Social Media and Digital Customer Feedback

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Matt Boucher

The internet already has a big influence on the marketing industry and how it functions, and continuous development of new online technologies means it is only going to get more influential. What is key for businesses is the ability to harness information that is generated through these online technologies; be it customer opinions or their likes and dislikes. These little bits of information has great potential for businesses and having the ability to use it will be vital in their success in the new digital era.

A key driver behind the online data drive can be attributed, in part, to social media. This is a commonplace for digital customer feedback, be it indirectly or directly communicated to businesses. The key part of social media feedback is that it can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection, and with internet enabled phones this can literally be anywhere. So for customers connected to the web, they have access to unlimited amounts of customer feedback on social media; from blogs, social networks, customer reviews sites and forums.

A study conducted by Nielsen reported that 70% of global consumers trust buyer’s reviews, whilst 92% of consumers indicate they trust recommendations from peers, family and word-of-mouth above other forms of advertising. The common phrase of “the customer is always right” springs to mind on the back of this study. After all, customers do have a large amount of influence into the success of product service orientated businesses. So the ability to harness their feedback and online activity related to your product or service will give you insights that you may have never even thought about, regarding your business. This shopping scenario, whereby customer reviews and recommendations are important, opens up a wide range of opportunities for businesses to grow, innovate and improve their relationship with customers.

Furthermore, the best part about digital customer feedback is that digital media facilitates consumer data that is completely unfiltered. This allows for a real-time, deeper understanding of consumer;s needs and thoughts. Not only can this useful for marketing purposes, but could also help to improve the level of responsiveness to reputation crisis, emergencies and alike situations.

Vazquez et al (2014) identify two key stages in the analysis of consumer data:

Managers and marketers need to know and understand the content of these conversations and be able to classify them into categories that are relevant for their day to day tasks.
Uncover the exact content of data that has been extracted, such as which product attributes worry customers the most, allowing for marketers to better track the mindset of their customers.

Being able to complete these two stages of analysis will give valuable answers to extremely significant questions that have an influence on the position of the brand in the market. Furthermore, by collecting opinions from social media, it means there is less intrusion for the consumers, since it enables the gathering of spontaneous perceptions and desires of consumers, without introducing any bias. The removal of all bias is what makes digital customer feedback data so valuable. It is as genuine as possible. There are no restraints, unlike more traditional methods of data collection, such as questionnaires. There is no guidance from anyone else about the opinions they voice, and no restrictions in the fact that they are not being asked set questions.

Of course there is one clear barrier to being able to successfully carry out this form of data analysis, and that is down to methods and resources. There are already many programs and companies out there which facilitate this, but with the continuous development of new social media platforms its just a question of whether they will be able to keep back. However, what about us Brits who have this wonderful, sarcastic nature? How do you know if a customer review or tweet is real and not just a bit of a joke? I will hold my hand up say “yes, I have written a sarcastic tweet about something” without knowing exactly how it will be taken. And it is those people like me who could be influencing marketers for all the wrong reasons and sending them on a wild goose chase. Yes that is a very exaggerated example, but I am sure you get the picture of how it could potentially influence data analysis of customer feedback. Especially if it is automated by a computer program.

Furthermore, being able to use the analysed and categorised data effectively is another issue. The chances of conflicting opinions on the same products are high. So by amending one part of your product or service, you will make one person happy, but also one person happy. So having the ability to use this data effectively is another key factor.

So what can be taken from idea of digital customer feedback? It enables businesses to hear what customers are saying about their product or service. So no matter if you are singing its praise on Twitter, or venting about it on Facebook with a long status (and by long I mean one with the ‘continue reading…’ option) you could actually be influencing a developed product or service. Despite these few, potential hiccups I am sure that as a whole the idea of digital customer feedback is something which is valuable to firms around the globe on how they operate and the products and services they offer. Link this with the continuously growing number of people joining social media, data is only going to get richer, and hopefully products and services will get better.

