#4 — Consumer data, privacy and preferences

In 2012 the fourth trend to watch for direct digital marketing is that of marketers earnestly taking steps to establish transparency with consumers and customers regarding how data is collected, and what data is used (and by what means) to communicate with them. It is the marketers’ response to the consumer-in-control that is meaningful this year.

Here’s the old 2011 “spin” in response to consumer concerns of data privacy: first, deny the allegation; downplay the consumer impact; and, pin the curtain tighter around the doorway to where the sausage is made. Meanwhile, enact cosmetic changes and jettison plainly indiscrete practices, while assessing the long-term business impact of an increasingly vigilant consumer. The prevailing marketer anxiety: having to making sense of a world where the once ample reserves of behavioral and third-party data sources are suddenly cut off and unavailable.

2012 will be the year the spin is abandoned in favor of transparency. We already see a cultural shift in some areas of the Internet where transparency has been embraced as good business – not because it’s defensible by counsel or because the nasty bits are more securely protected, but because it’s the right thing to do. Is it possible that the perception of the empowered digital consumer can morph from that of gnat-on-steroids to that of respected, rational and right individuals and consumers in the eyes of today’s marketers? That is, marketers recognize there is a significant and affluent audience with whom it is good business to do good business.

I believe that the business of the “curtain in the sausage factory” will become expensive, troublesome and perhaps more importantly, simply out of style. Marketers are beginning to understand that allowing consumers to express preferences and manage the framework for data-based interactions and messaging is a win-win. It is an invasive and intoxicating concept that, once embraced, will ultimately become fully-realized within many organizations by force of momentum. The ultimate manifestation will take a long time and take many shapes across industries as the market clarifies the prevailing mechanisms for consumer education and expression of choice. But the trend to watch in 2012 is the earnest progress towards brand transparency – embracing a policy where consumers are encouraged to understand and express preferences towards the brand as the nature of the dialogue.

The long-term business value is the potential for revenue, consumer loyalty and advocacy.

Let’s take a look at the second trend I’ll be keeping an eye on:

#2 – Understanding multi-screen profiles In 2012 digital consumers are multi-screen consumers. In my 2011 piece, I identified the “four screens and counting” dilemma. The prevalence of multiple wired screens within reach of the digital consumer during the course of the day (TV, desktop/laptop computer, tablet, and smartphone) creates hurdles for marketers. This means increasing technical complexity from an execution standpoint, and fractured views of individual consumers. Even though cross-channel consumer data (another focus for marketers in 2012) is important and becoming a more tangible reality every day, the concept of communicating with an individual profile across their four screens is still elusive.

2012 will be the year that marketers begin to make sense of the fractured multi-screen profile, both in terms of creating a single holistic view of this device-hopping user and better understanding the inherent schizophrenic behavior that comes with multi-device use habits.

About a month ago I read about IBM’s efforts to re-think and re-design the venerable email inbox specifically for mobile (smartphone) users. Why? Because research clearly shows that the same person has far different priorities and traits when accessing their email inbox from their smartphone vs. their desktop computer. It’s the same person; it’s the same email in their inbox. But the mere difference of the device being used to access the inbox makes all the difference in the world to turning priorities and user traits upside down.

As direct digital marketers in 2012 we have two mandates for understanding multi-screen profiles: use the increasingly powerful tools at techniques at our disposal to aggregate user and activity data from cross-channel activities into consolidated consumer profiles, yet be wary of using that single consolidated profile view to dictate segmentation and targeting regardless of the point of interaction. We can aggregate attributes like demographics, purchase history, browsing behavior and more, and create increasingly actionable insights. But these insights may always be trumped by the specific needs and desires signaled to us by the user’s device of the moment. While the primary online shopper within a young family may always buy the large box of diapers at Amazon with standard ground shipping, the same shopper while on a mobile device may only be interested in the small box and rush shipping.

Understanding, reacting to and creating a smarter view of these multi-screen profiles is an imperative for 2012 – and a trend to watch.

Check back next week for the rest of my trends to watch!

