Five marketing takeaways from SORO 2013: Marketing and merchandising

By FIONA SWERDLOW, HEAD OF RESEARCH, SHOP.ORG | Published: JULY 16, 2013

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It’s no secret how smartphones and tablets have revolutionized the retailer-customer relationship. But investment strategies and methods online retailers use to connect their brands with shoppers – and the ways these tactics change each year – are always big news.

Shop.org’s new “The State of Retailing Online 2013: Marketing and Merchandising” study, developed withForrester Research, follows the broader SORO study of “Key Metrics and Initiatives” released earlier this year. This latest study takes a closer look into marketing and how it is rapidly evolving, where retailers are investing, how they are allocating budgets, the impact of mobile, and much more. Here are five highlights from its findings:

Retailers strike more balance between acquiring and retaining customers. Retailers surveyed noted that 40 percent of the budget for web marketing is dedicated to paid search, compared with 15 percent for email. And while three out of five retailers indicated that paid search was either no more cost-effective in 2012 than the year before, more than two-thirds said paid search drove more revenue. The good news is four out of five are investing more this year in both search and email, indicating that they want to focus on both acquisition and retention efforts.

PLAs are a significant part of a retailer’s search strategy. Retailers have many – and varied – opinions about Google Product Listing Ads, the study found. Nonetheless, they’re now dedicating an average 6 percent of web marketing budgets to PLAs, a stat to keep an eye on in the months ahead

Mobile continues to change the marketing mix. The exploding rate of consumer adoption for both smartphones and tablets is clearly shifting retailer marketing budgets.  Mobile-optimized search campaigns are now a “must have” as this type of traffic to retail sites grows. Nearly three-quarters of retailers said smartphone and tablet-specific search programs are either in place or will be by the end of 2013. Mobile-optimized email is also a big focus. Those surveyed said 28 percent of email is now opened on a smartphone, and 16 percent on tablets.

As social marketing evolves, retailer investment grows. While few cited it as one of their top three most-effective vehicles, over half of retailers are spending more on Facebook this year, and almost one-third will spend more on Pinterest and a quarter on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. No doubt recent innovations – especially with Instagram video and Vine hitting the scene  – are spurring retailers to think about social media in new ways to enhance the customer experience as a whole.

Marketing organizations bolster marketing initiatives with hiring, skill sets. Not only are digital marketing budgets going toward development and campaigns, retailers are actively hiring the  talent needed to execute these initiatives. Positions in demand in digital retail this year include marketing analytics, email, search and social media, among others. In all, 40 percent of retailers plan to hire in marketing analytics in 2013.

Want to learn more? You can find more information about the SORO study on the Shop.org site.

via Shop.org Blog http://blog.shop.org/2013/07/16/five-marketing-takeaways-from-soro-2013-marketing-and-merchandising/