SigmaWay Blog

Ever wondered if machine learning can be used for Data Driven Marketing. The Intelligent Agent (IA) developed on the concept of machine learning takes a big leap in data driven marketing.  IA technology can learn about the user behavior and suggest most suitable actions. It can identify the most relevant data from the whole lot and can even find out the reasons for the importance or relevance of that data. Artificial Intelligence is revolutionalising the field of marketing. Intelligent Agent would reduce the manual processing and will produce better results. Read more about it in the article written by John Bates(Senior Product Manager for Data Science & Predictive Marketing Solutions) at: http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/analytics/data-driven-marketing-ready-for-machine-learning/

A lot is investment is made in the digital marketing campaign. Before planning the campaigns, it is important to correctly determine whether to use Rule Based or Algorithmic Attribution. First, we have to analyze the data in hand properly. If the data is coming from different platforms and needs to be combined or analyzed at one platform, then Rule Based Attribution can't be even thought of, go for the latter. Rule Based Attribution uses the last touch as the final touch, so sometimes it can be misleading. If the journey to the destination has been maneuvered by the smart moves at each step, then we can't rely on the Rule- Based approach. But if the algorithmic approach was that easy, everyone could have adopted it. Read more about the pros and cons of each in the article written by Matt Scharf (Senior Manager at Display Media Operations & Analytics at Adobe Systems) at: http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/analytics/rules-based-vs-algorithmic-attribution/

The purchasing decisions taken by the customers are more often the result of online reviews and various comparisons. After buying products they themselves become reviewers and express their views on web about the product. This significantly impacts the reputation of the product and hence the company. This expands marketing horizons, thus its measure can't be only limited to ROI (Return on Investment). Work of marketers is not limited to being just creative. It is important for them to be contributing employees to the organization. Testing of the marketing strategy should be done. All the influencing factors should be kept in mind. The marketing team should be aware of when to measure. Read more at: http://bloomreach.com/2016/01/measuring-marketing-roi/

Before you approach a marketing automation vendor, there is always some necessary groundwork to do. This is not only important to prevent making fool out of yourself, but also to get best out of the vendor. A vendor can only provide what you want, if you have 100% clarity of it. It is important to highlight your needs. Add-ons are always good if they make your work better. Keep the strengths and drawbacks of your old system in mind. A clear goal must be decided before starting the automation. Read more about it in the article written by James A. Martin (tech journalist and bloggerz) at: http://www.cio.com/article/3023570/marketing/12-questions-to-ask-marketing-automation-vendors-before-you-buy.html

It's no more difficult to shop at a new place with Location Based Marketing. We often look for the unique and best products, when we visit a new place. A common practice is to inquire about the best deals, with the people around who are aware of the new place. But with everything becoming techy we have Location Based Marketing to rescue. It integrates mobile marketing with location based services. The motive behind this is to make mobile users aware of your presence, while they are in the areas nearby. Most relevant display ads as per user's location are sent. Their interest can be pulled by either providing some discounts or some other perks. This benefit both the user as well as the business. Read more about it in an article written by Jack Simpson (a Writer at Econsultancy) at: https://econsultancy.com/blog/67418-what-is-location-based-advertising-why-is-it-the-next-big-thing/

A research was done in 2015 where purchase decisions of 20,000 European citizens, across 30 product areas and more than 100 brands in the year 2013 and 201 were examined. They were asked how social media influenced their purchasing decisions.  It was observed that social media recommendations induced an average of 26% of sales. It was found that consumers made 10% more purchases on 2014 in comparison to 2013. Moreover, the choice of product also played a vital role. For example, 40 to 50% of consumers look for social recommendations for categories like travel, investment services, etc., whereas only 15% recommendations were looking for low end utility services. So we can see that Social media does play a vital role in brand awareness and hence end up converting to the sales. Read the full article here: http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/getting_a_sharper_picture_of_social_medias_influence

Drop shipping refers to the direct delivery of the products from a manufacturer to the retailer or the customer. This is very convenient if you are going to start an ecommerce business. This decreases the overhead as the costs of purchasing inventory or managing warehouses is eliminated. The businesses using drop shipping find scaling easier. For example: if you receive four times as much offers, you'll usually need to do four times as much work. But with drop shipping most of the work to satisfy the additional orders is to be done by the suppliers. This makes businesses flexible. Most of the startups find difficulties in raising funds. So, it is easier to start with drop shipping. It even offers the largest variety for the customers. Being directly linked to the manufacturers selling the products, number of middlemen decreases. Fewer the middlemen, bigger the profits of a business. Read more at: https://econsultancy.com/blog/67406-what-is-dropshipping-and-is-it-right-for-your-business/

