Omnishoppers Challenge Retail Marketers in 2023

Retailers face the challenge of targeting today's "omnishoppers." Inflation has accelerated the trend toward multichannel comparison-shopping in-store and via online, social media and mobile. In fact, The Harvard Business Review has reported a whopping 73% of retail consumers use multiple channels to shop. According to Nielsen, these omnishoppers will spend over $600 billion on retail purchases by 2025. They already spend 4% more than single-channel shoppers on ecommerce sites and 10% more on every in-store trip. 

To capture these valuable buyers, retailers will need to market via multiple channels, too. The average engagement rate of campaigns using three or more channels was 18.96% across all channels, while single-channel campaigns earned only 5.4%, per a 2019 retailer study. 

While many retail marketers have boosted online at the expense of offline advertising in the past, online marketing faces new consumer data restrictions, falling engagement rates and rising costs (a 2022 study showed the average CPM for Meta was up 61% year-over-year), and that suggests a rebalancing of the marketing mix is in order to cost-effectively woo omnishoppers in 2023 via a bump in offline, including direct mail.  Note that The Association of National Advertisers' 2022 report shows direct mail with an average ROI of 112%, email with 93%, paid search 88%, social media 81% and digital display 79%. 

At the same time, retailers will need to work harder at integrating campaigns and data to create a seamless customer journey across channels, avoiding the kinds of silos that generate customer complaints. For direct mail and omnichannel retail marketing support, see https://www.acculist.com/retailers/

Is Your Marketing Ready for the E-commerce Surge?

Pandemic lockdowns across the nation have turbocharged e-commerce, with online sales growing by triple-digits. Is your marketing ready? Most marketers are not, according to a recent Profitero and Kantar survey of 200 brand executives, which found that only 17% believe their organizations are leading competitors in e-commerce. E-commerce marketers need to quickly prioritize strategies, advises a recent post by Forbes magazine’s CMO Network contributor Sarah Hofstetter. A problem identified by the Profitero and Kantar survey, for example, is that only 11% of organizations have functional-level e-commerce goals in place. Hofstetter urges making e-commerce a part of everyone’s job, from building e-commerce KPIs into bonuses to content accountability on retail websites to overcoming silos with cross-functional goals. Next, marketers should boost online profiles and product discovery efforts. That includes targeted SEO and SEM, strong ratings and reviews, engaging targeted content, and aligned multichannel outreach. Third, shift from offline to speedier online tactics, such as algorithmic matching of competitor price changes and real-time tailoring of product assortments and promotional strategies by audience. Fourth, boost online agility. Note that 63% of brands do not test and optimize their content to improve sales impact (Profitero and Kantar survey). So brands that digitally test new products, new traffic-generating variables and new marketing messages gain an edge. Janet Balis, a principal of Ernst & Young LLP, recently penned a Harvard Business Journal article offering more advice.The nuances of creative messaging have become more delicate, she notes, warning that while exploitative brands will not fare well, organizations that promote doing good, from food bank donations to repurposed manufacturing, can enhance brand image as long as contributions are seen as material and not solely for commercial benefit. Next, since the mix of preferred media platforms has changed, marketers may want to modify the media mix, for example with more ad-supported premium video streaming for spiking digital entertainment, or ads around peak news consumption. Finally, marketers will want to put a greater emphasis on behavior trends and response tracking to better adapt messaging and targeting. Small, less sophisticated retailers can take advantage of Google tools, such as using Google Trends, Google Alerts  and retail-category metrics for Google Search and Shopping campaigns to spot shifts in demand. They can frequently update Google Ads, customer-facing websites and Buyer Profiles on Google Maps and Search, and can enable automatic item updates in the Google Merchant Center to keep product data current. For more, see https://www.acculist.com/has-your-marketing-adjusted-for-the-current-e-commerce-surge/

