Today we announce the winners of the 2013 Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Awards. I've been with 1to1 Media since the inception of the awards and have seen it evolve into what it has become today: An international program that recognizes customer experience leaders--companies that have taken chances and have overcome adversity to advance their customer-centric practices forward.
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Each year, the Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Awards are given to end-user organizations that have implemented successful customer strategy and CRM initiatives. These awards spotlight excellence among organizations that take a customer-centric approach to improving their business performance and have proven results from doing so.
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As consumer mobile adoption continues to increase, people's expectations of how companies should connect and engage with them have also changed.
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You know the importance of aggregating, analyzing, and acting on your voice of the customer data, but with continually emerging channels, VOC practices become increasingly challenging to carry out. An organization with cross-departmental ownership of VOC, sophisticated data collection and analytical methods in place, and the commitment from the C-suite to communicate the importance of acting on VOC must be in place for real results to occur.
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The success of marketers everywhere is increasingly tied to the use of analytics and Big Data, with the goal of correlating campaign success to real business results. No longer are marketing departments simply thought of as creative machines, as their responsibilities now reach a broadening scope of channels and tasks that range from tying social media success to business ROI and delivering mobile messaging where it matters most in the customer's buying journey.
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More and more marketers today are incorporating their loyalty programs and campaigns as part of the overall customer experience. They're replacing "channel" with "customer," analyzing Big Data to drive individual loyalty programs that stick, and leveraging gaming mechanics to engage customers in new and innovative ways to drive loyalty.
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A well-aligned strategy serves as the building blocks of a company's products and services, and eventual growth. But that doesn't just mean that a company's marketing messaging or customer service must be consistent across channels; it also means that an organization's marketing must align to the actual products and service it delivers.
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In our ultra-connected world, in which your 3-year-old is adept at using an iPad and your mother now texts you photos of her cats, marketers are in constant pursuit of the Holy Grail that will help to leverage this digital explosion. With more devices and more audiences comes added pressure.
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When you tell someone you remember card catalogs in a time before online databases, they immediately assume you have three grown children and a mortgage. But, once people discover you're really a 25-year-old woman with the countenance of a teenager, you suddenly become the enemy--a lobotomized creature that cannot function without the support of their smartphone. To most companies, I am not an individual, but one of many. I am just another piece in a puzzle they cannot seem to
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Ever since the emergence of digital, much has been written and discussed about bridging the social/mobile and traditional marketing divide by getting a handle on Big Data and ultimately having the ability to understand and respond to consumers' ever-changing needs and behaviors.
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Last Thursday, at its 28th Silver Apple Awards Gala, the Direct Marketing Club of New York honored Peppers & Rogers Group's Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D., for their leadership on customer-focused business strategies for the past 20 years.
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Delta proved last week that it must have learned a thing or two from United Airlines' lack of response in 2008 to now famed passenger David Carroll when a flight crew broke his guitar after tossing it, prompting him to record "United Breaks Guitars." The song launched him into an Internet sensation and made him the poster boy for the power of social media when customers are wronged.
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As 2012 draws to a close, I have a few wishes for 2013 to ensure that we all have better customer experiences.
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For most of my life, I've been considered a child in the eyes of the law. But, even though my ID now claims I'm older than I appear, there's no denying that the holiday season ignites the spark that brings my inner child back to life. Retailers can put every TV, tablet, and smartphone in the entire store on sale and I will still gravitate toward the toy aisle.
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Like Thanksgiving and Black Friday, Cyber Monday has become an annual "holiday" for consumers who seek online sales in an effort to avoid crowded stores and to find better deals. Research from BIGinsight for the National Retail Federation estimates an even bigger turnout today compared to last year, with an estimated 129.2 million Americans shopping online, compared to 122.8 million this time last year.
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Crunched for time, short on cash flow, and often understaffed, small business owners in the past have largely ignored social media channels as a way to market their business and engage customers. In fact, in August of last year, eMarketer polled 304 small business decision-makers, and 64 percent of them said social media was either unnecessary or something about which they didn't have an opinion.
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Transformative leaders are obsessed with innovation, employee culture, and customer-centric strategies--they put the company culture and customers before anything else. True innovation, however, not only requires having a vision for change, but also the tools and solutions integration to enable it.
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You just bought something at your favorite store. You walk out with a skip in your step thinking about when you might wear this new purchase. You give into your compulsion to check your email on your smartphone, and there, waiting for you, is a survey from that very company asking about your experience. You groan, but you click on the link. The survey isn't formatted for your phone, so you have to pinch to zoom in and out. You
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Henry Kissinger said, "The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been." This year's 1to1 Customer Champions are doing just that. Their enthusiasm to improve the customer experience, and their willingness to try new tactics for organizational adoption, underscores why they were chosen as exemplary leaders who drive their companies' customer experience forward.
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In a world that's ever-more reliable on data, some proposed policies in front of Congress threaten to hamper companies' customer-experience efforts. If Congress passes some of the proposed data privacy bills, personalization in marketing and one-to-one communications will deteriorate.
