How Social Media Really Affects Spending (Infographic)

How exactly does one go from friending to spending? In July, Vision Critical market research released "From Social to Sale," a survey of social media purchasing trends, to answer that question. 

 The findings just may make you rethink your social marketing practices.
 

What's the Next Kale? How Business Owners Can Capitalize on Food Trends

In foodspeak, using the word “kalelicious” to celebrate 2013’s ostensible year of kale seems right on the money. That’s exactly what Dee Ann Bauer thought when she coined that descriptive as the flavor of her veggie-centric popsicle.
Bauer’s green-hued icy treat – a frozen, blended fruit-and-vegetable smoothie pop produced by her 20-month-old company Green Wave Smoothies – boasts kale as a major ingredient, along with banana, mangos and oranges.
Bauer seems to have acted at the right time. “Just about everyone who stopped by our booth at this summer’s Fancy Food Show in New York, where we debuted our popsicle, told me, ‘What a great idea,’” she says. She's currently in negotiations with top-tier natural food and grocery chains and standalone stores in the U.S. and Canada who want to carry her products.

Kale, like the acai berry and avocado before it, is the latest food to capture the nation's collective appetite. Touted for its nutritious value, the leafy green seems to be finding its way into all kinds of concoctions – and will likely do so until the next big food trend sweeps through.
For business owners, the kale craze is an important lesson on how to sense trends and capitalize on them.
Sniffing Out a Trend
Bauer started out by test-marketing her popsicle formula, via freshly blended green smoothies, at farmers’ markets. She then sampled the frozen pops at a fitness club whose premises housed a certified kitchen where she made them. She never hired a consultant. She simply engaged in a bit of DIY market research by picking the brains of everyone who tasted her offerings and then tweaking her recipe.
“I knew kale was starting to become a big buzz word because of its nutrient density, and many people were already associating ‘green smoothies,’ with health,” she says. “And [I knew] that this could be a product consumers might want to enjoy, but not have access to unless they made it themselves.”

Audrey L. Darrow, co-founder and president of , a manufacturer of certified organic raw chocolate products, based in San Diego, California, also relied on practical strategies to help focus her entrepreneurial goals.
A former high-end deli owner, Darrow was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness in 2003. During her recovery, she overhauled her diet and later took a job at a local health food store to take advantage of the employee discount. “I was on the floor, and so I watched where customers congregated and how they studied food labels,” she says. “The raw-foods area was where everyone seemed to be, and I picked the brains of those customers during every break I had.”
Darrow also did a lot of research on what mattered to consumers. The raw-food movement, sustainability, and company transparency were all topics high on the list. “Ultimately, I believe that researching what consumer health issues are can help entrepreneurs determine future food trends, such as the increased interest in organic, refined-sugar-free, and gluten-free products,” she says.
Her initial product, launched in 2007, was a raw food bar. The following year, she released her Righteously Raw chocolate bar, which is now carried in Whole Foods and other natural foods and grocery stores in the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, and later this year, in South America. “Raw chocolate may be a niche market, but it’s an extremely fast-growing niche,” says Darrow, who now produces 10 raw-chocolate products and projects $1.5 million in sales for 2013.
Discovering the 'Next Kale'
For those looking to pounce on the next trendy food item, the best advice may be to keep your eyes open and ear to the ground. “What many entrepreneurs don’t realize is we experts often conduct the same research they do to identify the next big food trend,” says Lynn Dornblaser, new products expert at Mintel, a market research company.
Dornblaser says watching for new ingredients that keep popping up on restaurant menus, new category items on grocery shelves and even talking to friends can provide a goldmine of information. “It’s all about paying attention but, at some point, you have to take a leap of faith,” she says.