Vázquez, S., Muñoz-García, O., Campanella, I., Pocha, M., Fisas, B., Bel, N., & Andreu, G. (2014) A classification of user-generated content into consumer decision stages, Neural Networks. Vol.58, pp.68-81

Emotions, Brand Relationship Quality, and Word Of Mouth are all Brought Together by Social Media

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Matt Boucher

Social media has become the forefront of digital communications; something which is understandable given that 67% of all internet users are using social media (Hudson et al, 2015). However, despite social media’s heavy use as a marketing tool, it is unclear whether social media influences emotions and attachments to brands, and whether social media based relationships lead to the desired outcomes, such as positive word of mouth (WOM). This aim of this piece is to investigate whether social media does influence the above, by using the article written by Hudson et al (2015) who’s research relates it to the music tourism industry, and music festivals in particular.

Music Tourism

Music tourism is big business in the UK; generating around $2 billion in spending and provides the equivalent of 19,700 full time jobs. In 2013 there were 800+ music festivals in 57 countries and that figure is always growing. One of the most important channels for music festivals is social media. Most festivals use social media as a prime delivery channel from the organisers to attendees, due to the volume and different types of information that can be provided through social media.

But a more interesting point is how music festivals are using social media whilst the event is actually happening. For example Bonnaroo festival in the US used radio frequency identification (RFID) to create an interactive experience throughout the festival, and that reached 1.5 million impressions over the 3 day festival. Furthermore, by using geo-location based applications, Foursquare in particular, attendees were able to be given a unique festival experience simply by sharing the location of their tent. The most recent application of social media usage at a festival has been with Coachella in the last couple of weeks. This year, through Snapchat, they were able to livestream the event using attendees’ Snapchat’s. This allowed for the viewing around the globe to not only see the music acts, but also the vast number of activities that are going on throughout the site. By combining the positive festival experience and proactive social media usage, music festival brands could potentially build long-term relationships with music fans.

Social Media

“Through social media, marketers can gain rich, unmediated consumer insights, faster than ever before, and can foster loyalty through networking” (Hudson et al, 2015).

This quote can be backed up further by research undertaken by comScore which found that when people hear about a product or service from a friend on Facebook they 15% more likely to become a customer than through other means. Tie this in with the fact that Facebook reaches 90% of the American population and 85% of the European population the potential of this channel is immense; and that is just for one social network. Throw in the likes of Instagram and Twitter, with 150 million and 200 million users respectively, the pool of potential customers becomes even greater.

With a clearly defined social strategy, brands will be able to take full advantage of social media; and when it has been suggested that a positive experience from direct brand engagement on social media will lead to repeat purchases and recommendations, it should be an important part of every firm’s marketing activities.

Emotion

Emotion has a key part to play in terms of a brand’s marketing communications, as emotion has a large influence on human behaviour not just reason. Using social media to appeal to people’s emotions, ahead of reason, could lead to to more engagement and thus increased revenue. This is particularly important in the music tourism. The die hard music fans that wait around for hours outside their favourite band’s hotel to get a 30 second glimpse is not motivated by reason, it is motivated by emotion. The emotion that music can provide people from all walks of life is powerful, and being able to encapsulate this emotion into social media activity will most certainly help to drive these music festival brands’ growth.

Research in the UK of 2000 consumers aimed to explore their emotional relationship with brands. Brands which scored most highly were technology brands, such as Google and Sony, alongside brands with heritage and longevity (Heinz, Kellogs and M&S). Again this can be related to how the products make people feel. Some people often feel lost when they leave the house without their phone, as if a piece of them is missing, and with Heinz the idea of comfort food, in particular baked beans, is something that people can become emotionally attached to.

Brand Relationship Quality

Consumers project their own personalities on to brands when describing them. Customers who projects their self onto brands display a stronger attachment with that brands. Furthermore, brand relationship quality has been described as being a key indicator of the strength and depth of the person-brand relationship.

From social media interactions with a brand, consumers will draw conclusions about the characteristics of a brand and establish a relationship. When such a strong relationship is established, consumers will often look on that brand as irreplaceable and an inseparable part of their lives – something which can be clearly seen with brands such as Apple.

Conclusion

It can be said online communications and social media has made marketing efforts that influence consumers to spread positive WOM and recommend brands they choose can be as important as building awareness and driving purchases. This is further backed up by research that suggests that consumers respond much more positively to content shared through social media than they do to paid placements such as advertising.

