The Modern Marketing Blog covers the latest in marketing strategy, technology, and innovation.

Acting on data helps you cull mailing lists to only the most active and engaged subscribers, and focus in on improving deliverability health.

Acting on data helps you cull mailing lists to only the most active and engaged subscribers, and focus in on improving deliverability health.

These nine reasons make email marketing uniquely powerful and should give brands great peace of mind about past and future investments in email marketing. Leverage each of these strengths by creating relevant, targeted, and compelling emails that are part of a long-term strategy that drives loyalty.

These nine reasons make email marketing uniquely powerful and should give brands great peace of mind about past and future investments in email marketing. Leverage each of these strengths by creating...

Proper marketing analytics strategy and execution can turn that data into new insights about buyer behavior, marketing program performance, sales activity, and business impact. Marketing leaders will need to commit to learning more about analytics and choosing technology that can easily evolve to match the current analytics best practices.

Proper marketing analytics strategy and execution can turn that data into new insights about buyer behavior, marketing program performance, sales activity, and business impact. Marketing leaders will...

Most businesses think of social media only in very fuzzy terms, without actually drilling down into the specific reasons why they are using it. But companies at the leading edge of social media are taking things one step further by building out sophisticated frameworks for understanding how social media can impact not just the business as a whole but also every business unit and every stakeholder within the business

Most businesses think of social media only in very fuzzy terms, without actually drilling down into the specific reasons why they are using it. But companies at the leading edge of social media...

Technology is disrupting the marketing industry. With big data in the middle, how should businesses go about redesigning the customer journey?

Technology is disrupting the marketing industry. With big data in the middle, how should businesses go about redesigning the customer journey?

B2B teams leveraging email marketing are doing so in an age of noise and commoditization. There’s far more content to compete with and more clutter than ever to break through. The average person checks email or instant messages every six minutes. Consider using these three tips to make your B2B emails stand out.

B2B teams leveraging email marketing are doing so in an age of noise and commoditization. There’s far more content to compete with and more clutter than ever to break through. The average...

Companies need to find an all-important balance between marketing’s desire for creativity and the need to push technology. When dealing with marketing automation, you might find yourself sitting between the marketing and the technical delivery teams. Thus, you have to become used to balancing the needs and preferences of both creative and technical personalities

Companies need to find an all-important balance between marketing’s desire for creativity and the need to push technology. When dealing with marketing automation, you might find yourself sitting...

According to a 2017 Forbes article, over 98% of customers are switching between multiple devices in a single day. In order to evolve and keep up with customers, three approaches to marketing have emerged: multi-channel, cross-channel, and omni-channel. Each has distinct advantages and disadvantages over the others, but they are all able to reach customers somewhere on their customer’s journey.

According to a 2017 Forbes article, over 98% of customers are switching between multiple devices in a single day. In order to evolve and keep up with customers, three approaches to marketing have...

What are the six stages of maturing into a social business? Becoming a social business doesn’t happen overnight. Just launching a new Facebook page or Twitter account doesn’t mean that your business is “social,” either. Being a truly social business means that social media is part of your company’s culture and embedded in your corporate DNA.

What are the six stages of maturing into a social business? Becoming a social business doesn’t happen overnight. Just launching a new Facebook page or Twitter account doesn’t mean that your business...

Your email platform should be both a source of insights and a channel of delivery in your ABM program. When your most reliable channel, email, is a part of your ABM program, you can make the content strategy between channels seamless.

Your email platform should be both a source of insights and a channel of delivery in your ABM program. When your most reliable channel, email, is a part of your ABM program, you can make the content...

A “best practice” may not be the right thing for an organization to chase for a myriad of reasons. Your current environment limitations, the expense of changing to adopt to the “best” practice (the technology, the process, roles and responsibilities, the organizational implications) - AND potential overkill stemming from the “industry-accepted” practice that you may not really need, be it “best” or not

A “best practice” may not be the right thing for an organization to chase for a myriad of reasons. Your current environment limitations, the expense of changing to adopt to the “best” practice (the...

While MarTech add-ons can be game changers, they don’t always work that seamlessly, particularly with Account Based Marketing (ABM) add-on tools. Oracle Eloqua allows you to skip the ABM module or add-on because the capabilities to work with an ABM strategy are built natively within the tool.

While MarTech add-ons can be game changers, they don’t always work that seamlessly, particularly with Account Based Marketing (ABM) add-on tools. Oracle Eloqua allows you to skip the ABM module...

Soft selling comes to the fore with inbound marketing, whereas hard selling was more something you would do with outbound marketing. Learn how to nurture, educate, and guide our leads down the sales funnel.

Soft selling comes to the fore with inbound marketing, whereas hard selling was more something you would do with outbound marketing. Learn how to nurture, educate, and guide our leads down the...

The beginning of a new year gives you the chance to review your email practices to see what worked and what didn't to improve them. Find out what best practices you should be adhering to.

