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Econsultancy - Why personalisation is key to Trainline's social media strategy

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Econsultancy - Why personalisation is key to Trainline's social media strategy

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The UK’s rail system has got to be one of the most-complained about services on social media.
With delays and cancellations, here there and everywhere – Twitter is usually a firestorm of negativity.

So, how does a company that sells tickets on its behalf create a positive reputation?

OG comments:

Good example of a placed customer story. When we have access to Mapp's customers we can look to do something similar

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With delays and cancellations, here there and everywhere - Twitter is usually a firestorm of negativity.

So, how does a company that sells tickets on its behalf create a positive reputation?

I recently heard Nicole New, Social Media Manager at Trainline.com, speak about this topic at an event hosted by We Are Social.

Here's a summary of what she said.

Using social media as an enabler

For Trainline, the biggest challenge it faces on social media is cutting through the noise of people complaining about poor service - and creating a separate identity for the brand in its own right.

On platforms like Twitter in particular, it can be hard to strike the right balance between customer service and brand promotion.

However, Trainline avoids blatant sales speak or merely shouting into the Twitter abyss about great prices.

Instead, it strives to become part of the conversations and trends already happening online, aiming to answer questions and concerns of customers in real-time, but to also offer a friendly and fun voice on seasonal, topical or timely topics.

Be a Christmas culture vulture with these 5 festive trips: https://t.co/7m2PGIKrvr #Christmas pic.twitter.com/LSHgr4lqJg
- trainline (@thetrainline) November 24, 2016

By positioning itself in this way, it is able to ensure it is the first brand that comes to mind when consumers need a train ticket.

Relate, don't dictate

'Relate, don't dictate' is a nice little slogan used by Nicole - and a great tip for anyone working in social media.

Essentially, it means using platforms in such a way so that natural user behaviour is not disrupted.

Again, this is done by being active in the spaces in which target consumers are present. But more than this, it is about honing in on the things that are the most relevant to them.

For Trainline, this doesn't always mean talking about the most obvious subjects.

Nicole explained how one of Trainline's most popular posts on Facebook for engagement was a post about University reading week.

While it's not specifically to do with train tickets, the brand found that it was a highly relatable topic for the platform's core demographic.

The article tapped into the natural conversation that was occurring on Facebook from students talking about going home for reading week, perfectly aligning with their current interests and budgets.

Connecting through shared experiences

Nicole also spoke about how Trainline uses the above tactic to encourage users to talk to each other as well as the brand.

By creating conversation around a popular and shared experience, such as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for example, users are more likely to feel like Trainline enables their own activity on social media.

Instead of being an overbearing brand trying to sell them something, it is a seamless part of the experience.

Celebrating the customer

Lastly, Trainline's customer-centric approach extends to how it responds to online feedback.

While negative comments are par for the course, Nicole explained how positive mentions from consumers are truly celebrated.

One way Trainline does this is to create personalised videos for users who mention the company in a positive light.

By letting them know that the brand likes them back, Trainline is able to create a truly memorable moment for a customer, fostering a sense of loyalty and strengthening the cycle of positivity.

We love you for being awesome too @markfawkes123, you're our kind of train traveller... pic.twitter.com/DdDUbg08uW
- trainline (@thetrainline) November 24, 2016
Now read:

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Why personalisation is key to Trainline's social media strategy

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With delays and cancellations, here there and everywhere - Twitter is usually a firestorm of negativity. So, how does a company that sells tickets on its behalf create a positive reputation? I recently heard Nicole New, Social Media Manager at Trainline.com, speak about this topic at an event hosted by We Are Social.

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Business Insider - Google unveiled 3 new features to help app marketers 

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Business Insider - Google unveiled 3 new features to help app marketers 

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Google unveiled three new features to help app marketers better reach and engage with consumers.

OG comments:

This was added as an FYI - it's useful to know what big players are doing in this market. Once we have our messaging on customer engagement approved we could draft rapid responses to news pieces like this

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BI Intelligence
This story was delivered to BI Intelligence Apps and Platforms Briefing subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.
Earlier this week, Google unveiled three new features to help app marketers better reach and engage with consumers.

Marketers can now automate video ads, recommend similar apps, and better target consumers who are more likely to make in-app purchases as part of the new offerings under Google's Universal App Campaigns (UAC).

UAC allows app developers to run ad campaigns across all Google properties, including Google Search, YouTube, Google Play, and Google Display Network.

Here's an overview of the three new offerings:

AutoDirector will automatically create a promotional video by pulling images, descriptions, and ratings from app vendors like the App Store and Google Play, which can then be distributed via UAC.

App recommendation ads will be displayed in a rotating carousel format within Google Play under a "You might also like" label. These ads will surface next to search results.

Developers can target users more likely to make in-app purchases (IAPs). Android developers can opt to track IAPs rather than installs. This information can then be used to target users who have previously made IAPs.

With the updates, Google is aiming to fix a number of consistent issues facing publishers, developers, and marketers:

App stores are overcrowded. There are more than 2 million apps in the Google Play store alone, making it increasingly difficult for developers to get their apps in front of users. Providing marketers with more tools via UAC is one way Google can help increase app visibility.

App engagement and retention is low. Developers are in an app engagement crisis, with 23% of consumers abandoning an app after just one use and 75% doing so within 90 days, according to Localytics. This could be because the app doesn't provide the experience users are expecting. Recommending apps to users who have downloaded similar apps could help mitigate this high churn rate.

Only a small share of consumers actually spend money in-app. Just 5% of app users spend money on IAPs, according to AppsFlyer. Giving marketers the ability to target these users could help app makers better monetize their products.

