Peer-to-peer car-sharing company Turo relies on customer behaviors and preferences of users on its platform to identify patterns and make specific product recommendations. Here’s what the company has learned about consumer behavior on digital platforms, according to an article in AdExchanger, and how it’s strategizing to “stop the scroll” with ad content that cuts through the clutter.

The post How Car Sharing Company Turo Uses Personalization Tools for its App Experience appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Consumers expect highly-personalized experiences when interacting with brands today—particularly if they’ve volunteered their time, money and personal information in exchange for them. But it’s what you do with that data that counts.

For first-party data-rich companies like DoorDash and e.l.f. Beauty, the key to leveraging consumer data to create exceptional brand experiences—while also adhering to privacy stipulations—is honoring that “implicit value exchange,” according to DoorDash CMO Kofi Amoo-Gottfried, who spoke on a panel at the POSSIBLE marketing conference in Miami last month.

The two companies have mined scores of data sets to fuel innovative marketing programs as creative solutions for their customers. For instance, the data insights team at DoorDash noticed that some consumers were ordering twice on the platform from different stores within a short period of time. So to solve the problem—and ultimately enhance the user experience—the brand created a new service called DoubleDash, which allows users to purchase items from nearby stores without the added service or delivery fee that incurs from multiple orders.

The advantage of having access to a trove of first-party data is that it’s actionable, which inspires marketers and their cross-functional teams to make decisions as close to real-time as possible. “We have something like 25 million monthly active users on our platform, so we have an enormous amount of first-party data,” Amoo-Gottfried said. “It’s coming right from the platform; it’s coming from behaviors.”

Another data point DoorDash is monitoring is communications to drivers, whom they refer to as “Dashers,” in real-time. “If a Dasher goes to a store and a store’s closed, we actually get a note,” Amoo-Gottfried explained. “But then how do we get the feedback from the Dasher that the store is closed? And in real-time, and take that store down and say, ‘this store’s closed, here are some other options that you have.’ We’re constantly learning as we go, from everything [in the app].”

First-Party Data Magic

Similarly, e.l.f. Beauty draws insights from its passionate community of loyalty members. “That’s where the first-party data magic really comes into play,” according to Ekta Chopra, the brand’s Chief Digital Officer, who spoke on the conference panel alongside the DoorDash CMO. “Our app has 1.2 million downloads, and 95 percent of our loyalty members love to shop in the app. So we learn how they like to shop, and which channel… As a brand that is in every single retailer, we don’t care where the consumer shops. But we do want to have that relationship with the consumer. The first-party data really allows us to do that.”

Honoring that relationship by providing an enhanced experience while adhering to data privacy regulations is critical, however. “The most fundamental thing is the implicit value exchange,” Amoo-Gottfried said. “How do we help use this data to actually create a better experience, and how do we ensure there are a ton of guardrails?” That translates to actively deciding not to use certain subsets of data if they don’t serve that purpose, he said. “There’s entire categories of things that we won’t target on, even though we might be aware of what they are, because we think it’s problematic to target on that identity factor… Get the things that you actually need and don’t touch the other stuff. We try to figure out which pieces are most predictive.”

Chopra agreed that the relationship between brand and consumer starts with trust, and that’s something she takes very seriously. “As marketing leaders, you have to pay attention to that, because one data leak is something that will really hurt your reputation, and especially as a public company, it becomes a bigger responsibility.”

Data Privacy Hacks

For marketers who are laser-focused on data privacy and compliance, Chopra has a few tips. First, she recommends working with your legal team to ensure there are data privacy considerations when crafting your data processing agreements (DPAs) with vendors. “Depending on how big you are and what kind of data you’re storing, it can get really complex,” she said. “So having that strong partnership with your legal team is important.”

Second, your cyber security policy should include a data privacy component to it and be right-sized appropriately—depending on the size of your customer base—so that you have adequate insurance in case any data leaks occur.

