CBS Money Watch
November 17, 2011 5:51 PM
By Tom Searcy
I feel like Scrooge about this time of the year. The lack of sales progress in the holiday and pre-holiday season can be maddening. For business-to-business sales people the action tapers off for the 6 weeks between the Monday before Thanksgiving and the Monday after New Year's Day. The business community goes into decision-making, phone call returning, email-responding hibernation and sales people are left to grumble.
Here are 3 things you can do to set yourself in a great position for the next year's sales plan and avoid losing your mind:
1. Map Out Your Connects From You to Your Buyer -- It's important on your bigger accounts to understand all of the connections between you and your buyer. It's also good to understand all of the internal and external connections that they may have to your competitors, your clients and to each other. This is a technique I borrowed from the old police shows when they were trying to understand the structure of a mafia family they were targeting. Those formal and informal networks are not exactly published on the mafia website. Rather, the investigators have to make all the links through investigation and analysis. By doing so, they were able to understand motives, alliances and potential linkages. Same benefits are true for you. Using LinkedIn and tools like Reachable.com, you can build your own mafia mapping between the connection points in order to plan your contact and conquer sales strategy.
2. Contact Campaign design -- Take this time to create a prospecting campaign for your leads and your slow-to-close opportunities. The goal is to establish a systemic approach to staying connected with your key prospects through sending them on a scheduled basis information and value content that will keep you top of mind and convey your expertise. Mine the internet for interesting websites, white-papers and factoids that are relevant and valuable to your prospects. Then schedule what items you will send to them at what time. An item every 1-3 weeks keeps you top-of-mind and demonstrates your industry knowledge and connectedness.
3. Set your Hunt Calendar -- Your year is not homogeneous, so don't plan it as if it were. There are peaks and valleys or seasonal constants in most industries. The ones that are predictable- holidays, fiscal budgeting windows, trade shows and school year's openings and closings need to be put into the calendar with the relevant activity cycles budgeted in. For instance:
a. Trade shows need 4-6 weeks of pre-show appointment setting time and planning work to be done. Have you laid that out in your calendar? Don't forget clients who display during the show are going to be manning the booth. It's cool for you to show up and shake hands with da boss..Plus you can meet new prospects who also have display booths. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.
b. School opening and closing cycles as well as seasonal breaks play havoc with prospects who change meeting schedules at the last minute to react to their own poor planning. Do you have those cycles marked so that you can anticipate the chaos?
c. Product release cycles have ramp up, interest reaction, lead cultivation and selling steps that can be mapped based upon history. Have them mapped them into your calendar.
It is my experience that the "down time" of your business cycle is often under-used, when it is a great time for planning. Hit these three planning activities hard to maximize your productivity during the up time.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Social Falls Short On Customer Loyalty, Traditional Methods Encouraged
Online Media Daily Monday, Nov 21, 2011
by Steve McClellan, Nov 18, 4:50 PM
While much of the marketing community is focused on sealing better relationships between brands and consumers via social media, a new study from Pitney Bowes suggests that their efforts would be better spent in other areas.
In fact, the new study -- based on a survey of 5,000 consumers in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany -- found social media to be one of the least effective engagement techniques for encouraging customer loyalty for larger and small businesses alike.
The survey found that just 18% of the respondents believed that interaction with a larger company or its brands on social media would encourage them to buy from that business again.
The social media approach was deemed even less effective for smaller businesses, where just 15% of those responding said it would encourage their loyalty to a company.
“These findings will give decision-makers pause for thought,” the report stated. “Businesses can be forgiven for getting swept away by the hype of surrounding social media and wanting to invest in such activity as soon as possible. ... But results show that those businesses tempted to lead with such techniques will quickly find themselves out of step with customer thinking.”
Conversely, several other techniques are far more likely to resonate with consumers and encourage them to do repeat business with companies. They include a home-delivery option; having a say in products and services; control of channels and frequency of received communications and a choice of channels to contact a company. In each case, nearly half or more of the respondents said those tactics were preferred and effective for small and large businesses alike.
