Blog

We recently posted an article to Technorati describing the organizational change issues facing marketers as they move to market to customers across channels as opposed to within isolated silos.  The pace of change is so fast that even very large and well staffed organizations are having difficulty incorporating new channels like mobile and social media with an eye on cross channel orchestration.

Thus, this article today on eMarketer.com titled “Challenges of Cross-Channel Marketing Integration” was especially timely.  Consider this:

“…achieving marketing integration can be difficult. According to US online marketers surveyed in June by interactive marketing agency Zeta Interactive, their organizational structure was the top problem, suggesting many companies are still keeping marketing activities siloed rather than working to coordinate them. Technology and the problems of working with multiple vendors and agencies were also an issue, along with a simple lack of cross-channel expertise.”

Despite the challenges, marketers also recognize the value of cross channel marketing:

“The goals of cross-channel campaigns are ones shared by virtually all marketers. A June survey of North American retail executives by RIS found the top priorities of their cross-channel marketing efforts were to increase conversion and acquire new customers.”

The need is clear, as are the challenges.  Marketers should seek out partners who recognize both and are willing to help them achieve their cross channel dreams.

Yesterday we posted again to Technorati, this time a two part article titled “Playing to Channel Strength Key to Successful Cross Channel Marketing,” in which we describe the importance of “channel strength” in determining a winning cross channel strategy.  By “strength” I am referring to the relative benefits of various digital channels such as mobile, email and social media.  Outlined are some of the high level distinctions to consider.  In Part 2, an example of cross channel marketing in action is provided that applies to any multi location business, such as a retailer or restaurant chain.

I’m very excited to welcome Mark Rudolph as our new Vice President of Sales.

Mark is responsible for leading sales activities at Interactive Mediums, focusing IM’s products on providing impactful solutions for our customers. Mark has spent almost 20 years consulting, selling and managing technical solutions that address business problems at a variety of companies including Information Advantage, Epiphany (now Infor) and ChoiceStream. Most recently, he led the Enterprise Sales efforts at Loyalty Lab, a company that more than doubled in revenue the two years he was there.

Mark is passionate about technology, early stage companies, food and college sports. He spends most Saturdays coaching or watching his kids’ sports teams or in the fall cheering the University of Wisconsin Badgers football team with his three kids and his wonderful wife. He graduated with a degree in Industrial Engineering from UW-Madison in 1991.

This is a critical role in the evolution of our company and we’re all thrilled to start working with Mark as of today.

I couldn’t let this one slip by today and not post a comment.  As shown in research cited in this eMarketer article “Can Twitter Turn a Revenue Trickle into a Stream?,” consumers definitely want to be marketed to by the companies they follow on Twitter.  What they don’t want, as also shown, is direct messaging from the companies they follow.  These are mutually exclusive ideas.

No company who understands social media directly messages its follows attempting to push product.  However, every company who has a presence on Twitter should post offers and other incentives that link off to a web page where redemption occurs and during which other data is obtained about the customer, such as channel preferences (mobile, email?), permissions and demographics.

It’s at that point where direct messaging could make complete sense.  After all, customers want relevant offers, not blanket ones broadcasted to a Twitter feed.  By facilitating the process of connecting a social follower to a digital marketing relationship, you do your customers a favor, not a disservice.

FT5K5MUZ9U7D

Yesterday on Technorati we posted an article titled, “Moving from Multichannel to Cross Channel Marketing.” It’s all about a reality facing most organizations today; they have already implemented systems and processes, in addition to hiring a lot of people, to manage largely disconnected digital marketing efforts. So while few argue with the cross channel value proposition, even fewer may understand how to achieve the benefits given that old habits die hard.

Fortunately, emerging channels such as mobile and social are relatively new so the hurdle is lower than it otherwise might be. Still, it’s helpful to take a step back and look at how a lot of businesses can head down the path to achieving their cross channel dreams. This article outlines an example, centered on identifying, developing and targeting a segment of customers who are interested in a cross channel relationship.

Location technology is the hottest thing going in mobile marketing these days, with new “check in” style apps emerging seemingly every day. News today of a rather unique location application today here and here at first glance sounds very exciting. I say “first glance” because despite the utility of recognizing a customer upon entering a store and getting them immediately engaged in a (potentially) relevant shopping experience, the fact only iPhone users can participate limits the potential reach of the program.