Third, consider the sensitivity of the data consumers are sharing with you and practice good data hygiene accordingly. “They’re giving you certain information that’s really private in some cases, depending on if you’re in the medical field—and beauty there’s some elements, too,” Chopra said. “You should know where that data is transferring in your ecosystem, whether it’s this system or that system. There are tools, of course, that can do that. But from a good data hygiene perspective, understanding that is super important.”

While companies seek to mine more and more consumer data, great responsibility comes with that exercise. “As you become bigger, of course you want more data… but you should also know that it adds a layer of complexity with private information,” Chopra said. Moreover, at a certain point you may be asked to delete it—and you need to be ready for that and have the tools in place to prove it, she said. “So when people do come in and do an audit, you can show it to them.”

The post How DoorDash and e.l.f. Beauty Leverage First-Party Data to Fuel Personalized Experiences appeared first on Chief Marketer.

When it comes to targeting online users with personalized messages, brands with access to first-party data sets have an advantage over competitors—and will continue to maintain an edge as privacy rules governing digital media become more restrictive. Dairy and food manufacturer Land O’Lakes has enjoyed some success with its data collection strategy of late by leveraging a CDP, mining its websites and newsletters for valuable data and incorporating timing into its targeting strategy. Here’s how the company is converting customers with smarter data management, according to an article in AdExchanger.

The post How Land O’Lakes Tapped First-Party Data Sets to Power a Personalization Program appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Our monthly analysis of the world’s top brands and the marketing moves that are setting them apart.

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The tech extravaganza that typically descends upon Las Vegas this month, CES, has gone virtual—and brands have had to adapt. Take Cadillac, which showcased the customizable user interface of its first all-electric SUV, LYRIQ, an interactive display that gives drivers key details about the vehicle and a personalized experience, to attendees in a virtual setting. The 33-inch diagonal LED display, created in partnership with Territory Studio and customer experience company Rightpoint, wraps toward the driver, has the potential of displaying one billion colors and offers ambient lighting customized to users’ preferences.

We spoke with Cadillac executives about virtual product launches, the challenges—and opportunities—of showcasing a new user experience in such as setting and the importance of personalization and UI in marketing automobiles today.

Chief Marketer: What are the key features of LYRIQ’s user interface, and how is it personalized for drivers?

Bill Thompson, GM Senior Manager, User Interface Design: When we set out to redesign the centerpiece for Cadillac, we wanted to do that in a singular piece of glass. From a design and aesthetic perspective, you’re presented with a clean, open slate to work with. That goes a long way for us when we’re working on feature enhancements for things like Super Cruise, where we have more breathability into the cluster portion of the display where it’s not so constrained by hard edges. The second thing is vehicle health. That’s a big play for us in terms of being able to pass information along to the user that leverages a real-time 3D rendering engine to present things that maybe need attention in a vehicle, such as low tire pressure. So, being able to jump in and use gesture-based motion with your fingertip and understand diagnostically what’s happened.

The ambient lighting strategy is a whole other area of personalization for us. There are moods that you can tailor inside of the vehicle, in terms of what you’re listening to and how the ambient lighting responds to those types of moods. In terms of personalization, the configurability of the singular piece of glass offers the user the freedom to put information that users may access frequently in places where they would want it to go.

CM: Talk about the challenges to marketing a product like this virtually. I’m sure your product launches have changed quite a bit in a year.

Jason Sledziewski, Global Director of Product Marketing, Cadillac: It is challenging, and it’s different without live opportunities like we’ve had in the past. It’s also challenged the team to think differently and create engaging digital content. For our LYRIQ show car reveal back in August, we were able to leverage our channels and other media partners’ channels to amplify what would normally be a gathering and make an impactful reveal without that physical experience. As we move forward—and we all hope we get back to having people together and having these on-site engaging experiences—we’ll continue to press ourselves to create that engaging digital content so we can get it to a larger cross section of consumers and interested parties. In the end, it will be a benefit to us to with how we do our reveals, launches and engaging content moving forward.

