eMarketer Webinar: Consumer Digital Touchpoints—Email and Beyond

transcript

A U G U S T 2 3, 2 0 1 2

Consumer Digital Touchpoints—Email and Beyond

David HallermanPrincipal Analyst

Sponsored by:

There are four prime consumer digital touchpoints

Marketing emails: contact

Brand websites: content

Social media: community

Mobile devices: connections

Twitter – #eMwebinar

The primary question: What makes a marketing channel a touchpoint?

Touchpoints attract—they are pull marketing (ads are push marketing)

Creating customer loyalty is an ongoing process, not an event

What we’ll look at today…

Loyalty matters: retention

Permission matters: consent

Mutuality matters: two-way street

Money matters: and other values

Email’s Example

(elements that translate to all touchpoints)

Email offers lessons that marketers can use to make other touchpoints effective

Permission is prime.

Reciprocal value is the engine for permission.

Personalization is a channel for relevance.

Frequency control is a type of respect.

Consumers trust opt-in email and brand websites more than any type of digital ad

Four Touchpoint Channels

(integrating connections)

Execs greatly value touchpoints for building customer loyalty and retention

Gail Goodman, CEO, Constant Contact

“Multichannel actually works better than single

channel. So while having someone engaging with you

on Facebook is great, the best way to kick off that engagement is to send an

email that pulls them back to Facebook.”

More touchpoints, more usage, as marketers look to break through clutter

Social touchpoints work best when integrated with other touchpoints, such as email or company websites

Gary Wohlfeill, Creative Director, Moosejaw

“Down the line, we’d love to be able to better use

everybody’s profile. When we want to award somebody

points on Facebook right now, we have to get them to email us so we can pull up

their account and award them.”

Mobile touchpoints link up with email and social for mobile-only users

Apps are a prime mobile touchpoint that influence consumer brand choices

Yon Feldman, Vice President, Gilt Groupe

“Our most engaged customers are actually

people who use both app and desktop.…Those who

have used both are extremely more loyal and engaged than either of the

two other groups.”

Loyalty Matters

(less costly, more value)

Customer retention (aka loyalty) is a top priority for marketing executives

Loyal customers offer companies several varieties of value

Current customers are often the best customers.

Costs less to keep old customers than to find new ones

More likely to sell more often to them

More likely to upsell them, too

The most-loyal customers tell others about your offerings

Loyal customers reveal more about themselves

Customers behavior is much like two classic dog names: Fido and Rover.

But will they remain loyal?

Marketers spend more on customer acquistion, partially because retention costs less

Word-of-mouth is the most valuable form of marketing companies can’t buy

Loyal customers become brand ambassadors—and spend more too

Positive experiences extend social consumer touchpoints, but negative experiences a bit more so

Negative: 67% & 59%Negative:

67% & 59%

Dave Godwin, Managing Partner, Restaurant Management Group

“Eight out of every 10 referrals to our business

are through word-of-mouth. That’s the

reason why Facebook and businesses go together so well.”

Email is the word-of-mouth tool that brand advocates use the most to endorse products or services

Permission Matters

(it’s all about control)

Opt-in agreement is the first step that can lead to more engaged touchpoints

Email is the permission-based marketing channel that most consumers prefer

Mike Hogan, Chief Marketing Officer, GameStop

“One of the reasons why we’re moving

with deliberate speed is we want to do this in a high-permission

environment.”

Consumers who can give or withhold permission are better customers

Mutuality Matters

(two-way communication)

Effective digital touchpoints need to be two-way streets to create loyalty

Customer loyalty is about more than making a sale.Time. Loyalty develops over time.

Attract. Loyalty touchpoints require marketers to cultivate customers with pull, not push, tactics.

Slower. Many touchpoint efforts cannot be automated.

Staff. Touchpoints often require real humans on the other side of the screen, notably for customer service.

Costs. The extra costs involved for such efforts cause some companies to hesitate.

Touch. But companies that humanize the digital space will often gain an advantage over their competition.

