goal of developing a profile and oneto-one communications targeted to each individual subscriber. © 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Persona: Wired
Instant Communication For personal communication
Wired consumers tend to be young males, between the ages of 18 and 34 years old, without kids. They are employed full-time or self employed, have a good income—an annual household income of at least $35K— and have at least a college education.
purposes, Wired consumers first
Media
more than the average person.
turn to phone and email as their primary means of communication. However, SMS and IM are also popular communication methods, with Wired group members using them 50%
Consumers in this group are exposed to more media throughout the day than any other group, primarily though computers. In fact, these consumers spend an average of 8 hours a day on their computers accessing the internet, email, and using some sort of computer software—including games. By comparison, exposure to television and radio is relatively low, but not nominal—they watch nearly 3 hours of television a day. In addition to computer and television time, these consumers are on the phone an average of one hour per day. More than two-thirds of phone time is on a landline phone. With a limited number of hours in the day, how can this be? Most of this media exposure is concurrent, meaning that Wired consumers are probably being exposed to multiple forms of media at the same time. For Wired group members, 61% of media exposure throughout the day is concurrent media use—more than any other group identified. Whether at work, at home, or in the car, these consumers are always digitally connected. Personal Communication Multiple communication channels are leveraged when communicating with friends and family. Email, SMS, IM, social networks, and phone are all commonly used, but for this group SMS use is 53% higher than average, participation in social networks is 51% higher than average, and IM is 31% higher than average. Even so, they tend to turn to phone and email first when communicating for personal reasons. Marketing Preferences Data shows that 20% of Wired consumers have subscribed for marketing communications via SMS, more than any other group. However, they are not particularly interested in promotions, sweepstakes, or polls through SMS. What they really want is customer service. Wireds believe that the communication type determines the channel that should be used. From their point of view, SMS is for urgent customer service issues like financial alerts or travel updates. Email is heavily favored for non-urgent marketing communications such as account updates, opt-in promotions, and surveys. This promotional preference is important for marketers as Wired consumers are avid online shoppers—10% higher than average and are most influenced to shop through email—87% indicate they have been influenced by an email to make a purchase. For the most part, ads and messaging through social networks are not viewed favorably with one notable exception: Wired consumers are open to invitations to participate in sweepstakes advertised on social networks. Finally, while attitudes are generally favorable toward direct mail, this group is not nearly as influenced as other groups to purchase through direct mail. © 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Summary For Wireds, it’s about being connected all the time and using the right channel for the job. For marketers, the big takeaway is that picking the right channel for each communication type is critical.
Persona: Young Homemakers
Minimal Media There are two groups of Young
Young Homemakers are females, between the ages of 18 and 34 years old, who consider “homemaker” to be their primary occupation, and typically have an annual household income of at least $35K.
Homemakers: High Media and Low
Media
of 1-2 hours per day online, and spend
Young Homemakers’ media use is split between two subgroups: heavy traditional media consumers (“High Media”) and low traditional media consumers (“Low Media”). Based on the observational data, the Low Media group is slightly larger than the High Media group. Within the High Media group, television watching is among the highest in the study at just over 6 hours of television exposure per day. For the Low Media group, television viewing is less than 2 hours per day. The High Media group spends more time online—almost 3 hours a day—compared to an average of 1-2 hours per day for the Low Media group. Additionally, the High Media group spends more time reading magazines and newspapers—40 minutes per day—compared to approximately 10 minutes per day for the Low Media group.
Media consumers. The Low Media group is larger and consists of women who watch less than two hours of television per day, spend an average approximately 10 minutes per day reading newspapers and magazines.
Across the board, Young Homemakers spend approximately 40% of their day exposed to 2 or more forms of media concurrently. Personal Communication Young Homemakers spend a lot of time communicating via telephone—the preferred mode of communication with friends and family. Email is the overall favorite for written personal communication (58%), but text messaging (17%) and IM (13%) are also used often. Young Homemakers are well versed in new communication channels. They text, they use social networks, and they IM. The study showed that 99% of Young Homemakers used email, 64% used IM, 54% participate in social networks, and 53% use SMS. Marketing Preferences While Young Homemakers use new media channels like social networks and text messaging, they don’t want marketers bugging them through these channels. They have two channels available for marketers: direct mail and email. Preferably, marketers would communicate with them through direct mail, but they are also open to email. Data showed that 72% of Young Homemakers have been influenced to purchase through direct mail, and 53% have purchased as a result of an email marketing message they received. The only area where Young Homemakers feel email is more appropriate than direct mail is for immediate confirmation of a transaction they initiated with you. Since this is considered a best practice anyway, there is no need to treat this situation differently. © 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Young Homemakers view certain types of communication through the phone as appropriate. They are most in favor of being contacted about customer service alerts over the phone, and are more inclined to view phone surveys as being appropriate than other groups. Overall, Young Homemakers are very open to surveys and questionnaires. While this group is open to phone surveys, they still prefer surveys through email and direct mail. Young Homemakers are average online shoppers, with 78% who indicated they have made at least one online purchase. This statistic aligns closely with the national average, which is 81% for US Online Consumers. Summary Personal communication is a high priority and Young Homemakers don’t want to be interrupted. For them, it is about feeling in control and being heard. Marketers should seek to build an opt-in relationship with this group for email, or leverage their affinity to direct mail with relevant, helpful information and products.
