7 Marketing Trends to Watch in 2012

And Key Tactics You’ll Need to Address Them

Email and Marketing Automation that’s complete. Not complex.

Nothing is more relevant and actionable to marketers than knowing where their customers and prospects are at a specific time. And for years, companies have flirted with the notion of location-based marketing, only to discover that it’s not an easy task. As it turns out, people don’t want to be followed everywhere they go—unless they invite you to come along with them.

The merging of location-based marketing with the social networking world has provided a permission-based model that, coupled with

an increase in smartphones and tablets, has led to an explosion in check-in programs from Foursquare, Facebook and

Twitter—with Foursquare alone passing the 10 million user mark in June 2011 and growing at 1 million users a month.

And every time people check in on a mobile device, they’re spreading brand awareness and affinity

to their social followers.

What do Usain Bolt, the Enzo Ferrari and peregrine falcons have in common with digital marketing? All move at lightning-fast speeds, a fact that makes this a remarkably exciting—and challenging—time to be a marketer. As the buying landscape continues to move and change at warp speed, the savviest marketers are looking ahead to 2012 to ensure they stay a few (giant) strides ahead of the pack.

So, what will 2012 bring? We don’t have a crystal ball, but you can count on customers and prospects becoming more empowered by the wealth of information at their fingertips and the discussions taking place in social forums. They’re increasingly demanding that companies communicate with them on their terms, delivering the right message via the right channel at the right time.

For marketers, that will mean expanding social, mobile and local initiatives to ensure they’re where their customers are. They’ll need to tap the unparalleled power of email to deliver highly targeted, revenue-generating content, and rely on marketing automation more than ever to deliver more personalized content to more people via more channels.

Here’s a look at seven important trends to get in front of in 2012, along with a sampling of key tactics you can implement to ensure your competition stays firmly positioned in your rearview mirror.

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7 Marketing Trends to Watch in 2012—and Key Tactics You’ll Need to Address Them

Location, Location, Location: The ultimate in right message, right timeTREND #1

With their potential for facilitating the delivery of highly relevant messaging at the right time, local marketing initiatives will be a key competitive differentiator in 2012. Whether you’re a retailer looking to boost sales or a tech company trying to generate leads, it’s time to take the mantra “think global, act local” to heart.

Key tactics for location-based marketing success in 2012:• Integratelocalinitiativeswithemail,mobileandsocialtomaximizereachand

revenue, e.g. using email to send a location-sensitive To-Do reminder, announcing a check-in contest via your Facebook page or Twitter timeline, and responding via email or Twitter when customers check in at your stores.

•Establishloyaltyprograms—andrelatedrewards—basedonbehaviorssuchasrecent purchases, check-ins and social sharing of your content.

•Differentiateyourbrandbylaunchingacheck-inbasedcontestorsweepstakeswhere customers gain entry by checking in to your venues.

• Increasetraffictoyourstoresorvenuebydeliveringpersonalizedandlocation-specificofferswhencustomerscheckinnearby.

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Personality Plus: Marketing content becomes more humanTREND #2

Not so long ago, marketing was all about selling your products and services. A little high-end steak here, a little enticing sizzle there. And regardless of whether you were selling caviar or catering equipment, delivering your message in an impersonal, corporate voice across the masses was just fine.

Ah, the simple times. While delivering product news, enticing sales and discounts, and “ya gotta see this!” demos as part of your messaging mix is still important, recipient expectations for corporate communications have shifted with the rise of social media and accompanying corporate pages on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. These days, customers and prospects move quickly and effortlessly between your company’s social presence and photos of their best friend’s recent vacation, so stiff corporate messaging that sounds like it was crafted by Mr. Roboto in the legal department can create an abrupt disconnect.

As a result, savvy marketers will be shifting more focus in 2012 to delivering helpful, educational content with verve and personality: “Yes, we’ve got sizzling steaks, but here are our staff’s favorite wine pairings for that steak, our guest chef’s video tips for grilling it, and customer recommendations for the most mouth-watering sides to enjoy with it.”

For marketers looking to get ahead, it’s time to get real, get human and add value.

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Key tactics for content marketing success in 2012:•Spendlesstimetalkingatyourcustomersandprospectsandmoretime

paying attention to their behaviors and listening to them via social networks, community forums and surveys. Then, talk to them the way you would, well, talk to another human being, employing a voice that’s distinctive, engaging and yours—an extension of your company’s unique core values.

