Real Issues, Real Solutions, Real Results

In today’s challenging economic environment, it is more important than ever to address the issues that matter most to your customers. Now is the time to pay close attention to their changing behaviors and react appropriately.

In fact, a new report from Forrester Research shows that customer experience is closely tied to customer loyalty, and that the correlation between the two has increased since last year.

Bruce Temkin, VP and principal analyst at Forrester pointed out that, “when times are good, consumers just continue on their merry way, but in this economic environment, every purchase they make, every service interaction they have is a large portion of what they care about. They’re more emotional about everything and, therefore, a bad experience resonates even more negatively.”

Without analytics and research, you miss out on valuable information which can make or break the relationship you have with your customers.

Once you understand the challenges facing your customers, you can offer real solutions to address these issues and make their lives easier. In return, you will foster brand loyalty and generate real results and ROI.

What do you think? How can focusing on customer’s real issues and problems help a brand’s business?

Why Attend Conferences?

“He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.”
- Confucius

As a frequent conference attendee and speaker, I thought I would focus on the value of these types of events for this week’s post.

There are many reasons to attend conferences, the most obvious being education. As a professional, it is important to continue to learn. Today’s marketing world changes daily, so what you learned back in college or your first few years on the job may not apply today. You can gain more from one day at a conference than from all of the blogs and articles you can read in a month.

Learning through conferences is also great for personal development. It keeps you fresh, energized, inspired. There is nothing like being in a huge banquet room in a beautiful hotel filled with people who share your same passions. The energy is undeniable. Pulse is an essential part of that. You miss out on context with blogs, trade publications and the like. Seeing the reactions of those around you helps you keep an eye on the pulse of the industry. The experience of actually being there to participate in the discussion makes it much more worthwhile than your everyday podcast or webcast.

In that sea of like-minded individuals can even be your next client, colleague or friend. The networking at conferences is yet another valuable element. Contacts made while grabbing a coffee or lunch between sessions can be well worth the time and cost of the conference alone.

For these reasons – and many more, I make a habit of attending all of the conferences that my schedule will allow. I hope to see you all at my next event – the Retail Advertising Conference in Las Vegas on Feb. 25-27 – where I would like to buy you that cup of coffee. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you will be in attendance.

RAC 2009

What Can We Learn From Students’ Behavior?

Everyone knows that young people – especially students – center their lives around the internet. This is old news. In fact, today’s average student got their first email address at the age of 13 and currently has a mean number of 2.4 email addresses, according to the eROI Student Survey.

This information would lead one to believe that email is a great way to reach a brand’s young customers. However, that may not be the case. The Student Survey also showed that students, on average, read marketing emails on a “rarely to never” basis and only 16% actually take action on marketing emails.

By looking at the ways students are acting, it is clear that marketers may want to reconsider their use of email to reach young consumers. Their behavior shows that this particular channel may not be as effective as others within the direct marketing space.

Social networking and texting, however, are on the rise. 83% of college students use Facebook, 65% use MySpace and 21% use LinkedIn. Additionally, students named text messaging as their preferred means of communication (according to the eROI study).

We need to reach them in the way they prefer, not how we wish. The biggest challenge is our ability to ensure that the desired behaviors do happen. And that we can monetize our investments. It is a conundrum. Do you agree?