Saturday, August 2, 2014

User segmentation: the gift that keeps on giving

All I want for Christmas is a gift just for me. Not one that I have to share, or one that was made for someone else. I want it to be in exactly my size, flattering to my shape, and in a shade that makes my eyes sparkle. I believe that this is a perfectly reasonable Christmas wish. I also happen to believe that this desire for something made “just for me” in all aspects of life is not entirely unreasonable.

But alas, I too believe that giving is indeed better than receiving and because of this I also want to make sure that what I give to others is wholly just for them. So this brings me to my point, re-gifting is not acceptable. Not for holiday’s and not for landing pages. You have to make it just for them, in just their size, and if it makes their eyes sparkle, that’s even better.

The easiest, and also the most effective way in many cases to do this is through segmentation experiences. This is especially true if you don’t know the visitor very well. It’s kind of like picking the name of the guy at the office that you only see when getting coffee for your secret Santa exchange. You want to get him something great, but who the heck is he?







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The joy of a segmentation experience is that you don’t really have to know the person at all; you just have to know a few basic ways that he may identify himself. You might, for instance, drop by the water cooler and talk about your golf game one day, the latest box office hit the next, or a concert you’re going to on Friday. Eventually, he’s going to show some interest and presto! You’ve got the perfect gift idea.

The same is true of landing pages, if you show a visitor options that they can relate to, one of these choices is going to resonate with them enough to make them want more of what you’re offering. These options can be a million different things, depending on what you’re pitching, but they should always be supported by specific content.

The worst thing you can do at this point is segment your audience and then send them to the same interior page as any other segment.  That’s not giving them what they want at all, but rather using that information just to meet your own marketing needs. That’s like getting your best friend tickets to your favorite band’s concert because you know she’ll take you. Not ok.

So this year, be a good gift giver. Give them what they want, and make it just for them; even if you have to ask them what their perfect gift is. 




User segmentation: the gift that keeps on giving

Deck the Halls with App-Like Games

‘Tis the season to be online shopping. Gadgets, winter boots or ugly Christmas sweaters, whatever it is you fancy, it’s sure to be found somewhere on the web. For some, the task of online shopping can be an irritating and tiresome feat. But if you’re anything like me, you get a thrill out of finding the best deals and getting the biggest bang for your buck! However, the process of online deal hunting is not always an enjoyable one. That is why whenever I come across a page that finds a way to make my online shopping fun and entertaining, I take notice!

While waiting for valet to bring my car around after work (this process has been known to take up to 20 minutes sometimes!), my mind wanders to my holiday to-do list. My younger cousin, Samantha, is next on my gift list. Unsure what to get her; I start checking out different mobile shopping apps such as Victoria Secret’s junior apparel line, PINK Nation. Next thing I know, I had spent several minutes playing games, such as PINK-O, all while racking up points to put towards different items and prizes!

PINK takes their visitors on a short, but effective, conversion-focused journey. They engage their mobile visitors at a higher level, which as a result, gains them more online leads.

Games are an entertaining way to engage and convert prospects. From the look and feel to the overall messaging, PINK’s mobile app and landing experiences are perfectly tailored to appeal to their target audience.

Thanks to my stellar gaming skills and my exquisite fashion sense, my cousin’s gift was all squared away with time to spare — all before my car arrived. Now, that’s what I like to call savvy shopping!




Deck the Halls with App-Like Games

Best of 2013: Responsive design, content marketing, conversion paths & more

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2013. Google called it "a year of transformation." Mashable declared it "the year of responsive web design." And then there was Google Enhanced Campaigns, which was mandated across all AdWords campaigns back in July. If you weren't ready for mobile, well, it didn't matter, because it happened.

With smartphone sales expected to reach 1.81 billion...and double by 2015...compelling, intelligent, and integrated digital campaigns, and thus experiences, will be mandatory.

Not optional.

We've been preaching brilliant post-click marketing since 2007. But this year, highly relevant, smart, user-centered creative really took a front seat that will carry through 2014 and beyond.

So, to wrap up the year with a nice bow, we wanted to share our "Best of 2013" — a collection of blog posts designed to inspire better digital experiences and help you provide more value (and conversions) in the new year.

Cheers!

Jessica 

9 Best Practices for Designing Responsive Landing Pages

Nine of our favorite best practices for designing stellar responsive landing pages. You can use these with or without a platform to ensure you are building landing pages that not only respond, but convert! Learn how to put the right content in the right place on the page for every user.

How to use conversion paths for a better digital experience

Humans click your ads and land on your pages. Seems obvious, but in our haste to put up an experience with the perfect layout, content & offer, we often forget to think about the human behind the click. Learn how to use user segmentation (aka conversion paths) for a better digital experience.

