Is it time to wave bye-bye to the buy button?
Marketers are shifting their focus away from customer acquisition and tools like buy buttons in favor of brand loyalty and awareness according to a new study.
The report from email marketing platform Campaigner shows that compared to this year 9.5 percent fewer marketers have customer acquisition as a top goal for 2017, while 14 percent more selected brand awareness and 11.4 percent brand loyalty.
The buy button is certainly falling out of favor, marketers are overwhelmingly rejecting its use on social media platforms. Unsurprising as 72 percent report that they’ve seen no sales as a result of buy buttons in 2016. In fact, 25 percent fewer marketers are using them now compared to this time last year, and over 40 percent plan to reduce their use of them in 2017.
"With marketers seeing a lack of results from buy buttons on social media, the industry may begin implementing them in newer ways next year," says Seamas Egan, associate director, revenue operations at Campaigner. "For instance, as marketers look to make email interaction more similar to that of visiting an actual retail website, buy buttons may be useful in creating that experience in consumers' inboxes".
Among other trends identified by the report, content marketing continues to be a major area of focus, with over 40 percent of marketers planning to make it a priority next year and over 45 percent expecting to use it in a greater capacity.
Email is still the delivery platform of choice, with at least 72 percent planning to increase their use of it. Email marketing also ranks as the most effective digital marketing method for 2016, beating social media, online advertising, SEO and search marketing.
The use of emojis divides opinion and only 24 percent of email marketers use emojis in subject lines. Of those using emojis, 89 percent report increased open rates as a result. However, emojis are the number one element that respondents plan to use less of in 2017.
There's a summary of the findings in infograhic form below and you can read more on the Campaigner website.
Photo credit: enciktepstudio / Shutterstock