“All of these practices are aimed at increasing brand loyalty and retaining customers,” the Pitney Bowes survey summary states. "However, sophisticated social media and Web interaction can be time-consuming and expensive and outcomes are difficult to measure. .. Businesses are quickly having to learn the ‘customer dance’ -- when to lead and when to follow -- if relationships are to be nurtured.”
...Sooo as the good Dr. LeNoble would have it.....Revenue attainment and growth are tied to long-term, local direct business. Radio, TV, digital, video and search are great add-ons for the client's business
by Steve McClellan, Nov 18, 4:50 PM
While much of the marketing community is focused on sealing better relationships between brands and consumers via social media, a new study from Pitney Bowes suggests that their efforts would be better spent in other areas.
In fact, the new study -- based on a survey of 5,000 consumers in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany -- found social media to be one of the least effective engagement techniques for encouraging customer loyalty for larger and small businesses alike.
The survey found that just 18% of the respondents believed that interaction with a larger company or its brands on social media would encourage them to buy from that business again.
The social media approach was deemed even less effective for smaller businesses, where just 15% of those responding said it would encourage their loyalty to a company.
“These findings will give decision-makers pause for thought,” the report stated. “Businesses can be forgiven for getting swept away by the hype of surrounding social media and wanting to invest in such activity as soon as possible. ... But results show that those businesses tempted to lead with such techniques will quickly find themselves out of step with customer thinking.”
Conversely, several other techniques are far more likely to resonate with consumers and encourage them to do repeat business with companies. They include a home-delivery option; having a say in products and services; control of channels and frequency of received communications and a choice of channels to contact a company. In each case, nearly half or more of the respondents said those tactics were preferred and effective for small and large businesses alike.
“All of these practices are aimed at increasing brand loyalty and retaining customers,” the Pitney Bowes survey summary states. "However, sophisticated social media and Web interaction can be time-consuming and expensive and outcomes are difficult to measure. .. Businesses are quickly having to learn the ‘customer dance’ -- when to lead and when to follow -- if relationships are to be nurtured.”
...Sooo as the good Dr. LeNoble would have it.....Revenue attainment and growth are tied to long-term, local direct business. Radio, TV, digital, video and search are great add-ons for the client's business
Radio Revs Edge Up Again
MediaDailyNews
by Erik Sass, Nov 18, 2:00 PM
The radio business is continuing its gradual recovery, with total spending increasing 2% from $4.44 billion in the third quarter of 2010 to $4.53 billion in the third quarter of 2011, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau. For the first nine months of 2011 revenue is also up 2% to $12.89 billion.
The RAB attributed the overall growth to increases in network, digital, and off-air spending.
Network radio ad spending grew 2% to $282 million, digital jumped 17% to $190 million, and off-air increased 10% to $390 million. Spot advertising, long the mainstay of the radio business, was basically flat at $3.66 billion.
Of the roughly $90 million added between the third quarter of 2010 and the third quarter of 2011, $5.5 million came from growth in network radio, $27.6 million came from growth in digital, and $35.5 million came from growth in off-air revenues. In other words, network accounted for about 6% of new revenues, digital for 30.7%, and off-air for 39.4%.
Although digital revenues are posting strong growth, they remain a relatively small part of the radio business, making up just 4.2% of total ad revenues in the third quarter and, at $524 million, 4.1% of total ad revenues for the year to date.
Some of the top spenders on radio advertising in the third quarter were AT&T, McDonald’s, and Comcast Cable, which each spent roughly $90 million on spot radio advertising. Safeway spent $60 million and Verizon Wireless spent $56 million.
Additional thought: Long-term local-direct is the foundation of all revenue growth! Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.
by Erik Sass, Nov 18, 2:00 PM
The radio business is continuing its gradual recovery, with total spending increasing 2% from $4.44 billion in the third quarter of 2010 to $4.53 billion in the third quarter of 2011, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau. For the first nine months of 2011 revenue is also up 2% to $12.89 billion.
