• Create a dialog with consumers: Even as “dialog” is one of the most overused terms you’ll see today, it’s important to note that today’s consumers have expectations that businesses (and brands) must actively listen and respond to their feedback and inquiries. In fact, you have the capability and obligation to do so! Companies that don’t listen and respond can be taken to task very easily. Also clear is that the most vocal customers – more often than not – have the potential to be the best advocates for the brand, whether or not their first experiences were positive ones. The old saying of “turning lemons into lemonade” applies here: Discover the issue, fix the issue voluntarily, and loyalty and advocacy may follow.
• Apply consistent standards: It’s important to maintain consistent standards for customer interactions across all channels and touchpoints. This means consistency in retail and digital commerce channels. This means consistency in traditional PR and social media marketing. This means consistency in ground rules that dictate customer interactions – from the executive suite down to the call center.
• Find proactive ways to recognize and reward customers, then give them the tools to spread the word: Don’t make customers take the first step to be rewarded for loyalty. Being “proactive” is the key here, as consumers have less and less interest in taking the first step or initiative in being rewarded. That means that concepts of redemptions or loyalty-club registrations are becoming tiresome. Instead, it’s possible the motivators for customer loyalty may be much more basic and common-sense: frequent recognition, transparency in their business processes, and consistently providing value and satisfaction in every conceivable touchpoint. And when businesses do reward their customers, they give them to tools to spread the word.

One quick and effective way to communicate updates on the status of your business during an emergency is to implement these direct digital marketing strategies.

SMS messaging, for example, is an easy way to notify employees about events affecting your business. A quick text message to your team asking them to delay coming to work for an hour while the power is repaired is both payroll and employee-friendly. Or, send an SMS alert to your customers with dinner reservations tonight to let them know that the kitchen will be closed due to flooding. Or, if you have multiple locations, ask diners to visit one of your stores not affected by an emergency event.

In addition to alerting people to last minute changes affecting your business, you can use direct digital marketing to nimbly refocus your existing marketing plan in the face of unforeseen circumstances. Use your email program to update customers on your rebuilding efforts, and send discounts good for your other locations. Bolster your relationship with the community by providing targeted content on your website describing your appreciation for customers’ patience and detailing when you expect to be back up and running.

There are many advantages to using direct digital marketing when you’re at situation normal, but there also are advantages when you are confronted with an emergency event. The speed to market, flexibility, and precise targeting available through direct digital marketing are uniquely suited to help distribute information quickly and effectively – exactly the kind of thing you need in an emergency. We all know life is unpredictable. But by using the tools available through direct digital marketing, your customers and employees can rely on your business for timely information, no matter the circumstances.

1. Welcome Emails: Sending follow-up emails immediately after that first appointment helps to extend a warm welcome to the new customer. Sharing details with them, like how to access to customer support options, etc., help the customer realize more value in the new relationship with your company.
2. Service Calls and Scheduled Appointments: For service providers, sending pre-appointment emails to confirmation details of the scheduled call helps build trust. Through the email, your customers can opt-in to receive a text-message reminder the day of any service or installation. This interaction sets the tone for high-value digital interactions in the future.
3. Follow-up Surveys: Days after any service is provided, automated email surveys can gather valuable data regarding the customers’ early impressions. When using Concentri for example, that data allows you then to segment and respond to your customers with relevant emails and targeted Web content. Do you have very satisfied VIP clients? Don’t wait, go ahead and automate the sending of Refer-A-Friend promotions. Do you have unsatisfied respondents? Deploy the “white glove” retention-message strategy to help repair the relationship.
4. Messages Based on Triggers: You can also incorporate ongoing messaging triggered by pre-defined events and activities to help migrate customers to the points that shape best relationships. Introducing additional appropriate services can help grow customer the relationship. For instance, an HVAC company who installs a furnace can send info on duct cleaning and seasonal service checks. If you offer ePay or automated payment plans, consider promoting details about that option as appropriate.
5. Promotions: Use ongoing messaging to suggest additional services with reminder or incentive emails triggered by a specific circumstance. If price matters to a specific segment, send them information on specials that align with their interests.
6. Multi-Channel Support: Your mobile messages can also drive customers to your portal Web site, based on promotional triggers (such as inactivity), highlighting the benefits of the online experience with your business.