Interacting with the brand using social media had a direct effect on emotional attachment to the festival, and emotional attachment has a direct effect of WOM. This supports recent contentions that social media interaction can lead to high levels of emotional engagement, and that the emotional responses triggered by marketing communications, play a dominant role in explaining behavioural outcomes.

The worldwide growth of music tourism as a niche market will ensure that music festivals will flourish, in particular as the key generating markets of Europe and the US continue to improve.

So to remain competitive in this marketplace, marketers will have to aggressively pursue social media marketing strategies in order to increase and maintain loyalty amongst fans.

Hudson, S., Roth, MS., Madden, TJ., & Hudson, R. (2015) The effects of social media on emotions, brand relationship quality, and word of mouth: an empirical study of music festival attendees, Journal of Tourism Management. Vol.45, pp.68-76.

The State Of Digital Marketing And It’s Future

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Matt Boucher

Arguably, digital marketing is still in it’s infancy. Advancements in technology over the last decade have led to great change in the way that digital marketing has been conducted: and no matter what form it takes, digital marketing is only going to increase. Ad-supported free apps and content marketing are ever popular, and are going to be a huge driver for growth in the area in the coming years.

Content marketing is very important, with regards to how digital marketing is conducted. It is no longer about pushing products in customers’ faces and hoping they buy more, there is now a much greater emphasis on content and engagement. This means creating a more connected consumer experience via marketing that makes use of every electronic device imaginable to engage customers. Digital marketing gives marketers a whole range of technologies to engage with customers, helping to make the experience as engaging as possible. Its importance is highlighted by many in the industry, with 91% of marketing practitioners saying that digital marketing is ‘important’ or ‘very important’, according to Forrester Research. The same study also goes on to say that by 2019 spending on search, social media, email and display marketing will exceed spending on cable and broadcast TV advertising combined.

Most interestingly, the industry is not just dominated by big businesses. IBM, Adobe and Google, to name a few, do have a large influence, but there are may small marketing agencies out there which are contributing to advancements in the industry. Agencies are seen as being the prime movers in the industry. There are many new tech-savvy start ups which offer integrated services and cross-functional talent. However, in an industry with many start ups and some technology giants, there are a number of challenges for these agencies to overcome: 1) a lack of technology or other resources; 2) ability to better track and measure results; 3) ability to precisely target prospects; 4) developing effective content or creative for digital campaigns; 5) conversion rates.

This Past Year

But what exactly is the state of digital marketing now? The big realisation over the past year is the importance of the customer experience. Many companies are realising that they can create a competitive advantage by making the customer journey an amazing one. Furthermore, the emergence of of real-time personalised marketing was one of the most interesting developments. Using automated technologies marketers were able to instantly target advertising to audiences.

However, continuous evolution of technologies makes it harder for marketers to keep up. Constant change has become a reality for marketers and for customer relationship management it makes it more difficult, due the sheer number of channels that are developing at a fast pace. From social media to content marketing to automation, marketers continue to add more tools to their repertoire to stay ahead of these evolving trends. The most difficult part is managing these technologies, and managing to integrate them effectively with current marketing activities.

For The Future

Jerry Rackley, chief analyst at Demand Metric, suggests that in 2015 solutions that help better target their ideal customer will see greater adoption. This would include predictive marketing analytics, advances attribution, personalisation, and sophisticated loyalty solutions, which will be highly integrated with marketing automation platforms and social media.

Continued advancements of social networks as advertising platforms will further advance the industry in the near and long-term future. Social networking sites are really starting to generate a nice return of investment (ROI) for business, and they are most likely to become the forefront of a company’s online marketing activity.

Finally, content marketing is going to continue in growing in popularity, alongside native advertising, and will be key drivers in growth of digital marketing and its vibrancy. It is most likely that these two areas will come to prominence in 2015, especially on mobile devices.

So what can be taken away from this? It is clear that digital marketing is a key part of marketing for many businesses, and is only going to get stronger. Integration across many platforms will drive customer engagement and the experience consumers have with particular firms. It is an industry which is only going to go from strength to strength, making it a very interesting area of marketing to keep an eye on.

