All posts by Scott Anderson
According to new research from Experian Marketing Services, a recognized leader in data-driven marketing, 90 percent of marketers struggle to move beyond single-channel marketing programs to optimize their marketing across channels or around the customer. The company today announced an expansion of its strategic, cross-channel consulting offerings to address this need and help organizations increase the sophistication and effectiveness of their marketing programs. Marketers can now take a free online assessment to discover where their organization falls on Experian’s Marketing Sophistication Curve The new program, which offers marketers strategic guidance around common marketing pain points, is designed to help them progress up Experian’s Marketing Sophistication CurveSM. The curve is a framework and road map that allows organizations to accurately assess the state of their marketing operations and identify the steps necessary for creating individualized marketing experiences around the customer. “Recognizing the need to change and knowing how to make that happen are two entirely different things,” said Matt Seeley, president, Experian Marketing Services, North America. “While the industry is exploding with marketing clouds and automation technology, most organizations have unique challenges that off-the-shelf software doesn’t address. Experian’s Marketing Sophistication Curve offers marketers help with the first critical step in that process: an understanding of where you are today and what you need to do tomorrow.” Experian Marketing Services is offering marketers a chance to identify where they fall on the curve on its Website. The four phases of Experian’s Marketing Sophistication Curve The culmination of more than 30 years of experience working with the world’s top brands to improve their marketing effectiveness, Experian’s Marketing Sophistication Curve outlines four primary phases of marketing sophistication: Phase I: Single-Channel Optimization — Brands at this stage seek new sources of data and analytical approaches to do more with existing programs and tools. They struggle to achieve a higher performance from data-driven campaigns. Phase II: Multichannel Marketing — Organizations at this stage engage customers across multiple channels but seek greater consistency. They struggle to incorporate newer channels, like mobile, into their messaging strategy. Phase III: Cross-Channel Marketing — The marketing organization at this stage implements cross-channel marketing programs but struggles to organize data and target campaign content around customers easily, consistently and in useful time frames. Phase IV: Cross-Channel Optimization — This is the apex of modern marketing, where customer context, location and timing merge with every imaginable form of customer data to create a single, shared and immediate view of the customer across all channels. Improving marketing by addressing the common pain points Experian Marketing Services’ new cross-channel consulting program offers marketers a set of new bundled offerings around three common pain points that must be addressed as marketers move from one phase of the curve to the next: acquisition, growth and retention, and win-back. “As new technologies and channels are introduced, consumer behavior changes, and in return how we assess and approach these traditional marketing issues needs to evolve,” continued Seeley. “The curve’s framework and the addition of the new strategic consulting bundles to our existing portfolio are part of our long-term commitment to be both a superior marketing technology provider and a strategic partner for leading marketers around the world.”
Experian Marketing Services, a global provider of integrated consumer insights, targeting, data quality and cross-channel marketing, hosted a fireside chat with U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team goalkeeper Tim Howard at its 2014 Client Summit. In the following video clip from that fireside chat, Howard discusses how he decides to align with brands that match his personal and professional image. Specifically, Howard describes the formula he uses to make business partnership decisions. “We try and look for a good fit,” said Howard. “There’s not always a blueprint for that, but it’s a feeling.” He continues, “I don’t want to lend my name to just any old company. I have put in a lot of hard work into my own brand, which is basically on the field, trying to be a decent guy and a good player.” A video of the entire fireside chat featuring Howard and moderator Rick Erwin, president of consumer insights and targeting at Experian Marketing Services, can be viewed on the company’s YouTube channel with this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T19JM3i-brY Insights and stories shared by Howard connected directly to the theme of the 2014 Client Summit, reinforcing the importance of storytelling for marketers and how brands need to deliver exceptional and authentic customer experiences. During the Client Summit, Experian Marketing Services also unveiled several new capabilities that will help marketers drive customer acquisition, increase brand loyalty and improve marketing return on investment. The biggest highlight was the announcement of the Experian Marketing Suite, a cohesive, end-to-end marketing capability that enables brands to deliver authentic customer experiences every time, in any channel and via any device. To watch additional Client Summit videos, including event keynote sessions, visit http://ex.pn/W8ktEQ.