Both Google and Apple have been working toward providing more advertising options within their respective app stores to address these major issues. As each of these app marketplaces becomes even more competitive, it's likely both Apple and Google will roll out more advertising tools, though developers are hopeful that they will also address issues around organic app discovery, such as creating a more robust app search capability.

Cutting through the noise of an overcrowded app market is critical for any app developer looking to build a viable user base. There are now well over 3 million apps available across the world's five largest app stores. Delivering the right product to the right audience at the right time in this environment is imperative to the success of any app.

The challenge of marketing an app effectively has made app-install ads - an ad unit that directs users to download a mobile app - an essential tool for developers seeking to stand out in the Google Play and Apple app stores. This is why it's not surprising that more marketers are using paid channels to drive downloads than ever before. In fact, over 80% of respondents in a survey of the top 100 grossing mobile app developers noted they plan on increasing their spend on app-install ads in 2015.

BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on mobile app-install ads that looks at the revenues from app-install ads and how they're expected to grow over the next five years. It also looks at the performance of app-install ads and how these metrics are expected to change over time.

Furthermore, the report examines the top app-install ad products and pricing models offered by the leading advertising platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, and Google, as well as newer app-install formats from Instagram and Snapchat. Looking to the future, the report examines how companies are shifting their app-install ad spend to new formats, as well as the new tools they're using to improve optimization and ad effectiveness.
Here are some key takeaways from the report:

Mobile app-install ads - ad units that direct users to download a mobile app - are an essential tool for developers, and they account for a major share of mobile ad spend. We estimate 25% of total US mobile ad revenue was generated by app-install ads in 2015.

A combination of new developers entering the space and rising ad budgets will drive increased spending in years to come. US app-install ad revenue will grow to over $7 billion by year-end 2020, according to BI Intelligence estimates.

Mobile app install advertisers have traditionally invested heavily in display and interstitial ads, but are moving to mobile video and native install formats. 86% of developers currently use in-feed video app-install ads, and video ads are seen as the most effective app-install format.

As formats like video rise in popularity, older formats are losing their appeal for install campaigns. Static nonnative ads are widely used but are not seen as effective. Free app networks and offer walls have also fallen out of favor.

Ad platforms are now developing innovative new install formats to earn even more revenue from these lucrative ad units. New approaches, including deep linking and app streaming, are more contextualized and interactive than older ad formats.

In full, the report:

Forecasts app-install ad spending in the US through 2020.

Explores which app-install ad formats developers believe are most effective.

Discusses what the most popular platforms and ad networks are doing to attract ad spending.

Investigates new tools for marketing apps, including deep linking and app streaming.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP

2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you've given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the fast-moving world of mobile app-install ads.

Get the latest Google stock price here.

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Google unveiled 3 new features to help app marketers

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This story was delivered to BI Intelligence Apps and Platforms Briefing subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here. Earlier this week, Google unveiled three new features to help app marketers better reach and engage with consumers.

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Adobe Symposium Webinar Series - Customer Experience comes first

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Adobe Symposium Webinar Series - Customer Experience comes first

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Customers expect to be understood and to be catered to in their moments of want and need. This year’s Adobe Symposium London took a deep-dive into how top performing companies are reaching new heights by becoming Experience Businesses.

OG comments:

Could be a future opportunity for Mapp to hold a webinar series on customer engagement - how the conversation has shifted from customer experience to engagement

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Adobe Webinar Series | Journey Management | Campaign Orchestration | Mobile

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When it comes to multiple campaigns, customers are surfers. They jump from one channel to the next, creating countless opportunities to interact with your brand. Customers expect to be understood and to be catered to in their moments of want and need - and now there are tools to automate this process on a personal, individual level.

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Marketing Week - Why Black Friday is now a critical part of  Christmas for UK retailers 

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Marketing Week - Why Black Friday is now a critical part of  Christmas for UK retailers 

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Not that it should be of any surprise but it's reported that Black Friday has become a vital occasion for British brands with sales set to soar this year.

OG comments:

This as it's a good opportunity for Mapp to provide their customers with best practice tips on how to improve ROI during this period

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When Black Friday properly debuted on these shores back in 2013, it was remembered primarily for photographs of people getting into punch ups over limited stocks of cheap TVs. Asda, the retail brand most associated with these unsavoury scenes, even made the decision to pull out of Black Friday last year as it cited "shopper fatigue around flash sales on big ticket items".

Prominent retailers such as John Lewis have also raised questions over the merits of the event, although it is taking part due to its 'never knowingly undersold' price promise. But despite the concerns, this hasn't stopped the Black Friday train.

This year, Black Friday, which falls on 25 November, is expected to be the biggest yet, with British shoppers predicted to spend £2.31m a minute, according to online discounts firm Retail Me Not. It predicts sales will rise 19% year on year to £1.96bn.

According to the Post Office Money, British consumers will look to spend an average of £152 across Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with 41% using the sales to buy a luxury or big ticket item. Apple, meanwhile, is taking part in Black Friday promotions for 2016 after being absent last year.

"It will be our biggest ever day of the year, there's no doubt about that," says Matt Walburn, brand and marketing comms director at Dixons Carphone. "There were a lot of brands rejecting Black Friday last year but it's clear consumers are now keen to access bargains as early as possible in the festive season."

Nearly a quarter (24%) of all Christmas gifting is expected to occur on Black Friday, according to a poll of 1,000 18- to-55-year-old British consumers by technology publishing group Purch.

