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How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Can Benefit Marketers

by DataDigital MarketingMarketing StrategyNews

Last week, we reported all there is to know about the transition to GA4. In that piece, we specifically talked about machine learning and its application within reporting tools. Today, we’re excited to discuss how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can benefit marketers and enhance your business more broadly.

Defining AI

Let’s start by first defining some key terminologies and explaining the difference between them:

->Artificial Intelligence (AI): Advanced technology that allows machines to mimic human behavior through vast amounts of data, intelligent algorithms, and patterns. It is the broader concept that machines can carry out tasks that humans would consider “intelligent.”

-> Machine Learning (ML): A subset of AI that uses statistical data sets, adapts with minimal human involvement and evolves independently as it ingests more data. ML is considered one of the applications of AI.

Why Marketers Should Care

If implemented and utilized correctly, AI can be incredibly helpful for marketers. AI offers advertisers the power to…

– Improve the customer journey and create more personalized experiences

– Create more efficient and effective marketing campaigns and improve business impact KPIs (acquisition costs, ROI)

– Gain insight into target audience through big data and ML

– Create and develop content, PPC ads and even web design

– Utilize chatbots for campaign purposes, customer service and more

Google and OpenAI

Google and OpenAI have been in the news recently for their AI contributions and we expect this to continue to develop across industries.

Right now, Google’s technology is expected to be more relevant. Earlier this month, Google announced its new AI chatbot, “Apprentice Bard.” Apprentice Bard is like ChatGPT, but Apprentice Bard’s answers can include recent events (source: CNBC).

How can Apprentice Bard do this? “Google can crawl the web in almost real-time and process that information faster than any other company,” reported CNBC.

For example, Apprentice Bard picked up on the news circulating about the Google layoffs and was able to respond immediately. We have no doubt that Google will continue to add innovation to Apprentice Bard. We are excited to see how OpenAI will respond with ChatGPT and InstructGPT. Stay tuned!

How Marketers Can Use AI

AI can dramatically improve targeting for advertisers. With ads that are “more realistic, engaging and versatile than ever before,” Data to Biz and Times of India predict that “AI will take up 80% of global advertising spend in the world.” For application, advertisers can use AI to:

– Segment more relevant audiences by applying behavior trends and pattern data

– Automate tasks like copy and creative development

– Improve targeting

– Improve reporting with more real-time enhancements, predictive forecasting / modeling, and more personalized recommendations

At Media Horizons, we believe that AI needs to be the focus of how we innovate. AI will continue to grow in utilization and will eventually impact multiple facets of marketing and thus, business success. It’s important to start the conversation now! Reach out to us today to talk about ways that we can integrate AI into your campaigns and reporting. We are excited to see where industry benchmarks change, and how we can work together to stay on top of them.

Additional Sources: Jumpstory.com, Martech.org, Meltwater.com

Intelligence (BI) and business analytics (BA) with key performance indicators (KPI) dashboard concept.StartUp Programming Team. Website designer working digital tablet dock keyboard.

How Advertisers Can Prepare for the GA4 Transition

by DataDigital MarketingMarketing StrategyNews

Since its inception, Google or Universal Analytics (GA) has established itself as a key platform for today’s marketers. It’s no secret that GA helps companies explore who their customers are – featuring information such as demographics, location, retention, and device technology. Because of GA, marketers have been able to more accurately interpret the impact of marketing campaigns and segment audiences accordingly.

Google Analytics 4, or GA4, is the newest iteration of GA. All GA users will need to transition to GA4 by July 1st, when Universal Analytics will stop processing data. Keep reading to discover what you need to know to prepare for this change!

About GA4

According to Google, GA4 will enable users to measure traffic and engagement across your websites and apps, effectively combining data across platforms in the same property.

Key Components of GA4

  • – Collects both website and app data for brands to better understand their customer’s journey
  • – Uses event-based vs. session-based data
  • – Includes privacy controls like cookie less measurement and behavioral and conversion modeling
  • – Predictive capabilities offer guidance without complex models
  • – Direct integrations to media platforms help drive actions on a brand’s website or app
  • – For more specific details, visit here

Recent Developments

Earlier this month, Google revealed that it will automatically create a GA4 property for users starting in March if you have an eligible GA property.