The RAB attributed the overall growth to increases in network, digital, and off-air spending.
Network radio ad spending grew 2% to $282 million, digital jumped 17% to $190 million, and off-air increased 10% to $390 million. Spot advertising, long the mainstay of the radio business, was basically flat at $3.66 billion.
Of the roughly $90 million added between the third quarter of 2010 and the third quarter of 2011, $5.5 million came from growth in network radio, $27.6 million came from growth in digital, and $35.5 million came from growth in off-air revenues. In other words, network accounted for about 6% of new revenues, digital for 30.7%, and off-air for 39.4%.
Although digital revenues are posting strong growth, they remain a relatively small part of the radio business, making up just 4.2% of total ad revenues in the third quarter and, at $524 million, 4.1% of total ad revenues for the year to date.
Some of the top spenders on radio advertising in the third quarter were AT&T, McDonald’s, and Comcast Cable, which each spent roughly $90 million on spot radio advertising. Safeway spent $60 million and Verizon Wireless spent $56 million.
Additional thought: Long-term local-direct is the foundation of all revenue growth! Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.
What’s Ahead in 2012: A Slow but Definite Economic Upturn
by Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D. Nov. 21, 2011
According to a sample of economists around the nation, they are seeing a faster growth pattern going forward into 2012, according to a quarterly survey from the National Association for Business Economics.
While the U.S. economy will continue to expand through next year, boosted by rising consumer and business spending, joblessness which may be attributed to expanded technological advances in industry, an economic recovery is expected occur and to remain high the speed of the housing recovery will be sluggish but remodeling older homes will help boost consumer spending in that sector.
According to Richard Wobberkind, associate dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, economists are still disturbed about the continued high levels of government deficits and debt, excessive unemployment, and rising commodity prices, the president of the association, Richard Wobbekind, said in a statement. Wobbekind, representing a panel of economists, project 2012 will see the economy growing 3.4 percent from 2011. This is, as stated “consistent with the moderate pace of growth” that usually takes place during recoveries from severe financial crises such as the financial collapse that led to the Great Recession.
Nearly 40 percent of the National Association for Business Economics’ survey’s respondents think that the recovery will continue to grow more moderately, while one third believes expansion will be more robust. A smaller percent — or about five out of 40 of the respondents — expect the growth to be “subpar.” Others not included in the panel believe those unemployed in segments of the labor force demonstrating more physical labor will need to retrain themselves in other skill sets as technology advances breed a more jobless recovery. Those jobs once utilizing more of the unskilled labor force in the manufacturing sector are no longer projected to rehire those once employed because the advances in the field of robotics has reshaped those industries. By the last quarter of 2012, the joblessness rate will still be high — 8.2 percent. In January of 2012, the unemployment rate was still holding at 9 percent.
The outlook for consumer spending has improved, and is expected to grow 3.2 percent this year. That’s up from a 2.4 percent growth forecast in November. Somewhat encouragingly, in 2012, spending is expected to rise by 2.9 percent, which is the same as the annual growth rate over the past 20 years.
The NABE panelists see business spending as a bright spot in 2011 and 2012, with double-digit percentage growth in spending on equipment and software. But spending on structures remains weak, expected to grow just 1.4 percent by the end of 2011. By next year, however, spending on structures is expected to grow by 4.8 percent.
Local businesses have an excellent opportunity to expand their share of market in 2012 if they act positively in the arena of media marketing investment while competitive businesses in the same occupational classes remain fearful and continue to sit on the sidelines. As the recovery increases its pace, historically, it has been revealed that those businesses who have maintained their resilience in pursuit of higher market share find themselves far ahead of their larger competitors who remain lagging behind.
According to a sample of economists around the nation, they are seeing a faster growth pattern going forward into 2012, according to a quarterly survey from the National Association for Business Economics.