Catalog Marketing Retains Retail Clout

Consumer retail catalogs, far from fading away with the growth of e-commerce, have continued to deliver for our omnichannel retailers. A Multichannel Merchant blog post earlier this year cites a number of reasons why retailers should consider expanding, reviving or initiating a catalog marketing effort, especially with an eye to upcoming holiday spending. Catalogs are not, as some assumed, favored only by older buyers, while younger buyers focus on digital channels. In fact, research has shown that 65% of millennial target buyers have made a purchase influenced by a catalog. Today's lower mail volumes combine with the unique visual and tactile qualities of print to make catalogs stand out in terms of engaging interaction for younger generations, boosting response over online display and even e-mail. Retailers who integrate catalogs with stores, websites and mobile in omnichannel acquisition campaigns boost response and conversion overall. For example, researchers have found that 20% of first-time customers make a purchase on a retailer’s website after receiving a catalog. Today's more sophisticated data analytics and marketing technologies let marketers track spending habits and response across channels to better leverage catalogs as part of omnichannel marketing campaigns. Retailers can not only use use variable data printing to personalize catalogs based on demographics and purchase behavior but can then use intelligent fulfillment technology to integrate targeted catalogs and samples into the existing fulfillment operation to expand brand marketing opportunities. To capitalize on online response to print catalogs, retailers can use innovations such as quick codes applied to printed catalog products for easier online purchasing. And they can use nimbler, on-demand printing to offer repeat customers a catalog built to their unique interests. With holiday marketing campaigns in mind, the Multichannel Merchant post suggests that retailers with order packing software in place can simply assign an SKU to a catalog or a pending holiday Buyer’s Guide, include the SKU in order packing software rules, and pack a catalog in each shipment as part of a holiday campaign, boosting brand recognition and repeat customers. To learn more, see a listing of AccuList's consumer catalog clients at acculist.com/consumer-catalogs/(opens in a new tab)

Shoppers Demand Seamless Omnichannel Retailing

Omnichannel marketing is the rule for today's retailing. While print catalogs continue as a vital merchant tool, with 42% of households reading catalogs per the U.S. Postal Service, integration of multiple channels--including online, mobile and social with direct mail--is now essential to store, catalog and e-commerce marketing. Unfortunately, while the majority of consumers expect to shop seamlessly across all those channels, only 7% of retailers provide the unified "start the sale anywhere, finish the sale anywhere" experience that customers want, per the recent "2018 Customer Experience/Unified Commerce Survey" by BRP Consulting, a retail management consulting firm. Marketers can't afford to ignore that the majority of shoppers interact with promotions and purchase services via multiple channels and devices. According to the same BRP study, three in five (62%) consumers surveyed said they check online reviews/ratings before visiting a store, yet just 61% of retailers offer consumer product reviews for research! Shoppers now rely on mobile to continue a digital buying process in-store, with nearly 60% of shoppers looking up product information and prices while using their mobile phones in stores, per Retail Dive's 2017 Consumer Survey. Merchants can leverage customers' cross-device penchant to optimize acquisition and conversion, argues a Direct Marketing News article by Pierre DeBois. But they must keep in mind that, while the opportunity to boost ad frequency and content across channels is huge, smart management is required to avoid turning it into a bludgeon. As Bill Kee, Google's group product manager for attribution, highlighted at the 2017 Google Marketing Next conference, "If I am on three devices, and if I see your ad five times, it means you've reached me 15 times…believe me I get it." The first place to start is good omnichannel analytics to understand the contribution of each channel to ROI and its place in the customer journey. Only then can merchants cost-effectively tailor targeting and investment to maximize sales. One useful analytics tool is Google's Unique Reach report, which displays digital ad frequency metrics across devices, campaigns, and formats to measure how many times a person views a given ad, and combines attribution influences from AdWords, DoubleClick, and Google Analytics, suggests DeBois. Good omnichannel analytics also can improve use of image and video content to maximize the proven effectiveness of image/video in digital engagement, to answer the customer demand for education, and to direct prospects through the sales funnel. However, quantities of images bombarding customers across multiple channels can overwhelm and confuse, so both media curation and a content mapping strategy aligned to the customer journey are needed. One example of a targeted image strategy is use of an "image story" feature on a social media platform to orchestrate images and/or a short video, notes DeBois. Pinterest Lens, Instagram Stories, and Twitter Moments are all image story features. For more, see http://www.acculistusa.com/shoppers-demand-seamless-omnichannel-retail-strategies/