Walburn adds: "[Black Friday] has become the starting point for the Christmas shopping calendar and, if anything, Brexit has made it more relevant as consumers are demanding more bargains."

Better prepared

It is fair to say many retailers still view Black Friday as a logistical nightmare, with the likes of Tesco and Argos previously struggling as websites and in-store tills crashed.

However, Stephen Vowles, marketing director at Argos, says it has learnt from previous mistakes and will be talking up its click-and-collect capabilities in its marketing this year to ensure a smoother experience.

"Black Friday is firmly established now and we welcome the volume it brings. But we have had to make sure our model can better accommodate it. The online side is complementing the physical stores a lot better now," he explains. "Argos now has the perfect Black Friday model as you can order online and collect in a store on the same day. Our 24-hour delivery expertise - and talking up that message - takes the strain off the stores."

And Walburn says Dixons Carphone - and its brands Currys PC World and Carphone Warehouse - are better prepared this year thanks to 15% more delivery trucks on the road, 6% more stock and 700% more specialist staff around for Black Friday week. He also expects online sales to rise from 40% to 50% of the total, taking some strain off the physical stores.

Extending the sales

Currys PC World is extending its Black Friday sales through the 'Black Tag' event, which started on 20 November. And it isn't alone in expanding Black Friday promotions beyond one day.

Ebay's UK marketing director Gareth Jones says: "It is now much more of a Black Friday week, it's an expanded period of trading. That's the permanent direction it will go. I also see it becoming more British in terms of branding. Each retailer will have its own sub-brand or slogan for Black Friday."

This extension has also resulted in some cynicism. Independent watchdog Which? claims 49% of the products being sold as deals were cheaper either in the month before or after Black Friday last year.

Which? tracked deals on 20 popular tech gadgets and home appliances on Amazon, AO, Argos, Currys and John Lewis for the three months before and two months after Black Friday last year.

The one-day only offers were particularly poor. Only 8% were actually cheaper on Black Friday. By contrast, 12% were cheaper at some point in the three months leading up to the sale, and 38% were cheaper in the weeks afterwards. So is Black Friday just a chance to flog some unwanted stock?

"There will always be naysayers," dismisses Walburn. "We have been aware of the Which? report for some time and strongly refute all of the claims as our promotions meet the industry guidelines.

It isn't in our interest to just rebadge products because if they are already not selling, that is usually for a good reason.

He adds: "Customers will sniff out bad deals and you have got to use Black Friday as a chance to offer something truly unique or you will fail."

Taking a year-round approach

Retail brands must also steer clear of treating Black Friday as a one-off, according to Mike Harris, vice-president of EMEA at personalisation firm Monetate. There should be good deals and the infrastructure to support customers for the rest of the year.

He explains: "Instead of falling into the discount trap for few and far between extravaganza events, retailers should be conscious of other influencing factors such as quick delivery, extended warranties on high-ticket items or even the convenience of click-and-collect, all of which can help turn customers from browsers into buyers.

"The key is to build up a loyal customer base before peak season arrives. Black Friday is based on price, so when every other retailer is cutting its prices to outdo competition, retailers with a combination of good prices, a stand-out personalised experience and an existing loyal customer base are going to end up the winners."

And Dixons Carphone's Walburn adds: "In 10 years I see Black Friday still being a huge part of the UK retail calendar. Consumers are used to it now."

But with former John Lewis managing director Andy Street previously warning brands against Black Friday, it is clearly a shopping day that will not work for everyone. Argos' Vowles has already hinted prices could rise in 2017 due to Brexit complications, so don't be surprised if Black Friday 2016 is one final blowout before retail prices increase across the board next year.

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Why Black Friday is now a vital part of Christmas for UK retailers

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When Black Friday properly debuted on these shores back in 2013, it was remembered primarily for photographs of people getting into punch ups over limited stocks of cheap TVs. Asda, the retail brand most associated with these unsavoury scenes, even made the decision to pull out of Black Friday last year as it cited "shopper fatigue around flash sales on big ticket items".

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The Drum - Programmatic display ad prices tipped to surge 20% by 2018

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The Drum - Programmatic display ad prices tipped to surge 20% by 2018

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A study from Goodway Group has revealed that  the cost of display advertising inventory bought using programmatic buying technologies will rise sharply by as much as 20% across North America by 2018 due to publishers taking advantage of improved yield optimization technologies, according to a study.

OG Comments:

There is an appetite for new research in the marketing industry, leaving us in a good position to launch our own research.

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The cost of display advertising inventory bought using programmatic buying technologies will rise sharply by as much as 20% across North America by 2018 due to publishers taking advantage of improved yield optimization technologies, according to a study.

Publishers's continued adoption of header bidding, a generic shift from fixed CPMs to more dynamic pricing models (or dCPMs), as well as improved price-discovery software (including artificial intelligence) will result in a 15-to-20% increase in display ad prices, according to a study by Goodway Group.

A further breakdown of the study claims there will be an average price-increase of 2% each month across all programmatic display purchases before 2018, with Goodway Group additionally claiming that smaller, regional agencies are now adopting such technologies, and that this is driving the ongoing increase in prices.

Jay Friedman, COO of Goodway Group, added: "We are expecting a fairly significant jump in pricing throughout the next year due to the changing nature of the market. We as an industry are getting much better at removing fraud and improving viewability, which causes our inventory pool to be smaller with each improvement in these areas. With less to buy, prices increase."

Goodway's data science team analyzed billions of bids made using programmatic technologies between September 2015 and 2016, to deduce the median cost of media, then forecast how these trends will continue.

