Reid is a brand marketing veteran that helped found and build two previous technology companies and now has co-founded ShareDirect along with CTO, John Brown. As CEO he oversees operations and sales as well as customer support.I’ve run across this company, act-on, recently and they have some interesting approaches and have gathered some new data points that might provide new rules that break conventional wisdom in digital marketing. They refer to this as DEBUNK’D. They essentially set up A/B testing for many of their engaged audience, created 3 categories, language, design and timing and developed a schedule for distribution with secondary splits. You can take a look at this report which is very easy and quick to view by clicking here. Here’s a quick overview:
“The moral: Test, test, test! If we gave you one takeaway from this exercise in Debunking, it’s that you shouldn’t let the conventional wisdom stop you from trying new things. No one knows your audience better than you. So don’t be afraid to A/B test some new approaches and controversial ideas. You never know what might succeed!”
I believe this study is worth the brief time it will take and encourage you to do some testing with your audience. We are here to help you with any of this as needed.
This topic has been on everyone's desk for the past couple of years or longer. 90% of Sales and Marketing professionals report misalignment between their departments and 2/3 of those agree it hurts their company. This report from DemandGen is a good playbook for actionable steps you can take to align the two operations to work together and provide your company a real advantage in the marketplace. Here's a brief overview:
It's a short report and an easy read so I invite you to take a look. Heron Martech's entire technology is built around sales and marketing collaboration and the benefits of it. I invite you to take a good look at the DemandGen report and give us a call if it makes good sense for your organization.
This is the ninth State of Marketing Report from Salesforce surveying almost 5000 marketers from all continents. There is a lot in here and I’ll only share the high points in this email but I think you’ll find it worthwhile to take a look at sections that fit your interests and needs. Well over 70% use a variety of platforms and systems (8 or more to be exact) to help coordinate their efforts. Only 32% of marketers are fully satisfied with how they use data to create relevant customer experiences.
With Marketing innovation taking center stage 89% of marketers say they must continually innovate to remain competitive.
"With the promise of change a constant, marketers understand the importance of fueling innovation and creating connected. Personalized, and immersive experiences to stay ahead of customer expectations."
This is really a worthwhile study and scientifically conducted by Salesforce. Take a more detailed look. We believe Heron Martech with our ShareDirect and Synchropy technologies can stand at the top of fulfilling the needs required by this study. Let us hear from you.
Okay, I know what you're thinking. "What does Taylor Swift have to do with marketing and sales communications?" You will see if you read this short article and understand that her team make each concert experience unique for them. And there is Personalization.
For the last year-plus since she appeared at the KC Chiefs games to watch her boyfriend play she has gained the spotlight. The cameras could stop showing her in the player's booth. She appeal to the young/old, males/females, CEOs/ entry level workers and many more categories I'm sure. But I never understood how she produces her shows and her professional life could have parallels to how we approach customers and prospects.
It is a short article and I don't encourage, I DEMAND that you read it and let me know your thoughts. Here are a couple of teaser points to encourage you to spend 5 minutes on this.
This report from Genesys has an excellent overview of the process to make sure you're using the best practices and channels to create successful digital marketing communications. As you know this type of effort using chatbots and social messaging among others is growing at a fast pace. But you shouldn't leave behind current channels that are working well like SMS or email.
So, here are their 5 steps. Click on the short article to see more detail for each step.
This seems to be a good practice guideline for any project that you want to begin involving customer engagement and overall communications. Let me know what you think. Heron Martech has the technology in place that can help you begin this process.
This is an E-book on Just-In-Time Enablement from one of my favorites, Corporate Visions. It is a little longer than I generally recommend but my be a one of the best opportunities you will have seen in the last 2-3 years. I’ll keep this email brief with a high-level overview but the details inside the report are worth your time and effort.
This report will help you understand the methods and shifting mindset that could shape sales and making while improving performance. Here are the four key sections:
“In essence, just-in-time enablement is about shifting from a “just-in-case” model of broad training and content to a “just-in-time” model of targeted, situational support that helps salespeople perform at their best when it matters most.”
Take a very good look at this to see if it fits your needs. Our marketing technologies. ShareDirect and Synchropy uniquely fit into this this new and evolving sales and marketing enablement process that can help you meet the future challenges head on.
Texting or SMS typically has a 98% delivery rate, much stronger than email. It’s different of course because it should be limited in number of characters, about 160 or less, and it’s mostly seen on mobile devices rather than at your desktop. This DotDigital Report provides a good overview of the advantages of using SMS as a complimentary tool or sometimes as a primary tool to allow a click back to content.
"A winning customer experience is driven by preference and choice. By giving your customer a choice of channel, you’re instantly increasing the odds of a positive customer experience."
Customers expect a high level of Personalization in your SMS messaging such as name , location and purchase information. Also, there are legal best practices such as getting consent and opt-out options. Best Practices include time of day considerations, generally between 8:00am-9;00pm is best. Also, you should be looking for performance tracking and analysis of metrics in testing the outcome of SMS communications.
Heron Martech with our ShareDirect and Synchropy marketing technologies are on top of this key communications tool along with Email, zero and first party data acquisition and the only platform with innovative Bi-directional Personalization. This makes us very unique and differentiating in this market. Check us out. I’m available if you have thoughts and questions.
There is much discussion around ROI and measurable insights regarding digital applications in marketing and sales. The big overarching goal is usually the amount of increased sales you might receive from the use of a new application and will it pay for itself plus profit. Since all companies are different from their sales, marketing, customer support, staffing and corporate culture approach (not to mention products or services), having a common formula available is not realistic sometimes. This report from DotDigital is another method using four ways to measure Customer Loyalty. My opinion is not all may work for your situation but 2 or 3 might be useful.