While this should allow users a sigh of relief (believe us, we get it!) if you have not yet made the switch, it is important to know that this should be the start – not the end – of your migration process (the end will be July).

This latest update from GA is a good start and should help more brands get over the initial hump of implementation. Furthermore, it will allow brands to get familiar with the platform’s new interface and selection of tools.

How Your Brand Will Be Affected

With innovation comes opportunity. We are excited to work with both our partners and clients to determine how GA4 can be used more effectively and efficiently to drive business insights.

In fact, the new key components can be used to improve business decisions. Here’s how:

  • Collects both website and app data

Why this is important: The cross-platform analytics can help give a more unified view of the customer’s journey.

  • Uses event-based data vs. session-based

Why this is important: Events give additional insight regarding details like button clicks, form completions, external link activity, and more. Therefore, there will be major differences in how data is measured, analyzed, and applied to business decisions. (source: Lookinla.com)

  • Includes privacy controls like cookie-less measurement and behavioral and conversion modeling

Why this is important: With more brands and legislature taking a privacy first approach, GA4 is addressing similar challenges and proactively offering solutions including IP anonymization, data storage duration settings, and more.

  • Predictive capabilities offer guidance without complex models

Why this is important: Machine learning can help define trends in customer behavior and create more actionable segments to target. This can also allow for more efficient ways to assume business outcomes.

  • Direct integrations to media platforms help drive actions on a brand’s website or app

Why this important: Not only will this facilitate more business insights, but it will provide improved functionality and ease of access. This will make in-app social sharing more seamless (source: SocialMediaToday.com and ToTheNew.com).

If you’re unsure of what some of this means, or how it will impact your business, we can help! Reach out to us here.

Our Recommendations

At Media Horizons, our goal is to provide consistent updates and a helpful starting point for you during this transition period. Overall, we think it is helpful to keep high-level and overarching goals in mind, so you can stay focused on your business objectives and growth. Here is what we would recommend:

  • – Define your overarching objectives and goals with the migration
  • – Operationalize the migration for a seamless experience
  • – Develop enhanced marketing strategies that leverage the new tool suite
  • – Create more robust segments to measure success / impact on business
  • – Analyze results and improve business practices based on insights

We understand that this is a lot to absorb and may be overwhelming. Did you know that we can set up your brand’s GA4 account for you and ensure a seamless transition?

More specifically, we are available to provide support, guidance, and resources to help with the migration (initial setup, advanced configurations, setting up goals and events, updating dashboards/reports, etc.). We deliver dynamic full-service solutions to meet your brand’s marketing needs! Get in touch to begin your GA4 transition today.

On a different (but related!) note, have you heard about Google’s new AI chatbot named “Apprentice Bard?” Google is just the latest platform to enter the conversation about AI. In our opinion, there are many potential opportunities for AI in advertising. Stay tuned for our next blog about AI and why marketers should be interested in it.

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The Impact of Privacy Settings on Digital Advertising

by DataDigital MarketingMarketing StrategyNews

What Changed and Why?

Beginning in 2020, we started to prepare our clients for the iOS 14 update. Even then, data privacy was top-of-mind for marketers. With the iOS 15 update underway, it is more relevant than ever today.

Apple created the ‘Apple ID for Advertisers (IDFA),’ which is used to help advertisers (and brands) measure ad effectiveness through a series of engagement and conversion indicators. This also allows social media platforms to track devices and people at an individual level. Historically, the data applied to 100% of audiences AND allowed for various levels of data including visitation, engagement and click behaviors as well as purchase detail for both the platform and brand site. 

With these iOS updates, Apple iPhone users have been permitted to opt-out of brands’ (company) websites/apps and social platforms like Facebook and Instagram tracking their behavior – that is, across apps and websites owned by other companies. Did you know it’s estimated that ~96% of iPhone users opt out of app tracking today?* 

Additionally, many brands have taken a privacy-first approach and are requiring cookie consent when a consumer enters their website. This comes with varying degrees of options that are defined by local legislature, brand risk appetite and data best practices. Some brands take a simple yes/no approach while others feature layers of options for what can and cannot be tracked to consumers.  