Friedman also went on to explain his opinion that the rise in display advertising inventory bought using programmatic technologies over the forecast would not solely benefit media owners, adding that advertisers "can expect to get more bang for their buck with less spend wasted on viewability and fraud issues".

He further added that if major advertisers are sufficiently convinced that header bidding technologies won't result in impaired page-load times, and that the use of artificial intelligence will help them meet their campaign KPIs, then the forecast price-increases are likely to continue.

"Machine learning has been in use for a long time, but we haven't had the right data with which to learn," continued Friedman. "The supply-side ad stack's added complexity can actually benefit the buy side as both sides agree to improved bid price and density discovery."

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Programmatic display ad prices tipped to surge 20% by 2018

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The cost of display advertising inventory bought using programmatic buying technologies will rise sharply by as much as 20% across North America by 2018 due to publishers taking advantage of improved yield optimization technologies, according to a study.

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PerfromanceIN - The 2016 Guide to Programmatic Advertising

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PerfromanceIN - The 2016 Guide to Programmatic Advertising

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It’s predicted that programmatic buying will power three-quarters of the display ad economy by 2017, yet 63% of advertisers, 44% of agencies and 47% of publishers claim not to understand how it works. If you’re belonging to the second group of stats, the first should tell you it might be worth doing your research.

OG Comments:

It's great to see that programmatic is a hot topic in the news at the moment, with its very own guide from PerformanceIN. This could be a good opportunity for Mapp to get their own messaging on programmatic out to the media

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The 2016 Guide to Programmatic Advertising

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It's predicted that programmatic buying will power three-quarters of the display ad economy by 2017, yet 63% of advertisers, 44% of age...

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Marketing Tech - Programmatic ad-buying in 2017: What marketers should know

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Marketing Tech - Programmatic ad-buying in 2017: What marketers should know

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Sam Bell, Head of Business Development & Strategy at GetIntent, outlines what he argues marketers need to know about programattic advertising moving forward, including making better use of data, being creative and bringing ad-tech in-house.

OG Comments:

We wanted to include this piece as a further example of what competitors are discussing in the industry. This is a good opportunity for us to add to and continue the conversation with our own hints and tips.

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2016 saw some powerful new trends begin to emerge for programmatic marketers, presenting both new opportunities and challenges.

While data continues to be the cornerstone of transacting programmatically, most buyers are still too reliant on commoditised third party data and need to do a better job using first party.

Programmatic creative became a hot topic this year, but in reality it was not being properly executed at scale even though the enabling technology was (and is) available.

Ad tech has birthed an abundance of new vendor solutions that provide valuable services, but the continued addition of these middlemen has exposed the unacceptable costs and lack of transparency in buying and selling programmatically.

So with 2016 coming to an end and programmatic projected to increase from $19bn this year to $42bn in 2020, what might be some key trends in 2017?

Better use of data

We continue to progress with our use of data to target the right audience at the right time, but we need to do better. Developing and understanding marketers' first party data is a start, but it is also imperative that sellers also endeavor to achieve this with their own first party data in order to take full advantage of the promise of private deals executed via deal IDs (which currently represents less than 20% of programmatic spend).

This much-praised way of one-to-one programmatic trading has been somewhat of a bust to-date, primarily because buyers have a target audience that they want to reach across a publisher's inventory.

But upon execution of a campaign, they often just don't find their target users and the campaign doesn't fulfill - a waste of time and effort.

A key component to making this work going forward is for publishers to continue to focus on building out their first party DMP solutions, bringing in not only cookie-based/user ID based data, but also subscription, eCommerce, etc.

The ongoing development of sell-side DMPs will be a big trend in 2017 and buyers can take advantage of this by better aligning their data with these publishers' users, greasing the wheels for PMP success.

Programmatic creative

There has been a lot of talk about the promise of programmatic creative and how it will allow brands to use data and dynamic creative to tell a unique story to an individual or a segment of users, in real time and at scale. However, the reality is that this has not yet been put into practice effectively.
Some large marketers have brought their media buying in-house, eliminating agency media buying costs
The technology is essentially there, so what is preventing us from taking advantage of this powerful new opportunity? To me the primary reason is a legacy structural hindrance that needs to be addressed at the agency level.

Creative and media have historically operated separately, with creative starting the process with marketers before handing over a finished product to their media counterparts to execute campaigns.

Compounding the disconnect, it is not unusual that the creative and media teams are not part of the same holding company.

For programmatic creative to be successful agencies need to tear down the walls between creative, data and media planning, and to upend the process so that these stakeholders are working with each other from day one.

Although a daunting challenge, the opportunity is so great that I still see this as a major trend moving into 2017. But marketers who want to successfully take advantage of this instrument will need to apply significant pressure to their existing agency partners to change their approach and/or find new nimble partners who can provide an environment where these silos don't exist.

Bringing your ad tech in-house

Initially we had two intermediaries that enabled programmatic buying, DSPs and SSPs, each taking a percentage of spend.

Today we have added an excess of ad tech vendors that are providing value in different ways. Each of these middlemen take a piece, not only increasing costs, but also opacity.

This lack of transparency has been a point of contention for some time, but really came to a head this October when The Guardian revealed that they were receiving as little as $0.30 for every $1 of media spent on its properties.

This exposed that marketers could be seeing as little as 30% of their working media expenditures going to the actual cost of media, which clearly not sustainable, so what are smart marketers doing about it?

