1. Developing a customer obsession

One of the main buzzwords from the Retail Innovation Conference and Expo was customer obsession. Forward-thinking retailers are prioritizing a deep understanding of their customers’ ever-evolving needs and preferences. How? By mapping the customer journey.

By mapping out the customer journey you can pinpoint pain points and provide exceptional customer experiences. This data-driven approach promotes loyalty, engagement, and overall business growth.

2. Nurturing customer-focused communities

Building strong, customer-centric communities is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have for modern retailers. By creating a sense of belonging and shared values, brands can foster deeper connections with their customers, driving loyalty and advocacy.

A prime example mentioned at the conference was Lucky Energy‘s Mile High Club, which offers a rewards program that goes beyond points. It cultivates a community of like-minded individuals, fostering a sense of unity and belonging. Engaging customers in meaningful ways across channels leads to lasting brand loyalty and advocacy.

3. Connecting with Gen Z

Retail leaders stressed the importance of connecting with Gen Z, a powerful consumer group. They achieve this by focusing on three key areas: authenticity, shareability, and relevancy.

So, how do you grab Gen Z’s attention? Simple – create campaigns that promote inclusivity, diversity, and purpose. Look to Lucky Energy for inspiration. The brand has woven its story into its marketing and business practices. This resonates with Gen Z, who value brands that go beyond just selling products.

Remember, Gen Z loves visuals and stories. This means exploring new ways to tell your brand’s story. Think of captivating video content, like short and engaging TikTok, or interactive experiences such as quizzes or polls in your email marketing. By understanding what excites Gen Z, you can build strong connections with this influential customer base.

4. Personalized experiences across channels

Imagine this: a customer browses shoes online, then walks into your store and receives personalized recommendations from a salesperson who knows their preferences. Sounds pretty delightful, right? That’s the power of seamless, cross-channel personalization.

Retail experts at the conference highlighted Macy’s innovative approach. The brand empowers in-store associates with access to rich digital customer profiles. This allows salespeople to tailor their interactions, offering relevant suggestions and solutions.

The result? A cohesive customer journey that feels effortless. You reach customers with the right message at the right time, whether they’re browsing online or interacting with your brand in-store. This personalized approach fosters deeper engagement and loyalty.

5. Adapting to the cross-channel era of dynamic customer journeys

At the conference, retail leaders emphasized the importance of adapting to the cross-channel era by prioritizing consistency across all touchpoints.

In essence, the focus is on meeting customer needs seamlessly, regardless of where they make a purchase. For example, a customer might research a product online, visit a physical store to try it on, and then purchase from their phone later in the day. This multi-channel experience should feel effortless.

By providing enjoyable experiences across online, mobile, and in-store touchpoints, you can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. This involves:

1. Cross-channel availability: Your brand should be present and accessible wherever your customers are, whether it’s on your website, social media platforms, or in a physical store.
2. Consistent messaging: Deliver a unified brand message across all channels to avoid any disconnect between your online presence and in-store experience.
3. Data-driven personalization: Utilize customer data to personalize interactions across channels. For instance, if a customer looks for a specific product online, a salesperson in your store can use that information to provide relevant assistance.

By embracing the ever-changing nature of customer journeys, you can keep your brand relevant and nurture stronger customer relationships.

6. Laying foundations for sustained growth

Retail leaders emphasized the importance of building a strong foundation for long-term success. This involves investing in foundational elements such as effective data management, clear business objectives, and a compelling brand mission. By establishing these pillars, retailers can create a solid base for expanding their marketing efforts and adapting to the constantly changing retail landscape.

Dotdigital is a powerful platform that allows you to organize, segment, and analyze your customer data. The platform seamlessly integrates with various ecommerce, CRM, and third-party systems, ensuring that your customer data is always up-to-date and readily available to inform your marketing strategies.

Future-proof your retail strategy

The Retail Innovation Conference and Expo provided valuable insights into the changing landscape of retail marketing. It’s clear that a customer-centric approach, which is based on data, community, and personalization, is important for success.

Retailers need to be agile and adaptable, from understanding and meeting Gen Z’s unique preferences to providing seamless cross-channel experiences. By embracing these trends and utilizing powerful tools like Dotdigital, you can survive and thrive in this dynamic market.

What is a martech stack?

Your martech stack is essentially the collection of software applications and technologies that your marketing team uses to plan, execute, and analyze your marketing campaigns. These tools may handle a wide range of tasks, from creating email campaigns and managing social media to tracking website traffic and analyzing customer data.

Why tech stack consolidation matters

Consolidating your martech stack can bring many benefits to your marketing efforts. Here’s why:

Future-proof scalability

Imagine a marketing platform that adapts and grows alongside your business. Consolidation allows you to ditch clunky, siloed systems and embrace a unified platform that scales seamlessly. Updates become a breeze, and you’ll be ready to tackle emerging marketing trends with ease.

Simplify your workflow and boost efficiency

Juggling multiple tools eats into and can frustrate your team. Consolidation streamlines your workflow by centralizing tasks and data. This helps your team collaborate more effectively, eliminating the need to switch between platforms and decipher scattered data points. This translates to faster campaign execution and more time for strategic thinking.

Break down data silos and gain deeper insights

Bringing your customer data together into a unified data pool unlocks the holy grail of data-driven marketing. Imagine a complete picture of your customers, their interactions, and preferences. 

When you pair this advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence you can enrich your data with insights ready to fuel creative campaigns. This empowers you to personalize campaigns, optimize targeting, and measure results with unmatched accuracy.

Reduce costs and maximize ROI

Let’s face it, maintaining multiple, disconnected tools can be expensive. By consolidating, you can eliminate redundant subscriptions and streamline your budget. Moreover, a more efficient workflow leads to better resource allocation and a higher return on your marketing investment.

Strengthen collaboration and foster a culture of ownership

Working with a single marketing automation platform fosters a sense of ownership and accountability within your marketing team. Everyone is on the same page, eliminating confusion and promoting collaboration. This collaborative environment breeds innovation and empowers your team to achieve more.