Tracy Keim, Vice President, Bonobos

“It’s important for a company and for brands

to understand that [loyalty] is not a one-way push strategy. It’s

also a listening strategy.”

Email, social and company websites are all prime two-way loyalty channels

Email is excellent for the two-way street that defines a real touchpoint

Customer service is a major element that can reach across all digital touchpoints

It’s a relationship: Customer service drives brand loyalty

Loyalty and improved customer service are linked—and are two top objectives of social brand strategies

Consumers also say that customer service is important on social sites

Jim Wright, Senior Vice President, Express

“You have to listen and respond to disappointed

customers. Even if it’s not always the answer they

want to hear, they appreciate the fact that you took the time to at

least respond.”

Even angry customers might remain loyal customers if companies communicate clearly and offer fair solutions

Money Matters

(more so, value matters)

How the loyalty process often works…

Brands stand out when their touchpoints offer value to those who opt in…

Effective touchpoints demand data, and consumers want something back for their data

Personal data helps build strong relationships, often through touchpoints

Sometimes value is simply money in the form of deals, discounts, promotions and free stuff

Brands attract consumers by giving them something in return, typically a promotion or prizes

If a user’s “like” leads to a brand touchpoint, then special deals and inside info help make consumers lean toward a “like”

Nearly one-half of Twitter users want deals from brands they follow

Value is subjective, and good touchpoints offer a range of possible values

The main reason Facebook users “like” brands is because they are already loyal, but what do the brands offer in return?

Bob Soukup, Senior Director for Loyalty, Best Buy

“Loyalty is about financial rewards where you earn points and use points, and that’s great and valuable, but we

want to capture customers’ hearts and

minds.”

Money is one type of value. Content is another. That mix can include:

Case studies Webinars and webcasts Videos Games White papers Research reports Articles Peer-created content Podcasts Mobile apps

Brand websites are among the most trusted—great for valued content

Companies often use branded content to increase customer retention and brand loyalty

Anthony Batt, President, Katalyst

“If we’re entertaining you, we’re sort of bypassing your

immediate rejection of an advertisement.”

Marketers look to spend more on content in 2012

Chief Takeaways

The top reason users don’t “like” a company on Facebook points to how marketers can create better digital touchpoints

Look at the reasons why people don’t become brand fans, and then…

Do the opposite. That is…Frequency: don’t bombard them with marketing messages

Reticence: don’t ask for too much personal information

Trust: do indicate how their privacy will be honored

Humility: don’t assume that just because one person likes your brand, his or her friends will, too

Communicate: do make the benefit of becoming a fan clear and immediate

Justin Yoshimura, CEO and Co-founder, 500Friends

“The future of social loyalty is when marketers stop measuring success by the number of ‘likes’ or followers, and start to

see this as a way to increase the value of

existing relationships.”

The four digital channels best for developing customer loyalty share several elements: cash, content, communication, care, and control.

Email. Works well for money matters and evergreen info.

Brand websites. Product details and support are the main reasons most customers go to company sites.

Social media. Involving customers through content, entertainment, contests or service is often key.

Mobile. Can meld the three other digital touchpoints, and adds location-based connections and immediacy.

Conclusions: Engagement is basic to making marketing into a touchpoint

The Growth of Digital Activity…The Growth of Digital Activity…

>1B people search Google everyday>1B people search Google everyday>1B active users on Twitter and Facebook

>1B active users on Twitter and Facebook

200M tweets on Twitter per day 200M tweets on Twitter per day 1M social check-ins per day on Foursquare 1M social check-ins per day on Foursquare

107trillion emails sent in 2011107trillion emails sent in 2011

…Has Generated 98% of all Data within the Past 2 years…Has Generated 98% of all Data within the Past 2 years

60M status posts on Facebook per day60M status posts on Facebook per day

Customer experience story

Kayak?

Q&A Session

Consumer Digital Touchpoints—Email and

Beyond

eMarketer Webinar: Consumer Digital Touchpoints—Email and Beyond

Business