Consumers Responding to Social Call-to-Action in Online and TV Advertisements

BURLINGTON, Mass., May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Burst Media, (http://burstmedia.com), a leading online media company and wholly owned subsidiary of blinkx PLC (LSE AIM: BLNX), today released the results of a survey revealing how and why web users interact with brands via social media. Conducted in March among 2,577 U.S. online adults aged 18 or older, the study found that the effectiveness of social cues in advertisements varies by the medium the ad appears in. Among respondents who recall social media prompts in advertising, digital ads (61.0%) and television ads (58.7%) are most effective at driving interaction with a brand's social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These are followed by print ads (52.4%), radio ads (41.5%) and outdoor ads (39.4%).

Notably, two-thirds (67.6%) of 18 to 34 year-old respondents—including 73.9% of 18 to 34 year-old women—say digital ads that feature prompts to social media assets are effective at inspiring them to take action.

"We found that marketers who use social sharing and action prompts within advertisements create authentic interactions that drive further engagement," said Mark Kaefer, marketing director, Burst Media. "On the digital front especially, display, mobile and sponsored online content campaigns that include social media prompts can virally and exponentially extend campaign reach through consumer status updates, likes, tweets, pins and more." 

Survey Highlights

Web users interact with brands on social media for a variety of reasons.

• More than one-half (53.8%) of women and 44.1% of men who interact on social media via cues in advertising cite "to show my support for a brand that I like" as a reason for doing so.
• The gender divide is even wider with the next most-cited reason, which is to access special offers, coupons and/or promotions: 53.2% of women versus just over one-third (35.5%) of men cite this as a reason.  
• Notably, two-thirds (66.7%) of 35 to 44 year-old women cite the access to offers/coupons as a reason to interact with a brand's social assets.

The majority (65.4%) of all survey respondents have at least one social media account set-up for personal use.

• Facebook—at 53.0%—is by far the leading provider. Google+ follows a distant second, with one-quarter (25.6%) of respondents reporting they use the up-and-coming platform.
• Three-fifths (58.6%) of respondents with social media accounts use them at least once a day, and another one-fifth (22.3%) check accounts at least once per week.

Interestingly, Pinterest and Instagram—as image and photo-driven social platforms—skew towards a female audience.

• One-fifth (21.9%) of all female respondents have a Pinterest account, versus only 4.8% of men. The disparity of Pinterest use between the sexes is even greater among 18 to 34 year-olds: 1-in-4 (25.5%) women in this segment have a Pinterest account, versus just 3.6% of men this age.
• Instagram's audience also skews more female than male—10.4% versus 5.8%, respectively. Again, the gender gap is biggest among respondents aged 18 to 34, as 20.8% of women this age have Instagram accounts, versus 8.4% of men.

Download the full "Expanding the Conversation: Leveraging Social Media for Brand Interaction" Online Insights report (PDF) at http://burstmedia.com/pdf/burst_media_online_insights_2013_04.pdf.

About Burst Media
Founded in 1995, Burst Media represents thousands of independent web publishers. Through a select group of vertical channels, built around areas of specific interest, Burst connects advertisers with audiences across the web's most dynamic communities in a social, engaging way. A wholly owned subsidiary of blinkx PLC (LSE AIM: BLNX), Burst is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, with sales offices throughout the United States and in the UK.

Visit us at http://burstmedia.com or call +1 (781) 852 5200 for more information.

SOURCE Burst Media