The people component

Remember, successful digital transformation is about more than just using new technology. It’s also about working closely with reliable partners and collaborating effectively. When choosing which platforms to use, it’s important to pick ones with a good reputation and strong partnerships.

By consolidating your martech stack, you’re not just simplifying tools, you’re laying the foundation for a more agile, efficient, and data-driven marketing engine. This translates to stronger customer relationships, a higher ROI, and a competitive edge in today’s dynamic marketing landscape.

Why choose Dotdigital?

Let’s take a closer look at why Dotdigital is a standout all-in-one solution for consolidating your martech stack.

Unified customer experience: Dotdigital CXDP offers more than just basic marketing automation. It enables cross-channel marketing such as email, SMS, push notifications, social media, and more. This makes connecting and delivering a consistent experience easy.

AI-powered personalization: Dotdigital’s personalization features help you create personalized marketing campaigns. Its robust customer data insights and personalization features allow you to segment your audience, tailor content, and deliver automated journeys that resonate with individual customer needs and preferences.

Seamless integrations: Dotdigital provides a wide range of pre-built integrations with popular CRM and ecommerce platforms. You’ll have a seamless experience that caters to businesses of all sizes and across various industries.

Scalability and future-proofing: The Dotdigital platform adapts and grows alongside your business. With ongoing product improvements, the platform stays ahead of the curve, providing you with the tools you need to succeed in the ever-changing marketing landscape.

Customer support: Dotdigital prioritizes customer experience and offers excellent customer support, including options like phone and live chat, to help you navigate the platform and maximize its potential.

By choosing Dotdigital as the core of your consolidated martech stack, you gain access to a powerful suite of marketing automation tools, seamless integrations, and exceptional support. This empowers you to streamline your marketing operations, personalize customer experiences, and achieve your marketing goals more effectively.

Conclusion

Consolidating your martech stack isn’t just about reducing the number of tools you use. It’s about creating a more efficient, effective, and data-driven marketing strategy. With the right approach, consolidation can empower your marketing team to achieve greater results and propel your business forward.

If you’re looking to review your marketing tech stack, book a demo.

That’s where remailing comes in. Remailing, also known as resend marketing, is a powerful technique that allows you to reach subscribers who missed your initial email. It’s a strategic way to boost engagement and maximize the ROI of your email marketing efforts.

What is remailing and why use it?

Remailing involves automatically sending a slightly modified version of your original email to subscribers who haven’t opened it within a set timeframe. Here’s why it’s a valuable tool:

1. Higher engagement and conversion rates: Remailing to subscribers who didn’t open or engage with your original email allows you to capture their attention and boost overall engagement. This results in higher open, click-through, and conversion rates. This enhances the performance of your email campaigns and drive great outcomes from your marketing budget.
2. Optimized email delivery times: Remailing enables you to experiment with different delivery times so you can determine when your target audience is most responsive. Analyzing engagement metrics across multiple sends can help you grasp your subscribers’ preferences and improve your email marketing strategy for future campaigns.
3. Increased return on investment(ROI): By ensuring your email content reaches as many subscribers as possible, remailing creates more opportunities for customer engagement and interaction. This improvement in email campaign efficacy equates to a better ROI for the time, effort, and resources invested in crafting quality content and executing email marketing campaigns.

What industries can use remailing?

Integrating a remailing strategy can be applied to various industries and business sectors to enhance your email marketing impact. Here are some examples of industries that can benefit from remailing. 

• Ecommerce: Remailing promotions, exclusive offers, or new product launches can grab the attention of customers who missed the initial communication. This can drive sales, improve email marketing ROI, and promote repeat purchases by delivering relevant, timely promotions.
• Higher education: Remailing important announcements, event invitations, or registration deadlines keeps students, parents, and alumni informed about institutional updates. A remailing strategy maintains audience engagement and fosters the relationship between the institution and its stakeholders.
• Travel and hospitality: Remailing special deals, last-minute promotions, or unique travel packages can capture the attention of prospective customers. This not only boosts bookings and revenue but also cultivates customer loyalty through personalized and relevant offers.
• Not profit organizations: By increasing the visibility of fundraising initiatives, event invitations, and advocacy alerts, remailing maximizes the chances of engagement, resulting in greater donor turnout and amplified volunteer participation.
• Professional services: Remailing can help law firms, recruitment consultancies, advertising agencies, and more to showcase their expertise and thought leadership by sharing useful information, industry updates, and educational resources. This will be helpful in building better relationships with your clients and promoting continuous business interactions.

AI tools like WinstonAI can help keep your email content fresh and avoid duplication. Use WinstonAI to generate alternative subject lines and rephrase your campaign content to evoke different emotions from the recipient.

Prioritizing clicks over opens

With Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), it has become increasingly crucial for remailing strategies to prioritize clicks over opens. Here are some reasons why:

1. Clicks signal higher engagement: Clicks indicate that recipients are genuinely interested in your content, as they take action by clicking a link to learn more, buy something, or perform another desired task. Consequently, basing your remailing approach on clicks provides more comprehensive insights into customer engagement and behavior.
2. Open tracking can be unreliable: Since open rates may not accurately reflect customer engagement due to accidental or auto-opened emails, click-through rates offer a more dependable metric rooted in subscribers’ intentional actions.
3. Email open rate: Apple’s MPP disrupts email open rate tracking by automatically loading remote content such as images and pixel tracking. This may falsely inflate open rates, complicating their use as an accurate measure of engagement. Clicks, on the other hand, enable a more effective assessment of subscriber engagement.

By favoring clicks over opens, you can focus on genuinely interested subscribers and foster more targeted interactions.

When to prioritize opens over clicks

Although clicks usually take precedence in remailing strategies, there are situations where tracking open rates may be more advantageous:

1. Awareness building campaigns: When your primary goal is to boost brand or product awareness, open rates may be more indicative of the marketing effort’s reach. In this instance, remailing based on opens can widen your reach and elevate brand visibility.
2. Educational or informational content: If the email’s purpose is to share knowledge, informative articles, or other non-promotional materials, opens may signify that recipients consumed the information. This makes open rates a practical metric for evaluating user engagement with the content.
3. Initial testing for innovative email formats: If you are experimenting with unique email formats, visuals, or subject lines, remailing based on opens can help identify the most attention-grabbing styles or techniques.