Use Social Sharing to Rev Direct Mail Response

Integrating the targeted power of direct mail with the viral power of social media can turbocharge results, and a recent article in Target Marketing magazine offers some good case studies as models for how direct mailers can harness social sharing to significantly boost response. Article author Summer Gould cites two examples: 1) Chick-fil-A, which integrated social sharing with a mailing of 5,000 plastic postcards for a whopping 279.8% response to grow its store traffic and customer database, and 2) Stein Mart, which used viral social sharing with a 20,000-postcard mailing to earn 150.58% response for a referral program and in-store redemption. Put simply, the formula involves directing the target audience of a proven direct mail package to a landing page/social page to provide data, get a reward and share the promotion. But of course, it's not simple. The secret to success lies in executing the details, starting with eye-catching, call-to-action design for the direct mail and the landing page and social media creatives. The goal is to not only push response but capture customer data for reward delivery and database growth. It means defining the objectives, the target audience and the desired data capture carefully. Most of all, it means developing a killer offer, which has to be the same for mail and social venues. It has to be the right offer for the right audience at the right time. It must grab attention, drive action, and inspire viral sharing. Of course, sharing is helped by extra incentives offered to any who share, from coupons to freebies to whatever wows the target audience. Although the case studies both come from retail marketing, the lessons can apply to other verticals, including nonprofits. For links to the case studies, see our post at http://www.acculistusa.com/social-sharing-can-turbocharge-direct-mail-response/

Study: Consumer E-mail Behavior Varies by Industry

To optimize consumer e-mail response, marketers must adjust strategy for consumer behavior that differs by market vertical and device use. So they'll find valuable guidance in Movable Ink’s "US Consumer Device Preference Report: Q1 2017" report on how opens, conversions, engagement and even order values are affected by market vertical and device preferences. For all industries studied—retail, travel and hospitality, financial services, and media/publishing and entertainment—the report found most e-mails are opened on a smartphone as opposed to a tablet or desktop. Smartphone e-mail opens have especially jumped for financial services, up 7% from the fourth quarter of 2016 to reach 70% of opens in the first quarter of this year. However, retail is not far behind, with 61% smartphone opens for apparel and 57% for non-apparel e-mails. While smartphones still led opens, the more content-heavy media, publishing and entertainment vertical also has a good portion of desktop e-mail opens at 32%, followed by travel and hospitality with 29% desktop opens. Tablet opens are also stronger for media and publishing at 18%, higher than any other industry.Mobile optimization is clearly key for open rates, but retailers should not neglect desktop design because that's where the orders are racked up. Non-apparel retailer e-mails attribute 73% of conversions to desktop use, for example, with 51% of conversions on desktop for apparel retailing. Desktops also deliver the highest average order value for retailers: $171.04 for apparel and $138.57 for non-apparel sales. When it comes to e-mail reading time, the study generally found that iPhones are able to capture more attention than Android mobile phones, Android tablets, desktop computers, or iPads. The finance industry had the longest read lengths on iPhones, with 68% of subscribers spending 15 or more seconds reading their e-mail thanks to the Apple devices. Media, publishing and entertainment e-mails also garnered high iPhone read time, with 61% reading e-mail for 15 seconds or more. For more, see http://www.acculistusa.com/study-how-consumer-e-mail-behavior-varies-by-market-vertical/

