Email may not be seen as the most glamorous or interesting marketing channel, but it’s got a high ROI and can be the best way to reach your customer directly. New AI technologies are making email more engaging and exciting and it’s a sure way for any retail business to make money. For every £1 on email, £32 is made (DMA, 2017) and email is resulting in £29billion of online sales in the retail sector in the UK (Econsultancy). Algorithms can be extremely useful in getting to know your customer and making your email marketing work harder.

People don’t want to receive irrelevant and impersonal messages, research completed by Internet Retailer (2015) found that shoppers want marketing tailored to their preferences therefore it is crucial for brands to invest in AI technology in order to get personalisation right.

 

 

1. Subject Lines and Copy

AI can be used to determine the most successful subject lines, copy and calls to action that individuals are most likely to respond to. Subject lines have a strong influence on open rates of emails (Balakrishnan and Parekh, 2014). According to Phrasee (2018) an AI marketing company, AI generated subject lines and copy, outperform human written equivalents 95% of the time. AI technology can learn what arrangement of content will perform best for each customer. This technology is designed to sound like a human and be consistent with the brand image, so the customer will still feel as if they are getting that human touch.

Take a look at Phrasee’s website to see how the technology works:

https://phrasee.co/how-it-works/

 

2. Frequency and Send Times

It is common for marketers to assume what the best time of the day is to send out a mass email offer, but it is rarely the case that one-time suits all. Every individual has different timings and habits of checking their emails. AI offers a much better approach. By analysing all different segments and individuals, machine learning makes it possible to learn when each recipient is most likely to open their email and tailor the send time to their exact need to maximise the open and conversion rate. It works the same way with frequency, some customers may react well to receiving multiple emails, whereas others only want to receive one a week and may unsubscribe if their inbox is filled with more than that. Zhang, Kumar and Cosguner (2017) found that companies who send emails too frequently can drive customers away. AI can predict what works best for what customer.

Watch this short video that explains machine learning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJeNghZXtMo

 

 

3. Real Time Data

Using real time data can elevate your emails and make them extremely relevant for your customer. Live weather feeds, social listening into trending topics, looking at numbers of people looking at certain offers, these can all be used to a brands advantage, for example: the recent snow in the UK could trigger certain retail brands to send out personalised emails, depending on the consumers location, encouraging them to buy a new coat, boots, or de-icer that is on offer. Personalised predictive marketing like this can be extremely relevant and valuable. Artun (2015) says that predictive marketing creates more relevant and meaningful experiences therefore boosting customer loyalty and revenues.

Read this article on real time data and how it can benefit a brands marketing:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2016/01/13/how-to-utilize-real-time-     data-in-your-marketing-efforts/#4d9188495741

 

4. Promotions

Different people react differently to different promotions. Some might only click a link when it says: ‘20% off for students’, whereas others might only click when it says: ‘Free Shipping’. Revenue opportunities can be missed when brands send their subscribers the wrong promotion. Artificial intelligence can enable brands to collect significant amounts of data about an individual’s previous purchases, clicks, wish lists and page views and then tailor which offers will perform best for each customer. It would take a lifetime for a human to analyse that amount of data and AI offers accurate results.

Read this short article on AI Email Marketing:

https://martech.zone/marketing-email-artificial-intelligence/

5. Analytics

Email campaigns generate a lot of data, this can be massively useful for future campaigns and analysing this data is invaluable for brands to get to know their customer on a deeper level, and in knowing what works and what doesn’t, and not just necessarily in emails. AI can help measure impact and give more in depth insight than just counting your open rate and CTR. The data that is evaluated can be used to benefit other channels, to add to the entire omni-channel experience for a consumer. If you know your customer doesn’t respond to product recommendation emails, then don’t send them notifications for the same thing on your app. Gupta and Jhunjhunwala (2016) says that analysing this big data  using technology can give you a 360 degree view of your customer and this is invaluable.