The beginning of a new year gives you the chance to review your email practices to see what worked and what didn't to improve them. Find out what best practices you should be adhering to.

Given the proliferation of best-of-breed and suite solutions alike, with corporate buying strategies often resulting in a mix-and-match approach, it is fair to say that IT landscapes have grown ever more complex. Thus, the age of function-feature has come to an end. All hail the age of integrations.

Given the proliferation of best-of-breed and suite solutions alike, with corporate buying strategies often resulting in a mix-and-match approach, it is fair to say that IT landscapes have grown ever...

With the help of Gmail's new Promotions tab, you can create better-targeted and more personalized emails. The more relevant you can make them, the better response you will have.

With the help of Gmail's new Promotions tab, you can create better-targeted and more personalized emails. The more relevant you can make them, the better response you will have.

Social media marketing has become a cornerstone of any campaign. Learn what seven strategies you can adopt to get closer to your customers and better engage them.

Social media marketing has become a cornerstone of any campaign. Learn what seven strategies you can adopt to get closer to your customers and better engage them.

You don't want silence from your customers. You want the noise. It shows hey are engaged and interested, and you can learn from what they are saying.

You don't want silence from your customers. You want the noise. It shows hey are engaged and interested, and you can learn from what they are saying.

You only have a short time to grab someone's attention with your content. Make sure it's relevant and to the point so you offer value and don't waste your audience's time.

You only have a short time to grab someone's attention with your content. Make sure it's relevant and to the point so you offer value and don't waste your audience's time.

The digital world calls for you to protect your trademarks on social media the same as any other contents to protect your brand and intellectual property.

The digital world calls for you to protect your trademarks on social media the same as any other contents to protect your brand and intellectual property.

SMB need to consider two content marketing strategies in 2019: leveraging personalization and AI. Personalization can help you stand out from the pack, and AI is the future here today.

SMB need to consider two content marketing strategies in 2019: leveraging personalization and AI. Personalization can help you stand out from the pack, and AI is the future here today.

Just a few years ago, a top brand or company might have talked about “sponsoring” a top social media influencer or thought leader. Now, however, the discussion has shifted away from “sponsorship” towards much more of a collaborative “partnership,” in which there is expected to be much greater alignment and collaboration between the two parties.

Just a few years ago, a top brand or company might have talked about “sponsoring” a top social media influencer or thought leader. Now, however, the discussion has shifted away from...

It will take innovative new strategies for retail marketing teams to rise above the competition in 2019.

It will take innovative new strategies for retail marketing teams to rise above the competition in 2019.

CMOs have to protect their intellectual property from the competition, which calls for a hard look at data encryption and security.

CMOs have to protect their intellectual property from the competition, which calls for a hard look at data encryption and security.

Data on its own is useless. But if you analyze and utilize it properly, you can craft content and create winning marketing campaigns.

Data on its own is useless. But if you analyze and utilize it properly, you can craft content and create winning marketing campaigns.

With the new Oracle Responsys Asynchronous API, you receive an immediate notification about your request so that you know its status and can concentrate on other matters in the meantime.

With the new Oracle Responsys Asynchronous API, you receive an immediate notification about your request so that you know its status and can concentrate on other matters in the meantime.

What captivates your audience and drives them on through the content marketing funnel? How can the story you tell captivate them? When crafting content, remember that you are always in storytelling mode, and storytelling requires you to always put yourself in your customer’s shoes

What captivates your audience and drives them on through the content marketing funnel? How can the story you tell captivate them? When crafting content, remember that you are always in storytelling...

CMOs should add more diversity to their teams in 2019 to not only better meet customer preferences and demands but to build a better marketing team.

CMOs should add more diversity to their teams in 2019 to not only better meet customer preferences and demands but to build a better marketing team.

Learn how to succeed in the Experience Economy this spring at Modern Customer Experience 2019. From March 19-21, thousands of customer experience practitioners, partners, and industry experts will congregate in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay.

Learn how to succeed in the Experience Economy this spring at Modern Customer Experience 2019. From March 19-21, thousands of customer experience practitioners, partners, and industry experts will...

The more you know, the more likely you are to succeed at whatever you do. And, that includes mobile marketing. The investment in learning and training will pay off. That's because it will provide a way for you and your team

The more you know, the more likely you are to succeed at whatever you do. And, that includes mobile marketing. The investment in learning and training will pay off. That's because it will provide a...

The process of filling up a basket (whether physical or digital) provides instant gratification and an escape from the stresses of everyday life, boredom, sadness, and hunger.

The process of filling up a basket (whether physical or digital) provides instant gratification and an escape from the stresses of everyday life, boredom, sadness, and hunger.

Advertising and promoting your products on social media requires an entirely new mindset from advertising on other platforms. If you’re used to advertising in print media, on radio or on TV, be forewarned: social media is a much different animal.

Advertising and promoting your products on social media requires an entirely new mindset from advertising on other platforms. If you’re used to advertising in print media, on radio or on TV,...