Four ways you can measure customer loyalty to build a complete and reliable picture of your customers.
It’s a measurement of your customer’s likelihood to recommend your brand to friends and family, scoring you one out of ten. Email is also a great way to collect NPS scores; keep it simple, and include it in campaigns sent out after a purchase or other meaningful interaction. You work out your NPS score by subtracting the percentage of customers who choose a 6 or lower from the percentage of customers who answer with a 9 or 10.
Customer retention rate is the rate at which your customers stick around over a period of time. It’s the opposite of Churn rate. For example, if you choose a period of one month and you begin the month with 4 customers, gain 2 , and lose 3, ending the month with 3, your customer retention rate would be 25%. There is a formula for this in the report.
Customer lifetime value is the total amount of revenue or profit generated by a customer over their entire relationship with your brand - whether that’s just one day or decades. Essentially, the higher a customer’s CLV is, the longer they’re going to stick around with your brand.
Purchases per year X Average order value X Number of years active=Customer lifetime value
For example:
3 purchases X $50 avg order X 4 years active customer = $600 CLV
Engagement metrics are the classic ways you measure customer engagement such as clicks, orders, and website sessions. Measuring your engagement metrics is important for overall customer loyalty as these insights can highlight opportunities to improve the customer experience, thereby boosting the likelihood of loyalty. Our Heron Martech technology provides a unique Engagement score composed of 12 different metrics where each can be weighted. When your customer engagement numbers are high or growing, it indicates that your customers are highly engaged with your brand.
This is a fairly lengthy report but an easy and quick read. I think you’ll find it a worthwhile look if you’re trying to figure out the best way to create a reliable scoring and objective way to determine where your company stands with your customers and even prospects. Let me know how it goes. We can give you a new means of measurement as we have been developing a more comprehensive means of determining ROI for our platforms. More on that in my next report. Let me know what you think.
This Nielson report is worth checking out if you’re in marketing and have a budget responsibility or management of digital platforms or media. You can click here to see the full report or find sections that are more relevant to your concerns. Here is the brief overview:
This report is easily consumed in small bites if you want to focus one or two sections or come back later to see the parts you didn’t see before. Nielson sums it up this way:
Let me know if this helps your future planning.
This report from Marigold is a good guidebook on how and when to use email and SMS (texting). Both are relevant and effective and can be used based on the strategy and the frequency of communications. Is one better than the other? It mostly depends on the need and the type of information being sent. I’ll provide a brief overview here but you can click here to see the full document.
More than 50% of all of us check our text messages multiple times per day. For time-sensitive messages SMS is the preferred avenue. Opportunities include:
Avoid sending before 8:00am and after 9:00pm and make the content both timely and relevant.
Email has been the backbone of marketing strategies for decades and is familiar and accessible. Emails are different because they have formatting options and dynamic content elements and can provide excellent engagement metrics.
You can see this in our ShareDirect and Synchropy marketing technology platforms.
The article suggests a cross channel platform like ours that can provide personalization and robust design using email and more urgency using SMS. So, both channels are still very relevant and preferred and can provide a seamless flow of communication with the ability to manage and integrate the flow of data.
This report from DotDigital is a good overview of the necessity and means of retaining and growing loyal customers. Although written in the context of B2C it has very good implications for B2B as well so many of the points will apply. Not to state the obvious but a loyal customer has much more value than one who is not committed. So, what can be done to help create more loyalty with current customers and new ones. Here is what the report suggests.
“Loyal customers are invaluable to your brand. Ultimately, you need to provide a seamless customer experience and celebrate them wherever you can. Make your customers feel valued, appreciated, and understood, and they will naturally stick around for the long haul.”
Let me know what you think. Our Heron Martech technologies can help create the loyalty you need and want with our engagement and data reporting.
“42% of buyers said they were more likely to engage with a sales rep if the content is personalized or tailored to their specific needs,” according to the 2023 Content Preferences Survey. This report from DemandGen and Salesforce provides three areas that are working today to engage the customer.
This report includes examples of using these strategies by other companies and how they were successful.
Let me know what you think and how we can help you utilize these proven strategies.
This is a topic that has seen more comment and research recently: Real time marketing or Moments based marketing. It’s certainly been around for as long as time but it has more emphasis now and not just with B2C. B2B marketing is making a use of this strategy as well. Simply put, Moments based Marketing focuses on delivering content at the moment when customers would be engaged with your brand. Mapping the customer journey to identify the touchpoint opportunities allows you to deliver the right message at the right moment.
So, what are the best channels based on this Dotdigital report?
All of this and more needs to be used with care, discretion and the desire to be helpful but not a pain. I’ll be interested in seeing how many people out there are using this strategy and what your results might be. Let me know.
As I presented in the past I really admire and support the science based research that Corporate Visions provides. They have completely revolutionized much of the standard way of doing things in sales and marketing. Their latest effort has been the need to separate your solution from the competition by fulfilling the buyer’s needs through your unique advantages.
The 4 page brief, you can click here to see and download, provides a quick overview on this important topic. I encourage you to seek out their webinars which can be seen real-time or recorded. They get into more detail and allow you to see what’s behind the research and conclusions.
This is a very brief overview on this topic. I recommend if you want to see more specifics watch the webinar or get the full eBook here.
One of the key points we discuss when demonstrating the unique qualities of ShareDirect is how Dynamic Content that is hyper-Personalized is now the expectation of customers both B2B and B2C. This DotDigital report provides a good overview of crafting personalization content tailored to customers.
This is a good overview and worth taking a look at. But if you want to see how this all works in real like we can walk you through the ShareDirect technology and provide you a real-life platform that can do all of this work and more in sync with your overall making plan. Let me know if we can discuss.