On her watch list for the “next kale” are watercress – “it’s a nutrient powerhouse,” she says – and watermelon flavoring. She’s also paying close attention to the speculoos, a crisp cookie popular in northern Europe with a cinnamon-and-brown-sugar flavor profile. “Trader Joe’s already sells a popular Speculoos Cookie Butter,” she says.
Specialty-foods marketing consultant Stephen Farrelly Hall believes the next big food tsunami could be kimchi (kimchee), the traditional, spicy and often cabbage-based side dish from Korea which is also used as an ingredient in other dishes.“There has been an increased interest in Korean and Korean-styled food, and a noticeable proliferation of Korean restaurants, through which more consumers will be introduced to kimchi,” he says, adding that Korean perilla, a plant whose mint-scented leaves and seeds are used in cooking, may also figure into upcoming food trends.
However, Hall, author of Sell Your Specialty Food, says it’s not enough for entrepreneurs to simply land on the “next kale.” The entrepreneurial effort is all about innovation, he says. “The year after you bring a product to market, retailers and consumers will be asking you, ‘So, what’s new?’” he says. “So it’s necessary to always put a new twist on the original

Why Wait Until Saturday? Small Businesses Seek Black Friday Buzz

Predictions for Black Friday and 2013 holiday sales range from tentative to lackluster, thanks partly to a drop in consumer confidence following the government shutdown. But one thing is certain – major retailers aren’t taking chances. That means stores opening at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving, holiday ads before Halloween and aggressive layaway programs and discounts through Cyber Monday.

With Black Friday turning into Black Weekend, there’s some fear that Small Business Saturday – a nationwide campaign launched by American Express in 2010 – may get lost in the blitz, along with the small businesses that can’t afford to slash prices.

But there’s a unique opportunity for small businesses, according to Ronald C. Goodstein, Associate Professor of Marketing at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, who specializes in retail and consumer behavior.

“With consumer confidence down this year, people will give fewer gifts but more meaningful ones,” he said. “The competitive advantage for small businesses is the ability to provide personalized service. They can help customers pick that thoughtful, relevant gift in a way that Macy’s, Walmart or Target can’t.”

The best way for small businesses to win customers, he adds, is to join forces.

Thinking little and local

Power in unity is what drove Betsy Cross and Will Cervarich to launch Little Boxes, a two-day post-Thanksgiving shopping event in Portland, Ore., that rewards consumers who shop the city's local retailers.

Little Boxes was born in 2011, after Cross saw a Black Friday ad for a big-box store opening on Thanksgiving night.

“It struck me that you never think about small shops on Black Friday. I thought, ‘There has to be a way we can band together and be more powerful,’” said Cross, who co-owns the Portland boutique betsy & iya with Cervarich, her husband.

The campaign now unites over 170 businesses, which offer discounts and raffle prizes to customers. It’s also boosted bottom lines, with some store owners reporting as much of a 50% increase in Black Friday sales since joining Little Boxes.

Cervarich adds that the goal isn’t to compete with Black Friday or Small Business Saturday, but rather harness existing buzz. “There's no question that AmEx’s Small Business Saturday has helped focus the spotlight on small businesses. But one of the reasons we started Little Boxes was because it didn't seem right that shopping locally should come only after you've shopped big boxes.”

There are a number of similar initiatives brewing nationwide, including Seattle’s Gift Local Pledge and Dallas/Ft. Worth’s Spend and Win campaign. But even smaller communities are getting big benefits from building their own shop-local holiday campaigns.

The city and Chamber of Commerce in Fallon, Nev., created the Live Local Fallon campaign this summer to encourage residents to spend locally, rather than driving to nearby Reno. They’ve recruited 155 businesses to participate in a campaign where shoppers get stamps in a “passport” that makes them eligible for raffle prizes for every $15 spent. There’s a special push around Black Friday, during which incentives for shoppers will be tripled.

“We’ve been very concerned about the leakage of dollars getting spent outside Fallon,” said Rick Gray, executive director of the Fallon Convention and Tourism Authority. “We tried educational campaigns and ads. But until we came up with this tangible way to reward residents, we didn't feel the message was hitting home.”

But other non-retail small businesses prefer to avoid one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Visit Myrtle Beach is launching Travel Saturday this year. For 24 hours after Black Friday, gift-givers and deal-seekers can book discounted travel, lodging and entertainment for 2014 at participating small businesses in the South Carolina beach community. The idea is to spotlight a travel-centric economy on a day when consumers are likely to be at home, online and less occupied with retail deals.

According to Goodstein, this is the kind of creative thinking and unity that small businesses need to compete.

“Black Friday used to delight consumers and offer real deals. Now big companies buy in order to sell at sale price. They compete on lower margins, which means less quality,” he said. “Small businesses need to work together to lower prices [but keep quality high]. Offer consumers service and something special in a tough economy at a discounted price – you can’t beat that.”