With so much opportunity to reach your target audience, mobile marketing is hugely important. Be careful to avoid these seven mistakes in your planning.

With so much opportunity to reach your target audience, mobile marketing is hugely important. Be careful to avoid these seven mistakes in your planning.

What can a human CX designer do that an AI can't, even in the new digital world? Read on to find out the power of empathy in crafting a better customer experience.

What can a human CX designer do that an AI can't, even in the new digital world? Read on to find out the power of empathy in crafting a better customer experience.

Marketers have all the flexibility they need to personalize according to their preferences by changing the date range applied to a widget, add or remove channels based on the data they’d like to see, and even apply filters like Indicators, Sentiment, Gender, Location and Content Type to their Topic metrics.

Marketers have all the flexibility they need to personalize according to their preferences by changing the date range applied to a widget, add or remove channels based on the data they’d like to see,...

As Cyber Monday sales top $7.869 billion for 2018, a 19.3% year-over-year increase from 2017, many marketers are eager to “reward” their customers for their loyalty with ongoing promotions and offers to the inbox. It’s a great strategy when executed correctly.

As Cyber Monday sales top $7.869 billion for 2018, a 19.3% year-over-year increase from 2017, many marketers are eager to “reward” their customers for their loyalty with ongoing promotions and offers...

This installment of the Makers of Modern Marketing series finds us across from Senior Director of Modern Marketing Business Transformation, Kelvin Gee. Gee enables Oracle marketers to adapt to new marketing strategies, like account-based and content-driven marketing, by setting up a framework for success.

This installment of the Makers of Modern Marketing series finds us across from Senior Director of Modern Marketing Business Transformation, Kelvin Gee. Gee enables Oracle marketers to adapt to new...

CX professionals that want to increase customer satisfaction and grow customer lifetime value can’t do it with siloed customer data. Optimal customer experiences require a comprehensive view of your customer that connects data across every customer interaction. What if you could?

CX professionals that want to increase customer satisfaction and grow customer lifetime value can’t do it with siloed customer data. Optimal customer experiences require a comprehensive view of...

If you’re planning on hosting an event for your brand or business, it’s time to think about all the ways that social media could be used to enhance the overall experience.

If you’re planning on hosting an event for your brand or business, it’s time to think about all the ways that social media could be used to enhance the overall experience.

If your management team announced that AI was being factored into the strategic plan for the coming year and that its focus would be how it might help increase the ability for the organization to advance the needs of end users, what would you think? Would you be immediately worried about your job?

If your management team announced that AI was being factored into the strategic plan for the coming year and that its focus would be how it might help increase the ability for the organization...

Any major transformation cannot stay high level, it does require some internal changes in the organisational model, a rethinking of processes and the up-skilling or hiring of the necessary people. The lack of internalisation is something we have witnessed first hands with several clients in their Digital Transformation journey. Unless the business realises the imperative to have subject matter experts from within, the project is likely to be incomplete or even fail.

Any major transformation cannot stay high level, it does require some internal changes in the organisational model, a rethinking of processes and the up-skilling or hiring of the necessary people. The...

We are putting a fresh spin on the Markies, expanding their scope to celebrate creators of legendary experiences across the entire customer journey.

We are putting a fresh spin on the Markies, expanding their scope to celebrate creators of legendary experiences across the entire customer journey.

As a CMO, your job is to be ready for every marketing development. You’re never allowed to stand still, because the moment you do, something in your industry will change, and you’ll fall behind the competition.

As a CMO, your job is to be ready for every marketing development. You’re never allowed to stand still, because the moment you do, something in your industry will change, and you’ll fall behind...

Do you become a different marketer during the holiday season? Until it begins, you spend countless hours researching your audiences, building buyer personas, and executing strategies that put the customer’s experience first. All of your work is rooted in best practice and is conducted with an innovative spirit. I mean, let’s be honest, you’re really good at this.

Do you become a different marketer during the holiday season? Until it begins, you spend countless hours researching your audiences, building buyer personas, and executing strategies that put...

Cyber Week, the now weeklong, global sales period seeded from Black Friday, is upon us. But looking at the headlines, it’s clear something’s awry with the shopper experience.

Cyber Week, the now weeklong, global sales period seeded from Black Friday, is upon us. But looking at the headlines, it’s clear something’s awry with the shopper experience.

To identify the talent or skills development to invest in, here are some of the key skills for succeeding at cross-channel marketing.

To identify the talent or skills development to invest in, here are some of the key skills for succeeding at cross-channel marketing.

There are not many new technologies that are truly game-changers. Machine learning is one of those technologies. In a nutshell, machine learning is a form of artificial intelligence in which computers learn to recognize patterns over time and are then able to make complex decisions without human input. Sounds simple enough, right? But it actually has very profound implications for social media.

There are not many new technologies that are truly game-changers. Machine learning is one of those technologies. In a nutshell, machine learning is a form of artificial intelligence in which computers...

