There is no excuse now for marketers failing to communicate on a one-to-one basis – but here’s some how-to advice on leveraging data insights to make your communications dynamic.
Loyalty cards linked to mobile apps experience rise in activity rates.
The new research, Mobile & Online Coupons: Redemption, Loyalty & Consumer Engagement 2015-2020, found that brands and retailers are increasingly responding to consumer demand for mobile integration, with many now offering customers the opportunity to store their loyalty cards within a dedicated digital wallet.
Crucially, the research argued that the improved targeting and personalisation made possible by digital coupons was leading to greater activity rates, thereby resolving a key failing of traditional schemes where the lack of relevant offers had resulted in a downturn in usage.
However, the new research found wide variations among retailers and other reward card providers with regard to the extent of digital loyalty integration. In the UK, it observed that around 40% of Nectar card holders had acquired the loyalty app by late-2015, but less than 4% of Tesco Clubcard holders. It found a similar disparity between US retailers Walgreens, where 61% of card holders had linked their card to an app, and Target which had only 27% of cardholders linked.
Research author Dr Windsor Holden said: “These disparities are likely to result from a number of factors. While in part they may reflect the level of satisfaction with the app and/or the features it offers, they may also be attributable to a greater degree – or greater success – of retailer marketing of their digital loyalty options.”
The research warned that retailers that did not offer mobile integration were likely to have far lower levels of visibility on consumer activity. As a result, it cautioned that they would be at a disadvantage when seeking to tailor offers and thereby increase the lifetime value of the consumer.
The complimentary whitepaper, ‘Coupons ~ Personalisation Goes Hyper’, is available to download from the Juniper website together with further details of the full research and the attendant Interactive Forecast Excel (IFxl).
Robert Yardy tells how to create a tailored online user experience for every individual. The ‘household name’ websites admired by marketers across the digital industry have managed to apply a perfect formula that keeps users engaged for longer and creates a tailored user experience for each and every visitor. The art of only showing users what…
Is it time for Build-Your-Own brochures, asks Neil Georgeson. He examines new software that can transform the hefty college prospectus, streamlining it into a document that is simply personalised.
The direct marketing industry has been predicting it for years and at last data strategies are sweeping through global marketing departments like wildfire as brands finally wake up to the power of customer analytics and predictive approaches.
Sir John Hegarty may not be happy about it, yet the BBH chief’s declaration that “data creates nothing; but creativity has all the time” appears to be falling on deaf ears in most marketing departments, according to new research from the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA).
The study, conducted in conjunction with The Customer Framework, found that 72% of senior marketers view data as a strategic asset, but flags up the growing potential for agencies and suppliers to get involved as more than half are only just starting to give it a central place in their marketing.
Based on responses from 32 companies with a global annual marketing spend of $35bn, the survey found that 31% described themselves as advanced or highly advanced in the adoption of data-driven marketing, using multiple data personalisation and segmentation techniques.
These advanced companies were underpinning their efforts with a range of technology solutions, including CRM systems, analytical systems, data management platforms and rules engines.
However, not all companies are as advanced. Some 56% of respondents recognise they are still early in the journey, at best in the initial planning stage and have yet to deploy a data-driven marketing strategy.
The study also found a range in confidence in analytics, with only half “somewhat confident” and 27% “not very confident” in their ability to identify return on investment via data analysis.
Nevertheless, investment into analytics and insight is on the rise with 89% of respondents expecting to increase budgets and 31% to boost them “greatly”. The goal is to evolve the analytics function from historical reporting of “what happened” to more predictive and prescriptive approaches, something that a quarter of respondents already claim to be able to deliver.
The desire to build direct customer relationships via the use of first-party data was clearly highlighted by the research, with 73% of respondents considering this “business critical”, and 88% planning on ramping up usage.
However, with the increased use and processing of consumer data, 85% of respondents acknowledged that privacy is integral to building customer trust, and more than just legal compliance.
And it would seem that despite looming EU General Data Protection Regulation – which could trigger an opt-in marketing data regime – brand owners recognise that their ability to embrace a data-driven future relies on increasing consumer trust, which in turn, requires brands to go beyond compliance.
Some 85% of respondents viewed data privacy as an integral component of customer trust, not just legal compliance.
