Forrester: Mobile Consumers Want It NOW

Considering integrating mobile into your marketing strategy? Well, that consideration period is short and getting shorter, according to new research teased April 18 at Forrester’s Forum for Marketing Leaders in Los Angeles.

Roughly 22% of the U.S. online population are either heading into the mobile mind shift full-tilt right now or have already made the leap. “Tablets and phones are central to how people are now experiencing the world,” said Forrester analysts Josh Bernoff, SVP of idea development. “Mobile in a Pavlovian way is creating expectations that marketers must now deliver on.”

Defined as “the expectation that any desired information or service is available, on any appropriate device, in context, at a person’s moment of need,” the mobile mind shift is about more than apps and the mobile Internet—it’s about truly discerning what consumers want and understanding the fact that if those same consumers don’t get it on their own terms, they’ll blithely move onto the competitor.

In duo of complementary reports—“The Mobile Mind Shift Index” and “Marketing Strategy for the Mobile Mind Shift”—Bernoff and senior analyst Melissa Parrish discuss the “hows” and the “what next’s?” of identifying and handing consumers that want what they want when they want it.

Bernoff developed the Mobile Mind Shift Index (MMSI) by examining three mobile engagement drivers—device ownership, frequency of access, and diversity of locations—to create six consumer categories on a scale of zero to 100, from least engaged to most connected. Essentially, devices + access + locations = MMSI.

Those with an MMSI score of 40 or less—“disconnecteds” (MMSI below 20); “dabblers” (MMSI between 20 and 30); and “roamers” (MMSI between 30 and 40)—are considered to be “unshifted segments,” which currently represents about 78% of consumers. So-called “adapters” (MMSI between 40 and 50); “immersers” (MMSI between 50 and 60); and “perpetuals” (MMSI of 60 and above) already have extremely high mobile expectations that are only going to continue to grow.

Demographics-wise, the MMSI breakdowns aren’t altogether surprising. For example, disconnecteds, for whom their “cell phones” aren’t a centerpiece of their lives—“they still think phones are for talking,” quipped Bernoff”—make up about 41% of the U.S. population and are usually 45 or older. The youngest mobile users are the most demanding segment, with the highest index percentage—nearly 40% of consumers ages 18 to 24 are in the top three categories for usage and expectations. But it’s no one single attribute that’s most important: age, affluence, and gender are all significant factors to consider in figuring out how far to take your mobile strategy.

The pertinent question now is: How can marketers, as Bernoff put it, determine if their customers are “demanding mobile and how urgent is it that you live up to that expectation?”

According to Bernoff, marketers whose customers have an MMSI of 35 or higher need to get their strategies in gear urgently, while those whose customers have an MMSI of 25 or under will see those customers beginning to demand greater mobile utility within the next year. It’s essential to determine where your customers are on the spectrum; a fanatically mobile-first strategy doesn’t make sense if your customers just aren’t there yet.

But it’s also important not to get mobile blinders on. A mobile strategy is about more than apps—it’s about customer experience, Parrishsaid. It’s also about utility. While mobile adoption is approaching 50% penetration in the U.S., of adults exposed to mobile advertising, only a quarter find it to be inventive or creative, 28% find it totally irrelevant, and nearly half ignore it altogether.

For Parrish, a self-described perpetual, the new marketing imperative is this: “You need to shorten the distance between what perpetually connected consumers want and what they get, and you do this through utility-based experience—but not just through improving your messaging and advertising.”

If you want to hook perpetuals specifically, you need to give them higher quality interactions and faster service.

“Perpetuals value experiences that save them time, hassle, and money, and these expectations are very high,” Parrish said. “So you don’t just have a new strategy to deal with, you have a mission if you choose to accept it—though you actually don’t really have a choice.”

There are five basic ways to best serve the perpetual market with high-service utility, Parrish said.

1. Become a trusted agent like Mercedes Benz, whose mbrace concierge app will do everything from sending you driving direction to making your dinner reservations.