9 Ways to Drive More Leads From Your Content Marketing

Sure, you've used landing pages to 'gate' high value content such as white papers or ebooks, but there more creative ways to up-sell and cross-sell content to convert your audience's attention into business results. Discover nine ideas for innovative ways to drive more leads from your content marketing.

Three awesome [infographics]

Content marketing, landing pages and testing...these are three of our favorite things! Download these infographics.

Happy Holidays from ion!

Read our 2013 holiday blog post series — ionians cover best practices for testing, responsive design, user segmentation, marketing apps & more! Read the series.




Best of 2013: Responsive design, content marketing, conversion paths & more

To Send or Not to Send More Email: That Is the Question

So, just how much email is okay to send? It’s a question on many retailers’ minds, especially as we enter the holiday season. 


Recently, Elyse Dupre of Direct Marketing News interviewed Listrak CEO Ross Kramer and Listrak client, Alex Cresswell, of Lisa Leonard Designs, on the topic for an article that appears in the August issue. 


In short, Ross and Alex suggest that it’s okay to send more if …


- your target customers are in market


- you’ve segmented your list 


- it’s Black Friday or Cyber Monday 


- you’re leveraging scarcity 


…and you shouldn’t send more if…


- your customers are making big-ticket purchases 


- your customers aren’t receiving your emails 


Read the article to find out more. 


To Send or Not to Send More Email: That Is the Question

Top 5 Social Marketing Quotes Of The Week


Top 5 Social Marketing Quotes Of The Week

Why Brands Should Jump On Tumblr For Video Marketing


Why Brands Should Jump On Tumblr For Video Marketing

The Consistently Overlooked Component To Going Viral


The Consistently Overlooked Component To Going Viral

This video advertising startup just raised $2.8M to do its thing in more places

This video advertising startup just raised $2.8M to do its thing in more places

Above: ViralGains

Image Credit: Screenshot

NOTE: GrowthBeat -- VentureBeat's provocative new marketing-tech event -- is next week! We've gathered the best and brightest to explore the data, apps, and science of successful marketing. Get the full scoop here, and grab your tickets while they last.


ViralGains, a startup that provides a video-advertising marketplace for publishers and advertisers, is expanding into new markets thanks to the funding it announced Thursday.


The startup raised $2.8 million of a $3.3 million round and plans to take on the market in Southern California, New York City, and Chicago.


A variety of companies are vying the growing online video ad market. Google launched Partner Select in June. Another player is TubeMogul, which went public in July.


“This round is going to allow ViralGains to scale up our advertising technology platform to bring on more advertisers who can buy video ad placements from us, and more publishers who can create revenue from those ad placements.” said ViralGains CEO Jay Singh.


ViralGains pushes advertisers’ YouTube videos to targeted audiences. The company says it “targets by 4,000 human attributes” and uses “a recommendation engine to find viewers who are most interested in watching the advertiser’s video.”



More specifically, Singh has explained in the past that ViralGains watches what people do with video ads, figures out the best people to deliver ads to, and then hones in on those people with ads.


This round is led by Hub Angels, with participation from 45 investors include 500 Startups’ Dave McClure. Rapper Nasir “Nas” Jones also invested in it.


The company started in March 2012 and is headquartered in Boston. It graduated from 500 Startups’ seventh batch in October.


Its customers include a bunch of high-profile companies such as Exxon, Nestlé, Lexus, and State Farm.




We're studying digital marketing compensation: how much companies pay CMOs, CDOs, VPs of marketing, and more, with ChiefDigitalOfficer. Help us out by filling out the survey, and we'll share the results with you.

This video advertising startup just raised $2.8M to do its thing in more places

Five SEO Tips for Global Marketers

If you want to boost your website traffic overseas, you need a localized strategy for each market. Here are five SEO tips to keep in mind during that localization process. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
Five SEO Tips for Global Marketers

Mobile Marketing: The Week in Review

Mobile Marketing The Week in Review4 Mobile Marketing: The Week in ReviewIn case you missed it, here are some of the top stories in mobile marketing and advertising we’ve been following this week.


Get ready for a major upgrade at a future Hilton hotel stay. Beginning next year, guests can kiss the hotel’s front desk goodbye. The check-in process once a staple of the hotel experience will soon be relegated to the trash bin of history.


As Mark Twain once quipped, “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” The same could be said for email. It’s not dead. In fact, it’s still kicking pretty well.


If health apps were more engaging and more fun, consumers would start using them “in a heartbeat.”


Apps may be where people spend most of their time, but retail sales sites are where it’s happening. That’s the conclusion of recent eMarketer data, which projects that 19.0 percent of U.S. retail ecommerce sales will stem from mobile devices this year.


Maybe you don’t have to go to Facebook. Maybe Facebook will come to you, thanks to the emerging method of sequential mobile advertising.


Want to get the latest MMW news and insight delivered straight to you inbox every morning? Click here to sign up for our free newsletter.