Think about the products offered by MSOs – cable television, Internet access and phone. MSOs segment and target their offers to their customers based on service level they currently have, and what they might also need based on serviceability attributes. But MSOs have access to additional web analytics and email analytics data that, when combined with service level attributes, make it possible to identify customers entering specific buying cycles.

In short, a customer’s service level can be used to determine the “offer strategy” and what to market to them when. If a current subscriber has Internet and HD video, they are likely serviceable for telephone and eligible for video upgrades in the form of premiums, tiers and DVR.

When Web and email analytical data are integrated, a window of opportunity opens up.

• The customer regularly opens their email newsletters and On Demand email promotions.
• The customer visits the customer portal weekly to view upcoming On Demand releases.
• The customer has visited the “premiums” information page of the corporate website within the last month.

This data suggests that it’s a good time to change the direct digital marketing focus. It’s a good time to incorporate a video up-sell offer, which can then drive equivalent monthly revenue over a telephone cross-sell offer strategy, for example.

Here are sample steps to change the marketing focus using direct digital channels:

• The scheduled customer email newsletters and On-Demand feature promotions include dynamic content, reinforcing the value of premium networks and DVR technology for serious movie buffs.
• More scheduled and triggered promotional offers focus on multi-room DVR and HD upgrades over telephone service cross-sell.
• An adjustment in offer strategy for this customer is reflected in targeted premiums and DVR offers across the corporate website and customer portal.

Having easy access to data makes it easy to offer effective, relevant messages to customers at the moment they are most receptive. It’s the data that makes the difference – and the software to power the process for a robust direct digital marketing strategy.

Yes, that’s right… I said “mobileness.” I coined the term to refer to the emerging consumer mobile trend: Consumers are adopting mobile devices as a bridge between traditional online channels, between offline or in-store experiences. People are using their mobile devices for a multitude of reasons, whether it’s to get on-demand information such as product availability, buying products through an m-commerce site, or to get product information while they’re still in-store.

It’s worth noting that currently these mobile-device activities may not necessarily fit into a traditional online or in-store marketing channel. You’ll need a unique approach.

Based on the feedback from folks who joined us for the webinar, it’s obvious that marketing and communications professionals from both digital and traditional media backgrounds want to know more about mobile marketing. Perhaps it is because mobile, in reality, is a type of hybrid. It’s not viewed as an “online” channel. Mobile can support “offline” tactics very well. For example, retail marketers often develop in-store strategies where shoppers can access content from their mobile devices.

Mobile impacts every aspect of our daily lives in so many ways. It keeps us connected to the digital world, but also seems to enhance our “non-digital” lives tremendously. The trend of mobileness continues to envelop consumers in the way we manage our day-to-day. Reaching out and engaging with customers in the process is an essential part of the mix.

So, (as promised) here are three elements of achieving “mobileness”:

• SMS
• Mobile Web
• Email

Recent Lunch Pail posts have focused on SMS and Mobile Web. But let’s take a quick look at our old friend, email, as an essential part of mobile strategy.

Marketers seem to be surprised every time I talk about email being one of the core aspects of mobile marketing. But it’s true… just look at the data! Some of the most-used technologies – the things people spend most time with while on their smartphones – are the activities already established in our daily lives. Specifically, people use their phones to check email and access the Web. If you are not optimizing both email and the Web for your audience when they’re using a mobile device, you’re missing the lowest of the low-hanging fruit there is for effective mobile marketing strategy.

As a top resource for direct digital marketing information, The Lunch Pail authors have contributed a wide array of content on behavioral targeting – from the basics (which approach works best), to the safe effectiveness of onsite targeting.

• Is behavioral targeting some sort of online stalking? Lesley breaks down the basics behind the different types of behavioral targeting ,and provides some great resources for beginners. (She also provides a terrific overview of cookies, plus the differences between first party and third party cookies here.)
• If you’re wondering about behavioral targeting standards and classifications, this post provides some context.
• Privacy is always an important issue. The debate about behavioral targeting continues on Capitol Hill and among privacy advocates. Check out this update on some of the recent happenings in Washington and the importance of marketing transparency.
• And Knotice CEO Brian weighs in on the onsite targeting discussion that outlines the differences between an algorithmic-based approach and a rules-based approach to targeting.

