Making It Easy

You have to love it when a brand makes it simple for customers to navigate a site

Marketing Automation and Moments of Truth

If marketing has one goal, it’s to reach consumers at the moments that most influence their decisions

A quote taken from this McKinsey article.

But how often as marketers do we really understand when those moments of truth are?

Of course as we buy our morning latte it would seem like almost the perfect opportunity to be offered a pastry with that in the local Costa or Starbucks. And it would seem that whatever you buying in WH Smith these days its always the right time to be offered a Cadbury's bar at a special price.( Although that would seem too random for my liking..and yet it seems to work)

And talking of chocolate, I came across this perfect photo opportunity in a Superdrug store recently where product placement was very much to the fore with a real moment of truth opportunity to cross sell

Of course there are times when the customer is begging for you to make the sale - for example when I earlier this evening added the words 'Arne Jacobsen station desk clock ' into my Google search bar. No guessing what I was in the market for.

But sometimes it's not that obvious and you have to put the pieces together - as did Harry Caul in The Conversation ( An A to Z of eCRM - H is for Harry ).


Luckily these days much of this 'grunt' work is achieved with Marketing Automation platforms that can help score the right moment to approach a potential customer with the right message.


Seem a little old fashioned and sounds like old school marketing? I'm not so sure.


With so many marketing automation platforms these days incorporating Social as part of that lead process it makes it much more palatable to those of you who think Social is the answer, now what's the question?


Of course this only works if the programme has a real time element to it and doesn't work on traditional batch and blast mechanics.


But imagine a scenario where I read my emails in the morning with news of the new trainers I've been looking at online are available at my favourite Nike store. As I walk past the store, I receive a message on my location aware mobile  inviting me in to try them on for size - they have my size 9's in stock as they remember my last online order. And because they know how many miles I've run since then they think I deserve a new pair (using data to second guess that need)


I've got time so I go in and obviously check in - at which point I'm offered a free pair of socks to go with the trainers if I buy there and then.


Of course I buy, and receive a thank you message on my Nike App, encouraging me to take a photo of them on and share with my favourite community..Pinterest this week.


And so the journey continues.....not in my dreams but in real life


Anyway must quickly run down to WH Smith to buy some chocolate

Seamless Customer Experience - Well Not Quite!

Maybe it's because I talk about Customer Experience that I notice these things - but surely it rubs 'normal' people the wrong when brand get it annoyingly wrong...especially when I get two in one day.

BMI

I'm flying to take part in the 3rd Fusion Marketing Experience tomorrow, and booked with BMI who ,as with most other international airlines offer online check in for their flights

Now I like online check-in, if only because it often means an extra 30 minutes in bed for an early departure from home.

So, I've booked via the BMI website, and do realise that I am actually travelling with one of their partners - SN Brussels. But that matter not to me, as far as I am concerned its BMI.

I duly get my confirmation email

that obviously confirms everything and has the following link,

Fantastic! Especially about the Online Check-in...''Check-in online to save time at the airport" ..Music to my ears.

So, my flight is at 10.40am and it gets to 11am the day before and I'm itching to check-in

What do I get as I try?

Ouch! I'm sure I have the right booking reference. I'm sure I've booked a flight!

After 3 attempts, I decide to ring the number at which point I get told that as the flight is not operated by BMI I can't check in online.

Now I'm slightly irritated. But I decide to check on that original link that actually does lead me to a page telling me just that.

And to rub the wound with a little salt, I get an email at 3pm saying

But why could you not have put that into the original confirmation email? We have the technology honestly!!

Talking of technology..

TFM&A - Manchester


and I quote..

MANCHESTER'S PREMIER EVENT FOR MARKETING AND DIGITAL COMMERCE

So I get an email from them again today,with

Hi Gianfranco,We'd like to invite you to an exclusive programme of keynote content ateCommerce Expo & TFM&A Manchester, designed to support you on your marketing and ecommerce journey. And what better way to stay on top of the latest trends than hearing it straight from the companies driving the industry forward?

and the link.

An I think..I'm registered for the event. But you know, maybe I thought I had and I'll just register now.

So I click!

Double ouch!

I know we have the technology..it's in the conference name ( I'm sure that's what the T is for? 

I wonder if any of the exhibitors might help out next year

Where Do I Sign Up? 2

Last year I penned a piece on some ideas for a brand's email sign up page Where Do I Sign Up?.

