editor, Author at Mediastreet

In News

How the pandemic has re-shaped the family shopping agenda

August 23, 2021 No Comments

As part of The Drum’s Retail Deep Dive, Netmums managing director Rimi Atwal argues that by comparing and contrasting pre and post-pandemic family mindsets, brands can effectively target this demographic.

The pandemic has driven seismic change in virtually all aspects of our daily lives – from workplace norms, to the provision of education; from travel to entertainment, and how, why and when we shop.

At Netmums, we conducted in-depth quantitative and qualitative research into the lives of UK families to mark our 20-year anniversary at the end of 2019.

Although we didn’t know it at the time, our insight captured the priorities for UK families in that key moment immediately preceding the pandemic, and the dramatic impact it would have on our lives and values.

To fully understand the shifts that have taken place for all UK families, Netmums conducted further research in May 2021. We revisited the questions we had posed 18 months previously and were able to track how families’ priorities and lifestyles had changed, and what new factors are shaping how they spend their money and time.

It became immediately apparent that attitudes to shopping and spending have shifted significantly. In our 2021 survey, 34% of parents say, ’since the pandemic I have changed the brands I buy’, 59% agree ’since the pandemic, delivery efficiency and cost is most important to me’, and 65% say now that, ’price is usually my first consideration’.

Digging deeper into our insight, the story is a complex one. Obvious pressure points like cost and convenience come to the fore, but even more striking is the shifting sense of family priorities and concerns – from global to local, outwards-facing to inwards-facing, and from environmental to social.

Global to local

A core 2019 finding was 90% of parents declaring the environment a key consideration in their everyday purchasing decisions.

However, in 2021, the environment has fallen down the pecking order. When asked to rank family priorities:

82% cited equal opportunities for their children
76% said managing screen-time
65% said environment/climate change

By 2021, 66% parents, ‘wish brands and retailers made it easier to purchase sustainably and ethically‘ – down from 75% in 2019. Today, less than half (48%) of parents agree ‘I would be prepared to pay a little bit more if a brand I like demonstrated a real commitment to the environment‘.

In terms of global issues, today, social inequality and mental health emerge more frequently than environmental concerns, probably as a direct result of the way the pandemic has emphasised the impact of social inequalities on health outcomes and underlining the importance of good mental and physical health.

Outward-looking to inward looking

In 2021 family worries about the outside world have been replaced by a focus on improving and investing in self, the family unit and the home. Parents cite ‘family bonding time’ as a key priority and emphasise their desire to invest in special occasions and spend more on family time:

61% are focused on getting fitter
50% are planning to spend on home improvements
68% want to invest in more family events/entertaining
52% want to save money

Greater ambivalence to tech as a positive force

Another emerging trend is a shifting attitude to technology in our lives – just three per cent of parents want to buy more tech in 2021, compared to the 76% of parents in 2019 who enthused technology made their lives easier through time-saving solutions like online shopping and internet banking.

Moreover, 76% of parents cited managing everyone’s screen-time as a major challenge in their lives in 2021, versus the 52% of parents in 2019.

Lessons for retail brands

It’s not surprising that the past two years have shifted the dial on family spending behaviours and priorities. But as we emerge from the third national lockdown, what can retail brands do to connect with UK families and align with their new priorities?

Judging by successful campaigns recently created by Netmums for high profile family brands, it’s clear that marrying brand credentials with what families want right now, is key.

Our recent Quorn campaign is a strong example of a brand who understands the mindset shift. While the campaign maintains its pre-existing focus on sustainability, it also positions the brand as one that easily enables healthy eating and family time. Bringing this concept to life, are family cookalong videos, co-created with Netmums’ editorial team and celebrity chef, Lisa Faulkner, with Netmums users joining virtually from their own kitchens.

Family stalwart brand, Fairy, is another example of a brand demonstrating clear understanding of an evolving customer mindset. The ‘Fairy Cares’ campaign, set to launch in September, will empathise with families’ challenges post-pandemic by offering both practical advice and resources, and emotional support. At the campaign’s heart is a clear commitment from Fairy to support all parents, boost their inner confidence and help celebrate family moments at a time when traditional support systems are reduced and anxiety at an all-time high.

And building out of 2021’s key insight that 98% of parents rank family health and wellbeing as their top priority, Petits Filous’ partnership with Netmums in creating a ‘Happy Healthy Kids’ hub, has been a resounding success. Delivering on parents’ needs for fun and healthy lifestyle ideas for the whole family, from healthy snack recipes to activity ideas, Petit Filous is positioning itself as the brand that will keep kids healthy and happy all year round.

As these brand partnerships show, connecting with a family-focused customer base must be about positioning the brand as the answer to what families need, right here, right now. And the only way to find out what families need, right here, right now, is to ask them and listen to what they say and how they feel.

For more on the reinvention of retail, check out The Drum’s Retail hub, where we explore everything from livestreaming e-commerce to AR shopping and conscious consumerism.

Feature Image Credit: Netmums

By Rimi Atwal

Sourced from The Drum

In Uncategorized

7 Email Copywriting Tips that Convert

August 23, 2021 No Comments

By Steve Hall

Email marketing is probably the highest-value marketing strategy to grow your business. Businesses of all sizes are using email marketing to reach their new and existing audience. If done right, email copywriting can be the driving force of your business growth. Besides, email marketing is a highly cost-effective strategy. One study shows that it can earn you an incredibly high ROI of $44 for every dollar spent.

