| Posted on 2010-02-18 | |
Consumer spend declines – creating the need for more thoughtful marketing |
It is vital that marketers take note of the current enthusiasm from consumers to provide their opinions and give feedback regarding marketing techniques and the level of service provided to them as well as how it could be improved to achieve more effective results. The key factor is to reach out to the consumer on an individual basis and talk with them, to let them know that their opinion is valued and does make a significant difference. It also reassures them that they have a connection with the marketer and can trust them to deliver what they have promised. Consumers also worry that they will be targeted by junk mail which is completely unspecific and irrelevant to them. Email marketing is a great way to target the route of this problem and converse directly with consumers to build relationships and gain a greater foundation upon which to reach individuals on a more personalised level.
The interesting thing about email marketing is that it allows the marketer to appeal to individuals where they are most comfortable. The importance of showing customers that they matter and that their opinion is of great value should not be underrated. If a consumer is willing to express their opinions and provide honest feedback, this is a fantastic way to gain a true insight into the mindset of the consumer and how best to target them. Marketers should jump on the opportunity to find out such detailed and specific information about individual consumers as it allows them the opportunity to delve into their world and gain insight into their specific interests and preferences.
Email is the most obvious method for doing this, but there are other options, such as telemarketing. This does not have the same benefits as email marketing as you are not reaching the consumer where they are at their most comfortable. In the modern world, the average person spends a large proportion of their time on their PC, surfing the internet, sending emails and on social media sites, it is because of this that email marketing is an efficient way to target consumers without becoming a nuisance. Telemarketing is often seen by consumers as an aggravation and they do not wish to be contacted. This is where the benefits of email marketing really begin to stand out and move apart from other forms of marketing.
| Posted on 2010-01-26 | |
Fundraising for Haiti |
Here at Reactivmedia we decided to try and offer some support to the poor people suffering over in Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world.
To raise some money to donate to the people of Haiti, the team here at Reactiv took part in a dress down day, donating money for the privilege. A bun sale was also whipped up by one of the staff to raise some extra cash. Altogether we managed to raise a total of £150 to send out and hopefully make a difference to those suffering over in Haiti. Every little counts!!
| Posted on 2010-01-25 | |
Email marketing to pave way in 2010 |
With email marketing rapidly becoming a prime choice to target consumers through marketing and advertising, there is a danger that the market could become saturated and consumers may become disillusioned by the constant marketing emails cluttering up their inboxes. With this in consideration it is vital that email marketers concentrate their focus on building strong consumer relationships. Research shows that consumers will now receive over nine thousand emails containing marketing information in just one year. To be successful, marketers will have to appeal to the consumer on a personalised level and create a level of trust. Consumers are more likely to click into an email from a recognised source, who have been granted consent.
Email marketing is a useful tool, especially in these financially testing times and can be a great way to reach consumers on a more direct level. It can prove to be particularly useful with marketing to a specific market, as consumers can be tracked and using advanced technology such as analytics it is possible to keep a record of which consumers clicked into which parts of an email and where their interests are focused, giving marketers an opportunity to specifically appeal to that market. Also by tracking this progress it makes it possible to create that bond between marketer and consumer.
Email marketing in the current climate requires a different outlook on the consumer market. There are new factors which need to be taken into consideration such as consumer loyalty. An email campaign is rendered almost pointless if the emails are deleted upon receipt of arrival into an inbox. It is the consumer’s interests that are the key factor and grabbing the attention of the individual to draw them further into the email.
| Posted on 2010-01-25 | |
Retailers should continue with caution in 2010 |
For the year 2010 consumer spending figures will be dictated by the conflicting of several contributing factors.
Although spending towards the end of 2009 did see an increase, this has been mainly attributed to consumers looking to make purchases, particularly large purchases before the VAT hike was brought in. This has lead to substantial increases in spending for the final months of 2009 but as VAT rates have now gone up from 15% to 17.5% consumers will no longer feel compelled to pay out and will once again reign in spending.
2009 illustrated some encouraging signs within the property market and in fact figures have proved to be extremely surprising. Consumers tend to feel much more relaxed about borrowing and indeed spending, when the outlook for the housing market appears to be more optimistic. During 2009 employers have had to hit their workers with pay freezes and even pay cuts just to get through the year. Unfortunately this will have to continue into 2010 to prevent unemployment rates from going through the roof, as inflation continues to rise in the opening half of the year.