Utilize remailing in your marketing strategy

Remailing is a powerful tactic that can improve email campaigns. It reaches out to subscribers who didn’t engage initially, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. Focusing on clicks usually yields better results, but monitoring opens can also be helpful. Adding AI-driven solutions like WinstonAI can keep your remailing strategies efficient and customized. A well-rounded remailing approach can unlock your marketing potential for optimal success.

The challenge: Overcoming the curse of customer churn

The brand’s customer retention was declining rapidly. It didn’t have a retention strategy in place, and as a result, its customer engagement and conversions were severely impacted. To turn things around, it needed a comprehensive digital marketing strategy to achieve a few key objectives.

• Boost website traffic and brand awareness
• Deepen customer connections and engagement
• Drive conversions and create loyal customers
• Build a rock-solid retention strategy to keep them coming back

By addressing its lack of a retention strategy and incorporating personalization tactics, the brand aimed to reverse the trend of customer churn and achieve sustainable growth. With a clear vision for the future, the brand was on the right track to achieving its goals and overcoming its challenges.

Solution: Building customer loyalty

I decided to adopt a multi-pronged approach to tackle the challenges the brand was facing. First, the team analyzed customer demographics by using platform data and Google Analytics. This helped the brand understand that Gen Z and Millennials were their primary target audience. 

The brand further used eRFM and RFM dashboards to identify engagement levels within this demographic, which provided crucial insights into the audience it was selling to and how interested they were.

Crafting a personalized marketing experience

With a clear understanding of the audience, I suggested creating a content calendar tailored to the customer journey, product use cases, and key seasonal events. The brand recommended creating emails showcasing back-to-school outfits for students or highlighting workout attire during peak gym membership sign-up periods. This ensured content resonated with specific customer needs.

Personalized and dynamic emails were also recommended. By leveraging audience insights, the brand built emails featuring product recommendations based on past purchases (“shop the look” or “more from this collection”). This personalization made the emails more relevant and increased the chance of customers finding something they truly wanted.

Segmentation and growth strategies were another key element. I suggested implementing tactics aligned with the customer journey. This included building preference centers, segmenting customers by purchase history and interests, and nurturing them post-purchase with review requests and loyalty rewards.

By segmenting their audience, the brand could tailor messages to resonate better with different groups. For example, they could send emails promoting new arrivals to frequent buyers or win-back campaigns to those who hadn’t purchased in a while.

Results

The brand embraced these data-driven strategies, and the results were impressive. By diversifying its content and making it more relevant, unsubscribe rates significantly dropped by 50%, leading to increased customer engagement.

The team also tailored content to customer interests, providing personalized and relevant information, which resulted in a click-through rate (CTR) increase of over 30%.

Showcasing the brand’s products in real-life use cases, like workout clothes at the gym, helped customers envision themselves using the products, leading to a rise in direct orders. Ultimately, these improved marketing strategies resulted in an impressive revenue growth of over 50%.

Key learnings: Why data-driven marketing matters

This case study is an excellent example of how data-driven marketing strategies can bring a new life to an ecommerce brand. By utilizing Dotdigital’s expertise, the brand gained valuable insights into its audience and created a personalized and engaging marketing experience. These strategies are not limited to the apparel industry only but are applicable across various industries. 

The key takeaways are:

• Personalization is king: Tailor content and recommendations to your audience’s preferences.
• Content is queen: Offer a variety of content formats to keep your subscribers engaged.
• Know your audience: Understanding their needs and behaviors is essential for success.

By following these principles, ecommerce businesses can navigate the highly competitive online landscape and achieve sustainable growth. So, if your brand is struggling, consider partnering with a data-driven marketing platform like Dotdigital.

1. Ecommerce is still growing in unpredictable times

Ecommerce is evolving rapidly and its growth shows no signs of slowing down. However, customers are facing economic challenges such as student loans, which can impact their purchasing power. 

Despite these challenges, some companies have found overnight success on platforms like TikTok, which has emerged as a major player in advertising and brand awareness. TikTok has quickly become a major player in the advertising space, and its influence on ecommerce is only continuing to grow.

2. The need for digital fluency and alignment of teams 

In today’s fast-paced business environment, digital fluency has become a critical factor for success. It’s no longer enough to simply have a website or an online presence – your brand needs to have an understanding of how to manage and utilize data effectively. This requires building teams that understand data management and flow. As well as having a well-aligned tech team that can adapt quickly to changes in data structures.

To drive revenue effectively, you need to have a deep understanding of product feeds and how data flows through your system. This means developing a clear and comprehensive strategy for data management, including data collection, storage, and analysis. It also requires having the right tools and technologies in place to support these efforts.

Also, it’s essential to have a well-aligned tech team that can work seamlessly with other departments to ensure that data is being used effectively across the organization. This means breaking down silos and creating a culture of collaboration, where everyone is working towards the same goals.

3. Plan your marketing budget

A well-planned marketing budget is essential for maximizing customer acquisition, retention, and overall return on investment. In particular, when working with a limited marketing budget, it’s essential to ensure that your resources are being used effectively. This means not only working to attract new customers but also focusing on keeping existing customers loyal and engaged. 

If you are looking to make the most out of your budget, here are some key tips: 

1. Be brave, yet measured, with budget allocations.
2. Invest in technology to weather changes such as cookie deprecation.
3. Utilize customer loyalty to onboard new customers.

4. Utilize personalization

Personalization is what sets ecommerce brands apart from one another. Customers want to feel valued and understood, and providing them with tailored experiences is a great way to achieve this. By collecting data on their behavior and preferences, you can customize your offerings to fit their unique needs.

However, it’s important to strike a balance between data collection and the user experience. You don’t want to overwhelm your customers with emails requesting information. Instead, try to create fun and engaging methods for gathering data, such as email quizzes or gamification.

5. Build trust and provide value

When it comes to personalization, building trust is even more critical as customers are willing to share their data and preferences with businesses only if they can trust them.