Martin, EJ. (2015) The State Of Digital Marketing, EContent. Vol.38, No.1, pp.18-19

The Future Is Bright For Wearables And Marketing

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Matt Boucher

Wearable are the next big thing in technology right now. The Apple watch going on sale in the past week will only help to drive wearables to the next level; something that Apple has a knack of doing. But looking past the obvious wearable technologies, you will find they come in many forms across a whole range of prices. However, for this I want to concentrate on connected wearables, such as the likes of Google Glass and of course watches, as they are likely to have the most influence on marketing in the category.

In 2014 it was estimated that the revenues generated from wearables surpassed the $3 billion mark, not bad for something that has only just recently been introduced. This has mainly been driven by fitness bands. Personally, I have not got on that fitness bandwagon, but I am an owner of a Moto 360. Yes it is nice to see how many steps I have done each day, but to be honest I just want to live the childhood dream of being like Buzz Lightyear and being able to talk to something that is on my wrist! But in all seriousness, this is a growing market and one that is not likely to slow down; with the revenues being estimated to surpass the $100 billion mark by 2020.

I can understand exactly why it the wearables market is set to become so big in such a short space of time. Yes they are really a bit of a novelty at the moment, but there are some aspects which really do add to my everyday life. The most frequently used features for me are linked to music. Whenever I leave the house, I put on my music on my phone, get plugged in and I am ready for the day. Being able to change songs and control what I listen to from wrist is great. Not getting my phone out to do this seems like such a hassle now. My Moto 360 has also helped me to not miss important calls. My phone spends most of its time on silent in my pocket, so when out and about having another way to get a notification from it is great. Especially when I am at a point in my life where I am job hunting for when I graduate from university. These are just two features which are incredibly useful in every day life, but what excites me most is what is coming to them in the future. The ability to control things around your house, paying using NFC (Near Field Communication) and being able to search for things with more than just text, and these can all be done from your watch. However, it is not just watched that get me excited, the Microsoft HoloLens could revolutionise the way that people work and interact with the world around them. For those who have not seen one, they are not the prettiest thing in the world; making the wearer look like a low budget knock off of Daft Punk. After Google Glass being a bit of flop, HoloLens shows great signs of what is to come in the coming years for wearables and in particular how they can affect marketing.

My Moto 360.

Microsoft HoloLens

OK, so enough of the geek out and on to more serious business. It may be unclear with how they might have any influence on marketing, but for some it is. Wearables will allow for a much broader method of search. As mentioned before, search is mainly limited to text, but if wearables become mainstream, images, sounds, and other things will become searchable as well. With more ways to search, there will be more searchable content, leading to more searches generated and consequently larger profits for those who advertise on sites such as Google. Lets take one example given by Sephi Shapira, CEO of MassiveImpact, a global performance-based mobile advertising platform. She highlights:

“Customers walk into an electronics store, grab an image of a camera they see in front of them, and then search online to compare offers. That will return more precise results than typing ‘camera’ in a search bar, and create the opportunity for more precise and targeted ads as well. this increases the likeliness of engagement, making advertisers very happy, and keeps Google happy too.”

Not only do wearables have the potential to revolutionise the way we search, but also the way in which companies go about gathering intelligence about their customers. However, this is where the task becomes much more difficult. With users engaging with an greater number of channels, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep information consistent, relevant and up to date. The influx of additional data makes already large amounts of data even larger. Analysing it will become even more complex. In order to meet the growing demand for better analytics , vendors will need to develop solutions that are more solutions that are intuitive and pinpoint key correlations for each consumer.

Furthermore, wearables could give the ability for users to interact with brands even further; for example interactive adverts. It is something that is becoming more popular on catch-up TV websites, so why not on your augmented reality glasses. Obviously when you put on your Microsoft HoloLens you do not want to be bombarded with adverts, but what if they could be turned into virtual experience. Maybe you are sat at home and looking for new clothes, through your HoloLens (because why wouldn’t you?), and it recognises the clothes you are looking at and sends adverts of items that could match items. Then maybe taking it to the next level be able to overlay this item on your outfit.