Ready for Holiday Sales? Don't Stint on Mail Power

As retailers head into the holiday sales season and balance their offline-online marketing mix, there's solid recent evidence to support direct mail investment, even by digital-first marketers. It's why AccuList USA continues updating mailing list research to hone response for a wide variety of multichannel retail campaigns in popular seasonal categories like gourmet and food gifts, health/beauty, hobbies/collectibles, and pets. We're buoyed by recent data. For example, among the findings of global marketing firm Epsilon's just released 2016 holiday shopping survey is shoppers' clear propensity to respond to mail. In fact, 77% of respondents said they feel advertisements received by mail will have at least “some influence” on their buying decisions this holiday shopping season. Compare that number to the just 41% of respondents who said that banner advertisements when searching online will have at least “some influence” on buying decisions. According to the survey respondents, they are influenced by direct mail because it usually contains an offer or discount and the format allows for leisurely review time. No surprises there. If any digital-first marketers are unconvinced, they should take a look at some real-life mail examples from digital market leaders, cited in a recent article for Target Marketing magazine by Paul Bobnak, director of Who's Mailing What!. For more detail on those mailing pieces, go to http://www.acculistusa.com/ready-for-the-holiday-retail-season-dont-miss-out-on-mail-power/

Consumers Shun Excess, Irrelevant Retail E-mail

Retailers count on e-mail to help drive sales--but overly frequent, poorly targeted e-mail currently may inspire more consumer irritation than shopping, according to recent research. A 2015 survey of more than 1,000 Internet users, conducted by First Insight, found the average consumer subscribes to 2.3 retailer e-mail lists and receives 13.1 e-mails a week from those lists. But most aren't happy about it. Two-thirds of the consumers who received six or more e-mails a week said it was “too many.” In contrast, only 21% of shoppers who received five e-mails per week thought that frequency too high. Individual retailers will want to aim for fewer than five e-mails, however; 61% of consumers said their favorite retailers only send them one or two e-mails a week. Excess frequency is not the only problem. Just 25% of retailer e-mails got opened, and the most common reason consumers gave for not opening more retailer e-mail was lack of relevance. Based on e-mails received, just 18% of respondents felt retailers understood them. Indeed, the average shopper said only about 5% of retailer e-mails were personally relevant. Unfortunately for retail e-marketers, consumers tend to express their frustration by opting out, with 45% saying they unsubscribed from a retailer’s e-mail list in the prior six months. On the other hand, the research also points out a solution: 43% of consumers said they would be more likely to open retailer e-mails if they knew the e-mails contained personalized suggestions of products aligned with past purchases, instead of promotion of products generally available or "on sale." For the study report: http://www.firstinsight.com/press-coverage/how-many-promotional-emails-a-week-is-too-many

Direct Mail Gains Traction With 2016 Retailers

Direct mail, previously declining in retail use, is finding greater favor with 2016 retailers, according to a Direct Marketing News magazine report on a new AgilOne study.  Although 33% of 150 surveyed bricks-and-clicks retailers still said they would cut direct mail spending this year, that's lower than the 39% who were backing off direct mail in 2015. AgilOne cited better targeting and personalization for reversal of mail's downward retail trend, reports DM News. In contrast, print and TV advertising spends, which fell last year, will keep sliding in 2016 per retailing respondents. Digital--websites and e-mail--continue as priority channels. However, effective "omnichannel" marketing still eludes many merchants, with the 34% claiming a unified customer view across channels offset by the 37% reporting no unified customer view, and more than half admitting lack of a cohesive omnichannel strategy. For the whole story, go to http://www.dmnews.com/direct-mail/survey-retailers-will-stick-with-direct-mail-in-2016/article/467674/

Marketers Led Astray by Myopic Data Segmentation

Data segmentation is essential to today's personalized marketing, but it can also lead marketers astray if myopically focused. A recent Target Marketing magazine article by Matt Diehl, digital content writer for the Persio multichannel retailing platform, points out how segmentation based narrowly on recent purchase can go wrong, delivering misguided online ads and e-mails that erode customer response. As examples, Diehl cites promotions based on online purchases selected as gifts (that golf club bought for Uncle Bob doesn't mean non-golfer Susie wants to be bombarded by golf gear ads), promotions based on online purchases later returned in-store (if you didn't keep the gaming system, you don't need the accessories), and promotions remarketing one-time, big-ticket purchases (people rarely buy multiple HD TVs or dishwashers in a short time span). The solution is to develop a segmentation strategy based on multiple factors, adding demographics, location, interests, loyalty, and response behavior to purchase history. Data gathering for segmentation also needs to include both online and offline behavior. Finally, data targeting needs to incorporate sensible marketing triggers; rather than remarketing a big-ticket purchase, focus on complementary items, for example. For the complete article, read http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/when-data-segmentation-goes-wrong/

