A clear data hygiene strategy is vital if your business is operating on a global scale, says Anna Kayfitz – but it’s not an easy task to monitor and maintain international data and to standardise fields and formats. Here are her tried and tested tactics for optimising data management and keeping globalised data pristine.
Victoria Greene says voice assistants and chatbots are much more than just the latest gadgets, they are changing the way we consume – and that’s an issue those who are currently evaluating their e-commerce strategy need to be aware of especially. Here, she takes a look at the latest trends affecting those who are selling online and offers her own strategies for success in the year ahead.
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:
Natalia Selby tells how to assess whether your marketing is really working well for your business; she describes three simple strategies for checking and calculating campaign performance to ensure best use of budget and highest eventual ROI.
Should performance-based marketing agencies replace traditional agency models and what impact might this have on the industry? Agencies have usually been paid no matter the success or failure of their campaign. But Inbal Lavi argues that this should now shift to a results-based process, claiming that this will lead to better aligned interests between brand, marketer and creative agency, higher margins and a higher ROI.
Are marketers equipped and resourced to deal with major challenges ahead? How will the marketing landscape pan out this year? What’s at the top of a marketer’s wishlist for 2018? What did they get right last year and can build on in the months ahead? Robert Howells checks out the major annual research report from Winterberry (hindsight and predictions) and compares it with comments from Marketo’s community of marketing practitioners. Here’s what he found:
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.
Digital innovation has led to countless changes in our modern world but, sometimes, accepting the challenge of change can be difficult. Authors Alison and Scott Stratten warn entrepreneurs and marketers not to be over-enthusiastic when it comes to harnessing the latest technology, because not everyone is quite ready to wholeheartedly embrace this ‘age of disruption’. The Strattens’ message is to look before you leap: analyse your data carefully, focus on loyalty and know your market first.
Ramp up your professional performance and avoid the business ‘groove or grave’ by taking some tips from motivational speaker and business growth expert Royston Guest – who recommends you set the bar at around 100ft high!
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.