Friday Five: Study time edition

Did you read the recent news about a scientific study that has discovered there are too many scientific studies? (I swear: This is not something from The Onion. The story is legit.)

According to this news report, there’s so much scientific knowledge being published in studies that scientists are becoming overwhelmed. This leads to a problem the cited paper (PDF) calls “attention decay.”

It seems that scientists have run into the same problem that besets marketers: There are too many things competing for everyone’s attention.

But marketers, like scientists, love studies. Especially studies about marketing and branding.

And so we continue the vicious cycle.

1. Social sharing habits: New research reveals what people like to share. We already know that pictures of cats rule the Internet, right? No so, according to research cited in this article. Listicles (stories with lists) and “Why?” posts get the most shares on social media — “possibly because these formats fit the digital reader’s habits. Both are scannable and concise.” Moving on…
2. Study: More images means fewer clicks for email marketers. But…but…pictures of cats? A study cited in this article reports that the more images an email message contains, the poorer its click-through rate performance.
3. Event marketing success leans heavily on social engagement, study finds. And according to this research, brands aren’t particularly savvy at this.
4. Study shows how brands can sway the masses with influencer marketing. “Influencers who are recognized by your market as having deep knowledge in a particular area . . . are trusted authorities when it comes to making buying decisions,” according to the report. “Since influencers already have big audiences and they’re trusted by their followers, the content they create about your brand can have a high impact on your marketing campaigns.”
5. Adobe CMO Ann Lewnes: Brands need to study, respect relationships with consumers. “For me, knowing as much as you can about that customer should be informing how you market to them,” Ms. Lewnes says. In that regard, she obviously doesn’t think there are too many studies yet.

May we never end our pursuit of knowledge, however and wherever we might find it.

Enjoy your weekend.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net