Customers are the most important cog in your business. Without them, you don’t have a business. But, despite all the tools we have today to create emotion-rich experiences for buyers, many marketers still struggle to understand their customers and what they really want. This just doesn’t cut it any more, particularly when consumers are actively seeking out connections with the brands they purchase from rather than one-off buying frenzies.
https://mopinion.com/4-steps-successful-customer-obsessed-marketing-strategy/
Gamification is not a new concept for marketers. As a kid, I remember buying a certain product just to add to my superhero action figure collection! We may call that old-school gamification. Although times and avenues have changed, marketers have implemented the same technique in the online context to achieve an organization’s marketing goals. The goals could be to speed up product adoption (onboarding), boost customer loyalty, or bring in new leads.
Gamification is an application of gaming mechanics in a non-gaming context. It offers users an engaging way to interact with your brand. Speaking from a scientific perspective, gamification works because of the reward-seeking behavior prevalent in the human brain. Our brain releases dopamine - a feel-good chemical whenever we experience pleasure. And as creatures of habits, we feel sheer pleasure when we indulge in a habit. And that’s when our brain releases dopamine, encouraging us to engage in that activity over and over. Gamification borrows from this concept by rewarding users for completing certain tasks.
Let’s look at 5 practical ideas to introduce gamification to your marketing strategy.
https://www.martechadvisor.com/articles/customer-experience-2/5-practical-ideas-to-gamify-your-marketing-strategy/
With 2018 already well under way, my mind is bursting with ideas on how to make the most of the latest digital marketing trends. Change is happening right before our eyes. Every year I like to take a step back and revisit key sales drivers, writing down probing questions about recent technological advances, search algorithm changes, SEO drivers and changes in consumer behavior.
Every key driver gives me new opportunities to experiment and measure the results. I’m always up for a challenge, and the results almost always surprise me. Here are the trending projects I have my eyes on in 2018:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/07/11/sharpen-your-marketing-strategy-with-the-top-digital-trends-of-2018/#689723eb5046/
Picking what university or college to attend can be one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. It represents a huge investment of time and money, all with the hope of being part of a learning environment and obtaining a degree that will lead to a successful career.
Due to the magnitude of this decision, both prospective students and their parents often take part in the research process. Naturally, both groups might approach the selection process with trepidation, each with their different sets of criteria they would want the higher education institution to meet.
http://customerthink.com/how-feedback-can-transform-your-higher-education-marketing-strategy/
The buzz of promoting your day-to-day business activities on Snapchat may now be nothing more than a quiet hum — but Instagram stories (an Instagram feature which was brazenly stolen from Snapchat) is gaining traction by the day.
But you don’t have to take our word for it, because the numbers, along with the insights gathered from inside company’s using Instagram Stories regularly, paint a vivid picture.
https://www.cmswire.com/digital-marketing/why-instagram-stories-need-to-be-part-of-your-marketing-strategy/
Let’s face it — content is at the core of modern marketing communications. Content that is useful, helpful or entertaining will win mind-share and wallet-share as we move ahead into a marketplace where multiple parties are competing for the attention of potential customers.
https://www.cmswire.com/customer-experience/let-voice-of-the-customer-shape-your-b2b-content-marketing-strategy/
Can a large incumbent company rediscover how to act like an agile start-up?
I believe the answer is yes, though success depends largely on another question: Can the executive team learn to get out of the way?
Behaving like an agile start-up implies speed, a sharply defined mission, and a deep understanding of customers. Those qualities allow a company to consistently formulate the right strategy and execute it cleanly—but also to pivot decisively when conditions change.
https://hbr.org/2017/11/figure-out-your-companys-make-or-break-strategic-problems-then-use-small-teams-to-solve-them/
The number one objective enterprises give for embarking on a digital transformation is to improve customer experiences with new engagement models, according to IDC’s 2017 global study.
This response will come as no surprise to CMOs. Marketing has been blazing this trail for more than a decade. And in most companies, the marketing leader has the best resume for leadership in this pivotal area. Yet in another IDC study, we found fewer than 10 per cent of US companies with CX initiatives believe those are primarily a marketing effort. Why?
https://www.cmo.com.au/blog/transformation-strategies/2017/11/15/how-to-become-the-customer-experience-custodian/
