New Bridge Study Shows Power Of Social Networking Hierarchy To Drive Music Sales

Targeted Execution Nets 34% Jump In Music Sales

A new Bridge Ratings study confirms what some marketers already know: not all social networks deliver the same results. There is is a hierarchy of social networks that varies by age and gender and changes over time. Understanding the social networking hierarchy can, when used strategically, yield dramatically improved results.

As part of the Bridge study,  record label "X" compared its average weekly digital download activity on 4 mainstream acts to a  4 week social marketing campaign based on the Hierarchy marketing method. The chart shows that typically, the artists experienced inconsistent activity on a top download store.  But capturing targeted consumers through the 3 most-common social media, promotions, social network conversations and other marketing techniques unrelated to file cost, boosted activity significantly. Over the 4 week test downloads increased 34% compared to the average activity. The test was conducted on a proprietary download site.

What Is The Social Networking Hierarchy?

The study confirmed the impact of consistent and well-executed social network marketing and confirmed six areas that require special attention:

1. Target social sites to reach a specific consumer. Not all consumers use social networking sites in the same way

2. Laser-focused product messaging keyed to the lifestyle of the target is critical .

3. Each consumer group and site will tolerate limited repetition of messaging.

4. Appreciate the hierarchy through which each group travels as their social networking skills and experience increase and improve.

5. Stagger hierarchy messaging to achieve the most effective response rates.

6. Flight social networking campaigns.

For more info on the study as well as the preferences of specific demographics read the full Bridge Ratings Study here.