As data-driven marketers, we understand the severity of the situation. Unfortunately, these updates affect today’s marketers and brands’ omnichannel strategy most. However, with all challenges come opportunities. We’re here to share what you need to know, how your business can adjust your marketing strategy to be more effective and share our predictions for the future.

Today’s Situation

  • Tracking is now significantly limited.
    • Currently, a consumer’s experience on a given app or platform will not change, regardless of their tracking status.
    • However, if a consumer opts out of tracking via the iOS update by selecting “Ask app not to track” then the app developer will no longer have access to the IDFA tracking code. This means the app – Netflix, Drizly or Ticketmaster, to name a few – will not know the individual device, where the consumer came from (source) or the consumer’s behaviors (i.e., any click or engagement actions) while in an app like those mentioned above.
    • Right now, Android and its browser, Chrome, allows users to not be tracked, but it is not yet as prescribed as the iOS version (however, we predict that it’s coming!).
    • This scenario also adversely affects remarketing campaigns because the consumer is not identified as having visited the platform. For example:
      • A consumer selects “Ask app not to track.”
      • That consumer visits Facebook and clicks through various links, and ultimately clicks through to the brand website to make a purchase.
      • Facebook would report a general conversion event (in this case, a click-through to the brand site) and the brand would report the transaction. However, because the consumer requested to not be tracked, the brand would not know that they came from Facebook or their engagement while on Facebook.
  • Social platforms like Facebook also made some adjustments to their reporting methodology. Prior to the updates, Facebook had a default setting for a 28-day click or one day of viewing your ad to attribute a purchase. Since the iOS 15 update that has changed to a seven-day attribution model to offer a more realistic view of ad performance for the platform. This means that if a consumer clicks on your ad and makes a purchase from Facebook the next seven days that behavior will be attributed to a brand’s marketing campaign.
    • Using the above Facebook example, if the transaction happened within seven days of being exposed to the ad, they would attribute the transaction to the brand’s ad campaign.
  • If a consumer opts out of cookie consent on a brand’s website, the brand will no longer know who that consumer is, what source they came from, or what they engaged with while on the brand’s website. They will still know if that consumer makes a transaction, as well as the contents of the basket. Due to reduced tracking capabilities, visitation numbers will skew lower. For example:
    • Brand A has 100,000 users visit their website, but 20% of them have opted-out of cookie tracking.
    • Google Analytics will show that 80,000 users visited the website.
  • Purchase data is still trackable. This means that brands will still see 100% of the transactions – on social platforms and on their brand eCommerce sites – but will not have additional data on what the consumer did leading up to that purchase (if the consumer has opted out of tracking).
    • Using the above example, let’s assume that Brand A also had 5,000 transactions.
    • Google analytics would show 5,000 transactions.
    • However, the conversion rate would be calculated using the 80,000 vs.100,000, resulting in a 6.25% conversion rate instead of the actual rate of 5%.
  • Brands can expect lower “reported” visitation/audience sizes, more inflated conversion rates, changes in reporting, and how that data can be used for advertising. 

To summarize, if a consumer opts out of tracking, the brand will only know about the purchase itself; they will lose valuable information including who the consumer is, what source they came from, and what they clicked on. This affects performance marketing elements including targeting, optimization, and reporting, and should be accounted for in marketing strategies.

Pro Tip: Beware of inflated conversion rates! In theory, brands will still have the same site visit volume, but that data will no longer be available in Google Analytics, or its respective reporting tool (due to the shifts in cookie consent and iOS tracking). However, the transaction data is still 100% of the true purchase audience. Google Analytics will recognize lower visitation, so a brand’s conversion rate will appear higher. In reality, it likely is not.

As marketers, we’re all navigating these unchartered waters. We’re here to be your partners and provide as much insight and real-time updates as possible. In fact, we are pleased to offer you a more detailed report which includes what these updates mean for you and our predictions. Reach out today for this white paper!  