We're in the age of dynamic content and Personalization and the trends are not growing, they are here in force. Several companies have some form of the technology to use for either B2B or B2C but often they provide bits and pieces of the puzzle instead of a full platform with all the necessary element to communicate effective for 2024. “Real-Time Personalization is an integral part of curating Personalization experiences for your customers”, according to Marigold in this very recent report.
Real-Time Personalization Works
“Dynamic content fulfills the innate consumer desire for personalization and taps into the human psyche to inspire action. It also allows you to do more with less with your messaging efforts.”This document offers options of how to use with promotions, integrated content, loyalty enablement and other options. The key to this message is you already have these options and more using our technology, ShareDirect. We offer Bi-Directional Personalization, Zero and First-party data collection, extensive metrics and data, AI enablement, and communicating One-to-Many as you would One-to-One. No One else offers what we have. Contact me and we'll be happy to show you how it could work for you.
This is another very good report from Demand Gen on helping to better understand a B2b buyers focus on real value, benefits for their company and the best investment. The Personalization of content and ad medium is based on age, social factors, income level and first and zero party data among other factors.
I invite you to take a look to see if this study applies to you and if you have seen the same issues recently. Our ShareDirect technology can satisfy many if not all of these requirements and provide you with a real answer to combining several activities you might currently be engaged and provide some real differentiators to your own customers and prospects. Take a look.
This is a very timely report from DemandGen on how marketing automation can use personalization and emotions to have a big impact. As more and more people are growing to prefer the digital approach for business and consumer communications, we see the acceleration of using AI in content development and personalization. Our technology, ShareDirect, is a good example of a product that can provide a method of marketing One-to-Many as you would One-to-One.
There is much more here to study and consider so I encourage to take a look at the attached report. “If real people feel real emotions about whatever you’re putting in front of them, all other things we care about will follow”. Let me know your thoughts on this and click here to get to the study.
Here is another very brief overview of Neuroscience Research from Corporate Visions uncovering great design principles that can make complex content more memorable. You can keep complex content if you simplify the design and use the 5 memory enhancing visual elements.
It’s also suggested these tools could be used for presentations across languages or geography. You can contact me and I can send you the full research if you want to see it. Corporate Visions is a very thorough research organization and they provide terrific science-based sales and marketing information that alters our commonly held concepts. Let me know what you think.
This is another summary report from Corporate Visions who do outstanding work presenting Science-based best practices in sales and marketing. I rarely miss one of their webinars and try to put much of their reporting into practice and pass it along to you. You'll need to click here to see the full one-page brief on my engagement site but it will only take a couple of minutes to see their summary of 10 Science-backed principles.
You'll learn how to best alter your presentations for maximum effect through motion, varying visual stimulation, using feelings and being authentic. Also making sure you keep the viewer's memory fresh. Let me know your thoughts and I can provide you any further details you require. We are trying to incorporate some of this into our ShareDirect presentations.
How your company acts and reacts on a daily basis is how you are viewed by your market, customers and prospects. This is not new but more important since communications is not just daily but every hour/minute. What role does Authenticity play? Showing how your brand is Authentic is key to improving Customer Loyalty. This report from DotDigital is an excellent overview of Brand Authenticity Improving Customer Loyalty. Authenticity is simply being human, organic and personal.
They provide four strategies to creating authentic connections with customers that will inspire customer loyalty:
“According to their studies 90% of customers state that Authenticity is a vital factor in deciding which brands they support” And it will reveal your Brand’s genuine character.
ShareDirect is built around this premise by providing you the ability to communicate Bi-directionally and one-to-many as you would one-to-one. Let me know what you think and we can help you achieve this key strategy.
I have been preaching the importance of Customer Engagement (CE) for the last 2-3 years and others are now beginning to see the light. Customer Engagement is about building a meaningfully mutually beneficial relationship with each of your customers. But in today’s world we have to think digitally which the research shows is what most customers prefer. This report from Braze provides a good overview of what CE is and the value of building it into your strategy.
They list 6 real benefits beyond pure revenue generation which 0f course the primary result:
ShareDirect can provide you all of this and much more with a Customer Engagement Platform (CEP) that can stand alone or integrate into other existing platforms you might have in use. Why not take a look to see how this can add an important advantage to reaching your goals.
This report form DotDigital provides a very good insight into how Marketing Automation is advancing. They offer 4 Trends Shaping the Future of Marketing Automation. Targeting Customers individually with Personalized information based on clear data and analytics is not just the future but the NOW of Marketing Engagement.
The article offers 4 trends:
It’s important in today’s highly competitive environment to be agile and open to newer technologies that can set you apart from your competition. Again, a platform that can help you be more competitive with Personalized communications is worth more than it cost and the ROI can be significant. Ask us how we can integrate ShareDirect into your strategy. It can have impact.
You may have seen some of our communications surrounding our technology mentioning “One-to-Many as you would One-to-One.” This means you can digitally communicate with your audience no matter the size but can individualize each communication to each recipient. This requires data on each person, the proper channel (email, SMS, etc.) and a platform capable of implementing this.
We have found that first-party and especially zero-party data can provide the means to establish the data needed to better understand your customers and prospects on a one-to-one basis. The good news is they are interested and even excited to provide you their preferences. But, you need the mechanism to collect it and automate the outbound communications in an effective way. All of this can work together with our technology.
Let me know if we can provide you with further information on personalization at scale. We can help create a dynamic and effective communications program through our technology that your customers will want.
Here is another great research-based guidance from Corporate Visions on Digital Selling. We are all doing that now but many remain unsure of how they are doing it and if it can be successful. But nothing is fully face-to-face anymore except maybe a haircut. In fact many buyers prefer not to meet face-to-face according to the research.
