Digital Strategy

Lessons from top companies on building a better data-first strategy

doxigo — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 16:41:57 +0000

Friday, July 19, 2019 - 12:41

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Data empowers marketers to make better decisions and take smarter risks, but sometimes the best intentions lead to the wrong solutions. Interpreting data isn’t always easy, and I’ve seen marketers come up short by not allowing themselves the space to learn, grow, fail, and improve from their collective experiences.

A campaign that falls short of its goal can teach just as much as one that succeeds. And marketers that wish to do the right thing, well, can learn from how they do the right thing, poorly.

Through leading Customer Analytics at Google, I’ve spent years not only studying the technical aspects of measurement and the relationships that users form through digital media, but also understanding how to strengthen the analytical cultures of world-leading organizations themselves. Time and again, I see companies make crushingly common mistakes with data, and refusing to give themselves the room to experiment and to fail.

What I’ve noticed is that marketers have become experts at doing the wrong thing, because they’re grounded by the past and the “way we’ve always done it”. Their organizations expect them to succeed, even if that success is dependent on the wrong technique or marketing channel, or in pursuing customers who are detrimental to the company's long-term growth.

One of the biggest mistakes that a marketer can make is to look at their data in isolation.

But I’ve also seen what companies can do when they allow themselves to take steps in the right direction, even if they fall flat at first.

Here are a few examples of how successful organizations think, and how you can apply them to your business.

1. They look at their metrics as part of a story, not the whole picture

One of the biggest mistakes that a marketer can make is to look at their data in isolation. If you oversimplify your data, you’ll lose out on the magic that’s happening around you.

One thing that I’ve observed from successful companies is that they don’t capture metrics for the sake of it. For every metric they set and optimize toward, they go a level deeper by asking themselves some key questions:

Do I know what this metric truly means? Let’s look at conversions, for example. They are central to everyone’s business, but not all conversions are created equal. When considering for cross-device users, online-to-offline users, and view-through conversions, we start to see real differences emerge between platforms. And they could determine how you interpret their performance and future spend. It’s important to understand the specifics and the distinction when calculating for each metric.
What could influence that metric, and how? The late Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel, said “For every metric, there should be another ‘paired’ metric that addresses the adverse consequences of the first.” I suggest taking his advice to heart. If you are optimizing toward using deals or coupons that are driving a ton of customers to your store, are you doing so to the detriment of profit margins and customer retention?
Am I limiting what I can learn from my metrics? Don’t focus your attention solely on what’s underperforming. Think about what you can learn from what you’re doing well, but could do even better. If you’re a shoe company and you’ve successfully incentivized customers to buy multiple pairs of your shoes online, that’s a great win! But why did that happen? Do you even know? Can you replicate the findings to other marketing activities?

I’ve seen that top companies don’t just look at their metrics as numbers. They look at their metrics as opportunities to ask more questions: where is the market headed? What should we be aware of? That way, a single metric becomes part of a larger story, not the whole picture.

2. They expect human behaviour

Machine learning is growing fast and teaching us a lot. But people are not machines, and as such, they’re not always rational, efficient bidding and buying engines. They don’t necessarily respond in the way you’d think they might. As a marketer you have to plan for that by gaining a better understanding of the human story behind your data—because it’s those behaviors that may drive your business forward.

Here are some examples of what I mean from recent research on behavioural economics:

Slow doesn’t always mean no: It’s hard to deny that when it comes to site speed, faster is far better—the longer people wait for your site to load, the more you’ll lose. But a study by Harvard Business School found that, due to what it called the ‘operational transparency’, people can tolerate—and in some cases, prefer—websites with longer waits as long as there is an understanding of the work being performed. If you demonstrate that your site is exerting effort on a customer’s behalf (consider theDomino’s Pizza tracker, which keeps you updated every step of the way in your journey to getting your pizza), it can contribute to have a stronger sense of loyalty and reciprocity towards your company.
The perils of proactivity: Facing the challenge of increased customer attrition, many service companies will start to recommend lower-cost pricing plans to their customers in an effort to demonstrate care for their customers, and the greater benefits they can provide. Researchers from Columbia, Wharton and IAE Business Schools found this tactic had the opposite effect: encouraging customers to switch to cost-minimizing plans can actually increase churn. In some cases, it inspires customers to be less inert about making a change, and they start to look at other service providers.

I’m not suggesting you throw your conventional wisdom out the window with these varied examples of counterintuitive consumer behaviour. But I think it’s important to know that successful companies know that you can’t predict every single element of the customer journey—no matter how much you measure, you’re not going to capture everything. If there are no perfect humans, there’s no perfect data.