Experian Marketing Services, a global provider of integrated consumer insights, targeting, data quality and cross-channel marketing, gathered more than 1,000 top marketing executives from the world’s leading brands for the 2014 Client Summit. The event reinforced the importance of storytelling for marketers and how brands need to deliver exceptional and authentic customer experiences.
The Experian Marketing Suite enables brands to create and deliver authentic customer experiences across all interaction points Experian Marketing Services today launched the Experian Marketing Suite. Unveiled at Experian Marketing Services’ 2014 Client Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Marketing Suite is a cohesive end-to-end marketing solution that enables brands to create and deliver authentic customer experiences every time, in any channel and via any device. The Marketing Suite allows brands to identify and profile customers better, while providing added intelligence to gain a complete and current view of the customer. Paired with a flexible campaign management platform, the Marketing Suite enables marketers to create personalized interactions in real time and increase the sophistication of their marketing efforts. Consumer insights and intelligence can be linked to a brand’s own data, making it available via every communication channel in a privacy compliant and secure manner. “By leveraging our 30 years of data-driven marketing experience, combined with our expertise in data integration and intelligent customer analysis, our Experian Marketing Suite empowers brands to deliver higher customer lifetime value and benefit from long-term profitability,” said Matt Seeley, president of Experian Marketing Services. “Our goal is to stay flexible and adaptable to meet the changing needs of our clients. It’s through their direct feedback that we’ve created this Marketing Suite, providing brands with numerous competitive marketing advantages, including increased customer loyalty and improved marketing return on investment.” The Experian Marketing Suite is made up of three core elements, providing marketers with the following competitive advantages: Identity manager — Develop a comprehensive view of customers through accurately captured contact data, consumer data set enhancements and linkage across all customer interactions Intelligence manager — Understand customer behaviors and preferences through actionable customer profiles, targeted messaging and engagement strategies Interactions manager — Interact intelligently across all channels with a flexible campaign management platform that provides optimized interactions across all touch-points, analysis to optimize performance and campaign attribution The Experian Marketing Suite was launched at Experian Marketing Services’ 2014 Client Summit in Las Vegas, Nev. At the Client Summit, executives from Experian Marketing Services unveil the company’s latest products, capabilities, actionable case studies and groundbreaking consumer research, sharing the stage with clients and partners. Learn more about the Experian Marketing Suite.
Experian Data Quality, a part of Experian Marketing Services and a leading provider of data quality software and services, today published a new report on the prevalence of personalization and analytics required to support new marketing efforts. The study found that while almost half of companies personalize messages across more than one channel, organizations struggle to gain insight quickly and maintain an accurate data source.
For the seventh straight year, Experian Marketing Services secured the top spot, according to Internet Retailer’s 2014 Top 500 Guide Experian Marketing Services has once again secured the number one position as the leading email marketing provider to the greatest total of top 500 online retailers in North America. According to Internet Retailer’s recently released 2014 Top 500 Guide, Experian Marketing Services ranks ahead of all other email marketing services companies, as measured by the number of top-500-ranked e-retailers in North America using its products and services. This marks the seventh year in a row Experian Marketing Services has held the leading position. Internet Retailer’s Top 500 Guide compiles exclusive data to provide marketers with valuable insights to help grow their businesses, including insights related to what’s driving growth in online sales. The annual guide is widely recognized as the industry’s most comprehensive analysis of America’s 500 largest retail Websites, as ranked by annual ecommerce sales. “Drawing on our expertise in building scalable and reliable marketing technology as the world’s largest email service provider, our frontrunner recognition in the 2014 Top 500 Guide underpins our commitment to providing our clients with a single cross-channel platform to deliver coordinated and intelligent interactions with their customers,” said Peter DeNunzio, president of Cross-Channel Marketing at Experian Marketing Services. “There’s no question that competition is increasing in the online retail space so it’s wonderful to see so many of our clients leading the way in customer engagement year over year.” The modern-day consumer has forever changed the relationship between a brand and its customers, as well as the technology that enables marketers to maintain and grow those relationships. As one of the most highly regarded email service providers in the industry, Experian Marketing Services sends more than 14 billion email messages a month on behalf of the world’s most recognizable brands. Backed by the industry’s highest-rated client services team, Experian Marketing Services’ cross-channel marketing platform is built with the scale and flexibility to support digital programs of any size and sophistication. Learn more about Experian Marketing Services’ cross-channel marketing platform by visiting its Website. Order a copy of Internet Retailer’s 2014 Top 500 Guide by visiting it’s Website.
