By Navid Ashroff

We know that modern businesses must embrace an omnichannel approach to succeed.

Gone are the days when phone calls and fax machines ruled the communication world. In many cases, voice has been replaced by email, texting, in-app messaging, social media and more. Customers simply have more choices when interacting with businesses.

Smart marketers use automation to optimize their omnichannel outreach efforts. With sophisticated playbooks that include if/then statements and flow charts, marketers strive to target prospects via the right channel at the right time with the right message.

New Challenges Facing New Channels

While modern communication channels have brought undeniable benefits, they also face new limitations. For example, in the fall of 2023, Google, Yahoo and other email providers unveiled stricter requirements for sending bulk emails. When these requirements aren’t met, emails will be rejected. And, as any marketer knows, failing to reach your customers’ inboxes can prove catastrophic for even the most well-thought-out campaigns.

What about outbound phone calls? Many changes and developments in recent years have hampered the effectiveness of cold calling. It’s often hard to find the best number for contacts, as almost half of the population changes their number every few years. And even if you get the correct number, many phones automatically silence unknown numbers.

These days, there are simply too many issues that come from accepting calls from an unknown source. Did you know that Americans get more than 50 billion spam calls a year? It’s no wonder that 80% of cold calls go straight to voicemail, and 90% go unreturned. When 92% of the population assumes that unidentified callers are trying to scam them, you simply can’t rely on phone calls.

Even social media presents obstacles. Marketers have no control over the visibility of their posts, meaning they don’t know what’s getting through to their followers. In extreme cases, platforms have shut down valid accounts, causing years of hard work to go up in smoke.

Voice Broadcasting: A Time-Tested Solution

Just as ’90s fashion is once again appearing in popular style trends, voice broadcasting, a mass communication technique that broadcasts telephone messages to hundreds or thousands of call recipients at once, is making a comeback in the business world. Why is this older strategy thriving in our digital world? Because when something is proven to work well, there’s no reason to move away from it.

Many businesses are adding voice broadcasting systems because they give them more control of their campaigns and complement the newer communication channels. Voice recording creates a human connection that cannot be replicated by AI or automation.

As you’d expect, older demographics respond particularly well to this approach because they’re more familiar with it. But I’ve seen that customers of all ages appreciate voice broadcasting, thanks to how well it conveys tone, intention and nonverbal communication.

Including voice in an omnichannel campaign helps connect with customers on different levels that your competitors likely don’t address. While most businesses in your industry hammer away with email, phone and LinkedIn, you can take your brand to the next level with a fuller range of communications, including SMS, automated voice broadcasting, campaign-specific inbound call auto attendant and a dedicated phone number.

You’ll establish your brand as a customer-first solution by meeting customers where they are and not forcing them into channels that don’t fit their preferences or needs.

What To Look For In A Voice Broadcasting Service Provider

There are plenty of options when considering voice broadcasting services. A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system can be popular, as it replaces traditional phone lines with the convenience of an internet connection. But this digital solution may introduce its share of problems, including choppy or delayed audio, voice distortion, dropped calls and voice echoes.

A primary limitation of VoIP is that it only functions with internet connectivity. When that fails, so do all of your communications. So, it’s not a valid option for emergency notifications or other situations where a breakdown would be problematic.

Some of the best voice broadcasting service providers use copper landlines, as they deliver the most exceptional sound quality and are reliable even when your internet connection is struggling. By utilizing direct lines from established carriers, you get a level of accuracy and quality that isn’t possible with VoIP.

Another voice broadcasting feature to look for is answering machine detection (AMD), which can tell the difference between humans and machines. Why does this distinction matter? It allows you to deliver unique messages depending on whether you get live answers or voicemail, and it leaves a crystal-clear message with no key presses. You can even set how many times to retry busy or unanswered calls.

The Advantages Of Efficiency

Modern voice broadcasting systems are designed to improve your team’s efficiency when communicating at scale. For example, let’s say you’re trying to reach hundreds of thousands of contacts with alerts, reminders or polls. You can set up the content and send messages within minutes with a voice broadcasting system.