To build trust, it’s essential to keep the promises made in exchange for customer data. For instance, if a customer agrees to share their email address with you in exchange for a discount, you must ensure that they receive the discount as promised. If you fail to deliver on your promises, you risk losing the trust of your customers, which can lead to negative reviews and decreased customer loyalty.

In addition to delivering on promises, you should consistently provide value to your customers throughout their journey. Customers want to feel heard, and they want to know that you care about their satisfaction. You can provide value by engaging with your existing customer base, using their feedback and user-generated content (UGC) to improve your products or services and show that you value their opinions.

6. Top technology trends in 2023

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly important in today’s digital landscape. It has the potential to revolutionize your marketing strategy by automating repetitive tasks, improving decision-making processes, and providing valuable insights into customer behavior.

Using AI for creative tasks, such as content creation, can help you stay ahead of the competition. However, it’s important to start small and implement AI in a manageable way that aligns with your business needs.

As you become more comfortable with AI, you can gradually expand its usage to more areas of your business. The key is to approach AI with an open mind and a willingness to experiment, while always keeping your business goals and customer needs at the forefront of your decision-making. 

7. Women in ecommerce

At the Nashville Retail Summit, a panel of inspiring women discussed their experiences and how they have made an impact on this dynamic industry. I had the privilege of being one of the panelists, where I shared my thoughts on the role of empathy and creativity in connecting with customers and shaping successful marketing strategies.

During the discussion, I emphasized the importance of networking, learning from industry mentors, and pursuing your passion to succeed in ecommerce. I also highlighted the unique skills that women bring to the table and the significance of fostering a spirit of collaboration.

The panel highlighted the increasing presence of women in ecommerce and the important contributions they are making to the industry. By leveraging their strengths, being creative, and working together, women are making a mark in this exciting and rapidly evolving field.

And that’s a wrap on the Nashville Retail Summit

The Nashville Retail Summit 2023 was an exciting and enriching experience, and we are eager to bring these valuable insights back to the Dotdigital team and our valued customers. Stay tuned for more updates from industry events and insight from our in-house experts.

Personalization: who, what, when, where, why

Customers nowadays are extremely aware of traditional marketing and sales tactics. Generic batch and blast messaging should be considered a thing of the past with personalization strategies now producing the best results. Personalization can apply to several different areas in your marketing plans. This may include utilizing dynamic content in your messages based on specific data points about your contacts or creating fully customized strategies for distinct customer persona groups.

It’s important to analyze your customers and subscribers to fully understand their wants, needs, preferences, and interests to effectively communicate with them and deliver the right message at the right time to the right person.

Listen to your contacts’ interests and anticipate their needs by using dynamic content based on zero–party data they’ve provided or order data to showcase content they’re interested in such as product types, categories, and attributes. For example, let’s say you sell clothing and shoes online. You can segment your customers by climate regions based on first-party order data and promote products that pertain to their current climate. 

Customers who live in a warm, coastal climate most likely aren’t going to be regularly interested in apparel and shoes such as winter jackets and snow boots. The relevancy of your marketing content is key to boosting engagement and return on investment (ROI) over time. 

An important step in strategizing your marketing plans is determining who you want to target to receive the messages you are sending. Using subscriber data is key to implementing a personalized approach to your marketing activities in Dotdigital. 

Create and send to segments based on the data you have stored such as age, geolocation, customer persona characteristics, purchasing frequency, purchase location (in-store, online, social commerce), predicted churn rate, expressed preferences, survey response data, the list could go on and on. The personalization possibilities are endless and can be very simple to implement into your current and future marketing strategies.

Using artificial intelligence to achieve business goals

Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t anything new, and it’s definitely not going away anytime soon. So, it’s important to understand the practical applications of AI tools you have at your fingertips that can help you achieve business goals, boost conversions, and operational efficiencies. 

Dotdigital’s WinstonAI is a fantastic example of cutting-edge marketing intelligence. We’ve integrated predictive algorithms, state-of-the-art machine learning models, generative AI, persona analysis, data enrichment and more within the platform to empower marketers with AI-powered insights and analytics, captivating content creation, and optimized communications. 

Utilizing AI-powered insights and analytics in your marketing plans and sending strategy can be crucial in the goal of sending the right message at the right time to the right person. Our predictive analytics segmentation tools give you real-time data to create segments and trigger messages based on churn probability, predicted customer lifetime value (CLV), predicted number of upcoming purchases, and predicted next order date. These segmentation tools make it quick and easy to understand where your customers are in the customer lifecycle, target customers with high churn risk and give an attractive offer, reward predicted VIP brand loyalists, and more. 

Generative AI can be beneficial in many ways, a big one being operational efficiency. WinstonAI’s subject line and email campaign assistant helps marketers unleash their creativity by offering subject line and campaign suggestions to create content that is engaging and drives conversions.

WinstonAI offers comprehensive assistance in your copywriting process, providing accurate grammar and spelling checks. This ensures that your marketing campaign’s copy is error-free and frees up time that would otherwise be spent on manual content review processes. With all of these tools combined, you can be confident in your marketing effectiveness, experience increased team autonomy, and let the data-driven results do all the talking. 

AI tools can be extremely helpful in streamlining processes and assisting in idea generation but it’s important to note the constant need for human review. Training generative AI tools, like our subject line and campaign assistant, is an important step in using this type of technology. Generative AI learns from and adapts to the information you feed it so the more feedback you give it, the better it will understand your prompted needs going forward. 

Shifts in consumer expectations

The direct-to-consumer (DTC) playbook of the past 5-10 years has completely shifted. We now have numerous communication channels, and various paths to purchase, and consumers now have more information at their fingertips than ever before, significantly increasing the level of competition. That’s why it’s important that you understand your consumer’s preferences at every point in the customer lifecycle to create an exceptional customer experience. 

Dotdigital’s Marketing Strategist, Brianna Martinez, spoke on a panel with other marketing experts about digital and cross-channel strategies to amplify your brand where they discussed the importance of analyzing your customer base in order to successfully market your brand.

To produce the best experience, you must fully understand who your customers are. Dive deep into your analytical platforms and pull information that you can use to personify and envision your customers or groups of customers to better communicate and provide an experience that they enjoy. Then, dive into researching consumer shopping habits and online behavior characteristics on those persona groupings to begin learning about how they shop and interact with brands before making a purchase.