2. Uncover and then solve a customer problem you didn’t previously no existed, like UPS and its My Choice program, which lets users reroute packages and reschedule deliveries so they no longer have to deal with missed deliveries or rain-soaked packages on their doorstep.

3. Get out of your customer’s way like Starbucks is doing through its partnership with Square, which allows customers to pay for coffee with their mobile device.

4. Automate mundane tasks like the Google Now app, which does more than remind users about upcoming appointments—it tells them exactly when to leave to get there on time and provides directions based on real-time traffic and transportation conditions.

5. Fulfill a need even your consumers didn’t know they had, like Krispy Kreme does with its Hot Light Locator app, which alerts users when they’re in proximity of fresh donuts.

What marketers need to do is add value to the mobile experience, because “it’s not just expectations that are shifting,” Parrish said. “This also means perpetually connected consumers are turning to technology for unique and awfully specific reasons.”

Both Forrester reports will be officially released on April 19.

via www.dmnews.com

marzo 13, 2013octubre 22, 2014

Email Marketing: puedes permitirte ser relevante?

Mientras los e-marketers frecuentemente hablan sobre la relevancia en los programas de email, no muchos hacen algo sobre ello. Las investigaciones muestran que incluso en las más grandes y sofisticadas compañías, las campañas de email frecuentemente son conducidas por estrategias de le-acierto-o-no-le-acierto.

La relevancia es crítica para crear emails exitosos dirigidos por el cliente. De otra manera sólo estás generando basura -mensajes basura, ofertas basura, compromiso basura, resultados basura y quizás, incluso una reputación basura. Pero eso no es todo; los emails dirigidos y enfocados pobremente son caros. Hay un costo operacional por lanzar campañas; cuando los dólares se invierten en emails con poca o ninguna esperanza de éxito, tu retorno sobre la inversión (ROI) se deteriora muy rápidamente.

La relevancia que se lleva al extremo, sin embargo, puede ser igual de cara. No sólo hay costos por contenido y creatividad a medida que segmentas y perfilas tus clientes, sino que sin una planificación sabia y ajustada, los programas que generas acarrean el mismo riesgo de entregar el mensaje equivocado al cliente equivocado.

Optimizar la inversión de tu empresa en email marketing, entonces, requiere una aproximación verdaderamente estratégica. Necesitas apalancar múltiples fuentes de datos en un esfuerzo progresivo e incluso científico que continuamente mire el ROI. Debe balancearse y coordinarse tu «inversión en relevancia» con el valor de vida útil del cliente para producir resultados máximos.

Tres principios claves entran en juego con virtualmente todo esfuerzo de email marketing altamente relevante y costoefectivo. Ellos son:

1. Las cosas fáciles primero. En las campañas de email marketing es esencial que comiences grande. En otras palabras, primero ve por los segmentos de mercado más grandes, targetea a tus mejores clientes, y envíales ofertas que tengan el atractivo más amplio posible. Hay buenas chances de que un cupón con 30 por ciento de descuento atraerá a un montón de gente. Envíaselo a un amplio rango de clientes actuales y potenciales y vas a conseguir un montón de ventas e información muy útil sobre los clientes.

Recién después de hacer una segmentación inicial de tu base debes comenzar a explorar iniciativas más granulares. La segmentación frecuentemente es una extensión de las relaciones con el cliente. Los prospectos se mueven a través de las fases de adquisición para llegar a ser clientes, conversos, leales y de última influenciadores para tu producto o servicio, cada fase debe ser acompañada por mensajes y una llamada a la acción que fortalezca la relación y edifique ventas.

Dentro de cada fase, los emails también pueden ser disparados por acciones específicas. Digamos que un cliente acaba de comprar tus speakers de audio de desktop para usar en la PC. Hay buenas chances de que el cliente esté armando un nuevo sistema de desktop, indicando que los mensajes sobre otros accesorios para PC pueden ser bienvenidos.