37b97aafe3aee5bffdcf85f98539a0fa Mobile Marketing: The Week in Review Mobile Marketing: The Week in Review


Mobile Marketing: The Week in Review

4 Ways to Prepare for the Future of the Inbox

With all the changes coming to the email channel, it's easy to lose sight of what you need to focus on to both optimize what you're doing today and strategically plan for continued optimization tomorrow.




4 Ways to Prepare for the Future of the Inbox

What We Learned This Week

This week we learned about irony, where that Ground Zero ship came from, and why Ebola should be freaking everyone out.
What We Learned This Week

Inside Facebook contest: Win an All-Access Pass to Mediabistro’s Content Marketing 101

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Inside Facebook has been covering the Facebook platform since 2006, when Facebook was still in its infancy. We’ve also been an early adopter of Facebook. Our fanbase has grown incredibly fast in the past year, as more than 100,000 people have liked our Facebook page.


To celebrate, we’ve partnered with our partner company — Mediabistro — to offer a special treat for our Facebook fans. By entering the giveaway contest on our Facebook page, you can win an All-Access Pass to Mediabistro’s Content Marketing 101 online bootcamp. The class runs Sept. 8-Sept. 12. The contest ends Aug. 8.


Click here to enter the contest. (Here is the mobile link.)



What can you learn during Content Marketing 101?


We live in a world with more information out there than ever before. Think of the ever growing number of social media platforms, blogs and websites in our digital ecosystem. How then do you make your message heard and capture people’s attention? How do you make sure that the information you’re delivering is valuable and not simply a sales pitch? Traditional PR and advertising no longer work when it comes to creating both trust and brand awareness. Instead content is the new currency to building connections and engaging with your existing and potential audience.


Almost 60% of businesses today use some form of content marketing. In our interactive series of webcasts, understand what this buzzword is all about– why it’s more important than ever and how you can build a successful brand or business around it. You’ll hear from experts who’ll guide with tactical advice for creating, distributing and measuring the success of your content.


Special thanks to ShortStack.



Inside Facebook contest: Win an All-Access Pass to Mediabistro’s Content Marketing 101

What We Learned This Week

This week we learned about irony, where that Ground Zero ship came from, and why Ebola should be freaking everyone out.
What We Learned This Week

Thousands Of Inmates Serve Time Fighting The West's Forest Fires

As wildfire season rages in California, firefighting help is coming from an unexpected place: prison. Thousands of low-level offenders have become a crucial component of how the state battles wildfires.



Cisco VP: We Need to Market More Like B2C Companies


Joseph Puthussery, Cisco's VP demand generation, believes his company's marketing should look more like Netflix's.

During last week's SiriusDecisions conference, Mr. Puthussery lauded the streaming giant's ability to personalize its website for millions of customers for a product selling for $8.99 a month. He said there was little reason for Cisco's website not to offer similar personalization, considering its software is much more expensive.

Here, Mr. Puthussery discusses how b-to-b marketers can incorporate elements of b-to-c strategy into their work:


Continue reading at AdAge.com


Cisco VP: We Need to Market More Like B2C Companies

B-to-B Needs More Humor: Cisco Marketing Manager


Business may not seem funny to most, but it ought to be, according to Tim Washer, a former actor and comedy writer who's now Cisco Systems' senior marketing manager for social media.

Creating brand value is as important as feeding the sales funnel, Mr. Washer said at the annual Business Marketing Association meeting in Chicago, and humor is a key ingredient.

Cisco, with Mr. Washer's help, has already embarked on some comedic videos, one of which came last year with the marketing of its ASR 9000 router.


Continue reading at AdAge.com


B-to-B Needs More Humor: Cisco Marketing Manager

To Send or Not to Send More Email: That Is the Question

So, just how much email is okay to send? It’s a question on many retailers’ minds, especially as we enter the holiday season. 


Recently, Elyse Dupre of Direct Marketing News interviewed Listrak CEO Ross Kramer and Listrak client, Alex Cresswell, of Lisa Leonard Designs, on the topic for an article that appears in the August issue. 


In short, Ross and Alex suggest that it’s okay to send more if …


- your target customers are in market


- you’ve segmented your list 


- it’s Black Friday or Cyber Monday 


- you’re leveraging scarcity 


…and you shouldn’t send more if…


- your customers are making big-ticket purchases 


- your customers aren’t receiving your emails 


Read the article to find out more. 


To Send or Not to Send More Email: That Is the Question

What Your Grocery Store Might Look Like in 2025: Different at Night


Picture this: A grocery store with shifting walls that transforms into a restaurant at night and a farmers market on Saturday mornings.

Sound far-fetched? It could happen by as soon as 2025, according to a new exhibit that seeks to predict food retail trends for the next 10 years. The predictions come from the Food Marketing Institute, which represents food retailers operating nearly 40,000 U.S. stores. The organization debuted the exhibit on Wednesday in Chicago as part of a sprawling trade show that it is hosting this week.