CM: Another way Cadillac has interacted with consumers virtually is through gaming, such as your Escalade sponsorship on Twitch. Is that something that the brand will continue?

JS: We know how much gaming has been part of the zeitgeist, but with a lot of us locked down for some time, gaming has only increased. We wanted to take advantage of that. We had gotten a little into gaming before. We launched the Cadillac Gaming Club within the Forza racing games, and we invited players to design their own one-of-a-kind Cadillacs. We even had our GM design employees give out awards for best custom design and engage with players, taking that gaming environment and connecting it right into our real world of Cadillac design.

We see ourselves continuing to do these engagements. Back in November, we hosted several livestream events on Twitch, Mystery Gamers, and through that we were the number one trending stream. As we come into 2021, we’re continuing to have this always-on strategy in gaming and work with platforms like Twitch.

CM: What are the challenges to showcasing the vehicle’s user experience in a virtual setting?

BT: It’s enabling us to rethink the pieces of work and how we highlight that. In general, when we used to do these things physically in person, we had very limited time and exposure. You have to move people into and out of a physical property, whether it’s at an auto show or CES. [With this] we’re tremendously advantaged. We have some events coming up where we’re lifting the hood back a little bit more, where we can spend more time specifically around the user interface, and digitally expose a large audience to things that they might not have time to get through in a physical environment.

CM: How important is the user interface of your products to marketing the automobiles that you have today?

JS: It’s of the utmost importance. As the Cadillac brand, we want to be world-class and lead in customer experience—and the user interface is a part of that. The other piece is around personalization and all that the vehicle can deliver through this interface. As we look at Cadillac as a luxury brand and breeding those unique experiences, technology like this is what enables that feeling in the vehicle for these customers. Luxury of the past, the leathers and the right touches and the right stitching, is still true in Cadillac. But as we go into the future, we want to create unique, engaging experiences—and our user interface is a key part of that.

The post Brands on Fire: Cadillac on Virtual Product Launches, Personalization, UI appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Determining how to shift the company’s media spend was key. Given its portfolio of luxury and mid-range hotels, Wyndham needed to reallocate advertising dollars in light of softer demand for its products. And as demand begins to increase over time, Wyndham will use the CDP to identify new trends and consumers who are the most likely to begin traveling again.

For example, the brand noted that consumers were driving to nearby attractions at the end of the summer. Using information like location, destination and the distance they were traveling, the hotel chain was able to personalize its communications toward these consumers.

Another factor that has determined Wyndham’s success with the CDP: With a loyalty program of 85 million customers, it had a decent grasp of its data and personalization prior to implementation. Given its flexibility, Amperity was a good choice for Wyndham because it complemented the brand’s existing martech stack.

For a deep dive into Wyndham’s CDP strategy, read more in AdExchanger.

The post How Wyndham Hotels Applied Customer Insights to Adjust Marketing Spend appeared first on Chief Marketer.

AI Personalization

AI-powered recommendations, writes Jan Soerensen, General Manager, North America at Nosto, will become more transparent to consumers by providing clearer explanations for why certain products are suggested to shoppers. For instance, the consumer might be told that the item is in their size or it has a similar color to a previous purchase. Such explanations will serve to make AI recommendations less intimidating and ultimately more successful.

Image Recognition

Shoppers will soon be able to search for products within images and videos, and online personalization engines will be able to recognize specific colors and patterns. While this “shop the look” capability exists now to some degree, the capability will gain more traction, particularly in verticals like fashion and interiors.

Psychographic Personalization

Demographics that are commonly used in ecommerce personalization include age, gender, geography and online behavior. But new types of personalization, such as personality types (i.e. trusting, confident, adventurous) could be applied to the user experience in the future and inform product recommendations.

For more ways in which personalization could evolve in 2021, including recognizing long-term consumption habits and pinpointing the most profitable visitor segments to target, read more in Multichannel Merchant.