*Source: Apple Insider. Please note that purchase data is still trackable, but with limitations on who the consumer is and how they entered and engaged with the platform. 

**Source: Statisa.

Beginning,And,Start,Of,The,New,Year,2023.,Preparation,For

2022: A Year in Review…

by DataDigital MarketingMarketing StrategyMarketing TrendsNewsOffline StrategyUSPS

Here’s what we think: 2022 was anything but 2020-Too. If you caught our post last December, we were cautiously optimistic about this year. Bricks-and-mortar continued to hold their own, marketers weathered the storm of privacy concerns and iOS updates and navigated more media channels than ever before.

When we look back at 2022, there are some key trends that come to mind… and get us excited for 2023! Let’s review:

  • Paper Is on Its Way Back!

In July, we reported that paper supply remained tight, and prices were continuing to climb due to steady demand, reduced capacity, and high input costs. Today, demand is softening somewhat, prices are holding steady, and paper is generally becoming more available. Whereas most paper mills have been on allocation or even moratorium, these supply restrictions are easing and the global paper shortage that we have been experiencing is abating. 

That said, so much capacity has come out of the market in the past decade that pricing is expected to remain at elevated levels, especially if demand stays steady in the first half of 2023. Graphic paper supply will continue to decrease in the coming years as mills continue to diversify their product mix. Several mill conversion announcements have already been made that will significantly impact supply going forward. Aligning with strategic suppliers will be paramount for end-user customers.

As direct marketers, we believe in the power of offline media. In fact, marketers have combatted paper challenges with increased use of direct mail, clever interplay between offline and online efforts, innovation with page count and circulation, and more. We’re excited to see where offline media goes in 2023.

  • Shifting Consumer Behavior

While we haven’t been surprised by many trends that have soared in popularity in 2022 – the power of personalization, volume of online shopping and an interest in sustainability – there is inarguably power in consumer behavior. In many cases, changed interests and values have resulted in brands shifting their retail strategy and product innovation.

However, what has also resulted in brands’ shifting strategies? Inflation. “Inflation has driven up the cost of all goods by 8.2% between September 2021- September 2022,” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (source: Nerd Wallet). It’s important to note that inflation has affected some categories more than others, such as food versus clothing prices. Will there be any relief in 2023? Will supply chain issues resurface? We’ll all have to stay tuned.

  • Data Is Everything

At Media Horizons, our “secret” is placing emphasis on intensive data and analytics to grow our clients’ businesses. Today, online to offline attribution is a major pain point for many companies. That said, without a quality attribution model, upper funnel media has been intensely impacted. Check out more reasons why data (and attribution) are everything!

  • The Future of Paid Social

In 2022, Facebook and Instagram targeting saw a greater impact from Apple’s privacy restrictions that went into place in 2021. Advertisers have had to experiment with a variety of targeting tactics, including broader targeting and more tightly targeted ad copy.  

Audience targeting challenges will continue into 2023, but Facebook and Instagram’s automated targeting has been yielding success in the absence of audience targets that have been removed.

We recommend that advertisers test newer Paid Social platforms like TikTok and BeReal. to see what kind of traction they can get, and diversify their ad formats, such as expanding to Instagram Reels.

  • Postage Updates on the Horizon

In 2021, the industry saw two significant postal changes resulting in double-digit increases for catalogs (Marketing Mail flats) and near double-digit increases for Direct Mail (Marketing Mail letters). In case you didn’t catch the exact percentages, get familiar with them here. The USPS has recently announced their next increase, which will take place in January.

There’s never been a better time to be strategic about your direct mail strategy. Consider changing to a different format – encourage creative thinking with your vendors – and add innovation to your strategy accordingly. Stay tuned for our next “Tom Says…” in which we’ll share everything that you need to know about the USPS updates.

When we look back at trends from this year and ahead to 2023, there is one key theme that comes to mind: omnichannel. The value of an omnichannel strategy is unmatched. If your media mix does not include both online and offline channels (that are working together!), your brand is not as strong as it could be. Be the change and future-proof your business. Connect with us in 2023 to propel your business forward.