If you’re hungry for more behavioral targeting resources, don’t forget to check out The Lunch Pail’s behavioral targeting archives.

Marketers can easily leverage this new information by seeking out software that includes mobile analytics along with email and Web site analytics.

As Josh mentioned in a previous post, having mobile analytics available easily allows marketers to see how many people are opening their emails on a mobile device (and on what kind of device.)

Using software that includes mobile analytics along with email and Web site analytics for his marketing campaigns, Josh discovered some shocking statistics, and was able to quickly adjust the campaigns to improve performance and experience.

Check out what he learned here, and check out more useful mobile Web stats and predictions here.

Stay tuned to The Lunch Pail for more mobile analytics success stories and the importance of including mobile, email, and Web analytics in your direct digital marketing strategy.

Many consumers use their mobile device to find quick bits of information. With this fact in mind, Bryce notes that there is a premium on accessibility and convenience: providing the right content versus a lot of content. Coupons, product recommendations, special offers or contact information are all examples of what consumers are looking for when using their mobile device to find information.

Despite increased consumer demand for convenient mobile experiences, Bryce points out that the experiences being presented by brands are still inconsistent. He notes that the brands with an edge are those that are taking mobile opportunities seriously and investing intelligence and capital into creating a satisfying experience across all mobile channels – SMS, mobile Web, apps. Brands that create a satisfying experience across all mobile channels will have the first shot at acquiring shopper loyalty and help set the tone for shopper experiences and expectations as more and more consumers enter the mobile arena.

Be sure to check out Mobile Marketer’s Holiday Mobile Marketing Summit on September 2 for more mobile marketing insights from Bryce. He will be sharing helpful on mobile marketing for the holidays on the “How Will Consumers Engage with Ads, SMS, Sites and Applications over the Holidays – and why it Matters for Customer Experience” panel.

What questions do you have for Bryce about creating excellent consumer experiences on a mobile device? Post them below and he will answer!

With ecommerce spending on the rise, it is assumed retailers will likely seek out software with a universal profile management system capable of providing consumers with valuable targeted content on a Web site, mobile device or through email.

A few other points from Stambor’s article jumped out at me as well. First, 65 percent of retailers say consumers shop across multiple channels, and are more profitable than consumers that shop across single channels. A second interesting point is that retailers must have a working mobile Web site because consumers expect to be able to navigate and use a mobile Web site easily, according to Rosenblum.

Some tips for creating a user-friendly mobile Web experience include providing the customer with small bits of valuable information, and as Rosenblum notes, making sure your site is up-to-date with product listings, and other helpful information. Frequent Lunch Pail contributor and mobile marketing expert Bryce Marshall also offers some simple tips creating great mobile Web experience in this post. Among them, Bryce notes that most consumers use their mobile device to help make purchase decisions while they are at a retail location. Provide consumers with easy access to the information they need, and they will be grateful.

Direct digital marketing plays a large role in the present and future of cross-channel retail. Stay tuned for more information on the important role of direct digital marketing and the happenings in retail this holiday season.

More and more consumers are able to access the mobile Web from their mobile devices. A recent report by eMarketer estimates that half of all mobile users will be Web-enabled by 2013. To put that in perspective, eMarketer estimates that 85.5 million consumers will use their mobile devices to access the mobile Web this year alone.

With millions of consumers accessing the mobile Web, how can you make sure consumers get the most out of your mobile Web site? Provide consumers with small bits of digestible information like coupons or contact information. As Bryce noted in a post last week, consumers using mobile are looking for different information in different ways.

Consumers use their mobile device for anything from comparing prices on an item, to looking for coupons, to finding the location of a store, to checking their email.

An article by RetailTouchPoints’ Amanda Ferrante highlights how consumers are using their mobile devices to help make back to school purchase decisions. Ferrante points out that 29 percent of consumers plan to use their mobile device to help them make back to school purchase decisions.

A recent article in MarketingVox stated that 37.4 percent to 41.6 percent of US mobile users check their email on their mobile device.

The mobile space is covered quite a bit here on The Lunch Pail. How do you think consumers take advantage of the rapidly expanding space?