How does your brand stack up against the "Best Of The Best?" ADI defines “best of the best” as companies in the top quintile (20%) based on performance across website metrics such as visits, visit rate, consumption, video starts per visit, conversion, stickiness, and advertising metrics, including click-through rate and social interaction rate.
2. Table of Contents
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 2
US Best of the Best
03 What is Best of the Best?
04 Smartphone Visits
05 Desktop Visits
06 Visit Rate
08 Consumption
09 Video Starts per Visitor
10 Conversion
11 Stickiness
13 Click Through Rate
14 Social Interaction Rate
15 Social Media Traffic
Appendix
20 Methodology
21 Glossary
22 Tables
US Top Social Performers
16 Top Performers Have Significant
Social Presence
17 Retail and Media & Entertainment
Have Largest Following
Industries to Watch
18 Asia Pacific Leads in Smartphone Visits
and Continues to Break Away
19 Europe Travel Shows Most Improvement
in Conversion
3. What is the Best of the Best?
The Best of the Best 2015 report refers to companies using the Adobe Marketing Cloud who rank in the top 20% of
fellow Adobe clients in their industry on various key performance metrics. It is called the Best of the Best because
Adobe Marketing Cloud customers are already ahead of the masses through their investment in excellence.
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 3
How to Read the Best of the Best:
Industry being measured Overall average for sites
in this industry
Overall average for the Top 20%
of sites in this industry
Year-over-year change.
Up arrow indicates increase, down
arrow indicates decrease.
Gap between Top 20% and
average from 2014 to 2015.
Narrower means the gap is closing.
Wider means it’s increasing.
4. • Consumers continue to rely more
and more on smartphones to
browse websites
• Every industry saw an increase in
smartphone visits, and leaders widened
the gap in every industry except
Telecommunications
• The Top 20 in Retail, Travel &
Hospitality, Media & Entertainment,
and Automotive register more than
35% of total visits via smartphone
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 4
US BEST OF THE BEST
Smartphone Traffic Grows, Especially for Leaders
5. • All industries still have over half of their
traffic originating from desktop devices
• Desktop visits remained particularly
important for several industries, such as
Financial Services, where reviewing or
conducting transactions benefit from
large screens
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 5
US BEST OF THE BEST
Despite Mobile Growth, Desktop Traffic is Still Substantial
6. • Consumers visited websites less
frequently in 2015 in every industry
• Telecommunications had the highest
average visit rate at 1.56
visits/month
• Retail, Travel & Hospitality, and
Automotive had the lowest visit rates
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 6
US BEST OF THE BEST
Visit Rate is Stagnant Across Industries
7. • Average visit rate also dropped
on Smartphone and Desktop
devices in 2015
• A dip in visit rate across devices could
indicate one of two things:
1) More efficient trips due to
content optimization
2) Less tolerance for poor
website experiences
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 7
US BEST OF THE BEST
Visit Rate is Stagnant Across Devices
8. • Consumption, or time spent,
declined for all industries, except
Travel & Hospitality
• Consumption varies by device:
visits on smartphones last half as
long as desktop
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 8
US BEST OF THE BEST
Mobile Optimization May Drive Shorter Consumption
9. • Consumers watch more online videos
on desktops than on smartphones