Firms often spend a huge amount of money on display marketing. But as a consumer, do you remember at all the last display ad you saw. The answer is NO. Display Marketing can be very effective if targeted. It is important to know which item should be placed on which site and what part of the site. Most vendors don't go into details of the strategy, thus shelling out more money out of those interested in display marketing. Algorithmic attributions can be used to determine how the impressions will impact the ROI. Learn more about it in the article written by Sandy Martin (Sr. Business Consultant) at : http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/analytics/how-to-get-more-from-display-marketing-with-analytics/

Gone are the days when the tiny pieces of paper were most essential parts of CRM. Automation has made it lot easier by keeping the data records. Sticky notes are quite prone to physical damage, leading to loss of critical information. Automated systems keep data records safe and highly organized. This way data can be efficiently sorted or searched. If you still continue to wholly rely on sticky notes, come out of the cocoon and take the benefits of technology. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/crm-and-the-death-of-the-sticky-note-70917

A customer visits your site or product, checks the available options and services offered. Then he decides to go along with you or not.  Good business policy is to give a personal touch to each customer so that they feel at home each time. But taking care of their needs at each step becomes a time taking process if done manually. On the other hand automation makes it more smooth and effective. If CRM is practiced along with automation, it sets everything into a correct perspective.

Read more about it in the article written by Inside-CRM at http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/five-ways-marketing-automation-and-crm-go-together-like-peanut-butter-and-jelly-70904

Those using Predictive Analytics easily outpace those who don't. There is a clear incremental sales lift in the marketing campaigns which consider predictive analytics. Every organization strives to achieve a higher return on investment (ROI) from that spend on marketing. Predictive analytics help creation of unique customer profiles by analyzing the data.  Read more about how Predictive Analytics can be useful in B2B marketing in the article written by Laura at: http://blogs.forrester.com/laura_ramos/15-07-02-the_power_to_predict_can_give_b2b_marketers_an_unfair_advantage

If customer experience is better then only customer will be loyal to the brand and according to many surveys, customer experience improves sales. Thus, investing in improving customer experience is not typically an investment, but a sales opportunity. It becomes more important in case of online websites as there are a limited number of interactions to impress the customer. Word-of-mouth is a significant and cheapest source of marketing that directly affect the targeted audience. This reputation of a firm is affected by a customer’s experience. So to conclude, improved customer experience will result in improved sales, better reputation and loyal customers. Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/invest-improving-customer-experience-01418769#WJErvfXdbvlskeWL.97

It's all about customer experience - make it better using Data Driven Marketing! It's important to treat them like true customers by taking them through personalized life cycles. Normally, customers are expected to feed the website with lots of data regarding their preferences and personal details. So there is a lot of data in the hand of an owner. But the value lies in effectively scaling data and analytics to enrich their journey. Thus, planning the marketing strategies by keeping in focus the results of this data analytics. The article written by Kevin Lindsay digs deeper into the power of Data Driven Marketing at: http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/personalization/strength-in-numbers-best-practices-for-data-driven-marketing/

This New Year, let's look back at the marketing experiences throughout 2015. We have learned that the fundamental concept of digital marketing is unaltered, no matter which industry we target. But, it teaches us to adapt to changing habits and practices of customers. Here are 3 digital marketing truths you should keep in mind - 1) to grow our presence across different channels, mobile is the only channel that has grown so rapidly. 2) Removing barriers across different channels so that your customer is able to communicate better. According to customers different preferences it's necessary to use data management platforms for organizing information. 3) Use of automation to use right content at the right time. Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/digital-marketing/top-3-digital-marketing-truths-take-away-2015-01413555#Cll3tXd2oAKuqhgF.97

Nowadays, many businesses have discarded content marketing because it has many things to create and promote that it has become time consuming. But, today's consumer need more information about brand relationship and trust. Social media is becoming an important source of information through various channels. Organizations should drive people to that blog or to other pages on the website where they can get things of value and it should be done very effectively. Nicole Boyer (a valued contributor to Business 2 Community), writes in her article about some ways to make your social media promotion the best it can be. They are -  1) Use related visual which engages more consumer to like and share information 2) Headlines does count, so it as to be catchy and appealing. 3) Choose the right platform for posting content according to the target audience. 4) Multiple posting is also becoming trendy to gain attention by changing names or headlines. But you should know the perfect time for re-sharing. 5) Try to keep the conversation rolling by adding comments and feedbacks from readers. Lastly, get everyone to share your post. Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/social-media/get-social-9-ways-promote-content-brand-social-media-01411863#pBWAtI7cbRYeEqG8.97