By building your marketing plans with your brand’s customer personas in mind, you can create an enjoyable, seamless, personalized, cross-channel experience. Here are 6 analytical data points to look for when beginning to develop your customer personas:

1. Demographical analytics

It’s important to examine your audience’s age in depth to gain a better understanding of their behavior. By dividing demographics into generations, you can investigate online shopping patterns that vary by age group. Additionally, analyzing gender-specific data can provide a more comprehensive understanding of your target audience’s interest in the product categories offered by your brand.

2. Location-based data

Location-based data refers to information gathered about a customer’s location, such as their city, state, or zip code. This data plays an important role in developing effective marketing strategies that cater to the specific needs of customers in each region. By understanding their unique climate and location, businesses can tailor their products and services to meet the needs of their customers better. Analyzing location-based data on a country level can also help businesses identify preferred languages, cultural values, and regional expectations, which can further enhance their marketing approach.

3. Device usage

It’s important to keep track of how your audience uses different devices such as mobiles, tablets, and desktops. This helps ensure that your website and digital marketing designs cater to all users. Analyzing this breakdown can significantly improve the overall user experience (UX), making it an essential component of your marketing strategy.

4. Conversion rate data by channel

In today’s customer journey, there are numerous paths to purchase, ranging from email and SMS to social commerce, direct website, or in-app checkout experiences. It’s important to understand where your customers are buying from your brand, how valuable those commerce channels are to your business, and the experience that goes along with them. By doing so, you can improve your strategy by identifying and promoting the preferred paths to purchase and providing relevant communication based on those channels at the right times.

5. Traffic sources

By monitoring the channels driving traffic to your website, you can identify new points of acquisition and understand what communication channels your consumers prefer. Additionally, taking note of other websites and social media sources that direct traffic to your brand can provide valuable insights into your target audience’s interests, preferences, and behaviors.

6. Google Analytics “interests” or“affinity categories

Google Analytics (GA4) offers a user interests section that provides valuable information on your website visitors based on their online journeys and purchasing activities. This data encompasses hobbies, entertainment preferences, and other interest categories like banking, outdoor activities, shopping, DIY, news, politics, and more. By utilizing these insights, you can develop a more comprehensive understanding of the content that will resonate best with your audience.

A personalized cross-channel approach is an important strategy because the everyday consumer is extremely aware of typical marketing and sales tactics. Batch and blast messages are a thing of the past and generic content is irrelevant to most consumers. With this personified, 360-degree view of your customers, you can tailor your marketing to deliver the right message (containing the right content), to the right person at the right time. 

Reflecting on the 2023 Chicago Retail Summit

The 2023 Chicago Retail Summit provided valuable insights and takeaways for retail professionals who want to stay ahead in today’s competitive market. By participating in events like these and engaging in conversations, our team members are better equipped with the latest news, trends, and insights. This knowledge empowers us to assist marketers using the Dotdigital platform and ensure continuous growth and success in the ever-evolving retail industry.

In this blog post, we’ll delve into nine winning SMS strategy ideas to reimagine your marketing campaigns. By implementing these tips, you can create more effective SMS marketing campaigns that drive conversions and encourage brand loyalty. 

Content and sending strategies

1. Create personalized messages

People tend to engage more with personalized content. So, when you’re putting together your SMS campaigns, make sure to tailor them to each subscriber by factoring in things like preferences and demographics. That way, the right message is hitting the right person just when they need it.

Use the person’s name in your messages and mention things they care about or special events like birthdays. Being friendly and adding that personal touch helps build trust, gets people even more interested, and encourages higher engagement rates.Keep in mind that SMS messages have a character limit, so it’s essential for marketers to be concise while ensuring personalization remains effective.

2. Offer exclusive deals

To encourage more conversions and increase the value of your brand, give your mobile subscribers exclusive offers that they can’t find anywhere else. You can surprise and delight them by sending limited-time discounts or promoting flash sales that make them feel special. 

Also, try bundling promotions like buy-one-get-one deals. This can benefit both you and your customers as you increase your average order value(AOV) while your customers receive a valuable offer. You can also make your SMS subscribers feel extra special by giving them early access to new products or exclusive deals. By setting deadlines and sending reminders, you can create a sense of urgency that motivates customers to act quickly, which can lead to positive word-of-mouth promotion.

Remember that SMS messages have character limits, so consider using a link shortening to efficiently share relevant information and keep your message concise. This allows you to provide your audience with easy access to exclusive deals while maintaining SMS content that is clear and effective.

3. Use media

A picture is worth a thousand words – this is also true for your SMS campaigns. Utilize Multimedia Messaging Services(MMS)to send branded images that promote your brand. Adding imagery can catch the attention of your audience and complement your overall marketing message. Additionally, attaching product images can remind your subscribers of your products, especially in abandoned cart campaigns.

Your SMS channel should be conversational. Consider adding visually appealing and humorous GIFs to add a touch of comedy and reflect your brand’s personality. Including media content in your SMS messages boosts engagement and reinforces your brand image. 

4. Implement an SMS Program 

One strategy to engage and inform customers is through SMS programs, which are automated campaigns sent out at regular intervals. A great way to start is by sending a series of welcome messages to new subscribers, offering a special discount that differs from what you would offer via email. This shows the value of opting for SMS as the preferred communication channel, effectively encouraging sign-ups by catering to your audience’s individual preferences.

To drive revenue, set up sequences targeting cart abandonment as gentle reminders to encourage conversions. You can also share useful tips about product features or provide educational content by directing them to informative landing pages. And for those customers who’ve drifted away, reignite their interest with time-sensitive messages, winning back their loyalty and bringing them back into the fold.

5. Integrate SMS cross-channel

Integrating your SMS campaigns with your overall marketing strategy can boost your marketing efforts. You can promote SMS sign-ups by offering an SMS call-to-action in email campaigns or bridge the gap with social media by integrating SMS sign-ups on your profiles. Remember, SMS is all about direct, friendly communication, so keep your content conversational and approachable.