• Smartphone video viewing growth
year-over-year is outpacing desktop
(18% vs. 10%, respectively)
• Smartphone video viewing growth
outpaced desktop growth for the Top
20 (34% vs. 13%, respectively)
• The growth in smartphone could
indicate better optimization on
smartphones, or the general shift to
using larger screen phones
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 9
US BEST OF THE BEST
Top Media & Entertainment Sites Focus on Video
Optimization for Smartphones
10. • Retail desktop conversion decreased
7% YoY, while smartphone increased
+13% YoY
• Travel & Hospitality smartphone
conversion growth outpaced desktop
by 50%
• In both industries, smartphone
conversion still remains lower than
desktop, indicating the need for further
mobile optimization
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 10
US BEST OF THE BEST
Mobile Conversion Shows Momentum
11. • Stickiness has decreased for every
industry in 2015
• The Top 20 in each industry
outperform their peers by 44%
• Those who invest in methods to attract
and retain traffic are breaking away
through the use of relevant and
engaging website experiences
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 11
US BEST OF THE BEST
Consumers are Less Likely to Stay on a Website After Arrival
12. • Stickiness decreased on smartphones
and desktops in 2015
• Stickiness is also lower on smartphones
when compared to desktops for both
the average performers and Top 20
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 12
US BEST OF THE BEST
Devices Are Also Seeing Stickiness Declines
13. • Search click through rates (CTRs)
increased for all industries
• The Top 20 have pulled away from
the average in all industries except
Financial Services
• Smartphone and desktop CTRs
both increased, with average
smartphone CTR performing
29% higher than desktop
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 13
US BEST OF THE BEST
Paid Search Click Through Rate Increased
14. • Social Media Interaction Rates
are down in every industry except
Media & Entertainment
• Facebook promoted paid display ad
interaction, which may have changed
budget and behavior to paid ads
instead of free social interaction
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 14
US BEST OF THE BEST
Social Media Global Interaction Rate Shifts to Paid Placements
15. ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 15
• Media & Entertainment is the
clear standout for driving traffic from
social media efforts, with an average
of 15% compared to 1% or less in
other industries
US BEST OF THE BEST
Media & Entertainment Capitalize on Social to Drive Traffic
16. • Top performers within
every industry are all
present on Twitter, Facebook,
and YouTube
• Periscope has not been
embraced fully by any industry
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 16
US TOP SOCIAL PERFORMERS
Top Performers Have Significant Social Presence
17. ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 17
US TOP SOCIAL PERFORMERS
Retail and Media & Entertainment Have Largest Following
• Retail and Media & Entertainment
outperform the average social
following by over 2x (2.2x and
2.4x, respectively)
• On average, each industry authors
around 2,000 social posts per month
• Telecommunications has engaged the
most with its audience – averaging
over 10,000 in its social lifetime
18. • Japan and South Korea have the
highest average smartphone visits
at 37.9% and 31.6%, respectively,
exceeding the “Best” in most
US industries.
• Will Japan and South Korea stay ahead
of the game, or will the continuous
shift of consumers to mobile devices
force others to catch up?
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 18
INDUSTRIES TO WATCH