With the economic situation looking relatively bleak for the foreseeable future, consumers have completely reigned in their spending until they feel safe to allow themselves the freedom to spend without reason again. Many individuals are of the opinion that unsubstantiated expenditure in the current climate is simply futile and they will not begin to spend again until the economy shows more obvious signs of definite recovery.
There appears to be very little enthusiasm from consumers to revisit the years of frivolous, mass consumption and debt saturation. For high street retailers this could suggest more testing times ahead. 2010 will begin the road to economic recovery but there are no certainties and the road will undoubtedly be a bumpy one.
| Posted on 2010-01-06 | |
Retail sales drop, but online sales see boost |
Failing to take advantage of the scope and opportunities offered by online retail is to miss out on a diverse and booming medium. Reaching consumers on this additional level is clearly an extremely popular and effective tool through which to increase sales as online spending will account for 20% of retail spending in the future.
Online retail has many benefits which clearly appeal to the consumer. In particular the ease of shopping directly from home, as well as giving the opportunity to view all stock clearly and concisely. If online retail continues to dominate, how will the future look for shops and stores all over the country?
In comparison, general sales, not including internet sales are falling continuously. In ten years time there will be a huge shift in spending emphasis. Even the larger stores will struggle to compete with online sales levels which are ballooning with every second. General retail sales dropped again in November at the fastest pace since May. The Christmas boost is also expected to be short lived and will not last long into the New Year.
Economists believe that the weakened state of the retail sector and poor sales will carry on until the end of 2010. This will in turn lead to British sterling becoming increasingly weakened. Online retail does not need to be seen as competition but as a useful tool with which to increase sales. The combination of offline and online retail creates a greater platform from which to sell a product.
| Posted on 2009-12-18 | |
Testing could be key to marketing success |
Testing is essential to reaching the right customer and optimising results, to achieve this it is important to ensure testing of the correct elements.
With the technology that is now available it would be ignorant to apply the same tactics to the whole audience. The latest techniques, such as web analytics, make it possible to split your target audience into sections and determine how to direct your campaign on an individual basis, generating ROI.
Monitoring consumer behavior and tracking which tests you have carried out and which audience you have applied them to gives a deeper understanding and knowledge of your customer. By monitoring which consumer groups you have targeted and how you have targeted them, it ensures that future campaigns will be hitting the right areas. It would be foolish to have that knowledge at your fingertips and not utilise it correctly to achieve maximum potential.
Email testing should be a learning curve, providing you with the knowledge you need to drive consumer respond rates. As long as you document your findings and utilise them in relation to future campaigns, you are doing everything right to receive positive results.
Testing and analyzing consumer groups also benefits the customer as it means a more personalised and relevant customer experience and better interaction. Put yourself in the place of the consumer, imagine receiving an advertisement via email, if that email appealed to your particular interests, you would want to read more. Whereas receiving an email of no particular relevance, with no connotations to your personal interests would have no bearing on you and you are more than likely to discard the email without even considering it for more than a few seconds. Let’s face it, we all have better things to do with our time, than pondering over irrelevant information.
The Internet Advertising Bureau carried out a report which demonstrates the importance of email marketing and in fact revealed it to be the most successful medium through which to channel digital marketing techniques for growing businesses in the UK, so it is important to fully realise the value In getting it right.
| Posted on 2009-12-15 | |
Online marketing to lead the way |
69% of those questioned revealed that they are planning to incorporate social media marketing into their email campaigns. Combining the two mediums doubles the impact on consumers, although, marketers are not altogether certain how to go about merging the two. An increasingly high proportion of digital marketers are upping their online budgets, particularly on social marketing and online advertising.
"As the industry starts seeing improved measurement tools in place for social media, marketers will begin experimenting and investing more online," states the event director for OMMS, Sally Maltby.
In the current economic climate marketers have been looking for new techniques and technologically advanced processes to reach customers and advertise intelligently without spending exorbitant amounts of money. The focus for online marketing is centered on email marketing, social media and paper-click, all of which involve more interactive, personal methods of marketing. However it is essential that marketers find ways in which to monitor their progress and examine which areas are improving the most.
A recent survey carried out by the Online Marketing and Media Show revealed that over a third of those interviewed are planning to set aside around a quarter of their marketing budgets purely for online marketing and advertising so it goes without question that monitoring the impact of this extra budget is extremely important to see the affectivity of the additional spend.
| Posted on 2009-12-14 | |
Intelligent spam shifts the boundaries |
Spammers gaining ability brings with it bad news for the marketing industry, an inbox full of spam mail can make it much more problematic for genuine marketers to get through to their customer. Consumers become tired of receiving emails which are unrelated to them and will often immediately delete an email which appears to be trying to sell something. Research carried out by Epilson discovered that the most common reasons for consumers unsubscribing from online mailing lists are emails being sent too recurrently as well as emails with irrelevant content.