This first message is about Making Yourself More Memorial. Here is the plan of action recommended by Corporate Visions research.
You can click here for the full report. I’ll follow this up with the second part of Successful Digital Selling very quickly. The topic will be Making Your Message Memorable. We have spent our efforts with ShareDirect to create a technology that fits directly with this important research and recommended approach. It is successful and provides exceptional customer reaction. Let me know if you wish to discuss.
This report from CMSWire is a little different than I usually provide. It’s more about the marketing CMO rather than topics that can help differentiate your businesses. But, who is going to be directly involved in that differentiation process. Shouldn’t it be the Marketing Leader.
With information overload and many customers feeling overwhelmed by all the messaging they receive, how does the marketing leader embrace this problem and help their company reach their goals. The survey report is lengthy but I’ll try to break down a few key points to whet you appetite.
The report offers 10 key takeaways but I’ll mention the top 4, as I see it.
You can click here to see the full report and it’s divided into sections you can easily find the points you might be most interested in. Let me know what you think and if there is anything I can help you with. ShareDirect is built for this new analytical thinking and how the customer expects a more personalized approach and a real human interaction.
I'm thrilled to share some exciting developments at ShareDirect. As part of our commitment to staying at the forefront of marketing technology, we are currently exploring utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our processes and our platform. This includes the cutting-edge Generative AI, a technology that has the potential to transform your marketing strategy.
Generative AI, like the renowned ChatGPT, is an advanced technology that creates unique outputs from human inputs. It learns by consuming vast amounts of data, leveraging natural language models to create something entirely new and innovative.
Here's how Generative AI can revolutionize your marketing and content strategy with ShareDirect:
Learn more about Generative AI in this overview:
At ShareDirect, we're not just spectators; we're active players in leveraging this exciting technology. Our platform is designed to revolutionize the way you communicate with your customers through personalization and scalability. With the integration of Generative AI, we can offer you a marketing solution that is not only efficient but also highly innovative.
Learn more about ShareDirect:
We would love to show you how this platform, enhanced with Generative AI, can help you streamline your marketing and sales efforts, and help you build stronger relationships with your customers.
We've discussed the types of data collection here before but I wanted to focus on the most effective and honest data collect on each customer or prospect. And it's a method the customer wants and desires to participate in, Zero-Party Data. This report from Cheetah-Digital outlines the key components of Zero-Party Data collection and how it allows the brand to build a more direct relationship with the customer by providing more Personalized experiences.
Forrester defines Zero-Party data as "that which a customer intentionally and proactively shares with a brand. It can include preference center data, purchase intentions, personal context and how the individual wants the brand to recognize them."
This is well-worth your time to read through to understand the importance of honest data collection and how to Personalize the communications to customers. It is important to note that ShareDirect is well out in front on how this can work for you and your customers' needs. A few key statistics:
As mentioned ShareDirect is out in front on its ability to collect Zero-Party and First-Party data at scale and automating the use of Personalized content. Let us know what we can do for you.
How Sales and Marketing can better collaborate is a hot topic now that many companies are starting to use platforms that help bridge that gap. Or some continue to use old methods that create more of a gap. But the key impetuous to making this work is understanding that this is what the customer wants, a clear and concise customer journey.
The benefits start with a dynamic increase in revenue through current accounts with new ones added.
"Revenue growth is by far the most important metric with 61% of all marketers saying they currently co-own this metric with sales."
There is much more detail in this report from CMO Council and KPMG and I invite you to view the full report. ShareDirect is a unique Marketing/Sales Technology that can stand alone in the sales/marketing collaboration strategy or integrate along with existing platforms to provide enhanced personalization with the sales team getting credit from the customer for the worthwhile journey. This will provide the opportunity for enhanced revenue and stronger relationships.
Here's another Game-Changing research report form Corporate Visions. They just keep bringing forward new research that changes how we need to be thinking about marketing and sales, but most of all, how we should be modernizing our approach. Pre-pandemic sales efforts were often field sales face-to-face meetings with a predictable, controlled path. Post-pandemic is far less predictable with buyers acting at their own pace using digital channels along with inside/outside sales efforts. In fact, "70-80 percent of B2B decision makers prefer virtual conversations and digital self-service interactions according to McKinsey."
You can see the entire study by clicking here. I’ll try to summarize a few key points that might provide a reason to dive a bit deeper.
ShareDirect is designed specifically to provide a digital leadership role in this post-pandemic marketing/sales infrastructure. The ability to personalize information to the buyer gives your buyer what they are looking for, a unique, differentiating experience that shows you and your company in a very positive light. And you can do this one-to-many as you would one-to-one giving the sales rep full credit.
Let me know what you think and if we can provide you any information about ShareDirect.
This is another great report from Corporate Visions. I sat through the webinar on this and couldn’t stop taking notes. The research shows that over half of corporate management are not confident on their ability to execute on their growth strategy. So, how can you be more confident in your process and practices? This study has organized it into three important approaches on how and why buyers make decisions.
There is a lot here to ponder and analyze so I suggest you take a look at the study by clicking here to see the full document. If it provides Clarity and Confidence to your current strategy or helps you review and alter it’s worth taking a look. Let me know what you think.
This report comes from a variety of research organizations but is summarized and outlined in this document from NetBase Quid. The importance of Brand Loyalty today is not to be minimized. If anything it is more important than ever with the customer requirements of personalization and a Human approach.
There is a lot of detail you can see by clicking here to access the full report. I’ll try to summarize below with a couple of my own comments that might better clarify how to approach this effort.