These nearly instant connections continue paying dividends as people begin answering. With immediate playback, there’s no delay for the recipient. Your team member will be connected after pressing the button to transfer to a live representative. This means your representatives are brought in at the perfect moment instead of waiting for connections. These lightning-fast handoffs are critical at scale, saving you countless hours of wasted time.

Choosing A Partner You Can Trust

Voice broadcasting can have a powerful impact when included in your sales and marketing playbooks. So, the crucial decision is which platform to partner with.

Look for a voice broadcasting service that offers transparent pricing. There should be no setup fees or minimums, and you shouldn’t be charged for unsuccessful, busy or non-answered calls.

It’s also important to be backed up by world-class customer support. Your voice broadcasting service should be a true partner, elevating your team and offering the right resources whenever needed.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Navid Ashroff

Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website.

Navid Ashroff is the CTO of TrueDialog, an award-winning SMS marketing platform. He has been coding since 1984. Read Navid Ashroff’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

By Dan Pontefract.

Sometimes, leaders forget the most essential part of strategy. It’s not creating it, per se; it’s what comes next.

Your job as a leader is to improve the alignment between the organization’s current state and its intended strategy. It includes the related priorities and deadlines that affect the team members under your command.

Communication, consultation, and connection—what I refer to as the three C’s of strategy—are crucial to aligning your team members to the organization’s strategy.

The first “C” is communication. Leaders must occasionally update team members on the organization’s execution of its strategy. Communicating ensures that the strategy is understood and not ignored or misinterpreted.

However, you must also find ways to consult with them about the strategy’s success or impediments related to their specific job functions. Consult is the second “C.” This information is vital to enhancing or revising the strategy itself and acts as an important feedback loop up the chain.

Finally, another requirement is to make the strategy real. The third “C” is to connect the dots between your organization’s strategy and how it affects team members’ current tasks and roles.

Global Strategy Insights

Global research conducted for my latest book, Work-Life Bloom, suggests that leaders and organizations are in a ‘hit-and-miss’ situation regarding strategy and its effectiveness with team members.

On an aggregate basis, 69% of employees at all levels believe their organization has a clear strategy. This percentage is higher for leaders (74%) than non-leaders (59%). Unfortunately, only 47% of global employees believe their employer’s strategy helps them perform in their roles.

In other words, roughly half of employees do not positively connect their performance to their organization’s strategy.

Another pattern emerges when the data gets cut by the four predominant generations in the workforce.

Although the age difference isn’t significant, younger individuals tend to view the organization’s strategy as clear. In contrast, older team members are less likely to feel that the organization’s strategy assists them.

Specifically, 53% of Gen Z indicate that their organization’s strategy makes performing in their roles more manageable. That’s the high-water mark. Unfortunately, it begins to erode as people age.

50% of Millennials feel the same, dropping to only 44% for Gen X and 43% for Boomers.

It raises an interesting question: Does an organization desire its most senior and experienced people to become increasingly disillusioned with its strategy as they age? Similarly, don’t we want the performance of our seasoned team members to be high and, thus, intertwined with the organization’s strategy?

What can leaders do to help shift the success of their strategy? As mentioned, I call them the Three C’s of Strategy: Communicate, Consult, and Connect.

Communicate the Strategy

Communicating the strategy and objectives should not be a one-time or once-a-year tactic. Far too often, however, an organization’s strategy gets rolled out at the beginning of the operating year, never to be discussed again. Is that immersive? Will an employee deeply absorb the strategy if it’s only mentioned in passing once a year?

The answers to those questions are, of course, no.

However, if you want team members to fully understand and appreciate your strategy, you must use an immersive communication strategy. Put simply, you must find opportunities to communicate and relate the strategy as frequently as possible with your team members.

Consult on the Strategy

If we agree that a good organizational strategy acts as a guide for all team members— a path that shows everyone in the company where it’s heading, why, and by how much— would it not be a good idea to consult with those individuals who are enacting the strategy occasionally?