To start, some large marketers have brought their media buying in-house, eliminating agency media buying costs. Many digital-only brands with built-in digital expertise and loads of valuable, internet-ready first party data have not only taken this approach, but have gone a step further by deploying in-house ad tech solutions.

This presents several benefits, including:

Reducing the ad tech tax by eliminating certain middlemen

Increasing transparency and control by creating more direct relationships with publishers

Reducing data leakage by actually hosting data management solutions and not handing over data to a variety of third party vendors

The marketer or agency now has a unique and differentiated solution, customised to their needs

This too might seem daunting, as it could cost a marketer or agency millions of dollars and years to build a DSP from the ground up, and of course there are questions about the prospect of becoming a technology company when you do not have the expertise or will to do so.

But there are available solutions and partners out there that can carry the load of providing technical expertise, development and maintenance, helping reduce costs and speeding up time to market.

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Programmatic ad-buying in 2017: What marketers should know

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2016 saw some powerful new trends begin to emerge for programmatic marketers, presenting both new opportunities and challenges. While data continues to be the cornerstone of transacting programmatically, most buyers are still too reliant on commoditised third party data and need to do a better job using first party.

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PerformanceIN - The Secret to Maximising the Potential of Data Management Platforms

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PerformanceIN - The Secret to Maximising the Potential of Data Management Platforms

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Many brands and advertisers are sitting on more data than they are aware of and are struggling to effectively extract the value associated with multiple data points, including paid media, to create their own robust first-party data set.

OG Comments:

Data management platforms are a general hot topic in the UK media, and it's great to see that the appetite is there among the marketing specific media. This would be a good opportunity for us to distribute comment surrounding our views on DMPs.

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In digital advertising first-party data rules supreme.

When faced with a choice between utilising first-party data - relating to a user's previous interactions with a brand or digital property - and third-party data - vague trends about wide consumer groups that anyone can bid on - it's not hard to see why marketers should place a higher value on the former every time.

Many brands and advertisers are sitting on more data than they are aware of and are struggling to effectively extract the value associated with multiple data points, including paid media, to create their own robust first-party data set.

Harnessing DMPs

The inevitable result of this increased emphasis on first-party data is a rise in adoption of data management platforms (DMPs), which brands, agencies, and publishers are using to store valuable data. Now an established part of the digital marketing landscape, DMPs are already used by more than two-thirds of media professionals, with this figure set to rise above 90% in the next two years, according to a report by ExchangeWire and Weborama.

Despite their popularity, simply having a DMP is not a strategy, and without one in place both advertisers and publishers will fail to realise value from their investment.

So, how are brands currently using DMPs and how can marketers ensure they are implementing an efficient strategy to exploit the full potential of the technology to gain actionable insights from data?

Power of data

Marketers face a number of challenges in effectively implementing DMP, and the most frequently cited one is integrating disparate data sets to gain a single view of the customer. This is particularly problematic when teams work in silos, each with their own data stores - think e-commerce, content, paid media, for example. In-house expertise to bring these siloes together is often lacking, and brands struggle to recruit talent with the necessary skills.

While this situation may improve as data-driven marketing becomes the norm, many brands currently rely on external expertise to extract insights from the data held within their DMPs. Responsibility lies with the agencies to educate marketers and brands on the power of the data they have at their fingertips, just waiting to be understood.

Depending on their functionality, DMPs can be used to make the most of first-party data via techniques such as audience segmentation, advanced analytics, and lookalike modelling, which knits together disparate data points to provide insights that can be used to inform effective marketing strategies. But many marketers are failing to fully utilise their DMP, simply using it as an advanced data warehouse.

When the respondents of the ExchangeWire/Weborama survey were asked about the limitations of their platform, 33% of UK media professionals reported it doesn't provide enough insight, while 37% of European respondents complained about a lack of marketing activation capabilities.

Clearly there are technical limitations to what DMPs can do in analysing patterns in customer data to uncover actionable insights and trends. Every brand has different expectations of its DMP - there is no one-size-fits-all approach - so smart technologies are required to provide the unique insights needed by individual companies to drive informed marketing strategies.

Having a DMP is not a strategy in itself and will not necessarily get you closer to understanding the power of the data stored therein.

Embracing technology

To fully maximise the potential of DMPs and the first-party data they collect, marketers must look to emerging new technologies such as first-party advanced profiling to extract actionable insights.

These smart technologies provide a solution to disparate data sets, bringing together all sources into a single aggregated process and create a continuous feedback loop. Data such as cookie history, user IDs, the content users previously engaged with, time of day, location, as well as navigational and click/completed view data can form missing pieces of the user profiling puzzle.

With this data tied together and pushed back to the DMP, marketers instantly and consistently receive much deeper insights to influence marketing decisions before targeting those users with insights gleaned from the data, or using them as a model for prospecting similar-looking users.

The ability to fully interpret data by combining statistics and machine learning algorithms to observe user behaviour, and by using semantics to enrich specific data sets, and to integrate the resulting insights with unique business experiences and needs, goes far beyond the standard uninspiring functionalities of a DMP.

Full picture

First-party advanced profiling empowers brands to build detailed, actionable profiles of their existing customers, or those users who have previously interacted with their properties, understanding what interests them at a given moment and - when paired with machine modelling - can uncover their future propensity to interact with a brand or product.

There are many uses for this data, from sophisticated targeting to creating personalised content, that appeals to individual customers. Brands no longer focus on retargeting broad audience segments but should want to understand what content individuals engaged with as an inferred interest. Using these smart technologies, existing customer data sets can be stitched together and enriched for real-time campaign optimisation and enhanced creative messaging.

