For its Social Media Marketing Report, ForeSee Results surveyed almost 10,000 visitors to the UK's top 40 websites (by traffic volume, as defined by IMRG and Hitwise) to determine what led them to visit the website.

1. The ForeSee Results Report on Social Media Marketing
(UK Edition)
Social Media Marketing in the UK:
Do Retail Results Justify Investment?
February 3, 2011
by Larry Freed
President and CEO of ForeSee Results
© 2011 ForeSee Results

2. 2 • The ForeSee Results Report on Social Media Marketing (UK Edition)
Recently I heard the following question posed at a trade show: if you had to choose (with the
proverbial gun to your head), would you put money into a Facebook e-commerce site or a tra-
ditional e-commerce site?
It’s a bit of a false dichotomy; most of us can do both. Anyway, the answer depends on a lot of fac-
tors, including product line, company size, existing Facebook presence and more. Still, the question
is getting at something we’re all dealing with. Despite the exponential, widespread, and breathlessly-
documented rise in social media activity and usage, many of us don’t have a great way to quantify the
value of social media marketing to bottom-line business results.
Every year, we measure satisfaction with the top 40 retail sites in both the United States and the
United Kingdom. All told, we ask more than 20,000 online shoppers all sorts of questions about their
shopping experience, including what most influenced their visit to a retail website. For three years
now, we’ve asked about a full range of traffic and sales influencers, from intangibles like brand fa-
miliarity and word-of-mouth to more traditional marketing tools like advertising and promotional
emails. We then used the scientific methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)
to analyse which sources drove the best quality traffic. The sources that drive the greatest numbers of
people are not always the same as the sources that drive people who are the most likely to purchase.
As we all struggle to understand the impact of social networks and other online marketing initiatives
on our brands, it’s helpful to have some hard data.
Social media interactions
Our data shows that in terms of pure volume, social media still are a primary influence for
trails traditional customer acquisition sources (like promotion- only 3% of visitors to e-retail
al emails) significantly in both the United States and in the UK. websites in the UK, while
In fact, social media interactions are a primary influence search engine results
for only 3% of visitors to e-retail websites in the UK, while influenced 13% of visitors
search engine results influenced 13% of visitors and promo- and promotional emails
tional emails influenced 10%. In addition, customers who come influenced 10%.
to a website because of a social media interaction (either with a
friend or a company) are not among those most likely to purchase. Social media doesn’t seem to be
adding true value for UK retailers just yet. The marketing mix for every company will vary, but under-
standing the patterns can help guide further research and investment.
Social Media Research Findings for the UK
FINDING #1: Look for quantity and quality of traffic.
Social Media: Only 3% of online holiday shoppers in the UK report being primarily influenced to visit
top retailer sites by social media (in the United States, this number is only 5%), yet retailers continue
to devote considerable attention to this channel based on the promise of potential big results. Mean-
while, 10% of website visitors came to the website primarily as a result of a promotional email and
13% as a result of search engine results, suggesting that we shouldn’t give short shrift to tried-and-
true online marketing tactics in favour of newer media.
www.ForeSeeResults.com

3. 3 • The ForeSee Results Report on Social Media Marketing (UK Edition)
UK MARKETING MIX: IS SOCIAL MEDIA WORTH THE COST?
Primary Influence On Website Visit % of Respondents (UK)
Familiarity with Brand 46%
Search Engine Results 13%
Promotional Emails 10%
Word-of-Mouth Recommendation 10%
TV, Newspaper, Radio or Magazine Ads 8%
Internet Advertising 5% Only 3% of shoppers
Prvate Sector Websites 2009/2010 3% came to a website
Interaction on Social Network
2% because of
Shopping Comparison Website
social media
Blogs or Discussion Forums 1%
Product Review Website 1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
In the preceding chart, “interaction on social network” includes getting a message or recommendation from a friend or family member(1%),
an interaction or message from a company on a social network (1%), or watching a relevant YouTube video (1%). “Internet advertising”
includes advertising on all websites, including social media sites. See the following chart for further breakdown and specificity.
The numbers are a bit different in the U.S.: promotional emails are the primary influence for 19% of
American e-retail traffic, while search engine results influence only 8%.
However, looking only at the volume of traffic from any given source can be misleading; we also need
to look at the quality of the traffic. In the following chart, we see all the traffic acquisition sources bro-
ken out individually and assigned scores on our methodology’s 100-point scale for satisfaction, likeli-
hood to buy online, and likelihoouyto buy offline. In the United States, some of the sources that drive
the smallest numbers of people drive the best quality traffic; people coming because of social media
or product review websites are much more likely to buy. However, in the UK, some of the sources that
drive the most traffic also drive the best traffic: some of the site visitors who are most satisfied, most
likely to buy, and most likely to recommend arrived at the site because of previous familiarity with a
brand, promotional emails, and word-of-mouth recommendations.
www.ForeSeeResults.com