The hardest part is getting your audience to open and actually read the emails. So, to make your subscribers open the email and read it, you have to visualize your audience and create emails with the reader in mind.

Are you struggling with writing an email marketing copy that converts?
In this post, we have listed 7 Email Copywriting Tips that will help improve conversions and get more leads and sales.

1. Grab Attention with a Compelling Subject Line

First things first! Give maximum time to crafting an engaging subject line that will prompt your recipient to open the email. As stated above, the most challenging part about a marketing email is to get your audience to open it. You only have a few seconds to engage your customers in their inbox. You may not like it, but the fact is about 80% of emails get deleted immediately.

It’s the subject line that will decide the fate of your email, which means either the recipient will open it, delete it or report it as spam. Although a subject line takes up the least space, we recommend you spend the most time crafting the perfect subject line. Your subject line should give them food for thought. They must get this feeling that the content in this email will benefit them, their business/cause.

2. Insert a Preview Text

The next most important thing is the preview text of your email. Studies show that email opening rate increases when you use a preview text. Wondering why? For most of the modern email subscribers, it’s not just the subject line that inspires them to open an email. They look at the preview text as well to get a better idea of the email content.

Your preview text is a teaser displaying below the subject line, providing an insight into the email. In most email clients, it is just the first line of the email. But some email tools give you a chance to select a preview of your choice.

In either case, craft it carefully. The preview provides you an additional space to draw in your subscribers.

3. Improve click-through rate with Visual Content

They say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Whether it’s a blog post, a marketing email, or a digital ad, finding and using the right image can help engage your reader effectively.

Adding images and infographics can significantly increase email performance levels, including open rates and click-through rates. Wondering how?

Your subscribers don’t have time to read paragraphs after paragraphs.
Images make messages easy to understand and almost at a single glance.
Recipients respond far more quickly to visuals as compared to text.
Visual content can lead to better retention.

You can use a variety of images to connect with your subscribers. For example, you can take real pictures, create graphics or you can use free stock photos.

Nevertheless, it is pertinent to mention here that while adding pictures can strengthen your message, irrelevant or stuffy images can be intimidating.

4. Ensure You Communicate Effectively

When crafting a marketing email, don’t think of it as an electronically sent message to a random reader. Instead, take it as a chance to communicate with your subscribers in an effective way. Therefore, curate it carefully, thinking of it as a direct conversation with the subscriber.

One study shows that personalized email messages increase click-through rates by 14% on average and conversions by 10%.

So, rather than sending a robotic email-for-all, use emails to give subscribers something of interest – from information to inspiration or even a discount or a deal – whatever you think could be the area of interest of the target email recipient.

Once done crafting an email, give it a critical read. Will the recipient find himself/herself in a better place after reading it? If not, start over again!

5. Keep it Simple!

You don’t need to use all caps and multiple exclamation marks in the subject line or preview text, only to grab the reader’s attention. In email marketing, using an all-caps or numerous exclamation marks technique is considered shouting online. Besides, overusing them makes your email look spammy and ultimately hurts the performance levels of your email, such as click-through and open rate.

Having that said, you don’t have to sound boring either. No marketing rule requires a business email to be dull and dry. Use your email content to stir readers’ imagination by using whatever technique you feel can help the cause. One tip, as discussed earlier, is using visuals.

6. Prefer Clarity Over Catchiness

When writing a marketing copy, clarity should always be your first preference. Make sure your email is clear first and catchy second. A clear statement can be made catchy and funny, but if your entertaining email content does not have clarity on the subject, it will go to the trash.

The subject line’s clarity is particularly essential. The first look at an unopened email should give your subscribers a clear image of what’s it for them inside the email. Never sacrifice clarity for entertainment value.

7. Establish Relevancy

From the subject line to preview text to the message in the email, every part of your copy should establish relevance through personalization. Always write your email copy with the target segment in mind.

The relevancy rule applies particularly to the subject line and preview text. This will convince the recipients that what’s inside is relevant to them. Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened. So use the very beginning of the email to explain why you are writing to them.

Final Words!

When a person receives an email from an unknown sender, or even from a business, few questions that strike his/her mind include:

Why are you emailing me about it?
Why would I want your product/service or idea?
Why from you?
Why now?
How would it benefit me?

Make sure your curated email copy answers all of these questions. If you write an email keeping the tips mentioned above as well as these questions in mind, there’s a greater likelihood that the recipient will click through and redeem the offer in the email.

By Steve Hall

Sourced from AdRANTS

In News

Increase in marketing efforts combine direct mail and digital audiences

August 23, 2021 No Comments

Sourced from The Drum

This month’s Ideal Insights from Adstra highlights privacy issues and growing trends on the national and state level.

“Renewal is not just innovation and change. It is also the process of bringing the results of change into line with our purposes.” — John W. Gardner

This month’s update

As the world around us is starting to awaken from the pandemic, so too is the level of marketing we are seeing at our clients. We are seeing increases with our clients on both our direct mail and digital audience activities. Interestingly enough, we are also seeing an increase in combined direct mail and digital marketing campaigns. On our Non-profit side, we are seeing more than twice the number of multi-channel campaigns than we have in either of the last two years. So, what is driving this interest? Multi-channel or omnichannel marketing has always been one of those often discussed but has yet to catch fire ideas. While we cannot offer a definitive answer, we can certainly provide some insight and guidance behind the recent increase in efforts.

