christmas-decorations

 

The top priority for your team during the holiday season is instant and effective customer support. From live chat, chat automation flows, and AI-powered chatbots to email, phone, and messenger integrations, a brand must offer real-time assistance to reduce bounce and abandonment rates.

 

Ahead of the holidays, perform a tune up and testing of your technology. Validate hosting services, optimize web speed and performance, establish advanced security measures & firewalls, revisit compliance, governance, and privacy protocols, perform load testing, confirm scheduled back ups, and monitor data in real-time.

 

Continue reading “Customer Experience – Holiday Mastery Checklist”

Digital Pattern with Tagline

 

Ever wonder why some businesses achieve incredible digital ROI while others struggle?

Leveraging the right strategies and targeting the right audience can make all the difference.

Here’s what I’ve learned from years in the field:

Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM)

By analyzing the performance of different marketing channels, businesses can allocate their budgets more effectively. Did you know that companies using MMM see a 15-20% increase in ROI? (Source: Nielsen).

AI-Driven Paid Media

AI can optimize ad spend and target the right audiences. According to eMarketer, businesses using AI-driven advertising report a 30% boost in conversion rates.

Advertising Attribution

Understanding which channels drive conversions allows for better investment decisions. Real-time data helps in tweaking campaigns for maximum impact.

Video Marketing

Videos can increase user engagement significantly. HubSpot reports that 72% of customers prefer learning about a product through video.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

Small tweaks in your website’s design and user experience can lead to big gains. Companies that prioritize CRO achieve a 223% increase in ROI on average. (Source: HubSpot)

Imagine a 1% increase in conversion rates leading to thousands more in revenue annually.

I had a client struggling with low ROI despite heavy investment in digital marketing. By implementing these strategies, they saw a 40% increase in revenue within six months.

It’s time to redefine the future of the digital experience – enough with cookie-cutter ‘best practices’ and old school tactics. 

Brands must be agile, bold, adaptive, cutting-edge, technology centric, consumer obsessed, and they need to lean in with an innovative mindset.

Stay tuned for more insights on maximizing your digital marketing & ecommerce potential.

Digital Transformation

 

In today’s fast-paced and technology-driven world, businesses need to pursue strategies to enhance their customer experience and stay ahead of the competition. One game-changing solution that has revolutionized the way companies interact with their customers is the implementation of automation and artificial intelligence (AI). By leveraging these technologies, businesses can streamline their processes, augment online engagement, personalize their interactions, and deliver exceptional customer service.

These technologies have pioneered a new kind of relationship between brands and their audience, making it possible to tailor messaging, boost valuable engagement, and make interactions more personal. One of the most significant advantages of using automation and AI tools is the improvement of cross-channel customer experience by focusing on aspects such as campaign sequencing, targeted ads, dynamic content, and more.

  1. Cross Channel Customer Experience

Overview

Cross-channel customer experience refers to the ability to provide a consistent and seamless customer journey across multiple channels, including email, social media, websites, and mobile apps. By integrating these channels, businesses can ensure that customers receive a cohesive message, regardless of the platform they use.

Benefits

  • Consistent messaging across multiple channels: Automation and AI tools help brands maintain a congruous voice and message across all touchpoints. This consistency builds trust and reinforces brand identity, making it easier for customers to recognize and engage with the brand.
  • Increased customer satisfaction: When customers receive a seamless experience across channels, their sense of confidence grows and their satisfaction level will rise. This leads to higher retention rates and a greater likelihood of customers recommending the brand to others.
  1. Campaign Sequencing

Overview

Campaign sequencing involves creating a series of marketing messages that are delivered to customers in a specific order. This strategy ensures that customers receive the right message at the right time, guiding them through the customer journey in a structured manner.

Benefits

  • Streamlined marketing efforts: Automation tools can manage and execute campaigns automatically, saving time and resources. This allows marketers to focus on strategy and creativity rather than manual tasks.
  • Improved campaign performance: By leveraging AI, businesses can analyze customer behavior and adjust campaign sequences in real-time, leading to better engagement and conversion rates.

Continue reading “Game-Changing Benefits of Automation and AI for Transforming the Customer Experience: Top 8 Reasons to Implement”

Industry and data analytics concept.

 

 

For many organizations today, revenue is generated across multiple channels, thus requiring a wide range of impactful strategies to capture attention, trigger actions, and prompt transactions.

DIGITAL STRATEGIES

Ecommerce relies on a foundation of engagement, interest, and motivation. The digital experience must be seamless, enduring, relevant, and compelling. Any amount of brand ‘clutter’, excess visual distractions, or cumbersome navigation will adversely impact conversions.