First E-tail Visit Predicts Future Buying Behavior

Online retailers can judge shoppers by their very first e-tail transactions, according to recent research from Optimove. As reported by Direct Marketing News magazine, Optimove found that one of the best indicators of future transactions is the number of items purchased on the first website visit. Shoppers who buy two or three items are 30% more likely to place a second order than those who bought only one item, per Optimove's two-year study of over a million transactions in varied product categories. In fact, shoppers who purchase more items in their first order are also more likely to join a retailer's top 10% of customers in terms of overall purchases. Wooing more first-time purchases to cultivate repeat customers is especially vital in an online environment where 62% of first-time buyers never place another order, per Optimove data. So how can e-tailers convince new shoppers to buy more? Optimove's research found the follow strategies were the most effective: data-based personalized recommendations before checkout; offers of impulse items during checkout; offers of discounts and promotions for purchase of additional items; encouragement of social sharing about purchases; and gaming mechanics, such as punch cards to earn discounts or freebies on the next order. For more data from the study, go to http://www.dmnews.com/e-commerce/first-transactions-can-predict-future-buying-behaviors/article/447997/

New Product Injects Direct Mail in Retail Clickstream

A debut "programmatic direct mail" service hopes to inject a direct mail response boost into Internet retailers' clickstreams. The new PebblePost product, described in a recent Direct Marketing News report, offers a direct mail retargeting mechanism using real-time digital analytics so that, for example, an online customer's shopping cart abandonment triggers a postcard mailing that puts a personalized offer in the customer's mailbox within a few days. Pilot product testing mainly has involved online retailers and catalogers with the required first-party mailing address data. PebblePost is supported by partners that include Axciom, and the startup venture just received $3 million in funding for expanded visibility, per DM News. The article quotes PebblePost's CMO David Cooperstein, a former Forrester marketing analyst: "It is physical retargeting of digital activity, but it's also a powerful new form of direct mail. Here we know there's interest and there's relevancy, because these people were just on the website." For more, go to http://www.dmnews.com/direct-mail/programmatic-direct-mail-makes-its-debut/article/444135/

Survey Reveals Shoppers' Favored Holiday Promos

For online and multi-channel merchants planning their holiday shopping blitz, here's some guidance about what promotions are most likely to drive purchase decisions. Marketing Profs recently reported on the promotional preferences revealed in a survey of 1,000 holiday shoppers and 100 major retailers by commerce marketing platform Bronto and market research firm Ipsos. When it comes to online-only shopping, free shipping is a key draw, with 84% of holiday shoppers saying free shipping influences online purchase decisions and over a third (38%) saying they will not shop an e-commerce site that does not offer free shipping. Overall, including in-store sales, customers rate percent-discount promotions as the top inducement to buy (71%), followed by clearance sales (65%), buy-one-get-one (58%), dollar-off sales (52%) and free gift with purchase (47%). The interesting thing about the survey results is that merchants polled don't have the same promotional preferences; while 72% say they plan to use the percentage discounts popular with shoppers, only 38% plan to embrace BOGO sales, for example. And despite the importance of free shipping to online shoppers, only 18% of online-only merchants say they plan to offer it on all purchases; e-tailers prefer (41%) limiting free shipping to certain order values or times. Some holiday promos also differ in appeal according to consumer age. Limited-time "Flash Sales" appeal most to millennial shoppers (54% say they are more likely to buy) but decline as a purchase inducement with age, down to just 15% of those over 65. For more detail. see http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2015/28594/the-holiday-promotions-consumers-like-most