Don’t forget to include SMS data in your comprehensive analytics for a holistic view of your customer behavior. By integrating your SMS campaigns cross-channel, you can create a more cohesive experience for your target audience.

Segmentation and customer targeting

1. Target based on zero and first-party data

To see stronger results from your SMS campaigns, segment your customers based on zero and first-party data you have on them.  For example, consider their age and send product recommendations or promotions related to age-appropriate items.

Utilize birth date data fields and celebrate your subscribers by sending personalized messages based on their birthday such as topics relating to zodiac signs and seasons. Or, if you know their location, use it to promote nearby stores or send climate-related product suggestions.

Lastly, it’s important to send messages related to products or categories that subscribers have expressed interest in. This ensures that the right message is sent to the right person at the right time. By understanding these preferences, you can customize your offers and promotions to better meet the individual needs of your subscribers. This will improve engagement and increase conversion rates.

2. Behavioral segmentation

Focusing on customer behaviors, such as purchase history, browsing habits, and brand interaction, can enhance your SMS campaigns. Use this information to send targeted messages with tailored product recommendations based on recently viewed items or custom offers for frequent or high-spending customers, similar to VIP loyalty programs. Additionally, you can optimize conversions and win back lapsed customers with re-engagement campaigns, including abandoned cart reminders.

3. Lifecycle stages

SMS campaigns can be highly effective when targeting customers at different stages of their journey with your brand. By understanding where your customers are in their journey, you can send the appropriate message at the right time. For instance, you can nurture new leads by sending a welcome series that reinforces your brand’s values and shares valuable content such as exclusive tips and how-to guides. 

You can also re-engage less active customers with the same content. To win back lost customers, consider sending a”We Miss You” SMS campaign. Lastly, encourage repeat purchases or upsells by providing targeted offers to loyal customers.

4. Preferences and interests

Giving customers the option to choose their preferences and interests can improve the effectiveness of your campaigns. Use customer surveys or a preference center, so your customers can choose which types of messages they want to receive. Using this information, you can create targeted content tailored to their interests. This includes content related to specific product categories or topics and can be delivered through strategic messaging and product recommendations. 

Additionally, you can adjust the frequency of communication based on how often the customer has expressed interest in hearing from you. You can also offer preferred sale or promotion types such as clearance sales, flash sales, or seasonal discounts based on their preferences.

Summary

In conclusion, embracing the potential of SMS marketing and incorporating the strategies can significantly boost the success of your digital marketing campaigns. As digital marketing continues to evolve, staying agile and adapting to innovative techniques like SMS marketing is essential for keeping your brand relevant and your customers engaged. Remember to communicate with your customers and continually refine your strategies based on their preferences and feedback to ensure that your SMS campaigns remain both effective and captivating.

Key takeaways from the Retail Innovation Conference and Expo

Let’s discuss the key takeaways from sessions at #RICE23: 

1. Leverage generative artificial intelligence (AI)

One of the most intriguing and innovative concepts presented at this year’s #RICE23 was the potential and utilization of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the retail industry. As retailers aim to deliver more personalized, efficient, and engaging customer experiences, the introduction of generative AI proves to be a game-changer in meeting these expectations.

A prime example of generative AI in action is WinstonAI. WinstonAI draws on Microsoft Azure’s generative AI technology (GPT-3.5) to offer suggestions and inspiration on how to take your campaign content to the next level. Built directly into the Dotdigital platform, WinstonAI can now easily provide you with hints, tips, and advice on how to improve your email marketing and customer experiences. 

If you want generative AI tools like WinstonAI to meet your expectations, it’s crucial to dedicate time and resources to train them. By refining these AI models with suitable data and feedback, you can unlock your full potential to develop more powerful marketing campaigns.

2. Deliver personalized customer experiences

In the era of fierce competition, driving customer loyalty and retention goes beyond offering high-quality products or services. To create meaningful connections, brands must prioritize personalization and create positive customer experiences tailored to individual preferences. By cultivating a loyal and dedicated customer base, businesses set themselves apart from the competition.

Harnessing the power of customer data is crucial to this strategy. Data guides brands in crafting unforgettable customer experiences tailored to their target audience. By gaining insights into customers’ preferences and needs, businesses can develop innovative products, launch strategies, marketing campaigns (both offline and online), custom packaging, superb in-store experiences, and user-friendly website designs that elevate their brand from the rest.

The solution lies in adopting a human-to-human (H2H) marketing approach. This paradigm shift emphasizes treating customers as humans with emotions and stories rather than mere data points. By humanizing your marketing strategy, your brand will stand out from the competition and foster stronger relationships with your target audience. This deeper connection ultimately influences their decision to choose your brand over others.

3. Embrace creativity

If you want to stand out and attract the attention of the tech-savvy Gen Z audience, creativity is key. This generation appreciates new and unique ideas, and they are more likely to try out brands that break away from the norm. Don’t hesitate to be innovative with your products, marketing strategies, or brand stories to set yourself apart from the competition. Additionally, make sure to communicate with this generation on their preferred channels and engage in meaningful conversations.

Liquid Death is a brand that has effectively used creative marketing to establish its own unique identity. While they sell canned water, their success comes from their entertainment and content-driven approach. Their marketing strategies aim to create an exciting and unconventional image that stands out among competitors and captures the attention of customers.

4. Build a community

Cultivating a sense of community within your brand is pivotal to forging lasting, personal connections with your customers. This intimate relationship fosters a sense of belonging, support, and empowerment, transforming casual customers into passionate, engaged champions who actively use your products and services.

The power of a strong brand community offers: 

• Enhanced virality: When customers feel connected to your brand, they are more inclined to share content and products within their networks. This organic sharing significantly expands your reach and fuels viral growth.
• Natural brand advocates: Members who are deeply engaged with your brand community will readily share their positive experiences, recommendations, and testimonials with their circles, establishing trust and credibility among potential customers.

5. Maintain your digital presence

It’s important to keep your digital presence up-to-date to create a positive perception of your brand. Your ecommerce site and martech stack should evolve with changing consumer expectations, as customers often form their first impression of your products and services through your digital presence.