Si eres cuidadoso para usar la perspicacia y la moderación, virtualmente cualquier acción tomada -o no tomada- por el consumidor puede ser un disparador para una oferta segmentada. Carritos de compra abandonados, compras de primera vez, y períodos de inactividad son apropiados para enviar ofertas, bienvenidas de clientes y promociones de recuperación de clientes. Mientras mantengas en mente el mantra «la cosas fáciles primero», es muy probable que mejores la eficiencia de cada email que envíes.

2. Los tests son una buena cosa. Variaciones, disparadores, y eventos temporizados son todos facetas de la segmentación. Para usarlos costoefectivamente necesitas testear tus ideas antes de ponerlas frente a una audiencia más amplia.

Los testeos funcionan mejor cuando combinas obejtivos de marketing con la técnica de testeo apropiada. El simple testeo A/B de un concepto creativo es bueno para descubrir puntos de vistas amplios y profundos. El testeo multivariado, por otro lado, es más apropiado cuando estás buscando identificar tendencias o puntos de vista granulares entre segmentos de clientes específicos.

Una de las maneras de incrementar la probabilidade de éxito de tus esfuerzos de testeo es crear personas para grupos de mercado. Las personas son clientes «idealizados» que acarrean similares necesidades y preferencias. Ellas se producen mediante la agregación de información a lo largo de un amplio rango de parámetros, y son luego analizadas para descubrir similares rasgos y comportamientos. Una vez que tienes establecidas personas específicas, se hace mucho más fácil generar creatividad con el tono, el mensaje y la oferta correctos.

3. Automatiza el proceso. En casi todas las operaciones de email marketing, los recursos de staff son limitados. Muchas veces, de hecho, el departamento de email marketing es una sola persona. Ya sea que envíes 50.000 emails por mes o 50 millones, la automatización frecuentemente puede ayudar a reducir costos e incrementar la relevancia.

La tecnología de email, utilizada internamente o mediante un proveedor de servicios de email, puede ayudarte a integrar tu información de e-commerce con los medios sociales, la analítica Web, y datos de móviles para mejorar la relevancia de tus campañas. Otras disciplinas también pueden entrar en el juego, tales como las plantillas de email que pueden llenarse con docenas de líneas de asunto, textos del cuerpo, imágenes y ofertas diferentes.

Es interesante notar que el mundo de los grandes datos, por todo lo que promete, puede usarse para descubrir puntos de vista que pueden ser útiles, pero también considerados como intrusivos por el consumidor. Los marketers siempre deben ser cuidadosos para balancear sus esfuerzos, de manera que la salud de largo plazo de la relación con el cliente esté en el primer plano.

Tal como está resultando, la nueva era del marketing guiado por los datos ha sido tanto un menos como un más para las compañías y consumidores. Los consumidores realizan que los marketers tienen la habilidad para targetear sus emails con extrema precisión -y como consecuencia, tienen poca paciencia con los mensajes que consideran simplemente como spam. Mediante el uso de las herramientas y técnicas del email marketing efectivamente tú puedes convertirte en mucho más que otro ítem en la bandeja de entradas; tú tienes el potencial de crear emails productivos, costoefectivos y relevantes que construyen relaciones y mueven la aguja de las ventas hacia el largo plazo.

Brad LaRock is VP of global customer marketing services at Digital River Inc., Vía www.dmnews.com

marzo 13, 2013octubre 22, 2014

Can You Afford to Be Relevant?

Brad LaRock, Digital River Inc.

While e-marketers often talk about relevancy in email programs, not many do anything about it. Research shows that even at the largest and most sophisticated companies, email campaigns are often driven by hit-or-miss strategies.