4. 4 • The ForeSee Results Report on Social Media Marketing (UK Edition)
% of Likelihood Likelihood to
What most influenced your visit to the website? Respondents Satisfaction to Purchase Recommend
Online
Familiarity with site/company/brand 46% 75 75 76
Search engine results 13% 67 66 66
UK MARKETING MIX: IS SOCIAL MEDIA WORTH THE COST?COST?
UK MARKETING MIX: IS SOCIAL MEDIA WORTH75THE
Promotional e-mail(s) from the company
10% 73 74
Word of mouth/recommendation from someone I know 10% 73 75 75
TV, radio, newspaper, or magazine advertising 8% 72 69 72
Primary Influence On Website Visit % of Respondents (UK)
Primary Influence On Website Visit % of Respondents (UK)
Internet advertising 4% 69 69 71
FamiliarityFamiliarity with Brand
with Brand 46% 46%
Link from a shopping comparison website 2% 70 69 70
(Shopzilla.com, Shopping.com) Search Engine Results Results
Search Engine 13% 13%
Message or recommendation from a friend on a Emails
Promotional Promotional Emails1% 10% 72
10% 72 73
social network
Internet blogs or discussion forums Recommendation
Word-of-Mouth
Word-of-Mouth Recommendation1% 10% 10%
70 68 71
TV, Newspaper, Radio or Magazine Magazine Ads 8%
TV, Newspaper, Radio or Ads 8%
Video I saw on YouTube 1% 69 70 69
Internet Advertising 5%
Internet Advertising 5% Only 3% of shoppers shoppers
Only 3%67
of
Product review website(s) (CNET, Epinions)
Prvate Sector Websites Websites 2009/2010
Prvate Sector 2009/2010 1% 65 66
Interaction on Social Network Network
Interaction on Social 3% 3% came to a website a website
came to
Advertising on social networks 1% 71 because ofbecause of
73 71
Shopping Comparison Website Website
(Facebook, MySpace, Twitter) Shopping Comparison 2% 2%
social media
social media
Message directly from the company on a social network 1%
Blogs or DiscussionDiscussion Forums1%
Blogs or Forums 1% 64 65 66
Product Review 1%
Instant Message from a friend Product Review Website Website1%
or colleague 1% 69 70 70
Mobile phone text messages or alerts 0% 1%10%
0% 20% 72
10% 30%
20% 71
40%
30% 50%
40% 71 50%
These scores represent average findings from recent visitors to the top 40 online retailers’ websites
in the UK (by traffic volume, as listed by IMRG and Hitwise). Each individual retailer is likely to have
a different picture of which acquisition sources drive the most traffic and which drive the best traf-
fic. But if we’re only looking at what drives the most traffic, we’re missing key information that could
serve as a huge competitive advantage, since success is often found at the margins. We’re missing
some opportunities for real volume.
When I look at this chart, what I see is that search engine results and promotional emails are deliver-
ing tremendous bang for the buck because both sources are driving high quantity and high quality.
Based solely on this data, I would be tempted to put my resources into really understanding what
can be done to make promotional emails more effective because I can have more control over emails.
Social media has yet to blow me away as a driver of website traffic, store traffic or sales. That doesn’t
mean we should ignore it; that means we should keep it in perspective as one of many tools at our
disposal.
www.ForeSeeResults.com