Matt Green (pictured left), senior global marketing manager at the WFA, said: “It’s no secret that data has become important for marketing purposes, though it’s interesting to note that even some of the world’s biggest companies are only at the early stages of delivering data driven marketing strategies.
“Data consumption is set to increase rapidly and with that sophistication – clarifying how data will be used and how consumer privacy will be protected, should be a fundamental component of a brand’s strategy as it advances into data-driven marketing.
“Enhanced transparency and a strong value proposition will be vital to ensuring consumer trust in how the industry collects, stores and uses data today and in the future.”
Personalisation is no longer optional for retail companies that are serious about future-proofing their online strategy, according to findings in a new white paper by digital performance agency, Found.
Specifically, with the widely anticipated slowdown in ecommerce growth predicted over the coming years, getting the right content, to the right people, at the right time has never been more important for online retailers looking to achieve increased sales and conversion rates as well as heightened customer loyalty and long-term spend. However, it’s clear there’s a long way to go before the industry fully realises the potential of personalisation, with Econsultancy alone revealing that while 96% of retailers believe personalisation makes good business sense, only 6% have a plan in place to actually use it.
Tina Judic (pictured), managing director of Found, said: “As an industry, we are now moving away from static, heavily-scheduled campaign planning and delivery, to instead embrace more instant and agile activity which enables more intuitive response to customer need. And it’s the need of this now always-on consumer that is the driving force behind this major shift.
“With growing numbers of consumers expecting, and deliberately looking for, more relevant and tailored customer experiences, irrespective of device, time or location, it’s clear that personalisation is no longer optional for any business looking to maximise all that digital has to offer.”
Found’s white paper lifts the lid on the current resurgence of customer expectation for more personalised relationships with their favourite brands and explores the technology, approach and the impact of personalisation for businesses focused on brand stand-out as well as return on investment. Written in conjunction with personalisation specialists, Monetate, the study equally dispels any misconceptions over how personalisation works and gives practical advice into how it can be integrated into existing marketing campaign strategies.
Personalisation is now a key consideration for any business and the white paper – Personalisation: Future-proofing your Ecommerce Strategy – shows how one-size-fits-all marketing is fast becoming a thing of the past. It also reveals how once over-protective privacy shields appear to be coming down with more and more consumers realising the benefits of sharing their data to receive more relevant products and services.
Many people claim that email marketing is dead – though what these naysayers fail to recognise is that, in fact, the nature of email marketing has changed.
Most people of the appropriate age have positive memories of at least one or other of the ‘big splash’ TV ads of the 70s, 80s and 90s. In the UK, ads such as BT’s ‘you got an ology’ and ‘The Smash Martians’ (pictured below) are remembered fondly even today, and this is testament to the impact of pre-internet ads.
Of course, marketing today is a different beast. In today’s fragmented media landscape, marketers face considerable challenges in attempting to achieve similar levels of impact.
Acxiom recently published a report titled ‘Ad Campaigns Reimagined’, based on a survey of 2,000 UK consumers and a roundtable held with a group of marketing industry experts from Acxiom and Starcom MediaVest Group. This report examines broadly how the needs of advertising have changed in comparison to the time when these classic TV ads hit the airwaves, and what marketers need to do to remain effective.
Here are some of the conclusions we drew.
Creating emotional resonance in advertising has always been a key tactic, and that hasn’t changed since the pre-digital era. What has changed is the manner in which this is achieved, and the consumer attitudes that underpin emotional response.
Today’s consumer has in mind a long history of advertising, and is constantly bombarded with marketing messages via a much broader set of channels than they once were, creating a sense of brand fatigue. In short, consumers are tired of being marketed at, and marketers need to work harder to overcome this sense of cynicism. Some of the less-than subtle triggers of yesteryear, such as the maxim that ‘sex sells’, today can evoke this cynicism and must be handled with care.
Marketers face a potential uphill struggle. Almost a third of consumers state that they don’t think anything would make them respond positively to an ad. Yet elsewhere, ‘making me laugh’ was found to be a popular prompt in moving consumers from emotion to action. The modern consumer doesn’t want to be overtly or obviously ‘called to action’, he wants authentic content that engages on a personal level.
‘Classic’ ads of the 70s, 80s and 90s form part of the very cultural landscape that makes modern consumers so cynical. In order to generate emotional appeal, modern marketers have to step the sophistication of the messaging in their ads up a notch, and deliver those messages in a more tailored and targeted way.