Check out this Campaign Monitor article about using data to drive your campaigns: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2017/06/how-to-use-data-to-drive-email-marketing/

 

If you’re interested in Artificial Intelligence and how it might effect our lives in the future, take a look at this TED talk:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfDQNrVphLQ

 

 

References

Artun, O. (2015). Predictive Marketing [electronic resource] : Easy Ways Every Marketer Can Use Customer Analytics and Big Data. Wiley, pp.3-4.

Balakrishnan, R. and Parekh, R. (2014). Learning to Predict Subject-Line Opens for Large-Scale Email Marketing. IEEE, p.579.

Email Marketing Industry Census 2017. (2017). [online] Econsultancy. Available at: https://econsultancy.com/reports/email-census [Accessed 1 Apr. 2018].

Gupta, A. & Jhunjhunwala, K. 2016, “Analysing brand sentiment with social media and open source Big Data tools“, Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 338-347.

Internet Retailer. (2015). Shoppers want marketing e-mails tailored to their preferences. [online] Available at: https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2015/01/08/shoppers-want-marketing-e-mails-tailored-their-preferences/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2018].

Marketer Email Tracker 2018. (2018). [online] DMA. Available at: https://dma.org.uk/research/marketer-email-tracker-2018 [Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].

Phrasee. (2018). The Benefits of Marketing Automation with Phrasee. [online] Available at: https://phrasee.co/benefits/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2018].

Zhang, X., Kumar, V. and Cosguner, K. (2017). Dynamically Managing a Profitable Email Marketing Program. Journal of Marketing Research, 54(6), pp.851-866.

 

Failing to realise the potential social media has in engaging customers would be a massive mistake for any marketing manager. With social media being at the forefront of digital marketing, it is no longer the brand who drives the company message, but the consumer. There are 2 billion social media users worldwide, that is a lot of people and that gives brands a very wide reach but with 51% (Smart Insights, 2018) of social media users saying that they would unfollow brands if they posted irritating content, it is vital for brands to post interesting, relevant content and to always respond to their consumers social needs and wants.

 

1. LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMER

Read all the comments on your social media pages, set up a hashtag or keyword and use social listening analytics such as those that Brandwatch offer to track what consumers are saying about your brand. This will give you insight into what your demographic is feeling and thinking, therefore giving you the unique opportunity to engage with them about the things that matter to them most. Crawford (2009) argues that social media is a powerful listening subject which can be of huge value to those listening.

Take a look at this case study by Brandwatch which shows how The BRIT awards utilised social listening to increase engagement and followers:

https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/the-brit-awards-successfully-orchestrating-a-social-media-campaign/

2. REPLYING TO CUSTOMERS COMMENTS: THE GOOD AND THE BAD

Your audience are going to comment on your posts, whether that be with questions, or with criticisms. You should always address them even if you don’t necessarily have the answers. It shows your audience that you’re there and that you’re listening. In terms of responding to complaints, each criticism represents an opportunity to fix the problem, and to do it publically. 58% of consumers who tweet about a bad customer service experience, won’t receive a response, so make sure that you don’t miss this opportunity to prevent damage to your brand image. Gallaugher (2010) says that after a good or bad experience, customers directly influence those they have contact with, therefore getting the firm and customer dialogue right on social media is vital as it can impact sales and brand reputation.

See this article for some of the best customer service Twitter exchanges:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/0/10-brilliant-customer-service-exchanges-ever-seen-twitter/

 

3. ASK QUESTIONS TO START CONVERSATIONS

Questions are a great way to start conversations online, they can also be a simple solution to finding out what your customer wants. Unsure about what product to release next? Ask your customer. Want to increase customer engagement? Ask for it, use phrases such as ‘Tweet us’ or ‘Tag us’ or ‘Watch this live stream’ or ‘Which do you prefer?’. Sashi (2012) says that the interactive nature of social media enables brands to better serve their customers and satisfy their needs.

