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For years online retailers have had the pedal to the metal regarding customer acquisition strategies. While attracting new customers is still a primary goal for online retailers, for the first time in several years the balance between customer retention and acquisition is tipped in favor of retention. As a result, marketers must shift strategy - and budget - to new tactics better aligned to address a new market reality. I wrote about the role of personalization in direct digital marketing on Monday as an emerging tool to satisfy this requirement. Personalization software, however, is not the only possible change emerging from a newfound respect for online retention Read More

Though the economy is not as strong as it was before the recession, there is evidence that consumer confidence has been slowly increasing over the past few months Read More

Marketers have historically pointed to a general lack of data as a reason programs and campaigns are not reaching their pinnacle. A dearth of data, however, is no longer marketing’s kink in the hose. According to the forthcoming report from RSR, few retailers believe they are taking the necessary steps – or implementing the right programs – but they are not blaming a lack of data. Now the issue is how to organize the data and put it to good use.

It is very safe to indicate that substantial growth of for personalization software is on the horizon. The software that does the best job of organizing data, segmenting it, and attaching it to content will likely see the most growt Read More

Since relevance is important I thought I’d provide a recap of a series featured in Marketing Profs by regular Lunch Pail contributor Bryce Marshall. The multi-part series concentrates on how to achieve relevance and the role of direct digital marketing.

Bryce’s six part series focuses on the five keys to overcoming barriers to relevance in direct digital marketing. Here’s a brief recap of installments one through three, in case you missed them Read More

Marketers know there is no single form of marketing or online marketing that is more customer-centric than direct digital marketing, and I’ve found that the AMA is poised to embrace direct digital marketing, while the DMA appears to have tethered its fortunes to the offline marketing channels.

The AMA has its finger firmly on the pulse of the industry. For example, the association is set to publish its first Direct Digital Marketing directory in the Fall, and has provided educational and editorial content on the advancements within the industry Read More

Success happens when technology spend is driven by a fundamental, organizing belief about marketing – that the sweat and the cost should be founded on the belief that all marketing efforts must focus squarely on the customer Read More

Of course everyone in the industry understands the value of mobile marketing. These important statistics simply reinforce the value of mobile, but they also emphasize the two primary types of mobile marketing that will be most influential with consumers – SMS and the mobile Web Read More

One of my favorite conferences of the year is finally upon us, the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in Chicago. Not only is Chicago one of my favorite cities, but few conferences are able to pull off the “something for everyone” approach like IRCE. From top level strategy to tactical pointers, this conference has content that anyone in e-retailing will find valuable. True to form, while the keynotes look customarily solid, it is the breakout sessions where I believe the most valuable content resides. I’ll point out a few sessions I plan to hit and why Read More

If I were to devote an entire article today to misconceptions in the marketplace about mobile marketing, this would be a 10,000 word post that approximately zero people would read. Honestly, I would not blame them. I probably wouldn't read it either. But there is one misconception in particular that I'd like to address because it has been perpetuated by influential folks in a number of marketing circles, especially retail Read More

Are mass marketing, direct mail, and email marketing REALLY dead? Very few communications channels actually die off completely. And, if they do, it is a long, slow, and drawn out type of death… the kind we see in old Western Read More