You may have heard that Apple recently released Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) 2.0 which blocks 3rd-party cookies in Safari and other web-kit enabled browsers on iOS and Mac OS in an attempt to address privacy concerns. Mozilla also announced that the next version of Firefox will block 3rd-party cookies by default. With these changes, plus the availability of cookie blocking plugins for all other browsers, it’s time for marketers to reconsider their use of 3rd party tracking cookies. Any capability relying on these cookies, like DMPs or some retargeting products (including Oracle Responsys’ Rapid Retargeter), will start to see a drop-off in the number of website visitors being tracked.  But don’t fret. At least for the retargeting use cases, the solution is to use 1st party cookies. While 3rd-party cookies traditionally were able to keep track of a wide pool of known visitors due to its cross-site tracking ability, the recently announced changes diminish their utility. This makes solutions relying on 1st-party cookies the preferred method for tracking visitors – like Infinity Streams in the Oracle Marketing Cloud.  Streams captures web activities supporting the same retargeting use cases as Rapid Retargeter, including browse abandonment and cart abandonment, plus a whole lot more.  While Rapid Retargeter was mostly designed to accommodate traditional retail websites, Streams was designed to be industry-agnostic.  Marketers can define their own retargeting use cases and pass whatever information is relevant for their business need. For example, a bank that relies on a web form to collect information about their customers requesting current mortgage rates can use Infinity Streams to identify those who started but did not submit the form and then send a follow-up email to encourage them to complete the process.  Infinity Streams is a powerful tool that can take your retargeting abilities to the next level. For more information on Infinity Streams and how it can help your business, please reach out to your Account Management team.

You may have heard that Apple recently released Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) 2.0 which blocks 3rd-party cookies in Safari and other web-kit enabled browsers on iOS and Mac OS in an attempt to...

In the age of smartphones and tablets, home is where your device is. The average consumer spends upwards of three hours a day on their smartphone,so browsing, shopping and satisfying retail needs from wherever they may be is the new norm.

In the age of smartphones and tablets, home is where your device is. The average consumer spends upwards of three hours a day on their smartphone,so browsing, shopping and satisfying retail needs from...

Oracle enables marketers to use native Eloqua directly to make engaging experiences without knowing code, or relying on other resources with enhanced email editor and landing page tools.

Oracle enables marketers to use native Eloqua directly to make engaging experiences without knowing code, or relying on other resources with enhanced email editor and landing page tools.

Oracle is excited to share our highly anticipated new integration between Oracle Eloqua Sales Tools and Microsoft Outlook. This feature is now available for all Oracle Eloqua customers.

Oracle is excited to share our highly anticipated new integration between Oracle Eloqua Sales Tools and Microsoft Outlook. This feature is now available for all Oracle Eloqua customers.

As every email marketer knows, an effective email campaign focuses on relevant content above all else. But there’s a lesson to be learned from print catalogs here, too: product recommendations shouldn’t remind customers where they’ve already been — they should point the way forward to new discoveries, encouraging customers to comfortably branch outward from their core tastes.

As every email marketer knows, an effective email campaign focuses on relevant content above all else. But there’s a lesson to be learned from print catalogs here, too: product...

Those of us in the tech industry tend to forget that customers frankly don’t want to think about us and don’t want to interact with us. They do want to interact with our products but they don’t want to have anything to do with us. Ultimately, they simply want our products to deliver value to them.

Those of us in the tech industry tend to forget that customers frankly don’t want to think about us and don’t want to interact with us. They do want to interact with our products but they don’t want...

With the help of Oracle Responsys, eHarmony can pinpoint the best time to send an email to each individual. The Oracle AI model leverages customer behavioral data to determine when each customer is most likely to engage with their messaging.

With the help of Oracle Responsys, eHarmony can pinpoint the best time to send an email to each individual. The Oracle AI model leverages customer behavioral data to determine when each customer is...

Create a flexible and effective social media policy that provides a framework for action and empowers employees to share their enthusiasm and energy while getting the word out about your company.

Create a flexible and effective social media policy that provides a framework for action and empowers employees to share their enthusiasm and energy while getting the word out about your company.

Who owns the customer in the new world of cloud where the customer experience is increasingly seen as the linchpin to renewals and growth?

Who owns the customer in the new world of cloud where the customer experience is increasingly seen as the linchpin to renewals and growth?

Marketers must learn to adapt their practice to customer expectations or risk losing to competitors who are. Here are five skills you’ll need to survive the coming changes in marketing. And the good news is that each of these implies a return to a kind of marketing that is more human at its core.

Marketers must learn to adapt their practice to customer expectations or risk losing to competitors who are. Here are five skills you’ll need to survive the coming changes in marketing. And the good...

Did you know that it only takes seven seconds for someone to generate a first impression about a person or organization?

Did you know that it only takes seven seconds for someone to generate a first impression about a person or organization?

Although, currently the majority of IoT applications are for industries like transportation and manufacturing, great opportunities are fast emerging for integrating IoT with marketing automation platforms, like Oracle Marketing Cloud.

