From the category archives:

Marketing Technology

Why ROI Measurement Is So Elusive

Definitions for Marketing ROI abound, but the pressures to achieve it have increased to fever pitch across all channels and marketing specialties. Why? One reason may be that with all the new marketing technology tools―with their claims of incredible measurement capabilities blasted to your in-box daily―the real complexity of getting to ROI has become washed over. Expectations have been raised. You need to figure it out.

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Dating 2.0: The Revolution of Online Dating Through Beauty Segmentation

Online dating service OKCupid.com has taken the application of predictive analytics to a whole new level by ranking and segmenting the more attractive site users from the less aesthetically pleasing ones.

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Your Customers Are Mobile, Are YOU?

Thanks to devices like the iPhone, BlackBerry, and now Android, mobile is no longer an afterthought in most marketing budgets, but a well-deserved line item. Be it through the skyrocketing number of iPhone and other Smartphone device sales or mindboggling downloads of applications — more than four billion on for the iPhone in less than two years — mobile is fast becoming a central channel for your customer engagement efforts.

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How effective is your Co-op Marketing Program?

Using marketing analytics, data and technology to drive improved program performance.
As a consumer marketer reaching your customers through a franchise or retail distribution network, you know it’s critical to coordinate and leverage marketing activities for maximum impact and results.  More than ever, your marketing budgets are under scrutiny, while at the same time there’s ever-growing [...]

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New Agency Skills for New Times Or The 3 Cornerstones of the Digital Age

I believe there are three cornerstones to Marketing 2.0: 1) CRM/data, 2) web analytics and 3) digital/social marketing skills including merging online and offline data. Who has these skills? These capabilities are provided to clients in a hodge-podge of services in what Forrester calls a “web of confusion.” As marketing services providers, ad agencies, interactive agencies, technology providers and direct marketing firms all start looking alike, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for clients to tell us apart. So much so, the CMO study states, that one solution for marketers is to start bringing these skills in-house, either by training existing staff or hiring new ones.

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Using data and marketing analytics to define the multichannel marketing mix

Use Analytics to Adapt Quickly to Your Audience’s Changing Preferences
Most marketers would agree that their consumers are now using multiple channels to research, shop and purchase. Offline and online communications are more tightly entwined than ever before. For example, many marketers have known for years how targeted direct marketing and cataloging will drive the right [...]

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Cloud Computing Berth Is Widening

In recent years, we haven’t thought of Microsoft for their bleeding-edge technology leadership, but few can argue that when they enter a specific market or technology, their influence and credibility is substantial.  Memos and public statements from Microsoft leadership form a timeline that one can connect to substantial investments and changes in the industry.  In [...]

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Security Compliance for HIPAA – Act like a Covered Entity

As HMOs spend more mindshare focusing their organizations toward consumers rather than the employers, they naturally turn to marketing services firms with consumer backgrounds to help design and measure their efforts to have meaningful member engagement Firms that provide marketing services are delivering disciplines in data management, campaign management and analytics that support the strategic goals of the HMO. However, given the sensitive nature of the data related to health care, they have a rigorous set of standards to adhere to.

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Data Modeling Creative License.. And When to Take It.

Many questions circle the heads of Database Architects during the design phase of any database build; especially those that aim to integrate existing data sources into a database to support a direct marketing practice. A solid discovery process answers many of these questions, and usually concentrates on aspects of the data that are self-evident, either from direct analysis or exposure to some level of documentation.

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Managing customer data privacy in a multichannel world

Admittedly, most companies are not out to cross the line on what information about a consumer could be shared in a way that violates hard-earned trust and destroys a relationship they work so hard to establish. However, as online and offline data capture and analysis boundaries are tested and expanded, there will be more and more attention given to this emerging area. Data-driven agencies and marketers must be vigilant about how they intend to use identifiable consumer data to ensure that their customers have a clear understanding about and confidence in how this information gets used.

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