This Wednesday, the DFW-Retail Executives Association ended its season on a timely topic for retailers: Personalization.  If you missed out on this panel or are one of the 77 percent of companies saying, “In 2016 we need to be doing personalization,” have no fear we have the panel highlights for you.

Cover Photo Amrit Speaking at REA Personalization Panel
DFW REA Personalization Panel

The panel consisted of three experts,

  • Jeff Rosenfeld-Vice President of Customer Insights & Analytics at The Neiman Marcus Group
  •  Veeral Rathod- Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder at J. Hilburn Clothiers
  • And NectarOM’s very own Chief Executive Officer & Founder Amrit Kirpalani.

Panel Moderator Steve Dennis kicked off the panel discussion setting the stage for why personalization is quickly becoming a business imperative.  Explaining that personalization is  “an imperative because the battle has shifted from market share to share of attention- and it’s increasingly difficult to be the signal amidst the noise.”

The rest of the discussion focused on how personalization is changing their marketing efforts, what challenges they faced when launching their personalization efforts, how it is changing marketing, and finally discussed how other companies could successfully launch their own personalization efforts.

Here are a few of our favorite topics from the panel,

Test and Learn

Don’t start off trying to personalize every message coming from every channel.  Amrit suggested that the clients with the most success started off small.  Start off testing a few channels and messages at a time, learn what worked and then test some more.

Be Prepared to Think About Marketing Differently

Personalization fundamentally changes how marketing has been done for years. Instead of a one size fits all strategy, personalization shifts the focus to marketing on a one-to-one level.  Jeff and Amrit agreed that culture change was one of the biggest challenges when companies started discussing personalization.

Not a One Size Fits All Solution.

Take the time to figure out how personalization fits into your company’s structure and into what your customers want.   The Neiman Marcus Group and  J. Hilburn Clothiers both used personalization in the retail space, however they each had a unique approach that fit their customer and business model’s needs.

Have the right partners in place

Not everyone can afford to have a team of data scientists creating custom algorithms.  However, personalization is something that is becoming more realistic for companies of all shapes and sizes to start adding to their marketing efforts. All you need to do is find the right partner.

If you are interested in learning more about sending tailored messages to your customers in real-time across all your owned channels let us know and schedule a demo to see the NectarSuite in action.

Some members of the nectarOM team and I attended DMA 2014 in San Diego this past October. There we met kindred spirits in the marketing ecosystem and among new friends was Rick Miller, a marketing technology and direct mail executive at Valid USA.

After winning our #MyMarketingHero contest, I had the opportunity to visit with Rick about marketing heroes. What do we talk about when we talk about heroes? It’s not just Gary Vee, Jay Baer, Seth Godin, or Mark Clark that we look up to. (Although, these names usually make most people’s list for marketing heroes.)

Marketing heroes can be found all around us. They sit next to us in the office, attend the same conferences, lead workshops, or befriend us on social media. Rick shared some awesome points about what it takes to be a marketing hero, and so I’m sharing them with you. Want to join our discussion? Tweet to us and let us know your thoughts!

A Talk with Rick Miller about Marketing Heroes

KD: What do you think makes someone a marketing hero?

RM: When I saw the contest advertised during the DMA Conference I envisioned the qualities I looked for in order to be able to call someone a marketing hero.  I first focused on longevity, it had to be someone dedicated enough about marketing to make it a “lifelong” endeavor, (Tweet this quote) something they were so passionate about that they were willing to stick with it through good times and bad. In addition to this I felt this individual needed to exhibit their willingness to educate and mentor others to develop marketing’s next generation.

KD: Who did you nominate for the #MyMarketingHero contest at DMA 2014 and why?

RM: When I thought of the qualifications I came up with that are outlined above, the first name that came to mind was Brian Kurtz from Boardroom, a publishing company in Stamford Connecticut.  Long before Boardroom became a client of Valid’s I had encountered Brian at numerous industry events, especially those related to the publishing industry.  When he was a presenter at these events, his passion for marketing was evident in his enthusiastic approach to the topics he covered.   Brian continues, after 30 plus years to give accolades to his personal mentors / marketing heroes. In my opinion he has done them proud by exemplifying all that was good in what they passed on to him as he now fills those shoes and educates/encourages marketing’s future generations.

KD: What would you tell marketers to focus on if they want to be marketing hero within their organization / company?

RM: Don’t stagnate in regards to marketing technology and innovation, be willing to try new things because where there is risk, there can be reward. (Tweet this quote.) Also, be a role model and mentor for others within your organization and the industry. Whenever you can pass on the knowledge to others so overall as a company, and within the industry others can become stronger.

KD: Do you think marketing heroes are born or made?

RM: My opinion would be that they are made.  I can’t think of anyone that has ever told me, “when I grow up I want to be a marketer”, rather the story typically starts with an admission that they didn’t really know what they were getting into when they accepted a marketing position.  The marketing hero is the one that develops a passion for marketing through their experiences(Tweet this quote.) Over my 25 plus years in the industry I have encountered a number of what I would consider to be brilliant marketers and their stories are similar, their passion for marketing came about through on the job experiences, personal mentors and heroes that may not have known it at the time but they were helping to grow that passion for marketing in these individuals by encouraging them to pursue marketing as a career.