The definition of spam is shifting. The boundaries of spam have now progressed to include all irrelevant email which is not personally directed to the desired individual, even if the consumer has fully consented to the mail. The report from Epilson also uncovered that 39% of interviewees define spam as any unwanted email regardless of whether they had subscribed, and 31% defined it as email from companies who the customer has previously done business with but send out emails too regularly. The question is, does this make it harder for true email marketers to reach their target audience and are consumers partly responsible for this or do email marketers need to be much more conscious about conveying the correct message to the right people to make sure their messages are received properly and effectively. Email marketing is becoming more complex; the need for relevancy and individually targeted information has never been more significant.
New spam techniques are being used more and more frequently. A report released by Symantec this year revealed that the most dangerous security threat from spammers is a worm known as Conficker/Downadup which allows its originators to install software on infected computers remotely. The worm is a work in progress and is becoming more intelligent and formidable, with its inventors constantly developing it and applying updates.
| Posted on 2009-12-04 | |
The evolution of the data industry |
Throughout the early 80’s, companies within the industry began to merge, forming cooperatives which brought data together from multiple sources creating more comprehensive databases.
The mid 80’s and early 90’s brought about technologies such as modeling and analytics. Mail became more personalised and targeted towards the individual consumer. The industry became focused towards delivering the right message to the right person at the right time.
The 90’s also brought about the emergence of the internet. This was the catalyst for the huge changes which began to take place in the industry. The internet is a major factor in the continuing evolution of the ways in which companies can sell products and promote themselves, which in turn is changing the face of direct marketing. The internet is responsible for one of the biggest differences and shifts in direct marketing techniques, the transition from direct mail to email-marketing.
Email marketing is a multi faceted technique and creates the possibility to reach the consumer on an individual, direct and immediate level which is not necessarily possible with traditional direct marketing. It is also a far more economically viable marketing method and sits within marketers budgets much more comfortably.
The industry is still known as a List industry, but companies will need to embrace new technologies to move forward as those who do not will be left behind in this rapidly developing business. Consequentially, many companies are calling themselves data or marketing companies rather than continuing under the original title of ‘list companies’.
"Fast-forward 10 years from now, and I don't think we'll be calling this a list industry; we'll be calling it a data industry, because the concept of list industry is morphing into something more sophisticated," Schwedelson says.
| Posted on 2009-12-01 | |
Online surpasses TV advertising spend for first time |
Online advertising spend grew by 4.6%, now reaching a record £1.75 billion within the initial six months of the year. In comparison, TV advertising demonstrated a decline of 16.1% dropping spend to £1.639 billion. The internet has taken a mere decade to surface as the largest and most powerful advertising sector in the UK. It represents a milestone in marketing, as TV advertising had remained as the principal advertising medium for almost half a century.
The IAB made an initial forecast that spend on internet marketing would in fact overtake TV advertising by the end of 2009, but the effects of the recession accelerated the marketing migration by six months.
In opposition, UK TV marketing body, Thinkbox, do not agree that the figures are comparable and believes that the internet is a collection of many different mediums which should therefore be individually moderated. Pooling all the figures into one single medium, provides an inaccurate representation.
Thinkbox’s marketing director, Lindsay Clay states "The internet is a fantastic technology and home to many different marketing activities that do different things. As such, it is interesting but meaningless to sweep all the money spent on every aspect of online marketing into one big figure and celebrate it.”
The increased availability in faster and cheaper broadband is a major contributing factor in the movement of advertising power from TV to online. The faster more easily accessible broadband allows the use of more innovative and demanding formats. For example the use of video advertising online has increased 195% year on year.
Television was not originally designed with advertising in mind, whereas the internets creation was motivated by the potential profits that could be made with online advertising. The entire online industry was built around marketing opportunities and online ad revenues. Dave Katz, head of trading at Media Contacts, said: "The measurability really sets it apart. You can track any money you spend online,"
It is thought that there is still considerable room for growth left in the online advertising market. As Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the IAB asserts “We could absolutely see it grow to being a 30% medium [of share of ad spend], to go past £4billion to even £5 billion annually.”
