Today’s college students are one of the most ad-savvy generations ever. By the age of 18, today’s teen has seen, on average, 300,000 ads. And that’s just on television! So how do you cut through the clutter and get them to engage with your brand? Here are some insights from a recent study by e-Dialog, which looked at what motivates someone to make a connection with a brand via email, social or mobile opt-in.
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It’s probably no surprise that the number one driver of opt-ins to email was a discount or offer. Giving a percentage or dollar amount off a purchase for a new email subscriber has shown to be pretty effective, and what consumers have become accustomed to. But think about what else would be valuable to your audience. How about exclusive info, like early access to this season’s looks or a preview of the next version of your game? Some of the top reasons survey takers told us they signed up for emails were to get original content not found elsewhere, and because the brand related to their lifestyle. They were motivated by curiosity about the brand, so think about the types of content you can share that educate or entertain to build an affinity for your brand.
If your goal is to gain fans or followers in social media channels, the good news is that the motivation is the pretty much the same. On Facebook or Twitter, consumers we surveyed said they were looking for discounts from brands, but also stuff they couldn’t find elsewhere. That includes videos, games, and other interactive content. One interesting finding was that for people who subscribed to email and followed a company on social sites, they said they signed up for email first. So it’s a good idea to include links to your social profiles in your emails, or even promote why someone might want to become a fan to your email subscribers.
For mobile marketing (SMS), it was very clear from the responses to our survey that consumers are generally not ready to be marketed to via text message. For today’s youth, their phone is an extension of themselves and goes with them everywhere, even to bed! So marketers really need to have something of value other than ads if they want access to a consumer’s cell phone. Things like reminders or alerts ranked high on list of the types of content people want to get on their phone. The good news is, once you convince someone to opt in to mobile marketing, they are not likely to unsubscribe.
These are just a few of the insights gleaned from the survey of consumers and their marketing preferences. We will be releasing a full report in the near future. Check www.e-Dialog.com for updates.