The ShareDirect technology can help support all of the steps included in this report. Our data collection and reporting includes First and Zero-Party data. The content is personalized to your customer and from a representative. The unique Bi-directional Engagement Sites give a unique perspective of your brand. And the entire program is scalable One-to-Many as you would One-to-One.
Let me know if we can show you how to grow your customer loyalty.
This is an interesting report from DemandBase on ABM and how to grow and exceed your strategic marketing objectives. They mention several ways to get started and I’ll mention a few that stand out:
One other useful approach is the emphasis on focusing on your best accounts with the highest likelihood to buy(or continue to buy) from you.
This results in driving more growth with less money and accelerating deals and selling more.
I think this shows that creating an ABM strategy can be a simple process without a lot of organizational changes or expenses. ShareDirect is the easy and less expensive method of getting into this area and will truly differentiate your brand.
This great report from Ad Age and Cheetah Digital is the proof of what we have been trying to say to the marketplace for some time. Personalization with the Human approach is the new marketing standard to build relationships with customers and prospects. This is not an option but the requirement and need heard from the consuming public and business public. So, this applies to B2B as well as B2C.
This particular study has a lot of detail but one thing really stood out:
Strengthening customer loyalty and retention was favored by 74.2% of the respondents as a primary reason for building a Relationship Marketing strategy. In short, THIS BUILDS TRUST.
So, how can you build a path to Customer Obsession? They suggest a 4-stage process:
I would be very interested in your experiences with this topic. We feel ShareDirect is the one technology that can satisfy these needs and the ability to reach out in a manner your customers expect. Will you be willing to take a look at how we can help you?
This is a great study from Deloitte digital on Meaningful Personalization to Maximize Growth. I’ll try to summarize some of the points below. Don’t be turned off by the B2C focus if you’re B2B. The strategies for those two marketing and sales targets have meshed considerably over the past 2-3 years. They might use different media but the methodology can be the same.
This is really a great study and report from Deloitte. ShareDirect is the mechanism for implementing a good Personalization strategy. As we say, “Reach out One-to-Many as you would One-To-One.” Let’s talk.
This very recent DemandGen report shows what I have been preaching for the last couple of years: Personalization is the key ingredient to successful email marketing and other types of marketing as well. "Personalizing content for audience segments is important to deliver the experience and feeling of being a part of a brand's community."
The report also identifies video as a method of delivering a high open rate, 65% in some instances. This further personalizes the experience especially if it comes from a person in the video (and it's reasonably short-60 to 90 sec.) Good data and analytics are also key to a successful Personalization effort with First and Zero-Party data can be critical to providing this competitive edge in your market.
Digital experiences should not viewed just as a One-to-Many approach but can be managed as a One-to-One strategy. At ShareDirect we can show how to combine those two approaches using First and Zero-Party data and dynamic content on a Personalized email and Engagement Site.
Let me know if this fits your current strategy and practice. We're here to show you how ShareDirect can fit into your marketing and sales effort.
This latest study from Ad Age and Cheetah Digital makes a great case for building a strategy around “Relationship Marketing.” The only point I disagree with is the article points out that Relationship Marketing should be a part of your marketing strategy. I would counter that building relationships should be your only marketing strategy. The ROI is well established. Providing Personalized Engagement through Human Interaction, digital and one-to-one, is the ultimate objective to building any brand in this environment.
Here is the four-stage foundation the report suggest you consider:
They also mention that you can enrich company profiles using Zero-Party data. I have to mention that this is exactly what ShareDirect was developed for. Building a Personalized marketing strategy using First and Zero-Party data and marketing one-to-many as you would one-to-one.
Are sellers and marketers correct to assume that keeping it simple is always the right approach? Sometimes perhaps that works but another Neuroscience research study from Corporate Visions and Decision Labs shows that the brain respond better with some complexity to make the presentation more memorable.
You need to manage your complexity effectively, particularly in a virtual setting. It’s what the research showed:
A key thing to remember is this not someone’s opinion but was a specific Neuroscience study as I have shown in my previous reports. You can scroll down to other similar studies from this same group. Also if you’re interested in depth on this topic you can click on the image and at the bottom is another place to click to see the full report. Let me know what you think. I’m including some of this in our presentations.
This report from Acquia is timely and has important detail regarding the role Personalization is playing and will play in marketing and sales success. I think, however, they miss the value of using a Human approach along with Personalization to build customer and prospect Trust and loyalty. I'll provide some highlights and my comments from the Acquia report:
So, although I think this eBook has some valid points and good numbers behind it, there appears to be several flaws in their approach and I believe leaving the Human element out of Personalization is a real missed opportunity. I would be interested in your thoughts. Feel free to reach out with your opinions.
The Demand Gen 2022 ABM Benchmark Survey is out and it contains significant new data on how ABM programs that better align sales and marketing through technology are making consistent headway in reaching and exceeding their goals.
Many are beginning the use of a platform that combines sales people with the dedicated personalized content like ShareDirect provides. Marketers are getting a firmer handle on Personalization strategies with Personalization at Scale being the big challenge, again which ShareDirect provides.
If you are thinking of adopting an ABM strategy or are in the beginning stages let us help you get there faster and with more impact. Let me hear from you if you have any thoughts or questions.
View Full Study
This may be the most intriguing and perhaps most effective message I have shared with you over the past couple of years. Our friends at B2B Decision Labs, a group I have referenced repeatedly, has reported on the science of the business apology. They take you right into the buyers brains to show how to properly rectify a mistake and the process that would lead to a very positive outcome.
People and businesses make mistakes every day that effect customers in a negative way. No one is immune. Some make many more mistakes than others and that’s another problem. The answers lie in what you are going to do about it. This report might provide you some guidance on how to work with your customer. Who knows, it may even work in your personal life as well.