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The new reality of marketing is one in which consumers expect a sophisticated level of personalization in their communications, offers, and interactions with companies. Today, at DMA2012 in Las Vegas, thought leaders from all aspects of the direct marketing industry will converge to discuss and share best practices about how to help organizations move forward on the path toward integrated, one-to-one communications.
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Over the weekend, Mercedes-Benz UK test-drove the first-ever TV-to-Twitter crossover, putting The X Factor viewers behind the metaphorical wheel. To promote their 2013 A-Class line, Mercedes created a 3-part series of commercial advertisements, encouraging viewers to tweet using the #YOUDRIVE hashtag.
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1to1 Media's Tom Hoffman speaks with David Petersen, CEO of Sense Networks, about different ways that companies can use analytics to better understand the mobile customer and how customers are using mobile devices as part of their multichannel journeys.
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Change is good. But when it comes to making a change to a recognized element within an organization, business leaders need a sound strategy that ensures consistency. According to Eric Courville, director of marketing at North Plains Systems, changing a company logo isn't something that should be taken lightly. "It's the essence of what the company is," he says.
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Customer reviews have become an integral part of the shopping experience, aiding prospects in their search for their next product. In fact, 72 percent of customers who took part in this year's Local Consumer Review Survey said that they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
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This week marks the start of the official 2012 TV season where networks will introduce a bevy of new comedies and dramas with the hope of attracting the magic number of viewers sufficient enough to get the green light on a second season.
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Because of the recession, the average consumer has become increasingly pocket conscious. Since 2008, couponing has seen a 27 percent increase, and with the proliferation of social channels, many brands are beginning to transition their offers from print to digital. While coupons were once pieces of paper clipped from inserts in the weekend paper, connected consumers can print offers online and access coupons on their smartphones, erasing scissors from the equation and putting social media at the center instead.
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The term "showrooming" is gaining increasing popularity lately as more consumers visit bricks and mortar stores to view and test products only to buy them at a deeper discount online.
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Social media is offering new ways for organizations not only to reach out to their customers, but also to allow these clients to promote their favorite brands among their social networks. A number of organizations are finding innovative ways to engage with their customers while at the same time promoting themselves over social channels.
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Email has become an increasingly popular marketing channel. Yet, while it has the propensity to reach many, email communication has the tendency to lack that personal touch we all prefer. Earlier this month, we took a look at how marketers in the space are using email to expand their reach and connect with customers in relevant, meaningful ways so as to cultivate relationships instead of stopping them dead in their tracks.
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There are so many mediums and channels that marketers can leverage today to engage their customers, but one remains strong through it all--email.
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Word-of-mouth is important in business, and perhaps even more in the health sector where people tend to value the opinion of their friends and family and ask for advice before choosing the medical professional who will help them with their health needs. The Internet has continued to push the envelope, making reviews available to all, and thus easier for individuals to do their research before visiting a health clinic or making an appointment with a medical professional. This new trend
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Customer experience is no longer a "nice to have," it's a "must have." But marketers' customer engagement efforts are constantly challenged due to constant pressures to deliver a consistent and relevant customer experience across all channels. With the continuous explosion of data threatening to hamper marketers' customer experience efforts, as well as emerging social and mobile channels, organizations are frustrated with how and where to drive customer engagement throughout customers' lifecycle.
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Thanks to the emails that flood my inbox during the wee hours of the morning, I no longer need to set an alarm. The vibrations coming from my desk drawer across the room are enough to make me emerge from my cocoon. But when I whip out my smartphone to find nothing but bothersome advertisements, the swipe and delete feature clears the clutter and allows me to proceed with my day. For marketers, however, their "jump the gun" attitude has
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1to1 Media's Tom Hoffman speaks with John O'Hara, President of Pitney Bowes Software Solutions, about the opportunities and challenges for achieving a thorough understanding of customers, including insight into customers' needs, behaviors, preferences, channel usage, experiences, and potential value.
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In today's smartphone-driven world, organizations are constantly bombarding us with new apps that promise to make our lives easier and better. Just this morning, for example, I made a hairdresser's appointment through an iPhone app, even before I had got out of bed.
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QR codes are everywhere. They're on direct mail flyers and they're on posters at the mall. There's even a tiny one on my mouthwash. Yet, while these codes keep popping up like dandelions, there must be a point where companies draw the line.
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Retail sales across the U.S. fell for the third consecutive month in June as weak employment growth and stagnant wages appear to be restricting spending among many American consumers, according to a report from the U.S. Commerce Department. The data is troubling since it suggests that consumer spending, which drives about two-thirds of the U.S. economy, is also weakening, according to Reuters. And while there's no panacea for unstable consumer spending, retailers and other companies can strengthen sales by analyzing
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A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog about plans by Verizon and AT&T to introduce family data sharing plans. As part of the blog, I complained that customers didn't want to have to keep track of monthly data usage by their family members.