 

Path to Conversion

Everyone’s Talking About Attribution: Top 5 Things To Know

by DataDigital MarketingMarketing Strategy

At Media Horizons, we are focused on data driven marketing for a people-based solution. People-based marketing, according to Forrester, is “the ability to perform targeting and measurement at the level of real individuals by resolving consumer identity across all digital and offline channels.”

For the last 30+ years, our “secret” is placing emphasis on intensive data and analytics to ultimately grow our clients’ businesses. We were thrilled to host a webinar series this spring on data & analytics. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Our Strategic Lead of Business & Marketing Intelligence, Kunick Kapadia, led two sessions featuring our tips and tricks for optimizing Google Analytics as well as what you need to know about attribution today.

We thought it would be helpful to put together key takeaways for anyone that could not join us.

Key Takeaways

(1) While there are so many different attribution models available today, Last-Touch is the most used model. If you are using Last-Touch, keep as many variables consistent as possible for accurate results (i.e., keep lookback window consistent, etc.).

(2) Algorithmic attribution is our recommended model. In our opinion, it is most accurate in determining which channels are adding revenue to your business. However, it requires a high volume of data. So, if you are not spending a fair amount in digital then it’s important to note it may not be as effective for your brand. Let’s have a conversation!

(3) Online to offline attribution is a pain point for many companies today. As a reminder, this is when a behavior begins online, but is completed offline. As marketers, our goal is to tie this conversion together. It can be challenging, but we know how to solve for it using tactics and best practices related to geo-tracking, CRM integrations, and call tracking. Ask us how!

(4) Without an attribution model (or a poorly built one), upper funnel media are hurt most. This includes brand awareness and prospecting marketing such as display, new customer outreach via paid social, non-brand paid search, etc.

(5) Our world is changing, and new technology is coming to help us adapt! It’s important to stay on top of today’s changing landscape with privacy and cookies. By staying on top of this, you will be able to more seamlessly integrate or pivot as the landscape changes. We recommend relying on your agency partners to help you stay in the know.

We look forward to discussing all things data & analytics with you!   

Intelligence (BI) and business analytics (BA) with key performance indicators (KPI) dashboard concept.StartUp Programming Team. Website designer working digital tablet dock keyboard.

Top 5 Tips for Maximizing the Value of Your Google Analytics Data

by DataDigital MarketingMarketing Strategy

At Media Horizons, we are focused on data driven marketing for a people-based solution. People-based marketing, according to Forrester, is “the ability to perform targeting and measurement at the level of real individuals by resolving consumer identity across all digital and offline channels.”

For the last 30+ years, our “secret” is placing emphasis on intensive data and analytics to ultimately grow our clients’ businesses. We were thrilled to host a webinar series this spring on data & analytics. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Our Strategic Lead of Business & Marketing Intelligence, Kunick Kapadia, led two sessions featuring our tips and tricks for maximizing the value of your Google Analytics data as well as what you need to know about attribution today.

We thought it would be helpful to put together key takeaways for anyone that could not join us.

Key Takeaways

(1) Google Analytics can be overwhelming! Before you log into your dashboard, we recommend having an idea or focus of what you want to glean from your analysis. This will help you avoid getting lost in the maze of data housed in GA.

(2) Don’t ignore “Segments, which are a subset of users broken out in GA based on a specific set of criteria (i.e., users who converted, users who bounced, etc.). Using “Segments” in reporting is a powerful way to gain more insight into user behavior and identify optimization opportunities. Pro Tip: You can also build audiences using “Segments” for use across other marketing channels.

(3) Invest time into UTM best practices. UTM parameters are extremely important because it is how naming conventions are entered into GA.

  • – Consistent architecture and naming conventions will help you maximize value because reporting will be more efficient and accurate.
  • – Capitalizations matter.
  • – Use all 5 of GA’s UTM parameters as often as you can.
  • (4) When assigning goals, keep in mind that they should be very important actions on the website that you can track. With the complimentary version of GA, you are only permitted 20 goals, so be strategic with how you used them! Pro Tip: Goals are more friendly and flexible than events when it comes to reporting in GA, so you want to use them instead of just events for those key user actions.
  • (5) Data sampling is the key difference between GA360 and the complimentary version of GA. In regular GA, the larger the report you run, the smaller percentage of data is based on actual user data and the more is based on sampled data, which reduces accuracy. GA360 utilizes data sampling in a much smaller number of instances and also has more advanced integrations with other Google and third-party platforms. But it comes with a hefty price tag, so choose wisely between free GA and GA360.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post on key takeaways from our second session in the webinar series: “Everyone’s Talking About Attribution: Here’s What You Need to Know.”

