Category: Data Driven Channels

Categories
Best practice Data Driven Channels Europe Global UK

Four ways to re-set the customer journey

CX customer journey

The prominence of digital natives is throwing the customer journey into a state of flux. This latest generation of tech-savvy customers is driving demand for a hyper-personalised experience that is challenging the dynamics of traditional brand engagement. Ben Rund provides top tips on how organisations can start to rethink the customer journey to create personalised, interactive, omni-channel campaigns that boost brand advocacy and customer loyalty.

This content is for Free membership members only.
Register
Already a member? Log in here
Categories
Africa Americas Asia-Pacific Best practice Data Driven Channels Europe Global Mobile

Analogue gets digital: a fresh look at getting mobile marketing right

getting mobile marketing right

Our mobiles are our constant companion and when it comes to mobile marketing, marketers must take advantage in allowing consumers to use them to connect via all their messages. James Galpin explains.

This content is for Free membership members only.
Register
Already a member? Log in here
Categories
Best practice Data Driven Channels Email Global

Email marketing – subject lines: the best and worst words to use

email

It’s the most important part of the email in terms of grabbing attention and what marketers write in that vital email subject line can affect the whole campaign performance, research shows. No pressure then!

This content is for Free membership members only.
Register
Already a member? Log in here
Categories
Best practice Data Driven Channels Europe Mobile UK

Marketing via mobile – the rise of the app

open banking impact , marketing via mobile article

Success in marketing hinges on consumer control, says David Cole, who examines the findings of the 2014 (10th annual) fast.MAP Marketing-GAP Tracking Study.

This content is for Free membership members only.
Register
Already a member? Log in here
Categories
Data Driven Channels Global Insight

Maximising every customer sales opportunity with social CRM

social crm

Gavin Hammar discusses how social CRM can present opportunities to marketers.

This content is for Free membership members only.
Register
Already a member? Log in here
Categories
Asia-Pacific Data Driven Channels Global In the News Mobile

Mobile transaction – purchasers to hit 2 billion by 2017 – report

mobile transaction article e-commerce article

According to the report, mobile consumption of services such as banking, money transfer and purchases of goods and services was surging as consumers were either migrating from desktop usage or becoming first-time eCommerce users through their smartphones or tablets. It found that in a number of developed markets, mobile devices would account for over half of online transactions within five years.

The report, Mobile Commerce Markets: Key Sector Strategies, Opportunities & Forecasts 2014-2019, also observed that while contactless payments had yet to gain traction outside Japan and South Korea, Apple Pay was expected to provide NFC with real momentum. It also stressed the opportunity for mobile to offer consumers in emerging markets first-time financial inclusivity through the provision of mobile wallets, enabling services beyond payments such as savings and micro-insurance.

Mobile transaction via social networks

Meanwhile, the report highlighted the potential of social networks in accelerating mobile commerce adoption. According to report author Dr Windsor Holden (pictured): “Brands and retailers should certainly seek to integrate their offerings with players such as Facebook and FourSquare. Integration offers reach, allied to the potential to target specific user demographics.”

The report also recommended the integration of operator billing capabilities with websites to monetise digital content among a wider user base.Dr Windsor Holden

Other findings from the report include:

Consumers concerns around transaction security remain the primary inhibitor on service adoption. While growth in the number of mobile digital content purchasers in developing markets is relatively low, the value of customers is increasing markedly as they transition from ringtone purchase to rich media content typically monetised through in-app purchase.

The whitepaper, Mobile Commerce ~ On The Money, is available to download from the Juniper website, together with further details of the full report and the attendant Mobile Commerce Markets Excel.

Categories
Data Driven Channels In the News UK

Tips for bloggers looking to monetise their sites through affiliate commission

affiliate, have a mint

Recently, Optimus Performance Marketing looked into the average amount of money made by the average ‘lifestyle’ blogger in the UK; finding that they can make as much as £906 per year through affiliate sales and commission alone.

Following this discovery, the team at OPM have compiled a selection of advisory tips for bloggers who may be looking to start taking advantage of affiliate commission on their websites in the near future.

Top tips for bloggers considering becoming affiliates:

Are you doing it for the right reasons?