Asia Pacific Leads in Smartphone Visits and
Continues to Break Away
19. • Conversion on Europe’s travel sites
showed best conversion improvement
YoY, growing 25% on smartphones and
15% on desktop
• Europe travel shows the strongest desktop
and smartphone conversion rates when
compared to US and Asia Pacific:
• Europe Desktop Avg: 4.2%
• Europe Smartphone Avg: 1.2%
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015 19
INDUSTRIES TO WATCH
Europe Travel Shows Most Improvement in Conversion
21. • Share of Visits: Share of visits to a website by device
• Stickiness: Percent of traffic that stays and engages with a site
• Visit Rate: Average monthly website visits per visitor, overall and by device
• Video Start per Visitor: Average monthly video starts per visitor
• Click Through Rate: Percent of search ad impressions that are clicked
• Smartphone Traffic: Percent of visits to a website originating on a smartphone
• Social Media Traffic: Percent of website traffic driven by social media sites
• Social Media Interaction Rate: Global comments, likes, shares and other interactions with a Facebook post
• Social Presence: Official social accounts set up across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube and Periscope
• Total Social Engagements: Interactions with a social account’s following, IE “Twitter Like,” “Pinterest Like”
• Social Authorship: Number of posts authored by an official Twitter handle
• Consumption: Average minutes per visit
• Conversion: Average orders or bookings per visit, overall and by device
ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX
Glossary
21ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015
22. ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX
Tables
22ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015
M&E Travel Technology Finance Automotive Telecomm Retail
Average 36.6% 26.1% 11.7% 14.5% 29.5% 16.8% 25.7%
Best of the Best 52.9% 37.3% 19.5% 22.7% 36.0% 25.4% 39.6%
Absolute Difference 16.3% 11.2% 7.8% 8.2% 8.3% 8.6% 13.9%
% Difference 44.5% 42.9% 66.7% 56.6% 29.3% 51.2% 54.1%
Average 54.6% 61.1% 84.0% 80.1% 57.4% 76.8% 63.3%
Best of the Best 71.5% 73.7% 92.5% 89.2% 64.1% 89.8% 80.6%
Absolute Difference 16.9% 12.6% 8.5% 9.1% 6.7% 13.0% 17.3%
% Difference 31.0% 20.6% 10.1% 11.4% 11.7% 16.9% 27.4%
Average 1.54 1.29 1.32 1.50 1.24 1.56 1.31
Best of the Best 1.85 1.40 1.50 1.99 1.31 1.87 1.51
Absolute Difference 0.31 0.11 0.18 0.49 0.07 0.31 0.20
% Difference 20.1% 8.5% 13.6% 32.7% 5.6% 19.9% 15.3%
M&E Travel Technology Finance Automotive Telecomm Retail
30.3% 20.0% 9.0% 11.4% 22.0% 14.1% 20.3%
44.1% 29.7% 15.1% 18.0% 28.1% 24.1% 31.3%
13.8% 9.7% 6.1% 6.6% 6.1% 10.0% 11.0%
45.5% 48.5% 67.8% 57.9% 27.7% 70.9% 54.2%
60.3% 65.4% 86.3% 82.4% 64.1% 79.7% 67.0%
74.1% 74.7% 93.6% 90.1% 70.0% 92.5% 81.3%
13.8% 9.3% 7.3% 7.7% 5.9% 12.8% 14.4%
22.9% 14.2% 8.5% 9.3% 9.2% 16.1% 21.5%
1.56 1.30 1.35 2.00 1.25 1.67 1.32
1.88 1.40 1.55 1.50 1.32 1.85 1.50
0.32 0.10 0.20 -0.50 0.07 0.18 0.18
20.5% 7.7% 14.8% -25.0% 5.6% 10.8% 13.6%
2015 2014
SMARTPHONE
SHARE OF VISITS
DESKTOP
SHARE OF VISITS
VISIT RATE
Average 27.1% 43.5% 28.8% 32.5% 50.7% 30.7% 41.8%
Best of the Best 38.4% 60.0% 43.2% 51.7% 60.5% 44.2% 59.9%
Absolute Difference 11.3% 16.5% 14.4% 19.2% 9.8% 13.5% 18.1%
% Difference 41.7% 37.9% 50.0% 59.1% 19.3% 44.0% 43.3%
28.8% 46.6% 30.3% 35.4% 51.9% 34.1% 46.1%
40.2% 61.4% 45.2% 55.2% 60.8% 47.4% 61.6%
11.4% 14.8% 14.9% 19.8% 8.9% 13.3% 15.5%
39.6% 31.8% 49.2% 55.9% 17.1% 39.0% 33.6%STICKINESS
23. ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX
Tables
23ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015
CONSUMPTION
(MINS SPENT)
VIDEO STARTS/VISITOR
SMARTPHONE
M&E Travel Technology Finance Automotive Telecomm Retail