Enhance the Buying Experience
  • Seamless User Interface
  • Interactive Features
  • Distinctive Experiences
  • Compelling and Emotive Messaging
  • Simplified Checkout Process
Personalization and Communication
  • Targeted Content
  • Tailored Product Selection
  • Straightforward Loyalty Program
  • Useful Live Chat and Chatbots
Build Trust, Social Proof, and Community
  • Authentic Customer Reviews
  • Polls and Surveys
  • User-Generated Content
  • Media Engagement
  • Community Events
  • Genuine Care and Service
  • Customer Appreciation
  • Transparent and Honest Communication
Digital Marketing Checklist
  • Personalize Emails
  • Engage through Social Media Posts
  • Optimize Content
  • Curate Resources
  • Send Abandoned Cart Reminders
  • Share New Product Notices
  • Encourage Buying with Special Promotions
  • Trigger Interest with Exclusive Offers
  • Prompt Action with Limited Time Deals
  • Create Targeted Ads
  • Produce Compelling Videos and Rich Media
  • Perform Search Engine Optimization
  • Express Appreciation
  • Tender Surprise and Delight

SOCIAL STRATEGIES

Social media is a mammoth reservoir for audience engagement and social commerce. Here are some winning strategies to influence, inspire, and instigate action by potential customers.

Discover and Delve into Your Audience
  • Platforms are Unique – focus on the channels that your audience interacts with the most.
  • Audience Insights – leverage social media analytics to understand demographics, interests, and what content resonates with the audience.
Content Reigns Supreme
  • High Quality, Insightful, and Informative Content
  • Creative Messaging that Stirs Curiosity
  • Captivating Visuals
  • Influential Taglines and Quotes
  • Persuasive Call to Actions
  • Powerful Storytelling
Symbiotic Engagement
  • Respond Promptly
  • Ask Questions
  • Demonstrate Care for Feedback
  • Spark a Positive Dialogue
  • Hold Interactive Contests and Giveaways
Social Commerce Strategies
  • Shoppable Posts
  • Discoverable Products
  • Live Shopping Events
  • Real Time Deals
  • Influencer Marketing
Additional Tips
  • Encourage customers to share their experiences with your brand
  • Utilize targeted social media advertising to reach a wider audience
  • Track performance and adapt your strategy based on what entices your audience

Continue reading “Digital Marketing Strategy Roadmap (Part 2)”

digital blue light

 

For a brand to grow online sales, expand market reach, and increase website traffic, a blended technical/creative/data-driven digital strategy is a powerful means to achieve critical goals. The roadmap requires performance-based initiatives, well-planned campaigns, iterative testing, and an agile methodology.

Important First Stage

  • Define primary success factors
  • Craft a precise and unique value proposition
  • Identify key performance indicators
  • Pinpoint target markets

Establishing the business objective gives you a ‘North Star’ before strategy deployment. For each initiative, be thoughtful and explicit in forming the measurable results that you want the team to reach.

Sidebar – be ambitious with your objectives! Now is not the time to be conventional or cautious. 

A Sample of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

  • Capture more of the market share [how to outperform the competition]
  • Increase organic traffic to the website and social channels [how to better attract the audience]
  • Enhance customer engagement [how to create resonating experiences]
  • Reduce bounce rate [how to demonstrate value and relevancy to compel interest]
  • Improve conversion rate [how to enhance the customer journey to trigger action]
  • Raise incremental sales [how to effectively position products to motivate a purchase]
  • Consistency with monthly revenue rate [how to decrease churn and maintain a steady flow of new visitors]

When creating strategies – aim for impact and efficiency.  Be willing to forego strategies that cannot offer these requisites. 

Digital Marketing Initiatives

  • Content marketing
  • Digital channels
  • Search engine optimization (SEO)
  • Paid advertising
  • Social media
  • Influencer marketing
  • Affiliate programs
  • Video marketing
  • Rich media
  • Events and community engagement
  • Email marketing

Continue reading “Digital Marketing Strategy Roadmap (Part 1)”

digital growth and performance chart

 

Consumers make decisions based upon their own evaluation path, which is influenced by timing, imperativeness, sentiments, and risk & reward triggers, along with factors of price, quality, and value. Empower your audience to organically assess your offerings with their own trusted sense of significance – this helps to prevent feelings of misgiving, skepticism, or pressure.

A business must demonstrate their intention to get it right through relevant and enriching experiences. Across channels, the brand should engage, share, interact, and applaud. Provide insight, information, and inspiration that compels curiosity and interest.

Best Practices

  • Create a cross-channel strategy
  • Curate consistent messaging across touch points
  • Motivate engagement, interaction, and conversion
  • Messaging for 6 I’s: influence, intrigue, insight, inspiration, interest, and information
  • Persuade, don’t sell or pitch
  • Repurpose evergreen content
  • Utilize rich media and visual assets to heighten engagement
  • Make it easy to interact with the brand
  • Automate workflows and trigger campaigns across platforms
  • Be tactical on cadence, timing, and experiences
  • Optimize for relevancy and value
  • Use audience segmentation and customer journey mapping to maximize conversions

Continue reading “The Pathway of Digital Performance”

Digital-Performance- Arrow-Graph

 

The motivation to purchase online continues to rapidly rise. Is your business positioned to take advantage of digital commerce? 

