Email Marketers Step Up Game WIth iPhone's New 3D Touch

iPhone’s 3D Touch means email marketers need to step up their game

3D Touch on the new series of iPhones, which came out today, may have unforeseen consequences for mobile email marketers.

The new pressure sensors on the iPhone 6s enable two new “gestures” for the iPhone series: peek and pop. Peek allows users to preview content with a light touch, while a heavier press will “pop” users into whatever content they were previewing.

Simon Farthing, head of consultancy at Profusion, a data science consultancy, says: “The window of opportunity for email marketers to engage and interest consumers is now even smaller. Failing to put captivating copy or imagery in the preview will severely reduce how effective a campaign is.”

Previews, he says, won’t necessarily count as an open for analytics purposes. That’s why it’s crucial that marketers weight subject lines, opening copy and vibrant images that are preview-compatible even more heavily than they were before. That imagery can then be tracked for views through analytics.

Email is still a powerhouse in the marketing channel mix, though it is perhaps not as new and exciting as other formats.

As the global population transitions to a mobile-first/only/multi-device level of interaction with the digital realm, marketers need to be there to meet them.

“Put simply, the iPhone 6s 3D Touch feature will force email marketers and brands to raise their game. … The margin of error for marketers is now much smaller,” says Farthing.

Email Marketers Step Up Game WIth iPhone"s New 3D Touch

Confectionery marketing a new game in the digital world, says IRI

It claims confectioners must explore geo-targeting to ensure money is well spent.

In an interview with ConfectioneryNews, IRI talked up its new Digital Active service that allows confectioners to isolate and measure the impact of a single digital media campaign at a particular retail store. It says traditional methods have archaically tried to measure the impact of multiple digital marketing campaigns and normally at national level.

Explosion of channels

Carl Carter, head of Digital Europe – Solutions & Innovation at IRI, said this traditional marketing mix modeling had been the standard for measuring the success of media spend, but claimed it was tailored for TV.

“Digital media has completely exploded the path to purchase. You’ve gone from having a few channels to having hundreds and you don’t know where to spend your money.”

He said existing measurement models failed to cope with a proliferation of new marketing channels such as Twitter, Facebook, video services and Google ads.

Carter said a confectioner could for example be running a campaign on TV in combination with messages on Facebook and Twitter and Google ads. That company could enjoy a sales uplift, but it would be unsure which channel had the greatest impact. It’s difficult to isolate the driving force when measuring at national or regional level, said Carter.

Store level geo-targeting

IRI’s Digital Active is alternative modeling system that uses geo-targeting to measure how a single campaign is translating into sales at a particular store.

It’s intended to allow companies to account for every dollar spent in digital media advertising from Facebook, and Twitter to Google ads and video on demand.

For example, a company could run a geo-targeted Facebook campaign aimed at people living around a large supermarket in New York. Digital Active could help the company compare sales data from that store compared to a control store that had a Twitter campaign or no campaign at all

The service also allows confectioners to review demographics on the target store to ensure the message is aimed at the right age group.

A few food companies are using the service, but there no confectionery firms on board yet. IRI Digital Active launched late last year, but was updated in the last month.

Confectionery marketing a new game in the digital world, says IRI

Skin in the Game: Plastic Surgery Marketing Lets Surgeons Gain Online Exposure

There’s a new firm in the marketplace catering exclusively to the plastic surgery industry.

According to an announcement shared with MMW, Plastic Surgery Marketing Ninja “serves as the ultimate resource for plastic surgeons who are very excited about gaining online exposure.”

Services include a broad range of blogging, website development, search engine optimization, social media, and article writing services.

“The company possesses good experience in the field of plastic surgery marketing services by working with many plastic surgeons who have initially struggled making a mark in this field,” the firm says.

“We are well aware of the fact that it is very frustrating to have one’s website buried deep beneath the mountain of the search results on Google,” explains one of the company’s spokespeople. “This is the reason why we have dedicated our services towards getting plastic surgeons out of their difficult positions.”