Relevancy is critical to creating successful customer-directed email. Otherwise you’re just generating “junk”—junk messaging, junk offers, junk engagement, junk results and, perhaps, even a junk reputation. But that’s not all; poorly directed and focused emails are expensive. There’s an operational cost to getting campaigns out the door; when dollars are invested in email with little or no hope of success, your return on investment (ROI) deteriorates very quickly.

Relevancy that is taken to extremes, however, can be just as expensive. Not only do costs for creative and content balloon as you segment and profile your customers, but without wise and accurate planning, the programs you generate carry the same risk of delivering the wrong message to the wrong customer.

Optimizing your company’s investment in email marketing, then, requires a truly strategic approach. You need to leverage multiple data sources in a progressive and even scientific effort that continually looks at ROI. It must balance and coordinate your “relevancy investment” with the lifetime value of the customer to produce maximum results.

Three key principles come into play with virtually all highly relevant and cost-effective email marketing efforts. They are:

1. Do the easy things first. In email campaigns it’s essential that you start big. In other words, first go after the biggest market segments, target your best customers, and send offers with the broadest possible appeal. Chances are good that a 30 percent off coupon is going to appeal to a lot of folks. Send it to a wide range of current and potential customers and you’re going to gather a lot of sales and useful customer information.

Only after you do an initial segmentation of your base should you begin exploring initiatives that are more granular. Segmentation is often an outgrowth of the customer relationship. As prospects move through the acquisition phases to become customers, converts, loyalists, and, ultimately, influencers for your product or service, each phase should be accompanied by messaging and a call to action that strengthens the relationship and builds sales.

Within each phase, email can also be triggered by specific actions. Say a customer has just purchased your desktop audio speakers for PC use. Chances are good that the customer is building out a new desktop system, indicating that messages about other PC accessories may be welcome.

If you’re careful to use insight and restraint, virtually any action taken—or not taken—by the consumer can be a trigger for a segmented offer. Abandoned carts, first-time purchases, and periods of inactivity are appropriate for shipping offers, customer welcomes and win-back promotions. As long as you keep the “easy things first” mantra in mind, you’re likely to improve the efficiency of each email you send.

2. Tests are a good thing. Variations, triggers, and timed events are all facets of segmentation. To use them cost-effectively, you need to test your ideas before setting them out before a wider audience.

Testing works best when you combine marketing objectives with the proper testing technique. Simple A/B testing of a creative concept is good for uncovering broad, sweeping insights. Multivariate testing, on the other hand, is more appropriate when you’re seeking to identify trends or granular insights among specific customer segments.

One of the ways to increase the likeliness of success in your testing efforts is to create personas for market groups. Personas are “idealized” customers that carry similar needs and preferences. They’re produced by aggregating information across a broad range of parameters, which is then analyzed to uncover similar traits and behaviors. Once you have specific personas established, it becomes much easier to generate creative with the right tone, message, and offer.

3. Automate the process. In nearly all email marketing operations, staff resources are limited. Many times, in fact, the email marketing department is one person. Whether you send 50,000 emails a month or 50 million, automation can often help reduce costs and increase relevancy.

Email technology, used internally or through an email service provider, can help you integrate e-commerce information with social media, Web analytics, and mobile data to improve the relevancy of your campaigns. Other disciplines can also be brought into play, such as email templates that can be populated with dozens of different subject lines, body text, images, and offers.

It’s interesting to note that the world of big data, for all its promise, can be used to uncover insights that may be useful, but also regarded as intrusive by the customer. Marketers must always be careful to balance their efforts so the long-term health of the customer relationship is at the forefront.

As it turns out, the new age of data-driven marketing has been both a minus and a plus for companies and consumers. Customers realize that marketers have the ability to target their email with extreme precision—and as a result, have little patience for messages they regard simply as spam. By using email marketing tools and techniques effectively you can become much more than another item in the inbox; you have the potential to create productive, cost-effective, and relevant emails that build relationships and move the sales needle over the long haul.

Brad LaRock is VP of global customer marketing services at Digital River Inc.

Vía www.dmnews.com