There are a great number of ways in which wearables have the potential to not only greatly improve consumers’ lives but also drive marketers to be even more dynamic and innovative. Being a technology that is still in its infancy, there is lots of room for improvement, and maybe at some point in the future the likes of world a Minority Report will be a reality but hopefully not as disturbing.

Minsker, M. (2014) Wearables Will be a Marketing Winner, CRM Magazine. Vol.18, No.4, pp.14-14

TechRadar, (2014) ‘Seven epic Apple Watch and Android Wear features coming soon’. [Online], http://www.techradar.com/news/wearables/seven-epic-apple-watch-and-android-wear-features-coming-soon-1284505/2 [accessed 15th April 2015]

Social Strategies: taking digital marketing to the next level

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Matt Boucher

The number of users of social platforms are staggering; 1.35bn people actively use Facebook alone, so the attraction for businesses is understandable. Having the ability to to find new customers and interact with existing ones, on platforms which are familiar to many is just too good to turn down. However, there are many companies out there which may have amassed great number of friends, likes and followers across many social platforms, but are not able to succeed in generating profits through these channels.

First we must ask, why do people actually use social platforms? It is simple, to satisfy two basic human needs of meeting new people and strengthening existing relationships. What companies need to develop is a social strategy that appeals to these two needs.

But how does a social strategy differ from a digital strategy? The below diagram provides an explanation.

The primary advantage of a social strategy over a purely digital one is in tapping into how people really want to connect with other people not with a company.

“businesses that thrive on social platforms don’t just sell stuff; they also help people to connect”

Piskorski (2011)

Social strategy is outlined above in the quote from Piskorski. By appealing to the basic human needs of meeting new people and strengthening existing relationships, businesses have the potential to take their digital presence to the next level. It allows for them to create a social environment online where people can interact with like minded people.

For this to work, social strategies can be categorised into four paths:

Reduce costs by helping people meet
Increase willingness to pay by helping people meet
Reduce costs by helping people to strengthen relationships
Increase willingness to pay by helping people to strengthen relationships

In order to understand exactly how this can be done it is suitable to look at real life examples of social strategy in action.

The first example put forward is Zynga’s social strategy. For those who do not know who Zynga are, or what they do, they are an online gaming company; famous for games such as FarmVille and CityVille. The popularity of these games led to revenues of $1bn in 2011. Being games that are based on Facebook, the number of potential users are tremendous, and their success has been down to allowing users to connect with family and current friends as well as rekindle old friendships. A survey carried out by Information Solutions Group about users of Zynga games found that a third of players said it helped them connect with family and friends. Another third of players said it facilitated connections with old friends and the final third responded saying it allowed them to make new friends. These interactions with players’ social groups could potentially reduce Zynga’s customer acquisition costs by half. In doing so Zynga’s social strategy (1) reduces acquisition and retention costs (2) by allowing people to reconnect with friends (3) if they invite them to return to the game.

Another example a successful social strategy in action can be seen with Yelp, the online review platform. There are 135m unique monthly visitors to Yelp, showing that there is a wealth of information on the platform. All reviews on the platform are provided by volunteers (so called Yelpers), thus reducing costs of acquiring its content. Furthermore, prolific “Yelpers” are invited to become an “elite Yelper”. This allows for the interaction of like minded individuals, building new friendships and solidifying existing ones. Yelp’s social strategy (1) helps it obtain quality content for free (2) by allowing the best contributors to meet like-minded people (3) if they write reviews. Due to the fact that it gives the ability to meet like-minded individuals, “Yelpers” are likely to continue their review writing, to further meet their basic human needs.

The next example if eBay’s Group Gift service, which gives the opportunity for a group of friends to pool funds to buy gifts for friends. It provides the social benefit of groups being able to purchase a gift for friends that are better targeted and potentially more expensive than they might have otherwise purchased. In fact, Group Gift purchases are on average five times more expensive than ordinary eBay purchases. Furthermore, after using the Group Gifts service, a third of participants go on to sign up to a new PayPal account and another third return to eBay within a month to purchase other items. Ebay’s Group Gifts service social strategy (1) increases willingness to pay (2) by allowing people to strengthen their friendships through gift giving (3) if they ask their friends to buy from eBay.

