Integrating Data for More Relevant Marketing

For many internet retailers, there is a sizable gap between the highly personalized marketing they know they should be doing and what they're actually executing. Included in this gap is the joining of information from multiple sources or solution vendors and putting that information to work, driving revenue through more relevant marketing that truly connects with customers.

There are many pieces to the overall e-commerce puzzle and a myriad of options for the solutions that retailers need in order to maximize revenue. Most retailers would agree that optimal marketing should include key components like a:

• Solid email platform
• Personalization engine
• Mobile-friendly interface

Navigating these options and selecting providers that bring added value without devouring profit margin is challenging.

But, it's worth the effort. Increased purchasing and customer loyalty comes when your marketing communications more resemble a personalized dialogue than an advertisement. This dialogue is further enhanced when you interact with consumers through the channels in which they are already engaged with your brand. This personalized lifecycle marketing approach is what we refer to as Engaged Commerce.

I attended Internet Retailer's Mobile Commerce Forum last week and one of the phrases I heard repeatedly was "meet consumers where they are." Sounds basic enough, right? But, what does that really mean? It doesn't mean simply be everywhere. It means learning something about your shoppers and customers, discovering where and how they prefer to interact with your brand and then using that information to minimize the friction that inhibits your commerce engine. Here are some examples of how integrated data can help improve your efforts:

• Increase conversions with customer reviews. Request past customers to review their purchase with an email following up after they buy, with enough time passed to allow for them to reasonably use the product. Use customer reviews to enhance product listings on the site and in future emails See the Bronto Blog post for more examples on using these reviews to boost subscriber engagement and conversions.
• Use Personalization to segment across channels. Shopper and consumer information should be utilized to create a personalized experience. By updating these unique insights continually to present these shoppers with the most compelling recommendations and offers, you will create a more relevant experience and do so across multiple channels, including email, e-commerce site, display ads, mobile devices and social media.
• Utilize an E-Commerce engine that provides an end-to-end solution: It’s no surprise that your e-commerce engine has the most value if it integrates with all the engines we just mentioned. Relevant messaging is easy to create if:
  • Information from your e-commerce site is funneled into your email, mobile, and social channels.
  • User activity from those channels is funneled back to e-commerce site.
  • Product reviews are incorporated on your e-commerce site for a personalized experience for the customer.
  • Personalized messaging based on past site activity is incorporated into their site experience and future messaging.

Speaking of relevant marketing, a colleague of mine was in San Francisco last week at the Magento Innovate conference to help launch E5, a partnership involving five leading e-commerce vendors that helps retailers to integrate multiple sources of data and deliver more relevant marketing. You can read the announcement made last week to learn more about the partnership and how it helps retailers to execute on an Engaged Commerce approach described here.

We believe this represents a big step in the right direction in helping marketers better gather and use important customer data. We’d love to know your thoughts on this integration and other ways to help personalize the user experience.

Kevin Skurski
Director of Marketing Communications at Bronto