Marketers: The 3 Differences Between Millennial Guys and Gals

For anyone looking to get a handle on what makes the influential millennial consumer tick, don't forget this simple truth: not all millennials are alike, and this is especially true when it comes to the sexes.
Like all populations, millennials can be segmented into unique and specific subgroups, and you'll want to add gender to the top of your list when approaching your segmentation strategy. Because when it comes to the sexes, there are some key differences in their lifestyle and purchase behaviors.
What are these differences? First, some stats. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women are quickly climbing the ranks, earning 60 percent of master’s degrees, about half of all law and medical degrees, and 42 percent of MBAs. In the workplace, women have also made strides, now holding over half of managerial and professional jobs—up from 26 percent in 1980. And in the professional fields, close to one-third of America’s physicians are now women, as are 45 percent of associates in law firms.

Despite these advances, women continue to face barriers with pay equity being a key concern. Fifty years after the Equal Pay Act, women are still paid an average of 77 cents for every dollar paid to men. But take heed: according to a 2012 Pew Research Center study, 40 percent of American working wives now already out-earn their husbands, and according to one blog on the subject, referencing a Boston Consulting Group study that predicts, in 15 years, women will not only close the income gap with men but out-earn them.
Given this assertion and assuming things relatively equal in terms of buying power between millennial guys and gals, here are three key differences:
1. Millennial males are more likely to be early adopters
From the research, millennials, across the gender divide, are 2.5 more likely as non-millennials to be early adopters. But when parsing the differences between the sexes, millennial men express a heightened interest in being the first to try the hottest new technologies available.
This finding holds true when considering their shopping habits. Indeed, eMarketer recently highlighted a 2013 DDB Worldwide survey of US Internet users that underscores the increasing influence of male shoppers between the ages of 18 and 34. Not only did 40 percent of male millennial respondents say they would buy everything online if they could versus 33 percent of female respondents, but male millennial consumers are more likely to shop online auction sites, more likely to use a mobile shopping application and request a price match via their smartphone and are more likely to use a retail store app than female consumers.
The bottom line? Given their early adoptive nature, the male millennial consumer is an increasingly interesting target for digital marketers these days. Case in point: The Dollar Shave Club, an online razor subscription service, became a household name and go-to brand for men thanks to a viral video and a bevy of amused millennial males who couldn't wait to share the hilarious video with their friends

2. Men are "lone rangers"
In general, millennials are highly social, both off and online, and are significantly more likely to do things in groups, like traveling together, than non-millennials, research shows.
But, again, when parsing the differences, the research shows that you're more likely to find millennial men enjoying a "lone ranger" lifestyle from eating to shopping to traveling alone. On the other hand, women like to do things with their gal pals and families in greater numbers, according to one study.
To reach them effectively, create custom experiences that appeal to these consumption behaviors. For instance, in the case of male travelers, focus on providing efficiencies like quick check-ins and outs via kiosks where human interaction could be viewed more as a nuisance when a long wait time is involved. When targeting women, consider offering group travel discounts or "girls night out" exclusive brand experiences for the ladies to win their loyalty.
3. Moms are taking charge
With this final point, it's not that moms matter more than dads. However, according to the research, millennial moms are finding themselves in the position of being the key decision makers on big decisions, as opposed to the past, when men were the heads of the household. Today, moms are "calling the shots" when a situation involves major household purchase decisions.
Indeed, a Pew Research Center survey found that the woman makes decisions in more areas than the man in 43 percent of all couples. Men make more of the decisions in only 26 percent of all couples, while couples that split the decision-making responsibilities comprise the remaining 31 percent.
"Mothers are now directly influencing the for a family unit," says Christine Barton, as quoted in Marketing to Millennials (AMACOM 2013). "Not surprisingly, there is a lot of consumption of mom opinions thanks to an overwhelming number of mothers, especially first-time moms, turning to social media for product research and advice. There is a tremendous amount of power in mom advocacy as a unit."
These moms are indeed influential, with 50 percent of them making a brand or product recommendation either daily or weekly, and 21 percent talking to their friends and family members about products at least once per month. So when targeting millennial parents with a new or existing product offering, step into the shoes of these savvy moms and think about how you can cater directly to their needs.
Given these differences, it makes sense to think of millennial men and women as two different groups. Spend time getting to know your target consumers and the differences, whether by segment or by gender. It will lead to a bigger payoff in the end.