Re-engaging Consumers Amid and After Covid-19
Shortly after the pandemic caused retail stores around the country to rapidly adapt their business models to address shutdowns and changes in consumer habits, CodeBroker conducted research to explore how shopping behaviors were changing.
The resulting report, Consumer Shopping Habits During the Covid Pandemic, offers insights into what has changed, which changes are likely to persist even after the pandemic subsides, and what retailers can do to protect their bottom line.
3 Enterprise Tech Trends for 2021
Next year’s period of relative peace will give leaders the opportunity to make thoughtful investments in technology that put 2020’s positive developments — like increased cloud adoption and remote work flexibility — on more solid ground. Companies will also have bandwidth to prepare for the next crisis, eschewing reactive, flash-in-the-pan solutions in favor of longer-term strategies.
Location Intelligence Beats Fraud
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Incognia solving QR code fraud with location verification, the Ontario Regiment Museum using an AI virtual assistant, L’Oréal launching virtual make-up for your online work calls, and Covid-19 leading to greater public willingness to share location data.
3 Factors to Consider Before You Choose a Martech Solution
If you’re among the many marketing professionals who are thinking about adding to their solution stack to manage digital marketing channels, keep in mind that your investment should endure for the long haul. You’ll need to find a solution that helps you improve performance on digital channels while the pandemic persists and afterward as we make our way to a new version of normal. Here are three points to ponder.
As Cookies Crumble, Can Location Data Pick Up the Pieces?
One potential and promising alternative to third-party cookies is location data. Captured from mobile users as they move through the physical world, location data can be used for a range of purposes and personalization.
Real-world visitation patterns offer clues to user identity, brand affinities, and purchase intent. Putting aside that Covid-19 has radically upended movement patterns for the time being, regular airport or hotel visitation can identify business travelers, routine presence in a gym suggests health-consciousness, and weekly fast-food visits implies the opposite. Someone visiting car dealerships is probably an “auto-intender,” and so on.
Why Your Business Should Start Incorporating Social Proof
When it comes to marketing your business, social proofing is one of the most critical and yet overlooked strategies in the book. Consumers seeing what others buy influences them to make similar buying decisions. As an example, when your website has reviews or testimonials from well-known figures in the same industry, that’s social proof in action because the reviews will compel many visitors to buy from you.
In this article, we’ll dive more deeply into what social proofing is, how to incorporate it into your business, and some of the pitfalls of social proofing that you would be wise to avoid.
Data Trends for 2021: Overcoming Digital Ad Uncertainty
With privacy regulations on the horizon, email is a known and comfortable identifier that many consumers self-register and that brands can anonymize in a digital environment with hashed emails for privacy compliance.
While 2020 has thrown a lot of curve balls, marketers that worked to get their consumer data house in order with an eye on ways to better enable their first-party data for a complete view of their most-desired audiences and buying behaviors will survive and thrive as we head into 2021. The newest technology, data-sharing innovations, and identity resolution algorithms won’t help if you don’t have the basics down.
How Local Retailers Can Reach Mission Shoppers this Holiday Season
The mission shopper is focused on getting in and out of stores as quickly as possible. They spend less time, and less money, in stores, and their mindset is different from the lighthearted holiday shoppers of yesteryear—or even last year.
Understanding this consumer archetype will prove critical to retail success this holiday season.
Qualifying and Quantifying 2020’s E-commerce Surge
Spending hasn’t declined — it’s just shifted. One of the themes we’re seeing is that the standouts of 2020 are those who have shifted with it. We’re talking here about a broad definition of e-commerce — not just ordering things online, but any digital or mobile purchase.
For example, in local commerce, these digital fulfillment models include mobile order-ahead functions in QSR and coffee. They also include curbside pickup for physical goods. And in an even broader sense (and looking forward), they will include touchless or cashier-less retail in a post-Covid era of physical retail.
The Most Important Local Search Updates of 2020
This has been the most active year in the history of local search when it comes to the introduction of new features. Google recently announced that it had made nearly 250 updates to Google Maps since the start of the pandemic, and just about every other local publisher, including Yelp, Bing, Foursquare, TripAdvisor, and even Apple Maps, has been busy.
As we near the end of this unusual year, I thought it would be useful to take stock of these changes and note the ones that are the most significant.
Will 2020 Be the Year to End Black Friday?
Black Friday this year will probably look a lot like it would’ve been in about a decade; we’ve just accelerated the online shift. 2020 will be the year that Black Friday and Cyber Monday stop being shopping ‘days.’ They’ll be turned completely upside down for years to come as retailers embrace a holiday shopping season of deals, strategized and targeted based on insights from online data.
Locating Holiday Success for Small Businesses
Because of the enormous spike in online transactions, there are more ways for customers to shop than ever before, creating new opportunities for small businesses to connect with core segments and personalize messaging with data-based insights grounded in historical trends and real-time behaviors. The ability to target individuals based on where they have previously been is tremendously valuable as consumer behavior has been required to adjust to ever-changing guidelines at the state/city and local level.
Location Weekly: Grocery Store Lidl Deploys WhatsApp Chatbot
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers GameStop activating with a Pokémon Go partnership, Lidl’s WhatsApp Chatbot helping you plan ahead, Amazon going after the office supply market with Smart Dash Shelf, and Powell’s Books launching a book-scented fragrance.
Virtual Event Best Practices and Ideas for Business Growth in 2021
Major events such as the San Diego Comic Con successfully transitioned online in 2020, featuring more diverse speakers and reaching new audiences. But to make a virtual event that delivers views and boosts conversions, companies will need to follow a few best practices. We will also be sharing some virtual event ideas.
How to Ensure Your Mobile App Is ADA-Compliant
Federal courts have dictated that all mobile applications in the U.S. need to be accessible to those with disabilities, thanks to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Given these rulings and the 56 million people with disabilities in the U.S., you need to make sure your app complies with the law.
How to Attract and Retain Current Customers With CRM Software as a Small Business
Understanding the journey from a lead to a customer is critical, and with most online shoppers needing some form of customer support before they complete a purchase, implementing CRM as a small business should be a goal early on. With that in mind, let’s discuss a few tips small businesses can use for CRM implementation.
Popular Global Payment Options for Better Conversions and Customer Loyalty
Technology has made it easier than ever for e-commerce businesses to sell to global markets, and shoppers are growing more accustomed to making purchases regardless of geographical borders. What customers still demand, however, is a shopping experience that is localized and relevant to their own cultural preferences, including method of payment.
How to Beat Amazon and Walmart at E-Commerce amid Covid-19
Make personalization a priority to stand out from e-commerce giants like Amazon. Offer true advice and perhaps extended warranties or return policies as a way to build trust. Value ads like tech support personally have gone a long way for our brand. Make sure you are encouraging and incentivizing customers to take the next step with your company.
How to Apply Digital Marketing Principles to Traditional Media Channels
Traditional channels such as TV, radio, and OOH might have limitations on targeting when you compare them to digital channels, but I challenge everyone to think beyond the simplistic mass marketing vs 1:1 argument. The scale and reach potential of these traditional channels is still massive, and by asking the right questions and changing your perspective to focus on what they can deliver, there most likely is a way to incorporate them effectively in your mix.
How DTC Brands Are Adapting to Covid-19
When Covid shut down the world, it wasn’t just traditional retailers that were hit. DTC brands were, too. Shifts in consumer shopping habits during the pandemic forced DTC brands to alter the ways they think and they still came up on top. As the world continues to navigate our new normal, we hope that others can learn from the strategies DTCs are implementing.