First up, the need to solve the impact of the announced postal increases. While digital marketers fear the impending changes of cookie deprecation and MAID tracking, direct mail marketers fear the announced cost increases in postal and printing rates. The return on direct mail campaigns is equally driven by response rates and executional costs. Marketers can adjust to small changes in cost but are challenged by major shifts like those proposed. Direct mail certainly has a place for marketers in the future, but it needs an enhancement to make the ROIs continue to work at scale and enable access to newer and younger audiences.

Second up, marketers are faced with the continuous shift away from engagement with mail by the younger generations and the bifurcation of consumers’ attention across multiple media channels. No single media has the scale of mindshare and engagement to make many traditional marketing approaches work. The walled gardens certainly offer some of the best opportunities to engage customers, but it is often on the garden’s terms and eliminates most of a brand’s ability to effectively manage the communication journey. For those brands that can exist off the older traditional direct mail audience, they can still get by, but the runway is shortening as that audience continues to age out of the business sweet spot. Never is this more true than in the non-profit space, where organizations are desperate to find younger donors and secure their long-term relevancy.

Together these two factors are driving the need to try something new. And this is where multi-channel campaigns fit in. Direct mail still has the many benefits of delivering the relevant materials to help convert customers to buy or donate, but digital offers the low-cost opportunity to build brand awareness and stimulate the discussion around a potential purchase or donation. Like anything that is new, however, success on multi-channel campaigns has been limited. In many instances, we see brands simply declare that it just doesn’t work.

Much of this we believe has to do with the starting audiences. Models tuned to direct mail response often misrepresent the value or promise of digitally engaged prospects. And digitally defined audiences do not reflect the ability to engage in a direct mail piece. Brands need to start the audience definition process anew, just like they might with any new product launch. If you haven’t looked into or understand how a multivariate test works, we might suggest educating yourself here. There needs to be far more testing of ideas and approaches before declaring multi-channel marketing as a no-go. Marketers need to better understand the entire customer engagement process and make sure their campaigns fully and effectively support that engagement.

For many campaigns, marketers see the digital component as simply brand awareness building and the direct mail piece still as the method of transaction. But in some cases, and with some audiences, it may be better to invert the thinking. Couldn’t the direct mail piece be the brand awareness piece and the digital component of the transaction vehicle? The problem with this scenario for many brands is that their websites are not tuned to transact but rather to support the company’s broader brand-building efforts.

In one of our client’s recent tests, we saw a 250-300% increase in traffic to their website out of the campaign, but effectively no increase in conversion. This was a clear case of opportunity missed because the website was not set up to close the deal. The overall campaign results showed no lift in performance, but it was clear this was more a self-inflicted failure vs a failure of the campaign itself.

In thinking about customer engagement, we would also point out here the need for consistency and alignment in messaging among channels. Where the messages are aligned at the individual level, brands are far more likely to see success than in those situations where they are not. For one publisher client of ours, they were able to drive an 80+% lift in direct mail performance for an insurance company they were working with by supporting the highlights of the direct mail materials and telling customers to keep a lookout for the mail piece. Given the success of that campaign, the publisher tried to support their own direct mail subscription offers digitally, only to find out they depressed response rates around 20%. The reason, the direct mail piece had long been designed to look like a “bill”, so customers simply paid for the subscription. By raising awareness in the digital campaign that it was an “offer”, not a “bill”, the response lift is driven by a sense of obligation disappeared.

Overall, our experience suggests that if you stay aligned and consistent in messaging at an individual level you should expect to see a 5-20% improvement in ROI. And we believe that will only get better as experience and ability to market at an individual level improve. As we learn more through the campaigns we have in the market now with our clients, we will continue to report back on the successes and failures. There is a future in multi-channel marketing, we just need to get there together.

Privacy highlights on the national level

Senators Amy Klobuchar, John Kennedy, Joe Manchin, and Richard Burr introduced the Social Media Privacy Protection and Consumer Rights Act of 2021. The bill would “give consumers the right to opt-out and keep their information private by disabling data tracking and collection” and “mandate that users be notified of a breach of their information within 72 hours,” the sponsors said. The Verge, Gizmodo, andArs Technica reported on the bill.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand introduced the Data Protection Act of 2021, which would create an independent Data Protection Agency to “protect Americans’ data, safeguard their privacy, and ensure data practices that are fair and transparent.” The legislation expands on similar legislation the Senator introduced last year. “In today’s digital age, Big Tech companies are free to sell individuals’ data to the highest bidder without fear of real consequences, posing a severe threat to modern-day privacy and civil rights. A data privacy crisis is looming over the everyday lives of Americans and we need to hold these bad actors accountable,” said Senator Gillibrand.

R Street called on Congress to take steps to protect Americans’ data from its adversaries by passing a federal data security law and data privacy law. A white paper published by the group “seeks to reframe the need for data security and privacy legislation to acknowledge a stark reality.

Greg Bensinger, a member of The New York Times editorial board, cited the 6% of U.S. daily users who have opted into data collection on Apple’s latest software update as evidence of consumers’ demand for more privacy. “Consumers have no federal rights to privacy, leaving tech companies to put in place policies as they see fit. And critics allege Apple may be coming out with the changes to get ahead of regulatory pressure and an ongoing antitrust lawsuit over its app store. Advertising is only a small part of Apple’s business, meaning it can afford to take a cut in revenue while sticking it to competitors. Ironically, Apple will have to act even more like a regulator itself to ensure that app developers are following the rules of its new software,” he wrote. “Companies did just fine for decades marketing to consumers without access to their every movement or keyboard and mouse click. And with 94 percent of Americans saying they liked it that way, it’s time for advertisers to listen.”