Persona: Retired
New Media Immersion Retired consumers are gradually
This group consists exclusively of people who have retired, and includes both men and women, though our sample is skewed toward male respondents (57%). Of this group, 80% have attended college, and 41% received at least a Bachelor’s degree.
increasing their involvement with new media, with approximately 3% using SMS, IM, and mobile email. While traditional media is still favored, many members of this group are trying out the different communication methods that are available.
Media Retired consumers spend more of their day with the television on than any other group (more than 7 hours per day on average). They also spend a significant amount of time reading a combination of newspapers and books. The time they spend reading magazines is consistent with other groups, less than 10 minutes on average per day. And, men tend to spend more time listening to the radio than women. Unlike younger consumers, little of their day is spent with more than one media form at a time. Only 15% of media exposure is concurrent. Relatively, they spend only a small amount of time online. For those people who are online, using email is a central component of their internet experience. Mobile email is virtually non-existent—only 3% have a smartphone capable of sending and receiving mobile email. Personal Communication Retired consumers are 2.5 times more likely to call than to write when communicating with friends and family. For those that are online, 88% say they use email most often for written personal communication and 9% send postal mail. But that’s only 97%, right? Yep, there is a small percentage of retired consumers who have adopted text messaging and IM as primary forms of communication.
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
While low compared to other groups, Retired online consumers are using new communication channels. Our studies showed that 35% use IM, 15% have sent a text message, and 9% participate in social networks. Retired men are more likely to participate in social networks, while retired women are more likely to use IM. The use of SMS is similar for both men and women. Marketing Preferences Retired consumers prefer traditional direct channels. Of interest is the reality that email now fits into this category, along with direct mail and telemarketing. A surprising 81% have purchased online, and 94% say they’ve been influenced by some form of direct marketing to make a purchase. Direct mail has influenced 90% of Retired consumers to make a purchase (25% more than other groups) and 73% have been influenced by email to make a purchase (18% more than other groups). In addition to direct mail and email, they are 33% more likely than other groups to have made a purchase as the result of a telemarketing call; however, their attitude toward telemarketing in general is still not positive. With the exception of these three channels, marketing simply is not welcome or profitable—likely because it is largely not understood.
No Solicitation Here Retired consumers have made it clear that they don’t want to receive messages they didn’t ask for. To get their attention, marketers must take the time to learn what types of information Retired consumers are seeking, and deliver just that.
Attitudes toward unsolicited marketing messages are negative, even for direct mail, where most consumers feel that receiving marketing messages from unfamiliar companies is appropriate. Retired consumers only want to interact with companies they know—demonstrated in the relatively positive feelings these consumers have toward promotions from companies they know, but have not specifically asked for marketing material. When it comes to opt-in promotions, they have similarly positive attitudes toward direct mail and email. They prefer survey invitations through email and sweepstakes invitations through direct mail. In the case of financial or travel alerts, Retired consumers prefer a phone call. Summary Retired consumers prefer to keep it simple. Marketers should also keep it simple and focus on using a combination of email and direct mail. Email is progressive for this group.
Persona: College Students This group consists exclusively of college students. The sample is predominantly 18-24 year olds, but 10% of the sample includes students older than this. Media Media exposure within this group varies dramatically, making generalizations difficult. That said, on average media exposure is generally lower than may be commonly believed, marked primarily by relatively low exposure to television in the typical day. College students are heavy internet users, and spend considerable time reading books, listening to music, and watching movies. Significant portions of their day is spent using media concurrently, with the computer seldom far away. © 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
The heavy time demands of college study and college life shape the media usage for this persona; there may be a tendency to favor media that allows the user control over where and when they are used. Time with media tends to be an even mix between home and school access. Personal Communication College Students use a balanced combination of telephone and written communication with friends and family. It’s commonly understood that College Students are heavy social networking users, especially Facebook. According to our research, 64% say they regularly participate in a social networking site, 56% more than other groups. They are also 22% more likely to use IM and 27% more likely to send and receive text messages. However, some key gender differences exist. College women are 36% more likely to communicate via text messaging than women in other groups, and SMS is the favorite method for personal communication.