The exhibit was overseen by Tesser, a San Francisco-based brand strategy and design firm. In the video above Tesser CEO Tre Musco talks about the project, whose sponsors include Hershey Co., Coca-Cola Refreshments and American Express.


Continue reading at AdAge.com


What Your Grocery Store Might Look Like in 2025: Different at Night

ECRM

ECRM


Note: This event is exclusive to Econsultancy Enterprise subscribers.


The ECRM Roundtable is your chance to share knowledge, experience and best practice on the issues, trends and developments around ECRM.


Attendance is limited to 12 - 18 attendees, with discussion chaired and facilitated by Econsultancy to ensure all participants get the most from the session. 


Agenda


The agenda for the day is very much driven by those attending - your prority areas and pain points. Potential topics for discussion on ECRM to be added shortly.


ECRM

Marketing Attribution

Marketing Attribution Roundtable


The Marketing Attribution Roundtable is your chance to share knowledge, experience and best practice on the issues, trends and developments around this topic. 


Attendance is limited to 12 - 18 attendees, with discussion chaired and facilitated by Econsultancy to ensure all participants get the most from the session. 


Agenda


The agenda for the day is very much driven by those attending - your priority areas and pain points.



Marketing Attribution

What We Learned This Week

This week we learned about irony, where that Ground Zero ship came from, and why Ebola should be freaking everyone out.
What We Learned This Week

Five SEO Tips for Global Marketers

If you want to boost your website traffic overseas, you need a localized strategy for each market. Here are five SEO tips to keep in mind during that localization process. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
Five SEO Tips for Global Marketers

HP partners with Gilt, Michael Bastian to build iOS-compatible high-fashion smartwatch

Amidst a quickly growing smartwatch market, Hewlett-Packard is throwing its hat into the ring with a fashion-forward iOS and Android-compatible device made in partnership with Gilt and designer Michael Bastian.










Inside Facebook contest: Win an All-Access Pass to Mediabistro’s Content Marketing 101

original_344c342237e7e9feb21f4e8b60439b96


Inside Facebook has been covering the Facebook platform since 2006, when Facebook was still in its infancy. We’ve also been an early adopter of Facebook. Our fanbase has grown incredibly fast in the past year, as more than 100,000 people have liked our Facebook page.


To celebrate, we’ve partnered with our partner company — Mediabistro — to offer a special treat for our Facebook fans. By entering the giveaway contest on our Facebook page, you can win an All-Access Pass to Mediabistro’s Content Marketing 101 online bootcamp. The class runs Sept. 8-Sept. 12. The contest ends Aug. 8.


Click here to enter the contest. (Here is the mobile link.)



What can you learn during Content Marketing 101?


We live in a world with more information out there than ever before. Think of the ever growing number of social media platforms, blogs and websites in our digital ecosystem. How then do you make your message heard and capture people’s attention? How do you make sure that the information you’re delivering is valuable and not simply a sales pitch? Traditional PR and advertising no longer work when it comes to creating both trust and brand awareness. Instead content is the new currency to building connections and engaging with your existing and potential audience.


Almost 60% of businesses today use some form of content marketing. In our interactive series of webcasts, understand what this buzzword is all about– why it’s more important than ever and how you can build a successful brand or business around it. You’ll hear from experts who’ll guide with tactical advice for creating, distributing and measuring the success of your content.


Special thanks to ShortStack.



Inside Facebook contest: Win an All-Access Pass to Mediabistro’s Content Marketing 101

Mobile Marketing: The Week in Review

Mobile Marketing The Week in Review4 Mobile Marketing: The Week in ReviewIn case you missed it, here are some of the top stories in mobile marketing and advertising we’ve been following this week.


Get ready for a major upgrade at a future Hilton hotel stay. Beginning next year, guests can kiss the hotel’s front desk goodbye. The check-in process once a staple of the hotel experience will soon be relegated to the trash bin of history.


As Mark Twain once quipped, “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” The same could be said for email. It’s not dead. In fact, it’s still kicking pretty well.


If health apps were more engaging and more fun, consumers would start using them “in a heartbeat.”


Apps may be where people spend most of their time, but retail sales sites are where it’s happening. That’s the conclusion of recent eMarketer data, which projects that 19.0 percent of U.S. retail ecommerce sales will stem from mobile devices this year.


Maybe you don’t have to go to Facebook. Maybe Facebook will come to you, thanks to the emerging method of sequential mobile advertising.


Want to get the latest MMW news and insight delivered straight to you inbox every morning? Click here to sign up for our free newsletter.


37b97aafe3aee5bffdcf85f98539a0fa Mobile Marketing: The Week in Review Mobile Marketing: The Week in Review


Mobile Marketing: The Week in Review