Below is a quick comparison on how Social Media is changing from 2011 to 2012.

According to a recent webinar conducted by Covario, the top Facebook goals are:

• Driving sales is the number one priority of advertisers with their social media programs in general, and their Facebook page in specific.
• However, a combined 47% see the goal as driving engagement and driving brand awareness, and another 14% say they are driving friends.
• Overall, 65% are using their social media programs, and their Facebook pages, to drive “soft” conversions – not explicit sales.

Now is the time to seriously consider adding a QR Code as an integrated tactic to your overall strategic plan. According to a recent survey conducted by MGH, 32% of smartphone users have used a QR code, 70% plan to use a QR code again or for the first time, and 72% would likely recall an ad with a QR code. Below are the main reasons people use QR Codes…

“An economy in transition to recovery is as tricky to navigate for CPG, retail and healthcare leaders as an economy moving into recession,” said John Freeland, president and chief executive officer, SymphonyIRI. “Some shoppers are retaining their frugal ways, others are spending more freely across the board and others still are spending more on some types of products, but remaining tight fisted about others.  They are also re-evaluating where they purchase their products and updating their definition of value.”

Consumers are spending less in their day-to-day lives:

• 60% are eating out less often, as compared to 65% at this time last year
• 52% try to make personal care products last longer, versus 63% in 2009
• 49% visit hair salons less often, as opposed to 55% last year

Grocery shopping is deliberate and well thought out:

• Two out of three shoppers today are making shopping lists prior to visiting the store, consistent with trends in 2010
• Also unchanged during the past year, 56% are reading store fliers either before or at the store

Consumers are shifting back to their favorite brands:

• 38% are giving up their favorite brands to save money, versus 46% in 2010
• 64% state price has become a more important consideration than convenience in brand purchases, a decline of six points versus 2010
• 36% are actively seeking out private label brands to save money today, versus 44% in 2010

Source: SymphonyIRI’s Inaugural MarketPulse™ Survey 2011

As predicted, in a recent study by Grocery Manufacturers Association and Booz & Company, Shopper Marketing emerges as the fastest-growing sector of Advertising and Promotions.

Unfortunately, not only is the scenario above a little bit cliché, it is pretty far from reality when it comes to the typical American living arrangement these days. In fact, the multigenerational home, in numerous combinations, has been on the rise since the 1970s. According to the Pew Research Center, 49 million Americans live in a household that has three or more generations living under one roof. That’s one in every six individuals, and over 16 percent of the population. Common living arrangements include young adults moving back home, adult children moving back in with elderly parents, and vice versa.

So, what happened to the empty nesters?  The decision to revive the notion of “one big happy family” and combine households, is often in response to financial hardships. The real estate firm, Coldwell Banker, noted that more frequently are buyers requesting homes that accommodate such families. According to a survey of 2,300 of the firm’s agents, top reasons for multigenerational homes include economic (particularly with the current recession) and health-related issues.

Cultural shifts change everything for marketers. Americans are opting to have less children, get married later, and now, get a little bit more cozy with the rest of the family. The person doing the household shopping isn’t who we necessarily expect it to be. Brand preferences are being shaped by new influencers. Toys ‘R’ Us stated that one in every four toys, four out of ten books, and one in five video games are purchased by grandparents, which makes sense. However, marketers didn’t predict shopping baskets consisting of diapers, beer, and denture adhesive bought by a coupon-clipping middle aged dad. This means marketers and manufacturers may start gearing products and promotional efforts towards multiple generations and these not-so-traditonal households.

Gone are the days of traditional emails. Well, maybe not completely, but you would be hard pressed to log on to any news or industry website and not find an article regarding how social media is going to rule the world.  We hear it every day– Facebook now gets more daily hits than the Internet portal giant, Google, and this social media “fad” is here to stay. With newer sites such as Foursquare that offer location-based services, instant communication is taken to a whole new level.

Companies and organizations have been continuously encouraged to jump on the social media bandwagon. Whether they like it our not, their customers will be there, conversing about their brand, product, or whatever it may be, with or without them. Why not join them? Jack Neff of Advertising Age wrote an article released today, regarding consumers’ voices on social media sites. From the chart above (from DBM/Scan), traffic to companies’ social media sites have in some instances, greatly outpaced visits to traditional company websites. Take for example Coca-Cola. With 10.7 million Facebook fans (and growing by 96,000 each day), Coke’s social media presence has rapidly taken off. However, visits to its homepage dropped 40 percent over the last year. A similar story is seen with Oreo, where Nabisco lovers have migrated from its homepage to its Facebook page.

While it may seem as though companies like Starbucks and Coca-Cola have struck gold in regards to their social media implementation, high traffic to sites like Facebook and Twitter equates to a vital need for CRM tools. Unlike visits to a company homepage where content is controlled and carefully planned, social media sites are conversational in nature and allow two-way communication.  Transparency is a double-sided sword. Social media sites allow companies to gain insightful information about their consumers (for free), but they also must be ready to listen and respond to whatever their consumers are voicing even when they aren’t singing praises.

It is important to note that not every company that has seen success on Facebook or other similar sites has necessarily seen a decline in the number of visits to its company homepage. Walgreens, for example, has experienced growth in both mediums. It is also interesting to note that when looking at the chart above, all but a few brands belong to the CPG industry. Are some types of companies better-fitted for the social media world? Perhaps. Regardless of the industry, AdAge’s article reiterates the importance of a well strategized and seamlessly integrated plan for social media. When companies have more visits to its Facebook page than its own, social media isn’t going anywhere soon.

Take for instance, the habit of clipping coupons.  Sitting down Sunday morning armed with a cup of coffee and a pair of scissors has been a long-time tradition for many generations of shoppers, but one that hasn’t seen significant changes until recently. Prior to the recession, coupon usage rates were stagnant and even declining during some periods. According to a recent study  by Inmar Inc, a logistics and promotions firm in Illinois, coupon usage increased a whopping 27 percent in 2009, and some of the most frequent coupon redeemers came from the least expected demographic groups.

Nielsen Co. produced the chart above which illustrates coupon redemption trends across various demographic groups. In an article published in the In-Store Marketing Institute, Todd Hale, the senior vice president of consumer and shopper insights at Nielsen, described the current recession as being the “renaissance of coupons.” The study found that of the 100,000 consumers surveyed:

–38 percent of “Super Heavy” coupon users and 41 percent of coupon “Enthusiasts” have annual incomes greater than $70,000, and that households with incomes greater than $100,000 a year attributed the most to the coupon growth seen in 2009.

–Coupon “Enthusiasts” shopped more frequently and had larger shopping baskets each trip than non-coupon users.

–”Heavy,” “Super Heavy,” and “Enthusiasts” redeem 83 percent of all coupons.

–Households who were less affluent and had smaller annual incomes contributed to a significant portion of the “Non-User” category.

Mobile coupons, Internet sites such as Groupon, and other online marketing tactics have introduced consumers to a new era of promotions. In 2009, Inmar reported that Internet coupon redemption increased 263 percent. Smartphone usage is on the rise as well, and Nielsen’s 2009 survey found that around 37 percent of respondents had some form of a smartphone with Internet access. It is likely that the coupon world will continue to evolve to become more mobile based and  on-the-go.