Average 5.21 5.53 5.55 4.88 5.00 7.21 6.00
Best of the Best 7.05 7.29 7.24 6.61 5.93 8.07 7.94
Absolute Difference 1.84 1.76 1.69 1.73 0.93 0.86 1.94
% Difference 35.3% 31.8% 30.5% 35.5% 18.6% 11.9% 32.3%
M&E Travel Technology Finance Automotive Telecomm Retail
5.52 5.52 5.62 4.93 5.01 7.30 6.01
7.43 7.25 7.35 6.76 5.91 8.31 7.95
1.91 1.73 1.73 1.83 0.90 1.01 1.94
34.6% 31.3% 30.8% 37.1% 18.0% 13.8% 32.3%
2015 2014
Average 0.55 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Best of the Best 1.22 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Absolute Difference 0.67 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
% Difference 121.8% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Average n/a 0.7% n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.9%
Best of the Best n/a 1.3% n/a n/a n/a n/a 1.6%
Absolute Difference n/a 0.6% n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.7%
% Difference n/a 85.7% n/a n/a n/a n/a 77.8%
0.46 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
0.91 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
0.45 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
97.8% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
n/a 0.6% n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.8%
n/a 1.0% n/a n/a n/a n/a 1.4%
n/a 0.4% n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.6%
n/a 66.7% n/a n/a n/a n/a 75.0%
Average 0.79 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Best of the Best 1.45 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Absolute Difference 0.66 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
% Difference 83.5% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
0.72 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
1.28 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
0.56 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
77.8% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
CONVERSION
SMARTPHONE
VIDEO STARTS/VISITOR
DESKTOP
24. ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX
Tables
24ADOBE DIGITAL INDEX | US Best of the Best 2015
CONVERSION
DESKTOP
% OF SOCIAL TRAFFIC
PAID SEARCH CTR
SOCIAL MEDIA GLOBAL
INTERACTION RATE
M&E Travel Technology Finance Automotive Telecomm Retail
Average n/a 2.4% n/a n/a n/a n/a 2.6%
Best of the Best n/a 4.4% n/a n/a n/a n/a 4.6%
Absolute Difference n/a 2.0% n/a n/a n/a n/a 2.0%
% Difference n/a 83.3% n/a n/a n/a n/a 76.9%
M&E Travel Technology Finance Automotive Telecomm Retail
n/a 2.2% n/a n/a n/a n/a 2.8%
n/a 3.7% n/a n/a n/a n/a 4.9%
n/a 1.5% n/a n/a n/a n/a 2.1%
n/a 68.2% n/a n/a n/a n/a 75.0%
2015 2014
Average 14.1% 0.9% 0.7% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 1.0%
Best of the Best 29.1% 1.8% 1.4% 1.0% 0.9% 1.0% 2.0%
Absolute Difference 15.0% 0.9% 0.7% 0.5% 0.4% 0.5% 1.0%
% Difference 106.4% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 80.0% 1.0% 100.0%
7.0% 0.7% 0.7% 0.4% 0.3% 0.4% 0.8%
13.7% 1.3% 1.3% 0.8% 0.6% 0.7% 1.6%
6.7% 0.6% 0.6% 0.4% 0.3% 0.3% 0.8%
95.7% 85.7% 85.7% 100.0% 100.0% 75.0% 100.0%
Average 4.0% 4.9% 5.1% 3.7% 1.5% n/a 3.2%
Best of the Best 6.4% 7.7% 8.3% 5.1% 2.5% n/a 6.0%
Absolute Difference 2.4% 2.8% 3.2% 1.4% 1.0% n/a 2.8%
% Difference 60.0% 57.1% 62.7% 37.8% 66.7% n/a 87.5%
3.3% 3.5% 4.3% 3.4% 1.4% n/a 2.7%
5.3% 5.8% 7.3% 5.3% 2.2% n/a 4.3%
2.0% 2.3% 3.0% 1.9% 0.8% n/a 1.6%
60.6% 65.7% 69.8% 55.9% 57.1% n/a 59.3%
Average 2.5% 2.4% 2.7% 1.2% 2.7% n/a 2.4%
Best of the Best 3.5% 3.5% 3.4% 2.0% 3.4% n/a 3.6%
Absolute Difference 1.0% 1.1% 0.7% 0.8% 0.7% n/a 1.2%
% Difference 40.0% 45.8% 25.9% 66.7% 25.9% n/a 50.0%
2.3% 2.7% 2.9% 1.2% 2.8% n/a 2.6%
3.6% 4.1% 4.7% 2.0% 4.7% n/a 4.2%
1.3% 1.4% 1.8% 0.8% 1.9% n/a 1.6%
56.5% 51.9% 62.1% 66.7% 67.9% n/a 61.5%