If leaders announce the strategy and team members execute it, it’s likely an excellent idea to intermittently check in with people to see how it is actually playing out. That action can create a strategic bond.

Implementation of the organization’s strategy relies heavily on your team members. Yet, few employees get involved in the strategic planning process.

Not only do you miss out on critical feedback that could help reshape future versions of the strategy, but it also negates the chance to reinforce any context between the employee, their performance, and the strategy.

Again, it’s perhaps another reason why two-thirds of team members not in leadership roles don’t believe their organization’s strategy makes it easier for them to perform in their roles.

Connect to the Strategy

It’s pretty simple: your role as a leader is to connect the organization’s strategy to your team members’ roles and objectives as often as it makes sense. By making this connection, you provide an essential perspective for the individual.

What good is it to a team member if an organization’s strategy only sits on a website or an annual report PDF document? It’s not.

Team members must feel the strategy is relevant to them. They have to feel connected to it.

One fool proof way to prevent that from happening is to rely on the ‘hopes and prayers’ approach. You can’t hope that the team member will make that connection. How should you connect to the strategy? There is one specific way that makes the most sense.

Your one-on-one meetings with each team member can efficiently act as the mechanism for you to connect their role to the strategy.

Not every one-on-one meeting requires this to happen, but ignoring it outright is not advised either. Moreover, it’s not a hard leadership lift.

Think about employing open-ended questions. Start a dialogue with the team member by asking how they think their role has recently contributed to the organization’s strategy. From there, you can infuse the conversation with your leadership insights on what else they are doing to help achieve the strategy. Conducting this two to three times a year for 10 to 15 minutes is all it takes.

When the three C’s of the strategy are put into action, the end result is a team member who better understands the big picture.

When team members understand and embrace your organization’s short- and long-term goals, it leads to strategic alignment. Furthermore, when they are aligned with the strategy, their performance typically improves.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Dan Pontefract.

Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here.

Dan Pontefract is a leadership strategist and award-winning author with over two decades of experience in enhancing organizational performance and culture. Based in Canada, he has been a Forbes contributor since 2015, covering leadership, workplace culture, and employee experience. Read More

Sourced from Forbes

By Isaiah Richard

Gmail is now helping users write their email via generative AI on the web.

Google’s famed generative AI feature for Gmail called “Help me write” has been exclusive to mobile platforms for several months now, but the company is changing this in the latest update to the experience. Starting today, Google is now rolling out this experience to the web version of its Gmail platform, complete with access to shortcuts that will bring up the AI experience directly for users.

Apart from the latest generative AI features from Google, the company is also adding new tools under ‘Help me write’ for users to take advantage of in the browser experience, powered by its renowned models.

Gmail Brings ‘Help me write’ Generative AI to Web

The latest Workspace Updates by Google detailed the arrival of Gemini’s generative AI features to the web experience of Gmail, and it is taking the renowned mobile experience for users who prefer to access via browsers. One of the most iconic features of this experience is ‘Help me write,’ and it has been the famed feature of Gmail that allows users to input prompts and dictate who to address to compose emails.

Users may set the tone, emotion, and formality of how Gemini will write the email that users may choose to edit or send directly after the generative AI’s work. Users will also see the ‘Help me write’ icon appear on an empty draft to help users create their emails if they are having a hard time starting.

It was revealed by Google that ‘Help me write’ will be available to an empty email composition window but not for boxes that already have content.

Gmail’s AI Remains Exclusive to Paid Users

While Help me write is meant for empty spaces, Gmail’s Polish feature, another initially mobile-exclusive AI tool, will be the one to help write an email when users already have 12 or more words on their draft.

Web users may choose to either click on the AI prompt ‘Polish’ that will appear under an unfinished draft, or toggle it directly by pressing ‘Ctrl + H’ for Windows or ‘Option + H’ for Mac.

Gmail’s Help me write suite of tools is exclusively available to Google One AI Premium subscribers or those who choose the Gemini add-on via Workspace.

