Retailers interact
with customers in ways unlike any other industry. Whether through
email coupons or face-to-face interactions at the register, you
have more customer data sources to consider than most other
marketers. But online and offline marketing still remain
disconnected, leaving additional opportunities for increased
transactions untapped. At the same time, consumers can become
frustrated or feel undervalued when their interactions with a brand
aren’t appreciated or cohesive.
Plain and simple, consumers’ offline shopping behavior deserves as
much attention as their online shopping...
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With a new year just around the
corner, we’ve compiled five resolutions in order to help you
maintain a successful interactive marketing program. While diets
and exercise programs might taper off just months after the start
of the new year, these initiatives are
5 Resolutions Marketers Should Make—and Keep—in
2011.
Here is a high level overview of the 5 Marketing
Resolutions:
-
Make Data the Foundation of Your Marketing –
The concept of collecting data isn’t new. Using it is. With 600
Tweets, 34,000 Google searches, and 700 Facebook posts per second,
marketers are no longer in control of their...
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Ready to think about integrated digital marketing technologies but
not sure where to start? Don't worry, you're not alone! So many
organizations know that integration makes sense but for whatever
reason haven't taken the first step.
In this new paper:
10 Ideas to Turn Data Into Results, we collaborated with top
industry experts like Microsoft, Adobe, SAP, ATG, Web Analytics
Demystified and others to discuss how companies of every size and
industry are integrating their marketing technologies. I couldn’t
be more excited about their insights into email, customer
relationship management (CRM),...
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In the age of rapidly increasing social and
digital media, young people are becoming married to their favorite
businesses like never before. People
are choosing to become “fans” of their favorite brand of shoes on
Facebook, follow the actions of their favorite coffee company, and
even opting in to 
receive free e-mail coupons
from their local ice cream shop.
Despite this seemingly constant symbiotic relationship between
consumers and their brands, advertisements in one forum—cellular
phones, are still poorly received, even from companies with whom
they have a prior relationship.
This should...
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Remember the good ‘ol college days? The days where you’d
sign up for anything free because you never quite had enough money
for food or books. Credit card companies would roam around campus
flaunting their free t-shirts with a tempting, “All you have to do
is sign up for your very own credit card and this t-shirt can be
yours.” And of course, many freshmen fell for it. It was a free
t-shirt, after all.
Probably not the brightest idea to ruin your credit over a free
t-shirt. But, let me tell you about a really cool promotion
involving, yes, free stuff and college students. Except this one...
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Thinking about using mobile
coupons? If you are, here are 5 things you absolutely must know
about planning and managing a successful mobile coupon
strategy.
1. Make the Offer Relevant to the Consumer.
“Opt-in mobile marketing has an enormous potential if done
responsibly and is specifically focused on the stores/restaurants
that matter to each consumer,” said Alistair Goodman CEO of 1020
Placecast.
A recent study conducted by
Harris Interactive of more than 2,000
adults measured cell phone owner preference levels and receptivity
for opt-in mobile marketing messages from...
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As reported in last week’s online issue of
MEDIAWEEK, “8.6 million (or 8 percent) of U.S. households
currently acquire coupons via text messages and/or email.” This
finding is from a recent report from Scarborough Research.
The article noted that “a number of factors have contributed to the
increasing use of text or e-mail coupons, such as the increased
usage of cell phones and other personal communications devices,
which allow consumers to access offers at the point of purchase.
And because consumers must opt in to receive the coupons, they tend
to be more targeted.”
Gordmans’ Birthday...
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I was eating dinner this week in a
local fast food restaurant in Anderson, IN and they had a giant box
sitting on the counter that encouraged customers to sign-up for
their email list.
Since I work for an email marketing
company: they got me.
I signed up.
What was good about
this?
1.
Subscribers are opting-in to the
communication.
2.
The database is going to be subscribers who want regular
communication.
How could this be
improved?
1.
Convert from paper to SMS. Instead of having me fill out a
slip of paper with my contact information, have me opt in by text
message.
2.
Follow-u...
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Normally cell phone usage is fronded upon within the entertainment
industry. When you attend a concert, play, or movie the
audience is normally told more than once to turn off their cell
phones. The fact of the matter is people are bringing cell
phones to these events, and they are probably even using them for
texting purposes during the show. Why not use this to your
advantage and engage your audience using SMS text marketing?
The Indianapolis Symphony is a great example of using text
marketing within the entertainment industry. In an attempt to
engage a younger crowd the symphony had its...
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SMS
Mobile Marketing. It’s all a buzz in the market right now, but are
you having trouble thinking of ways it can help your business? Well
hopefully the ideas listed below will help get the wheels turning
on how your organization can benefit from SMS mobile
marketing.