It’s difficult to summarize for this communication but the order of the 5 segments of the apology matter. You can Click Here to see the full report.
“Condition 3 is the clear consistent winner. This proves the power of choreography. It’s not just what you say but how and when you say it.”
“Another key indicator of apology success is whether your customer believes you fixed the problem and that the problem will not happen again. Even in this case, You’ll see it’s the same apology message that inspires the greatest confidence in the supplier moving forward-Condition #3.”
I have a structured apology waiting for anyone who thinks this subject might be a mistake. Please take a look.
Below I have pulled out a section of an article from CMSWire, 5 Ways Transparent Personalization Can Win Over Customers written by Michelle Hawley. I have quoted is exactly because it piggy-backs nicely with my last communications on the importance of Zero Party Data.
Zero-party data is information a customer shares intentionally with a brand. This includes preferences, purchase intent, personal information and more.
Because the customer chooses to hand this information over, it's more likely to be relevant and accurate. Brands can also be certain that zero-party data is information the customer actively wants them to know.
If you're wondering if customers will even share their personal data, the answer is a resounding "yes."
Consider these important statistics from a 2022 Cheetah Digital report:However, it's important to know where to draw the line. While consumers are willing to trade some information for a stellar experience, 59% said they still aren't comfortable sharing location data - even for better service.
This applies to B2B and B2C equally. As I said before ShareDirect is the perfect driver to gain a willing access to customer preferences and needs. Let us hear from you.
I just received this terrific study from Ad Age, a publication I've known and appeared in over the decades that I have been in Brand Marketing and now Marketing Technology. We all have an idea of what personalization is and how it depends on data, But, what kind of data and where does it come from.
The sudden interest in Zero Party Data is understandable with the fading of Third Party Data and First Party Data not providing enough information sometimes. Zero Party data comes directly from the customer and usually resulting from their interest in your product/service/brand.
There are some excellent statistics and guidance from this study that point out reasons to focus on Zero Party Data. You can click here to review this short report. Here's the "Bottom line" as they put it:
I think this makes an undeniable case for using technology which can provide Zero Party Data but also use it to support Personalized Engagement based on your customer's admitted preferences. That technology would be ShareDirect. Let me hear from you...
This is the second part of my report on the Decision Labs great study on messaging and the scheduling of marketing communications. This one is a follow-up to the study I sent you last week on differentiating your solutions. This study which can be found here is on using content to motivate a prospect meeting.
Again, the researchers discovered some counterintuitive tendencies that should cause a re-thinking of how to schedule prospect contacts and what to send them. I’ll point out some general conclusions but I encourage to read through this 10 page report and you’ll find it’s worth it.
I ask that you take some time studying this to better understand the results they achieved with their study. And remember that ShareDirect is a multichannel technology using a variety of outbound capabilities and extensive content views for your market plus relatable and easy to access metrics.
View full reportI have a new research study from Decision Labs (one of my favorites) that is broken into two parts. Part 1 I’m sending you today on the Best approach for messaging. Part 2 will come in the next few days on the kind of content. Both studies show times have changed in the last couple of years and how attitudes about communication have turned 180 degrees around.
I’ll start with Part 1 and you can download the report here but I’ll offer a brief overview. The study had participants review four types of messages designed around different versions of the same story.
Features-Describes a list of capabilities
Benefits-How the features will benefit the buyer
Superlatives-Common superlative adjectives to describe features
Telling Details-Helping the buyer “experience” what you are describing
The results: “The Telling Details condition beat each of the other three messages individually and in aggregate, across every variable that was tested.” In fact “85% more participants preferred the Telling Details message.” So, on your next emails don’t be afraid to describe the features with the benefits to properly describe your solution.
I highly recommend you take a look at this short report. You’ll be impressed with the overwhelming percentage of buyers who prefer the more detailed message. I sat through the virtual meeting on this and was blown away by how counterintuitive it is for many of us out there but the numbers don’t lie.
I mentioned this about a month ago that we were receiving this recognition. It was a complete surprise since we didn’t know it existed and certainly didn’t pursue it.
I think it validates the tag line in our Heron Martech logo: Innovate-Enable-Engage. It is not an award for John, Marie, me or others in the organization. It shows how we built our company and our technology around Personalization and the Human element and placed our focus on our customers and their success.
I think the team at CIO Review were really impressed with the scalability of our solution and that led to the recommendation to appear on the front page.
Hopefully this doesn’t appear too self-centered but we feel it might result in others realizing the opportunity this technology might provide them. Let me know if you have questions or what you think.
We have been hearing over the past 2-3 years about the need to limit or control the amount of information brands can attain about each of us and our interests and preferences. Cheetah Digital has prepared an excellent guide on the topic including how to gain insight on customers and prospects that they will actually want you to have. Here are a few highlights from "The Zero-Party Data Playbook 2022."
So, what are the data types:
Obviously First and Zero-Party Data is well within the comfortable personalization categories and can enhance the relationship with customers and grow their business. You can see the entire report by clicking here.
The ShareDirect technology platform has the means to create First and Zaro Party data that stays within the comfortable parameters of the trusted customer relationship. Hope this helps you better understand this very important topic.
This report can be useful to almost anyone who is responsible for marketing and sales for a wide variety of brands. Customer Engagement is sometimes difficult to calculate since genuine engagement can be best demonstrated "when customers promote or defend your brand to peers."
The study recommends that you tap into every layer of the consumer's psyche:
It boils down to using data and digital resources
I feel like much of this relates to how we built our company and our brand, ShareDirect. The core benefit to ShareDirect is helping you to achieve engagement with your customers One-to-Many as you would One-to-One.