Consumer concerns about data privacy and the need to meet regulatory requirements like GDPR are the main barriers to growth in mobile marketing, according to WARC’s survey of over 500 marketing professionals in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).

Privacy highlights on the state level

Connecticut – Bloomberg Law, Connecticut Post, and Hartford Courant reported on failed efforts to include data privacy legislation in omnibus budget legislation in Connecticut.

New York – Legislation that would require companies to obtain opt-in consent from consumers before processing their data for ad targeting and would allow class-action lawsuits over violations was approved by the Senate Consumer Protection Committee in New York.

As we are constantly trying to feed helpful content out to our client community, we encourage you to visit our content blog where you can get our latest thoughts on industry issues. While you are there, you can also check out the new look and feel of our website. Our goal was to provide a clearer understanding of Identity, Data, and all the services we have to offer.

Should you look for more help on these topics, please reach out and we would be happy to help. Email us at [email protected]

Connect with Adstra

If you like what Adstra has to share or want to learn more about what we do, follow us on LinkedIn @Adstra, Twitter @Adstradata or Facebook @Adstradata. We welcome you to the new ideal in data.

Sourced from The Drum

In News

Smart And Sustainable Print Marketing: PFL

August 20, 2021 No Comments

By Mary Juetten

If you’re anything like me, you’re annoyed by the amount of daily physical mail, as much of it feels wasteful of time and resources. That’s doubly true for mass marketing material that has no bearing on my interests or spending habits, all of which ends up directly deposited into the recycling bin.

So, I was a bit sceptical to speak with Andrew Field, Founder and CEO of PFL, a Montana-based firm working in the space of print marketing. To Andrew’s credit, his company’s model aims to be less wasteful both in its targeting and its use of recycled materials and sustainable energy. Perhaps most interesting was learning about how his company has navigated the digital era as a print marketing company, and succeeded at a time when most assumed print to be dead.

Mary Juetten: When did you start?

Andrew Field: I cofounded the company in 1996. The idea for PFL came to me while I was fly-fishing on the Yellowstone River with a friend. At first, we were a six-person print shop dedicated to small businesses who needed access to affordable printing without compromising quality.

As the internet and ecommerce rose to the ubiquity we know today, I realized more businesses were turning to the internet for products and services. So, in 1999, we launched the first U.S. ecommerce site for full-line commercial printing. For much of the early 2000s, the business was focused on printing for small and medium businesses (SMBs) across the country.

With the rise of SaaS, I saw an opportunity to make direct mail part of marketing automation – as easy as building in an email as part of the customer journey. So in 2014, we created another category, Tactile Marketing Automation.

Juetten: What problem are you solving?

Field: Businesses need a way to cut through digital clutter and make lasting impressions with prospects and customers. Direct mail does this in a way that digital marketing just can’t. Our 2020 Multichannel Marketing Report (in conjunction with Demand Metric) found multichannel campaigns including direct mail report an 18 percent higher ROI than those without direct mail, and 84 percent of respondents indicate direct mail improves multichannel campaign performance.

We create a smarter way for organizations to incorporate direct mail as an intentional part of the customer journey versus batching and blasting. Our solution works with existing CRMs and marketing automation platforms like Salesforce, Oracle or Marketo and enables marketers to send personalized, targeted, and trackable collateral to create a memorable and engaging experience for the customer.

Juetten: Who are your customers and how do you find them?

Field: Our ideal customer cares about branding, security, scalability and ROI. We have a wide range of customers from enterprise SaaS to higher education, financial services, healthcare and retail. We practice account-based marketing and use our own solution, Tactile Marketing Automation, to build relationships with our ideal customers. We delight our customers with relevant brand experiences, and then show them how they can do the same to get the attention of their audience. Also, as the category creator and leader, many customers find us through word of mouth.

Juetten: Did you raise money?

Field: Yes. In 2018, we secured $25 million in growth capital from Goldman Sachs Growth Equity. The funds support R&D, product development, and sales team growth for our TMA platform.

Juetten: Direct mail can be perceived as wasteful to some. What’s your response to this?

Field: The way we enable direct mail isn’t just batching and blasting. It is targeted, and actually reduces waste.

For example, let’s say Company A is hosting a webinar and Customer X attended webinars in the past and signed up to attend the upcoming webinar. Company A could send Customer X related content and a snack to enjoy while watching the webinar.

Here’s another example in the nonprofit world. If a past donor opens an email or visits the homepage of a nonprofit’s website, and hasn’t donated this past year, TMA could trigger a piece of direct mail to spur the individual to donate.

This way, organizations leverage the power of direct mail but in a more intentional, less wasteful way.

Speaking of the environment, our manufacturing facility and processes are green. PFL is wind-powered, and we use soy-based inks, and minimal VOCs.

Juetten: Who is on your team?

Field: I’m proud to work with a top-notch team. It includes a very experienced senior team, the usual roles in a SaaS company like sales, marketing, software development, etc. Unlike other SaaS companies, our team also includes a large contingent of people in manufacturing and fulfillment, working 24×7.

Juetten: Any tips to add for early-stage founders or CEOs in growth mode?

Field: Get processes ironed out before you rapidly increase headcount in any given area. Then, hit the gas!

Juetten: What’s the long-term vision for your company?

Field: To help millions of marketers around the world market more effectively, and eventually to take the company public.

Thanks to Andrew for providing insight into how his business works. Ironically, we received a direct mail advertisement from a family owned moving company when we listed a property for sale and we are actually now hiring them. There is something to be said for differentiating yourself in a world of overwhelming marketing emails that are placed in the digital recycling bin (unsubscribe), and PFL’s success speaks for itself. #onwards.