The skyrocketing adoption of DMPs proves their efficiency as data warehouses, but their full potential in generating actionable audience insight is still yet to be realised.

To make best use of the valuable first-party data stored within DMPs, marketers must embrace emerging technologies, such as first-party advanced profiling, to truly understand a consumer's behaviour and deliver what their audiences want.

Activating the potential of data sitting through DMPs using cohesive technologies that tie the data points with a clear end goal in mind will empower marketers to truly deliver more targeted messaging and create greater value for their customers.

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The Secret to Maximising the Potential of Data Management Platforms

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In digital advertising first-party data rules supreme. When faced with a choice between utilising first-party data - relating to a user's previous interactions with a brand or digital property - and third-party data - vague trends about wide consumer groups that anyone ...

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Huffington Post - Top 5 Marketing Predictions for 2017

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Huffington Post - Top 5 Marketing Predictions for 2017

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One of the first marketing predictions pieces of the year in the UK, Chiraq Kulkarni, Co-founder of Insightfully, lists his top predictions for 2017 including the cloud, data and account-based marketing.

OG Comments:

As predictions are already starting to appear from marketing executives, now is a good time to start thinking of our predictions for 2017.

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Increasing marketing ROI is a challenge for every organization. Startups, in particular, can find creating the right marketing plan a daunting task when building a scalable business. After all, how do you effectively turn your MQLs into converting customers? And how do you manage that growth if you're successful?

Marketing in today's cutthroat environment is definitely no place for rookies. If you're still grasping at the concept of personalization, then you'll be left in the dust by the end of next year. Face down in the dirt with heel marks all over your back, in fact. Sorry kid, but if you want to keep up with the big players, you'll need to stay ahead of the curve with predictive analytics.

Data analysis and processing expert, Dr. Jacob Shama, author of Intelligent Customer Engagement Powered by Predictive Marketing, has got a few tips for you. Specializing in communications, algorithm research and patterns recognition comes in pretty handy when anticipating trends; according to Dr. Shama, here's what's coming in 2017:

1. The Marketing Cloud is Going to Mature

According to Dr. Shama, the marketing cloud will come into maturity in 2017. You know, that utopian place where social media management, content marketing, advertising and automation come together in one fluffy white platform.

The marketing cloud will become more the rule than the exception, adopted and perfected by smaller businesses as well. What does this mean for all those "me-too" startups next year? That it will be harder to gain traction as you compete with companies with better capabilities in existing solutions.

2. The Demand for Data-Driven Marketers Will Balloon

In keeping with recent trends, smart managers will be hiring data-driven marketers to create meaningful customer relationships. Forward-thinking companies are fast realizing that data-driven marketing is the most effective way of predicting consumer behavior.

But hang onto your hats, as predictive marketing technology develops at a greater pace than human ability! The demand for marketers who can handle the quant-side will suddenly outstrip supply. So, if you're great with social and good with words, you'd better brush up your analytical capabilities if you want to stay in the game.

3. Marketers Are Going to Be More Involved in Sales Enablement

By providing continuously more precise data, marketers will become more involved in the sales process. In fact, expect the lines of marketing and sales to blur even further as your organization learns to engage with your customers in one united voice.

There will be a greater integration of marketing and sales and an improved customer journey at every point of contact. Teams will be able to work together more efficiently and customer behaviors will be understood much more clearly. No more MQLs slipping through the cracks.

4. Account-Based Marketing Will Gain More Traction

"When you have so much data about potential accounts, you can just reach out to them, rather than wait for them to approach you," Dr. Shama enthuses. Therefore, it's only logical that ABM will gain more traction in 2017. ABM ensures that your message gets in front of the most relevant people.

No more patiently waiting for your enterprise level clients to drip through a lengthy sales pipeline. Not only that, but you can prune your databases and get rid of campaigns and activities that don't meet your goals. Increase your ROI and send even more targeted messages to your clients.

5. We're Going to See More CMOs Moving to The CEO's Chair

Or, in other words, marketers (data-driven ones) will rule the roost in the 2017 version of The Hunger Games. As technology permits us to harness big data in ways we could never have imagined, there will be no need for a traditional sales department.

CMOs right now are in a perfect position to move into leadership position. They are both on top of the numbers and the data and need to have the soft skills that are so crucial for leadership. "When marketing is becoming so crucial to the success of the organization, it will be natural for CMOs to move up to the top position."

But at least you can't say I didn't warn you. 2017 is set to be a fascinating year, full of technological advances, improved customer experiences, and bloodshed. You may want to enroll in that data analytics class you were thinking about after all.

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Increasing marketing ROI is a challenge for every organization. Startups, in particular, can find creating the right marketing plan a daunting task when building a scalable business. After all, how do you effectively turn your MQLs into converting customers? And how do you manage that growth if you're successful?

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Marketing Tech - Why you need to stop pitting marketing against IT

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Marketing Tech - Why you need to stop pitting marketing against IT

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Chief Marketing Officer for Progress, Melissa Puls, argues in this piece that marketing and IT need to work together in order to generate the most success.

OG Comments:

This was one of the topics that we discussed in our issues bible session, and could be a good opportunity for us to submit some similar comments to the media.

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Working in marketing can feel like a never-ending cycle of demand, response and measurement. All the while, customer expectations shift to match trending market technologies-only to morph again seemingly without notice.

Marketers must now justify our value by showcasing successful results each and every day, while still crafting strategies to confront the latest complexity: digital transformation.

But doing so takes a healthy dose of collaboration from allies in the IT department, who are themselves under siege. The answer is to form a friendly alliance that serves each team well, and the organisation, better still.

