The new GDPR aims to protect the personal information of consumers – but what does that mean for marketers who leverage that information to drive their businesses? Anthony Botibol shows how to personalise your marketing without losing the trust or the consent of customers – and without incurring the wrath of the GDPR law enforcers.
Take a look at your business and your data and draw up a list of your marketing strategy pros and cons, says Sonal Patil. Data-driven marketing and how you use it – strategically and actually – is vital to your business’s growth. She says, if used effectively, a data-driven marketing strategy can create a big advantage in the marketplace. But if you ignore your data, or use it badly, you can significantly harm your relationship with your customers.
If a website takes ages to load and seems confusing to navigate around, the chances are visitors will sigh heavily and go find another website; their potential purchase lost. So, if it is obvious that a poor shopping experience costs online customers, why are so many websites still rubbish? It makes sense to keep visitors to your site happy and especially to ensure they return repeatedly – Yaron Morgenstern shows how valuable it is to create a slick, user-friendly experience.
The longstanding assumption among retailers has been that women will buy, no matter what the price. But Pini Yakuel, challenging traditional segmentation personas, says latest research delving into demographic data proves that it’s actually the girls who win the best deals, the optimal value for money. However, he says far more attention is required to ensure that savvy shopper remains loyal to a brand. So indeed, no matter what the price, it’s all about the crucial customer experience.
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force in May, but many organisations still need to seek consent, ensuring individuals have actively opted in to the collection, processing and retention of their information. Sarah Taylor examines a study from SmartFocus which shows how the need for GDPR consenting affects organisations globally – and she discusses the optimum time to avoid GDPR unsubscribes.
When it comes to AI and modern marketing the best is yet to come, says Jim Bowes. Forget the cyborg concept, robots could be put to work alongside humans – taking on high-tech tasks such facial recognition, emotional activity measurement and even campaign strategy automation. He says the latest technology will free up creatives and drive hyper-personalisation to improve the conversation with consumers. So what’s not to like?
Big Data is everything, marketing practitioners from agencies around the world agree. But it isn’t easy to stay abreast of it all and many feel overwhelmed by data, data, everywhere. Don’t be engulfed by the Big Data wave, says Bart Omlo – who brings together comments from senior marketers on how companies are adjusting their strategies and using the latest technology to keep up with the ever-increasing data flow.
Modern marketers can clear their desks of mundane details and the time-consuming minutiae of their jobs and instead concentrate on personalising data, perfecting the customer experience and thus propelling their brands and businesses, says Alex Vaidya. How? They should enhance creativity – leverage AI. Here’s how it works:
Marketers love email because it works – researchers tell us that open rates, click rates and, most importantly, conversion rates are up and are driving ROI . . . proving that consumers also love it. Yet, surprisingly, some companies are not using this channel well enough to make the most of email campaign opportunities. Guy Hanson has a handful of ways to boost your brand’s email performance. Check them out:
While e-commerce has levelled the selling field, artificial intelligence is propelling e-retail players forward, says Keren Zimmerman. Personalisation is the key to winning customer loyalty and repeat business and brands that leverage AI will turn that key. The technology is now becoming more affordable, so here’s how to compete with the bigger brands and use AI to power your audience data.