2014 Client Summit: Storytellers will focus on how brands can deliver authentic and meaningful customer experiences. Experian Marketing Services today announced a star-studded speaker lineup for its 2014 Client Summit to be held July 23–25, 2014, at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nev., around the theme of “Storytelling.” The award-winning event will bring together more than 1,000 attendees from some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated brands. Marketers will hear from compelling storytellers throughout the three-day event including: • Michael Strahan, cohost of \"LIVE with Kelly and Michael\" and \"Good Morning America,\" analyst for \"Fox NFL Sunday\" and pro football Hall of Famer • Adam Savage, cohost of “MythBusters” on Discovery Channel • Sophia Amoruso, founder and CEO of Nasty Gal, the fastest growing online retailer in the country, and author of #GIRLBOSS • Jermaine Dupri, Grammy winner and founder of Global 14 • Don Steele, senior vice president, fan engagement, multiplatform marketing at Comedy Central • Dave Beveridge, senior vice president, marketing at ShoeDazzle • Jenn McClain-De Jong, vice president, ecommerce at The Limited • Brad Nash, marketing director, email and lifecycle marketing, GameStop “Marketers need to master both the art and science of storytelling in order to resonate in a meaningful way with their customers,” said Ashley Johnston, senior vice president, global marketing at Experian Marketing Services. “For the 2014 Client Summit: Storytellers, our goal is to give marketers the right balance of inspiration, education and networking. We’ll also demonstrate the latest advancements within our marketing suite so that clients can go back to their teams with tangible strategies for creating relatable, memorable and sharable customer experiences.” At the event, executives from Experian Marketing Services will unveil the company’s latest products, capabilities, actionable case studies and groundbreaking consumer research, sharing the stage with clients and partners. Attendees can choose from nearly 50 breakout and roundtable sessions featuring speakers from Forrester Research, GameStop, Michael’s Stores, Microsoft Advertising, Yahoo!, Zappos, Hearst Magazines, AT&T, Bass Pro Shops, Williams-Sonoma, Saks Fifth Avenue, Men’s Warehouse, AOL, Associated Press, EA, Bare Necessities, Finish Line, Scripps Interactive and Western Union, among others. Breakouts will address a wide range of topics relevant to marketers, including: • Digital advertising • Mobile strategies • Response attribution • Data management • Behavioral targeting • Email to cross-channel evolution • Email creative optimization • Compliance and deliverability • Predictive analytics and modeling • Loyalty programs A highly anticipated event each summer for marketers, Experian Marketing Services’ Client Summit was recently recognized with a Stevie Award for Best Tradeshow/Conference at the American Business Awards. “I had an absolute blast at my first Summit,” said Courtney Bradley, Coordinator, Loyalty Marketing, Virgin Airlines. “Not only did we learn a great deal, but we had a fantastic time doing it! The keynote speakers were inspiring, the breakout sessions were insightful and The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas was a fantastic venue. Experian Marketing Services did an amazing job overall. I can\'t wait for next year!” Visit http://www.2014clientsummit.com today to learn more and to register. Space is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis.