#1 – Mobile and social own the conversation. 2011 was a year where marketers understood the importance and value of mobile and social paradigms, and acquired familiarity with the technologies and opportunities, and competence with channel engagement or campaign execution. 2012 will see the continuing tipping of the scales. Campaign execution will transition into a modified holistic view of consumer interaction where mobile and social elements represent the crux of digital consumer engagement, not outlying or niche channels.

In many of my presentations, I quote from Vic Gundotra of Google from 2010. “Focus on the mobile user,” Mr. Gundotra stated, “and all else will follow.” At the time he was the engineering lead for Google’s mobile platforms. Not coincidentally he is now the engineering lead for social platforms, including Google+. We can certainly infer that if this statement was modified for today, he would clarify it is the mobile-social user that stands at the center of the universe.

What Google has understood is that the concepts of mobility and socialization have the potential to be pervasive to every type of online activity. For consumers, mobility and socialization translate to tangible things like convenience, immediacy, information, exploration, communication, action and more.

So every digital campaign element in 2012 must be optimized for mobile interaction, and must inherently foster socialization concepts such as sharing or liking. Or rather, to paraphrase Mr. Gundotra, mobile and social concepts must be the focus of marketer’s strategies, not just add-on channel afterthoughts.

And what smart marketers will realize this year is a mobile and social focus isn’t necessary so as to drive revenue and sales through dedicated m-commerce or f-commerce channels. Mobile and social are the key drivers that will represent success and improved ROI across a brand’s buying channels – whether retail, wholesale, catalog or call center, e-commerce, m-commerce or f-commerce.

More trends to come. Stay tuned!

It’s also been a great year here at Knotice: We’re continuing to grow at an amazing rate, we’ve released our highly regarded Mobile Email Opens Reports. (Check out the latest version here and more.

As the year winds down (and in the spirit of countdown lists everywhere) here are the top 5 posts of 2011. Enjoy! (And thanks for reading!)

1. Paying Tribute to Steve Jobs: The passing of Steve Jobs in October sent waves through the industry. In this post, some Knotice folks share the impact Steve Jobs made on their lives, and their favorite stories and memories. Check it out, and be sure to add your thoughts in the comments section.
2. How to Write Better Email Subject Lines: This post from Patti gives you the 5 C’s for compelling subject lines (and some bonus tips.) Remember, no matter how brilliant your email campaign may be, its success hinges on that small string of words with enough zing to inspire an open.
3. Which Code to Use: MS Tag v. QR Code: As mobile adoption continues to soar, so does the debate over which 2D code is best for connecting with your audience. Our resident mobile expert, Dave, breaks down the benefits of the QR Code and MS Tag to help you decide which code to use in your next mobile campaign.
4. Best Practices for Mobile Email Design: As we’ve said before, mobile email optimization must be a priority for marketers (especially going into 2012). Here are two best practices for designing mobile email that will be useful and user-friendly.
5. A Lesson in Email Marketing: I got married this year and with the all the planning and searching for vendors came a flood of bad email marketing practices. In this post I outline some helpful ways to reach brides (or any other industry segment) with your email.

Happy New Year from all of us at Knotice!

In a move toward creating universal 2D code reader technology, Microsoft Tag has announced that its platform will now be able to be used for QR codes and for Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities. Tag intends to “to help simplify the growing fragmentation currently taking place in the barcode-reader market” with this new capability. The company states: “With this extension, brands have the freedom to choose the format most appropriate for their campaigns and give consumers the ease of one reader to use.”

In other not-so-surprising mobile news, Nielsen reports that 83 percent of apps downloaded during Q3 were for iPhone or Android. Additionally, iPhones and Androids have the most apps downloaded to them with the least number of app downloads going to BlackBerry.

On the privacy front, the Associated Press reports that nearly half of consumers surveyed by the University of Southern California are worried about companies seeing what they do online.

Stay tuned to The Lunch Pail for updates and commentary on industry news!

To keep up with increasing demand for our direct digital marketing software and services, this year we’ve added over 30 more people to our Knotice family – all professional-level jobs across several departments.

We’re also excited to announce the opening of offices in Seattle this month. The new Seattle office will be staffed by a number of talented new hires, ranging from developers to business statisticians to information architects and more. This move reflects our rapid growth and continued self-funded expansion.

