Technology Ensures You’re NOT Just A Number!

A key benefit of Digital Marketing is that we can measure the impact of all our online campaigns. We have access to the data – who downloaded our opt-in offer, how many people visited our website, what our customers purchased.

The irony is that it’s data, powered by digital technology, which is now allowing marketers to customise their offering and cater for individual needs.

Customisation in Action

Recently I enrolled for a supermarket retailer’s online programme and have been receiving their weekly newsletter. To my amazement last week they sent me a communication identifying my three most popular purchases in their stores, with a substantial discount coupon for each item.

Even though, as a marketer, I understand the mechanics behind this campaign, it made me feel special and guess what, I’ve already redeemed my coupons!

Award Winning Personalisation

Fast food chain, Taco Bell, has introduced a mobile app which not only allows their consumers to customise their order from a massive list of ingredients but also has the capability of letting them re-order their previous custom creation.

The app is fun and easy to use. It has a location tracker which ensures that your order is ready for collection when you reach your nearest Taco Bell outlet.

Not only has the app won Taco Bell numerous industry awards but key, it’s increased their average spend per order from $7 to $10.

So how can small business owners embrace the power of technology to market more personally?

Use an E-mail Service Provider

If you’re sending a regular news article to your database of prospects and customers, select an e-mail service provider like MailChimp, AWeber or Constant Contact. This allows you to automate the e-mailing and to personalise your communication by including the individual recipient’s name.

An e-mail service provider gives you access to stats. You can see how many people open your e-mails and monitor the impact of your various e-mail headlines. (Recently I used the subject line, “Donald Trump Resigns” and I experienced a 7% increase in my opening rate!)

It’s also possible to undertake what’s referred to as A/B split testing where you divide your e-mail database into two and send each of the two segments a slightly different communication (for example a different headline) to see which performs better.

Digital is all about taking action, ascertaining the impact and then using this input to optimise your results.

Remarketing

This is a way of getting a second shot to persuade someone who has landed on your website but has not made a purchase or lodged an enquiry, to do so.

When they are on your website, so-called cookies are fired to your online visitor’s browser. These cookies ensure that when they are again online, your banner or advertising appears, encouraging them to click on it and return to your website.

Google Analytics

Make sure you’re monitoring visits to your website. Have your designer include an analytics package in the back end of your website, decide what you want to measure and receive a weekly report. If you are not achieving your site objectives, make changes and monitor the impact of these.

A couple of years ago Amazon changed the colour of a button on its purchase page. The result: a $300 million increase in sales.

Striving to understand the needs of your consumers and personalising their online experience will increase your product’s likeability and bottom line.