The final example is American Express (AmEx) OPEN, and directed at business owners. As owners of AmEx OPEN credit cards users have use of Connectodex, an online social platform that facilitates connecting with other business owners. Connectodex is a service that targets small business owners, allowing them to connect and share information to help learn from each other. Given that a Forrester Research study found that nearly half of small businesses, with revenues of over $100,000, said they want to learn from other business owners. In order to use this site, business owners must use the AmEx OPEN credit card to gain access. Thus encouraging the continuation of business for AmEx. Their social strategy (1) increases willingness to pay (2) by helping professionals to meet others like themselves (3) if they maintain their card membership.

For both Zynga and Yelp, their social strategies are inherently linked with their products. Being social products, it is much easier for them to carry through with their social strategies, as being social is something that runs through the core of the business. However, AmEx and eBay have managed to integrate a social strategy into their businesses with great affect with positive effects on profit.

In order to implement a successful social strategy it is key a business to think about how to take advantage of unmet social needs and then connect the proposed solutions to their current business goals.

However, it is apparent that the examples above are linked with specific products and services, so it may be difficult to implement into other organisations. But with the right product and the correct expertise it can be hugely beneficial to the business. With social platforms becoming even more central to people’s lives, it is something that is important for companies to tap into and develop a social strategy that links to their business goals. The quicker the adoption of such strategies will take organisations to the next level, leaving competitors playing catch up.

Piskorski, M. (2011) Social Strategies That Work, Harvard Business Review. Vol.89, No.11, pp.116-122

Mobile: the immersive customer experience

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Matt Boucher

Mobile devices are now a constant companion to consumers, so it makes sense for marketers to make the most of these devices that are almost in constant use. They can be seen as a gateway to a new relationship between the consumer and retailer; or in short simple terms a new channel to try and sell you their products. However, due to the great number of features on mobile devices the way in which each firm can connect with consumers can be varied.

But what exactly is mobile marketing? Well the Mobile Marketing Association (yes that’s a real thing) have come up with a rather useful definition:

“mobile marketing is a set of practices that enable organisations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network”

Much clearer right? The idea is simple, but being able to carry it out in such a way that it does not bore consumers and become an annoyance for them is quite important. Unless one is a socialite, most people would much rather their phone not be buzzing in their pocket every 30 seconds whilst out shopping, with offers being pinged through left, right and centre. The most important part would be not sending the information to them as a constant stream, but having it ready and waiting at the touch of a button, exactly when the consumer wants and needs it.

In order for marketers to have this information exactly when the consumer tried to access it, it would be appropriate to recognise a number of the ways in which a smartphone can be used to enhance their shopping experience:

Camera – can be used for taking photos of products they like, scanning barcodes to find cheaper prices
Mobile network – could be used in conjunction with the camera to share photos of products e.g. “found this gorgeous dress, but is it black and blue or white and gold”
Applications – consumers are able to buy products no matter their location, on their phone, through a mobile application
Administration of loyalty benefits – using application to keep track of their points
GPS – allows for location based service; from sharing their location online to location based offers
NFC – an opportunity to receive in store deals and information or even pay for their purchases
Augmented reality – applications allowing for enhanced on-screen information overlaid on an image produced by your phones camera (or your glasses for the very few who own Google Glass).

The various functions of a smartphone mean that it can be used as a companion to existing retail channels but also as its own channel. But knowing how a consumer is going to use their mobile device difficult, they may just be using a function as one off or just the one that they feel most engaged with at that particular moment. Therefore, the value of mobile marketing is not getting the consumer to purchase a product, but providing a satisfying experience for the consumer.

In order for retailers to be able to create a sustained competitive advantage in mobile marketing, they may need to identify application areas of high relevance for consumers that will contribute to an enhanced experience or by adding valuable benefits to their brand image. The next vital step is devising a way of implementation that gives consumers a perceived image of superiority to their competitors.

With continuous development of mobile technology, and additions of new technology, mobile marketing will prove an interesting aspect of the consumer retail experience.