More broadly, the way in which consumers react to adverts has moved on
Today’s consumer expects more from ads than an appeal to their basic emotions. In the case of charities, ‘tugging on the heartstrings’ and invoking a feeling of guilt was very effective in the 70s and 80s. Now, consumers feel manipulated by such tropes. They’ve been ‘done’ and are ‘known’, and are therefore less effective.
Instead, amidst a groundswell of active self-publishing, consumers are lending their loyalty to advertising with a feeling of ‘authenticity’. Organic content that speaks to consumers on an authentic level, and which gains attention due to peer preference and sharing, stands in contrast to the prescriptive marketing of yesteryear.
Personalisation: The age of the big splash is over
In the 70s, 80s and 90s, it was sufficient to plough your resources into relatively few media – TV, print, outdoor and maybe radio, for the main. It was easier to produce a single ‘big event’ advert. Today’s consumers must be influenced numerous times across numerous points-of-interaction.
Personalisation, leading to the accurate delivery of multiple, smaller moments-of-truth, has become critical. And with these multiple channels, inconsistency is a potential pitfall – 51% of UK consumers have indicated that they would be frustrated if they saw different offers from the same brand across multiple channels.
Personalisation offers limitless opportunities, but also additional complexity, and marketers, more than ever now need access to high-quality data in order to influence consumer behaviour.
Personalisation also encounters resistance. 37% of consumers state that they are not happy for brands to use what they know about them to send better and more relevant marketing offers. Many modern consumers, already bombarded by plentiful, inaccurate advertising, default where possible to a ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’ model.
However, this is more due to the poor results that consumers have seen from personalisation to-date than the actual process itself. Where personalisation draws a consumers’ attention to something they actually want, (an offer, a coupon, a product suggestion, etc), the trade-off suddenly becomes worth it.
Interestingly, the group that presents the biggest challenge for modern marketers is the older generations. Millennials are more amenable to personalisation, as long as in return it offers them a more streamlined brand experience.
The modern marketer must understand how to achieve cut-through using multiple channels
Although cross-platform behaviour is most readily associated with millennials, the truth is consumers of every age are increasingly using multiple communication and media channels. Marketers naturally need to deliver an omni-channel approach. And in doing so, create a unified ‘brand world’, combining the touch points across all devices in order to meaningfully influence the consumer. This must range from TV to the online and in-store experience.
In such a fragmented advertising landscape, navigability is also hugely important. If content is hidden behind a labyrinth of website pages, content and display ads, consumers will not engage sufficiently or ‘join the dots’ enough to recognise that consistent brand experience.
For the consumers and marketers the main thing for maintaining a good marketing business is to manage a good server, without a functional network connection you won’t be able to work as you should, or as for the customers buy online and find the products fast enough. Checking your internet connection is a must, and if you happen to have any type of technical issue you need to look for professional guidance to keep your marketing strategy and brand on track.
People buy from people, but for brands looking to reach millions of consumers the key challenge becomes replicating, as far as possible, that personal touch and positive emotional response across multiple channels. High-quality creative content is as important as ever it was, but with this in place marketers can only hope to create personal, positive brand affinity through high-quality data, the right tools, and an informed and considered multichannel strategy.
Personalisation and loyalty are key to the success of brands on the high street, according to new research out today, commissioned by Tangent Snowball. However, they are also the largest threat to brands if they over-step the mark, with just under half of respondents stating they don’t want to be addressed on a first-name basis.
The research, which investigated the relationship we hold with different sectors of the high street and the future of the high street as a whole, revealed a huge difference between the sexes, including:
The research also revealed some surprising results when it comes to those born in the 1990s:
Steve Grout (left), CEO, Tangent Snowball, said: “The results of our research will surprise many, I’m sure. Personalisation has been one of the biggest buzzwords in the industry over the past decade, but our research shows that, in fact, personalisation is a huge risk for brands.
“No sector is immune; all of them need to make sure that they’re not being overly familiar with consumers and are actually delivering the service, experience and loyalty programme that is expected of them.
“The challenge will be to know where to draw the line, which requires constant discussion with consumers, something that not many brands seem suitably set up to do without over-stepping the mark.”
In today’s competitive marketplace, e-commerce companies need to capture a 360-degree picture of their potential consumers and create a single customer view (SCV), says Neil Capel.