Essentially it boiled down to

1. Make It Easy to find and do – ideally above the fold Top Right, but it’s worth testing this.
2. Provide only one newsletter subscription page that includes information about all available email newsletters
3. Clearly state when users have navigated to the newsletter sign-up process
4. Don’t pre-select any newsletters for users unless they have clicked on a link that named a specific newsletter
5. In multi-step processes, let users know how many steps remain
6. Explain the ‘value proposition’ – what’s in it for me?
7. Manage expectations – what will I get when and how often?
8. Have a clear Privacy Policy and if you use incentives - be transparent
9. Send a confirmation email, or maybe even the last newsletter – but tell the subscriber to look out for it
10. On the confirmation page / email get subscribers to add you to the contacts list!

But of course the brand website is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to where you can begin that email relationship. The opportunities are endless...well, almost....so here are a few suggestions

Point of Sale - A quick request of email address and name with POS integration to your email platform can result in a welcome email literally as the customer walks out of the door

QR Codes - These can just about be added to anything and everything with a link to the registration page. Imagine next time you're in the queue at the cinema..and next to you is poster with a QR code promoting the venue's newsletter?

Facebook - No need to direct fans away from Facebook either. Just register them for the email where they are. But maybe make it look a little more appealing than this Reiss attempt

Twitter - Perhaps promoting the email program with any welcome Tweet to new followers

SMS - Great if perhaps promote using outdoor media at large events such as football games. It's been a very successful tactic at Wembley I know.

Foursquare - Great opportunity to capture email addresses during check-in registrations for promotions and as part of any location based loyalty programme

Apps - An article in the Observer this weekend reminded me about the power of apps ( especially the momentum of Android). It's a real opportunity to grab an email address, especially when you consider that a large number of downloaded apps remain that...downloaded and unused!

Product Registration - We recently purchased a new washing machine and was amazed that at the point of registering my machine for it's guarantee, not no real argument was made for me to give an email address - at the very least offer to send me the Guarantee via email?

In-store - In a previous post I've mentioned this great piece of work by Best Buy and how they used interactive screens in store to capture email addresses from customers who were just about to walk out...and maybe buy elsewehere.

Give Us our Daily Bread ..2

Following on from Give Us our Daily Bread, and having spent a few hours in Belgium last week moderating the

Customer-Centric and Multi-Channel Conversion Success panel at Fusion Marketing Experience in Antwerp, I saw this at Antwerp Central Railway Station.

Yes, that's right a Sliced Bread Vending Machine. 

I'm getting the impression that bread is important to the French and the Belgians.

A Small Town in the UK Talks Multi Channel

A report this morning on the BBC News ( captured here on BBC.com ) gave a small snap shot of how this year’s Christmas shopping even in Newark, will be multi channel. The report highlights how one estimate puts the number of orders per minute today in the UK at 3,300 with over 25% of all sales this Christmas going on line (Centre for Retail Research), and a fair chunk of that being via Mobile.

In fact, Chris Simpson, chief marketing officer at Kelkoo , said: “Online spending is showing no signs of abating, and is mounting a real challenge to the dominance of the high street which, for third year running, is expected to see a decline. Internet sales across the UK are set to be more important than ever, with consumers spending record amounts online, and online commerce acting as the primary driving force for overall retail growth during the festive season.”

Some of those interviewed in the BBC piece talk about the convenience experience of shopping at how, especially during bad weather, or for those with more pressing duties e.g.: looking after small children. Part of this convenience of course is about being given relevant messages, through email and on the website. Hopefully reflecting the consumer’s demographic profile, as well as their transactional and behavioural profiles. Indeed, as John Lewis is now showing these messages can be given as shoppers walk past the store with their clever use of QR codes

Experience goes all the way though the buying process

But that’s only the beginning. Experience goes all the way though the buying process. Gerry McGovern, one of the great speakers at Fusion this year talks about the importance of Ease of Use in this blog post.

And of course he is spot on. We spend so much advertising money on the message and content that we sometimes forget about the consumer and who they really are. Normal people with children in the room who want feeding, entertaining, nappies changing! These are real Tasks we have to contend with.

Gerry talks about Content. Well we as marketers in this Social World always want to view Content as amazingly tailored emails, entertaining videos that everyone will want to share, photos of our products for us to post.

