Barry Levine says, “San Jose, California-based Immersion has launched its Haptic Ad Service for the development, management and tracking of mobile ads that provide physical feedback, like car engine vibration, thunder rumble or horse hooves’ impacts. VP of Marketing and Product Management Todd Whitaker told me that this is the first time for feel-based mobile advertising at scale, something that cannot be offered in, say, TV or laptop/desktop ads. He added that while there are other one-off haptic ads, “we’re not aware of any competitor” offering such a service. Examples: shaking... [...]

Jim Yu says, “Digital dominates modern life. From smartwatches to home-monitoring systems, we find ourselves turning to the internet and digital connections with increasing frequency. Companies increasingly rely on chatbots when dealing with customers, and a growing number of professionals turn to digital assistants to help them remain organized. These connections change how we as consumers communicate with each other and how we make purchases, and they even influence our opinions and decision-making. The impact of this disruption on the customer journey Just as digital is having a dramatic... [...]

Jacob Baadsgaard says, “Often, live chat is viewed as a customer service tool — or, even worse, a pesky sales pop-up. In my opinion, though, while live chat can be used for both of those purposes, it can also be used for so much more. Think about it: people love to buy from companies and people that they feel connected to. That’s why content is such a great marketing tool. It helps people get to know your business, build positive associations with your company and, hopefully, become a loyal customer. But what if there was a way to squeeze even more leads and sales out of your content? After... [...]

Brent Sleeper says, “It’s self-evident that designing and delivering a product or service that your customers want to use is the best route to business success. But the way marketers help companies get there has changed dramatically in recent years, as products and services increasingly live in the cloud of web and mobile apps. There was a time — not so long ago, really — when marketers and product managers operated in very different spheres. Product managers built stuff. Marketers sold it. Of course, that’s a simplification of an interrelated relationship between marketers and product... [...]

Barry Levine says, “Oracle, which has been busily adding enhancements to its Data Management Platform (DMP), is out with a new one. Marketers employing Audience Builder in the Marketing Cloud’s DMP can now self-select the device ID for targeting. In the past year, the company has also added built-in DMP tools for data ingestion, customer audience creation, self-integration for outside partners and integration with its A/B tester, Maxymiser. If a customer or would-be customer owns a smartphone, a tablet and a desktop computer, Oracle’s ID Graph manages their single identity across those... [...]

Josh Manion says, “With the holidays rapidly approaching, marketers are busy finalizing plans to engage buyers and capture share of market. But what happens when the best-laid plans go awry as the team attempts to optimize the customer journey without the ability to identify unique buyers across digital devices? We talk glibly about stitching data across channels and devices to reveal the customer story at each touch point. As marketers, we want to launch campaigns and engage buyers from moment to moment as they click into digital ads, search our websites, open our mobile apps and otherwise... [...]

David Fothergill says, “Marketing attribution continues to provoke many discussions, theories and debates these days. As stated in the intro to Christi Olson’s recent Search Engine Land column, “Proper attribution modeling is one of the biggest challenges facing marketers today.” Along with difficulties caused by holes in data (such as connecting user journeys across devices), the oversimplification of traditional first- and last-click models is highlighted. These models fall into a class of “heuristic” rules. A heuristic, by its nature, is a simplification of problem to more... [...]

Travis Wright says, “Innovation is martech’s currency — and it requires constant change. Keeping up with all the latest tools to make your brand compelling so that it resonates with your audience can be difficult, if not impossible. To help you optimize your martech strategies, I’ve compiled a list of 11 of the hottest technologies that might not be on your radar. Check out these cutting-edge tools designed to increase your marketing’s efficiency and effectiveness. Cloudinary Cloudinary offers a cloud-based image management platform for managing thousands of different image versions... [...]

Barry Levine says, “Where you are, what you buy, and your age. These are the kinds of attributes that digital marketers commonly employ for targeting. London-based Cambridge Analytica is adding an additional layer: psychology. With U.S. offices in New York City and Washington, D.C., the company is now redirecting its psychological targeting from national security and political clients — including Donald Trump — to commercial ones. Chief data officer Alex Tayler pointed out to me that most marketing employs demographics, geographics, and psychographics. Demographics include age, gender,... [...]