Likeable Media CEO Dave Kerpen likens social media to a conversation, and in a conversation you have to ask questions, check out this short video where he explains his thoughts on the importance of asking questions: https://www.inc.com/dave-kerpen/social-media-ask-questions-that-are-easy-for-your-community-to-answer.html

  

4. PROMOTE OTHERS CONTENT

Obviously promoting your own content is priority, but promoting others content, whether that’s a tweet, an interesting article related to your industry, an Instagram of someone wearing your clothing brand or even something a competitor did, sharing other people’s stuff is what makes a community, it will also be likely to encourage other people to share your content too.

Have a read of this blog post about why promoting others content is important:

https://www.pardot.com/blog/share-others-content-promote/

 

5. CREATE A BRAND PERSONALITY, REPLY TO EVERYTHING LIKE YOU’RE A REAL PERSON

It’s easy for people to forget that there is someone behind every brand social media profile and that it isn’t an automated robot. Every interaction is an opportunity to show your consumers that it is a human interaction, inject some personality into your posts, joke where appropriate, sign off with a name when replying to a complaint. Customers will feel be more loyal if they can trust a brand and if the brand is relatable. Aaker’s (1997) research found that brand personality can influence a consumers attitudes towards a brand and a consumer will favour a brand whose personality is similar to their own.  Your brand personality should grow out of your existing customer base, who are you targeting, what do your consumers relate to? Take time to assess the message you want to put out as a brand.

Check out this video and report on how to find your brand personality:

https://sproutsocial.com/insights/data/q2-2017/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=seo

 

6. DON’T POST IRRELEVANT, UNINTERESTING CONTENT

Keep posts short, to the point and engaging.  Are you posting something out of duty, or because you have something of value and relevant to say? The content should be informative AND sales orientated. The average consumer receives 10,000 messages from brands every day (Jankowski, 2016) so ensure that yours stands out.

Take a look at this article of 22 of the most engaging pieces of brand content:

http://www.adweek.com/creativity/the-22-most-engaging-pieces-of-brand-content-on-social-media-in-2017/

 

Engaging your customers through social media might seem like an intimidating task, but it is a key way to interact and build relationships with customers. It should be a key tactic in a business strategy as it has the ability to tell consumers that you care, that you’re listening and that you want to get involved in conversations.

 

 

 

References

Aaker, J. (1997). Dimensions of Brand Personality. SSRN Electronic Journal.

Crawford, K. (2009). Following you: Disciplines of listening in social media. Continuum, 23(4), pp.525-535.

Gallaugher, J. (2010). Social Media and Customer Dialog Management at Starbucks. MIS Quarterly Executive, [online] 9(4). Available at: http://www.misqe.org/ojs2/index.php/misqe/article/viewFile/301/256.

Jankowski, P. (2016). 5 Ways To Break Through The Noise. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauljankowski/2016/08/24/5-ways-to-break-through-the-noise/#6c0e37fd1d2f [Accessed 19 Feb. 2018].

Sashi, C. (2012). Customer engagement, buyer‐seller relationships, and social media. Management Decision, 50(2), pp.253-272.

Smart Insights. (2018). Global social media research summary 2018 | Smart Insights. [online] Available at: https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2018].

 

 

 

 

Instagram has over 700 million users worldwide and is one of the most highly engaged social media networks in existence, that is a lot of users and brands are using this to their advantage; according to a study by Mediakix, brands are spending over $1billion a year on influencers on Instagram. Research shows that 92% (TapInfluence, 2018) of individuals turn to people they know for recommendations and reviews so it is no wonder that brands are incorporating influencer marketing into their strategies and content. Word of mouth is one of the most valuable forms of marketing simply because people are much more likely to buy something if they receive a recommendation from someone they trust or admire. From the infographic below we can see that the market for influencer marketing is growing at a substantial rate. This blog post is going to explore the pros and cons of Instagram influencer marketing and the effect it can have on brand awareness.