3D printing technology was first used in 1980s, but was mostly limited to government and industries that time. Later in 2009 it became commercially available for consumers. Despite its more and more consumer-friendly models introducing in market, 3D printers continues to be out of the financial reach of average consumer. Makerbots costs $2,000 which is by the way still not bad compared to the price tag of industrial printers ($5.000-$10,000). There are some open source projects happening to make technology make more widely accessible. Others are providing customizable services through internet options. Global 3D printing market takes into account shipment from OEMs in automatics, consumer products, healthcare, aerospace and defense. Due to which its expected to boost the marker from 1.95 billion to 11.07 billion. Industrial side is what pushing the technology forward in automotive sector contributing 21.2% to the global market.  Honda and Peugeot have used 3D printers which are released in files so that anyone can achieve that design. Read more at: http://www.technavio.com/blog/car-parts-body-parts-3d-printing-showing-no-signs-slowing-down

Nowadays, Marketers are re-examining the role of TV advertisement in digital age for making budget modification, as very few are tuning in TV to watch your ads. The number of Youtube viewers are increasing marketers are blending it and new viewing trends to learn new ways of drawing customers. The first driver of Youtube visitors is it  variety of content such are mash-up of memorable events, movies trailers etc. This has lead many personalities to entertain online which are rather becoming more famous among viewers according to a survey. Secondly, Youtube is gaining respect in media industry as it garners credibility to views as reach metrics Third drivers has to be the cord- cutting movement as people are purchasing digital programs instead of cable or satellite which offers them the flexibility of when and what to watch along with engaging in their other important business simultaneously. Moreover, these viewers preference offers analytics opportunities to understand the changing trends in peoples preferences. Read more at :- http://www.cmswire.com/digital-experience/are-you-really-reaching-customers-with-tv-ads/

Unprecedented growth of e-commerce industry, has given marketers a hard time to acquire and retain shoppers. The retailers need to have the right insight in collecting analyzing data as well determining the actions that will resonate with consumers and deliver best experience. 1) Marketers need to have a long sighted approach towards consumer lifecycle and tactics within their acquisition. It helps in identifying the consumer goal from specific interaction and what this long term engagement will offer to shoppers. 2) The shoppers needs to develop the capability to anticipate shoppers actions and to do marketers must learns individuals likes and dislikes, their interests and most of all be able to discern individuals intent from collected rationalized data. 3) E-Commerce brand should use ensure that their data must be collected from each interaction and across every touch point to create one cohesive customer experience. Lack of persistent communication within various interaction units hurts the data aggregation and analysis. Read more at: http://www.cmswire.com/digital-marketing/keep-one-step-ahead-of-your-e-commerce-competition/

Retailers face hectic flurry for organizing and planning for big sales, poor inventory management system can sabotage your sales even with great customer services. Negligence may lead to small discrepancies such as colour, sizes which can destroy customer relationship and cost valuable revenue. Accurate and timely delivery requiring effective management of omni-channel system is crucial for customer satisfaction beyond friendly services. Small to medium business should focus on mobile access, real time access of disparate data, sales forecasting and product management for prior inventory. Delay in information and updates of innovated products and services will lead to disrupt business as it leads to unrealistic promises which can’t be completed in time window. Your need to empower your sales person with latest technologies and real time inventory information. Delivering products to customer on time is as sales, when investing in newer solution, its important to plan for short and mid-term growth. Changing inventory multiple times would cost resources, but will be necessary if you fail to take proper decision now. Read more at:- http://www.cmswire.com/customer-experience/dont-leave-customers-empty-handed/

This year's blockbuster Black Friday and Cyber Monday saw more than ever selling which implies that in future, marketing will be imperatively focused through internet transactions. International survey suggests that more than 151 people shop online. Buyers hit physical stores for available door busters. With online shopping, they get to browse around other brands and pick other things of interest. The Interactive Advertisement bureau reports that people still visit showrooms to double check prices of commodity before purchasing online. Soon special days like black Friday and Cyber Monday would loose their importance. Read more at:-http://www.cmswire.com/digital-marketing/what-you-need-to-know-about-new-retail-realities/