Here are some questions to weigh:

 

  • Are the value and distinct benefits of your products or services expressed clearly and concisely?
  • Are you effectively customizing campaigns to tap the unique buying intent of each customer segment?
  • Is brand messaging being consistently shaped to inspire, inform, and persuade the audience?
  • How creative, impactful, and informative is the visual experience of your brand?
  • Do you tell an authentic and compelling story which your audience can relate to?
  • Does the website’s interface and user experience drive conversions?
  • How well have you tested and optimized content, graphics, elements, functions, navigation, information architecture, performance, and mobile design?
  • Can a visitor seamlessly and intuitively search for products or information on your website?
  • Is your monetization strategy being executed across channels with the right cadence to influence customer action?

 

While seemingly simple, there is a complex formula to digital commerce which is an art (creativity, content, and innovation) and science (automation, testing, and technology). Being strategic, agile, and tenacious in both interface and infrastructure are essential to building online sales. 

Continue reading “Optimize Digital Performance & Monetization”

digital growth graphs

 

In the digital space, the drivers for online revenue success are the following:

Axiom #1
– Be flexible. The only constant is change.
– Perpetually pursue market positioning.
– Adapt to shifting customer needs, intent, and sentiments.
– Hone and master your brand story. And creatively tell it.
– Curate highly targeted campaigns, messaging, and experiences.

Axiom #2
These are the resolute Essentials
– Clearly defined, measurable goals.
– Well planned, data-informed strategies.
– Marketing automation for efficiency and effectiveness.

These are the fluid Essentials
– Agile tactics that will evolve and change based on performance.
– A testing regimen that is iterative and quantifiable.
– A penetrative approach to capture attention, persuade, and influence.

Axiom #3
– Utilize data to understand customer behaviors, gain insights, and forecast buying trajectories.
– Be solutions-driven with customers and solve problems in ways that trigger actions.
– Troubleshoot lagging sales performance and explore untapped sales terrain.
– Diligently pilot highly organized project workflows and meticulous tracking.

Final Thoughts
– Be careful to not fall back to familiarity, norms, and comfort.
– Challenge, ask questions, rethink, and be ready to pivot.
– Empower people and architect a culture that has a collective mission, curiosity, care, and customer-centricity.
– Transformation requires innovative thinking, a learning mindset, gut-level motivation, and endless inspiration.
– Digital savvy means to be forward-thinking, misfire-tolerant, and future-ready.

digital strategy and innovation

 

Attentive, attuned, and analytically inspired digital leaders closely monitor sales and cost metrics, qualitative and quantitative stats, and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). More broadly referred to as ‘data’.

There are known challenges with data collection, preparation, and validation including:

  • Data overload
  • Data stability
  • Assemble and prioritization data
  • Preventing omission of key data points
  • Organization of data to make it usable
  • Taking advantage of data visualization for optimal consumption
  • Gaining insights that can be tested
  • Craft a roadmap for maximum output based on data
  • Pivoting within a plan or shifting an objective due to data outcomes

Prevailing strategies are architected using business intelligence – this is owned data, sourced from customers, sales, performance, operations, marketing, social media, and industry trends.

Types of Data

Structured, Semi-Structured, and Unstructured

Transactional

Hierarchical and Ordered

Text and Meta

Qualitative and Quantitative

The “V” elements of data are variety, volume, value, velocity, veracity, and variability.   When handling data, pay attention to each of these characteristics.

[Step 1]  Utilize a Powerful Digital Dashboard

Creating an impactful plan of action starts with data visualization from charts, pies, tables, and other graphic representations of data.

When selecting a dashboard tool, here is a checklist of key features:

  • User-friendly, high performing interface
  • Intuitive navigation menu and filters
  • Contemporary cards, charts, and forms
  • Wide variety of pre-set templates
  • Multiple layout options
  • Fast-loading import / export feature (multi-file upload is a bonus)
  • Customized views for different types of users
  • Easy widgets to add new tables and elements to a page
  • Tooltips, bookmarks, notifications, and alerts
  • Calendar, email, and to-do list features
  • Data authentication and identification of errors
  • Editing tools
  • Suite of reports with automation capability
  • Color, font, and background controls
  • Interactive with popular platforms and plugins
  • Cross-browser compatible
  • Mobile friendly and fully responsive

Continue reading “Mastering the Deluge of Data”

digital network

 

Digital advertising is a dominant strategy to grow online sales, which is evident by over $65B annual ad spend on just Facebook and Google in the U.S.

The advertising landscape can be perplexing in its scope, channels, models, and tactics.

Along with value-based offers, compelling copy, resonating visuals, and relevancy for the audience, the most critical factors for creating ROI-driven campaigns include the following:

(1) Crafting strategies based upon extensive competitive analysis, keyword research, and use of business intelligence (BI).

(2) Machine learning for understanding trends and forecasting.

(3) Sufficient budget to gain key insights on consumer interactions with your ads.

(4) An iterative approach to each campaign to test ad effectiveness and to measure performance.

Programmatic advertising should be a primary component of your overall marketing automation strategy.  There are significant tools that support these efforts – some of the most popular are Salesforce, Marketo, Adobe’s Customer Experience platform, along with a host of other solutions on the market today.

Why a DMP?

A DMP (data management platform) aggregates data to develop customer profiles which are then utilized for targeted advertising.

Insights garnered from audience data are drivers for enhanced engagement and more personalized and relevant cross-channel experiences.

Continue reading “Digital Advertising Performance Insights”