Entrepreneur team says, “Working with big retail distributors has helped my company take its product growth to the next level, but forging these types of relationships doesn’t come without risk.I’ve heard numerous horror stories about how large retailers end up putting startups out of business when entrepreneurs fail to conduct in-depth analyses of costs and sales before forming such relationships. Done right, however, one successful partnership with a chain store will inevitably lead to more down the road.There’s no question working with a big chain will help grow your business.... [...]

Ayaz Nanji says, “Marketers say the lack of a single customer view is their biggest barrier to successful cross-channel marketing, according to a recent report from Experian Marketing Services.The report was based on data from an online survey of 1,012 marketers conducted between November 10 and December 7, 2014. Responses were collected from marketers from around the world.Some 32% of respondents say the lack of a single customer view is a top challenge to their cross-channel marketing efforts. Other top challenges include technology limitations (31% of respondents cite) and organizational... [...]

Bill Tancer says, “In last week’s webinar I went over some of the results of the Digital Marketer survey to discuss what marketers could learn from the findings. Most importantly we found that the biggest challenges to cross-channel marketing are also the biggest opportunities for unlocking cross-channel marketing potential. The data shows that data linkage, organizational silos and the inability to link different technologies are major issues to successful cross-channel marketing and creating a single customer view. Both of these are necessary for a customer-centric approach to marketing... [...]

Katie Oakes says, “In a recent webinar, two of our strategic experts discussed some of the most important “behaviors of the successful” that they’ve observed among today’s leading marketers. The presentation covered the future of the marketing landscape, offering tips and recommendations for brands looking to improve their marketing programs.Their observations:Cross-channel marketing will finally start to matureMarketers will become more customer-centricContextual messages will get the TLC they deservePersonalization will be the top priorityMarketers will “keep it real”... [...]

Spencer Kollas says, “Earlier this month, I attended the Email Experience Council’s (EEC) conference. Much of the discussion sparked during and after the event surrounded whether email engagement is used by internet service providers (ISPs) to determine inbox placement.The brunt of the conversation has been inspired by a particularly controversial panel discussion that included four ISP employees (from AOL, Comcast, Gmail and Outlook) discussing this very issue.  One attendee, Dela Quist, CEO of AlchemyWorx, took away the idea that engagement (email opens and clicks) is entirely meaningless... [...]

Katie Oakes says, “In a recent webinar, two of our strategic experts discussed some of the most important “behaviors of the successful” that they’ve observed among today’s leading marketers. The presentation covered the future of the marketing landscape, offering tips and recommendations for brands looking to improve their marketing programs.Their 7 key points were:Cross-channel marketing will finally start to matureMarketers will become more customer-centricContextual messages will get the TLC they deservePersonalization will be the top priority“.What’s next? Cross-channel... [...]

Suzanne Blackburn says, “I’ll admit it. There was a time, recently, when I had no idea what “deliverability” meant in the context of marketing. Deliverability? It sounds important, maybe a little boring if we’re being honest, but is it?Then I met Spencer Kollas, Experian Marketing Services’ resident deliverability expert, and global Vice President of Deliverability Services, who explained it to me like this: With more than 188 billion emails sent every day, millions of messages are filtered, blocked and never arrive at their intended destination. This costs organizations millions... [...]

Katie Oakes says, “Marketers: personalization is our dutyCustomers willingly give brands a lot of information. Some brands collect names, birthdays, message preferences and location in addition to contact information like email address, phone number and physical address. Brands that connect through Facebook and other social media accounts gain access to even more information – a person’s likes, friends/followers, age, demographics and more.Why are so many consumers willing to share this information? In a recent webinar, Ed Kowalski, Senior Director of Strategic Services at Experian... [...]

Amanda Brief says, “This season, seven of the top 10 transaction days occurred between the day before Thanksgiving and two days after Cyber Monday. The remaining top days were all in December. This is a change from last year, in which two of the top days occurred in early November. The Sunday between Black Friday and Cyber Monday had the third highest number of transactions, but was 13th in volume sent. As Cyber Monday sales seem to start earlier each year, there may be opportunity to mail more on that particular Sunday“.#HolidayHotSheet: Top email transaction days in 2014‘Experian... [...]

Briana Mulherin says, “Each week, we will provide you with real time insights and trends for the 2014 holiday season: how consumers are shopping, what they are searching for and how marketing campaigns can be optimized to maximize rewards for both consumers and brands. Sign up to receive the weekly #HolidayHotSheet in your inbox and stay tuned to the blog for highlights and additional holiday coverage.The biggest shopping days of the year – Black Friday and Cyber Monday – just passed us by and they did not disappoint! Cyber Monday was, as expected, the busiest online shopping day... [...]