The Lengths to Retain

In this week’s class, we touched on how a company spends more to acquire new customers than to retain current ones.  In fact, information management provider Attivo states that it costs 5x the amount to attract a new customer than retain a current one.  If you need more proof, according to Gartner Group, 80% of most company’s future revenues comes from 20% of existing customers. Both of these statistics highlight just how important retention is to a business’ bottom line. 

The first thing I thought after learning these facts about retention, was whether or not all these stats were still true.  They’re not that old, but with the changing economy and job market, I immediately thought it likely that people are now most concerned with chasing a deal.  In fact, this Forbes articles asks ‘is brand loyalty dying a slow and painful death?’ 

I’m not sure brand loyalty is completely dead, but I do think that retailers have started and will continue to woo their targets with more and more free special treatment and have to reset their expectations.  A few retailers I think are doing this specifically well right now include Zappos and Bloomingdales.  

Both companies offer free shipping, impeccable customer service and other special offers for their most loyal members.  In fact, as a Bloomingdale’s loyalist, I will always check there first when I need an outfit for a special occasion.  While in the past shoppers might have ONLY gone to one store, maybe now going to a certain store first will have to be the best most companies can expect.    

Reporting, Analytics and Big Data Oh My!

One of the most interesting topics we covered in my Internet Marketing class this week was the difference between Reporting and Analytics as well as what to do with data.  Reporting is very important—building good dashboards, identifying the right numbers to track, establishing the right regularity to monitor are all big decisions that every organization needs to make and they need to find the right people or systems to pull all this information together.  From my perspective though, the real ‘magic’ happens through analytics.  

‘Big Data’ is everyone’s favorite marketing phrase to throw around right now.  We can personalize!  We can be even more relevant!  But big data is extremely lost without the support of strong analytics to help rein it in.  All the numbers for every measure in the world at face value won’t help to make business decisions.  Analyzing why something is up or down, why something is flat, what some number might do in the next 3 months based on this 3 months for the past 4 years is why data can be so powerful for business.  We can make logical predictions and adjust budgets, promotions and expectations to increase performance.  

In fact, this data isn’t just powerful for business. A recent article on BBC News outlined how big data analytics might even be able to help contain the spread of Ebola.  Specifically, mobile phone data is being looked at to see and predict how people in West Africa might move around the country and further spread the virus.

 Knowing the next ‘at-risk’ zone might help to better prepare and contain the virus’ spread. This is powerful and amazing work, all through really strong data gathering and analytics.  

Big Data can also, of course, be super, super creepy.  This article from CMS Wire does a great job of describing the difference.  One of my favorite parts of the article talks about how creepiness is in the eye of the consumer, not in the eye of the company.   Having access to so much data is powerful and there’s a lot of temptation to use it and use it and use it to really close a sale.  This is dangerous stuff for a marketer to have access to and good ones need to know how to walk that line.  

Facebook is Spying On Me

This week my Internet & Interactive Marketing Course left me thinking about how marketing can be both amazing and terrifying. In this week’s class we touched a little on innovation and interactive displays and I immediately thought of the bus display from Pepsi Max.  This creative execution was extremely engaging for those interacting with the display, who no doubt were left with a pretty positive brand experience.  Furthermore, their YouTube video has over 6.5 million views and they grabbed coverage in many marketing publications, including Mashable.  

Pepsi was able to extend an experiential display and go somewhat ‘viral,’ while also attracting media attention—not an easy feat for an out-of-home marketing tactic. Peapod did something similar, with a virtual ‘grocery store’ at different subway stops in 2012.  Both, in my opinion, are exciting examples of how companies used innovative technologies to market their products.   

Marketing has also never been more relevant to target audiences.  I got engaged this past year and almost immediate my Facebook ads were wedding-themed (and weight-loss which was awfully PRESUMPTUOUS of you Facebook!). These ads of course got my attention—happy couples with that photographer! I actually found some incredibly useful.  

On the other hand, when I reflected on this, it really made me think about how much information I’m giving to Facebook about myself.   1. 3 billion people are registered on Facebook and freely hand over their relationship status, interests and sometimes even location.  According to recent reports, Facebook’s new Atlas platform will allow advertisers to granularly target and reach consumers outside of Facebook.  The advertising industry is particularly excited about the mobile targeting the new platform will allow.  

As a marketer, I will admit that I am excited about these targeting opportunities through Facebook and really across the industry. However, as a consumer, it definitely makes me think twice about who I give my information to freely.  Time for another privacy settings update for me!