Strom, R., Vendel, M. & Bredican, J. (2014) Mobile Marketing: a literature review on its value for consumers and retailers, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. Vol.21, No.6, pp.1001-1012

Digital: the new paradigm of marketing

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Matt Boucher

The development of online technologies has been a key driver in the development of marketing practices over the last decade. However, it has not just affected the way in which marketers help to promote and sell their products, but also how informed consumers are when it comes to buying a product or service. With consumers being constantly connected to the online world, be it through their smartphone or tablet, they now have a wealth of information at their fingertips to help them in their decision process. But how has this changed marketing practices, I hear you say? Well you’ve come to the right place; I’ve done all the reading so you don’t have to.

First of all, it is good to go back and look at the more traditional dynamics of marketing. It can be said that before the introduction of all these online technologies that marketing was much simpler in terms of how marketers got their message across to the consumers. The only challenge was making yourself heard amongst all your competitors was often the biggest challenge, but whoever shouted the loudest tended to be heard first. It can be classified as “push” marketing, as marketers had to put their messages out there to as many consumers as possible and hope that it got seen.

The Old Marketing Paradigm

Now to move on to what is known as the new digital marketing paradigm. Online technologies have made marketing more varied and innovative and on the whole a more complex issue. No longer is marketing an idea whereby marketers push their message to consumers, there is now a new element where consumers have a pull influence. As consumers are constantly connected online their is now a wealth of information readily available to them. Therefore, for marketers they have to find ways to push their message out into the online world, but make sure it is there ready for consumers to access as and when they want and need it. Their message has to be fragmented and innovatively fed through various digital channels to reach the consumer at the perfect moment. Also, due to the pull factor of the new digital paradigm a biderectional flow of information has been created.

The New Digital Paradigm

With consumers being so knowledgeable about products and services thanks to the internet, digital marketers have to continue to be dynamic and innovative in order to succeed in marketing their products and services. What is most interesting about the new digital paradigm it is ever evolving due to the fast pace environment of the internet. New technologies are always being introduced and consumer trends in the way they use the internet will always have an influence on how marketers will use the online environment.

Greenberg, E. & Kates, A. (2014) Strategic Digital Marketing. 1^st Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education

E-mail Marketing – how many is too many?

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Matt Boucher

E-mails are an effective form of digital marketing, producing approximately twice the Return On Investment of other forms of online marketing such as web banners and online directory adverts. However, how many e-mails do actually get opened? For starters it got to one point where each I would receive around 20-30 e-mails per day and would go as far as marking them as read and that was that.

So what can be done to attract the recipient of your e-mails to actually open it and click through to the website? Personalisation has a key role to play; making the customer feel important. I for one receive a number of e-mails where the first word in the subject line is my name.

But what can be done about the overload of e-mails from many different companies? Well there’s a number of websites which can be used to moderate your emails. One of which I use myself, giving me a single daily e-mail which is a compilation of of company emails, as shown in the image below. It is an excellent little tool to help keep your e-mail inbox tidy and it also means that my phone is no longer buzzing 20 times a day with e-mail notifications.

Untitled

Upon clicking one of the e-mails received, as displayed above, you are redirected to a webpage whereby you can view the single e-mail. This is where the tool comes into its own, as the email is displayed exactly as it would be if it went directly to your inbox, along with all the same hyperlinks.

However, as with most things it does come with some drawbacks; the main one being the time of receiving the email. Companies will have researched the best time to send e-mails in accordance with their business; for example a fashion retailer may send their emails around 5pm as they may find most purchases occur late afternoon or in the evening or even a flash sale, where they send it out in the morning and say “50% off everything this afternoon only”. Due to the nature of the tool, these e-mails would be compiled and sent the following day in ‘your daily e-mail rollup’. So there is a possibility you will miss out on some of the deals that companies have to offer (but if you’re like me and have a habit of impulse buying when you don’t have the money it can be seen as a benefit).

For the company this can make tracking their e-mails a bit more awkward, as they are coming to consumers through a 3rd party client. But then again you have a really tidy inbox and are not overwhelmed by buzzes originating from your phone!

Ellis-Chadwick, F., & Doherty, N. F. (2012). Web advertising: The role of e-mail marketing. Journal of Business Research, 65(6), 843-848

Hello world!

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Matt Boucher

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Matt Boucher's Blog

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