Technology is only valuable if you combine knowledge of what you want it to achieve with the ability to interpret what it tells you. So says William Roberts, discussing whether CMOs aiming to bridge the Digital Divide should be optimising data and incentivising customer behaviour by aligning customer understanding with tech strategy.
High street sales figures make grim reading currently, as rising inflation is clearly impacting consumer spending levels. And, with household incomes failing to keep pace, there is little sign of an upturn for retailers – in the immediate future at least. But Peter Zeun argues that in these difficult times, when it is getting ever harder for retailers to persuade consumers to spend their hard-earned cash in store or online, putting in place the right customer engagement and retention strategies is increasingly imperative for any brand. So start now, scrutinise your CRM strategies and take control of the future.
Research shows that more than half of consumers stop buying after a poor customer service interaction and that 95% ‘share’ bad experiences – so what, if anything, are companies doing to stop customers ‘falling through the cracks’ in the multichannel experience brands are offering? And how can they improve that offering? Chris Robinson says they should start by looking to their lines of communication and ensuring their customers can easily reach them.
Did the John Lewis TV ad ‘Moz the Monster’ prompt you to buy from that retailer . . . or do you fast-forward through the ads? Sweet seasonal telly ads leave a bad taste in the modern connected-up world, says Alex Hill – who believes brands busting their budgets on a big Christmas TV ad campaign should instead think audience-first, with social and digital activity leading the marketing, rather than the other way round.
All digital marketers are becoming direct marketers. So says Phil Andrews here, as he examines the evolution of what he calls Direct Marketing 4.0 and decides that a combination of digital and direct disciplines are the way forward – a collaboration that will drive effective use of tight marketing budgets, win engaged consumers and increase sales. It’s a future where great creative is driven by insight and data.
With brand loyalty and customer attention more scarce than ever, Joel Christie reassures marketers scrambling to gain a competitive advantage, saying accuracy, insights and near-infinite numbers of new consumers are all within reach. If you are struggling to interpret reams of data to achieve personalisation, there’s a key to creating the single customer view – AI and the predictive marketer.
Global spending on native ads is predicted to hit $85.5bn a year within the next two years; it’s a format that is deemed to offer a more appealing and engaging user experience and is thus rapidly growing in popularity among marketers and brands – likely to overtake banner ads as the field leader in display advertising. Here’s a glimpse into tomorrow’s digital ad world and what the more creative, relevant and editorially compelling native advertising 2020 could add up to.
Testimonials, opinions, social proof – call them what you will, but consumer reviews are on the up when it comes to what influences a business’s potential customers. Whether fake or fair, people are reading and acting on these online reviews. Here’s a careful look at the latest trends and how consumer trust is measuring up:
It is now generally agreed that the process of analysing data is key to successful marketing. Collecting data from happy and consenting customers is fine, but putting that data to good use – identifying trends, optimising campaigns and examining effectiveness in detail – is still a skill that many marketing departments lack. How skilled is your data scientist? …What’s that? You don’t have one, just a regular marketer trying to keep all the balls in the air (and dropping a few)? Find out why the science of data is so important – as is the need to fill that specific role.
So you’re thinking of scaling up your business’ marketing activity with a powerful marketing automation platform. But which platform is right for your business? What are you looking to do and what do you want to achieve? No matter what your objective is, there are three main contenders in the marketplace, according to Bob Dearsley, that he distinguishes above the rest. But which one do you choose? Read on for his answer!