Digital marketers are overwhelmingly rejecting the use of buy buttons on social media platforms, and for good reason: 72% of businesses say that they have seen no sales as a result of buy buttons in 2016, according to a report from Campaigner.
In fact, 25% fewer marketers are using buy buttons now compared to this time last year, and nearly 40% plan to reduce their use of them in 2017. While buy buttons in their present form have been a bust for retailers, marketing teams still may have uses for them in the future.
“With marketers seeing a lack of results from buy buttons on social media, the industry may begin implementing them in newer ways next year,” said Seamas Egan, Associate Director of Revenue Operations at Campaigner. “For instance, as marketers look to make email interaction more similar to that of visiting an actual retail web site, buy buttons may be useful in creating that experience in consumers’ inboxes.”
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Marketers presently prefer email newsletters as their go-to option for content, with 72% including them within their content marketing strategy. Nearly half (46%) of marketers indicate they will use more newsletters overall in their content strategies next year. The preferred content types for these strategies include:
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Informative tips (40.9%);
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Blog posts (26.0%);
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Infographics (25.8%); and
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Videos (25.6%).
Although newsletters represent a great way to engage an audience, marketers still face challenges in sending them out. When asked to pick the top two challenges in email marketing, respondents identified these issues:
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Increasing open rates (50.8%);
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Creating compelling content (42.3%);
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Earning new subscribers (32.8%);
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Maintaining click-through rates (33.3%); and
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Retaining current subscribers (17.3%).
These marketers have three major goals in launching marketing campaigns in 2017: attracting new customers (67%); increasing brand awareness (44.8%); and customer retention (40.6%).
Campaigner commissioned the online survey, which sampled 562 email marketers from its customer base from Nov. 6-15, 2016.