If your website is outdated, it may harm your brand’s reputation and give potential customers the impression that you are not up-to-date with current trends. This could affect their decision-making process and lead to losing customers. Therefore, it’s important to update your website regularly.

To maintain your digital presence, you can: 

• Update your technology stack: As technology evolves, so do the expectations of tech-savvy consumers. Invest in tools and integrations to deliver a seamless user experience that meets consumer demands.
• Refresh your design: A visually appealing, modern design can significantly influence a brand’s image. Regularly update your website or email design elements, layout, and color scheme to reflect the latest design trends and maintain a fresh, contemporary appearance.
• Monitor your competition: Keep an eye on your competitors’ websites and take note of any updates or changes they make. This can help you stay informed of the latest industry trends and anticipate consumer expectations.

Summary

During #RICE23, experts in ecommerce, social media, and martech discussed valuable insights. In today’s rapidly evolving retail industry, it’s essential for brands to keep up with industry trends and consumer preferences to succeed. Thankfully, we were right there, soaking it all in for you, so you don’t miss a beat in keeping your business on top of its game! 

What are marketing automation programs?

Marketing automation programs are pre-set email marketing campaigns designed to streamline marketing efforts and personalize customer experiences by delivering relevant content based on specific triggers or customer behaviors. Automation programs save time and resources by sending personalized emails, segmenting contact lists, and nurturing leads.

Benefits of marketing automation programs

An automated marketing program offers the following benefits: 

Improved ROI

Automation programs carefully fine-tune crucial elements such as the frequency of your email sends, the relevance of your content, and the effectiveness of your lead nurturing process. By automating these aspects, you can significantly improve the overall performance and return on investment (ROI) of your email marketing strategy.

Enhanced customer experience

These campaigns deliver personalized, timely, and valuable content to your audience, creating a positive and engaging customer experience that cultivates long-term customer loyalty.

Scalability

Those days of individually crafting and sending emails to each subscriber are gone. Automation streamlines the process by automating repetitive tasks, freeing up time and resources. Your automation program does the heavy lifting for you as you can set up workflows, triggers, and segments based on your subscribers’ demographics, behaviors, or engagement levels. 

Programs based on engagement or ecommerce are two of the most common types to implement into the subscriber journey. Let’s look at both.

Engagement-based programs

In engagement-based programs, customers are actively engaged in a personalized and interactive way. These programs aim to build meaningful and long-lasting relationships with your target audience. 

Welcome

Welcome programs offer brands the chance to engage with their subscribers from the first interaction at the start of a customer journey. A compelling and well-crafted welcome program plays a pivotal role in setting the tone for your new subscribers and paves the way for strong, ongoing relationships. 

As part of your welcome program, it’s recommended to send engaging and personalized welcome emails. These emails should offer a warm welcome, introduce your brand story, and gather customer data and interests through preference centers. Welcome programs are a great opportunity to showcase your brand and establish a connection with your subscribers at the first point of contact, which will build long-lasting trust and loyalty.

Nurture or brand loyalty

To maintain good relationships with your customers, consider creating a nurture program. In your program, use your clients’ preferred channels, and offer personalized and relevant content. The more engaged you are with your customers, the higher the chances of generating sales. Implement a lead scoring model to gauge customer engagement and offer rewards such as exclusive content, vouchers, and promotional offers. This will strengthen your relationship and make your customers feel valued.

Event reminders

If you have an upcoming event, it’s recommended to set up an automated event reminder program. You should promote your event at each stage, before, during, and after the event. This will ensure your attendees are well-informed of the important details and your event schedule. An effective reminder program will build anticipation, drive registrations, and create a positive experience for all attendees. 

Customer service

A customer service program is an important program to implement into your marketing strategy. Customer experience (CX) is important to any brand. When customers have a positive experience, they are more likely to recommend your company to their friends and family. Every interaction with the customer impacts their perception of your brand, so each touchpoint must be considered. 

Adding live chat to your channels is an effective approach to improving your customer’s experience. While it might seem like a small addition, live chat can increase conversion rates by up to 20%. It will also prompt your customers to use it when they need it and reduce any barriers to making a purchase.

Ecommerce based programs

When using ecommerce automation programs, you can enhance customer experiences, build loyalty, and streamline your marketing campaigns.  With these programs, you can deliver targeted and personalized communication that drives customer engagement and revenue growth. 

Abandoned cart or browse

If a customer adds items to their online cart but doesn’t complete the checkout process, you can use an abandoned cart program to reach out to them. Additionally, you can also use an eRFM modeling tool to determine how engaged the customer is and target them. This can include offering a discount code or other incentives to re-engage them.

Sometimes customers may abandon their cart because the product is not quite perfect; we’ve all been there. With AI-powered product recommendations, you can provide relevant alternative options during abandoned cart campaigns.

It’s important not to think of abandoned cart programs as only applicable to B2C or ecommerce brands. Abandoned browse emails can be used in a very similar way. For a B2B brand or service, consider what your high intent-actions are. Whether it’s filling in a form or viewing a pricing page, you can create abandoned browse emails to capture any customers who drop off without completing an action.

Post-purchase

Today’s customers demand a seamless shopping experience from start to finish, including online browsing, purchasing, delivery, and after-sales support. It’s important to create a consistent brand experience across all channels and leverage customer data to connect with shoppers wherever they choose to engage.

One way to keep your customers engaged is to analyze their browsing behavior and identify products they are interested in. After that, you can send an email, SMS message, or push notification saying: “We’ve noticed you liked or viewed this.” Or why not send instructions on how to care for the product they’ve bought or how to use it? These simple interactions show that you’re available to the customer even after they’ve converted. 

Loyalty or birthday reward

If you have engaged champions, why not give them exclusive benefits or create a customer loyalty program? You can engage these customers by sending them personalized loyalty emails or SMS messages with relevant content, or updates on their reward points, achievements, and special offers.

This strengthens your brand and keeps your business at the forefront of their minds, increasing the likelihood of repeat purchases. Additionally, collecting subscribers’ birth dates and sending personalized birthday messages is an excellent way to show your customers that you value and appreciate them.