5. 5 • The ForeSee Results Report on Social Media Marketing (UK Edition)
FINDING #2: Our customers want to hear from us!
We asked people how they wanted to hear from retailers, and traditional channels win again. Nearly
20% of our customers don’t want to hear from us; the other 80% have definite opinions on what
channel they like best. Are you asking your customers how they want to hear from you? Once you
know the answers, are you digging deeper to find out if you are effectively communicating throught-
UK MARKETING MIX: IS SOCIAL MEDIA WORTH THE COST?
hose preferred channels and driving the sales and loyalty you want?
Primary Influence On Website Visit % of Respondents (UK)
% of % of
How do you preferFamiliarity with Brand promotions?
to hear about sales and Respondents Respondents
46%
U.S. UK
Search Engine Results 13%
Promotional emails 64% 62%
Promotional Emails 10%
Don’t want communications 10% 18%
Word-of-Mouth Recommendation 10%
This company’s website or Magazine Ads
TV, Newspaper, Radio 21% 16%
8%
Postal mail Internet Advertising 5% 25% 12%
Only 3% of shoppers
Prvate Sector Websites 2009/2010 3% came to a website 8%
Television Interaction on Social Network 11%
2% because of
Shopping Comparison Website
Social media websites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) 8% social media 2%
Blogs or Discussion Forums
Mobile phone text messages or alerts
1% 5% 1%
Product Review Website 1%
Radio 3% 1%
Other 0% 10% 2%
20% 30% 1%
40% 50%
As retailers, we sometimes assume that since “everyone” is using social media these days, “everyone”
wants to hear from us on Facebook. In fact, a scant 2% of all of our site visitors prefer to hear from us
on social media (in the US, that number is 8%). Most prefer emails, our websites, and even snail mail.
Though only 2% said social media was their preferred way to hear from us, more than one-third of
our website visitors seem to be willing to connect with us in some way on social media. When we
asked all of the survey respondents which social media site would be their first choice, 33% chose
Facebook. Still, nearly two-thirds of our customers don’t want to connect with us on social media.
This suggests a bit of a glass ceiling when it comes to using social media to engage large percentages
of customers. These figures will almost certainly change over time, but right now it’s an uphill battle.
www.ForeSeeResults.com

6. UK MARKETING MIX: IS SOCIAL MEDIA WORTH THE COST?
6 • The ForeSee Results Report on Social Media Marketing (UK Edition)
Primary Influence On Website Visit % of Respondents (UK)
Familiarity with Brand 46%
Which social media website Enginebe your first choice for % of % of
Search would Results
receiving communications from this company?
13%
Respondents Respondents
U.S. UK
Promotional Emails 10%
None of the above 47% 58%
Word-of-Mouth Recommendation 10%
Facebook
TV, Newspaper, Radio or Magazine Ads 8% 40% 33%
Twitter Internet Advertising 5% Only 3% of shoppers 2%
4%
Prvate Sector Websites 2009/2010 3% came to a website 2%
A website not listed here on Social Network
Interaction 2%
2% because of
YouTube Shopping Comparison Website 2% social media 3%
Blogs or Discussion Forums 1%
LinkedIn 2% 1%
Product Review Website 1%
MySpace 2% 1%
Flickr 0% 10% 1%
20% 30% 0%
40% 50%
FINDING #3: Facebook still rules, but is not as big a factor as we might think. Yet.
We already know Facebook is becoming the number one website in the world in terms of traffic; this
research shows that it is also the social network preference—by far—of the shoppers at the Top 40
retail websites in both the United States and the United Kindgom. Nearly two-thirds (61%) of online
shoppers in the UK are regularly visiting Facebook this year (compared to 56% last year), and less
than one-third of online shoppers report that they don’t use any social websites (compared to one-
K MARKETING MIX: IS SOCIAL MEDIA WORTH THE COST?
quarter of American online shoppers). These numbers are growing so fast that while we don’t see
Primary media (and Facebook in particular) as a huge driver of sales and traffic yet, it could soon be a
social Influence On Website Visit % of Respondents (UK)
game changer.
Familiarity with Brand 46%
Search Engine Results 13%
Which of the following websites % of % of
Promotional Emails
do you use regularly? 10% Respondents
U.S.
Respondents
UK
Word-of-Mouth Recommendation 10%
Facebook 66% 61%
TV, Newspaper, Radio or Magazine Ads 8%
I don’t use social websites 24% 28%
YouTube Internet Advertising 5% 23% 3% of shoppers 27%
Only
Prvate Sector Websites 2009/2010 3% came to a website 10%
Interaction on Social Network
Twitter 13%
2% because of
LinkedIn Comparison Website
Shopping 11% 5%
social media
MySpace or Discussion Forums
Blogs 1% 10% 3%
Flickr Product Review Website 1% 5% 3%
Yelp 3% 0%
A social website not listed here 0% 10% 20%
3% 30% 40%
2% 50%
www.ForeSeeResults.com

