The Customer Journey Isn’t a Straight Line
“Forget everything you knew about the customer funnel!” This sounds like very bold marketing advice – the type you might want to disregard because it sounds too over the top – but when you realize the source, you may want to reconsider. [Tweet “Your job is to provide the customer with a satisfying experience no […]
5 Ways to Make Black Friday Better
If you’ve been in retail for any time at all, you’ve seen Black Friday change. Once the traditional kick off to the holiday shopping season, Black Friday is now part of a larger week-long shopping event. Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday add to the excitement of the season – but they can make it […]
3 Things You Need to Know About Local Customer Acquisition
The #1 entry on most small business owners’ wish list is “More customers!” Beginning and building relationships with people in your community is hard. There’s a lot of competition for people’s interest, attention spans are shorter than ever before, and boosting local visibility can be expensive. With that in mind, here are 3 things you […]
Facebook’s Ad Transparency Tools = A Gift for Business Owners
[Tweet “Ad transparency tools are designed to allow anyone to see who is running an ad they encounter.”] Facebook has introduced new ad transparency tools as part of its ongoing effort to improve its reputation after numerous privacy and fake news scandals. Ad transparency tools are designed to allow anyone to see who is running […]
The Power of Play: What Games Can Teach Us About Our Customers
Over the past few years, we’ve developed and launched a few games for retailers, including Fan Time Fantasy Football, Holiday Hunt and more. The reason we do this is simple: games are a uniquely powerful way to start and build profitable customer relationships. Today’s customers, especially Millennials and Gen Z, have grown up playing video […]
Put Your Website to Work
As a business owner, you depend on your website to transition a customer from interest to action. No matter where a customer first encounters your brand – on social media, through advertising, or as the result of a search – when they want more information about you, they’ll visit your website. The experience they have […]
Stores Aren’t Dead, But Good Luck Trying to Find a Store-Only Shopper
New research from Internet Retailer reveals something you may already know: today’s customer wants it all. The 2018 Online Apparel Report investigates how a marketplace that was once fairly limited to physical retail locations has been disrupted by Amazon, Walmart, and digital native brands. Some of the insights shared are quite eye-opening, including: – Amazon […]
Looking at Loyalty Programs: Are They A Good Idea for Your Business?
The average American belongs to 38 loyalty programs. Loyalty programs typically offer rewards – things like points that can be redeemed for merchandise, frequent flier miles, or discounts – in exchange for repeat business. Yet many retailers and business owners who offer loyalty programs find that customer interest appears lackluster, and there’s no demonstrable relationship […]
Be Willing to Question Everything – Even Your Essentials
One of the things I really enjoyed about presenting “Decoding Your Data” at JCK Las Vegas was the opportunity to tell my favorite story about Victoria’s Secret. It’s a powerful tale for business owners that illustrates that you have to be willing to examine every aspect of your operation – even those things that could […]
Timing is Everything: Using Data to Get Better Results from Your Marketing
Let’s say you use email marketing to connect with your customers – a monthly newsletter that includes updates about what’s new with your business, savings opportunities for your customers, an informative article to read and share, and more. It takes a lot of time and effort, but you know it’s worth it – you’ve had […]
