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  During the holidays, you can always expect to see the malls and local shopping centers filled with consumers purchasing gifts for their families and friends. It can be quite a hectic adventure. So much so, many consumers find themselves shopping online to circumvent some of the holiday stress. After all, shopping online can be an efficient strategy year round. But with many consumers choosing to shop online, comes the potential of the abandoned shopping cart. We’ve all been there. We receive an important phone call just as we begin to checkout, and forget all about it. How can brands entice those of us who abandon our shopping carts to come back to the website and complete our transaction? According to Experian’s Q3 2016 Email Benchmark Report, customers who received multiple abandoned shopping cart emails were 2.4 times more likely to complete a transaction than customers who only received one. However, that doesn’t mean that brands should bombard customers with multiple emails. In order to toe the line between burdensome and effective email messaging, brands need to take into account how their customers behave. By testing email suppression strategies, brands can find the right balance for successful messaging. For more information on the analysis and a complimentary download of the report, click here. To view the full press release, click here.

Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the past couple of weeks, you know the holidays are in full swing. And while spending time with family and friends are holiday staples, another holiday pastime is shopping. By that, I mean Black Friday. While we’re still a little over a week away, many consumers have already begun planning their Black Friday strategy. But who are these consumers? What are their interests? For marketers who want to target these consumers, understanding who they are is paramount to those efforts. The more they understand, the easier it will be to reach them. We recently leveraged our Social Media Analysis tool to conduct a study* of active social media users who mentioned #BlackFriday in posts, and we got a glimpse into the television shows, restaurants and types of brands they were more likely to follow and engage with on social media. Top television shows These are the social media handles for the television shows that #BlackFriday enthusiasts are more likely to follow than the overall population. Extra TV – 20.12 times more likely Stranger Things – 17.29 times more likely Jessica Jones – 16.64 times more likely Daredevil – 15.14 times more likely Gotham – 13.89 times more likely The Flash – 12.36 times more likely Star Trek – 10.95 times more likely Robot – 10.82 times more likely Empire – 10.67 times more likely Agents of Shield – 10.15 times more likely Top restaurants These are the social media handles for the restaurants that #BlackFriday enthusiasts are more likely to follow than the overall population. Little Caesars – 24.43 times more likely IHOP – 18.82 times more likely Krispy Kreme – 18.77 times more likely Red Lobster – 17.94 times more likely Applebee’s – 14.87 times more likely Dairy Queen – 13.96 times more likely Outback Steakhouse – 13.93 times more likely KFC – 13.88 times more likely Olive Garden – 13.59 times more likely Burger King – 13.42 times more likely Top brands types These are the types of brands that #BlackFriday enthusiasts are more likely to follow than the overall population. Household-Toys – 26.09 times more likely Stores-Consumer Electronics – 9.68 times more likely Beauty-Skincare – 8.70 times more likely Stores-Department – 7.15 times more likely Services – 6.94 times more likely What marketing fuel does this provide? There's no doubt that core demographic and geographic information are key components to understanding a specific consumer population, but marketers that want to stand out also need to understand the psychographic and lifestyle characteristics of their audience. These insights give marketers a glimpse into what makes the #BlackFriday consumer tick; what they like; where they eat; etc. When you tap into this type of rich, organic, consumer-generated data, you have the power to start making marketing decisions that may not have been obvious before. In this case of our #BlackFriday analysis, a brand who wants to reach the Black Friday shopper who is willing to put down their turkey day casserole and take out their holiday cash, may consider revising their media buy. For example, perhaps a brand doubles down on TV ad buys and commercials during Extra TV in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. And since three of the top five shows are OTT (over the top or streaming), they could also consider pivoting to other channels or partners to help get the word out. Who knows – maybe you could reward parents shopping at Toys R' Us with a free pizza from Little Caesars to take off some of the holiday stress. The data shows there could be synergy in partnerships or promotions that hasn't been tapped before. When people hear the word 'data,' they may have visions of people pouring over spreadsheets and numbers into the wee hours of the night. But when I look at Social Media Analysis, I see billions of pieces of data that have been distilled into audience intelligence that marketers 20 years ago would have fought over. This data cannot only fuel great business decisions, but more importantly, a ton of creativity. And backed by data, creativity is where brands can crush it. I can't wait for this holiday season to reveal which marketers have used data successfully with the hearts, minds…and pocketbooks, of the people they are looking to attract. For more information on the launch of Social Media Analysis, visit https://www.experianplc.com/media/news/2016/social-media-analysis/ *This analysis is based on SpotRight's active Twitter user profiles, and is derived from consumers tweeting about "#blackfriday" between August and November 2016. Active is defined as consumers who have tweeted in the past 12 months.

Technology is a high priority for most brands. Organizations often want to bring in the next technological prodigy to develop a successful platform or gadget. But successful technology teams go beyond the end product. Successful technology teams are constructed of team members who have a sense of purpose, and understand the goals they are working towards. But in order to create a powerhouse team, technology leaders need to invest time into their people. In this Entrepreneur article, Emad Georgy, chief technology officer for Experian’s Cross-Channel Marketing discusses daily practices all leaders should adopt when building a winning team. By incorporating these practices into their work environment, leaders are better positioned to build a successful team, and make a positive impact for their clients.