••• couponing research
Got a Facebook offer? Keep it simple, stupid.
Most Americans are keen to looking to social media sites for coupons and deals but with all the bargain-basement, deep-discount campaigns out there, how is one social media retail offer supposed to stand out from the rest? Keep it short, keep it simple, post it late and tell consumers exactly what they’re getting.
According to a September 2011 report from Buddy Media, New York, the keyword “dollars off” in a retail offer-related Facebook post provides the highest user engagement out of 10 popular choices. Retail offer-related posts including “dollars off” receive 55 percent higher-than-average engagement. The engagement rate of coupon posts including the keyword “dollars off” is twice as high as those that include “percent off.” Even small dollars-off discounts of less than $10 have an engagement rate 17 percent higher than percent-off promotions, showing fans do not want to calculate their coupon savings.
The popular keyword “sale” has an engagement rate close to 30 percent below average, while the keywords “save,” “deal,” “% off” and “bargain” also have lower-than-average engagement rates. Posts containing “coupon” were successful by comparison, with engagement 39 percent above average.
For the retail industry, there is a strong negative correlation between post length and engagement. Generally speaking, the longer the post, the less engaging fans find it. Specifically, retail brand wall posts of fewer than 80 characters receive 66 percent higher engagement than longer posts. Furthermore, concise posts between one and 40 characters generate the highest engagement. These receive engagement 86 percent higher than average but only 5 percent of all retail brand wall posts are of this length. In addition, posts containing words only have an engagement rate 94 percent higher than average.
Facebook posts made by retail brands during the overnight hours of 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. drive 20 percent more user engagement, in terms of like and comment rates, than posts made between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. However, 89 percent of retail brand wall posts are made between the unpopular workday hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.
••• crowdsourcing
Lego builds on user feedback
Remember that futuristic motorcycle or Wild West village you crafted out of Legos as a kid? Remember thinking how Lego should be paying you to create these masterpieces? Well, your time has finally come.
Lego consumers can now give their great ideas directly to the Lego Group using the Lego Cuusoo Web site. Lego Cuusoo is Lego’s new international Web-based open innovation, crowdsourcing platform and idea collection system that invites consumers to submit and vote for their favorite ideas for new Lego products. Ideas that receive at least 10,000 votes have a chance of being selected to become part of the Lego Group’s product portfolio and sold in Lego retail stores and the Lego online shop. Consumers who have their ideas chosen will earn 1 percent of the total net sales of the product.
Cuusoo, which means “imagination” or sometimes “wish” in Japanese, has been developed with Cuusoo System, a subsidiary of Elephant Design. Lego has worked with Cuusoo System since 2008 on a Japanese site that has attracted hundreds of ideas and seen thousands of votes cast by a 20,000-strong community.
“Our fans and consumers have proved time after time that they have great ideas that can lead to products. We see this as an investment in the future rather than for immediate sales gain,” said Paal Smith-Meyer, head of the Lego New Business Group.