Feature Image Credit: Technician worker operator works on large premium industrial printer and plotter machine in digital. GETTY

By Mary Juetten

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

I am the founder and CEO of Traklight, the only self-guided software platform that creates your custom intellectual property (IP) strategy and assesses business risk. I dedicated my more-than-30-year career to helping businesses achieve and protect their success, specializing in transition or start-up phases and helping companies create sustainable financial growth.

Sourced from Forbes

In Uncategorized

Study: Publishers See Global Economy As Biggest Future Challenge

August 20, 2021 No Comments

By Ray Schultz

Publishers rate the global economy, not the decline of display advertising, as their biggest future threat, according to “The Future of Publishing,” a study by Akamai.

Rated on a scale of one to 10, publishing executives see these issues as the biggest challenges to their success going forward:

Global recession/depression—7.3

Continued dominance of tech platforms in advertising—6.9

Competition from the media companies—5.2

Collapse of market for display ads—4.9

Competition from VC-funded start-ups that can lose money—3.7

In addition, using the same rating scale, they see data as their biggest revenue opportunity, based on a small number of write-ins:

Data—8.5

Events—7.9

Digital subscriptions or membership models—7.6

Branded content or ad creation (studio models)—7.4

Digital commerce affiliate deals—6.7

Video advertising (pre-roll, outstream)—6.3

Podcasts—6.2

Direct digital commerce—5.3

The study does not describe its methodology except to say that it is based on a qualitative survey of publishing executives. It is not clear if the survey can be applied to the entire publishing universe.

That said, here is how they see the display advertising market over the next two to three years relative to its pre-COVID-19 position. The respondents expect it to:

Significantly improve—7%

Slightly improve—20%

Stay about the same—12%

Slightly deteriorate—52%

Significantly deteriorate—7%

However, they have a much more optimistic outlook about their own advertising revenue compared to the overall industry. They say it will:

Significantly improve—44%

Slightly improve—50%

Stay about the same—6%

Slightly deteriorate—0%

Significantly deteriorate—0%

In terms of future revenue models, they agree with the following, one a scale of 0 (disagree) to 1 (agree):

For most consumer publishers, a hybrid model involving ads, ad-lite, and subscriptions is likely to be the optimal strategy—0.97

Digital subscription services will only work for a small number of content verticals (e.g.,, business, finance, politics)—0.47

Digital advertising will steadily decline as a source of income for most consumer publishers during the 2020s—0.41

Multi-title aggregators like Apple News+ will be a major new source of revenue for consumers in the 2020s—0.30

By Ray Schultz

Sourced from MediaPost

In News

5 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Location Data

August 20, 2021 No Comments

By Sarah Sluis

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media.

Today’s column is written by Darren Goldie, CEO/Founder, Locationify.

Prior to the digital revolution, location data was explicit – it referred to fixed physical stores.

Today, location data matters because people check their phones before they walk into a store, as evidenced by 200% annual growth in “where to buy” and “near me” mobile queries since 2017 (Think with Google, 2019). Since the pandemic, growth in these location-focused queries spiked to 700%. This spike is on the back of surging “local” demand for local transport, local car valeting and an array of home services. On Amazon, 58% of total sales were by small and medium-sized businesses across the 1.9 million US businesses using Amazon as a marketplace (oom.com, 2021).

Here are some tips to help you transform to both customer-centric business and location-focused business.

Research customer intent by location. Location data is transforming how businesses understand “local intent” data across hundreds of consumer touch points. Whether you are B2B, B2C or increasingly a B2B2C company, your business is generally successful because it serves or creates a demand. However, a quick look behind the scenes will often reveal a treasure trove of varying, local customer demand patterns that can significantly enhance marketing effectiveness. Adjusting your marketing by location in response to this shifting demand will give you a differentiator when driving overall sales. Since 2019, we have known that 46% of shoppers surveyed confirm inventory online before going to a store (HubSpot Marketing statistics, 2021), but how many marketers can claim they use this intelligence at the product level to vary their location marketing efforts?
Customize the content journey by location. Whether an audience lives in a fast-growing city, an established town, near a shopping mall or somewhere in the countryside, they value local information or recommendations when making local purchase decisions. Even if the product is bought online, local product visibility, local customer service and local reviews can be a driving force behind online purchases compared to data that doesn’t take location into account.
Plan privacy compliance by location. Location data grapples with two fundamental challenges: privacy and proving the value of data collection to consumers. Although obviously linked, privacy primarily concerns how location data is used, which is increasingly based around consent. Value concerns how consumers proactively share location data with third parties to improve their lives, from hailing a cab to accessing local product offers. By thinking in a location-first manner, businesses can adjust their privacy management at the state level. This means they can take advantage of the different legislation adoption rates across the country to deal with the continual flow of non-fixed, continuous mobile data.
Vary “near me” shopping and “service centre” visibility by location. The biggest platforms – Google, Facebook and Amazon – are investing in building out their location-based ad services, so savvy marketers should, too. By connecting Google My Business with local inventory ads, for example, businesses can quickly establish a location-first strategy and evaluate the opportunities for varying their marketing by location.
Vary SEO tactics by location. In addition to optimizing your presence on directories, companies should rethink location-first prioritization within their SEO strategies. Local SEO has been popular for some time, but using the insights generated from local SEO, then connecting those insights with cross-channel paid strategies, is only now starting to emerge.