Although, currently the majority of IoT applications are for industries like transportation and manufacturing, great opportunities are fast emerging for integrating IoT with marketing automation...

Not every metric is meaningful to what you’re trying to achieve for your business. Where should you focus?

Not every metric is meaningful to what you’re trying to achieve for your business. Where should you focus?

Successfully orchestrating the cross-channel customer journey formed the centre of conversation at the latest Oracle Responsys User Forum. Here, we cover some of the most important takeaways from a morning of insight and shared experiences.

Successfully orchestrating the cross-channel customer journey formed the centre of conversation at the latest Oracle Responsys User Forum. Here, we cover some of the most important takeaways from a...

Forrester Research recently evaluated 6 top Marketing Automation Platforms in The Forrester Wave™: B2B Marketing Automation Platforms, Q4 2018 and we’re exceptionally pleased to share that Oracle is a leader in their assessment.

Forrester Research recently evaluated 6 top Marketing Automation Platforms in The Forrester Wave™: B2B Marketing Automation Platforms, Q4 2018 and we’re exceptionally pleased to share that Oracle is a...

For marketers and customer service professionals, customer experience has always sat at the very core of their role in driving greater value for organisations. However, according to the Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey, the recent surge in adoption of AI and chatbot technologies means some 60% of UK CIOs report leadership teams are now also looking at IT for support.  Of course, to keep customers happy and loyal, all organisations need to figure out how they can keep up with the customer experience standards set by industry disrupters – and make the necessary internal changes to ensure it happens sooner rather than later. Where marketers and customer success teams might once have assumed ownership of the customer experience, they are now expected to share it, and play well with other departments being brought into the mix. So what does this mean? Ultimately customer experience (CX) has always been at the centre of the organisation. What’s changing is its practitioners. In today’s market, CX practitioners come from all different parts of the business and must work cohesively to ensure the outcome is a seamless journey through on and offline channels. Delivering this invites challenges not only in how teams are restructured and realigned with each other, but also how the wider organisation understands its purpose as a business and reports on its performance as such. Here we consider some of the chief barriers facing organisations looking to drive greater value through enhancing the customer experience. Competing priorities According to the recent report published by the CX Network on the Global State of Customer Experience, competing business priorities are now the number one challenge for customer experience practitioners when it comes to increasing the customer-centricity of their organisations. Sales, for example, is a traditional area where sparks might fly with one team focused solely on short term financial results and the other looking at longer term trends and customer satisfaction. Crucially, this is no longer the age of the seller – with the birth of assistance technologies, the required mindset is one of guidance.  Equally, where IT might have seen its role as simply to ‘keep the lights on’, it is now an integral part of creating one, single record of all interactions between a brand and a customer that now range from online to social media, from customer support to chatbot.  Senior buy-in Another second key challenge identified by CX Network in keeping customer experience on top of the agenda is a lack of buy-in from the top to the bottom. With that is a lack of understanding from senior internal stakeholders in regards to their responsibility and impact on the customer experience.  Customer experience is the responsibility of everyone within the company. Getting CEO level support to involve everyone from the initial start of a CX programme is key to cultivate companywide customer centricity, bringing everyone on board to share a common understanding.  Rip and replace With senior leadership buy-in, the route map for customer centricity can be drawn in any conceivable way. Importantly, rather than embarking on a rip-and-replace mission, it is important decision makers understand how CX can complement the current culture to enhance the business’s competitive edge.  After all, the unique identity of a company is often crucial to its success. But, the culture does indeed need to accommodate to customer expectations, aligning to actually fulfil feedback where possible. This change must be driven from the top and rooted in the awareness of the value of CX – how it benefits client loyalty and the bottom line. The CX and ROI relationship Another perceived barrier is the absence of connecting the CX programme to tangible and measurable business results. Having clearly defined objectives and tying them to business results are key to keep CX a high priority initiative.  However, treating people only as rational actors where information, clicks and purchases are the only currencies of a brand interaction will likely not end well.  Instead, viewing every step of the customer journey as an opportunity to strengthen a mutually beneficial partnership, and designing the experience to trigger positive emotions, will endear customers and the people they happily recommend to the brand.  As an added benefit, a more fully human approach can boost the job satisfaction of everyone on the brand side as well, making stars of brand managers who understand the need to engage people more fully as human beings It is up to customer experience practitioners to disband outdated roles to ensure marketing, sales and IT align to, with, for, and around the customer. Balancing the flexibility of practitioners to deliver positive emotions, rather than hard results, with the need for sustainable, profitable change around the customer is a fine line. Go too far and the initiative falls down, but executed well, the business levels the playing field with market disruptors. Check out our free guide to streamlining your customer experience. Discover how top-notch customer experience can help you move away from a short-lived, campaign-centric approach. http://  

For marketers and customer service professionals, customer experience has always sat at the very core of their role in driving greater value for organisations. However, according to the Harvey Nash/KPM...