Google Mail’s Generative AI

The massive jump by Google into generative AI since last year saw significant integrations of its technology to its famed Workspace suite, but more importantly, to one of its most popular services, Gmail. That being said, Gmail saw Bard’s technology helping it deliver AI capabilities until it was replaced by the multimodal model, offering a dedicated Gemini AI button for instant access to the chatbot.

Google was among the first to introduce one of the most significant AI features found on email platforms now, offering users a way to use the technology in summarizing content so users no longer need to browse one by one. Gemini was given the capability to analyze email threads that can go on for a long run, and then offer a simplified summarization that promises to give users the important details without being dragging.

It was a significant transformation for Google since it adopted generative AI and made it its own, with its latest model powering its technology across different kinds of platforms, empowering the Workspace suite including Gmail. Now, the feature enjoyed exclusively on mobiles and apps is coming to the web experience of Gmail, with Help me write, Polish, and more offering an easier way to communicate via emails.

By Isaiah Richard

Sourced from TechTimes

By Tom Wozniak

Pop quiz. When is the best time to start building your email list? Answer: yesterday. But, unless you have a time machine, the best feasible answer is today! I would argue that almost no matter what type of business you’re in from consumer e-commerce to B2B SaaS and everything in between, there’s value in building an email program for your company—and that value compounds over time like interest on a bank account.

Hopefully, I don’t have to convince you of the value of an email list, but here’s a very short and incomplete list of reasons why building an email list makes sense for your business—no matter what industry you’re in.

• It provides a way to connect directly with your audiences (e.g., clients and prospects).

• Email is arguably the most cost-effective marketing and communications channel, so the potential ROI is extremely high.

• Performance is highly trackable, allowing you to accurately measure that potentially high ROI.

So, email seems like a pretty good arrow to add to your marketing quiver. Now, all you need to do is build that email program—potentially, from the ground up. Whether you’re starting from zero subscribers or you already have an existing email list, your goal is to keep growing that list by adding more subscribers. So, here are five tips for building your list, with a long-term view in mind.

1. Make it easy for people to sign up.

This may seem fairly obvious, but how many times have you had to search for a newsletter subscription sign-up form on a site—or randomly discovered they had a newsletter after running across the sign-up box in some less-than-obvious area? If you want to get people to sign up for your email program—and you do—then let’s agree it should be as easy as possible.

You can still include a double opt-in by immediately sending an email to have the recipient confirm their email address. But, make sure that email goes out ASAP. I’ve signed up for email programs before where the sign-up process suggested I would receive a confirmation email, but it didn’t come immediately—or, in some cases, ever. Don’t fall prey to this simple mistake.

2. Be very clear about what your email program will deliver to recipients.

When someone subscribes to your newsletter or email program, you want them to stick around for a while. The whole point is to grow your list over time. The bigger the list, the more opportunities you have to engage with your audience and drive revenue. One of the best ways to attract and keep more of those long-term subscribers is to make it clear what they’re signing up for at the outset. Do you plan on sending them a weekly newsletter that includes in-depth content and links to buy cool products? Tell them that before they sign up. Give them clear examples of what you’re going to send and how often.

This means you need to have a plan for what you’re going to send. So, make sure you’ve given thought to what you want your email program to look like long-term. It doesn’t mean you can’t change things up down the road, but have a clear vision for your existing and near-future email program that you can explain to your new sign-ups.

3. Use all your digital and real-world ‘real estate’ to drive sign-ups.

Along with making it easy to sign up, maximize your opportunities to attract new subscribers by taking advantage of every place (real or virtual) where you connect with your audiences today. That includes your website(s), social media feeds, existing email program (forwards and referrals) and real-world interactions.

One of the best sources of new subscribers is your existing email list. It’s filled with people who want to receive your content. Give them incentives for forwarding your email to their friends and getting them to sign up. Those incentives don’t have to be monetary. You could highlight subscribers who send you the most referrals in upcoming newsletters. Sometimes, people just want a little recognition. So, don’t forget to ask your current subscribers to help you grow. They’re already invested, and everyone loves sharing something interesting and valuable with their friends.