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Customers today have numerous opportunities to interact with brands at a variety of touchpoints. Therefore it's critical for companies to leverage such opportunities to engage with customers and build an emotional connection. A growing number of companies are realizing that engagement goes beyond just listening to customers across multiple channels, but also empowering them to advocate for their brands--both through online and offline.
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There's been no shortage of discussion lately about how challenging it is to be a CMO. Among the issues faced by CMOs is the ability to effectively manage marketing efforts across various channels that companies use to interact with customers. Siloed channel data makes it particularly tough for CMOs and other decision-makers to gain a complete view of customers and their behaviors across different channels as well as their transactions, preferences, and potential needs. The desire among CMOs and other
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It takes a lot to stand out in the business world. And when it comes to customer centricity, it's even harder. Customer expectations are higher than ever, and there are many organizational and market challenges to creating and maintaining a truly customer-focused organization. That's why it's important to recognize those companies that make it work with the Gartner & 1to1 Media CEM Excellence Awards.
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Touchpoint attribution--the ability of marketers to attribute a sale to the correct marketing effort--has been called the holy grail of marketing. Does this seem a little extreme? Still not sure attribution should be considered the pinnacle of marketing? The claim is likely more appropriate than you might think. Conquering touchpoint attribution may lead you on an arduous journey, but there's a big payoff in the end.
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Smartphones have made it easier for customers to get the best deal. Not only can they search for items they want from the comfort of their own home, but when they find an item they want in a store, customers can scan the barcode and check whether it's available for a better price online. This practice is so widespread that it's impacting a number of brick-and-mortar stores. These retailers are becoming showrooms for online giants, such as Amazon, which are
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Customers are becoming more demanding and also more discerning. One of the reasons behind their amplified expectations is an increase in choices, which mean that customers no longer have to settle, but can choose the best products and brands they do business with. But more than anything else, customers are expecting these brands to treat them as individuals and invest in building a relationship with them. Rather than one-off interactions, customers want a long-lasting rapport that starts even before they've
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In the next few weeks, both Verizon and AT&T are expected to introduce family data sharing plans where customers will pay for a fixed amount of data to be shared between family members or between device types (e.g. 5 gigabytes for two devices instead of 3 GB for one), according to USA Today. For its part, Verizon would phase out unlimited data plans for customers who renew their contracts or upgrade to new phones. Only customers who pay full price
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A new study from PulsePoint on the digital marketing capabilities and shortcomings of companies finds that "overwhelming complexity" and a "lack of unified measurement" are the key stumbling blocks in aligning these efforts with consumers' multichannel behaviors. There's a growing body of research on this topic, most of which support this thesis that marketing leaders are, in fact, overcome by the difficulty of managing and coordinating marketing efforts across the flood of channels that customers use. They also struggle to
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Marketers spend a lot of time and energy preparing content to entice their customers to do business with them, and emails are a major mode of delivery to reach these individuals. But these efforts are useless if the messages aren't opened by the intended target, or, worse still, if they don't even make it to a customer's inbox.
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Social media is like the new cool kid on the block: Everyone wants to be its friend, but they're all worried of mishandling it and end up doing more harm than good. Although many marketers are trying to leverage social media to get close to both customers and prospects, this relatively new medium is not about likes and fans, but about engaging with people.
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Today's customers are no longer bowled over by a great advertisement unless it targets them individually, giving them information that's relevant to them. This puts extra pressure on organizations to develop marketing campaigns that aren't just captivating, but also give added value.
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Many business leaders consider their most valuable customers as those who are the most profitable or the largest. There's certainly no denying that. Increasingly, customers who are considerable social influencers are also moving up the value chain. But what about the customers who don't buy much, but only buy from you. Customers who give you 100 percent wallet share. Do you know who they are? Do you need to?
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One hundred years ago, Titanic launched. Three days later, she sank, taking precious lives and treasure to an icy grave. In hindsight, saving the ship should have been easy. The captain and crew needed to listen to warnings from nearby ships, communicate more honestly among themselves, and turn hard to port before it was too late. But the main thing they needed wasn't to be invented for 27 years: radar to see dangerous icebergs miles away through the fog.
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I've noticed lately that a few of my favorite brands seem to be following me around. I clicked through an opt-in email from Ford, which led me to its website. While there I looked at the social badges and explored the 2013 Mustang. Then, during my next visit to Facebook there was an ad for the Mustang. On another occasion I visited Livestrong to track my fitness and was served an ad for clothing retailer White House|Black Market (I'm a
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Each day, airlines connect thousands of travelers with hundreds of distant destinations. They carry customers from one place to another, often forgetting they are not just passengers, but are people, too. However, for JetBlue, connecting with customers has become a priority at touchpoints throughout the trip cycle. Particularly, JetBlue's advertising initiatives show that the airline cares about each individual customer's experience, not just how the airline is perceived.
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1to1 Media's Tom Hoffman speaks with Vinay Iyer, Vice President of Marketing at SAP, about the evolution of customer relationship management.
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