Not only does reach suffer, but participating retailers must have hardware installed in each location that triggers the “check in” process. Limited reach, combined with hardware requirements, makes app-based location programs such as this one far less desirable than they otherwise could be.

To that end, the better solution is one that all customers may participate in while preserving the ability to create the most relevant offers and communications. Especially if the goal is rewarding loyal customers, it’s a shame to exclude customers based on the device they happen to be carrying.

Today on Technorati we posted an article titled, “What’s Your Cross Channel Customer Segment Worth?” in which we connect the dots among smartphone demographics, a business’ most valued customers and the utility of cross channel preferences and permissions for segmentation.

The bottom line?  Customers who engage with you via multiple channels represent your most valued segment.  Identifying them, developing their loyalty, and growing their size are becoming the focus of the digital marketer.  And cross channel marketing technology platforms will make it all happen quickly, efficiently and with accountability.  Read more here.

That’s what popped into my head upon reading an article on Brandweek.com today titled “Why Companies ‘Click’ on Twitter.”  The article title is misleading, because it’s about results of a survey conducted by email marketer ExactTarget into the reasons consumers follow brands on Twitter – not why companies host a presence on the social networking service.

Based on the research, it looks like a lot of consumers follow brands on Twitter to participate in a marketing relationship.  Consider this excerpt:

The opportunity to save some money was also prominent among followers’ motives for keeping up with a company via Twitter: 31 percent said they follow a company “to receive discounts and promotions,” 30 percent “to get updates on upcoming sales” and 28 percent “to get a ‘freebie’ (e.g., free samples, coupon).”

Like any channel, it’s not all about marketing, but the research suggests consumers view Twitter like they do any digital channel like email or mobile.

Brands fixated on Twitter as a listening platform to discern positive or negative attitudes among its followers should take advantage of the unique opportunity to develop their “socially loyal” customers – by attempting to understand their preferences and ultimately obtain permission to provide relevant and timely offers – not blanket, anonymous discounts or coupons.

Some experts were surprised yesterday by IBM’s acquisition of CRM leader Unica for nearly $500 milllion, given Big Blue’s recent purchase of Coremetrics, a company with similar technology.

Reading between the lines (or actually the press release) though, the acquisition was less about analytic overlap than it was around cross channel marketing execution.  Consider this statement from the release:

“IBM is assembling transformational capabilities to help clients create this consistent and relevant cross-channel brand experience to promote customer loyalty and satisfaction.”

Unica was recently named by Forrester Research among the leaders in a somewhat new category of software, called Cross Channel Campaign Management, or CCCM.  IBM’s move will likely trigger acquisitions of other established CCCM software vendors, the vast majority of which sell traditional on-premise solutions (as opposed to Software-as-a Service, or SaaS).

As these hugely in-demand cross channel offerings get rolled up into the large enterprise technology platform companies, they will become less accessible to the vast majority of businesses who stand to reap the rewards of CCCM.

Look for CCCM delivered via a SaaS model to be among the most in demand this year and into the foreseeable future — they will be easier to buy, offer a lower Total Cost of Ownership, plus advanced features and capabilities can be rolled into a multi-tenant architecture to the benefit of all customers much more quickly than upgrades made to custom on-premise implementations.  Given the speed of change in digital channels, especially mobile and social, this will be critical to CCCM success.

The channels available to marketers to reach their customers are varied, but it appears all are converging on mobile devices.  Text messaging and Twitter are native to mobile, while email, mobile web browsing and social networking are increasingly seeing usage on handhelds.  As we’ve been recently reporting, the marketing battleground for consumer mindshare will be the small screen more so than any other.

Today on eMarketer, an article titled “Email Dominates Mobile Web Time” cites Nielsen research showing that email is among the most common activities of mobile internet users.  Social networking is not far behind:

“Social should continue to make gains in the mobile realm, however.  comScore reported it was the fastest-growing mobile internet activity between 2009 and 2010, rising 80% in usage, while email grew more slowly.  Bridge Ratings predicted in June that mobile social networking would grow twice as quickly as email during the next 12 months.”

It’s going to be ineffective for marketers to target consumers in isolated, stand alone channels like mobile messaging, email and social media with all these activities taking place on mobile devices, most of the time.  Orchestrating marketing efforts intelligently across channels, in consideration of consumer preferences and permissions, will be key to success.