• Includemessagesinyouremailarsenaldesignedsimplytoinform,entertain,surprise and provide value rather than sell. For example, a packaged goods company might offer favorite recipes from the staff, a technology company could author a how-to white paper that doesn’t hype its own product, and a cruise operator can recommend travel, packing and on-shore dining tips.

• Incorporatecustomervoicesintoyourmessagestogiveyouremailsamorehuman feel, mining social networks, call centers, blogs and community forums for ideas. Having your customers talk about your products for you instantly humanizes your brand in a way that even the best promotional copy can’t match.

• Introduceyouraudiencetoyourteamthroughwordsandpictures,includingstories and anecdotes about how your employees have interacted with your products or in your product area. Put simply, people like to do business with people.

Smartphone sales recently surpassed PC sales, and the gap is growing1. Tablet sales are predicted to nearly double from 64 million in 2011 to 104 million in 20122. And 25 billion mobile app downloads are expected by 20153. Welcome to Screensizeapalooza, where people view your emails, landing pages, blogs, videos and more on platforms of various sizes, shapes and functionality, often using mobile devices to triage their inboxes and then reading what they’ve saved later on their laptop or desktop computer.

The good news is that mobile devices have become more HTMl-capable, so there are fewer restrictions on design. But that increase in capability means that

King Arthur Flour, a manufacturer of

premium baking products, decided to see if

incorporating customer voices and adding

a more human element to its emails would

help boost engagement and revenue. It ran

an email A/B test in which one version of the

email featured star ratings and testimonials

for the main products, while the other did

not. The result? The message incorporating

customer quotes tallied a 30 percent lift

in all key metrics—total orders, sales and

orders per unique opens. Also, there were

fewer unsubscribes and spam complaints

and a slight increase in average order value.

Testimonials are now a key part of King

Arthur’s email program.

Screensizeapalooza: Designing for multiple devicesTREND #3

SucceSS Story: King Arthur Flour

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many smartphone users are faced with the arduous task of deciphering text and images on a small screen that often provides a less-than-rewarding visual experience. And the need to use one’s fingertip as a mouse on touch devices can lead to even more frustration if emails, landing pages, etc. aren’t designed with this functionality in mind.

In 2012, as smartphones and tablets become even more widespread and the technology becomes more advanced, user patience with emails and websites that don’t display in a user-friendly, intuitive fashion is likely to decrease. The result will be deleted emails, deserted Web pages and abandoned forms and shopping carts for companies that fail to take the necessary steps to ensure customer and prospect satisfaction.

Key tactics for mobile design success in 2012:•Designforthefingertipasamouse,avoidingputtinghyperlinkstoocloseto

each other and instead incorporating clickable content blocks that are at least a fingertip’s width apart.

•Takestepstoensureyourcontentisreadableonafullrangeofdevices,such as using alt tags and larger fonts, making sure emails are typically less than 600 pixels wide, and including key messaging in the top-left corner. Also, consider using style sheets that will adjust size of images and text to be optimized for screen size.

•Whentestinghowmessageswilllookonmobiledevices,don’tforgottoalsoconsider landing pages, corporate social networks, forms and other Web pages that recipients may be clicking through to via your emails.

Today’s customers and prospects are busier than ever, a fact that’s complicated by the 5,000-plus advertising and marketing messages they’re likely receiving on a daily basis. It’s no wonder, then, that many are tuning out marketing messages and offers because of irrelevant content, confusing calls-to-action or external distractions.

With audience attention fragmented and patience thin, many marketers cite list churn as their biggest challenge, with the average rate of annual churn hovering around 20 percent to 30 percent for most companies4. Also worrisome: In the average marketing database, 30 percent to 50 percent of contacts have gone inactive4. And even if marketers do engage contacts, challenges await: Approximately 70 percent of conversion processes are abandoned before reaching the end5. That’s a lot of deserted shopping carts and Web forms.

Given the high cost of winning new customers compared to maintaining current ones, it’s clearly wise to make every effort to retain as many subscribers as possible—

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It’s Not Goodbye … It’s See you Later: Re-engagement and remarketing comes of ageTREND #4

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understanding that all inactive subscribers are not created equal, and some long-dormant contacts may not be good candidates for re-engagement.

Likewise, considering the lofty ROI of abandonment emails, you can expect an increased emphasis on cart, form and browse abandonment campaigns in 2012, with the top marketers adhering to emerging best practices to maximize impact.