Here is another excellent report from B2B Decision Labs and Corporate Visions on the use of Neuroscience to understand the buyer's brain. These studies utilized EEG, ECG, Eye Tracking and Skin Response to determine when and where to use the various selling techniques. There is way too much here to repeat in this email but I invite you to click here to see the report and scan what section might be import to you.
I'll try to sum up the key points below:
I've reported on several of their cognitive studies and each one is an impressive game-changer. Let me know if I can answer any questions and if you find this useful or to see how we can incorporate these results in ShareDirect.
This is a very thorough study released just a month ago on using Account Based Marketing to obtain market leadership. This report comes from ITSAM Group and the ABM Leadership Alliance. So, how can you use ABM as a critical strategy to drive business growth? This study provides insight into the current state of play with ABM and what’s working.
This is an important document and well-worth taking a look at. You can view the full report here.
The unique benefit to ShareDirect is we can provide a communications technology that allows you to market One-to-Many as you would One-to-One. So, we have the best of both strategies embedded in our platform. Let me hear from you.
This McKinsey study is a new benchmark indicating that “Personalization matters more than ever before.” The focus is on consumer expectations but we now know that this requirement is just as important in B2B applications. We understand that personalization and brand loyalty go hand and glove regardless of the level of business.
Here are some key take-aways but I encourage you to check out the entire article.
You can click here to see the full report that will only take about 10 minutes to review. We are available at ShareDirect to help you not just use our technology but we will provide guidance and best practices we have seen and experienced to be successful. Give us e a call.
View full articleHere is another great study from Corporate Visions on building successful customer relationships. You can see this study by clicking on my Engagement Site and you can also download the report. It is filled with great information that you can utilize for 2022.
The three stages they see are:
The last section is particularly interesting as behavioral and social scientists weigh in on dealing with organizational change, price increases, keeping and growing your customers and when things go wrong. I’m sure many of us can think of instances when we wish we could have a second chance to handle a problem with a customer.
Let us know what you think. We believe our ShareDirect technology can help to create and keep successful customer relationships.
View full ebook
There is a lot to digest in this survey from DemandGen. This will help those of you who have initiated ABM and you're working on advancing the program for 2022, and those who might be considering this opportunity to provide a more efficient and effective marketing strategy. Or if you haven't looked at this yet the report might be the fuel that ignites your interest in moving toward with an ABM program in your organization.
I'll point out a few highpoints and I promise there is much more. You can take a look by clicking here.
Let's discuss how ShareDirect could help you to utilize and expand this growing marketing strategy. We would love the hear from you.
View full articleWhat is the most important area of an ad or other marketing communication? What is the path of viewers' visual attention? These are questions that are gaining increasing emphasis in marketing as the science of Eye Tracking and Saliency Modeling has advanced in it's acceptance and the science behind it.
This article written by Tobias Komischke, PhD who works as Head of Innovation Lab at Infragistics is a good primer on the topic and worth the short time to check it out here.
Which technique is best depends on the situation based on budget, time frame and how accurate the results must be. So both have their place. This topic is absolutely fascinating and I invite you to take a quick look. You'll want to re-read some of the paragraphs and pass it around to others in your organization. As you know we're here to answer any questions or thoughts.
You might be wondering when I'm going to get off this neuroscience/buyer's brain/cognitive study kick I've been on the past few of months. The fact is these excellent and unique studies from Decision Labs have been coming out with great frequency and regularity and I believe these could help any of us create a real difference in how we approach our various markets. We have tried to integrate some of this in our approach at ShareDirect.
So, what's the story this time? How can we be "the winner" more consistently in early-stage messaging?
This report will show you the importance of making your prospects "Think and Feel."
Click here to see this study.
This is another great study from Decision Labs on buying decisions from digital content. I realize it seems I'm really promoting this organization but their work recently has been truly excellent, unique and challenging to how we work in today's environment.
Dr. Carmen Simon, a Cognitive Scientist, has provided a new brain study measuring EEG and other physical functions from viewing content and participant's reactions.
The process of forming memories involves three phases:
The key phase is storing which relies on "Working Memory." This is essential to "thinking, understanding, planning and making decisions."
There is so much more so I'll probably provide a couple of follow-up communications about this study. You can access the study here. Let me know if I can provide any additional thoughts for you in what this research means to digital marketing.
This is a big-time study and very important for the current environment we all find ourselves in. Decision Labs along with Corporate Visions created this Neuroscience study to test video as a selling tool in emails. There are four parts to the report and I'll send you a communications about each one separately over the next couple of weeks but include a link to the entire study each time.
You might remember over the last year that I have sent you several "Simple Videos", as I have called them. I have a couple of new ones that will come out in the near future. But the important thing to consider is that a personal video reflects personalization and a human approach better than most other options. And it can communicate an idea with higher recall and agreement.
I hope you check this out and, as always, I look forward to your comments and thoughts. We are certainly recommending this approach as we work with our clients and prospects.
I've been following and reporting for some time webinars and other communications from Decision Labs and Corporate Visions. Most of their research and recommended applications are a full cut above many other marketing research presentations.
Dr. Carmen Simon is a Cognitive Neuroscientist and Chief Science Officer with Corporate Visions. She runs studies of how buyers' brains react to certain messages and the manner they are delivered using neuroscience equipment measuring GSR, EEG, Eye Tracking and ECG.
I'll report on some other key aspects of this recent study in following emails over the next few weeks. This one is a summation of one part of the recent extensive study. It's entitled Data-Insight-Question, A Three Step Tactic to Increase Persuasive Impact. There is a precise choreography to gain an advantage in a presentation or dialogue.