While the U.S. economy will continue to expand through next year, boosted by rising consumer and business spending, joblessness which may be attributed to expanded technological advances in industry, an economic recovery is expected occur and to remain high the speed of the housing recovery will be sluggish but remodeling older homes will help boost consumer spending in that sector.
According to Richard Wobberkind, associate dean of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, economists are still disturbed about the continued high levels of government deficits and debt, excessive unemployment, and rising commodity prices, the president of the association, Richard Wobbekind, said in a statement. Wobbekind, representing a panel of economists, project 2012 will see the economy growing 3.4 percent from 2011. This is, as stated “consistent with the moderate pace of growth” that usually takes place during recoveries from severe financial crises such as the financial collapse that led to the Great Recession.
Nearly 40 percent of the National Association for Business Economics’ survey’s respondents think that the recovery will continue to grow more moderately, while one third believes expansion will be more robust. A smaller percent — or about five out of 40 of the respondents — expect the growth to be “subpar.” Others not included in the panel believe those unemployed in segments of the labor force demonstrating more physical labor will need to retrain themselves in other skill sets as technology advances breed a more jobless recovery. Those jobs once utilizing more of the unskilled labor force in the manufacturing sector are no longer projected to rehire those once employed because the advances in the field of robotics has reshaped those industries. By the last quarter of 2012, the joblessness rate will still be high — 8.2 percent. In January of 2012, the unemployment rate was still holding at 9 percent.
The outlook for consumer spending has improved, and is expected to grow 3.2 percent this year. That’s up from a 2.4 percent growth forecast in November. Somewhat encouragingly, in 2012, spending is expected to rise by 2.9 percent, which is the same as the annual growth rate over the past 20 years.
The NABE panelists see business spending as a bright spot in 2011 and 2012, with double-digit percentage growth in spending on equipment and software. But spending on structures remains weak, expected to grow just 1.4 percent by the end of 2011. By next year, however, spending on structures is expected to grow by 4.8 percent.
Local businesses have an excellent opportunity to expand their share of market in 2012 if they act positively in the arena of media marketing investment while competitive businesses in the same occupational classes remain fearful and continue to sit on the sidelines. As the recovery increases its pace, historically, it has been revealed that those businesses who have maintained their resilience in pursuit of higher market share find themselves far ahead of their larger competitors who remain lagging behind.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
5 Things Successful People Don't DO
CBS Money Watch
October 27, 2011 9:56 AM
ByPenelope Trunk
There are no formulas for who is successful. But there are statistical probabilities. For example, you are equally as likely to succeed if you go to Harvard as if you apply to Harvard and get rejected, according to Alan Krueger, Princeton economist. And you are more likely to be successful at work if you were a cheerleader than if you get a Ph.D.
So you can be proactive, and do things that successful people do. But you can also think the other way, and avoid doing things that only losers do. Here are five of those:
1. Retrieve voicemail.
Voicemail is over. All of Microsoft has voicemail that goes straight to email because it's so much more efficient to read email than listen to voicemail. However, voice recognition software has not caught up with our need to stop listening to voicemail, so most of these emails we see translated from our carefully planned voicemail are rubbish. Which means anyone in the know has just stopped using voicemail. And for those of you who still use it, your direct reports probably make fun of you.
2. Sort through resumes.
The problem with hiring is not that there are no good candidates -- because really, there are great candidates for every job. It's just that maybe you are not paying enough or maybe you don't look fun enough to work for. You can fix that. But you can't fix it if you are plowing through stacks of resumes. The biggest bottleneck in the hiring process is receiving too many resumes and then having to read them. If you have great jobs to offer, you never have to do that. If you sometimes have great jobs to offer, and sometimes you don't, you should at least avoid the dreaded stacks. Use a recruiting solution -- I like Brazen Connect (yes, this is a plug for my last startup, but it works!) -- to weed out unwanted resumes.