Key tactics for re-engagement and remarketing success in 2012: •Engagecontactsbeforetheybecomeinactivebyautomaticallyplacingnewleads

or subscribers into a multistep welcome campaign that introduces them to the benefits of your email program; highlights your website, social media pages and SMS offering if applicable; invites them to tell you more about themselves; and provides links to helpful resources you offer.

• Insteadofwaitinguntilit’stoolatetodiscoverinactivity,initiateanearlywarningsystem that uses reporting and scoring to identify inactive contacts within the first four to eight weeks of engaging them. Move these contacts into their own email and nurture programs designed to bring them back into the fold by inviting them to update preferences or fill out a survey so you can serve them better; offering a purchase incentive; creating emails promoting highly recommended items that fit with their previous purchases, downloads or Web browsing history; and inviting them to engage via social media channels or switch their communication preferences to print, SMS or other channels.

•Analyzeyourdatabasetodeterminewhichapparentinactivescouldcomeoutof hibernation, going back at least two years and considering online and offline behaviors such as email opens and clicks, purchases/conversions, profile changes, Web browsing history, print catalog requests, event attendance, etc. Then, take inactives you classify as good candidates for re-engagement and place them into their own messaging and campaign track.

•Employamultimessagecartabandonmentseries,sendingthefirstmessagewithin an hour or two (or, at the latest, within 24 hours), adopting a service tone and limiting incentives to alerting recipients that their carts will expire.

•Testbrowseandformabandonmentcampaignstofindtheoptimumtimingandnumberofmessages.Again,takeaservicetone,andpersonalizewithimagesand details of a website category, page, product or event the contact viewed but didn’tpurchase,downloadorregisterfor.

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Markco Media, a global Web-based

marketing and advertising company that

operates the U.K.’s No. 1 voucher and

deals network (myvouchercodes.co.uk),

wanted to win back inactive subscribers,

so it decided to target customers who

hadn’t taken a specific action—in this

case, opening an email—in the last three

months. For its re-engagement program,

it targeted these dormant subscribers with

personalized content using Silverpop’s

dynamic content functionality. As a result of

the campaign, it reactivated 20 percent of

its inactive subscribers.

SucceSS Story: Markco Media

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For years, marketers have focused on explicit, self-reported contact data when evaluating and segmenting customers and prospects—if they collected any data at all. But in the new era of marketing, in which companies must listen to, learn from and speak to customers and prospects on a one-to-one, personal basis, the focus will shift to widening the scope of information being collected and building better behavioral databases that enable marketers to “listen” to contacts and cut through messaging clutter.

In 2012 and beyond, marketers who want to win will focus more heavily on using new technology to collect a rich archive of data about customer demographics, preferences and behaviors ranging from Web pages visited and blog comments recorded to Foursquare check-ins and white papers downloaded—and dozens more.

Monitoring social behaviors will be a key part of the process, with marketers seeking to gain a better understanding of who the key social influencers are in their databases and how they might best communicate with them to maximize the chances of increasing message reach.

When teamed with a sophisticated marketing technology platform, this data will enable marketers to deliver timely, relevant content that establishes an individual dialogue between the company and the customer/prospect that increases engagement, builds loyalty and ultimately drives revenue.

Key tactics for behavioral database success in 2012: •Setupamarketingdatabase,integratedwithaWebanalyticssystem,that

enables you to connect individuals with how they interacted with your company via the Web, email, social media, store/trade show booth, etc.

•UsenewWebtrackingtechnologytoconnectnewcontactstoactionstheytook on your site before opting in or filling out a Web form. Instead of sending

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To help recover lost sales from abandoned

shopping carts, Fabric.com, the world’s

leading online fabric store selling customer-

measured fabric, implemented a Coremetrics

LIVEmail integration with Silverpop Engage

and began sending a multi-email automated

cart recovery series. Sent to people who

abandoned their shopping carts within a

specified time period, it includes a strong

one-click call to action for recipients to return

to their carts. Fabric.com saw immediate

positive results from the cart abandonment

campaign. Today, its click-through rates are

350 percent higher, its average order value

is 10 percent higher, and its conversion rates

are 50 percent higher than broadcast emails.

SucceSS Story: Fabric.com

Actions Speak Loudest: Unlocking the power of behaviorTREND #5

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a generic email—or one with information that a new contact has no interest in—you can increase your chances of connecting from the very first message by immediately putting them into a messaging track designed for their interests.