4. Look for opportunities to tap into new audiences.

Get creative with ways to introduce your content and email program to new audiences. Can you get interviewed on a relevant podcast that your audience listens to? How about having your content promoted in an existing newsletter that talks about similar topics but isn’t competitive with yours?

Some of these opportunities may involve an investment. Many newsletters will feature your content in their emails for a fee. These arrangements can sometimes be cost-effective, but do your research into any newsletter you’re going to pay to promote your content. Make sure their subscriber base lines up with your target audience, and ask for some performance data or testimonials from other companies that have worked with them in the past.

5. Deliver valuable content.

If you want to build your email list, you need to keep people around once they sign up. You want to minimize the unsubscribe rate by delivering what you promised—valuable content in your topic area. If you promised to deliver the inside scoop on your industry or recommend great deals on new products, make sure you live up to what you said you would deliver.

Although your business goal is likely to drive revenue from your email list, that’s secondary to the true mission of your email program. Revenue only comes if you consistently deliver useful, engaging content to your subscribers. So, the foundation of your email program needs to be the content you deliver. Make sure it’s relevant and valuable to your subscribers.

This is just scratching the surface of ways to create and maintain a successful email program. But if you focus on these five tips, you should effectively grow your email list over time.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Tom Wozniak

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

Tom Wozniak heads up Marketing, Communications, and overall Operations as the COO for OPTIZMO Technologies. Read Tom Wozniak’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

By Vidyashree Srinivas

When using AI in the platforms, Shiprocket focuses on enhancing buyer experience and helping SMBs operate more efficiently.

Haven’t you all secretly waited to push your favourite items from the cart to “Buy now” when the festive sales bring in great deals? But here’s a thought – how much of that excitement was truly yours, and how much was subtly crafted by marketing strategies or even AI-driven algorithms?

Shiprocket, one of India’s top eCommerce enablement platforms, recently shared insights on e-commerce growth during the festive season, highlighting the role of AI-driven recommendations and social media influencers. The report revealed that in fashion and beauty categories, 84% of consumers made purchases influenced by promotions or influencer suggestions.

In an exclusive conversation with AIM, Praful Poddar, chief product officer at Shiprocket, discussed how AI has evolved in shaping purchasing decisions. He noted that while in 2010, online shopping platforms used simple logic to show “similar products”, this approach has advanced over the years.

Initially, product recommendations were generated through basic rules and Excel sheet-based logic, where items were mapped based on historical data. Today, machine learning algorithms consider multiple parameters, offering more personalised suggestions.

In recent years, machine learning has become mainstream, allowing platforms to analyse vast amounts of data in real time. Poddar explained that generative AI has further transformed the process by predicting user behaviour without the need for manually inputting parameters.

Aakash Anand, the co-founder of Unikon.ai, told AIM, “Our AI/ML-based peer-to-peer networking platform is leveraging recommendation algorithms to personalise users’ journeys on the platform. We have also integrated semantic search, which basically understands the context of the query and responds accordingly.”

What is AI for Sellers?

When it comes to using AI in the platforms, Shiprocket focuses on two main areas: enhancing the buyer experience and helping small and medium businesses (SMBs) operate more efficiently.

For buyers, Shiprocket uses data from event streams, such as browsing behaviour, filters used, and items added to carts, to create buyer personas and improve personalisation. The platform’s network effect also helps create larger buyer cohorts, enabling more targeted recommendations across its 2,000 websites.

On the buyer-facing side, the company uses AI to enhance the experience on its tracking page and MyShipRocket app, offering more personalised information than standard courier tracking services. This improves the overall user experience, making the process more tailored to individual preferences.

AI and e-commerce

In the broader e-commerce industry, AI and ML are integrated into multiple areas, enhancing both operational efficiency and customer experience. Major players have leveraged AI to optimise cross-category searches, boost impulse purchases, and improve profitability.