SMS Mobile Marketing to Grow Email Marketing
ListsHere at ExactTarget, we call this Text Capture. It allows a
subscriber to opt in to your email communications via SMS. If you
are a brick & mortar shop looking for a way to grow your email
marketing list, why not place a promotion at your register
prompting your most engaged...
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I hate it when events get rained
out or planes get delayed because of bad weather. What’s even worse
is when I drive all the way there and don’t find out about the
delay until I’ve already wasted an hour of driving and $10 in gas
money.
Those in the travel industry have
a real opportunity to take advantage of the power of SMS
campaigns to connect with their customers in a relevant way. From weather
updates to checking frequent flyer mile balances, SMS campaigns can
be a way to cut through the clutter and build a subscriber database
that is engaged.
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra uses ET’s...
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ExactTarget’s one to one email
marketing automation software allows businesses to build
their subscriber lists with high-value individuals through SMS
campaigns that utilize
text capture.
Coming from someone that uses text
messages all the time, I strongly would recommend offering
something along these lines.
From in-store promotions, paper
catalogues, radio ads, and billboards you can engage with your
target market by inviting them to text into your business. You can
build your list with subscribers who want your content. They want
to stay informed.
Capture. Collect. Communicate.
Captivate.
Kyle...
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Here's a topic that comes up quite a bit: What constitutes a
wireless domain?
As instructed by the FTC and per CAN-SPAM, the US federal anti-spam
law, the FCC publishes a
list of
wireless domains.
Your ability to send
commercial mail to those domains is restricted; the legal
requirements reference digital signatures; require a higher
standard of affirmative consent (compared to CAN-SPAM). The intent
is that "wireless domains", meaning devices like pagers and cell
phones, should be spared certain types of messaging sans explicit
consent.
This whole thing strikes me as odd. If the US standard...
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Part of my job with
ExactTarget 3sixty
involves just trying to stay up-to-date with the world of social
networking. I mean, its hard work, but somebody's got to
do it, right? So I spend some time on
Twitter on a
normal basis.
I wasn't a Twitter-lover from day one, it definitely had to
grow on me. So I completely understand - not everybody
"gets" Twitter, or
Facebook, or social networking in
general. But nobody can possibly ignore the power that it is
playing in the news right now.
Dominating the news are stories regarding the election in
Iran. I am sure you have seen them, they are on...
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The recent privacy uproar regarding Facebook’s privacy policy
changes are yet another example of the increasing power of the
subscriber. Subscribers rule not only the world of email, but also
social networks. Their ability connect with each other and band
together via social networks is something the world hasn’t seen
since a band of villagers hunted Frankenstein wielding torches and
pitchforks.
After realizing they stepped in it, and that the mob had realized
it, Mark
Zuckerberg blogged on the privacy misstep, and their
efforts to change it. I think he handled it quite well,
and in his blog...
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There
is nothing better than an email that speaks specifically to
you.
Emails that offer no interesting information or fail to offer me
something I want usually end up in the trash folder pretty quickly.
There is something about human nature in that we want to be “talked
to” not “sold.” An email that is strictly promotional with no
personalization is better off not being sent. Many times, it is
these irrelevant emails that cause people to hit the unsubscribe or
spam button.
One company that is particularly good at sending personalized
emails is eBay. When I log on to eBay, I have no doubt that...
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I've said for years that product recommendations really work BUT
only when the recommendations are relevant cross-sells to items
your customer has purchased in the past. The recommendation
should really compliment something the customer already has and the
recommendation should be recent.
Don't send a customer a recommendation for a cell phone accessory
if the cell phone was purchased more than two years ago. More
than likely, that recommendation is now irrelevant.
The great thing about email is if you aren't sure if this really
increases purchase conversion, test out both methods....
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Well, happy snowy Wednesday everyone. As many of you here with me
in the Midwest already know, it's beastly out today.
No,
really.
I just spend roughly 30 minutes clearing a foot and a half of
snow off the trusty Cavalier only to find it can't get enough
traction to move more than 6 inches in any direction. I'm not
bitter about this situation -- aside from the fact that much of the
snow I cleared now resides inside my boots, up my sleeves, in my
hair, and down MY NECK.
Ah, winter. How glorious.
(No, this isn't my cavy in the picture, but might as well
be!)However, there was one bright moment in...
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A few weeks ago I was tasked with
picking up my sister up from the airport at 10:30 on a Monday night
because I was the closest geographically and that’s the caring,
loving older sister that I am. Assuming that the plane was going to
be delayed because I had an early meeting the next day (and that’s
the kind of luck I generally have), I got on Delta’s website to
check the status of her flight. While I was looking for a simple on
time, delayed, or canceled symbol next to her flight I saw
something even better –
Flight Status Notifications.
Delta.com has a One-Time Notification
program that...
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Do you think that email is a thing of the past? If so,
according to the new 
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