I would argue that content that makes consumers easier is just as important.

- The Ratings and Reviews content on our website that consumer decision making easier and more confident

- The content of the confirmation email telling consumers that they have bought something and it’s on its way

- The text content from the delivery company confirming that the delivery will take place between 9.34am and 10.34am ( he actually turned up at 9.55am)

And that delivery slot information is important, because as the BBC report highlights, some people actually want to go out into the real world to enjoy the atmosphere of Christmas shopping, and see the products themselves ( as discussed by the CEO of Dixons ) If I know the delivery is taking place at that time, that means time for lunch and some afternoon shopping out in the cold where I’ll probably use my mobile to shop even more!

Customer Experience - The CEO's Perspective

It was interesting to hear John Browett, CEO of Dixons, this morning on Radio 5.


He talked about the importance of customer experience in the decision making process and as this was the theme of my presentation at the idio Content Marketing Breakfast yesterday, I thought I'd say just a few words.


Mr. Browett is spot on when he suggests that the customer experience is key when choosing ,in particular, expensive items such as laptops, camcorders, televisions etc. We are often attracted by the low prices we can get on the web, but really want to have a play with the gaming console first, or see the quality of the TV picture in real life. So obviously experiencing the Product is important as well as Price.


And so is the retailers high street or retail park shop. When we go there to 'trial' the product, we don't really want to be bombarded with sales patter but do what expert, unbiased help when we ask for it. 


Now if I find the right Product in the right Place at the right Price, I'm going to buy. But I might still be tempted to go away and do a bit more research and check out the price again before maybe buying on line. Mr Browett said this morning that about 16% of their sales are online. But I wonder how many of those sales follwoed that customer journey of

Research - Store Visit - Further Research and Price Validation - Buy Online

And actually how many of those at the end of the day went on to buy elsewhere online because of price or advice given from another retailer.

A recent post of mine talked about this example from Best Buy on how they have been trying to continue the conversation / relationship / connection / sales cycle once the potential customer leaves the store. Email address captured and the information researched in store is sent on- hopefully immediately!


Of course, the potential customer then might also want further 'Tecchie' advice.  And sorry to mention Best Buy again but this is exactly what Twelpforce is all about..

I know that Debenhams tried The Spectacular Twitter Experiment where Tweeting in store for help would result in a Twitter Assistant turning up if required - but I'm not sure where that went.

Anyway, I digress a little.

What we are seeing is some retailers really understanding that it is the whole customer experience that really matters. And that to me is what CRM is all about. Creating Brand Worlds ( yes I know I mention the Brand word when talking about CRM ) that are focussed on the 4, 5 or 7 Ps of Marketing. Remember those?

The original 4 being Product, Price, Promotion, Place.

Good CRM is about putting the customer at the centre of these and creating relevant, engaging and rewarding experiences for them

Want to know more? come see me present at Emerce Connect in Amsterdam December 13th or get in touch - gianfranco@cuzziol.com

Best Buy CRM? eCRM? Retail Experience? All 3 and more?

The retail experience is still alive an kicking.

There are still many of us who research on line but then still want to touch and feel the product before buying.

But of course a large proportion of purchase decisions are still made in the store - 40% I hear. And many potential customers walk out of the store without even buying or registering an interest.

This 'Phygital' experience developed for Best Buy shows how the retail experience can be used to cover the continued need for product information in store as well providing peer ratings and reviews by employing a Digital Blue Shirt - Blue Shirts obviously referring to the in store advisors who provide the service that Best Buy are famous for in the US.  .

This is all then capped with the opportunity to capture customer information when they leave the store allowing follow up at a later stage through email for example.


Digital Blue Shirt from Modern Climate on Vimeo.

It is a shame that Best Buy announced today that they would be closing all their UK stores.

N.dulge in a Conversation

N.dulge is the name of the Space NK rewards scheme.

For the unitiated Space NK is a retailer ( both off and online) who offer a carefully edited selection of high quality and original  beauty products from innovators and specialists around the world. They are a favourite of mine even though there isn't one near me.


This morning I bought a Tom Ford fragrance ( now you know what I smell like) from their Harrogate store and was tempted to sign up for N.dulge ( love the name by the way). 1 point for every £ spent and the promise of special privileges like exclusive invitations, new product previews and birthday treats.