Wayfair, a Boston-based e-commerce company that sells furniture and home goods online is currently undergoing a generative AI makeover. The company recently partnered with Google Cloud and has been working closely with them to optimise their operations on the platform.

“What’s great about Google is the focus on AI, ML, and generative AI,” said Fiona Tan, CTO at Wayfair, in an exclusive interview with AIM.

Similarly, Lowe’s, a Fortune 50 home improvement retailer, has deployed 40-50 AI models across its platform to enhance customer experience and operations, and also built a SOTA omnichannel order management system internally.

Lowe’s was one of the first to partner with OpenAI, that is even before ChatGPT was launched. Its data and AI team successfully fine-tuned the GPT-3.5 model to improve product data accuracy, reducing friction in online searches and boosting error detection rates by up to 60%, leading to a smoother and more efficient shopping experience.

Not to forget, Amazon pioneered the use of product recommendations on its platform nearly 20 years ago, setting the stage for AI-driven shopping experiences. When you browse Amazon, you’ve probably noticed suggestions like “recommended for you”, “products you might like”, or “customers also bought”, all powered by Amazon’s sophisticated recommendation engine.

It’s one of the most effective AI strategies Amazon uses to drive sales.

Flipkart has tapped into AI in a different way, deploying advanced systems to combat fraud, especially when it comes to high-value returns, like smartphones.

Meanwhile, IKEA is using generative AI to enhance both customer experience and operational efficiency. It has an AI-powered personal design assistant for home furnishing, AI-generated seasonal advertising campaigns, and autonomous drones and robots optimising inventory and delivery systems. All this while focusing on the responsible use of AI and educating 3,000 staff members in ethical AI practices.

Target, on the other hand, has launched its generative AI chatbot, Store Companion, across 2,000 stores in the US to assist employees with process questions, coaching, and operations management. This marks the retailer as the first major player to offer generative AI tools to its service staff.

As part of a broader AI strategy, Target has developed 20 generative AI use cases, leveraging partnerships with Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, while prioritising cybersecurity and moderation services to ensure safe and scalable AI deployment for both employees and customers.

Walmart has also been harnessing generative AI to enhance the shopping experience with features like voice ordering, text-to-shop, and AI-powered event planning. It also deploys tools like “Ask Sam” to assist employees with product locations and price checks.

The company’s AI is also boosting e-commerce through cross-category searches, enhancing impulse purchases, and improving profitability. Walmart’s AI tools help display accurate product images, aid supplier negotiations, and empower employees to suggest new AI use cases, setting industry standards in efficiency, customer service, and operational innovation.

What’s Next?

Recently, Microsoft, expanding the capabilities of its Copilot platform introduced new autonomous agents that aim to enhance business processes across industries.  The new autonomous agents in Dynamics 365 are built to help organisations drive business value by automating processes like lead generation, customer service, and supplier communication.

Further, as people seek out non-human solutions to problems, even giants like Salesforce are exploring AI agents. While companies like Oracle and Salesforce are adopting AI, its impact remains mostly limited to semi-autonomous tasks in specific areas.

In an exclusive conversation with AIM, Gautam Singh, business unit head of WNS Analytics, mentioned, “In consumer-facing industries like CPG and retail, AI is transforming the way people shop, with a shift towards ordering online instead of visiting stores. This trend extends to all B2C interactions between consumers and providers.

“While consumer-facing sectors may feel the impact sooner, AI is reshaping industries behind the scenes, offering opportunities for improvement and growth across the board.”

Autonomous agents are just beginning to enter every industry. Experts predict that, in the future, customers will rely on AI agents’ recommendations for purchase decisions just as much as they do on human suggestions.

By Vidyashree Srinivas

Vidyashree is enthusiastic about investigative journalism. Now trying to explore how AI solves for all.

Sourced AIM

BY MIKE HOFMAN,

Feature Image Credit: Photography by Nathan Bajar. Socium Media founder and CEO Owen Loft at an Inc. 5000 CEO dinner in New York City in September.

