By
17 Feb 2015
A tool for evaluating the customer decision journey
Today the consumer is like a bird, flying from branch to branch, collecting evidence each time they [sic] land[s]. Or maybe like 'a hawk surveying the scene and then swooping when the time (and price) is right.' (Dave Chaffey’s comment at the bottom of Danyl Bosomworth’s post)
There is no doubt that the consumer decision journey is still evolving as people adapt to ever changing technologies, and the corresponding online information sources for decision-making that are available... 'The average number of information sources used by shoppers doubled from 2010 to 2011', Professor David Bell.
This new approach to a decision journey attempts to highlight the complex and non-linear paths that people can take when discovering and purchasing products or services.
It's not a linear process any longer, so important to note when interpreting the journey, that a person can start at any…
5 core elements for your content marketing strategy and best practices for content outsourcing
According to Content Marketing Institute, more than 80% of B2B marketers and more than 70% of B2C marketers used content marketing for their online businesses last year. The results of this investigation have been published in B2B Content Marketing: 2015 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends ? North America and proved the fact content marketing tactics become a significant part of successful marketing strategy.
More than 50% of B2B marketers plan to increase content marketing spending in 2015; they are ready to accept the challenge and start awesome content creation, distribution, optimization, analyzing and managing. It often happens that content creation and development is not a core skill for a marketer, and it can be quite difficult to cope with. The…
Simon Swan's interview with Andrew Nicholson, Founder of the-Guku showing how behavioural economics influences customer online purchases and growing demand for Data?
Andrew is the founder of the-Guku, a digital marketing consultancy specialising in behavioural economics and the relationship this plays in influencing customers through their online purchase patterns.
Guku combine #DigitalMarketing, #BehavioralEconomics & #Psychology know-how to understand your customers better than they understand themselves!
In my interview with Andrew, he lifts the lid on the growing demand for data on behavioural economics, real-life examples of companies already successfully using these techniques and Andrew’s personal journey of launching his very own consultancy…
Q. You seem to have uncovered an interesting niche in web psychology, can you summarise what this is all about?
Absolutely. As I progressed through my MSc, it became clear that there was a huge understanding of marketing technology, but a relative dearth…
Dealing with the 3 Major Challenges Your Content Marketing Team Will Encounter this year
Initially we thought we should write about marketing predictions for the year 2525, as the song goes. But people are generally poor in forecasting long term, so we settled for the 'here and now' - more relevant since these are three problems you will definitely encounter when practicing content marketing.
Challenge 1. Lack of time
We all know this problem, as marketers already work long hours on a never ending list of projects and in most cases use dozens of technologies on a daily basis: we don’t have time to properly do anything new, but we have to and are expected to.
Invest in automation. Start by investing with…
Rethink your content strategy for engaging Senior Decision-makers
There are many frameworks and strategies that we can use to create content that educates, engages and spreads our message. For example, the Smart Insights Content Marketing Matrix helps review which content is effective in different parts of the marketing funnel. When it comes to tailoring content for our buyer personas it’s an obvious process; build content that solves a problem.
There’s another side to this though. If you’re trying to engage the C-Suite, or any senior decision maker for that matter, then the typical method of content marketing may not work. This is because they operate on a different level than your typical prospect.
There are a few reasons that you may want to target the C-Suite:
1. Enterprise sales; or any type of sales opportunities worth 6 to 7 figures.
2. Business development opportunities; connecting and partnering with complimentary organisations that would really move…
Ideas on getting more creative in our marketing
What makes the difference between a good company, and a great one? Creativity. Fostering a culture of creativity in your business and your life will allow greater innovation, more effective problem solving, and a genuine competitive edge. When technology has made certain skills a commodity, it’s the creative, individual human elements that distinguish a successful business.
How to drive your creative marketing?
If you’re looking to inject some creativity into your life and your business environment, then take note.
1. Make your time work for you
William Blake, visionary poet and inspiration for many a creative type, put it simply: 'Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.'
Figure out how your brain and body’s natural rhythms work, and as best you can, listen to them and work with them rather than fight against them. Plan your day around your own…
Don't dump your entire marketing budget into pre-roll ads...
With the thousands of hours your target customer spends on YouTube, I can’t blame you for thinking that pre-roll ads — those 10- to 15-second promotional videos you see before you play a video — seem like a good idea.
After all, you’re catching your audience while they’re in the mood to watch a video, and they’re pretty much trapped unless they want to exit the video entirely. Despite their situational appropriateness, pre-roll ads are shockingly ineffective. They maintain a laughable 94 percent skip-through rate, and without intentional planning, they can quickly alienate your customers.
Fortunately, this is the age of video marketing, and you have alternatives that you can (and should) use.
The problem with pre-roll ads
Pre-roll ads simply don’t measure up to the YouTube generation’s expectations for…
How Topshop used Instagram and Facebook to power the Topshop Fashion Catwalk
Topshop's 2014 social media campaign gives a good example of an integrating social networks. Topshop used Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to bring their live London Fashion event to a social media audience. They enlisted 5 Topshop Instagram Bloggers and strong advocates to share their pictures and videos, inviting fans to post to the hashtag #Topshopwindow.
Brands appearing at the Fashion show shared photos from the catwalk and celebs at the show, under hashtag #TopShopUnique and some Designers even took the opportunity to release their new outfits, before they hit the catwalk.
The live event was streamed to the website so fans could 'click-to-buy' whilst watching the models on the runway in the latest fashions, and even download the latest music playlist. Social comments were shown…
Where to focus to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition
It isn’t always about embracing the newest, shiniest techniques. Instead, the fundamentals of consistency, reliability and credibility are often more important to make an impact with customers.
Customers may often cite innovation as one of the must haves, but it’s rarely at the top of the list. In B2B, they want continuity and risk mitigation.
That's why web searches, supplier websites, and email remain the primary information sources for the modern business buyer. These are the tools that allow customers to seek out products and services, to learn about the companies that provide them and to ensure they are regularly updated on them.
In our recent "Six ways to turbocharge your B2B marketing" webinar - now available on demand - we discussed six ways to ensure you are at the forefront of your B2B customer's mind. For those of you too busy…
Interview with Ollie Bath, co-founder of CloudTags
In our recent guide by Tery Spataro on integrating customer-facing digital technology into retail stores we looked at lots of examples of how retailers are planning to Wow customers with in-store digital tech. One of the most interesting technologies which combines customer engagement with linkages through to CRM and sales is CloudTags. Jill Quick, another of our Expert commentators had been telling me about the example of Made.com who had given customers at its London showroom tablets that they can use to read NFC / RFID tags to learn about each product, while giving the retailer access to data about shopper behaviour and preferences. It's one example of the Internet of Things being applied in retail today.
So, I was interested to interview Ollie Bath, the co-founder of CloudTags to find out more about the technology, how different retailers…