The post Ecommerce Personalization in 2021: Five Predictions appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Chief Marketer: What are the biggest marketing trends you see for 2020? How will they impact your brand?

Lynne Biggar, Visa: First, I don’t see a slowing of the rapid pace of change we have experienced over this past decade. As we depart the 2010’s, we’ve seen a revolution in how consumers experience and engage with brands. Pull is more important than push. Enabling marketing technology is evolving rapidly. The social media decade has in many ways brought lots of advances; however, there is an increasing recognition of some of the challenges. Data privacy and ethics are important topics for all companies to consider.

As we move into 2020, I see an increasing conversation around data and ethics.  Maintaining and growing consumer trust is paramount. Sensory branding will continue to play a huge role in marketing. Finding new brand expressions that reflect the changing world we live in is something every brand should be thinking about. And we all need to be thinking through how AI and AR can benefit us as marketers and help our audiences.

Porter Gale, Personal Capital: There are two key trends to watch for in 2020. First, an increased use of data to deliver personalized experiences. Because of our holistic approach at Personal Capital, our users and clients share their financial lives with us. This allows us to speak to their specific needs in a personalized way that is both relevant and adds value. Second, the expansion of reach and power of influencer programs and affiliate marketing. In terms of personalization, Influencer marketing will continue to grow stronger. We are grateful for the support we’ve received from financial influencers, bloggers and affiliates that we work with. Often their reach has been sparked by a true passion for personal finance or investing. As a result, content generated by influencers or affiliates we work with is contextually a relevant, persuasive and authentic way for brand messages to be delivered.

Tori Johnston, AKT: In 2020, high-quality content will continue to be instrumental for brands to showcase new and emerging products and experiences. Videos allow brands to have a sense of authority, while further explaining features and sharing the company’s mission, vision and personality. At AKT, we offer four very unique class types, and it can be hard to describe the feeling you get from taking a group exercise class without showing the movement and camaraderie, visually. As we introduce AKT to new markets we have to be able to showcase the uniqueness of the AKT workout in a way that is authentic, exciting and exudes positive energy. Video is the most effective way to do that.

Another trend that will continue is the heavy use wearable technology. In the fitness industry wearable technology is becoming increasingly common to enhance the class experience, but it is also a marketer’s dream. With the implementation of robust monitoring tools, personalization, gamification, and drip marketing all tied to a single data set, we are able to customize every interaction.

Janine Pelosi, Zoom: I think video is going to be number one. Marketing in general is going to be more video-focused, and more real-time in how content is delivered. It’s a part of our culture and what we do, but the way that people are consuming content is so interesting. It doesn’t matter whether it’s on your TV on your laptop screen on your mobile device, it’s about getting to an end result of a piece of content or something to interact with. Video blogs is a trend that we’re going to see more of with a real-time experience through webinar functionality.

CM: What skills does the modern marketer need to succeed today and how are they different than when you started?

Pelosi: Number one, being business-minded and very focused in on a direct set of KPIs that are aligned to revenue. It’s being really close to revenue and understanding the impact of what you do at a more macro-level versus a specific campaign level. At Zoom, we are big believers in having a well-balanced portfolio of marketing initiatives from the very top of the funnel all the way through that last piece of acquiring customer to revenue. You need to take a balanced approach and be able to step back and holistically look at what your brand needs to succeed and stand out.

Gale: Today’s marketer needs to be consumer-focused, data-passionate, creative and able to make decisions on the fly. I’ve been in the business for more than 20 years and I can tell you firsthand that the internet, smart devices and our ability to use data has changed everything about how marketers approach their role.

Another big shift is the expanded role of in-house creative teams. I remember when clients used advertising agencies to concept, produce and execute every advertisement. That’s no longer the case. For example, we recently executed a complete brand relaunch and were able to execute the bulk of our creative internally.