3. They’ve fallen in love with failing

When we work with smaller businesses or startups, we tend to see some incredibly miserable attempts at marketing. That’s all part of growing, right? But we can learn so much from how these companies tend to respond to those failures: they look inward. They consider that perhaps their brand isn’t strong enough yet, or that they haven’t properly optimized their campaigns in these early stages. What they don’t do is look for something or somewhere else to place blame.

There are multiple components to performance, and failure is one of them.

Here’s what I see over and over in larger organizations: They’ll test something, and if it fails, they’ll pivot immediately to a strategy with which they can win, arguing the customers simply aren’t there or that the channel doesn’t work for their business.

This is where doing the right thing, poorly, needs to become your new manifesto, no matter what size your organization is. There are multiple components to performance, and failure is one of them. Give yourself and your teams the ability to fail, with the understanding that it’s the first step to growth.

With these best practices in mind, ask yourself: What is the right thing for me to be doing? Even if you can’t immediately take action on the answer, acknowledging it to yourself is the first step. I hope you’ll consider these best-in-class approaches to data and measurement as a step toward doing the right thing, well.

Key takeaways for doing more with your data	Look at your metrics as a whole picture: Question every metric you set, and don’t oversimplify; ensure you’re learning from the wins as well as the losses.
	Anticipate human behaviour: Humans aren’t perfect, rational beings. Your data won’t be perfect, either. Accept that you can’t measure everything.

Fall in love with failing: Embracing failure is the only way to grow, and find the right thing for your company to be doing.

Source: Think with Google

Digital Marketer

Digital Strategy

Google

5 questions to ask yourself about your mobile strategy

doxigo — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 13:01:38 +0000

Thursday, March 21, 2019 - 09:01

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We know that more than half of web traffic comes from mobile.¹ Despite these numbers, mobile conversion rates are lower than desktop.²

The reason? Research suggests many CEOs have failed to prioritize mobile properly because they’re unaware that their current mobile strategy isn’t working — and it’s likely costing them customers. People who have a negative experience on a mobile website are 62% less likely to purchase from that brand in the future than if they have a positive experience³ — no matter how beautiful or data-driven its marketing campaigns are.

Five years ago, I talked endlessly to companies about how having a mobile website was the new table stakes. Now, a mobile site isn’t enough — it has to be fast and provide a simple yet compelling user experience. Here are five questions to guide you through putting mobile at the center of your company’s digital transformation.

Is a mobile strategy a company-wide priority?

It’s not enough to assign one team to manage your mobile strategy. Enhancing the customer experience has to be everyone’s responsibility.

Executive leadership needs to invest in the right technologies and get buy-in across the organization. Marketing and analytics teams should be continually measuring and optimizing for new revenue opportunities. Developers need to be up to speed on the latest mobile development tools and techniques. Designers should be intimately familiar with mobile UX best practices and work closely with developers to create the best possible experience.

But you can’t improve your company’s mobile site performance until you’ve established specific KPIs. For example, is your mobile conversion rate getting better over time, and is it in line with your mobile traffic? If 70% of your customers hit your mobile website each month but only 35% complete the purchase on their phones, you’ve got a problem.

Is your site performance up to speed?

The average mobile web page takes 15.3 seconds to fully load, and more than half of visits are abandoned if a mobile website takes more than three seconds to load.⁴ In retail, we see that a one-second delay in mobile load times can impact conversions by up to 20%.⁵ If you don’t have a team dedicated to optimizing your customers’ experience, you could be driving users to faster competitors.

Fast pages start to load in under one second. Test My Site, our mobile speed testing tool, can help benchmark your mobile site performance and let you know where you’re lagging.

Are you using the right solutions?

Optimizing aging legacy systems may hold back your team over the long haul. Modern web technologies like Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and Progressive Web Apps (PWA) allow you to create engaging sites that look beautiful and load instantly on every platform. Both technologies help enhance the user experience and neither requires special skills to implement.

Modern mobile technology can also alleviate another obstacle — the checkout process. Often mobile shopping carts require too much text input. Simplifying the checkout process by using platforms like Google Pay can help streamline the process and boost conversions. The closer you are to a one-click purchase experience, the better.

Are you continually testing?

The only way to know what your customers really want is to give them multiple options and see what performs better over time. Continuous A/B testing is a hallmark of nearly every successful internet company. For example, every day Booking.com runs a thousand A/B tests, and Amazon changes its prices more than 2.5 million times a day.

Are you thinking like a customer?

There’s no substitute for hands-on testing under real-world conditions. Not everyone has access to a fast 4G LTE connection, and speeds vary depending on location and other factors. Your team should be stress-testing your mobile website frequently and recording the results.

Experiencing the site the way your customers do will reveal their pain points far more effectively than simply poring over data. Then ask your team: Is this what customers really want? If not, it’s time for a change.

