Our Blog
Marketers Struggling to Personalize Digital Communication with Consumers
As we at Macromark are well aware, a marketer’s goal is to find ways to create enough interest in a product to generate substantial sales. At the heart of that is the relationship marketers develop with the consumer and how to personalize and sustain that relationship so the consumer identifies with the product. And while digital marketing has changed the scope of the industry, it still has yet to effectively grasp that one-to-one dialogue necessary to best connect with customers.
This was the very topic of this year’s Oracle Marketing Cloud interact conference, where 1,100 marketers gathered to discuss the state of modern marketing and explore ways in which they can better reach consumers in this age of technology. One of the many outcomes of the event was marketers agreeing that they were embarrassed to be “nowhere near the goal of improving customer interactions across the entire buyer journey.”
A few reasons for this embarrassment were confirmed, one of which was marketers not fully understanding new technology. It’s true that hundreds of technologies exist to facilitate the industry, but it has become apparent that many marketers don’t have a clear grasp on which technology to use and how to best utilize the desired technology to enhance their interaction with consumers.
Patti Rutkin, Wireless director of digital CRM for Verizon, said that trying to personalize e-newletters is an “embarrassment of riches,” and despite having an overwhelming amount of data at their fingertips, the company is still figuring out how to best leverage its data to successfully engage customers on a personal level.
One other struggle for digital marketers is aligning digital numbers, like open rates or click-through rates, with actual ROI. Marketers at the event agreed that any digital strategy needs to be firmly aligned with the company’s key performance indicators.
The accomplishments of digital technology are unquestionable, but where its main weakness exists is one of the core strengths of direct mail marketing. Direct mail offers opportunities for marketers to be personal and intuitive about their consumers’ behaviors. It offers ways to engage the consumer through multiple sense perceptions, which is a huge advantage.
Macromark has been a part of countless direct mail marketing campaigns and can speak with certainty to its benefits. Brokering specialized lists to meet the specific requirements of a direct mail marketing campaign is what we’ve done best for decades and will continue to do as we move forward.
Sources:
Cameron, N., “Top 5 Reasons Marketers Are Embarrassed By Their Customer Relationships,” CMO web site, August 7, 2014; http://www.cmo.com.au/article/551673/
5_reasons_marketers_embarrassed_by_their_customer_relationships_/.
David Klein