If` customers are reacting with annoyance and rage, and threatening to leave, offering them up a sacrificial lamb wrapped in a superman cape is not going to deliver any long-term benefits to anyone.

If` customers are reacting with annoyance and rage, and threatening to leave, offering them up a sacrificial lamb wrapped in a superman cape is not going to deliver any long-term benefits to anyone.

Tasnia Khan, Product Strategist, Oracle CX Today’s empowered consumers have never had easier access to information, but also have never been harder to reach. That’s not stopping companies from trying to cultivate loyal customers, who can advocate for and differentiate your brand, giving you a competitive advantage.  When a negative Yelp review prevents customers from checking you out, it’s time to do things differently. A loyal fan will “buy more, visit more, be less price sensitive, follow your advice, and recommend you.” They can help you acquire more customers, increase revenue, customer lifetime value, and be a differentiator in your industry So why is loyalty so hard to build and maintain? Well for one thing, loyalty programs have oversaturated the market.  The average American belongs to over 10 of them. That’s 3.8 billion individual loyalty program memberships! Let’s face it - consumers are no longer brand loyal – they’re loyal to their needs in the moment. They may join programs of brands they like, but they’ll only be loyal to brands that offer them relevant rewards and keep them engaged with the right interactions, in the right place, at the right time. To build a loyal customer base, brands must remain relevant and retain their customer’s interest, otherwise they are a click away from being forgotten. I’m here to give you some good news about opportunities to build loyalty that spans the entire customer experience journey, from marketing and commerce and service and social engagements. Here are 5 ways to differentiate your brand and keep your customers coming back for more Personalize, Personalize, Personalize Personalized experiences are now table stakes among retail brands. Consumers want to feel like you know them. They want to feel special and remembered, and may be willing to buy more when they receive hyper-personalized experiences. Build personalized loyalty programs to please them, and then you’ll build trust. Trust will lead to more opportunities to upsell and cross-sell. Consumers have high standards and want the same personalized experiences they would get if they walked into a store and were greeted by a personal shopper. To achieve this, companies need to leverage data to gain a full view of their customer so that they can identify preferences and anticipate their needs for all in-person, online, and mobile interactions. This hyper-personalization is what customers are looking for, and drives impulse purchases, increases revenue, yields fewer returns and increases loyalty. Personalization doesn’t have to end with a sale. Consider changing your customer service conversations from textbook answers to a contextual and tailored conversation with a customer through email, live chat, or even a chatbot. Use AI to connect the dots (and bots) Consumers engage with your brand from infinite combinations of channels. This results in an overwhelming amount of data to interpret. Personalization is easier said than done! This is where AI helps you understand the consumer journey, connects all of the data, and finds the missing links so that you can provide your customers with the hyper-personalized experiences they desire. AI analyzes information and finds patterns that feed your systems so that they constantly and intelligently recalibrate in real time to anticipate customer needs and serve the right content to optimize the next step of the customer journey, empowering innovation and growth. Encourage omnichannel interactions The vast majority of today’s digital consumers use multiple devices to make their purchases. Mobile is emerging as the preferred path. Customers move in and out of the customer lifecycle fluidly. They still expect brands to maintain the context of their previous interactions, regardless of channel. But, too often, businesses focus on separate experiences: in store, online, and mobile. These distinctions create disconnected information which lead to a disjointed customer experience. Instead, brands should integrate all of their customer data to give consumers more control and more convenient ways to shop, while seamlessly moving among their preferred channels. Just look at Nordstrom, Starbucks, and Southwest Airlines – brands that realized early on that providing a seamless omnichannel experience was the best way to stand out from the competition. Think of creative ways for your loyalty members to earn and redeem points across channels.For example, they could like or post pictures on social media with a specific brand hashtag, visit stores, or try sample products to earn points. Allow promotions and points to be redeemed across channels so that customers can choose the method that works best for them. Build emotional connections Most loyalty programs offer member discounts and coupons. However, a customer that’s just there for the discount isn’t truly engaged. Building loyalty requires fostering emotional connections, not just transactional ones. Companies need to foster experiences that promote loyalty of value, where consumers feel like they are truly part of a community. Per the Harvard Business Review; “The most effective way to maximize customer value is to move beyond mere customer satisfaction and connect with customers at an emotional level – tapping into their fundamental motivations and fulfilling their deep, often unspoken emotional needs. That means appealing to any of dozens of “emotional motivators” such as a desire to feel a sense of belonging, to succeed in life, or to feel secure.” How can your loyalty program eliminate friction from the customer experience and build value? The opportunities to build value can vary tremendously from industry to industry.  For example, a grocery store could offer a cooking class for loyal members, while an airline might promote a trip redemption. There are different ways to incentivize behavior, whether that features gifts with purchase, gamifying a redemption experience, or helping consumers decide what to purchase. Focus on the full experience, not just the process of earning points. Look to solve a customer’s problems before they happen. Be there for them as more than just a coupon code and you’ll build lasting loyalty. Don’t forget the logistics While not the most exciting part of customer loyalty, logistics are a defining element in the customer journey. Logistics ensure that customers are supported every step along their journey. Don’t overlook inventory, shipping, forecasting, and delivering the right product to the right place at the right time. The second that a package gets lost, an item is cancelled because it’s actually out of stock, or a hotel room isn’t ready for a traveler – your business risks losing loyalty and trust. As we saw above, the traditional channels of engagement are changing. Your brand should be easily reachable to discuss logistics. A good way to do that is through social media. Customer service interactions over Twitter have increased 250% in the last two years. Social media is essential for fostering loyalty and emotional connections. Ensure your representatives are available and armed with the knowledge to handle questions about the logistics on all channels. Emerging technologies can help streamline your logistics. For example, use AI to improve forecasting. IoT can improve inventory visibility and get products delivered to customer more efficiently. Make sure that these technologies tap into your organization’s broader network, integrating with consumer data to provide seamless experiences. In this day and age, you need to figure out what the customer wants in the quickest way possible, without any hassle on their side. Providing superior, connected customer experiences is how to build loyalty and outdo the competition. Price is no longer a differentiating factor for businesses. Customers expect you to know what they want, before they even show up. The customer evolution makes it imperative for businesses to ensure they are reducing customer effort and deploying emotional connection strategies to improve loyalty. The path is clear – customer loyalty means brand advocates, higher revenue, and customer lifetime value. Rise to the top of the pack during the customer evolution by creating loyal customers who can’t wait to interact with you again! Related - Read 3 Ways to Build Customer Loyalty Check out this infographic for a snapshot of how to drive loyalty in an era of empowered consumers.        