SMS = No Marketers Allowed College Students will respond to select advertisements, as long as they come in a preferred communication method - such as direct mail or email. Marketers should think again about sending a promotional text message. College Students do not like to be
Even with emerging communication channels, email remains a common tool. Email is universal within this group, and commonly understood to be the default mode of communication, especially for “official” written communication with professors, professional, or other adults. What is this group’s favorite communication tool? Take your pick between Email, IM, Text Messaging, and Social Networks. They are all common.
bombarded with ads on their mobile, and prefer to use text messaging strictly for keeping in touch with friends.
Marketing Preferences College Students are buying online slightly more than the average online consumer, again, with a slight gender difference. In fact, women bring the average up. College men are average online shoppers, while College women are 9% more likely to purchase online than average. College Students don’t credit direct marketing with having significant influence on their buying habits. In fact, 27% claim direct marketing has never influenced a purchase decision. As such, no channel looks great for marketing to college students when compared to the average. In contrast with Teens, however, they have very low opinions of any marketing via text messaging or through social networks. Yes, they use these tools often for communicating to friends. But sadly, marketers simply aren’t invited to the party. Again, direct mail and email are the preferred channels for promotional marketing. Direct Mail has influenced 55% of College Students to make a purchase, and 50% say they have made a purchase influenced by email marketing. “Implied” permission is a major concern for people in this group. They are spam-savvy and understand the concept of permission. No permission? Don’t bother. This is even more pronounced for SMS or social networks. Those “private” channels are completely off limits. Confirmations should definitely come through email. Alerts should be sent either through mail or warrant a phone call, not SMS. Sweepstakes and polls should come through email. They aren’t Teens, and they aren’t into text voting. Summary College Students want to keep personal and business affairs separate. Marketers should remember that email is the channel for “official” communications.
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Persona: Teens This group consists exclusively of high school students between 15 and 17 years of age. Our sample skews slightly higher than average in annual household income. Media To date, we have the least observational data for this group from which to draw broad generalizations. Even so, we know that Teens are heavy media users, but this can be deceptive since media exposure is limited and/or controlled during the school day. Out of school settings, Teens engage heavily with the computer, television, print (in the form of magazines), and music through MP3 players. Aside from reading school textbooks, teens are heavily inclined toward screen-based media, frequently having more than one such medium accessible at a time for inbound or outbound communications purposes, entertainment etc. Use of such media is so broad and commonplace throughout non-school hours that it is fair to say that almost any time is prime time for media use where teens are concerned. Future research focusing on weekends or school vacations would likely show even more use, with subjects being freed of the constraints on media use placed on them in the classroom. Personal Communication Teens are into all things digital. Despite the waning popularity of email for personal communication, the vast majority of Teens do use email. Their use of IM, text messaging, and participation in social networking is significantly more than any other group. Our research shows that 77% use IM (64% more than other groups), 76% participate in social networking sites (more than twice the average), and 70% text message (67% higher than average). Additionally, 42% of Teens prefer text messaging for personal communication, 27% still prefer email for personal communication, 16% prefer IM, and 8% communicate through social networking sites.
Tech Connect Teens are more digitally connected than any other group. IM, text messaging, and social network sites are used by Teens more than any other group. Marketers take note—Teens prefer text messaging above all other modes of communication.
A small pilot study of teen media exposure by the Center for Media Design suggested some of these preferences are gender-based, with female teens spending more time on email and males spending more time with IM. Teens are also the only group where personal blogs are commonly used as a preferred mode of personal communication. Preferences for text messaging and social networking are more common among females, while preferences for email and IM are more common among males. Marketing Preferences Teens are 25% less likely than other groups to have made a purchase online (which makes sense since they are less likely to have disposable income). Today, we often hear that Teens are less likely to be influenced by email to make a purchase and more likely to be influenced by text messaging. However, these statements only paint part of the picture; a deeper look at the numbers shows that these trends are a little misleading.
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
It’s important to keep in mind the difference between “relative” and “absolute” preferences when talking about Teens. Across the board, Teens have the most favorable impressions of text-based marketing and marketing through social network sites—but these are relative views. In terms of absolute preferences, they are similar to other consumers in that they prefer traditional direct marketing channels (including email) for marketing communications. 42% of teens say they have made a purchase influenced by an email marketing message (compared to 68% for all other groups). Thus, teens are clearly less likely than average to be influenced through email than other groups. However, only 13% of teens have made a purchase influenced by text marketing, and 12% have made a purchase resulting from marketing through a social networking site. These figures compare favorably against the other group averages for text and social network marketing, each of which have influenced just 5% of consumers to make a purchase. So, yes…teens are clearly more influenced by text and social networks to make purchases than other groups (and are fairly receptive to text-based promotions, polls, and sweepstakes). But when it comes to driving conversions, email still outperforms the influence of text messaging, social networks, and IM combined.