Win back

A win-back program aims to bring back customers who have stopped engaging with your business by offering them an incentive to take a specific action, like making a new purchase. Although it’s not necessary to start with an offer, it’s a good option, especially when customers are close to becoming inactive. Reach out and retarget past customers who have become inactive and encourage them to return and make a new purchase while fostering long-term loyalty.

Summary

These automation programs will transform your email marketing strategy. By leveraging the power of automation and personalized communication, you can stand out in the inbox, cultivate long-term customer loyalty, and achieve exceptional results in your email marketing campaigns.

What is a customer journey?

The customer journey is traditionally a step-by-step process that encompasses the experiences and interactions a person has with your brand across all touchpoints. If you need a refresher, here are the steps: 

1. Reach 
2. Acquisition
3. Conversion 
4. Retention 
5. Loyalty 

So where does your customer viewing your site fall on this list? When a customer lands on your website, they are considered in the “reach” category. They will be able to subscribe to your email marketing, which helps build a relationship with your brand.

What is a form

A form is an interactive element on a webpage specifically designed to collect information from your visitors. They can be used for various purposes in the subscriber journey, such as gathering contact details, capturing leads, conducting surveys, or simplifying customer service processes.

When creating a form in Dotdigital, typical data fields include name, email address, and phone number. However, as a brand, you can personalize your forms to collect additional, unique data fields such as asking additional unique questions, such as birthdays or favorite colors. Always think ahead when building your forms and consider what information you might need for future campaigns.

The benefits of forms

As forms are versatile and flexible, they enhance the subscriber journey. With forms, you can:

Capture valuable leads

Forms collect contact information. This enables you to nurture potential subscribers and build email lists for targeted marketing campaigns.

Enhance the user experience

Well-designed forms provide a straightforward way for visitors to engage with your website and access the information or services they need.

Boost conversions

Forms are essential for ecommerce websites, guiding your subscribers through the purchase process.

Encourage engagement

By offering valuable resources through lead capture forms, you can foster a stronger connection with your audience and encourage them to interact further.

Streamline communication

Forms centralize inquiries from visitors, making it easy to manage and respond promptly.

Simplify event registration

Registration forms guide users through signing up for events, courses, or membership programs, streamlining the process.

Pop-over and embedded forms are two key types of forms you can use to capture information and create a dynamic experience for your subscriber journey.

The pop-overs form

Pop-over forms are dynamic features that appear on your website at a specific time. It can be used during the subscriber journey to obtain consent, collect email addresses, or highlight specific information on your website.

You can use pop-overs to greet new visitors to your website and kickstart their subscriber journey. Use offers or highlight your brand’s USP to encourage viewers to subscribe to emails by filling in their details, such as first name, last name, email address, or SMS number.

It’s key to inform potential subscribers about the content and benefits they’ll receive when signing up for your emails. For instance, educational or non-profit organizations may emphasize the value of access to informational resources and event invitations. 

For retail or ecommerce businesses, your pop-over form can offer early access to upcoming products or discounts on their initial purchase. Alternatively, you could offer a special discount or complimentary gift on your subscribers’ birthday if you collect their birthday information. 

Examples of pop-over forms

Be careful not to disrupt the user’s experience. Avoid creating a spammy impression or displaying the pop-over just as they are about to buy. There are various strategies to implement forms effectively, depending on the desired outcome of your subscriber’s interactions:

Show after: Or a timed form

The user will enter your site, and after a time of your choosing (i.e., thirty seconds or one minute), the pop-over form typically appears in the middle of the page. This is one of the most popular pop-overs. 

Exit offers

This form may be triggered when a subscriber leaves your site. Essentially, it’s a last-shot attempt at converting a visitor before they leave the website. 

Banners

Although less dynamic in design, this form sits at the top of the site like an umbrella. This can be used to show off discounts or make timely announcements. 

The embed form

In some cases, a pop-over form might not be the right fit for your brand. An alternative to growing your audience is an embedded form. This type of form can be used as a standalone landing page or integrated into an existing landing page on your website to gather information from your visitors.

If a pop-over appears, then naturally, the embed form is embedded into the web page. To add the form to your site, you need to create code and paste it into your HTML.

Unlike pop-overs, embedded forms are more suitable for event registrations, and customer service requests, and a less intrusive option to subscriber acquisition. While pop-overs are typically used as your main source for subscriber acquisition, setting subscription expectations, and calling action to discounts and promotions.

When to use embedded forms

Imagine this: You’ve written an engaging blog article that connects with your target audience. This is an excellent opportunity to integrate an embedded form to that page of your site to collect contact details and grow your subscriber list. By encouraging email and SMS sign-ups using embedded forms on popular landing pages of your website, you will grow your audience, fuel conversions, and nurture valuable leads.

So, when should you use embedded forms? Here are some ideal moments to utilize their power:

Lead generation

Whether it’s event registrations, contact forms on landing pages, or service requests, embedding forms within your content can be a highly effective way to generate leads and gather valuable customer data.

Research

Embedded forms provide an excellent opportunity to gather subscriber feedback. By inviting your audience to share their thoughts and insights, you gain valuable insight into their subscriber journey. This allows you to improve your strategies.

Section logic

In cases where your form involves technical aspects or conditional content, embedding forms utilizing section logic allows you to hide or display specific sections based on the options chosen by the user. This logic-driven approach ensures a seamless and personalized user experience.

Customer service

Whether it’s a contact form on your website’s landing page or a post-purchase feedback form, embedded forms enable streamlined communication with your subscribers. It encourages them to reach out, share their experiences, and assists you in providing timely and effective customer support.

Send confirmation emails to improve the subscriber journey

It’s important to send a confirmation email to your subscribers after they submit a form. This triggered email lets them know that their submission has been received and provides reassurance.

If you are using a pop-over, your initial welcome program campaign should be set in the form of your first message. For event registrations using an embedded form, consider sending a confirmation email that includes the exact details of the information they provided when filling out the form.

Summary

Use Dotdigital’s EasyEditor to effortlessly add forms and pages to your website and create an engaging experience for your audience. Follow these best practices to improve your subscriber journey, increase engagement, boost conversions, and build lasting connections with your subscribers.