Biggar: A modern marketer more than ever needs to balance creativity and intuition with a clear-eyed understanding of evolving channels along with increasingly advanced data and analytics that inform the entire ecosystem. It’s a tall order. The best work that I see leverages deep insights, an understanding of how target audiences are evolving and creative instinct and boldness. Given how rapidly our business is evolving, it isn’t enough to look at the past for clues to the future. You really need to understand and take a bet on where the business is going and design your marketing strategies accordingly.

Johnston: Everyone has their own vision and strengths when it comes to their creative work. A modern marketer, is just that—a creative who can put the ideas into practice. They can quickly decipher opportunity at hand and employ the right skills to get the job done. The marketing department is often the backbone of the organization and can be the guiding force for overall business growth and development because we have to listen to our customers. Any healthy business is trying to attract more customers like the ones they have, and this is made possible by truly understanding the customer. Being both a creative- and business-minded marketer will mean that you have a deeper connection to the customer and the vision to propel those insights into the next opportunity.

CM: What does the marketing organization of the future look like? How is it different? What roles are evolving that weren’t around a decade ago?

Biggar: Technology has changed everything. With consumers rapidly changing how they consume information and utilizing multiple channels for content consumption, it is essential that marketing becomes less product-centric and more consumer-centric. Consumers are distracted, have limited focus and are exposed to about 5,000 brands a day. Breaking through all of that is a real challenge. We remain nimble by enhancing our ability to proactively collaborate across geographies, hire individuals with global curiosity, and ensure our resources can flex to the highest priorities. I have stressed building a more diverse team—in thought, experience, geography in addition to more traditional views of diversity.

Gale: The marketing organization of the future should have functional experts who represent the consumer, creative, operations and logistics, content creation and innovation. I imagine marketing organizations will evolve to keep pace with advancements in consumer mindsets and behaviors (like mobile shopping), evolving technology ( facial recognition, artificial intelligence) and the evolution of the modern workforce ( virtual employees, bots). Positions that could be on the rise include the addition of the Chief Trust Officer and adding more brand journalists to the marketing team.

Johnston: They’ll be comprised of an even more diverse collection of employees with a more diverse set of skills, expertise and levels of experience. There is a hiring mistake that says something like, “you always hire someone who is exactly like you, hoping that they can do the job you did, in the way that you did it.” Where hiring managers go wrong is too quickly finding similarities in skills sets rather than realizing that differences are actually the strongest asset you have amongst your organization. If, as marketing leaders, we want to propel our brands to thrive at their full potential, the only way to do that is to welcome the diverse skills of our employees.

Pelosi: I believe that things evolve over time. I don’t think there’ll be a day that there is some big dynamic shift, but I hope that marketing organizations have a flat structure from a leadership standpoint. We take a flat approach at Zoom overall, and that enables the team to be empowered to do their best work. Everyone has a strategy component and a tactical component.

If I look at the weighting from when I first started my career to now, I think about the authenticity of content. We really take a stand. We lead with our customer stories. We are in a crowded market and at the end of the day, a lot of companies are out there saying the same things. But [it’s about] leading with your customer saying those things on your behalf, or maybe somebody in the analyst community. It holds a lot more weight.

CM: Does your brand take a stand on societal issues? How do you decide which issues to weigh in on?

Biggar: We have a responsibility to not only deliver exceptional products and services, but to also use our brand’s power for social good. We have the ability through our leading global payment network and technology to connect the world in ways that advance individuals, businesses and economies. Within this, we are focused on elevating micro-enterprises, which in many cases are the foundation of families and economies. It just so happens that many of these enterprises are founded and run by women. They employ millions, generate trillions in sales annually and often are growing more quickly.

In addition, Visa is doing our part to address the consequences of climate change, both within our organization and beyond. We are on track to meeting our goal to transition to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2020. We also helped launch Brands for Good as well as the sustainable travel-related Travalyst Initiative, and partnered on a 25-country “Healthy & Sustainable Living Study,” to enhance our efforts to inspire and empower sustainable living.

