Research Shows Marketing Personalization Misses The Mark

Article by Ernan Roman Featured on Forbes.com

Here’s what a leading CMO told me recently when I asked about the quality of their CX and personalization: "We are using new CRM technology to automate old, bad behaviors…not being guided by how our customers define improved CX. Result: High volume, irritating and brand damaging spray and pray."

Per VoC research conducted by our firm among customers and lost customers of leading brands, many marketers are kidding themselves when they say they’re doing personalization. What they are really doing is putting lipstick on tired, transactional emails and blasting them from the latest and greatest CRM technology.

As John J. Curtis, SEO manager at Walgreens stated regarding the importance of content and CX, "Good content marketing is designed for your customer…. with any tool, you have to use it properly for the job you’re doing, and every tool isn’t used for every job. … [Assess] the issue at hand, identify the customer need, …then decide what to grab from the toolbox."

Per the VoC research findings, here are three ways to stop damaging consumer relationships and start delivering truly personalized CX:

Fulfill the Promise of Value

As illustrated by the recent Apple privacy controversy, consumers clearly understand the value of their personal information and are willing to provide marketers with that information if there is a promise of value in exchange for this interaction.

However, all too often this is what people are telling us in the VoC research:

"What we receive is not smart personalization. They aren’t personalizing the things that matter to me."

"What they consider personalization is so old-fashioned"

"I want more than just buying history-based emails."

"With today’s technology, I expect the experiences and emails to reflect my interests and preferences."

Enable Customers to Drive Personalization per their Individual Preferences

Reciprocity of Value is a fundamental requirement for gaining in-depth customer information in exchange for significantly improved preference-driven personalization.

Customers want explicit, preference-based personalization, such as product recommendations that are based on their previous shopping history, favorites, or noted preferences.

Consumers also want to be partners in their personalization. They also want the ability to correct a company’s algorithm when it picks up on the wrong signal such as a purchased gift that was not in line with their own preference-based wants and needs

Don’t Be Afraid to Request Appropriate Personal Data

Sephora uses shopper data to deliver amped-up CX by gathering data on shopping habits. Actions analyzed to deliver a more personalized experience include behaviors and interactions within product pages. Choices indicate intentions that can be used to develop a more personalized user experience at three specific shopping stages: consideration of a purchase, planning a purchase or ready to purchase.

The important point to remember is that even with privacy concerns, your consumers are willing to provide the information you need to boost their CX interactions to a higher level. The problem doesn’t lie with consumer willingness; the problem lies in marketers’ abilities to deliver in-depth personalization and high levels of value.

Samsung's Head Of Digital Answers 4 Questions For Marketing Innovators

Article by Ernan Roman Featured on CMO.com

James Keady is head of digital at Samsung, where he is passionate about the audience experience across the digital landscape: social, website, retail, CRM, and media. Keady has worked globally across a diverse set of industries, from leading finance and beverage companies in Australia to luxury car brands in China.

Keady recently participated in our "4 Questions for Marketing Innovators" series.

1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?
The expectations of today's audiences is to be communicated to in a personalized, targeted way; put simply, relevancy at scale. It is an exciting time to be marketer because the technology to deliver this is here now. Whether targeted programmatic media, profile data-driven content experiences, or cross-channel retail experiences, technology has bridged personalization theory with practice. Advertising as we knew it is dead; broadcast messaging has been replaced by one-to-one experiences between brand and audience.

The brands that are winning are those that can build marketing solutions with data and agility at the core. In terms of what you can do about it, I like the quote from PJ Pereira: "Think like a marketer, behave like an entertainer, and move like a tech startup."

2. Why is this so important?
Customers expect a personalized, consistent experience across all brand touch points. In the hypercompetitive digital marketplace, success is dictated by the ability to cut through the noise and deliver the right message at the right time to the right audience. People now have more choice and power. From ad-blocking software to the rise of subscription-based on-demand content platforms, today's consumers can now pay to take advertising out of their lives. Personal, relevant experiences that build customer conversion and loyalty are now a critical factor for businesses to generate and sustain future profits.