BY MIKE HOFMAN

@MIKEHOFMAN

Sourced from Inc.

Sourced from 3BL

Trust dynamic not the only shift for younger generations

For years, word-of-mouth has played a critical role in the marketing success of small businesses. New data from GoDaddy suggests that recommendations from friends, family and co-workers are being replaced by influencers in terms of importance to younger consumers.

The GoDaddy survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers in September shows that while both Gen Z and Millennial customers are starting to behave differently than traditional shoppers, that doesn’t mean they are trending in the same direction.

Approximately 4 in 10 Gen Z consumers (41%) trust a product or service posted by an influencer over an ad from a business, whereas nearly 5 in 10 Millennials (46%) trust an ad from a business more.

Among both generations, when asked the likelihood of buying an item from a post on social media, posts from friends ranked low on the list.

Gen Z is more likely to buy something an influencer recommends, with friends coming in last.

• An influencer’s post (57%)
• A post from a business I follow (54%)
• An ad in my feed (49%)
• A friend’s post (40%)

Millennials are more influenced by the businesses they choose to follow, with influencers and friends holding the least weight.

• A post from a business I follow (57%)
• An ad in my feed (51%)
• A friend’s post (48%)
• An influencer’s post (44%)

“Knowing that Gen Z consumers trust social media ads more than recommendations from friends is a game-changer if this is your target audience,” said Alycia Leno, director of marketing at GoDaddy. “Insights into how each generation shops, especially on social media, will empower small businesses to rethink their strategies and using the right tools will maximize their businesses social media marketing.”

Even though Gen Z and Millennial shoppers may differ in who they trust while scrolling through feeds, they still see the value social media and social ads offer.

• Most Gen Z (55%) and Millennial (47%) consumers regularly rely on social media to discover new products every, or nearly every time.
• More than half of Gen Z (53%) and Millennial (57%) customers are served an ad that results in them taking action at least every week.
• Nearly 3 in 10 Gen Z (28%) and Millennial (32%) consumers find social media ads helpful to learn about new products and/or businesses.

These findings show that small business owners need a good grasp of their audience, or they risk wasting time and spending money unnecessarily. By understanding how each generation prefers to shop on social media, entrepreneurs can target customers more directly and see better results faster.

Entrepreneurs can lean on online tools to maximize every social media post and ad. Digital Marketing from GoDaddy leverages the intuitive features of GoDaddy Airo™ and GoDaddy Studio to create custom AI-generated content, schedule social media posts, create digital ads, access helpful analytics and more. These cost-effective tools are readily available to small businesses of any size, with any budget, to help attract new customers and increase sales.

To learn more about GoDaddy and its products, visit www.GoDaddy.com.

About GoDaddy
GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY) helps millions of entrepreneurs globally start, grow, and scale their businesses. People come to GoDaddy to name their idea, build a professional website, attract customers, sell their products and services, and accept payments online and in-person. GoDaddy’s easy-to-use tools help microbusiness owners manage everything in one place and its expert guides are available to provide assistance 24/7. To learn more about the company, visit www.GoDaddy.com. Source: GoDaddy Inc.

Sourced from 3BL

Originally published on GoDaddy

By Cathy Bergstrom

Here’s a rundown of the different models, plus their strengths and weaknesses

Full-path model

This model is the most extensive and technical since it provides the most comprehensive tracking of a customer’s journey, recording every marketing interaction they encounter from the first touch point to the final conversion. It accounts for all marketing efforts, such as display ads, social media interactions, email campaigns, and even post-purchase engagements, making it highly effective for in-depth analysis of what works and what doesn’t.

It provides a detailed, end-to-end view of the customer journey, allowing marketers to accurately attribute revenue to specific marketing efforts. It also helps optimize budget allocation by highlighting the most influential touch points in the customer journey and supports strategic decision-making by revealing how different channels work together to influence conversions.

However, it requires significant resources, including advanced analytics tools and skilled personnel to manage and interpret the data, and can be time-consuming to set up and maintain.