2015 Retail Marketers Boost Social Media Use

Social media advertising, especially on Facebook, has moved up significantly as a favored acquisition tool of retailers, according to the recent State of Retailing Online 2015 survey conducted by Shop.org, Forrester Research Inc. and Bizrate Insights. Per a recent story by Multichannel Merchant, the survey found that 25% of retailers now cite Facebook as a top acquisition platform, although paid search and e-mail marketing still top their list of most effective channels. Among the paid social media tools, 50% of retailers said they are spending more this year than last year on paid Facebook options such as promoted posts and paid ads. YouTube came in second place among paid social choices, with 29% of retailers saying they will spend more on paid YouTube promotion, followed by Pinterest with 27% planning an increase, Twitter 22%, Instagram 20% and Snapchat 6%. For more from the survey, including trends in online marketplaces, search engine marketing and online site merchandising, see http://multichannelmerchant.com/marketing/facebook-is-the-top-acquisition-platform-for-retailers-22072015/

Catalogs Continue As Key Retail Revenue Driver

Print catalogs still top retailers' marketing options in an omnichannel world, notes a recent post by Megan Conley, staff writer for Bigcommerce, an online shopping platform provider. Print catalogs are a big revenue driver for omnichannel operations, she argues, noting that 2014 consumers who received catalogs spent an average of $850 per year on catalog purchases, and that 31% of shoppers have a catalog with them when they make an online purchase, according to retail consultancy Kurt Salmon. In all, about 90 million Americans make purchases from catalogs per Direct Marketing Association data, and the number of catalogs mailed in the U.S. has increased 60% from 2007. That's one reason many major retailers have revived interest in their mailing lists, and Conley cites some well-known names: J.Crew, Patagonia, Restoration Hardware, Anthropologie, Athleta, West Elm, Crate & Barrel, Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penney, Bonobos, Sak’s Fifth Avenue and Chico’s. Catalogs also help identify the best customers and push them to use omnichannel outlets, increasing brand loyalty and awareness, she notes. She quotes Craig Elbert, Bonobos’s vice president of marketing: "We found that the catalog allowed us to tell a fuller narrative about the brand and our products in a way that we were struggling to do online. In all, our catalog customers tend to spend more. And our catalog customers who make purchases at our brick-and-mortar stores are our best customers overall." But many of the new generation of catalogs do look different from predecessors. They have become less product- and sales-oriented in favor of an aesthetic, lifestyle publication look. Susy Korb, chief marketing officer of Anthropologie, recently told the New York Times: "We don’t call it a catalog; we call it a journal. Of course, we’re trying to sell clothes and accessories, but it’s more to inspire and engage." For more, see the business2community re-post: http://www.business2community.com/marketing/direct-marketing-brand-association-and-revenue-why-a-catalog-might-be-your-next-best-marketing-bet-01283212

Study: Consumers Prefer Priority Info Via SMS

SMS has become an essential communications tool for retailers as online and mobile shopping grow. In fact, 85% of consumers in a new survey said they would prioritize unopened text messages over e-mails and push notifications from apps. Direct Marketing News magazine recently reported on a survey of 1,000 UK consumers by eDigitalResearch, which showed texting as the most effective way to reach consumers in real time with time-sensitive information. The survey results are especially pertinent for retailers, suggesting they need to implement a comprehensive communications strategy that includes multiple channels to engage with consumers across the entire life cycle, said Steve Brockway, director of research (UK) at eDigitalResearch, in a news release about the study. The research not only showed that SMS is preferred (by 85%) for the delivery of priority information, such as order status alerts, but that 53% of respondents cited SMS as the preferred method of communication when on the go, and half said they'd choose SMS for day-of notifications. It's not an entirely text-happy world for marketers: 59% of respondents prefer to receive promotional information via e-mail, and 54% said they always or mostly always open offers received via e-mail. E-mail also had the highest open rate for marketing information, although closely followed by text messages. However, trust remains an obstacle for retailers when it comes to mobile technology. Only 43% of respondents said they were willing to share their mobile phone numbers with retailers out of fear they would be bombarded with irrelevant communications. For more detailed survey results, read http://www.dmnews.com/marketing-strategy/dont-text-and-drive-do-text-and-market/article/416397/

