Online Marketing

Fashion — ASOS Tops Social Media, but Drops in Search

Greenlight report reveals most visible fashion brands and websites in social media and integrated search.

(PRWeb UK) July 22, 2010

Totaling 9.7 million, UK consumer online search volumes for fashion-related terms in May were the highest of 2010, reveals the latest research from Greenlight, the independent specialist search and social marketing consulting and technology firm. According to its ‘Fashion Retail Sector Report May 2010’, Womenswear continued to dominate consumer online fashion searches, accounting for 67% of searches, an increase of 16% since Greenlight’s previous report in February. Menswear accounted for 1.1 million searches. The report also reveals ASOS was the most followed fashion brand in social media. However, in search, it lost 28% visibility on February levels.

To gauge social media interaction with brands, Greenlight monitored the Facebook and Twitter accounts of the top 15 brands. It based these on its integrated search league table. That determines the best positioned (top 60) and hence the most visible fashion websites in natural and paid search, representing their visibility to the 9.7 million searches in May. Greenlight ranked the brands based on the cumulative value of their ‘fans’ and ‘followers’, a score it terms the Social Media Popularity Index (SMPI). Greenlight further analysed the proactivity of brands by considering the number of ‘posts’ and ‘tweets’ they produced for consumers to interact with in May. Greenlight’s SMPI reveals:

• ASOS was the most followed fashion brand in social media, with a combined following of nearly 300,000 on Facebook and Twitter. Interestingly, on Twitter it also had an additional 2,506 followers on its ASOS_Dashboard account (which displays live updates on postal orders) and 3,132 following its customer service account: ASOS_HeretoHelp
• MarksandSpencer was the most interactive brand. It cumulatively produced 774 ‘posts’ and ‘tweets’ in May
• Some fashion brands utilised social networking relatively little, such as MissSelfridge which produced a total of just 41 ‘posts’ and ‘tweets’ in May, and MillwardBrown, which currently does not have official Facebook or Twitter accounts
• Brands utilised social media pages for multiple purposes; for example, MarksandSpencer, Very and Littlewoods not only generated press releases but also acted as a customer service contact by directly answering consumer queries and complaints on their official Facebook pages, whilst Lipsy utilised Facebook to promote its competition: ‘Lipsy Wall of Fame’.

Results from Greenlight’s integrated search league show:

• Debenhams was the most visible website in natural search, achieving 52% visibility. This was attained through ranking at position one for 23 keywords and ranking high on Google for high volume driving terms, such as featuring at position two for the keyword ‘Dresses’
• ASOS followed with 41% visibility. However, since Greenlight’s previous report it lost 28% visibility almost solely due to the fact that it ranked at position one for the term ‘Dresses’ in February, yet featured at position 12 for this keyword in May
• Peacocks ranked at position 13, having featured outside of the top 60 websites in Greenlight’s February report
• Very was the most visible advertiser in paid search, across all keywords. It achieved 53% visibility, a 14% increase on February. It was also the most visible advertiser for womenswear, attaining 76% visibility
• JohnLewis increased its share of voice in paid search by 32% since February, which saw it ascend Greenlight’s league table from position 13 to three

Please note: If you plan to run this story online, please link any references to Greenlight via the following:

http://www.greenlightsearch.com/knowledge/sector-reports/

Notes to Editors:

Greenlight is a leading independent specialist search and social marketing consulting and technology firm, the largest of its kind in Europe and the fastest growing. With over 100 blue-chip clients including Santander, Vodafone UK, New Look, Interflora, Co-operative Financial Services and ghd, and a multitude of awards to its name, Greenlight is a leader in the search marketing space, and is recognised worldwide for its commitment to delivering record ROI for its clients and investing in the future of search.

In addition, Greenlight is considered the premier thought leader in the sector, publishing widely read industry reports, original research, speaking at trade events, and delivering a highly respected search training programme in conjunction with the IDM. Greenlight was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in London, with offices in New York. www.greenlightsearch.com

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebGreenlight_UK-searches/fashion/prweb4287154.htm