The data bottleneck

There is increasing pressure to personalise the customer experience across all digital touch points. Accordingly, businesses are looking to integrate data that enables the types of personalised experiences customers crave.

Luckily, new data-driven tools and solutions have emerged that enable real-time action and insight, as well as the easily-measured results marketers need to drive success.

And while pressure grows on marketers, strain also grows on IT departments to deliver on multiple digital projects across every department.

Suddenly IT is way more popular then it'd like to be, bombarded by a growing armoury of gadgets and software solutions needed to tackle digital challenges.

This reliance on IT puts marketing at risk of severe bottlenecks, thwarting agility and slowing time to market. Time-sensitive demands for new technologies promising greater conversion rates, increased loyalty and higher revenue-alas, must wait.

But in an impatient world, this just won't do. A new type of marketing-IT collaboration sorely needed.

Avoid technology distractions

Technology has a very important part to play in achieving the delivery of highly personalised marketing campaigns based on accurate, yet dynamic, customer personas. But to avoid burning out the talent in IT, a more considered approach is needed.

As such, marketing and IT must work together to fully understand the end goal and how to get there.

Successful digital transformation requires a personalised approach unique to each organisation. While there are a flurry of new marketing tools, not all will meet the business' specific needs.

This is where the combined brain trust of marketing and IT is vital. It fosters a holistic, strategic approach, centred on technology that meets customer needs and drives long-term company success.

Working together keeps each team individually and jointly focused on the same end goal. This eliminates the time consuming distractions of the "nice-to-have" or partially relevant technologies, and instead enables organizations to only implement solutions that will advance their digital transformation journey.

Breaking down silos

A truly collaborative approach between marketing and IT may require actively breaking down departmental silos.

While marketing may be the driving force behind a digital transformation project, if IT and sales aren't along for the ride, marketing isn't going anywhere. That's because digital transformation is usually a company-wide initiative and requires a broader, cross-functional approach.

Most organisations are structured in separate departments. Each has its own discipline, but a lack of transparency between teams makes it difficult to implement a complex project like digital transformation.
Digital transformation takes strong collaboration across teams and business functions to reach successful outcomes
Developing a clear understanding of project parameters and getting all parties aligned and on-board is perhaps the biggest challenge any business faces. That said, it's a critical first step to overcome.

So how to proceed? First, get each team to understand its own goals and objectives for the project-then buy-in. Marketing and IT each has unique concerns that must be addressed and managed effectively to drive business transformation forward.

Now, these organisations must transition from being a self-interested silo, into accepting a role as a part of a larger, unified whole. If not, the entire project could come to a disappointing, and fast, end.

Targeting multi-disciplinary skills

In addition to increased communication and understanding between departments, multi-disciplinary skill sets are needed. Companies that actively recruit talent with skills in both marketing and IT stand to benefit enormously.

Those individuals will not only understand the different departmental needs, but will be able to act upon both.

Identifying existing talent that has the potential to be "upskilled" across departments is advantageous. Further, any technology implemented must be broadly understood and adopted-at the least at a basic level-by those who are impacted by it.

Confining solutions to the hands of a few experts completely undermines the agility tenets of digital transformation.

All-encompassing approach

Digital transformation takes strong collaboration across teams and business functions to reach successful outcomes.

Remember, it isn't about implementing a particular technology or a single process, but instead, about gaining internal alignment and adopting a holistic approach that works for your organisation. Get these right, and you are well on your way.

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Why you need to stop pitting marketing against IT

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Working in marketing can feel like a never-ending cycle of demand, response and measurement. All the while, customer expectations shift to match trending market technologies-only to morph again seemingly without notice. Marketers must now justify our value by showcasing successful results each and every day, while still crafting strategies to confront the latest complexity: digital transformation.

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Campaign - Marketing in the age of sensory deprivation

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Campaign - Marketing in the age of sensory deprivation

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This piece in Campaign analyses methods of marketing in different industries. In this instance, Beatrice Descorps of Molton Brown discusses  how to use sensory experiences to promote brands.

OG Comments:

We wanted to flag this piece as sensory marketing is not something the media are talking about hugely at the moment, but it's an interesting topic for us to keep an eye on.

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For " Generation Selfie", beauty is not skin-deep but as deep as a multitude of digital surfaces. When consumers are comfortable adopting multiple digital personas, the notion that "beauty is only skin deep" is being challenged by Molton Brown. The luxury brand, which makes 35% of its sales during the Christmas period, is offering this generation a unique blend of sensory-driven escapism.

As Molton Brown's global vice-president of marketing, Beatrice Descorps is at the forefront of the reimagining of aspirational beauty in the digital age. The beauty market in recent years has focused on people's need to be, as she calls it, "selfie-ready". But there is now a shift, with beauty no longer existing within the confines of the screen. She says: "In a few years' time, beauty will not be about how you look - it will be much more about well-being; it will be more sensorial. Beauty will not be about how perfect the canvas is - it will be more about how you feel.
"Millennials are so smart and savvy, they know what is real and what is fake."
In response to this, brands must take a renewed focus on sensory experiences and authenticity. "It means we have to start from the fragrances, the emotion and the real creativity," Descorps explains.

She is well-placed to stay ahead in the beauty market. As a former category and innovation director at The Body Shop and with stints as international marketing director at Coty and L'Oréal brands, Descorps has a unique view of the global trends impacting the industry. Molton Brown, which was acquired by Japan's Kao for £170m in 2005, has significantly increased its focus on digital channels, which now account for 23.5% of its sales. In fact, Descorps says the brand now sees itself as a content publisher as much as a product developer.