It breaks down to three Guidelines that can make you communications more real and appealing to prospects and customers:
I'll have much more on this study in the near future but this might be enough to absorb right now. You can click here to see this synopsis of this one point from the bigger study.
This new report from Deloitte and the CMO Council is a foundational marketing study on Humanizing and Analyzing relationships with customers. It is important enough that I plan to send out two following emails in the coming weeks highlighting key points from this valuable study.
We're showing how Lifetime Customer Value (or LTV) helps predict revenue attributed to future relationships with customers. As you will see in the attached report there is much opportunity to improve the tracking and reporting that reflect the digital realities of marketing communications and scalability.
The core of this study supports some of my past reports on Humanizing and Analyzing relationships to drive retention and Lifetime Customer Value (LTV) resulting in loyalty and trust.
The most important requirements for brands to better create long-term relationships with customers:
The best channels where customers leave signals about their needs:
There is a lot in this study so you might wish to download and distribute the report to make sure you're touching the bases. We remain available to discuss how ShareDirect can provide you a method of better securing your LTV.
The last 12 months have provided a new imperative for how marketers communicate to customers: “Don’t treat me like a Customer, I am a Human and want to be understood.” I have reported on this over the last 9 months and there is much more coming out in studies and reports that support this strategy.
“Brands have had to take a stand socially for the values they espouse. Brands have had to show their human side, to provide customers with a human element in all of their interactions with a brand.”
I highly recommend this brief 5-minute read. Our ShareDirect is the one technology set up to provide a scalable digital connection with the Human element. Let us hear from you.
Read the Article
I’ve been preaching the need for companies to move beyond just thinking about Personalization (which is very important) to the next step of Humanizing their communications with their customers and prospects. This latest article from CMS Wire provides some context to this evolving story.
This is a terrific and very timely article written by Keith Weed, President of the Advertising Federation in Great Britain for Marketing Week. This is about what I call the Big "T" word, i.e. TRUST. I will summarize here and nearly everything should be in quotation marks but you might want to click on this short op-ed piece. I'm substituting marketing rather than just advertising since it should include all aspects of outreach and communications.
The five key measures all advertisers (marketers) must undertake are:
The author concludes:
We've been discussing this TRUST concept for some time now and how ShareDirect is custom built to help you help your customers and prospects. And it's far less expensive than most of the other activities you might be conducting.
See my related post on The Big "T" Word
How do Customer Experience Leading firms create such positive, memorable impressions on the people they serve? It doesn’t happen by accident. They all embrace some basic tenets when shaping their customer experience – principles that can very likely be applied to your own organization:
Satisfied customers defect all the time. And customers who are merely satisfied are far less likely to drive business growth through referrals, repeat purchases and reduced price sensitivity. Maximizing the return on customer experience investments requires shaping interactions that cultivate loyalty, not just satisfaction.
To achieve excellence, the Leaders execute on the basics exceptionally well, minimizing common customer frustrations and annoyances. They then focus on “nice to have” elements and other pleasant surprises, all of which help to create memorable peaks in the experience that strengthen customer engagement.
The Leading companies leave nothing to chance. They understand the universe of touchpoints that comprise their customer experience and they manage each of them very intentionally – choreographing the interaction so it not only addresses customers’ rational expectations, but also stirs their emotions in a positive way.
The Leading companies manage both the reality and the perception of their customer experience. They understand how the human mind interprets experiences and forms memories, and they use that knowledge of cognitive science to create more positive and loyalty-enhancing customer impressions.
Happy, engaged employees help create happy, loyal customers (who, in turn, help create more happy, engaged employees!). The value of this virtuous cycle cannot be overstated, and it’s why the most successful companies address both the customer and the employee sides of this equation.
There is very little written in marketing or especially martech literature about “Getting Credit.” I'm not referring to financial credit such as credit cards, credit score or getting a loan from a bank although you could make the case there could be some similar processes. This is about the customer recognizing your efforts to serve them with your key customer-facing representatives and the branded promise you make to those customers.
“Getting Credit” is about making sure the customer understands who you are and what you stand for and how it applies to them.
I learned this while my brand marketing firm was working with a major restaurant chain in the 1990s that was undergoing a major transformation from a budget steakhouse to a large buffet concept with a bakery built in. I was fortunate to work with a brilliant CMO who understood the need for customers to see the process and result, in some cases the smell and the activity it took to achieve freshly baked yeast rolls, cookies, buns, etc.
Operationally the bakery was placed in the middle of the dining area. You could see the yeast rolls being placed in the ovens and when they came out the aroma was intoxicating. They had a brass bell that they would ring when those rolls would come out of the oven and storms of people would chase up to the bakery fighting for those hot rolls that smelled so good. This CMO knew how this worked. He made sure that as much of the kitchen as reasonable, especially the grilling and other visual activities, would be exposed to the dining room and their customers would respond appropriately. All that work on behalf of each customer he referred to as “Getting Credit.”
I have taken this idea to many other industries in my career over the past two decades and now have introduced it into marketing technology as one of the end benefits of our ShareDirect platform. All too often communications from a company to their customers bypass their customer-facing representatives, sales people, account managers, etc. They lose the opportunity to give credit to those front-line people who are supposed to be the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) on their accounts. They lose that opportunity to personally engage their customers in a meaningful and optimal way. They lose the opportunity to “Get Credit” for what might otherwise be an effective message.
With ShareDirect we are offering the only automated personalized engagement technology. You may have the best, most compelling message built around your caring and interest in serving your customer but it could easily fly completely over your customers' heads unless you provide a mechanism for you to receive “credit” for your noble works.
That CMO taught me a game-changing marketing concept. He is now retired, living in Colorado and remains a friend and frequent advisor. He probably didn't realize how we would eventually apply this through technology.