3. Play Solitaire on airplanes.
Have you no shame? It's one thing to have no idea what to do with yourself. It's another thing to let the whole world know. I would rather be caught looking at porn than playing Solitaire -- porn, at least, is goal-oriented. If you don't know how to spend your free time, you need to do some soul searching to find an interest. The biggest violators of the no Solitaire rule say it's relaxing. But you know what? It's not relaxing, it's vegetative. Nick Powdthavee author of "The Happiness Equation" reports that after a half-hour, the television drains you. You're better off with real relaxation methods than vegetating. So do them.
4. Forgo maternity leave
No woman has any idea what she'll feel like after she has a kid. Each kid is different, each mom is different, each adjustment phase is different. If you don't take maternity leave you don't give yourself a chance to experience that. It's a time to check in with yourself and see how you feel -- and how you feel in relation to the baby. People with good self-knowledge make the best leaders. People who are scared to take any time off to learn about themselves are too weak to lead. Taking maternity leave is an act of strength, and an announcement that you take yourself and the people around you seriously enough to know who you are, even if it's difficult.
5. Work through lunch.
The people who get the most done at the office are not the people sitting at their desk working. Because your job is not actually to do what's on your to-do list. Your job is to do what your boss cares about and what other people notice. So it's important to know what matters at work, and ignore the rest. And also, it's important to never look like you're the hardest worker. Because if you are, why is that? Do you need to work harder than everyone else because you're slow?
October 27, 2011 9:56 AM
ByPenelope Trunk
There are no formulas for who is successful. But there are statistical probabilities. For example, you are equally as likely to succeed if you go to Harvard as if you apply to Harvard and get rejected, according to Alan Krueger, Princeton economist. And you are more likely to be successful at work if you were a cheerleader than if you get a Ph.D.
So you can be proactive, and do things that successful people do. But you can also think the other way, and avoid doing things that only losers do. Here are five of those:
1. Retrieve voicemail.
Voicemail is over. All of Microsoft has voicemail that goes straight to email because it's so much more efficient to read email than listen to voicemail. However, voice recognition software has not caught up with our need to stop listening to voicemail, so most of these emails we see translated from our carefully planned voicemail are rubbish. Which means anyone in the know has just stopped using voicemail. And for those of you who still use it, your direct reports probably make fun of you.
2. Sort through resumes.
The problem with hiring is not that there are no good candidates -- because really, there are great candidates for every job. It's just that maybe you are not paying enough or maybe you don't look fun enough to work for. You can fix that. But you can't fix it if you are plowing through stacks of resumes. The biggest bottleneck in the hiring process is receiving too many resumes and then having to read them. If you have great jobs to offer, you never have to do that. If you sometimes have great jobs to offer, and sometimes you don't, you should at least avoid the dreaded stacks. Use a recruiting solution -- I like Brazen Connect (yes, this is a plug for my last startup, but it works!) -- to weed out unwanted resumes.
3. Play Solitaire on airplanes.
Have you no shame? It's one thing to have no idea what to do with yourself. It's another thing to let the whole world know. I would rather be caught looking at porn than playing Solitaire -- porn, at least, is goal-oriented. If you don't know how to spend your free time, you need to do some soul searching to find an interest. The biggest violators of the no Solitaire rule say it's relaxing. But you know what? It's not relaxing, it's vegetative. Nick Powdthavee author of "The Happiness Equation" reports that after a half-hour, the television drains you. You're better off with real relaxation methods than vegetating. So do them.
4. Forgo maternity leave
No woman has any idea what she'll feel like after she has a kid. Each kid is different, each mom is different, each adjustment phase is different. If you don't take maternity leave you don't give yourself a chance to experience that. It's a time to check in with yourself and see how you feel -- and how you feel in relation to the baby. People with good self-knowledge make the best leaders. People who are scared to take any time off to learn about themselves are too weak to lead. Taking maternity leave is an act of strength, and an announcement that you take yourself and the people around you seriously enough to know who you are, even if it's difficult.
5. Work through lunch.
The people who get the most done at the office are not the people sitting at their desk working. Because your job is not actually to do what's on your to-do list. Your job is to do what your boss cares about and what other people notice. So it's important to know what matters at work, and ignore the rest. And also, it's important to never look like you're the hardest worker. Because if you are, why is that? Do you need to work harder than everyone else because you're slow?