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Strategic Marketing Leader, Mark Friedman, Offers Catalogers and DTC Brands Tips For Making 2022 Their Most Successful Year

by Digital MarketingDirect MailMarketing StrategyMarketing TrendsNews

Recently, we sat down with strategic marketer, Mark Friedman, who has driven growth in the competitive digital marketing space for 25+ years. From Brooks Brothers to Warnaco–where Mark ran businesses for Speedo, Calvin Klein Underwear, and Calvin Klein Jeans–to Steve Madden, FullBeauty Brands, and Amerimark Holdings, Mark has led the charge in driving traffic to stores, websites, or phones, and optimizing conversion of that traffic for both offline and online brands.

In our latest discussion with Mark, we talked about how marketers can maximize their success in 2022. With so many macro factors at play–from the supply chain, pandemic, and consumer behavior to new technology–the playbook is being rewritten both for catalogers and DTC brands.

According to Mark, here are ways that catalogers and DTC brands can make 2022 their most successful year yet…

1) If you’re digitally native and not currently using DM, test it out!

Testing any form of Direct Mail (DM) will optimize your omnichannel strategy. You may try different forms, or just one–either way, direct mail increases customer engagement and therefore, will help drive response and brand awareness.

If you have already been in the mail with catalogs (or currently are!), you are likely experiencing the stress of paper shortages and press concerns. DM is a viable solution for this problem–and we can support the execution. 

2) Analyze “changed” consumer behavior.

As we all know, COVID-19 has created new customer behavior, changed brand loyalty patterns, and increased digital adoption. However, several brands have reported that the new customers acquired during the pandemic are similar to those they had been acquiring in the past.

This tells us that current customers are incredibly important. What are you doing to retain all these customers? It is especially important to focus on customers who have not purchased a second time.

Overall, we recommend strengthening your marketing message o those who have not yet purchased a second time. In fact, we have a new solution that can help you with exactly this. Connect with us to learn more.

3) Double down on new customer acquisition.

As we just discussed, retention is always an important factor. But, even if you move the retention rate significantly, most businesses are still going to need 60-70% of their buyers in any given year to be new.

The most successful DTC marketers are successfully employing a broad media mix including paid search (brand and non-brand), display, affiliate marketing, retargeting, social (organic and paid), email and SMS, and marketplaces.

4) Realize that online is everything.

While some brands may view themselves as “offline” or “catalogers,” the web is where everyone needs to be. Of course, there have been several changes recently with the iOS 15 updates, Facebook adjustments, and more, but it is important to think about all the data that is still captured online. With more first-party data, loyalty programs can excel, preference centers can strengthen customer relationships and optimal site speed will not only drive higher conversion, but the customer experience will be enhanced. There is an opportunity for offline brands…online. 

5) Reevaluate your shipping methods.

The rising prices from shippers and increased number of backorders cause more split shipments and packages per order and therefore, the net freight expense as a percentage of your net sales is likely going up.

Brands must manage the current situation. You may do this by revising the value of a free shipping offer and the hurdles you use. Look at the methods for how you ship. If you have stores, how are you leveraging the store fleet (i.e., ship from store) based on where shipping costs may be lower? This may even help reduce the ship time for customers.

6) Be realistic about today’s supply chain and pivot.

Order earlier than you ever have before. Often, you cannot make changes once the orders have been placed due to lead times. Some questions to ask: Can you accept backorders? If not, can you build that capability?

Now is the time to focus on the innerworkings of your brand. What can you afford to shift? What is not adding to your success right now? Answering these questions honestly and realistically will benefit your bottom line.

7) Rely on your building blocks and best practices.

