Using the example of a food chain based in the north of England – that offers the hugely popular and now famous Yorkshire pudding wraps – Rob Meakin details how well personalised customer loyalty schemes can work and how shoppers expecting speed, efficiency and simplicity in every step of their retail experience can tap into a ‘membership economy’.
How many times have you sat behind someone at a major event whose mobile phone is aloft, masking your view, streaming the content to an absent audience? Live events – such as conferences, fashion shows and concerts – should ideally be a mix of physical and digital experiences, says Hannah Farrell – hugely aware of the value of social media for events promotion. But how would brands and events organisers balance the wider and welcome sharing of their content with a sympathetic social media switch-off for real-world events’ ticket-holders? It’s not a quandary, if applied in the right way…
The forthcoming GDPR is designed to help protect consumer data, not to hamper businesses and hog-tie them with red tape. Those businesses that adapt to the changing rules – that turn big data into smart data – will survive and thrive, says Julie Neilson, explaining how marketers in the retail, automotive and financial services sectors are surmounting the obstacles and reaping the opportunities . . . showing that it can be a case of new privacy rules OK!
The way we buy products and services changed forever when the internet was born. In the ensuing 35 years or so, e-commerce has transformed how shoppers make their purchase decisions, with so many of them now relying on the advice and recommendations of their peers – whether they are friends, relatives or even complete strangers. It’s called third-party endorsement, or social proof. Here’s how to make that work in your favour and how get the best for your business via email marketing via ratings and reviews:
Wonderfully convenient or a bit too close for comfort: when does personalisation and detailed data usage become just a bit too personal? And how on earth can marketers tell when their carefully crafted messages are actually creeping their targets out? It was the subject that was under discussion at a masterclass in London recently. Here’s what the experts had to say about walking the tightrope between too much and too little:
The success and failures of last year’s Christmas advertising campaigns are now available for all to compare and here, Josh Krichefski takes a look back at which advertisers delivered some real crackers, what brands can learn from the winners and losers – and what they should put on next year’s Christmas list to ensure their festive advertising success.
Sweet and charming or cheesy and sickly – whatever your view of Valentine’s Day and the hype surrounding it, many businesses do well to leverage events marketing tactics and make the most of the first of the year’s gifting events. Valentines data shows what couples are likely to be spending their money on in 2018:
The incoming GDPR means the acquisition and use of personal data must be transparent and explicit. But how will that affect email marketing and what should email marketers do to stay within the law? Darine Fayed explains how the new data regulation will work and why GDPR & email will, actually, result in better quality communications going forward.
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.