Previously, companies would focus on optimizing their first-level domain within Google organic search. As competition increases, audience conversion rates at different locations for different products and services are higher, causing brands to rethink their local strategy. By connecting local inventory, consumer demand insights and localizing offers, companies can generate immediate incremental revenue from sub-domains or pages by location.

Marketing customization based on location data challenges the one-size-fits-all marketing approach widely used across the industry. From local stock availability to locally focused offers and promotion, thinking “location-first” increases relevancy and improves the customer experience.

Of course, audience targeting will continue to remain the priority for many marketers, but location data is quickly becoming the most important driver after product and price for advertisers. As programmatic and content marketing continue to rise in popularity and new channels such as CTV, internet of things and audio devices become addressable, marketers will be overwhelmed with options for reaching audiences.

Local-first thinking will help simplify this challenge, unlock more consumer revenue and increase brand visibility across the different locations that matter most for driving business growth.

Follow AdExchanger (@adexchanger) on Twitter.

By Sarah Sluis

Sourced from adexchanger

In News

Unlocking the virtual reality for the in-store shopping experience of the future

August 19, 2021 No Comments

By Stefano Hatfield

As brands and consumers seek a return to the physical retail space post Covid-19, the technology that has enabled ecommerce to fill the gap as stores were closed will play a vital role in the recovery of that same bricks-and-mortar retail. Shoppers, particularly in the UK, want a “connected shopping” experience.

The pandemic has obviously hit the UK high street, but shoppers are ready to return, particularly if the ease of online shopping is blended with the richness of the in-store experience. Some 40% of UK shoppers use their mobile in-store to look up more information on a product. And there is a huge increase (80%) among Gen X shoppers who say they will use augmented reality (AR) in shopping over the next five years.

These are the headline findings of a new report, ‘Future of Shopping’, based on a global survey of 20,000 shoppers by trends agency Foresight Factory, for Snap Inc. Technology, rather than sounding the death knell for bricks-and-mortar retail, has led to an irreversible shift to omnichannel that genuinely benefits both shoppers and retailers.

As we have seen over the past 18 months, when new technologies are built primarily around human behaviour, rather than imposed because of internal business needs, their impact can be positive. Yes, online shopping has disrupted bricks-and-mortar retail over the past two decades. However, technology has also helped retailers navigate the increasing overlap between online and physical environments, now a part of our lived experience.

The report reveals that consumers worldwide feel their shopping experience has been greatly enhanced by camera technology and accompanying digital innovations. It is clear that shoppers are keen to get back into stores, but they also want to keep all the advantages of technology when they return; for example, instant access to stock information or home delivery service.

Britons seem more wedded to online shopping, particularly for clothes, than others. Some 44% plan to do the majority of clothes shopping online, above the global average of 38%. Only 34% of Brits said buying in-store was their favoured method of shopping – compared with 43% globally. But nearly half (49%) of Brits missed the social aspect of shopping and more than half (51%) found the inability to try on products frustrating.

This desire to blend online and in-store highlights how vital the mobile phone has become across the shopper journey and explains why the new consumer habits forged in the pandemic are here to stay. However, consumers have missed the social component of physical shopping, so e-commerce advertisers need to greater humanize their brands online.

The report identified several other key takeaways:

Growth in e-commerce during Covid-19 will be sustained

81% of UK shoppers are expecting to do the same amount or more online shopping in the next 12 months compared to last year, with only 19% indicating they plan to do less.

A post-lockdown return to physical retail

Shoppers returning to store post-lockdown will seek the social and tactile experiences they have missed in the last year, albeit combined with the convenience and safety of shopping online. But bricks and mortar stores must act fast to ensure they do not lag behind shopper expectations.

Technology will drive shoppers into stores

Some 35% of global consumers would visit a store specifically if it had interactive virtual services such as a smart mirror that allowed them to try on clothes or makeup.

Mobile will connect brands and consumers across the shopper journey

One in three global consumers choose the mobile phone as their preferred shopping channel, and 50% of Generation Z and millennials say they never go shopping without using one. These trends will only continue, not least in the area of price comparison.

Virtual testing could accelerate e-commerce further

Some four in 10 consumers globally state that not being able to see, touch, and try out products puts them off online shopping. Retailers will therefore need to invest heavily in try-before-you-buy technology to help encourage purchase and reduce the potential need for returns, by enabling consumers to more tangibly engage with products.

Shoppers will demand widespread AR

Within five years we will see a 57% increase in Gen Z shoppers who use AR before buying. Significantly, 56% of consumers who have used AR when shopping claim it encouraged them to make a purchase. The mobile phone will be the core tool.

New technology could reduce the number of online items that are returned annually by up to 42%. The study estimates that the cost of online returns now amounts to around $7.5 billion each year – and £377m in the UK alone.

Resale platforms cement their position as a credible alternative

Four in 10 consumers globally have bought and sold something via resale platforms, which attract shoppers searching for cheaper prices and unique products. Second-hand goods no longer come with stigma, but are a more desirable, sustainable alternative. Retailers like Levi’s, Ikea and H&M are moving into the branded resale space.

The key trends identified above talk to the blurring of consumer needs and expectations across physical and digital shopping channels. They reflect shoppers’ primary demands (beyond pricing): convenience, social interaction and product testing.

Ed Couchman, general manager, UK, Nordics and DACH, at Snap Inc. says: “People thought the internet and technology was a threat to physical retail but this report clearly shows that those who harness the benefits of tech are best placed to thrive post pandemic. Shoppers want to read reviews, compare prices and try on items using AR – but they also enjoy the experience of going into a shop, speaking to staff, and looking at items. They want the best of both worlds.”

