q2 2010 shopping center industry social media benchmarks

8/9/2019 Q2 2010 Shopping Center Industry Social Media Benchmarks

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ShoppingCenterSocialMedia:WhosDoingWhat?

Q22010

2010,AlexanderBabbage,Inc.AllRightsReserved 2

www.alexanderbabbage.com

SummaryThe initialefforts toharness thepowerof socialmedia forshoppingcentersbegan toemerge late in

2008. Now,earlyin2010,shoppingcentersarecreatingnewforumsforcommunicationatarapidpace.

Butwhoisdoingwhat? Andhowdoestheassimilationofsocialmedialookacrosstheshoppingcenter

industry? AlexanderBabbagehasbeentrackingsocialmediaactivityandhasestablishedbenchmarks

fortheshoppingcenterindustry. In itsanalysisofthebenchmarkdata,AlexanderBabbagefoundthat

whilethereismuchindustrydiscussion,farfewerthanhalfofU.S.shoppingcenters300,000squarefeet

or largerhavetakenthesocialmedia leap. Fewerstillcanquantifythetruevalueoftheirfansand

followers.

AlexanderBabbageSocialMediaBenchmarksfortheShoppingCenterIndustryLess than a decade ago, shopping centermarketing professionalswere launching the first shopping

centerWebsites. ItwasnotexactlyclearhowthisnewtoolcalledaWebsitewouldbenefitthecenters,

but itwasdeemednecessary tohaveone inorder tokeeppacewithdeveloping technology. Today

Websitesareinusebymorethanthreequarters(76.9%)ofallcenters300,000squarefeetorlarger.In

thesamewayastheyoncedidwithWebsites,marketingprofessionalsarenowcarefullyassessingthe

impactandopportunitiespresentedbythemyriadsocialmediaentitiesthatappearwitheverincreasing

rapidity.

Questions like: Should my center be represented with MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp orFoursquare?have givenway to: Howmanyfansandfollowers is enough? AlexanderBabbagessocialmedia benchmarksbring together important information inone comprehensive database that

includes1,843U.S.shoppingcenters.

Alexander Babbage analyzed each shopping center to ascertain the level of participation and

representation inselectedelectronicandsocialmediaforums includingaWebsite,Facebookpageand

CenterType(300,000SquareFtorlarger) Base

SuperRegionalCenters 432

RegionalCenters 778

LifestyleCenters 522

ValueCenters

94

EntertainmentCenters 17

TotalIndustry 1,843


3/4


Q22010



Twitteraccount. Thedata for thosecenterswithaFacebookpageandaTwitteraccount,were then

analyzed

(by

center

type

and

by

developer)

to

determine

the

level

of

fan

and

follower

representation

at

eachcenter.

WebsiteRepresentationVariessignificantlyacrosscentertypesSurprisingly, the analysis revealed that nearly oneinfour (23.1%) shopping centers do not have a

WebsiteasofQ22010. Superregionalsaremost likely (95.1%) tobe representedwithan individual

centerWebsite,whilelifestylecentersareleastlikely. Fewerthantwothirds(63.0%)oflifestylecenters

analyzedhadanindividualcenterWebsite.

CenterType Base %withWebsiteSuperRegionalCenters 432 95.1%

RegionalCenters 778 75.2%

LifestyleCenters 522 63.0%

ValueCenters 94 81.9%

EntertainmentCenters 17 88.2%

TotalIndustry 1,843 76.9%

SocialMediaEverybodysDoingItButAreTheyReally?AsofQ22010,25.8%ofallcentersstudiedhadaFacebookaccountand24.0%hadaTwitteraccount.

TheaveragenumberofFacebook fanswas1,244percenter,with regionalcentershaving the lowest

averagenumber(479)andthehandful(17)ofentertainmentcentershavingthehighestaverage(5,655).

Superregionalcentershadanaverageof1,516Facebookfans,whilelifestylecentershadanaverageof

1,859. Thehighestnumberoffansforanysinglecenterwas25,416forasuperregionalcenter.

CenterType %withWebsite

%withWebsiteandFacebook

AverageNumberof

FansSuperRegionalCenters 95.1% 35.6% 1,516

RegionalCenters 75.2% 22.9% 479

LifestyleCenters 63.0% 21.5% 1,859

ValueCenters 81.9% 25.5% 1,027

EntertainmentCenters 88.2% 41.2% 5,655

TotalIndustry 76.9% 25.8% 1,244


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Q22010



Thenumber

of

centers

with

aTwitter

account

was

similar.

As

of

Q2

2010,

24.0%

of

all

centers

were

employingTwitter. TheaveragenumberofTwitterfollowerswas252forallcenters. Againthesmall

baseof entertainment centers topped the listwith thehighest averagenumberof followers (1,117)

while regional centers had the lowest average number of followers (109). The average number of

followersforsuperregionalcenterswas190. Lifestylecentersandvaluecentershaveasimilarlyactive

follower base averaging 479 for lifestyle centers and 408 for value centers. Butwhen it comes to

followerengagement,entertainmentcentersandlifestylecentersleadtheway. Entertainmentcenters

have themostactive followerbase (425average following).Lifestylecentershaveanaverageof360

followingpercenter.

WhatDoesItMean?Socialmedia is in its infancyandchangingquickly. SocialMediahasbeenadoptedbyanaverageofa

third (33.6%)ofthecenterswhoalreadyhaveawebsite. Theuniquenessof lifestylecentersandthe

immediacyofentertainmentcentersgeneratesahigherlevelofengagementforsocialmediausersthan

dosuperregionalsandregionals.

Ascenterswithwebsites integratesocialmedia into theirmarketing strategiesandcenterswhohave

alreadyadoptedsocialmediarefinetheirusageofsocialmediaweexpecttoseearapidevolutionofthe

purpose,engagementandmonetizationofsocialmediainvestments.

Asour

benchmark

program

evolves,

we

are

tracking

the

next

generation

of

questions

for

shopping

centermarketingprofessionals including: What ismy returnon investmentfor socialmedia? andArefriends,fans andfollowersproductive or are they simply voyeurs? Alexander Babbage willcontinuallymonitorsocialmediaactivityintheshoppingcenterindustrywithbenchmarkspublishedat

the beginning of each quarter. For more information about comparing your center or portfolio to

benchmarks,contact:

[email protected]

[email protected].

AlexanderBabbage,Inc.,isanAtlantabasedfullserviceresearchfirmspecializinginexperientialresearchfordestinations

includingshoppingcenters,professionalsportsteams,retailers,restaurants,theartsandfinancialinstitutions.Ithasthe

deepestexperienceandmostextensivebenchmarksetamongprivateresearchproviders. AlexanderBabbageacquired

StillermanJones&Companyin2007andMAXtrakin2004,makingittheshoppingcenterindustrysleadingproviderof

marketandshopperresearch.

q2 2010 shopping center industry social media benchmarks

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