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
TV Stations, Local Advertisers Brace For 2012 Political Ad Season
This essay supports my belief that with all the new media available such as search, mobile, video and Internet business...if local-direct and agency represented clients who have depended on your company to broadcast and make firm their brand...choose to shift their ad dollars to those alternatives as a means of media marketing, your share of local ad dollars could be compromised following the 2012 election period. Therefore, in 2013 and beyond, making budget may become most difficult..Local businesses are the real backbone of local broadcast revenue and profitability!! Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.
MediaPost's MEDIA WATCH
A media critique by Wayne Friedman , Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011
Too much of a good thing? TV stations will be getting a whiff of this next year when it comes to a really big kick up of TV political ad revenues -- estimated to net north of $3.2 billion.
The rub of these big election years always hits regular, nontraditional political advertisers like a black-eye. That's because political advertising -- by FCC mandate -- not only gives marketers the "lowest unit charge," it allows political spots to pre-empt a TV station's more regular, nontraditional political media.
Regular TV advertisers can be left in the lurch -- not too good for any media planning strategy. Some ad agencies are looking to get around this by building packages around additions of "sponsorships," "brand mentions" and buys on a station's Internet business.
The belief -- from those media agencies -- is that these added pieces of a TV buy will help lessen the blow TV advertisers might take in 2012. As "packages," their local TV spots might now be "non-preemptable" local ad spots, according to a TVNewscheck report.
Where this ends up as a legal or regulatory matter is anyone's guess. But one thing is for sure: This is just the start of a negotiation salvo.
Packaging in local TV spots with theoretically "higher" priced sponsorship entitlements, as well as somewhat lower-unit priced (but higher CPM) Web site business ad avails, may even out local TV media buys for traditional spot TV advertisers.
Better reach? Better media ROI? As usual, these are the big questions.
But given continued lower ratings on broadcast TV, many might say local TV advertisers have more options to move money elsewhere -- to other local Internet businesses and/or local cable MSOs and interconnects.
After a rough late 2008 and a tough 2009, TV stations should temper their giddiness about the 2012 political advertising windfall -- even after witnessing a robust 2010, thanks to record political TV advertising revenues and the usual local TV Olympic ad spike.
There is no doubt traditional TV advertising platforms -- in all its current forms -- continue to defy expectations by new media and technology pundits.
Federal regulatory requirements aside, no TV buying or selling executives' memories should be clouded by the deep recessionary 2009 year, which still places TV stations well below their record TV advertising totals earlier in the decade.
MediaPost's MEDIA WATCH
A media critique by Wayne Friedman , Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011
Too much of a good thing? TV stations will be getting a whiff of this next year when it comes to a really big kick up of TV political ad revenues -- estimated to net north of $3.2 billion.
The rub of these big election years always hits regular, nontraditional political advertisers like a black-eye. That's because political advertising -- by FCC mandate -- not only gives marketers the "lowest unit charge," it allows political spots to pre-empt a TV station's more regular, nontraditional political media.
Regular TV advertisers can be left in the lurch -- not too good for any media planning strategy. Some ad agencies are looking to get around this by building packages around additions of "sponsorships," "brand mentions" and buys on a station's Internet business.
The belief -- from those media agencies -- is that these added pieces of a TV buy will help lessen the blow TV advertisers might take in 2012. As "packages," their local TV spots might now be "non-preemptable" local ad spots, according to a TVNewscheck report.
Where this ends up as a legal or regulatory matter is anyone's guess. But one thing is for sure: This is just the start of a negotiation salvo.
Packaging in local TV spots with theoretically "higher" priced sponsorship entitlements, as well as somewhat lower-unit priced (but higher CPM) Web site business ad avails, may even out local TV media buys for traditional spot TV advertisers.
Better reach? Better media ROI? As usual, these are the big questions.