The services provided by the company include plastic surgery Adwords campaigns, affiliate marketing, blog commenting, bookmark service and budget calculation. Plastic surgery campaign tweaking, website bug fixing, competitor analysis, domain registration, and duplicate content control are among the other services provided by the firm.

Obviously, plastic surgeons have skin in this game. Now Plastic Surgery Marketing does, too.

Skin in the Game: Plastic Surgery Marketing Lets Surgeons Gain Online Exposure

Here's How Marketers Late To Mobile Game Can Still Win

Many marketers aren’t functioning at the top of their mobile game, and they’re not likely to admit it. But it’s time to get hip, friends. Mobile adoption is increasing and there’s still time to get it right (assuming you’re not already) – and win. And here are some stats to frighten you into acting now!

Recent research from PunchTab shows the “global mobile wallet market is expected to reach 1,420.8 million users by 2020” – and Apple Pay just kicked that figure into overdrive.

Why should you care? Online is quickly encroaching on your brick and mortar store – and consumers will buy where it’s convenient. Much like accepting credit cards, mobile pay will soon be the norm. You have a little bit of time, Mom and Pop shops, but not much.

The outlook for online brands requires a more immediate response though. We had a Q&A with Marla Schimke, VP of Marketing at Zumobi around the “unprecedented opportunity mobile apps have created for impactful content marketing campaigns.”

ST: How should companies gauge whether their content marketing efforts are a success?

MS: Currently 42 percent of marketers are satisfied with their content marketing efforts, which is an impressive number for a young industry. However, there is room for improvement. Content marketing is all about audience engagement so effective ways to measure are increased in-app session times, conversions and retention. The aim is to create a customer journey that keeps users coming back for more.

ST: How can content marketers make mobile content marketing more effective? 

MS: According to Flurry Analytics, time spent on mobile devices grew in the US by 9.3 percent, from 2 hours and 42 minutes to 2 hours and 57 minutes; on the other hand, time spent on TV has remained flat at 2 hours and 48 minutes daily.

By implementing content curation/automated solutions like mobile content marketing platforms that assist marketers with aggregating all of their content where their clients are (on mobile devices), they have access to granular insights on what’s working, what’s not, and why.

ST: Can you provide an example of this in action?

MS: For example, if a retail brand posts three DIY blogs to their mobile app’s content hub, with a mobile content marketing solution marketers can visualize in real-time which blogs are performing the best (i.e., which blog is being opened the most/the least, how much time is being spent on each piece of content, whether or not they click through to a related piece of content, etc.).

With this insight, marketers can better understand the individual customer journey and tailor their content marketing efforts to present content that is the most on-demand and personalized for the user. They can then use this information to inform their other marketing channels like email and event print marketing. Thus, marketers will see increased ROI both online and in-store.

ST: How important is curating/automating in real-time? 

MS: Very. With mobile marketing content solutions, marketers can use a dashboard to immediately see what is working and what, perhaps, is not. They can then make adjustments on the fly to ensure that the app user has the best experience possible, manifest in the user’s returning to the app again and again.

ST: What’s next for content marketing and mobile?

MS: Mobile content marketing solutions will help brands monetize their users in new ways by introducing relevant products and services based on their expressed interests. It is exciting to see how the data analytics generated by these solutions can help marketers gain valuable insights into consumer behavior and concurrently enhance customer profiles for their cross-channel marketing efforts.

The convergence of mobile apps and content marketing is here – and adopting an omni-channel approach that takes EVERY channel into account is critical.

And be sure to keep the corresponding importance of incorporating Mobile Pay into your overarching mobile strategy because beyond reaching them, “consumers seek fast and easy ways to pay – and retailers must accommodate this new path to purchase – or watch their share of basket get chipped away by those who do.”

Where do YOU see mobile marketing taking us in the next year or two?

Top image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Here"s How Marketers Late To Mobile Game Can Still Win