Tasnia Khan, Product Strategist, Oracle CX Today’s empowered consumers have never had easier access to information, but also have never been harder to reach. That’s not stopping companies from trying...

By Michael Anderson, data scientist, Oracle Data Cloud Let’s say that after three months of running an ad campaign, it finally comes to a close. The numbers are in, the ads stopped running, and your targeted audience is no longer seeing your brand as part of that campaign. Logic would say that an unfortunate side effect of a campaign ending is that revenue for the campaign ends, too. Our data science team is here to show you how the revenue generated by an advertising campaign does not end with that campaign. In fact, 53% of a typical campaign’s value is derived from additional consumer spending up to 12 months after a digital campaign ends. How can this be? We’ll walk through our research, which includes some stats that might surprise even the most experienced marketer. In the January 1978 issue of the Harvard Business Review, Nariman K. Dhalla paints advertising as an inherently long-term investment—marketers have known this forever. Dhalla writes, “Sales revenue is not generated immediately in a lump sum”—rather, it “flows like a stream over time.” With that in mind, let’s explore why data is the key to unlocking the potential of that statement. What’s Lift Got to Do with It? In marketing terms, we define “lift” as the increase in sales in response to an ad campaign.   An ad campaign generates lift in two ways—a lift in sales or a lift in penetration. Penetration lift during a campaign is derived from new buyers or existing buyers purchasing “out of cycle,” that is, after the campaign has ended.   Often, sales lift is used as a primary key performance indicator (KPI), but this view alone can underestimate the full effect of penetration lift on sales. Additional value is accrued when the change in behavior driven by the ad continues into the future, long after the campaign has run its course. Any additional increase in sales during months 2-12 after that campaign ends is referred to as “long-term value.” Long-term value (LTV) contributes significantly to the value of a campaign. Because LTV is defined by continuous consumer spending over time and is independent of additional ad spend, it can have a substantial impact on Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). How Data Can Help Marketers Understand Long-Term Value It’s true that brand loyalty decays exponentially over time—that’s a straightforward concept. Here’s what I mean:   For an advertising example, let’s say the rate of decay is 0.7. This means that 70% of the buyers from an ad campaign will buy the advertised product again in the future, then 70% of those two-time buyers will buy for the third time, and so on. This process continues until the effect of repeat buyers is negligible (in this example, after 12 months, only 1.3% of buyers will purchase again). To model this behavior, Oracle Data Cloud uses a Markov model on past-purchase data to estimate two decay curves: 1.    The first curve estimates how ad-inspired/incremental buyers will buy in the year following the campaign. 2.    The second curve estimates how those households will buy if they did not see the ad. Long-term value is calculated as the difference between those two estimated curves. (Get more in-depth with Markov chains in the below video). In our study, we selected 107 campaigns since the implementation of long-term value measurement in early 2017 and compared short-term vs. long-term value estimates. We discovered these three key results: The full impact of long-term value is dependent on many factors, such as the purchase frequency of a product and brand loyalty. A shorter purchase cycle means more opportunities for repeat sales, and brand loyalty increases the chances that the consumer will choose your brand again. Advertising is positioned to influence both of these factors by reminding the customer to use your product often and by building brand loyalty. To learn more about how your ads can drive long-term revenue, contact us on the Data Hotline. Michael Anderson is a data scientist at Oracle Data Cloud, focusing on using data to create actionable insights and best practices for the ad-tech industry.