When in doubt, always rely on your foundational building blocks. Nobody knows your business better than you. Therefore, you can determine what to change and continue most efficiently. From this standpoint, it is all about the details. For example, can you extend a contract for a reduced price? Are there services that you can do without? Two words: Be relentless.

We hope you enjoyed Mark’s insight for how to add success for your brand this year. No matter your product or service, the recipe is the same. Whether we’re talking about macro trends, your unique strategy or tried and true best practices, Mark believes “the devil is in the details.” That said, we’re looking forward to collaborating this year and beyond!

Collaborative,Process,Of,Multicultural,Skilled,Students,During,Brainstorming,Meeting,In

Building Blocks: 2021 Holiday Season Learnings

by DataDigital MarketingDirect MailMarketing StrategyMarketing Trends

As marketers, we understand that the landscape is changing daily. From branding to promotions, best practices are constantly evolving. In the last few months, we have posted about the all-important holiday season in terms of planning for it and selling successfully. With the holiday season underway, we wanted to provide a roadmap for the last few weeks of the year – to ensure you close it out successfully.

(1) Attempt to Clear Any Excess Inventory to Protect Margin

  • – It is important to remember that the work is not over once the holiday season is here. In fact, it is a critical time to ensure you end the year in a profitable way.
  • – Analyze what is left in stock, and what you can promote right now (or in early 2022). Build a post-holiday marketing calendar and campaign to stimulate sales.
  • – Use your hard-won list growth from the holiday season and continue the conversation with customers. Tip: ignite a sense of urgency!
  • – Use both personalized marketing and bulk tactics.
    • – Examples include an exciting subject line that is transparent or show products that are on sale in emails. Better yet? Personalize emails with previously viewed items that are now on sale or abandoned cart positioning.

(2) Reflect & Learn to Stimulate Growth in 2022

  • – Dedicate time to learn and document your wins / losses while they are fresh in your mind.
  • – Reference your calendar with campaign reporting. Observe traffic, measure results and identify selling trends. Record your marketing successes; use them for future planning.
  • – Assess your inventory and determine:
    • – Were your best sellers those that you expected them to be?
    • – Were different items more popular?
    • – Were there more items that needed to be discounted than you thought?
  • – Use tools like customer surveys to help with marketing decisions for next year.

As you can tell, our themes are absorption, education, and growth. We believe that evolution is the key to success – especially in this ever-changing retail landscape. Most importantly, this evolution will trigger success. We hope you are having a successful holiday season and look forward to even more prosperity in 2022!

Information sourced from Mailchimp eCommerce Masterclass Series. 

Consumer Behavior Unknown

How Post-Pandemic Consumer Behavior Is Impacting Companies’ Success

by Digital MarketingMarketing StrategyMarketing Trends

I vividly remember someone saying to me, “I really do not think anyone is going to work out in a gym ever again.” Two weeks ago, Peloton’s stock plunged more than 35% in a day and last week, it fell another 11% likely because of the decrease a few days earlier (source: The Motley Fool). In contrast, Equinox’s stock increased last week (source: Market Watch). At-home fitness soared during the pandemic, but people are reverting to gym workouts.

While we all understand that consumer behavior has been changing rapidly – mainly due to the pandemic the last 2 years – the bottom line is that many of the behaviors that did transform are seemingly changing back to what they were pre-pandemic. While some brands may have benefitted from the pandemic, others are now experiencing the success they once did. As they say, “old habits die hard.”

Travel

As the U.S. recently eased international travel restrictions, airline stocks soared. CNN Business reported, “US airline shares take flight.” Moreover, the JETS ETF (holdings include Delta and American airlines) climbed 11% this month. Virgin Atlantic reported that flights were 98% full. In fact, by July 2021, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that domestic air travel was back to pre-COVID levels. New trends arose such as U.S. travelers booking outdoor activities, visiting rural destinations, and reserving private vacation rentals (source: NPR). We will see if some of these pandemic-related trends are here to stay!