7. 7 • The ForeSee Results Report on Social Media Marketing (UK Edition)
FINDING #4: Let the customers be your guide.
This research represents aggregate findings for the Top 40 retailers in the UK. All of us should know
how many of our own customers are influenced by promotional emails or advertising on Facebook or
word-of-mouth recommendations, and furthermore, we should know which group is most likely to
buy. We should also know how people want to hear from us and how well we’re doing when it comes
to communicating through those channels. We need to ask ourselves if social media is worth the in-
vestment. If we discover that the answer is yes, we need to make the most of it by making sure that
everything about our interactions on social media meets the needs and expectations of our custom-
ers. Otherwise, the effort is wasted, and could even be detrimental.
About the Author
As President and CEO of ForeSee Results, Larry Freed is an expert on customer satisfaction and authors
dozens of research papers and reports on the subject every year. Larry speaks extensively on the topic
at private and public sector industry events in the United States and in Europe, and has been quoted in
numerous publications and media, including the BBC, CNN, London Times, Guardian, Wall Street Journal,
DM News, Computerworld, Federal Computer Week and Government Executive, among many others.
New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily, Internet Retailer, Internet Retailing, Multichannel Merchant,
About the Research Team
Rhonda Berg, Research Manager at ForeSee Results, led the research team that worked on the 2010
ForeSee Results E-Retail Satisfaction Index (U.S. Holiday Edition). Rhonda manages many research
initiatives, such as the annual Top 100 and Top 40 Retail Satisfaction Indices (both U.S. and UK) and
the quarterly E-Government Satisfaction and Transparency Indices. She also serves as an internal
consultant regarding statistics, methodology, and survey design. Rhonda has been a research profes-
sional for 20 years in a number of industries and holds advanced degrees in business and sociology.
About the Research Methodology
The social media findings reported in this paper are based on a survey of almost 12,000 visitors to
the Top 40 e-retail websites (determined according to sales revenue as reported by Internet Retailer’s
2010 Top 500 Guide). Survey responses were collected by FGI Research’s Smart Panel. The study
measured satisfaction among shoppers who visited the site, regardless of whether they ultimately
executed a purchase online, providing insight into the performance of retail websites as research and
purchase channels. ForeSee Results used the methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction In-
dex (ACSI), developed at the University of Michigan, to determine the scores. The ACSI is the national
standard for customer satisfaction and has been proven to have a direct link with stock prices and
other measures of financial performance.
www.ForeSeeResults.com

8. 8 • The ForeSee Results Report on Social Media Marketing (UK Edition)
About ForeSee Results
As the leader in customer satisfaction measurement, ForeSee Results captures and analyses voice of
customer data to help organisations increase loyalty, recommendations and marketing value. Using a
patented, scientific methodology developed at the University of Michigan, ForeSee Results identifies
improvements across all channels and touch points that drive customer satisfaction. With more than
58 million survey responses collected to date and benchmarks across dozens of industries, Fore-
See Results offers unparalleled expertise in customer satisfaction measurement and management
around the globe.
ForeSee Results, a privately held company, is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and at www.ForeSeeRe-
sults.com. Connect with ForeSee Results at http://www.foreseeresults.com/blogs-community/
www.ForeSeeResults.com