At McLaren luxury cars, they are focused on building digital into the exclusive positioning of the brand. Today's luxury car buyer no longer needs to step into a dealer to customize their future vehicle. The brand's configuration tool allows for thousands of configurations to be selected online, mobile, and from any location in the world with a Wi-Fi connection. This order connects with a local retailer, which can shortly after go into production and the customer into the CRM communication experience.

3. How will the customer experience be improved by this?
Personalization is key to the customer experience. The modern customer craves simplicity in experience. They demand authenticity and relevancy. They want the best price. And they want it now. The authenticity they demand will be delivered through technologies that are increasingly enabling this personalization at scale across branded websites, social platforms, and the media landscape.

A great example of a practical personalization delivered to make a difference to the bottom line is U.K.'s largest lingerie retailer, which started with the first stage of segmentation, building data profiles of customers to identify types, ranging from the confused boyfriend, the older woman, existing customers, and younger teenagers. With an understanding of their audience, they could now deliver targeted website experiences, exclusive offers for regular visitors, data-driven UX improvements, and understanding the browsing habits and how content needs and conversion opportunities differ between desktop and mobile users.

4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?
Marketing efficacy will improve because we now operate within a data, performance-driven world. The brands that are most effective harness this data to add value to the customer experience. These experiences convert prospects into repeat customers, contributing to building the base and future financial sustainability.

However, the correct use and regulation related to data-driven marketing will always be a value exchange. Increasingly, data-savvy audiences will use data as an asset, and if the value is not clear, they will not invest in your proposition. Dave Egger's "The Circle" explored where future society revolves around omnipresent data collection and 24/7 transparency operated by commercial organizations. We are some way from that rebooted Orwellian scenario; however, using data responsibly to give customers what they want, where they want is, a great way to become more effective in your marketing.

Bonus: Favorite activity outside of work?
I'm passionate about life in London with my family, exploring new cultures, new ideas, and visiting my home town (Melbourne, Australia) whenever I get the chance.

For additional Marketing Innovator stories, click here.

Five Ways CMOs Are Failing At Content

Article by Ernan Roman Featured on Forbes.com

Recently, AOL CMO Allie Kline said that content marketing “is an increasingly important investment that brands must make to engage consumers and authentically communicate a brand’s purpose.”

However, per recent research, companies are having a tough time succeeding with content marketing: 71% of marketers planned to up their video efforts, however 44% say they have no effective video marketing strategy. And, 81% of marketers are involved in content marketing, but only 28% of organizations say they are effective.

Here are five critical ways that CMOs are failing at content and what can be done to turn things around.

Pitfall 1: Content is being driven by what your team assumes it “should be”

Effective content is based on deep customer insights which drive content that resonates with your audience. It is not based on suppositions or general trends.

Pitfall 2: Content doesn’t have a strategic approach

Per research, while the majority of companies stated that they are heavily focused on creating engaging content and will produce more content, 55% are unclear or unsure about what content marketing success or effectiveness actually looks like. Additionally, only 32% of companies actually have a documented content marketing strategy.

Pitfall 3: Content doesn’t have the right metrics for measuring success

How do you determine what is working? The metrics that were rated as important by successful content marketers include increased lead quality/sales, increased web traffic, brand awareness lift, increased SEO ranking and increased renewal rates/subscriber rates.

Pitfall 4: Insufficient understanding of the importance of content for your customers

The effectiveness and sustainability of your content strategies requires a fundamental understanding by your team of the value of content marketing for your customers and what it can do for your brand perception.

Consumers are inspired by good content; 60% of people seek out a product after reading content about it, and 82% of consumers feel more positive about a company after reading custom content.

Pitfall 5: Not using content to power inbound marketing

One of the keys to successful content is the ability to generate a source of new inbound traffic to your website. Research indicates that companies are 3X as likely to see higher ROI with inbound marketing campaigns than on outbound. Inbound marketing also delivers 54% more leads into the marketing funnel than traditional outbound marketing.

No doubt, marketers know that content is a valuable engagement and sales tool. But the key is to develop tight strategies and tight metrics to avoid these five pitfalls that can sink the best attempts.