Epsilon

Consumers want personalized experiences. We all know it. But delivering on this mandate is a challenge—to say the least. It requires knowing each customer (and potential customer) holistically so you can identify and accurately reach real people across devices and interactions over time with relevant messages.

As another year is coming to an end and we’re closing out a decade, we’re reflecting on the big loyalty accomplishment we achieved throughout the past ten years in addition to the marketing advancements coming in the future.

“Recovering a modicum of equilibrium across consumer behaviors and technology innovation will require organizational alacrity, a laser focus on customer needs and a balanced embrace of automation.”—Charles Golvin, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner for Marketers

December 3rd is International Day of People with Disabilities (IDPWD). Sanctioned by the United Nations in 1992, the goal was to increase awareness, understanding and acceptance of people who have disabilities.

As consumers, we’ve defined the financial services industry by the different product offerings. For example, we might work with one bank for our mortgage needs and another for our checking and a third for our savings and financial planning.

The best loyalty programs create 1:You experiences for their very best customers. From earning to redeeming and everything in between, a good loyalty program listens to its customers. It creates the connections that deliver lifetime value to both the customer and the brand they love.

With the positive results marketers are seeing with their advanced TV strategy, it comes as no surprise that more than 50% of marketers are likely to include Advanced TV in their advertising schedules. By the end of next year, connected TV spend is expected to reach $913M, up from $293M in 2016.

In today’s marketing landscape, we as consumers expect a seamless customer experience.

The time for change is now. Consumer expectations are constantly evolving and the digital, hyper-personalized world we live in is complex. The true meaning of customer loyalty has shifted from a transactional brand relationship to one that now communicates on a 1:You level. And, the opportunity for program expansion has become a reality.

As digital marketers, we’re often focused on the technology platforms and applications that enable our programs. And we should be because technology is essential and is the fuel to our success.

A universal challenge loyalty marketers have is obtaining a 360-degree view of their customers. There’s lots of discussions around budget, specifically as it relates to technology, along with the complexities of integrating customer databases to achieve a 360-degree customer view.As we’re preparing our loyalty program initiatives for the new year ahead, it’s important to take time and evaluate the state of your existing program.

It’s difficult to differentiate in the crowded ad tech and martech ecosystems when there are 7,040 solutions all vying for marketers’ attention and budgets.

Marketers across industries currently face an excess of options for personalization. Users expect to see the experiences they get with their favorite retail brands in their interactions with brands every sector—including financial services. This often leaves financial services marketers with a steep learning curve to create and manage the tech stack to deliver true 1:You personalization to their customers and prospects.

During my recent speaking session at the Digital Pharma East Conference, I shared with attendees how to make the 1:You vision a reality.

Retail is one of the more advanced industries when it comes to personalization, with almost every retailer offering some degree of personalization to enhance the customer journey. 

In the era of technological innovation, data is the currency, and every startup, challenger brand and legacy retailer needs it to provide better customer experiences and close more sales.