But given continued lower ratings on broadcast TV, many might say local TV advertisers have more options to move money elsewhere -- to other local Internet businesses and/or local cable MSOs and interconnects.
After a rough late 2008 and a tough 2009, TV stations should temper their giddiness about the 2012 political advertising windfall -- even after witnessing a robust 2010, thanks to record political TV advertising revenues and the usual local TV Olympic ad spike.
There is no doubt traditional TV advertising platforms -- in all its current forms -- continue to defy expectations by new media and technology pundits.
Federal regulatory requirements aside, no TV buying or selling executives' memories should be clouded by the deep recessionary 2009 year, which still places TV stations well below their record TV advertising totals earlier in the decade.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Baby Boomers Feeding Money Into Online Sales
ONLINE Media Daily
by Laurie Sullivan, Yesterday, 8:30 PM
Who knew? Baby Boomers have become more comfortable with technology and have begun to spend money online. In fact, lots of it. More than 70% of consumers ages 45 to 55 made an online purchase in the past three months.
Consumers ages 56 to 66 spend the most online among all the generations. In the past three months, they spent on average $367, more than double the amount of those ages 18 to 22 spend online. That's according to the Forrester Research study "The State of Consumers and Technology: Benchmark 2011, U.S."
The average online consumer owns two connected devices. Not surprisingly, the ability to go mobile will fuel the trend, with 79% of U.S. adults going online at least monthly and 78% of those adults going online daily. Not all generations view mobile similarly.
The benchmark report, released Wednesday and updated Thursday, points to consumers ages 23 to 45 leading the technology adoption curve. About six out of 10 consumers ages 23 to 31, and nearly half of consumers ages 32 to 45, own a smartphone. These generations are also the first adopters of tablets, at about 11%.
Nearly all online U.S. adults own a mobile phone, more than one-third own a smartphone, and close to half log on to the Internet through it at least monthly. Fifty-eight percent of consumers ages 23 to 31 own smartphones, and 67% fall into what Forrester calls the most sophisticated users because they rely on their phones for email, playing games, and checking news, sports and weather. They also use their phone to send text messages and watch videos.
The Forrester study suggests that consuming media has become popular online. While 91% of consumers 18 to 22 watch TV offline, 74% watch it online at least once weekly. The same age group also listens to online radio most, but consumers age 23 to 31 do the most reading online of magazines and newspapers online.
by Laurie Sullivan, Yesterday, 8:30 PM
Who knew? Baby Boomers have become more comfortable with technology and have begun to spend money online. In fact, lots of it. More than 70% of consumers ages 45 to 55 made an online purchase in the past three months.
Consumers ages 56 to 66 spend the most online among all the generations. In the past three months, they spent on average $367, more than double the amount of those ages 18 to 22 spend online. That's according to the Forrester Research study "The State of Consumers and Technology: Benchmark 2011, U.S."
The average online consumer owns two connected devices. Not surprisingly, the ability to go mobile will fuel the trend, with 79% of U.S. adults going online at least monthly and 78% of those adults going online daily. Not all generations view mobile similarly.
The benchmark report, released Wednesday and updated Thursday, points to consumers ages 23 to 45 leading the technology adoption curve. About six out of 10 consumers ages 23 to 31, and nearly half of consumers ages 32 to 45, own a smartphone. These generations are also the first adopters of tablets, at about 11%.
Nearly all online U.S. adults own a mobile phone, more than one-third own a smartphone, and close to half log on to the Internet through it at least monthly. Fifty-eight percent of consumers ages 23 to 31 own smartphones, and 67% fall into what Forrester calls the most sophisticated users because they rely on their phones for email, playing games, and checking news, sports and weather. They also use their phone to send text messages and watch videos.
The Forrester study suggests that consuming media has become popular online. While 91% of consumers 18 to 22 watch TV offline, 74% watch it online at least once weekly. The same age group also listens to online radio most, but consumers age 23 to 31 do the most reading online of magazines and newspapers online.
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