Snail Mail
Despite these encouraging figures about digital channels, Teens see direct mail as the most appropriate channel for marketers to communicate with them. 58% say they have been influenced by Direct Mail to make a purchase.
Email is closely behind, followed by
Teens are much more likely to make a purchase from a direct mail message than any other method. text messaging and social network sites. To get Teens’ attention, targeted direct mailers are the way to go!
Summary Teens are open to marketing through a variety of channels, and nothing is completely off the table—which requires allocating resources to multiple communication channels and providing individuals with a choice.
Persona: Established Pros This group consists of professionals employed full-time, age 35 or more, with annual household incomes greater than $75K per year. 65% are between the ages of 35 and 54 years of age. The sample is evenly split between men and women. Media Established Professionals are moderate media consumers. Television exposure is near average at approximately 3 hours per day, while radio exposure is the highest of any group identified (more than 3 hours per day on average), much of which happens in the car commuting for work. They are online multiple times throughout the day, typically spending more time online at work than at home. They are average consumers of newspapers and magazines.
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Personal Communication Established Professionals have a strong preference for communicating with friends on the telephone. For written communication they use email most frequently—89% use email to communicate with friends. The next most frequent form is through postcards and letters, and a small percentage of Established Professionals communicate through IM and text messaging.
E-Shoppers
Any use of new digital media such as IM, text messaging, and social networking is low compared to other groups. Our research shows that 38% use IM (27% less than average), 44% use text messaging (though not frequently), and 21% participate in some sort of social network (likely related to work). Women are more likely than men to use new digital media channels for communicating with friends and family.
how they prefer to be communicated
Established Professionals like to shop online more than any other group. This is important information for marketers, but what is even more important is with—through email and direct mail.
Marketing Preferences Established Professionals are big online shoppers and are most influenced by direct marketing messages. 94% have made a purchase as the result of a direct marketing campaign, which is 13% higher than average and the highest for any group identified. They are also the most likely to have made a purchase online—92% have done so. Email and direct mail are equal influencers on the purchase decision. 89% have been influenced by email (41% higher than average) and 90% have been influenced by direct mail (21% higher than average). While heavily influenced by direct marketing, their stated attitudes toward it are average. They don’t get excited one way or another about direct marketing…it simply exists, and they depend on it. When it comes to sweepstakes, this appears to translate into more apathy, where their overall attitude toward sweepstakes is fairly low. If you’re going to invite them to participate in a sweepstakes, they prefer it to be sent through direct mail. Surveys and opt-in promotions should be sent through email. Financial alerts warrant contact both through email and via the telephone, but this is the only area where telephone contact is seen as appropriate. Established Professionals have, by far, the lowest overall opinion of telemarketing. Summary For Established Professionals, it’s about email and direct mail...and that’s it. The take-away is that there is big opportunity with this group. Marketers should focus on relevance, because this group has money to spend and does so frequently.
© 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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Messaging Behaviors, Preferences, and Personas
Authors Morgan Stewart Director, Research and Strategy ExactTarget Chip House Vice President, Marketing Services ExactTarget Mike Bloxham Director, Insight and Research Center for Media Design Ball State University Michael Holmes Associate Director, Insight and Research Center for Media Design Ball State University
About ExactTarget ExactTarget, Inc. is a leading provider of on-demand email marketing software solutions. The company’s suite of on-demand one-to-one marketing applications enable clients to send business-critical and event triggered communications to increase sales, optimize marketing investments, and strengthen customer relationships. ExactTarget offers four editions of its on-demand software application along with integrated solutions such as ExactTarget for AppExchange and ExactTarget for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. ExactTarget offers a range of optimization services including support, implementation and training, integration, deliverability, account management, design and deployment and strategic consulting. ExactTarget’s software powers permission-based email communications for thousands of organizations including CareerBuilder.com, Expedia.com, Florida Power & Light, Gannett Co., Inc/USA TODAY, the Indianapolis Colts, The Home Depot, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Liberty Mutual Group, Papa John’s, and Wellpoint, Inc. For more information, please visit www.exacttarget.com or call 1-866-EMAILET.
About the Center for Media Design The Center for Media Design at Ball State University is a research and development facility focused on the creation, testing, and practical application of digital technologies for business, classroom, home, and community. These efforts are accomplished through the Digital Exchange initiative—a program that explores how digital technology can drive innovative communication in both the classroom and the workplace.
Center for
Media Des lgn
CMD engages in multidisciplinary digital media research and content development projects that explore how digital technology will touch the way we live, learn, work, and play. The Center for Media Design was originally established through a $20 million Lilly Endowment grant for an initiative called iCommunication. A second $20 million Lilly Endowment award was given to Ball State and the Center for Media Design in December 2005 for the new Digital Exchange initiative. © 2008 ExactTarget. All rights reserved.
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