Linear attribution

This model assigns equal value to all touch points in a customer’s journey. For example, if a customer finds you on Facebook, then signs up for your newsletter, and finally clicks an email link before making a purchase, each touch point would receive equal credit for the conversion.

It’s relatively easy to implement and understand, making it a practical option for teams with limited resources or those just beginning to explore multi-touch attribution. Assigning equal credit to all touch points in the customer journey emphasizes the value of every interaction. A downside, though, is that it lacks nuanced insights because it doesn’t account for the varying influence that different interactions may have on the final conversion.

Time decay model

Unlike the linear model, where each interaction gets equal credit, the time decay model assigns varying credit to all marketing touch points in a customer’s journey. It weighs them based on their proximity to the final conversion.

For example, if a customer first encounters your brand through an email but later clicks a button on your website, the email would receive minimal credit, while the website click would receive the most, reflecting its more significant influence on the point of purchase.

Giving more credit to later touch points emphasizes nurturing leads and building relationships over time. This model is more useful for businesses with extended sales processes, where multiple touch points are needed to guide the customer toward a decision.

The cons of this model are that it’s less effective for short sales cycles, as it undervalues critical early touch points. It may also provide limited insights into the effectiveness of upper-funnel activities, which are essential for initial brand awareness and interest.

W-shaped model

The W-shaped model follows a very set pattern: 90% of the credit is evenly split between the first, third, and last marketing touch points. These three stages—visit, lead, and sale—are considered the most critical in the customer journey. The last 10% is divided between the second and fourth touch points, hence the W shape.

Highlighting the visit, lead, and sale stages showcases the most influential moments that drive conversions. This model is well-suited for businesses with multistep sales processes, where specific interactions are crucial for progressing customers through the funnel. It benefits marketers who want to highlight the critical stages in the customer journey without completely disregarding the value of intermediate interactions. While its biggest flaw is that it overlooks touch points outside of these stages, it highlights key interactions in the funnel.

However, by adhering to a set pattern, it can overlook various influences for other touch points that contribute to the overall customer experience. Its rigid structure may only fit some customer journeys, particularly those with nonlinear or more complex paths.

U-shaped model

Like the W-shaped model, a U-shaped model gives 80% of the credit to the first and last interactions—typically the initial visit and the final conversion. The remaining 20% is distributed among the middle touch points, reflecting their supportive role in moving the customer along the path to purchase.

This model is great for businesses that want to focus on the most influential touch points—attracting customers and driving conversions—without entirely ignoring the value of the middle touch points. It simplifies attribution by focusing on the most critical stages, making it easier to understand and implement, and prioritizes initial engagement and final conversion, making it ideal for strategies heavily focused on these areas.

But giving less credit to middle touch points may undervalue the role of nurturing activities between the first and last stages. This model is less effective for businesses with longer or complex sales cycles where middle touch points significantly impact the final conversion.

Custom models

Attribution models can be tailored to a company’s specific needs, incorporating elements from standard models rather than creating something entirely new, which allows for precise control over credit distribution for conversions and across touch points. However, developing and maintaining custom models can be time-consuming and expensive. A more practical approach is to use pre-built attribution models and adjust them as needed.

Turning insights into action

As privacy regulations tighten and third-party cookies slowly fade, understanding customer behaviour at every touch point becomes more critical than ever. But multi-touch attribution is not a one-size-fits-all solution; it’s a dynamic process that requires ongoing analysis and adjustments. Marketers should be prepared to toggle between different models and ask critical questions to ensure their strategies remain effective.

Marketers who regularly adjust their attribution models and ask the right questions will be better equipped to turn insights into actionable strategies. By doing so, they can optimize their campaigns, make data-driven decisions, and ultimately drive meaningful outcomes in an ever-evolving advertising ecosystem.

Feature Image Credit: FrankRamspott/Getty Images

By Cathy Bergstrom

Cathy Bergstrom is vice president of product management at AdRoll.

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