Gale: We believe in transparency at Personal Capital and are focused on maintaining and nurturing an ethics-based culture and company. Regarding social issues, we take the high road in everything we do. We provide our financial tools and lots of educational content for free and do our best to educate and empower people around financial wellness and financial literacy.

Pelosi: If we think about our company culture we distill that into “care.” So, that is caring about your community, your customers, our employees (or your teammates) and then yourselves. That’s what’s really important. So, anything that might be relative and relevant to your community is going to be number one for us. And then the other piece is, what we can do for the environment. Obviously, if people can solve their needs on a video meeting versus hopping on a plane, all the better. That is something that we’re really focusing on.

Johnston: At AKT we don’t equate success to maintaining the status quo. The same theory applies to any societal issues we decide to take a stance on. AKT is an inclusive community where everyone’s differences are celebrated. Our franchisees, trainers, front desk staff and corporate teams all contribute to our brand vision and mission and with that we decide how to take on societal issues and gain goodwill with our customers.

CM: What does the CMO of today need to know to be successful? How has your role evolved?

Gale: As a CMO, my role has changed quite a bit over the years. More than ever, it’s important to respect and collaborate with internal peers. Today’s modern marketer will only be successful if they can build strong relationships not only with their CEO but also with product, engineering, data, legal and finance team members. Marketing is not a single department. It’s the alignment of a company around a focused brand purpose or idea.

Biggar: To be successful, the role of CMO must be deeply rooted in the business. That’s been one of the biggest changes over the years as perception has shifted from leading advertising and marketing to a role that is much more strategic in terms of being part of the product process and building brand value that supports and drives the business. Many of my goals are the same as those of my colleagues who lead account teams or product organizations. We are one team and will only succeed if we work closely together to deliver against our key objectives and collaborate to drive success. At the same time, I believe the CMO has become in many cases the champion of purpose for the organization. But that can’t just be about “advertising;” for purpose to really create outcomes, it needs to be rooted in everything a company does, from products it delivers, to how it hires, to where it contributes in the communities in which it operates. It is a really exciting time and there is so much opportunity.

Pelosi: Simplicity and speed. When I think about how we do things here, we are incredibly practical. I try not to let my head get overwhelmed. It’s easy to get distracted by things that might be somewhat impactful to your business, but not enough to make it worth being at the top of your list of initiatives. So, it’s about keeping things simple. I lead with a business or leader mindset and I put on my marketing hat when appropriate. And what that does is allow me to understand the context of a situation, keep things simple and to move fast, which I think is needed more and more in such a crowded marketing space today.

Johnston: You can’t say you work at the restaurant and say you don’t eat the food. The CMO of today has to be incredibly involved in the customer experience. Customers always come first, and in the role as CMO you have the opportunity to model that for your entire department and organization. At times we can be customer obsessed, but don’t let this slow you down. Use it as a guiding principle for making decisions and physically put yourself in the customer’s shoes as often as you possibly can.

A CMO today also needs to surround themselves with agile vendors, freelancers and a team who is willing to collaborate. You don’t have to be an expert, but rather be able to turn to the experts when you need to. Not all marketing organizations can pull all of the staff and resources in house, and having a talented panel of experts and vendors can be worth your time and money.

CM: Other than campaigns from your own brand, what were your favorite marketing campaigns or moments of 2019?

Gale: The first that comes to mind was a beautiful ad called “You’re Not Alone” that Sprite ran in Latin America. The ad, shot in black and white, had vignettes of individuals sharing personal fears and stories and featured a call-to-action to turn to Reddit for safe conversations. Full disclosure, I am on the Board of Director of Reddit, but I loved the ad and was very moved by it. I’ve also found much of the work happening in the fast food industry to be incredibly creative. For example, I thought Burger King’s Unhappy Meal promo, tied to Mental Health Awareness Month, was very smart and it raised awareness of an important issue. I don’t eat fast food, but I do love the work being created in the category.

