ROI = Return on INVOLVEMENT

photo: Sea Garden.


I would have guessed this ...

According to new analysis from IPG Emerging Media Lab's team of digital experts, 6 of the top 10 most-trafficked websites in 2008 were community-based sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Youtube.

About 75% of online community members said they use the internet to participate in communities related to social causes, with 40% participating at least monthly.

However, I was surprised to see this very awesome news ...

87% of community members report participating in social causes that are new to them since their involvement in online communities began.

Partly based on these findings, IPG concluded that the best way for brands to engage consumers is through cause marketing. However, Raquel Krouse, social media practice lead at IPG's Emerging Media Lab, said that using social networks for cause marketing purposes "has been a very tough nut to crack for marketers." But she also said that diverse forms of cause marketing are "becoming very successful."

In any case, it's worth a try. In the United States, IPG's Lab found that:
* 92% of consumers said they have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause.
* 87% of consumers said that when price and quality are equal, they are more likely to choose a brand associated with a cause.
* About 78% of consumers think it important for brands to involve themselves in worthy causes.
*Worldwide, 60% of consumers said that they don't buy from brands that they consider to be bad corporate citizens.

When measuring success in the social networks field, IPG Emerging Media Lab notes that cause marketers should use new benchmarks for success - "return on involvement", a brand's ability to generate "trusted referrals," consumers' interest in following a brand, and viral distribution.

source: Conventional Cause Marketing Evolves Via Social Media, MediaPost, by Gavin O'Malley, Sunday, March 15, 2009.