According to Experian Marketing Services, a global provider of integrated consumer insights, targeting, data quality and cross-channel marketing, abandoned cart emails have significantly higher revenue per email than promotional mailings. Featuring results from a new email remarketing best practices analysis, as part of its Q1 2014 Email Benchmark Report, Experian Marketing Services found that personalized abandoned cart emails that show the actual customer cart had 25 percent higher transaction rates than abandoned cart emails that just linked back to the brand’s Website. Further, personalized subject lines had 12 percent higher unique open rates than mailings without personalization. A complimentary download of the full report is available here: http://ex.pn/1l4VlrS. Additional findings from the email remarketing best practices analysis confirm: • Abandoned cart emails should be delivered in a three-part series. Brands that send second abandoned cart reminders had a 50 percent increase in abandoned cart revenue compared to just their first abandoned cart mailing. Those sending three mailings saw a 56 percent increase in revenue compared to just sending the initial abandoned cart email. • Test including an offer. Including an offer in the first abandoned cart mailing boosted transaction rates by 54 percent. The highest transaction rates for offers were for dollar-off offers (2.05 percent), followed by free shipping (1.87 percent) and percent off (1.15 percent) offers. “Mastering email remarketing through a series of personalized content can have a real and direct impact on a brand’s bottom line,” said Peter DeNunzio, general manager for cross-channel marketing at Experian Marketing Services. “We’re seeing that brands that are able to ‘test and learn’ their way to personalization are particularly successful as they embrace cross-channel programs. By understanding the impact of timing, creative messaging and personalization – and adopting a continuous improvement mindset – brands are incorporating cross-channel tactics more seamlessly in their remarketing strategies.” Industry performance analysis The Q1 2014 Email Benchmark Report details overall email marketing trends for the first quarter of 2014 as well as the key performance indicators (KPIs) that shaped the success of email programs over the past two years across seven major verticals: business products and services, catalogers, consumer products and services, media and entertainment, multichannel retailers, publishers, and travel. Total email volume increased by 15.6 percent in Q1 2014 compared to Q1 2013 but volume declined in Q1 as compared to the previous holiday quarter (Q4 2013). Additional findings from specific industries include: • Catalogers had the highest gain in volume as 100 percent of brands increased mailings in Q1 2014. • More than half of the multichannel retail brands had statistically significant year-over-year increases in total and unique open rates in Q1 2014. • Fifty percent of total email opens are occurring on mobile devices. However, this varies by vertical. While 63 percent of emails from multichannel retailers are opened on a mobile device, mobile opens account for only 22 percent of email opens for business products and services. Increasing bounce rates highlight deliverability and data quality challenges According to a recent Experian Data Quality study, 66 percent of companies have experienced email deliverability issues in the last 12 months. Similarly, the Q1 2014 Email Benchmark Report highlights a 14.3 percent year-over-year increase in email bounce rates, with large percentage increases across several of the industries. Compared to bounce rates for the past two years, 2014 Q1 business products and services rates were constant, while catalogers and multichannel retailers experienced much larger increases in bounce rates year-over-year. The dramatic increase in bounce rates is due to the new practices of Internet Service Providers who are now shutting down inactive accounts more frequently to keep their own performance healthy. “It is vital companies adopt more effective targeting, list cleaning and data quality practices to improve the deliverability of their emails and the health of their cross-channel marketing programs,” said DeNunzio. Experian Marketing Services’ Q1 2014 Email Benchmark Report is available to download: http://ex.pn/1l4VlrS.
World Cup fans will be watching the 2014 games across multiple devices, often simultaneously, according to an analysis from Experian Marketing Services, a global provider of integrated consumer insight, targeting, data quality and cross-channel marketing. Specifically, World Cup fans are 31 percent more likely than average to watch online video across multiple devices, with 64 percent of adult fans watching online video during a typical week, compared with 49 percent of all adults. This is according to Experian Marketing Services’ National Consumer Survey, a nationally representative, continuously fielded survey of approximately 25,000 U.S. adults, including both English and Spanish speakers.