The new office will help us better serve our clients headquartered on or near the west coast. “Not only does this continue to extend our national footprint, it also allows for future expansion,” says Brian, our co-founder and CEO. “With access to outstanding technology and marketing talent in the Seattle area, it eliminates any potential bottlenecks on future growth and innovation.”

Among the new additions to the Seattle office is Ajoy Bose, a senior developer formerly with Microsoft. With over 17 years of experience in software development, Bose came to Microsoft through the aQuantive acquisition in 2007, where he hired and managed the team that re-architected the current system for scale and reliability. Welcome Ajoy!

Here’s an inside look at our new digs in Seattle:

As much as I enjoyed seeing the Forrester analysts dissect the functionality of sites for several luxury brands (including Burberry, Dolce&Gabbana, Gucci, Hermes, and Louis Vuitton), I found their evaluation criteria to be even more interesting. Allow me to share a few basic concepts with you. Then I suggest you to take a look at your own site (and those of your competitors) to see how things stack up.

Navigation: Are the products easy to find through site navigation? Can you comparison shop onsite? Can you narrow the categories to access product information easily?

Search: Can you easily find the search box, and is it available on all pages? Do you have autosuggestion of search terms? Do results include the price of the item? Are recent searched displayed in a comprehensive manner?

Merchandising: Is there a clear path to purchase? Do you offer suggestions (“You may also like”) for consideration of other items? Do you use video and/or image zoom features? Do you cross-sell items with “add to the bag” suggestions? Do you show your in-stock inventory?

Blended Channels: Can you return online purchases to a bricks-and-mortar location? Do you clearly qualify “online only” or “in-store only” items? Do you offer ship-to-store and/or in-store pickup?

Community: Can users “tag” products, share them with friends via social media or email, and easily access ratings and reviews?

Purchase Process: Is the link to the shopping cart in global navigation? Is the total cost of purchase (including all fees and taxes) shown in the link to the cart? Do you offer extra savings (share the friends etc.) and are discounts shown in the cart? Can they save their address and customer information for later transactions?

Customer Service: How available is your customer support (telephone, FAQs, email, chat, click-to-call, etc.)? Can they easily access policies on the site for shipping, returns/exchanges, opt-in/opt-out, etc.?

What Forrester did not mention is the fact that all this customer behavioral data is extremely valuable for marketers. Does your customer data go into a profile-centric platform for use by marketing for more relevant messaging to each customer? Of course, you’d have to have a platform that can bring the multiple consumer touchpoints (including clicks, purchases, searches and more) into a unified profile-based environment. Once your data is all in one place in the right system, it’s easy to more efficiently segment and market specifically to the individual with more relevance and reach.

For instance, you see that Susie is really interested in that new purse with the bright red flower. She came back to the site and bought it. With Knotice, the next time Susie visits your site, you can serve up a “hero image” of the wallet and scarf that match her recent purchase. After all, image is everything – and onsite targeting is just one way to power your website images for better conversions and results.

Recent research from Forrester shows that consumer’s negative behaviors toward email have actually declined. Fewer people are unsubscribing from email promotions. Plus, consumers are deleting fewer messages without reading than they did before, and are forwarding and sharing emails more than ever.

I think it’s interesting to look at the correlation between this “email revival” and the the increase in the use of mobile devices (often used as a portal to the inbox). Mobile devices make it easier (and more fun) to engage via email, so I have a feeling that’s making an impact on consumer behavior regarding email marketing, though I’ll have to dig into more research to confirm my hunch.

Speaking of research, about a week ago Forrester released an updated version of its beginners-level report on email marketing FAQs Even as the information was basic, it did offer some good reminders of what still works – even in the most advanced campaigns.

Forrester’s recommendations mirrored what the Lunch Pail has said all along – the best email campaigns are those that are most relevant. That means your email marketing messages should be less pitch and more personal. I like to think of it as having a conversation with the people you’re sending to. Share with them information that means something to them in context – messages they could find helpful or interesting. Include tips or experiences provided by other customers (useful advice, how-tos, comments, etc.) Engage people with a higher level of authenticity of your brand.