Biggar: I thought the work that many brands did around the Women’s World Cup this past summer was exceptional. Elevating women in sport is a priority for Visa and as sponsors of both the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the US National Soccer Team, we were proud to stand alongside some amazing brands in elevating these games and these women. For pure fun, I thought the NFL’s 100^th anniversary work was fantastic. It really celebrated the joy of the game and some of the stars that have helped it grow.

Pelosi: A brand that has done things well is Rothy’s. I’m actually wearing a pair right now. The way that they go to market, I think tthink they’re highly relevant. They have a unique back story that they’ve been able to put in the forefront of what they do. Also, the pair of shoes I’m wearing was a free gift from them to a group of 40 influential women. It’s hard in a traditional space like shoes, where it’s brick and mortar. We have our free product; it’s easy for people to experience Zoom. So, to be able to be completely online and not have a free trial experience, and bring that to something like shoes, is really interesting.

Johnston: It was not only an amazing marketing moment, but an incredibly monumental moment in history: the US Women’s Soccer Team winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup. It was the most memorable moment of 2019. Overnight, these women became international superstars, brand ambassadors, spokeswomen and, more importantly, reminded everyone what being a badass world class athlete is all about.

When Nike launched the “Don’t change your dream, change the world” spot in conjunction with the World Cup they were spot on. The young soccer player’s view of the entire FIFA World Cup experience through the companionship of the female professional soccer player was the most magical pairing of desire, emotion, pride and undeniable brand ethos for the Nike Corporation.

The post CMO Roundtable: Visa, Personal Capital, AKT and Zoom Talk 2020 Marketing Trends appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Personalized email is helping the Bernie Sanders campaign create a spirit of community to engage subscribers—and donors—for the presidential candidate.

“We have so much data available, so we can make more relevant asks of subscribers and get them to engage,” says Robin Curran, vice president of digital strategy at Aisle 518 and digital fundraising director at Bernie Sanders for President. “Community is a broad movement and is at the center of everything we do.”

When getting started with personalization, it is critical to take the time to tailor content to recipients, notes Curran, who spoke at the recent Litmus Live conference in Boston.

“It is a privilege, not a right, to be able to send email to our donors,” she says. “We create a two-way relationship with subscribers by showing what we know about them and what is valuable to them.”

Curran shared a number of examples of ways the Bernie 2020 campaign is personalizing messaging to donors and supporters.

Donor History: Showing a donor’s giving history to the campaign in an email illustrates what supporters have done in the past—and then pivots attention to what they can do now. The campaign created a visual map taking the donor from the exact date of their first contribution to the campaign, to how many donations they have made, to the total amount donated since Sanders announced his candidacy.

“It’s because of you that our campaign is off to such a strong start.,” reads the email copy. “But we still have a long way to go in order to win this election and transform our country. Can Bernie count on you to add another contribution today?”

The visual road map of donor history generated two times more than the typical email blast, she says.

Local Events: Bernie 2020 kickoff event emails were personalized using subscribers’ zip codes. This enabled the campaign to inform supporters about the event nearest their geographic location. The call to action was an invitation to RSVP and attend.

“It was effective at building community and getting them plugged into the work,” says Curran.

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Year in Review: Taking inspiration from the Spotify Year in Review emails, the campaign created a year in review message showing what events supporters had RSVP’d to, what donations they had made, whether they had shared stories about why they support Sanders with the campaign, and any Bernie 2020 purchases they had made, such as t-shirts or bumper stickers. The email also showed how many people from the donors state had also contributed.

Things the supporter had done were shown in red; activities the supporter hadn’t yet done were shown in light grey, to illustrate what they still could do for the campaign.

“It really helps build community,” she says, noting some contributors shared the email via social media. “People latched onto stats like the numbers of donors in their area.”