•Asapplicable,syncupyourmarketingplatformandCRMsoyoucanpassdatabackandforthinbothdirectionsmoreefficiently,betteroptimizecontent,andimprove communication between sales and marketing.

•Createscoringandsegmentationsystemsthattakeyourcustomerandprospect behaviors into account—including social actions such as “liking” you onFacebook,sharingyourcontenttoasocialnetworkandcommentingonblogs—and use them to establish your contacts’ levels of engagement with your company.Then,segmentandmessageaccordingly.

When, where and how we communicate has changed dramatically in the last five years. In 2006, Facebook had 12 million users, Twitter was in its infancy and the first iPhone had yet to be unveiled. My, how things have changed. Today, there are 800 million Facebook users, nearly 200 million Twitter accounts and more than 10 billion Apple apps downloaded.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, with more users than ever accessing email via mobile devices, new social networks such as Google+ emerging, and check-in sites and location-based services such as Foursquare adding new wrinkles to the marketing communication mix. Silverpop refers to this convergence of mobile, social, local and email as “mocial.” And in a world gone mocial, marketers must change the way they interact with customers and prospects to ensure that they’re where their customers and prospects are, engaging them across channels and growing their database in the process.

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Cloudwords, a cloud-based Translation

Management Platform that allows its

customers to select and interact with vendors

that will translate any type of content, wanted

to enable its demand generation team to gain

immediate insight into prospect and customer

engagement. Using Web tracking functionality,

it captured each contact’s interactions

with the company, including his or her site

visits, Web-page views, form submittals, file

downloads, email sends and Share-to-Social

activity. Through a Silverpop Engage and

Salesforce.com integration, Cloudwords’

demand generation team was then able to

access this information in the Contact Insight

module. “Our Demand Generation team loves

the quick view the Contact Insight module

provides, as well as the understanding of

where the user has landed on our website

and from which campaign,” says Cloudwords

CEO Michael Meinhardt. “Having this

information available at its fingertips allows

our Demand Generation team to have

relevant content for every conversation.”

SucceSS Story: cloudwords

Social Studies: learning to be everywhere your customers and prospects areTREND #6

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To get your mocial mojo working and position your company to thrive in 2012, marketers should look to gain a better understanding of the interplay between these channels and leverage each to strengthen the other, thereby increasing customer engagement, moving prospects through the buying cycle, and boosting revenue and loyalty. By thinking strategically and holistically about all these mediums and shifting communication patterns to match user preferences, you can connect with contacts in exciting new ways.

Key tactics for mocial success in 2012: •Monitorsocial-sharingpatternsand,ifapplicable,aggregatesocialsign-indata

to see what social identities your contacts associate with your brand or company, using this information to inform which channels and networks you target for social-sharinginitiatives.

•Growyouremaildatabasethroughsocialandmobile.Forexample,youcouldaddanemailopt-inorlead-genformonyourcompany’sFacebookpage,captureemailsviaSMSorappdownloads,and/orusetabletstogatherinfoatoffline retail stores or trade show booths.

•Designcampaignsaroundtheconceptofsharing,deliveringyourstrongestcall to action at a time that makes sense rather than asking people to share somethingbeforetheyconsumeit.Forexample,insteadofjustincludingsocial-sharingiconsinanemailwithalinktoawhitepaperandbankingontherecipient sharing without having reviewed the content, also insert sharing links withinthewhitepaperPDFitselfandsendanautomatedfollow-upemailinvitingdownloaders to Tweet the best idea they got from your paper.

•Takestepstoensureyourcontentishighlyshareworthyandeasilyshareable,delivering personalized content and mixing discounts, giveaways, breaking news and educational info to see what resonates with your audience; including social linkssuchasFacebook“Like”orTwitter“Follow”buttonsinappropriateemails;andprominentlyfeaturingsocial-sharinglinks,prepopulatingtheselinkswithamessage(includinghashtags)that’ssuitableforsharing.

•Usenewmarketingtechnologytoautomaticallypostrelevantcontentacrossarange of social network accounts at the same time an email goes out, ensuring a consistent message delivered across channels in a timely fashion.

•Aimtointegratemocialeffortswheneverpossible,suchasdrivingTwitterfollowerstoyourblogwithateasertweet,bloggingaboutanexclusiveSMSpromotion, and using email to grow followers and fans, increase app downloads andexplainthebenefitsofyourlocalcheck-inprogram.