I signed up at the till, no forms to fill out, the sales advisor entering my details directly into the POS system. I got my temporary card number with the promise of a card in the post. This was at 11-45am


Now of course with most of the schemes I sign up for that would be it until my card arrived . But no. Look what arrived in my inbox at exactly 11-45am

In this world of 'real time' CRM, Space NK had continued the conversation with me straight away by sending me a welcome email immediately encouraging me to go to the N.dulge website to complete my registration. They got the essentials from me in the store without wasting too much of my time using the email to try and get more information from me. Hats off to the CRM / Membership team.


Of course it's not perfect. They had not used my name which would have been a nice touch, and the whole email is an image so actually I didn't see any of this until I unblocked content. My details page online didn't know that I was male, but I think it's a good start. 


I'm looking forward to seeing what else I get my way an in particular if my offers and in particular my Birthday present is tailored to me being male.


By the way, the Tom Ford Grey Vetiver makes even me smell lovely

Amazon Lockers are Here

Amazon's Lockers are here in London at One New Change in the City. So if you don't want it delivered to your home, office or pick it up from the local Royal Mail sorting office, there is another option. ( If you don't want to pop to the shops that is)

Phygital* - Will The Real QR Code Please Stand Up

A read an interesting piece from Adam Hutchinson the Lead UX Architect at EHS4D ( in fact there he is sat 10 feet away from me), on the value of QR codes.

Adam argued quite legitamately that 'for all their wizardry, they are currently being used in exactly the same way as URLs. That is, to link to a web address'


And indeed in the majority of cases that's right. eConsultancy did show, however, some really clever uses in a recent article, my favourite being the one below





The jury is still out in particular as QR codes penetration is still quite low although recent experiments by broadcasters such as the BBC could very well increase awareness. The BBC One TV Program ''The Good Cook'' now has QR codes on screen to allow you to access recipes from the show.




Danny Cohen, Controller, BBC One, says: “I want BBC One to lead the way with interactivity and technological innovation so that we can keep engaging audiences in new ways. I hope viewers will find this experiment with QR codes to be a simple but useful tool to help them re-create the recipes they see on screen.”

But of course as soon as one technology is in the consumers hand, another one takes another large step forward. Why stop at black and white boxes when actually the object itself ,once plastered with a QR code, becomes the tag itself. Check out the video


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*Phyigital belongs to those clever people at Momentum

Reading the Signs

I came across the FIAT Street Evo app recently and was impressed by the numbers claimed at the end of the clip.

1. 1 million signs spotted
2. Great feedback
3. The most viewed Fiat brochure in history!

I think the use of technology, location , gamification make the campaign truly engaging.

Let's hope the conversations turned into conversions.

An A to Z of eCRM - P

P is for Practice

Because there is no such thing as Best Practice.

Every Brand, Business Model, Audience combination is unique and as a result you have to create your own Best Practice.

And you can only do that by creating and sticking to a good Test, Learn and Refine programme, remembering that the world of audience engagement is ever changing so models you created six months may no longer hold true.

Also remember that all models are flawed; it’s just that some are more useful than others. Gravity is a law, expected open rate is not

As Lee Trevino the famous golfer highlighted, the more you practice, the luckier you get.

An A to Z of eCRM - J

J is for Johnson...Lyndon B. Johnson, the American President to be exact.


LBJ used to say that “every handshake is worth 250 votes”.

Nothing deepens a sense of loyalty more than when one feels they have a one-on-one connection with someone. That’s why fans attend rock concerts or brave the winter months to watch their favourite football team – there’s a sense of atmosphere and involvement that can’t be gained any other way.

And whether its B2C or B2B, sometimes it needs to be more than just an email or a mention on Twitter. There's a time place for different media. You might research a car purchase on forums and on the brand website, but nothing can replace the test drive, or the moment the keys are handed over the day you take delivery.

Good eCRM carries on from the email through to the online experience, all the way to the evening when the delivery driver hands over the bags with your groceries.

How personal is personal ?

I came across this very amusing piece which is actually all about the room you get in Europe Business Class on KLM.

Of course it has similarities with the feelings our customers might have if we use too much personalisation with our targeting efforts. We need to be as relevant as possible but not in such a way that scares them or feels like we are intruding.

It is a fine line..but meanwhile...this should make you smile

Conversation Along the Customer Journey with Email

Regan Maloney, digital planning director at BEC London