The sensory challenge

However, this focus on content is not at the expense of the creative process; the brand aims to connect everything to the senses as opposed to an algorithm. Descorps says: "It all starts with your sensorial experience - not your rational brain but your senses transporting you to new places."

It is a strategy that is paying dividends in an era when consumers feel overloaded with images and information. Victoria Buchanan, trends analyst at The Future Laboratory, says we are living in an age of dulled senses. She says: "Constantly bombarded with images on screens and the hub of never-ending information that is the internet, people are beginning to forget how to feel. In our quest to reconnect with our senses and our bodies - to be our optimal selves - we are also seeking blissful altered states, with consumers yearning for heightened sensory environments."

This search for sensory stimulation is providing a boon for the global fragrance industry. In 2016, it is estimated to be worth a heady $40.1bn, according to Statista, and is expected to grow 7-8% annually until 2020, when it will reach $43bn.

Sensory stimulation is clearly top of the agenda at Molton Brown's heavily scented Regent Street store, which has all the hallmarks of a retailer in the key pre-Christmas sales period. The signs are everywhere: from the wash-basin centrepiece where consumers can try products to the background music, from visual merchandising to luxurious packaging. The shop's window display is designed to transport visitors to Laponia - where Molton Brown's new festive Fabled Juniper Berries & Lapp Pine range and the store's scent originate from.

Digital theatre

Translating this sense of occasion and theatre, and the myriad of rituals that have built the brand in-store, into online spaces is a significant focus for Molton Brown. "Three years ago when I first joined the brand, we had a very transactional site. Now we are focused on not only having a very seamless customer experience but ensuring that the human experience is right," Descorps says.

In practical terms, this has included introducing 24/7 online customer service (manned by real people as opposed to a chatbot) and revolutionising the online delivery process. The changes have even extended to teaching the online delivery team how to tie the Molton Brown knot on its signature brown bags. It's an investment that reflects an attention to detail: packaging that signifies luxury and indulgence is often neglected in the online delivery.

Meanwhile, the challenge of selling scents in the online space is tackled by listing ingredients and provenance of the products and showing immersive pictures of the different elements.

Looking ahead, Buchanan believes brands that succeed will be those that combine the best aspects of physical retail - scent, touch and experience - with the best of digital technology to create experiences that feel more personal and intuitive. Pointing to the rise of aroma cartridges in printers, she predicts: "In the future, ecommerce sites will connect with devices in the home to allow us to preview scents." And scents will also become more individual. "From a fragrance perspective, the 1980s was about unisex. Today is all about gender-neutral fragrances. Gender-neutral starts with what is right for you as an individual," Descorps says.

Authentic storytelling

At a time when heritage and authenticity are top of the marketing agenda, Descorps is playing to the brand's strengths. Molton Brown, which first opened its doors on London's South Molton Street in 1973 as a hair salon, has decided to place the royal warrant on its packaging for the first time.

Much of Molton Brown's marketing is created in-house. "We are completely evolving how we do films online - what interests our consumers is what is happening behind the scenes, the provenance and the journey," Descorps points out. This involves not only focusing on the origins of its products but the stories behind them. Rather than rely on data, Molton Brown has a very clear personality type in mind when scents are being developed. "We brief the perfumer with adjectives around her personality: is she passionate or powerful?" Descorps explains.

Creativity wins

Having started her career at Guerlain, Descorps is steeped in the history of the fragrance industry. In a surprise move, the Guerlain family sold the company to LVMH in 1994. She still remembers the tremors across the organisation when famed perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain stormed out of a meeting, reportedly because the marketing team was planning to test the fragrance with consumers. According to Descorps, the market has now gone full circle, with master perfumers empowered by brands to create without limitations. For her, though, it was a love of advertising that has kept her enthralled by the industry. "I remember, as a teenager, when the Jean Paul Gautier perfume was launched," Descorp recalls. "I reacted to it and I was intrigued by that. I wanted to create, to impress something on an audience."

Molton Brown is in the midst of a marketing technology evolution that seeks to develop one unified customer experience across online and offline, which will be completed next year. It will be supported by new customer segmentations. Yet, for Descorps, technology in isolation is not enough: "It starts with the creator. If we move away from creative freedom, we lose."

Scent inspires more vivid memories than any other sense, affecting how we perceive experiences in-store - an appropriately pleasant smell can encourage shoppers to stay longer and spend up to 20% more. A favourable scent can even improve a customer's perception of product quality, in turn increasing their likeliness to purchase and their willingness to pay more.

Abercrombie & Fitch has been using scent marketing for more than a decade, spraying its signature scent Fierce around stores.

Using a specific fragrance is particularly effective for solidifying brand identity. Smells do not carry meaning before being associated with an experience but, after that, the connection remains.

With logo fatigue setting in, scent is a luxury signifier that only those in the know can recognise. "New car" smell is sprayed in car dealerships around the world but the odour of a new Rolls-Royce is special. Since 2000, the brand has been scenting its car interiors to smell like a model from 1965. Similarly, Cadillac uses a custom fragrance - Nuance - to distinguish itself. These scents are indelibly marked in the minds of customers, instantly recognisable when encountered again.
Source: Canvas8

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Marketing in the age of sensory deprivation

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For " Generation Selfie", beauty is not skin-deep but as deep as a multitude of digital surfaces. When consumers are comfortable adopting multiple digital personas, the notion that "beauty is only skin deep" is being challenged by Molton Brown.