Maxing Out Contributions: This messaging identified those who had given single contributions of $500, or $1,000 total, to acknowledge these donors had given more than most (the average donation for Bernie Sanders is $19, low for a presidential campaign), and asking if they are able to max out their giving to the maximum allowable amount. This very targeted email raised an average of $25 per recipient, versus the typical average of $.09.

2018 Midterm Election Data: This messaging was based on a comprehensive spreadsheet of who was on the ballot in every state around the country, to show supporters the candidates in the top races and highlight the states of the election nationwide. A link to look up local polling places and the suggestion to donate to the campaign was also included.

The post Email Personalization Boosts Bernie 2020 Donations appeared first on Chief Marketer.

The average marketing organization currently has more than two dozen solutions in play, and a few more in the wings. How can marketers figure out which technology will help them achieve digital transformation? How can they leverage their existing martech to create personalized marketing strategies that engage and convert prospects at all points of the funnel?

In this special report, we look at the trends and tools marketers should consider to make the most of their customer data and optimize their martech spend.

Discover:

• How martech can improve every stage of the buyer’s journey
• 7 ways to unleash the power of customer data
• The martech questions every marketer needs to answer
• How brands like Subaru, Shisheido and PARCO are using data to fuel multichannel success

Sponsored by:

The post The Power of Personalization appeared first on Chief Marketer.

Customers today are seeking security, service and localized experiences based on local language and culture, according to the CMO Council’s new report, Reshaping Global Engagement Operations.

The challenge comes as marketing operational structures may actually be keeping the customer and brand apart. The report, produced in partnership with Worldwide Partners, a global network of independent advertising and marketing services agencies, also revealed that:

• Marketers are missing the localization mark before campaign deployment. Eighty-two percent say local market intelligence is just ‘OK,’ while 10 percent admit their local intelligence is actually highly deficient

• Without access to local intelligence, opportunities will continue to be missed. Fifty-seven percent believe lack of localized market insight has had a negative impact as 37 percent say the lack of local knowledge is partially to blame for stalled relationship development initiatives

• Organizational structures may be partially to blame for the intelligence gap. The study investigated three specific operational structures: fully centralized (27 percent), fully decentralized (30 percent), and hybrid structures (30 percent) with local teams executing on strategies from a centralized leadership group.

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• Thirty eight percent of marketers operating in a fully centralized organizational structure believe that efficiency of spend and allocation is their top benefit. The downside to the model, according to 37 percent of respondents, is a lack of local market understanding and proximity to the customer.

• Thirty five percent of marketers in a fully decentralized organization say the top benefit is the elimination of corporate politics over execution and decision-making. Forty-eight percent admit the top drawback is not having a clear vision of the brand engagement strategy.

• According to marketers in hybrid operational structures, the top three benefits of their operations include a heightened understanding of the local customer, a crystal-clear understanding of strategy and goals, as well as heightened efficiency that optimizes impact of spend. Drawbacks still pop up, but are largely centered around timeliness of decision-making across the organization.

“Chief marketers embarked on organizational transformation in the name of efficiencies. Modern CMOs must now refine that transformation in the name of the customer,” says Liz Miller, the CMO Council’s SVP of marketing. “We fought hard to bring rigor and accountability to operations. Now we are asking old processes and operational structures to align with a customer that doesn’t see silos or functions. They just understand their own context and reality, steeped in culture and spoken in their own language.”

Agency alignment

Only 17 percent of marketers believe their operational models totally aligned with their agency partners, forcing some leaders to question the value and the impact of the relationship. This has led marketers to look for partners with the ability to scale quickly, be in closer alignment with business goals, and be a resource for skills and new capabilities around the globe.

Even so, 64 percent of respondents believe their relationships with current partners will stay in place over the next 12 to 18 months. Those who do foresee shifts anticipate they will bring content marketing (28 percent), customer intelligence (26 percent) and demand generation (21 percent) in-house. Functions likely to shift externally include public relations (21 percent), advertising creative development (24 percent), media buying (21 percent), and live event and experiential engagements (26 percent).

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