Nikki Gilliland says, “Missguided might be a relatively young brand, but over the past few years it has garnered a reputation as one of the most impressive and innovative ecommerce companies out there. Mark Leach, Head of Ecommerce at Missguided, spoke at the Festival of Marketing this week on the subject of personalisation. Focusing on how the retailer is constantly adapting to fit the desires of its target consumer, here’s a summary of what he said: Diversifying into new channels Mark began his talk by emphasising the ever-changing nature of technology. In future, it is predicted that... [...]

Jeff Rajeck says, “Personalisation is one of the hottest topics in marketing; the promise of segmenting customers into ‘markets of one’ is alluring for any brand. But the pushback from consumers is almost as strong. That feeling of being ‘watched’ may be enough for consumers to abandon a website or leave a store. So what can marketers do to get the benefits of personalisation without the backlash? To find out, Econsultancy held a roundtable event, Understanding the Customer Journey: Optimising Engagement Levels for Greater Customer Acquisition & Loyalty in Melbourne,... [...]

Jeff Rajeck says, “Personalisation is an exciting topic for marketers these days. In a 2016 Econsultancy survey, Customer Experience Maturity in Australia and New Zealand, more than two in three (69%) regional marketers said that ‘personalising customer interactions’ was ‘very important’. And in our global 2016 Digital Trends report, ‘targeting and personalization’ was the most popular response when marketers were asked about top priorities for their organisation. But what’s the reality? How much are marketers actually using personalisation? In... [...]

Nikki Gilliland says, “For the average shopper, supermarket loyalty is a thing of the past. With price and proximity being two of the most important factors in where people shop, it’s usually a case of whatever makes life easier. Waitrose, a supermarket well known for its middle class ‘essentials’, is attempting to change this attitude with a new focus on digital personalisation. Creating incentives Last year the company delved into patterns of consumer behaviour, discovering that if a customer shops online five times, their loyalty is more likely to be retained long-term. Using... [...]

Fiona Adler says, “A few weeks ago, I learned that my credit card number was part of a large data breach and that I needed to cancel it immediately. My first thought? Panic and trepidation – what if someone already charged my card? What about the companies I have recurring payments with – will they reject them and charge me fees? How do I remember all the companies with which I even have recurring payments? As all these questions entered my mind and I started questioning my loyalty to Capital One, I received the following email (pictured) explaining what I needed to do as a customer,... [...]

David Griffith-Jones says, “This article explores the difference between personalisation and contextualisation and assesses the risks and benefits. Which one is right for your business? It’s become increasingly common for brands to personalise or contextualise the digital customer experience. By optimising the online messaging for a specific audience or context, businesses avoid broadcasting the same message to ‘one and all’, making the experience more targeted and increasing sales. But which to choose? Being able to personalise or contextualise depends on the availability and use... [...]

Daniel Beulah says, “A few moments after her featured speaker session at MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2015, Shawna Dahlin, Senior Email Marketing Manager, Microsoft Store, sat down at the Media Center with MarketingSherpa Reporter Courtney Eckerle to discuss why it’s so important for marketers to recognize problems and implement changes to their email campaigns as soon as they can. Why shouldn’t marketers wait until everything is set up perfectly to implement program changes? “It’s never too soon to start being relevant to your customer,” Shawna explained. A lot of lists are “leaky... [...]

David Kirkpatrick says, “A recent MarketingSherpa B2B Newsletter case study, “Personalization Marketing: In-trial messages increased online registrations by 15% for a B2B SaaS,” covered Brainshark, a cloud-based B2B service for training, sales conversions and marketing. The case study examined how Brainshark pushed personalized messaging on users of a freemium product that offered a scaled down version of one of its main enterprise products. These messages took the form of informational and educational tips about using the freemium products and promotions for other free Brainshark products,... [...]

Roz Lemieux says, “In an era when the average consumer is bombarded with thousands of marketing messages per day, personalization has become a key way to break through the noise. And consumers are asking for it: 75% say they prefer personalized offers (Aberdeen Group), and 61% say they’re even willing to give up a degree of privacy to enable personalization (Compass Intelligence) on a continuous basis. Marketers who are not yet paying attention to the consumer preference for personalization are carelessly leaving money on the table. Personalized emails generate up to six times higher... [...]

Jami Oetting says, “You would think that personalization of content and ads would be a welcome tactic, considering how many people complain about irrelevant advertising. But many marketers are concerned about crossing the line; of being seen as “Big Brother.” And not all customers are comfortable brands using their information in this way. A study by Ipsos found that 68% of U.S. smartphone users are concerned about having their online activity tracked in order for advertisers to serve them more targeted ads.  So, how do you combat the idea that personalization is creepy?... [...]