See this short video for a brief overview on influencer marketing:

 

PROS:

1. The power of the network

Instead of brands trying hard to market to thousands of individuals, with influencer marketing, all a brand has to do is find one suitable influencer and they will then gain access to thousands of their followers. De Veirman, Cauberghe and Hudders (2017) found that influencers with more followers were deemed more likeable because of their popularity. This network of followers is the primary benefit of influencer marketing, as long as you choose the right influencer, the right content and the right message, one post can have exponential value.

2. It doesn’t look like advertising

One of the main attractions is that it is less intrusive than a standard Instagram sponsored ad. Brands pay influencers to post a picture of them using a product which serves as a powerful endorsement however the trade-off here is that brands lose control of the execution of the message and influencers can make mistakes, such as the time when Naomi Campbell copy and pasted the instructions she received from Adidas on her post.

On the other hand, it can be done very well, see the link below for some of the best examples from some of the world’s biggest brands.

http://mediakix.com/2017/11/instagram-case-studies-top-brands-campaigns-examples/#gs.qiDw31U

 

 

3. Relationships & Trust

Consumers place a higher level of trust in influencers than they do in branded content. This inevitably means that they are much more likely to buy something if their favourite influencer says they use and love a product. It can speed up the process of the consumer sale funnel, meaning more sales made; faster. Mangold and Faulds (2009, pg. 2) found “social media is a hybrid element of the promotion mix because in a traditional sense it enables companies to talk to their customers, while in a non-traditional sense it enables customers to talk directly to one another. This can be seen through the network of the influencer and their followers, not only does the influencer speak and reply to comments from their followers, the followers will have conversations with each other and reply to each other’s comments.

If brands then build a relationship with an influencer, rather than just paying them to do a one-off post, it can lead to influencers continuing to promote a product after the paid promotion period has ended. It pays to get not only the consumer, but the influencer excited about your brand and product too.

Follow this link for some of the best influencer campaigns:

https://econsultancy.com/blog/69196-11-impressive-influencer-marketing-campaigns

 

 

CONS:

1. Return on Investment

A survey found that 80% of brands (Linquia, 2017) state that ROI is one of their top concerns of influencer marketing. Brands are unable to calculate if their influencer activity is driving sales and this can cause problems as there is no simple or consistent way to measure the impact of a particular influencer.

 

2. Fake followers

Fake accounts created to increase another accounts followers/engagement are a growing problem. They allow influencers to command a higher fee to brands. Historically the only way to quantify an influencers value, was by how many followers they have but the increasing problem of bots and fake accounts has created an issue where follower count no longer has correlation with engagement.

 

See this article of Instagram influencer fails:

https://www.curalate.com/blog/influencer-marketing-fails/

 

The True Value of Instagram Influencers

We have explored some pros and cons of using Instagram Influencers but perhaps the most important thing for brands to be aware of, is not the statistics and numbers that influencers may bring, but the value they may bring to the brand itself. Rakuten Marketing research (2017) shows that marketers look at improving brand reach, site traffic and brand awareness, before they consider the impact on sales. Through using a variety of Instagram influencers that are suited to your brand, your message can be spread in several different ways, to several different target markets, each tailored in a specific way to reach the consumer in an unobtrusive and natural way. Influencers and their followers share similar interests so by choosing the correct influencer, your product/service has a better chance at being exposed to your target audience. Of course, if you got Kendall Jenner to promote a product to her 86million followers, you know that all of these people won’t be interested, however it still boosts brand awareness. Using influencers can be the best way to do this, a single post by a well-known influencer can catapult an unknown brand or product into one known worldwide, almost overnight, which arguably is a marketer’s dream.

 

 

 

 

 

References

De Veirman, M., Cauberghe, V. and Hudders, L. (2017). Marketing through Instagram influencers: the impact of number of followers and product divergence on brand attitude. International Journal of Advertising, 36(5), pp.798-828.

Fryrear, A. (2018). We Investigate the Pros and Cons of Influencer Marketing so You Don’t Have To. [online] MarketerGizmo. Available at: http://www.marketergizmo.com/we-investigate-the-pros-and-cons-of-influencer-marketing-so-you-dont-have-to/ [Accessed 5 Jan. 2018].