E-mail Blasts Daily, But Tuesday Is Most Favored

What's the best day to send e-mail to get a response? Well, if you pick Tuesday, you are joining the e-mail marketing crowd. Using the exclusive e-mail campaign database from Who’s Mailing What (WMW!) for 2013 and 2014, Target Marketing magazine recently assessed e-mail volume by day of the week. The data ranks Tuesday as the most popular day for sending e-mails, with Thursday a close second, for both 2014 and 2013. A review of e-mails received by WMW! also shows that both days dipped slightly in 2014 — Tuesday from 17.8% of weekly e-mails in 2013 to 17.4%, and Thursday from 17.6% in 2013 to 17.1% in 2014 — but both days continued to hold the top overall spots. Those dips may have been due to more weekend sends for the 2014 elections, however. Meanwhile, the third most popular day was Wednesday, which took up 16.7% of weekly e-mails in 2014, up from 16.5% in 2013. Which industry categories are filling up digital mailboxes? Retailers send the most e-mails daily, followed by publishers (magazines and newsletters) and then nonprofits/fundraisers for politics and social action (causes), per WMW! data. Read the article at http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/day-week-send-email/

Study: Mobile Drives Double Store Sales of Desktop

Retailers who neglect mobile ad campaigns could be losing a huge chunk of in-store sales. Direct Marketing News magazine recently reported that a new study found mobile campaigns drive more than double the offline sales delivered by desktop ad campaigns. In the study by ad platform 4Info, mobile executions produced about $30 in sales per 1,000 impressions versus only $13 for desktop, with the average return on ad spend for mobile hitting 257%. 4Info claims its research is the first true benchmarketing of the mobile channel's impact on in-store sales. The study focused on 83 mobile campaigns by 59 brands in seven consumer packaged goods categories over their entire durations, with the average being 11 weeks, and was performed using Nielsen Catalina Solutions, which integrates Catalina frequent shopper data with Nielsen homescan to derive results representative of national activity. See the DM News story for links to more detail, including 4Info's free report download: http://www.dmnews.com/mobile-marketing/study-mobile-campaigns-drive-twice-the-sales-of-desktop/article/413941/

E-mail Inbox Flooded? It Must Be Thursday

If your e-mail inbox is especially crowded, it's probably Thursday. Thursday is the most popular day for sending e-mails, with Tuesday a close second, according to the Who's Mailing What! review of e-mails sent between June 2013 and May 2014 by more than 2,500 companies and organizations. Almost 84% of all e-mails were received on a weekday, led by Thursday and Tuesday, as retailers and publishers blasted inboxes all week long, with many sending multiple e-mails daily for their various brands or titles. The top e-mail categories for Thursday alone were Catalogs-Consumer, Retail Traffic Builders, Magazines-Special Interest, Magazines-Business/Financial, Fundraising-Social Action (Causes), Newsletters-General, Seminars/Conferences, Catalogs-Food & Kitchenware, Catalogs-Children/Teen and Fundraising-Politics. For details, see http://www.directmarketingiq.com/article/thursday-tuesday-still-top-days-sending-email/1

Is Your Marketing Hobbled by These Data Missteps?

Make sure your "data-driven" marketing isn't undermined by data mishandling. A recent Adweek article outlined five of the most common blunders. At the top of the list is failing to take advantage of the deeper demographics being culled in this big-data era. Going beyond age and gender can reap big returns. An example from the article: The Neustar Global Media Intelligence Report for 2013 found retail marketers that targeted campaigns according to attributes like home value and brand of car earned a 500% performance lift over non-targeted campaigns. Second, marketers can focus on the wrong metrics, choosing "vanity metrics," such as Facebook fans, instead of behavioral data linked to conversions, such as navigational paths and brand preferences. A third data misstep is focusing on shiny new digital data without integrating offline inputs (such as retail stores), creating a false picture of marketing's multichannel ROI. Fourth, marketers can get stuck looking at past data to the neglect of predictive modeling and forward planning. A forward-thinking success story from the article: American Express used predictive analysis and behavioral data to identify at-risk customers, for a 740% increase in attrition-combating efficacy. Finally, organizations can fail to invest in crucial data management and analysis skills, and surveys of executives find a majority admitting as much. Do you recognize areas for improvement in your own organization? For the complete article, with links to relevant studies, see http://www.adweek.com/brandshare/5-ways-marketers-are-mishandling-data-156449