It’s all well and good thinking that your blog is at the stage where it could start making you money, and it’s true that affiliate marketing is one of the most effective ways to make money online.
However, simply because you want to ‘make money’ should not be the sole reason for wanting to continue a blog. Blogging and writing insightful and imaginative articles that strike a chord with your audience should be the ultimate driving force spurring your blog on. Readers will see through posts that are too promotion-heavy.

Do you have a wide enough following?

In order to start making some money from your blog, you don’t necessarily need to have thousands and thousands of existing subscribers. In our experience, much of the engagement and comments left on a lifestyle blog will be from individuals who have organically discovered your site through social media pages and not by those who are already subscribed to your blog. If you feel as though your content is generating enough unique views, engagement and comments from a wide plethora of readers, then becoming an affiliate site is absolutely something to consider seriously.

Are you driving enough traffic to your blog from social media platforms?

We cannot highlight enough the important role that social media will play in whether or not a move into the realm of affiliate commission is a successful one. By staying active and sharing original content on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google + and Pinterest, you can make sure you are continually building your following and chances of making commissions through sales made through your site. It is also worth actively encouraging shares, retweets and re-pins of particularly popular posts, especially by other high-profile bloggers who may follow you.

Is your content engaging enough for your audience?

If you are seriously interested in making money through your blog, you will need to start writing reviews of products and services with affiliate marketing in mind. You cannot simply throw links out randomly and expect a wave of commission to start rolling in. It is far more effective to think of the affiliate links as added resources that compliment your existing copy, and not the sole reason you have written the piece in the first place.

Do you have the extra time to dedicate to your blog?

Perhaps a rather straightforward point, but chances are you already juggle writing and managing your blog with full-time work or studying. Therefore, an important question to ask yourself is whether you can dedicate the required amount of time to monetising your blog, especially if it starts to do very well for you. Would you be willing to forego the odd night out or shopping trip with friends in order to stay in and work on your blog? If the answer is no, then you might want to re-think your options.

Would you know the kinds of affiliate programs to approach?

Affiliate links will earn you commission if you successfully drive a sale to the merchant, which means that a blog reader will need to click on one of your embedded links, and either purchase or sign up to something before you see any kind of commission. Therefore, the more relevant your affiliate ad is to your reader’s likes and preferences, the higher the chances they will click on the link and make a subsequent purchase.

Mark Russell, CEO of Optimus Performance Marketing, said: “In theory, using affiliate commission to boost your income could not be easier or more straightforward. However, in reality, in such a saturated market, it’s important that one is 100% sure of the things to take into account before committing to affiliate sales. It is our hope that the advice and tips included above will help any bloggers with their decision-making process and help them to avoid making a rushed choice.”

Categories
Data Driven Channels In the News UK

Selfridges aims to enhance customer experience

Selfridges

UK department store, Selfridges, has chosen software from enterprise listening technology company Synthesio to listen to and engage with customers online.

Selfridges will now be able to monitor and analyse customer comments online on a global basis, including key Asian social networks like Sina Weibo. This will enable Selfridges’ marketing and customer service teams to Selfridges-bagrespond efficiently to customer queries, engage with customers and analyse their online and offline experiences with Selfridges.

Synthesio’s software monitors and evaluates online conversations across social media platforms, review sites, forums, blogs and the comment sections of newspapers, in 50 languages and 200 countries.

The agreement with Selfridges follows Synthesio securing a similar brief with Virgin Atlantic last month.

Claire Higgins, head of digital marketing at Selfridges, said: “We are continually striving to provide the best possible service to our customers. By using Synthesio’s platform we will be able to provide even better care online and gain valuable insights that will help us better understand the online and offline experiences of our customers.”

Loic Moisand, founder and CEO of Synthesio, said: “We are delighted to start working with such an iconic brand like Selfridges, and we look forward to helping them continue their great work of delighting their customers. This project is another great example of integrated Listening and Engagement, which is becoming the de-facto strategy for mature brands.”

Synthesio’s platform also contains a built-in metric for measuring a company’s online reputation – SRS (Social Reputation Score) – which many brands use to benchmark themselves against competitors, and measure the impact of their activities.

Read also:

Which social media platform is right for your business?

A masterclass in manners and managing customer feedback – here’s what NOT to do when they complain

Categories
Data Driven Channels Europe In the News

‘Percentage Off’ discounts still the most popular for customer engagement

A team of researchers working with European affiliate marketing company Optimus Performance Marketing has put together a trend report looking into the sales statistics of the most common products and goods purchased throughout the past 12 months based on seasonality. The report also indicates the most popular offers and discounts brands can use in order to generate sales through affiliate activity. 