With more options than ever, people demand a mobile experience that’s fast and friction-free. Ensure you’re meeting customer expectations — and your mobile growth goals — by leaning into these principles and investing where it counts.

Source: Think with Google

Digital Strategy

Google

Developing a Digital Marketing Strategy For Millennials

doxigo — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 10:38:47 +0000

Friday, March 3, 2017 - 05:38

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Everyone wants to know, “How do we market to millennials”? Regardless of who you are, you need to understand the biggest generation in history and what you can do to connect with them.

Millennials are widely defined as those born between 1980 to 2000. This cohort wields substantially high buying power and influence due to its sheer size. According to Goldman Sachs, millennials outnumber the infamous baby boomer generation by 15 million men and women. Yes, that means that there are 92 million 17- to 37-year-olds in the U.S.

As the baby boomer population dwindles, millennials are beginning to become more important to businesses everywhere. In order to grab a slice of the pie, you’ll first want to develop a digital marketing strategy for millennials and understand exactly who they are.

Four Facts You Need to Know About Marketing to Millennials

1. You Can’t Hide Anything From Millennials Online

The internet is engrained into the lives of the millennials, so they probably know more about it than you do. This is especially important when it comes to selling your product online. Millennials are savvy shoppers who shop for the best deals and know where to find them. One survey found that 95% of millennials searched online for better prices, product reviews, and mobile coupons before purchasing a product. If you’re going to target millennials, make sure your deal is the best one if you want to land the sale.

Most importantly, you need to be honest. This group trusts peer reviews more than any other brand messaging. That means your business needs to listen to its consumers and address any issues or bad reviews before millennials find a reason to buy from someone else.

2. Millennials Value Sustainability More Than Previous Generations

Millennials are the champions of social movements, sustainability, and equality. More than any other generation, these values are altering the purchase decisions of millennials. One survey in France found that 34% of millennials chose not to purchase a product from their preferred brand because the brand was not eco-friendly or treating their workers fairly.

Evidently, millennials are making a statement about their commitment to equality and sustainability through the brands they purchase from and engage with. When developing your digital strategy, don’t underestimate the value of putting your green policies and ethical practices on display to millennials.

3. Authentic Messaging Promotes Trust

Unlike previous generations, millennials care more about the people on display than the product. Since millennials are a generation skeptical of businesses, they build trust through observing what their peers are doing. One growing trend is for millennials to turn to user-generated content on channels like Instagram to inform their purchase decisions. It’s important to invest in quality images of people using your products to get the best results online.

Yet, to truly earn the trust of millennials your brand must be authentic and consistent. Talk to millennials — don’t try to talk like them. Your brand voice should always shine through.

Taco Bell was one of the most successful brands on Twitter last year. They’re known to satisfy millennials’ late-night hunger — and their ever-growing presence on social media.

4. Integrate With Their Online Experience

Finally, your digital presence should fit seamlessly into the lives of millennials. Advertisements with poor imagery or obnoxious messaging will be passed up by millennials. After all, millennials are highly conscious of when they are being targeted and are even more wary of what is being sold.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Coca-Cola’s sales in the U.S. went up 2% after launching the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign. The campaign put 250 of the most popular names among teens and Millennials on 20-ounce bottles.

Respect millennials by creating a better online experience through ads that compel action and provoke thought. Of course, make sure your ad is placed in a relevant position and during an optimal time to see the best results.

Final Thoughts

Marketing is a process, not a goal. Earning the trust of skeptical millennials takes time, but will surely pay off for your business going forward. A strong, yet honest, digital strategy is how millennials can connect and feel comfortable with your brand. When developing a strategy, ensure that your offerings are honest, your messaging is authentic, and that you respect millennials online.

Now, let us help you elevate your business with a digital marketing strategy targeting millennials.

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Digital Strategy

Lessons from top companies on building a better data-first strategy

1. They look at their metrics as part of a story, not the whole picture

2. They expect human behaviour

3. They’ve fallen in love with failing

5 questions to ask yourself about your mobile strategy

Is a mobile strategy a company-wide priority?

Is your site performance up to speed?

Are you using the right solutions?

Are you continually testing?

Are you thinking like a customer?

Developing a Digital Marketing Strategy For Millennials

Major Ad Updates From Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook + Pinterest

Developing a Digital Marketing Strategy For Millennials

Check Your Site’s Mobile Ranking Readiness in 3 Minutes

Four Facts You Need to Know About Marketing to Millennials

1. You Can’t Hide Anything From Millennials Online

2. Millennials Value Sustainability More Than Previous Generations

3. Authentic Messaging Promotes Trust

4. Integrate With Their Online Experience

Final Thoughts