How the the Multichannel Majority varies between different sectors

Our mobile marketing statistics summary shows how mobile use has increased such that it now exceeds desktop use in many categories. Following the lead of Google and others, you now often hear marketers and designers talking about adopting a Mobile-first design approach when upgrading their websites. Many responsive designs are led by the mobile experience. This often leads to a simplified design approach which is positive for users and conversion. I was recently working on  a consulting project in the insurance sector and it was interesting to see how insurance comparison sites like Money Supermarket, Confused.com and the AA have all adopted a mobile-first design philosophy with simplified designs and reduced copy. While this is positive, I've chosen today's Chart of the Day to show that it is an over-simplification. The reality is that while smartphone use is overwhelmingly popular for some…

Digital Strategy moves into 2nd place whilst Branding advice becomes less sought after

Many senior marketers search for an agency starts exactly where you might expect, by searching. Agency Spotter, which helps connect agencies and buyers have analysed their search traffic to reveal just what marketers are searching for when they are looking for an agency. The results can be used to help agencies adapt their offering. The data reveals the services that were being searched for the most and the change over time. Advertising, digital strategy, social media, as well as marketing strategy and mobile marketing stayed top consistently from 2014 to the first half of 2016. Searches for these terms didn't change much at all over this period, suggesting longevity of the needs for these services. Branding, design strategy, eCommerce and communication design searches declined heavily over the period. Interest in user experience and email marketing also…

Plan your use of new marketing technologies to future-proof your business

Digital Marketing is constantly playing catch up with the latest new tech trends. This means that the only way to get great results from digital marketing and execute a successful digital marketing strategy is to be aware of the latest technology and be actively innovating by putting cutting-edge techniques into practice. Not doing so is a sure fire way to fall behind the competition. The pace of technological change is not just relentless, it is constantly increasing. Where once it may have taken 10 years for a platform to achieve 50% adoption, now it may only be two or three- as you can see from the chart below. As these trends accelerate we could soon enter a time well new technologies decelerate so fast we measure the time for them to reach the masses in weeks and months rather than years and decades. …

How can online marketers handle the new challenges with the help of one KPI – Customer Lifetime Value?

Marketers are facing a new era in online retail, combining both technology and customer-centricity. It might not be a new thing for most of you and yet a survey shows that most companies are in “digital denial”, not accepting that it is tools and technologies now to help marketers acquire and retain their customers. Important as it is, one-to-one personalization is a challenge as well, which Chloë Thomas indicates in her recent book. Why that matters in eCommerce? Customers are more demanding than ever. eCommerce is more competitive than ever. Marketing tools, channels and data flows are more overwhelming than ever. Online retail marketers today need to be present at the right time with the right message to the right prospect. So how can we address that? Let’s try an ACKNOWLEDGE – LEARN – ACT –…

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality will transform from interesting gimmick to core marketing channel

Virtual and Augmented reality tech has already started to make waves in the world of marketing, but you ain't seen nothing yet! According to research conducted by Goldman Sachs, the market for VR and AR tech is set to explode in size, reaching a combined $35 billion worth of revenue by 2025. This may sound like a long way off, but it's only 8 years away- which will go quicker than you think! For marketers the really juicy segments in the chart are the retail, video entertainment and live events sections, which combined account for more than eight and a half billion dollars in predicted market size. There are a myriad of ways this kind of technology will prove a boon for marketers in all sorts of different industries - augmented reality dressing rooms for retail, showing prospects around a…

Applying the RACE Framework to eCcommerce

The eCommerce sector is soon to be hit with one of the greatest opportunities of the year. Sales, brand awareness and loyal customers are all opportunities to address within this festive period. Last year, eCommerce Black Friday sales hit an estimated £4.3 bn in the UK. The growing popularity of Black Friday amongst shoppers opens opportunities for eCommerce businesses that do not usually use discounted offerings (to maintain customer perceived brand equity and quality) to get involved with the heightened retail buzz. Within this article, the RACE framework is introduced and applied within the context of Black Friday and the e-commerce sector. Breaking down your Black Friday marketing strategy will give your e-commerce marketing initiatives a concrete structure to thoroughly approach, identify, and meet your outlined Black Friday objectives.

The RACE Framework, Black Friday, and eCommerce

The RACE framework takes into account all aspects of the customer journey,…

Simplifying the purchase journey will help ensure you provide a happy customer experience.

The customer journey can be a long and arduous one for consumers as they move through the buying maze/funnel from initial research all the way to receiving their goods. These same consumers are demanding more and more from retail brands with, buy in-store for delivery, click and collect, and same hour delivery. At every turn, you are potentially putting off the customer from making their purchase. WorldPay surveyed over 2,500 consumers and analyzed their behavior cross buying channels, generating in-depth insights into their behavior to give you a deeper understanding of what they want from retailers. Worldpay found that while 28% of consumers are being frustrated with the lack of delivery options, a combined 31% of people are struggling with finding a product and then understanding the product when they finally do. This…

A B2B case study showing how to create relevant, personal emails on a global scale.

Email marketing has undergone a transformation lately. The giants of online retail have set a precedent for sending relevant, timely email communications with content tailored to each customer on an individual basis. Now the rest of us must follow, meeting the high expectations to which online consumers have become accustomed. No longer is it enough to ‘batch and blast’ a single message to a contact list and hope that some will find it exciting….we must learn what each individual customer finds interesting and send them content to meet their requirements.  Email personalisation is undoubtedly here to stay. Improving personalisation as part of your email strategy however is not straightforward. It requires a significant increase in content production and an even greater amount of data.  Even for companies with simple business models and minimal product lines, the deployment of personalised email content can…

Flat Website Design: A Fad or the Web’s New Look?

Like the hottest fashion fads, website design trends come and go. The days when carousel sliders and sidebars ruled the Web are long gone. In the last few years, flat websites have taken over. The reason? Modern Internet users are savvier than their predecessors. They know how to navigate a webpage, so there’s no need to use shading and textures to guide their eyes. Flat designs also have faster load times and a clean, professional look. According to Bluehost, these sites offer perfect scalability for mobile devices. These attributes not only enhance UX but also improve a site’s PageRank. But is flat design a bottle-rocket fad that will burn out as fast as it took off? Or will it be the Web’s new wayfarer – a trend that remains popular through the decades…

How to achieve organisational excellence

Organizational excellence is desired by every business, but many business leaders are never able to determine how it is achieved. It has often been said that 'change is a constant in businesses', but it is particularly relevant today from a marketing point-of-view with the growth in digital transformation projects. There is no single shortcut to organizational excellence; you need to take a multi-channel approach to improving and optimizing business performance. At Performance pH, we have designed a methodology for achieving organizational excellence, which we refer to at the 10 Levers of Optimal Business Performance.

1. Strategic Direction

Building an effective organization begins with understanding your company’s purpose. Once that occurs you can more clearly defining your long-term goals. Next, objectives can be defined that help you move toward achieving your goals. These objectives can then be assigned to people within the organization so that a named person or team of people owns the…