Meal Delivery

While grocery stores and big box retailers are still experiencing the effects of the supply chain, meal delivery services such as Door Dash, Grub Hub, Postmates, Uber Eats, and meal prep services are up. In fact, sales for meal delivery services grew 17% YOY (source: Bloomberg Second Measure). With consumers traveling more and working in different locations (gasp…at the office?!), it is expected that meal delivery services will continue to experience an uptick due to people being “on the go.”

Video Conferencing Tools

Beginning in July, daily average users for Zoom were down by about a third from the year prior, to 44.3M from 49.3M. Since then, Zoom app downloads also decreased (source: Barrons). During this time, 74% of businesses reported that they were bringing employees back to the office (source: Inc). While the power of video conferencing has been incredible (and useful!), it cannot replace in-person meetings and get togethers entirely. More than 8 in 10 executives prefer in-person meetings, specifically sharing that they create the right environment for timely decisions, difficult discussions, and stimulate more strategic thinking. In fact, research shows that face-to-face meetings are 34x more effective than email conversations – and 35% of the discrepancy in a team’s performance directly correlates to the number of times that the individuals spoke in-person (source: Washington Post). 

Apparel & Accessories

The pandemic created an athleisure boom. While the business casual and athleisure segments were climbing in popularity pre-pandemic, it is obvious that the pandemic created an acceleration. In 2020, the athleisure market yielded about $105B in sales (source: CNBC). Post-pandemic, we are seeing marketing efforts tailored to comfortable workwear and items that can transition from working remotely to the office, and back. Transitional items such as stretchy work pants and unique sneakers are more popular than ever. For example, Athleta now has a “Travel and Commute” section while J.Crew’s new holiday section features cashmere and velvet sets to dress up or down, and Bonobos includes “E-Waist Pants and Joggers” on their website. Brands continue to tailor not only their products but marketing efforts towards new consumer behaviors. 

As Bob Dylan and The Band sang: “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” Not only do we understand the marketplace, but we know your customers. From shopper marketing, data & analytics, creative services, to direct mail and insert media, we have the expertise to tailor your marketing strategy to these changing times. 

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Best Practices for Creating SEO-Friendly FAQ Pages

by Digital MarketingMarketing StrategySearch

SEO-friendly content has always been important, but with today’s increased online competition, it is essential. As digital marketers, our goal is to provide and design web content that attracts search engine traffic to ultimately grow brand success. But, can certain content be difficult to make SEO-friendly? Are the best practices different depending on the type of webpage?

Coincidentally, the goal of an FAQ page is the same as the meaning of SEO: offer the best answers to the questions your audience is asking. Not only can FAQ pages help with user experience, but they have the power to optimize your SEO strategy.

Best Practices for Creating SEO-Friendly FAQ Pages

Compile The Most Common Questions From Your Users

While you may be tempted to answer questions that you think your customers will ask – or plant questions to help sales efforts – we recommend that the questions are instead based on data. Tap into internal team members, conduct audience research, use chat logs and site searches, and determine industry-wide trends and issues using online forums.

Provide Comprehensive Answers

Answer the questions in a complete and concise manner. These answers should be consistent with your brand message. Ensure each answer is accessible and easy to read. Beware of repetition and complexity, which will not only negatively impact SEO but hurt your customer experience as well.

Your FAQ Pages Should Be Formatted for an Optimal User Experience

Rather than trying to keep your FAQs on one page, it actually helps SEO to create multiple pages because you can target specific terms for each topic or category. In addition to helping your own SEO efforts, your customer will not need to scroll endlessly trying to find an answer to their specific question.

Don’t Forget About Pages’ Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

With multiple FAQ pages, you can more easily feature and customize topically relevant keywords into the title tag and meta descriptions.

Implement FAQ Schema

FAQ Schema is a unique markup that you can add to your page’s code to enhance the Google search result listings. Google reads this markup and generates a richer snippet, earning you a greater presence in the SERPs.

Good FAQ pages are great for SEO…but bad are really terrible. Let’s work together to create the best possible site experience for your customers beginning with your FAQ page. Reach out to begin optimizing for SEO today! We offer complimentary SEO audits and can help steer you and your website through the SEO landscape.

Sources include Seer Interactive and Search Engine Journal.