By Michael Anderson, data scientist, Oracle Data Cloud Let’s say that after three months of running an ad campaign, it finally comes to a close. The numbers are in, the ads stopped running, and your...

You need a diverse set of skills to succeed in today’s competitive social media marketplace. With all seven of these in place, you'll be in the best possible position to grow your company’s brand on social media.

You need a diverse set of skills to succeed in today’s competitive social media marketplace. With all seven of these in place, you'll be in the best possible position to grow your company’s brand...

This month we had the pleasure of sitting down with Elena Drozd, senior director of data science and advanced analytics, to discuss recent leaps in analytics and where those leaps will lead. Spoiler alert: Predictive analytics is the present — and future — of digital marketing.

This month we had the pleasure of sitting down with Elena Drozd, senior director of data science and advanced analytics, to discuss recent leaps in analytics and where those leaps will lead....

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Autonomous is set to dramatically transform industries. Here’s how your organization can be ready.

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As email adoption increases and brands invest more in the space, traditional KPIs like opens and clicks are falling behind money generated per email as the key decision and strategy driver for larger...

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n a recent report, Gartner evaluated 14 different vendors on their ability to manage the processes associated with CRM Lead Management and Oracle is honored to be named a ‘Leader’ in Gartner’s...

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Millennials are now the primary group that nearly everyone is targeting. Here are 8 tips for getting in touch with them.

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Build a brand experience that’s so compelling, relatable, and trustworthy that customers don't wait for you to come to them, they go looking for you.

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In the age of connected customer experiences, here are 3 questions marketers must answer:

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Each channel has different expectations and opportunities. Use these tips to build a successful cross-channel strategy.

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Marketers switch marketing automation system due to issues with vendor support, price, performance, scalability and sometimes their own ability (or inability) to work with IT.

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Imagine your email personalization strategy as your subscribers' personal shopper. Do you delight them with perfect recommendations?

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Here are some great tips for using text message marketing as a highly-personalized aspect of your marketing mix.

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Three takeaways from Clicktale’s research on consumer mobile shopping behavior.

Get the lowdown on the new European data privacy regulations—which by the way reverberate far beyond the European Union—on this edition of the OracleNext podcast. Data expert Paul Sonderegger riffs on how the data handling framework, rolling out this year, could impact consumers—whose information is being collected—and the companies wanting to parse that information. Sonderegger, Oracle’s chief data strategist, who is interviewed by veteran journalists  Michael Hickins and Barbara Darrow, also talks about: How the move to cloud computing is complicating how data is collected, stored, and managed. How the F. Scott Fitzgerald test might be a better gauge of true artificial intelligence (AI) than the more commonly applied Turing test.  And how the aforementioned GDPR regulations, now rolling out in Europe, could shift the balance of power between the people whose behavior is being observed and the companies that are observing that behavior. It’s a great chat, so sit back and enjoy. And please tune back in to hear more from Hickins, Darrow, and their guests on the OracleNext Iconoclasts series. For more from Sonderreger, check out his Quartz story on the F. Scott Fitzgerald test as well as his blog post about common misconceptions about data disruption.

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Businesses are now exploring how they can use Instagram Stories to engage with customers and fans. Chris Zilles offers 4 tips.

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There are many reasons to take a break from the office, but Modern Marketing Express has some your boss is likely to agree with.

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The holiday season is fast approaching. Here are four email marketing tactics you can execute NOW to better position your programs for success.

Gone are the days of creating one big television commercial a year and broadcasting it endlessly. Today’s CMO must be nimble and quick in creating video marketing strategies.

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Sixty percent of marketers struggle to personalize content in real time, yet 77 percent believe real-time personalization is crucial. Inbound marketing coupled with personalization is the way to go.

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The proliferation of mobile devices that consumers use on a daily basis creates an enormous challenge for marketers trying to orchestrate a seamless cross-channel customer experience. When consumers...

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Customer behavior is getting harder to predict. Customer experience technologies are evolving more and more quickly. At Oracle, we want to help you stay ahead of these trends.

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CMOs shouldn't fear a changing digital landscape. Instead, use a variety of digital marketing platforms to multiply your content and reach.

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Data literacy drives more intelligent decisions. And while they might not be saying it, data literacy is what your customers need you to have.

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The social media habits of millennials are constantly changing. Here are 3 tips to reach more millennials with your social media marketing.

Imagine you’re a clothing retailer and want to promote two new red sweaters this season – a men’s and a women’s. You’ve got an email list of 25,000 men and 25,000 women. Do you segment your next email campaign? If so, how?

Imagine you’re a clothing retailer and want to promote two new red sweaters this season – a men’s and a women’s. You’ve got an email list of 25,000 men and 25,000 women. Do you segment your next...

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Social media is more than just a new form of PR to message an audience – it’s about activating a core base of fans, customers, and employees to bring real change to the world.

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