According to Forrester: “Marketers build relevant email conversations by tailoring email content to customer preferences, matching offers to customer motivations, and sequencing emails to build off of each other and help drive customers toward purchase.”

As we cover the spectrum of direct digital marketing technologies and techniques here at the Lunch Pail, good old email remains the workhorse of the direct digital marketing landscape. Stay tuned to the Lunch Pail for more insight on taking your email campaigns to the next level.

Use a diverse group. According to Roxana Strohmenger, an analyst with Forrester, a group with multiple perspectives from a diverse background will give better and more precise feedback and accurate predictability than individual experts alone. Ask people who may not traditionally fit your test groups. If your product is for men, include women in the opinion survey sample. If you’re targeting exclusively high-end consumers, the opinions of middle-class consumers may give fresh ideas for product refinement you might not tap into otherwise.

Use words like “others” and “people” instead of “you.” A simple change in wording can help people get out of their own way to give you the details you need most. For instance, a typical question might be: “What do you look for when selecting a ______ service provider.” But this is limiting. You’ll garner far more predictive insight when you rephrase it: “What do people look for when selecting…” or “What do others look for when selecting….”

Make it fun. Don’t make it painful for people to give you their feedback. Sure, you can send an email survey and hope for response. You might also consider adding a quick poll at the end of your email newsletter, or designing a game-like experience. Keeping it entertaining will help increase survey response rates.

Be transparent. If you’re even considering using any survey responses collected in the research process for future marketing materials or campaigns, be clear and open about it.

Choose good tools. Marketers should look for tools that make it easy to deploy polls and surveys, as well as easy to make use of the data received. Here at Knotice, the ability to create forms and surveys is one of our standard features. (Yes, it’s already in there.)

Our Concentri platform makes it easy, featuring a visual, point-and-click environment to create sign-up forms, surveys, and quick polls. These can easily be added to any landing page, microsite or email. You also can publish forms on web pages hosted outside of Concentri with a simple cut-and-paste of code. As people complete the surveys, the data and information gathered is then stored into its universal profile management system.

You can view and easily export results directly to Excel, as well as set up recurring exports so new form submissions are emailed on a set schedule. Form results can also be used to drive segmentation and triggered campaigns, for more powerful direct digital marketing well after the survey is complete. If you’d like to know more about this cool feature, let us know!

The next digital age isn’t coming – it’s already here. And marketers must reinvent themselves and their approach in order to stay on top of the game.

Forrester analyst Julie Ask, shared that smartphone sales have now outpaced PCs. And future phones should no longer be viewed as some sort of hand-held computer, but as a personal lifestyle tool that will enrich our everyday experiences in ways we have yet to imagine. And for every obstacle reluctant marketers can come up with the screen is too small… people still love the feel of paper, etc.), the vision of designers and engineers is giving birth to technology that goes beyond what seems advanced today.

“Imagine if we can…” Finish the statement, and you capture the essence of how you should begin your planning as you navigate this new era. Dennis Shirokov at FedEx shared his success with this approach, and how it helped to redefine the way they serve and market to customers. But it starts with building a case based on what should be.

Watch the mental road blocks to digital melt away when you approach your planning with “Imagine if we can….” Find some time to explore. Doodle. Play with ideas. Record them to share. Blow out the stops.

Build a story for your brand around what “Imaging if we can…” could mean to the way you connect with (and market to) consumers. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Imagine if we can…reach customers at each different touch point throughout the customer lifecycle. (Chart the touch points and outline ways to engage in a positive way at each step.)
• Imagine if we can…use customer data from (our service techs, terminals, call centers, etc.) to provide the right message at the right time. (Look at technology that can support real-time data captured from various sources.)
• Imagine if we can…centralize all our customer data into a single platform or data-driven environment to reach customers as individuals for more targeted customer experiences.
• Imagine if we can… have management aligned with a team of dedicated designers and staff to effectively manage our interactive approach. (Build a dedicated team of people who are truly passionate about digital.)
• Imagine if we can… create a marketing approach based on customer expectation and personal engagement instead of just pushing the offer.

Build your plan on your vision – based on what’s best for your brand and its customers. It’s those imagined possibilities that can shape amazing digital experiences. Start small, get some quick wins, then enjoy the momentum.