The ‘Future of Shopping: Global Report 2021’ from Snap is available here

By Stefano Hatfield

Sourced from The Drum

In News

Google is quietly meeting with a select group of publishers each month to talk Privacy Sandbox tech

August 19, 2021 No Comments

By Kate Kaye

Google engineers and staff on its ads and Chrome teams have a new monthly meeting on their calendars — with digital publishers.

Representatives from around 20 publishers, many from large Comscore 50 media properties, have convened monthly since March with Google ads and Chrome execs and engineers to conduct focused conversations about technologies Google is developing as part of its Privacy Sandbox initiative.

In general, though some publishers have shown interest in testing Google’s emerging tech, many of them have believed the platform’s timeline for development and implementation of it has been “too aggressive,” said Rob Beeler, the de facto leader of the fledgling publisher collective and founder of Beeler.Tech, who helps publishers navigate the complex world of ad tech.

“It’s been clear in these meetings that publishers have had a lot of things to answer before they were on board with any of these solutions,” he told Digiday.

Publishers have in many ways been left out of Google’s efforts to redesign how digital ads work without third-party cookies. This is despite the fact that they produce and distribute the content that comprises the open web, which Google and others say they aim to preserve when the great shift away from today’s tracking technologies goes into effect. Now, the regular meetings between a small group of top-tier publishing execs and Googlers are intended to give publishers a louder voice in the discussion.

Neither Google nor Beeler would name publishers involved and two group participants Digiday spoke with for this story asked not to be named. Google and the publisher participants have made a point of keeping the meetings hush-hush, in part because none wants to alienate smaller publishers who might feel left out of a process that already has most of them feeling sidelined. Beeler said participants of the new group were selected because they are “in a position to have some influence as things get rolled out.” He also said meetings with a larger group of people might become too unwieldy to be productive.

“We are committed to open dialogue with publishers of all sizes as they develop strategies for the transition to a more privacy-centric web,” said a Google spokesperson. “We take every opportunity to engage with publishers and to listen, share information and solicit feedback on how we can build for a better future.”

A more accessible forum than the wonky W3C

Many industry players criticize Google for wielding too much power in the transition away from third-party cookies and development of new tech intended to replace them in a more privacy-preserving way. The aspects of that work that Google has made public have happened inside the W3C, or Worldwide Web Consortium. The international web standards body serves as host for engineers from companies including Google, Facebook and other ad tech firms hashing out complex elements of Privacy Sandbox tech development through jargon-laden web forums.

Although some bigger publishers such as The New York Times and Hearst have dispatched staff to W3C meetings and forums, many publishers find the environment an impenetrable labyrinth, keeping them away despite handwringing over how the tech developed by W3C participants will affect their businesses.

“The W3C is very technical,” said a participant of the recently-formed publisher group who represents smaller media outlets and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rather than circumventing the W3C process, insiders said Google’s recent monthly meetings with publishers (which, of course, take place on Google Meet) are intended to provide a more accessible setting for publishing execs to learn about what’s in development, voice concerns and perhaps eventually acclimate to the idea of having their own representatives play more active roles in Privacy Sandbox efforts at the W3C.

Google itself has lamented a lack of engagement from publishers in its Privacy Sandbox development. Chetna Bindra, Google’s group product manager in user privacy and trust in its Ads division, told this reporter for The Drum in November 2020 the company was “hoping for more participation” from publishers “as we come up with a workable solution for everyone that is privacy-forward.”

What’s on the agenda — and what isn’t

Thus far, meetings have entailed discussions of technologies such as FLoC — Google’s recently-tested but evolving cookieless ad targeting method and how it might affect publishers, for instance in relation to creating inventory packages. First-party sets — which would affect how domains owned by the same publisher are defined in context of data collection and use via web browsers like Google Chrome — were a topic on the agenda at the July meeting. But the first half-hour was devoted to discussion of Google’s morphing timeline for rollout of Privacy Sandbox tech.

“A lot of these conversations are just like level-setting,” said the unnamed smaller publisher representative.

Beeler, who also helps run a similar recently-formed group of EU-based publishers meeting with Google to discuss the same sorts of issues, said he and other publisher reps help determine the meeting agendas.

Still, some topics that could have significant impacts for publishers continue to be relegated to engineer-centric spaces. For instance, participants in the new meetups said changes to FLoC which Google is mulling and were recently presented at an engineering research event have yet to make the publisher meeting agenda.

“It always amazes me how these things get reported in random tweets, blog posts or non-endemic conferences like an engineering research event,” said another exec participating in the new publisher meetings with Google who asked not to be named.

Correction: This story originally incorrectly reported that Chetna Bindra leads Google’s product development for third-party cookie replacement in its Chrome browser division.

Feature Image Credit: Ivy Liu

By Kate Kaye

Sourced from DIGIDAY

In News

4 Things You Need (and One You Don’t) to Form Your Brand’s Digital Identity

August 19, 2021 No Comments

By Christopher Tompkins

This is your essential shortlist of must-haves to form your brand’s digital identity.

The first thing you should do when you begin a new business enterprise is create your company’s digital identity. Essentially, think about all the places where you will want your future marketing campaigns to lead customers: your website, your Google Business listing and your social media. You’ll need to create all of these platforms before you start considering a marketing campaign.