Linqia (2017). The State of Influencer Marketing. [online] Available at: http://go.pardot.com/l/153091/2016-11-29/9t6n1k [Accessed 5 Jan. 2018].

Mangold, W. and Faulds, D. (2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business Horizons, 52(4), pp.357-365.

McGinty, M. and McGinty, M. (2018). The hidden risks of influencer marketing. [online] Marketing Tech News. Available at: https://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2017/jun/27/hidden-risks-influencer-marketing/ [Accessed 5 Jan. 2018].

TapInfluence (2018). INFLUENCERS VS. ADVOCATES: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?. [online] p.3. Available at: http://pages.tapinfluence.com/hs-fs/hub/256900/file-2517585402-pdf/Influencers_vs._Advocates_-_Whats_the_Difference_eBook_Final_v2.pdf [Accessed 5 Jan. 2018].

 

 

 

http://www.kuoni.co.uk

Kuoni is a luxury travel agency service that was established in 1906 in Switzerland. Kuoni grew to be the biggest travel company in Switzerland and arrived in the UK in 1965. Since then, Kuoni has grown to become the country’s leading long haul tour operator, has picked up over 200 service and travel awards and has opened over 40 Kuoni stores. Their main selling point is exceptional service and beautiful destinations and have partnerships with hotels and even some islands that are exclusive to their customers. In 2014 they launched their responsive website which is what will be evaluated.

The AIPD model will be used to analyse the website. (Simeon, 1999)

Attracting

The website is aimed at a market who can afford luxury holidays. So these are going to be working professionals and also people who have retired, probably between the ages of 30 and 75. This is a large range of ages so it is important that the website appeals and is user friendly to this large age range. The purpose of the website is to encourage people to buy luxury holidays with them, so the website includes lots of imagery of beautiful destinations, and lots of options for the user to talk to them, whether that is online on their chat service, over the phone or in a store. This could appeal to all the age ranges as older people are more likely to want to speak to a travel agent in person to plan their holiday. The homepage emphasises that the holidays are tailor made to your liking by experts and that no two are the same, this cements the view that this is luxury, not a budget travel agency that organises cheap holidays.

Informing

The website is very user friendly and easy to navigate.  You can search for specific destinations and see the kind of hotels and activities Kuoni offer in that destination. You can look at their offers or their holiday types. Or you can go through to the ‘Inspire Me’ page which acts as a kind of travel blog with articles about different destinations and why you should visit them. Graphically it is all very clean cut and simple to read and understand. It would be very easy for someone who doesn’t use the internet much, to navigate which is important regarding parts of their target audience so they have definitely thought about their customer. The role of the website is Service oriented / relationship building with a view to become transactional (Chaffey & Ellis Chadwick, 2016). Something that could be improved upon here is perhaps attracting new customers and not just aiming at older people.  There are no ad banners on the site which too improves usability and Ivesp (2001) says that removing these distractions improves the customer experience.

Positioning

The website has an offer of the week on every week. This would encourage people to come back weekly and check the offer but as this is a luxury brand, discounts don’t seem to be offered apart from in sale periods. In terms of unique merchandise and customised products this is what the brand does best and all holidays can be tailor made and everything is customisable. Variety of products is large. Valacich, Parboteeah, and Wells (2007) say that “Consumers visit sites not only to search for products/ services, but also to have rich, entertaining experiences.” Kuoni is only offering images to have these entertaining experiences. There are no videos easily accessed, or music, or any other interactive activity. 

Delivery

The after sales service seems to be pretty well reviewed on the website. Once you have purchased your holiday, Kuoni communicates with you up until your holiday and afterwards. Customer service is their big focus here so is undoubtedly something that is addressed. You can’t actually purchase holidays on the website, you have to speak to an agent to book the holiday, the website is more for informational purposes. Perhaps so an agent can up sell you or ensure that you are getting that luxury service, it says on the website they want you to get that personal touch. The focus is all on the customer.