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General Growth Properties (GGP), owner

of 185 regional shopping centers in 43

states, wanted to increase the reach of its

promotions. Using Silverpop’s Share-to-Social

feature to place icons in emails encouraging

people to share its content, GGP experienced

a massive uptick in consumer awareness

about its events and promotions. ”Thousands

of our subscribers shared a recent $10 off

coupon email on social networks such as

Twitter, MySpace and Facebook,” says Jeff

Cloud, Director, Customer Relationship and

Mobile Marketing, at GGP. “With Facebook

alone, we’ve been able to extend our reach

to at least 500,000 people we may not have

reached otherwise.”

SucceSS Story: GGP

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While many new and exciting communication channels have emerged in recent years, email has continued to thrive as the foundation on which marketers can successfully engage contacts, nurture leads, and boost loyalty and revenue, with three-fourths of adults citing it as their preferred method for commercial communication6.

But given the cluttered communication landscape, generic batch-and-blast emailing alone isn’t going to cut it. Whether you’re reaching out to consumers shopping for holiday gifts or IT departments looking to sign six-figure, multiyear contracts, you’re trying to connect with decision makers with unique characteristics that should be marketed to as individuals.

To succeed in 2012 and beyond, marketers need to tap the full potential of email as a dynamic content platform and deliver individualized, automated messages based on robust behavioral databases and advanced analytics. Ironically, the key to being more personal in the information age is in becoming more automated.

The most successful marketers in the year ahead will recognize that email has evolved into more than a standalone channel and take advantage of integrations with multiple technologies (Web analytics, personalization and recommendation engines, ecommerce platforms, product review technologies, SFA and CRM solutions, etc.) to build multidimensional messages on the fly by pulling in data and content from all of these technologies. And they’ll use marketing automation to create trigger-based, behavior-driven email programs to keep people engaged.

Key tactics for dynamic email success in 2012: •Builddynamiccontentintoyourmessages,automaticallyreplacingentiresections

based on each recipient’s unique behaviors, interests and needs.

•Populatemessageswithpeerreviews,customertestimonialsandcommentsfromsocial communities unique to each recipient’s interests and/or past buying history.

•Create“if-then”messagingtrackswithinyouremailandnurturecampaigns,sending contacts down different content paths depending on their behaviors.

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Dynamic Dynamo: Email as cutting-edge, personalized messaging machineTREND #7

Using Silverpop Engage, Air New Zealand sends personalized pre-flight emails to passengers utilizing Silverpop’s dynamic content functionality. Its pre-flight email includes imagery tailored around the upcoming destination, such as shots of local cultural events or popular delicacies, a weather update, and flight details along with the ability to share information with friends via Facebook and Twitter. Air New Zealand’s brand personality also shines through, with

each message showcasing a photo of a flight crew member who will be on the recipient’s specific flight. The pre-flight emails have an average unique open rate of 69 percent and an average unique click rate of 38 percent— well above industry averages. In addition, passenger reaction has been incredibly positive, from thousands of active Facebook comments to some customers even printing out the emails to show the featured flight crew member while on board.

SucceSS Story: Air New Zealand

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Footnotes1-International Data Corporation, “Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker,” Feb. ’112-Gartner, “Competitive Landscape: Media Tablets,” Sept. ’113-Juniper Research, “Mobile App Stores: Business Models, Strategies & Market Segmentation

2010-2015,” July ’104-Fresh Address, “Re-engaging Your Active Subscribers,” May ’105-See Why, “The 5 Best Techniques for Recovering Abandoned Shopping Carts with Email

and Social Media,” June ’106-Merkle, “View from the Digital Inbox,” Jan. ’11

Whether your marketing programs have been adapting to recent changes as quickly as a gazelle or a slowly as a sloth, 2012 brings new opportunities for ambitious marketers to engage their customers and prospects. And if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the possibilities, don’t despair—just pick a few key areas and get started. By looking ahead and planning carefully, you’ll be well-positioned to integrate mobile, social and local programs with email, taking advantage of technological breakthroughs to deliver amazingly relevant content via the channels your contacts prefer.

In 2012, marketers will have the ability to access more customer and prospect behaviors than ever, enabling you to “listen” to the online and offline signals they’re passing along and build databases packed with increasingly complex contact profiles. And by tapping the power of marketing automation, you can take this data and scale personalization across hundreds, thousands, even millions of contacts within just a few seconds of hitting “send.” Now that’s the kind of speed that will have you lapping the competition.

Conclusion

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