So, to get started, here’s a shortlist of must-haves to set up before bringing on a marketing team. Look at it like a digital package that’s in your hands to complete. Here are the essentials.

Build your website first

Before spreading out across the internet, establish your home base first. Build your website and make sure it’s free of bugs and fully operational before you start sending people to it.

Your website is going to be the conversion point for your products or services. Everything that we touch on after this point is going to be a pathway back to it, so your site really is the most critical aspect of your brand identity.

Some important considerations of a good website include:

Make sure you have a clear and easy to spell domain name
Make sure your domain name is the name of your company if that real estate isn’t already claimed.
Make sure your website hosting is secure and scalable for when it’s time to expand things — for this, I would recommend a dedicated server hosting plan. It’s the more expensive option but you’re getting what you pay for.

Finally, make sure that you have a good grasp on SEO and incorporate all relevant keywords into your site to maximize traffic opportunities. Perform thorough keyword research to anticipate what kind of phrases your customers might be searching for to find the products or services that you provide, and include as many as you possibly can.

Claim your territory on all social media channels

Even if you don’t think your brand will have any use for a Facebook account, claim one anyway. Consistency is key in branding — you have to have a uniform handle across all social media if you can.

Having @mybrand claimed on all social media channels is just safeguarding yourself for the future. First off, it’s just more customer-friendly than having @mybrand on Twitter, @mybrandUS on Instagram, and @therealmybrand on TikTok. Secondly, getting control of your handles across social media will prevent potential interference from competitors who might claim the handle otherwise.

Pay attention to how social media evolves. If a new platform pops up, take five minutes to create a profile and stake your territory.

List your business on Google and everywhere else

Type in the name of a business you frequent into Google or type in the name of a competitor. What should pop up first is their Google My Business listing that will tell you what the company does, where to find them, their contact information, and an aggregate of reviews.

Because of Google’s supremacy over other search engines, this will be the first and last stop for most people trying to look up your business. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t list your business everywhere you can, though. Much like with social media, the main purpose behind this is to claim this spot before a malicious competitor or similarly named business might.

Test out a few email platforms

Email marketing builds credibility, a customer base and content. In short, you need to look into email marketing technology as part of your digital package.

All of the email marketing platforms out there have different pros and cons, so the one you choose should be able to tick the most boxes for your audience. Consider this: 43% of people now check their emails on their smartphones every single day, but does that overlap with your demographic? If your core audience is 50 and over, maybe not, so you don’t have to put as much consideration into mobile optimization as you would if you were targeting millennials.

Also, consider the automation capabilities of these platforms. You do not want to be responding to every email manually. Instead, most platforms have automation software available, so plan out what kind of conversations you and your audience will be having.

Skip advertising — for now

Advertising seems like the way to get your business at the forefront of consumer’s minds, but it isn’t. Upfront, it’s just going to be a waste of your money because if you don’t have your digital pack together, you don’t have anything substantial to advertise. Let’s break this down item by item.

With no social media channels claimed and your website fully operational, where will your advertisements take your customers? Without all the right listings in place, how are customers going to know if the business that pops up on Google is yours or not? At best, they’ll be confused when they don’t find any trace of your digital presence. At worst, they’ll end up giving clicks to a brand with a similar name.

Without your digital identity being fully formed, spending money on advertising is seriously jumping the gun.

Think of your brand and your digital presence as one and the same — you need to force out your identity in every space available in order to gain the greatest momentum. By going through these steps in your digital package, you’ll position yourself to be fully responsive and able to handle an influx of business that will come as the result of your well-planned marketing campaign.

By Christopher Tompkins

Sourced from Entrepreneur

In News

Netflix readies video games push with hire of Oculus exec

August 18, 2021 No Comments

By Jennifer Faull

Netflix is expanding into gaming opportunities

Netflix is set to bring video games to its platform next year having made its first key hire to lead the push.

Mike Verdu was previously head of virtual and augmented reality at Facebook, where he worked with developers to bring games and other content to Oculus.

Prior to that, he spent his career leading the gaming efforts at companies including EA, Zynga and Kabam.

He will now lead Netflix’s push into creating content beyond TV shows and films. Netflix hasn’t been shy in talking up its ambition to be a major player in the $90bn video games industry.

It’s likely that some games will be tied to its most popular shows, such as Stranger Things. On its most recent earnings call, chief operating officer Greg Peters – who Verdu will report to – said its users “want to immerse themselves more deeply and get to know the characters better and their back stories and all that stuff”.

He said: “Really we’re trying to figure out what are all these different ways that we can increase those points of connection, we can deepen that fandom. And certainly, games is a really interesting component of that.

“And there’s no doubt that games are going to be an important form of entertainment and an important sort of modality to deepen that fan experience. So we’re going to keep going, and we’ll continue to learn and figure it out as we go.”

According to Bloomberg, which first reported Verdu’s hire, the first games are slated to appear on the platform within the next year. Rather than sitting on a separate site, they will appear alongside current content as a new programming genre. It is not expected that users will be charged extra to access games.

The move into gaming comes as Netflix continued to battle it out against Amazon Prime and Disney+ for new users in the competitive streaming market.

Netflix reported a dramatic slowdown in subscribers for the first three months of 2021.

As a result of the pandemic, it added 36 million subscribers in 2020 to pass 200 million subscribers worldwide. It predicted the surge would continue this year and said it expected to add six million users to the platform in the first quarter of the year. However, it only managed to add four million and now expects to add about one million subscribers in the current quarter, which would be its slowest growth on record.

By Jennifer Faull

Sourced from The Drum