Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 58

eMarketer estimates that $3.1 billion will be spent on
social media ads this year as companies attempt to
reach the 147.8 million people who use the sites.
In addition to online banner and display adver-
tisements, marketers are increasingly reaching
out to potential customers via social networks.
eMarketer estimates that $3.1 billion will be
spent on social media ads this year as companies
attempt to reach the 147.8 million people who
use the sites.
Scott Paternoster, president and founder of Chief
Media, advises clients to get involved with social
media from day one.
“Then once the campaign is launched, keeping
on top of the social media component is critical
to managing the ongoing reputation of a product
by staying in front of all messaging – positive and
negative,” Paternoster says.
The Next Big Thing: Mobile
Mobile marketing is another hot topic among
direct response marketers, as more consumers use
the technology to email, access the internet, take
photos, play games and shop.
According to the Pew Internet and & American
Life Project, 83 percent of American own some
kind of cellphone, with one-third (35 percent)
owning a smartphone. The survey noted that nine
out of 10 smartphone users text message and take
pictures with their phone, while eight in 10 use
their phones to go online and nearly six in 10 use
them to access social networking websites.
Several recent studies confi rmed that
love of
smartphones is even more prevalent within certain
demographics, specifi cally the U.S. Hispanic
market.
Google released a report
titled Four Truths
About U.S. Hispanic Consumers in February
2011 that stated 93 percent of U.S. Hispanics use
a mobile phone regularly, and 45 percent of U.S.
Hispanic mobile phone users have smartphones
compared to 34 percent of general market.
We have seen the spending habits and buying
power of the U.S. Hispanic market rise over the
past year,” says Eitan Cohen, president and CEO
of Media Stream Direct. “As the Hispanic population
has grown, so has their comfort in using
credit cards. This has lead to a notable increase in
direct response sales via infomercials.”
TV Still the Lifeblood
Despite technological and cultural changes in
recent years, television remains at the center of
most direct response campaigns.
According to Nielsen, 104.7 million U.S. house-
holds have a TV that is cable or satellite ready.
However, the way Americans are watching TV
has begun to evolve. An estimated 43.1 million
homes have a DVR, and an average 2 hours and 9
minutes of TV a day is timeshifted by DVR users.
Dick Wechsler, president and CEO of Lockard
& Wechsler Direct, says today’s marketers are using
technological advances online to complement
their DRTV campaigns and drive sales.
“TV drives web results. When tracked and op-
timized as one, the combined channel delivers
greater scale and effi ciencies,” Wechsler says.
“The next big challenge is for DRTV advertisers
to learn how to scale web marketing campaigns
independent of TV.”
To gain even further insight into DR marketing,
Electronic Retailer asked Paternoster, Cohen and
Wechsler about new technology and trends in the
industry. Read what these three experts had to say
in the following pages.
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electronicRETAILER | Direct Response Marketing Guide 2011
Electronic Retailer - October 2011

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