Mark Russell, CEO of Optimus Performance Marketing explains the most noteworthy findings from the report below: “The first notable piece of information to emerge from the report is the different seasonal influences that drive sales of particular products or towards different retailers. The following factors drive purchasing patterns either on a reactive short-term basis or on a planned, predictable schedule.” 
 
Seasonality factors

  1. Genuine Seasons– (summer/winter holidays, summer/winter clothes, indoor/outdoor furniture) 
  2. Manufactured Seasons– (new car registrations, new season jewellery, annual sales, new product launches, Christmas/Easter, Mother’s/Father’s Day, sporting events)
  3. Non-specific Annual Events– (insurance renewal, phone contracts, MOT, car servicing)
  4. Tactical– Hot weather (pools, air-con, fans, BBQ) Wet weather (home entertainment, takeaways)

“Alternative, external factors that come into play are whether purchases are considered to be essential or discretionary. Discretionary purchases are far more likely to be influenced by short-term factors such as the seasons or weather, which will make consumers want to purchase different things.
 
“This therefore indicates to retailers investing in affiliate activity that picking the most effective offers and media partners to use is largely a question of what needs to be sold, how difficult it could be to sell and how saturated the market already is for that kind of brand or product.
 
“Another important finding of the report is how important it is to consider the various affiliate types when looking at promotions. Cashback and voucher codes account for the majority of sales, and as they sit so close to the point of purchase, the availability of voucher codes or a higher cashback rate will be a decisive influence on whether a purchase is made and the choice of brand or retailer.
 
“It is important that retailers have their latest offers listed. Sales, discounted items/ lines or any generic or exclusive codes or cashback rates will often secure a brand additional exposure in relevant site areas or newsletters.
 
“The most popular code formats, as witnessed by Optimus Performance Marketing over the past 12 months, are below.”

  1. Percentage (%) off any purchase (giving purchaser the total choice)
  2. Percentage (%) off minimum spend (retailer is trying to maintain or increase the average order value)
  3. £ off a minimum spend (retailer reducing overall percentage (%) discount while trying to maintain average order value)
  4. BOGOF (buy one get one free)/Gift With Purchase (value add codes aimed at giving customers extra incentives to improve conversion)

 

 

Categories
Data Driven Channels Global In the News Mobile

Mobile device production – emissions to rise by more than 30% in five years, says report

mobile device production

A new report from Juniper Research has found that mobile device production will generate more than 115 million tons of greenhouse gases (GHGs) per year by 2019.

This level –  equivalent to 60 years of flights from London Heathrow airport, or the annual emissions from 22.6 million cars – represents an increase of more than 30% on the 2014 figure.

According to the report – Green Mobile: The Complete Guide to Vendor Strategies & Future Prospects 2014-2019 – vendors have made progress on reducing their own carbon emissions but have not prioritised environmental sustainability to the extent required to drive their suppliers into action.

Still weaknesses in the supply chain

As vendors are directly responsible for fewer than 5% of overall production emissions, the report highlights the need to drive change across the whole value chain in order to achieve a significant net reduction across the whole industry.

With MNOs (mobile network operators) starting to unify their eco-ratings, and consumers able to quickly have vast amounts of product information at their fingertips, vendors cannot continue to hide bad practices in their supply chain. The report demonstrates that the greatest reductions can be made in component manufacture. By encouraging component makers to improve energy efficiency and adopt more renewable energy sources, vendors could incentivise a potential 18.8 megatonne decrease in GHG emissions.

Green business is good business

Additionally, the report argued that with eco-ratings playing a larger part in product evaluations, the business imperatives for sustainability were impossible to ignore.

Other key findings include:

  • Phone design has a large impact on recyclability, as certain design features make recycling uneconomical. Vendors must plan for the end to ensure they do not exacerbate the growing e-waste problem.
  • ICT lobbying of energy companies has had a positive impact on renewable energy adoption, and further action here could curb user-related emissions.

The white paper, ‘How Green Is My Mobile?’ is available for download from the Juniper website together with full details of the report and the attendant Interactive Forecast Excel (IFxl).