Five considerations for the future of consumer connection

The next generation of mothers have emerged and they are under more pressure than ever before. In addition to balancing work and family life, moms have the added stress of making sure they are keeping their children safe in our digital-focused society. Moms today have access to a myriad of online information including communities where members can address everything from the elimination of processed foods from their family’s diet to whether or not to vaccinate their children. In a recent in-depth analysis, Experian Marketing Services identified five distinct segments of moms and revealed their attitudes, behaviors, motivations and media and consumer preferences. With these insights, marketers can effectively target and engage each segment with more personalized messages. Striving Moms – This segment accounts for 27 percent of moms. They are predominantly young, diverse, often single women who have confidence and aspirations of success. Fast facts: They commonly view money as the best measure of success They are more likely to have kids under the age of five They are tech-savvy and the segment most likely to say they need to be connected to the Internet from the minute they wake up until the moment they go to sleep They have a keen sense of fashion and are tuned in to current styles and consumer trends Conventional Moms – This segment accounts for 20 percent of moms. Although most of them have full-time jobs, family still comes first and faith plays an important role in their life. Fast facts: They are the most likely to drive an SUV or mini-van While discretionary income is plentiful, they have little interest in shopping They are active on social media; they like to post photos, write product reviews and read articles shared by friends They often turn to prepared foods or simple recipes to put food on the table due to their busy schedules Alpha Moms – This segment accounts for 19 percent of moms. They are high octane lean-in moms, early adopters and trendsetters with full-time jobs and packed calendars. Fast facts: They wear designer clothes, drive the latest model car or SUV and have the latest electronics They will do whatever it takes to keep a youthful appearance The environment is important is to them, and they are supporters of the arts They are heavy users of social media and leverage it to interact with brands and share opinions Modest Moms – This segment accounts for 16 percent of moms. Like conventional moms, they are family and faith-oriented but they have more modest means and prefer a simple life. Fast facts: They prefer to indulge their kids with the funds they have rather than buy shiny new gadgets Family and faith are the most important things to them Nearly one-third are stay-at-home mothers Their main source of entertainment is watching television They are heavy users of social media and leverage it to interact with brands and share opinions Maverick Moms – This segment accounts for 18 percent of moms. They are independent trailblazers who are not afraid to make unconventional life choices. Fast facts: They are environmentally conscious, spiritual and prefer to buy organic and natural products While they are the most likely to be stay-at-home moms, they are also the most likely to own their own business They lead uncomplicated lives and use technology and social media with caution They prefer to postpone purchases for special occasions and have no trouble saying no to their kids Want more insights? Check out The Mom Report for deeper insights into the attitudes, behaviors, motivations and media and preferences of these five types of moms. You’ll discover tips to help target your best customers and craft messaging and offers that are sure to resonate.  

With the increase in alternate channels such as social media, many may think that email is no longer a valuable way to create engagement with consumers. On the contrary, email marketing is still one of the most effective tools for marketers — especially when it is paired with mobile. Experian Marketing Services sends more than 10 billion emails each month on behalf of major brands around the world, which gives us the unique ability to monitor trends in email performance and engagement over time. We report email marketing trends as well as the key performance indicators that shaped the success of the Experian Marketing Services clients’ email programs each quarter in our email benchmark reports. Mobile holds potential for email engagement One of the most noticeable trends that we’ve found in our research is that both mobile device usage and email engagement have increased. According to our Q3 2014 Email Benchmark report, the research also states that 53 percent of emails were opened on a mobile or tablet device in Q3. Although we can see an increase in both engagement and mobile usage, it is too early to tell if they are directly correlated. However, marketers should be paying attention — make mobile your priority, and you may have the ability to stay ahead of upcoming trends. “Because people are so connected with their devices today, it only makes sense that they would want to use their mobiles and tablets to check their emails in real time,” says Shelley Kessler, Manager, Reporting and Analytics, Experian Marketing Services. “This is why it is so important for marketers to adopt mobile optimization into their marketing plans. Without it, their overall engagement and click rates will significantly drop and they may ultimately lose their audience.” Catalog brands see email success with tablets To put the importance of mobile into perspective, let’s dig deeper: During Q3 2014, the majority of email opens occurred on mobile phones or tablets for catalogers, consumer products and multichannel retailers. Specifically, for multichannel retailers, 60 percent of all of their emails occurred on a mobile phone or tablet and 50 percent of their total clicks.  Meanwhile, catalogers had the highest percentage of tablet use with 18 percent of email opens and 13 percent of clicks occurring on tablets. Mobile can help create a relationship On a daily basis, a digitally connected customer’s inbox will be overwhelmed with hundreds or even thousands of different messages from marketers. To stick out from the crowd, marketers should be thinking of other ways to engage consumers. Shelley Kessler suggests creating a direct mobile messaging program: “Start a mobile messaging program if you have not already done so. If you have not developed a mobile database, start asking for customers’ mobile numbers in addition to email addresses and other basic information.” By utilizing mobile in ways that have not been done before, marketers have endless opportunities to get ahead of the curve. To learn more about these trends as well as others, download a free copy of our Q3 2014 Email Benchmark Report. Keep an eye out for the upcoming Q4 2014 Email Benchmark Report from Experian Marketing Services which will publish at the end of February.

Marketers: personalization is our duty Customers willingly give brands a lot of information. Some brands collect names, birthdays, message preferences and location in addition to contact information like email address, phone number and physical address. Brands that connect through Facebook and other social media accounts gain access to even more information – a person’s likes, friends/followers, age, demographics and more. Why are so many consumers willing to share this information? In a recent webinar, Ed Kowalski, Senior Director of Strategic Services at Experian Marketing Services refers to this phenomenon as the equitable exchange – customers provide companies with personal information because they believe it will enhance their brand experience. In return, marketers have a duty to responsibly use that data to benefit the customer. Personalization is an oft-discussed strategy in marketing, but many marketers struggle to make it a reality. In fact, a recent study found that 94 percent of companies have challenges relating to personalization. Yet marketers continue to collect more customer data – without a clear plan to utilize any of the data in a personalized context. Consider a brand that collects birthdate as part of its subscription process. As a consumer, I will only provide my birthdate if I can imagine a benefit to doing so. And I can – the brand may send me personalized well-wishes or even a special offer on my birthday each year. Because I’m willing to share my birthdate, I expect that the brand will use that data to engage me on a personal level. If they don’t, I’m likely to feel that the data I shared was not used productively, which will damage my perception of the brand and make me more reluctant to share information with them in the future. This concept extends to behavioral data too. Consumers often realize that companies may have data on their past purchases, browsing behavior and more. With this assumption in mind, they expect this data to be used to create more relevant brand experiences as well. Remarketing campaigns like abandoned cart emails and display ads targeted by browse behavior are increasing in popularity, as 69 percent of marketers in our most recent survey run these types of campaigns. This means customers are coming to expect them. So what does this mean for marketers? Not only is it a best-practice to personalize messaging based on customer data, but it’s often a requirement. Consumers are saying, “Show me that you know me.” As marketers, we need to make good on the unspoken promise of this equitable exchange. It doesn’t need to be hard. Check out the slides below or watch the webcast to learn how brands can begin to implement more personalized, relevant messages today.