Who is your marketing hero?

Who is your marketing hero? Is it a committed mentor or conference speaker? Is it your colleague or friend? A celebrity or client?

Nominate your hero on Twitter using the hashtag #MyMarketingHero.

Today we have a special guest post from Brandon Harig, the winner of our My Marketing Hero Twitter contest. Brandon is a digital marketer with a background in social media processes and policies, having worked with top automotive brands in the country as part of  start-ups and agencies. More of his work and thoughts can be found at SociallyEffective.com.

Flying to the Digital Dallas Summit from Michigan, any conversation would eventually rotate as to ‘why did you come so far for this?’ Beyond the fact DDS 2014 aligned well from a “doesn’t interrupt my work too badly” timeline, Dallas Digital Summit was also a quality fit because of the lineup of great speakers. From a distance, leading into the conference, the speakers chosen covered a wide spectrum of areas in which digital marketers struggle or look to learn more. Fortunately, for attendees, this hope was a reality and made DDS a fantastic choice for those in digital marketing wanting to better understand an ever-shifting landscape.

What appeared to be the underlying theme of DDS this year was simple (and highly convenient given the nature of the work of nectarOM’s products): effectively communicating at a unique, personal level. When a company looks to “personalize it,” with ‘it’ varying based upon department and business, they must reimagine how they do business. What this meant at the Digital Dallas Summit, presented in a variety of ways in widely-varying topic areas, was that digital marketing is quickly moving to a place where broad messaging fails and personal experiences champion results. Whether in content marketing, e-blasts or user experience, sterile presentation and form execution fail to thrive in a world where audiences demand something better than a company’s “B game.”

For me, personally, this is amazing news. One topic of interest to me in the digital landscape is how customer service is evolving online. While this was merely hinted at (and will hopefully be a topic at next year’s summit), customer service via social media or digital solutions is only as effective as the connection consumers make with the process. All the bells and whistles available cannot trump a customer unwilling to follow the path prescribed or too upset to even consider a resolution, each with very real consequences for the brand.

The ability of consumers to tone out marketing pitches is parallel, or perhaps even greater, than this potential for users to dismiss digital customer service solutions. From Digital Dallas Summit’s keynote to close, attendees were presented a wide spectrum of topics (ranging in avoiding social media Armageddon to dynamic UX development) that revolved around not coding or executing based upon hunches or strengths but, instead, on the needs and desires of the audience. Everything from color spectrums to core messaging need to be analyzed; even the future of SEO is less tied to logical word pairings and, instead, on what people actually type into Google during a search.

This idea of developing based upon the wants, not just needs, of an audience was touched on quite well by Seth Dotterer of Conductor, a Web Presence Management group. While using SEO as the central concept, Dotterer highlighted the shift away from traditional and into the personalized, dynamic organic efforts that accentuate brand differentiators and quality. His most shocking statistic, that 90% of the direct paid budget goes to 6% of the traffic, highlighted the need to escape the standard and into persona-based efforts that engage on the user level. Seth’s focus on branding was the reason I chose him as my ‘marketing hero’ in nectarOM’s conference promotion and why he was the talk of the conference within attendee circles.

Perhaps the only ‘ding’ against the Digital Dallas Summit was a lack of core execution tips after raising the importance of personalized experiences for digital users. In truth, DDS operated much in the way the businesses of the attendees operate: within different rooms, concepts in extremely different fields discussed the same common goal of providing effective experiences to enable brand and customer alike. Only when attendees compared notes on different pitches could a common theme be seen, as well as potential ideas and tools to execute it. The solution for departments, regardless of the ‘room’ they may be in, remains the same and depends upon the collective ability of the group. Without executive buy-in, marketing is unable to launch dynamic campaigns; without proper testing and planning, developers are unable to launch e-blasts that truly capitalize on user interest.

The Dallas Digital Summit benefited strongly by having attendees that were extremely eager to take their operations to the next step. Performances that struggled tended to rely too heavily upon self-selling or excessively simplistic ideas while those presentations that became ‘lore’ broke down barriers between the audience and presenter. Just as presentations with too many slides went downhill, presentations that tried unique approaches (one involved constant screenshots of 90s video games) that engaged existing attendee interests soared. At the heart of success at DDS was an awareness of the value of personality and branding, two components of identity that companies that ‘get it’ are identified by. If you were unable to attend DDS but want the core take-away from a leading marketing symposium, focus on this: brands that go further to better understand their audience, and the role a product or service plays in that audience’s daily life, make richer connections that translates to business success.

This paDDS2st Tuesday and Wednesday, a few of us from NectarOM took a break from our traditional office duties and attended this year’s Dallas Digital Summit.

Dallas Digital Summit is the largest, premier digital strategies forum in the Dallas area. Over forty of today’s leaders in digital fields led roundtable discussions and workshops, discussing up-and-coming strategies, trends and practices in today’s digital age. These speakers aimed to educate and promote forward thinking and thought leadership pertaining to digital business and marketing.

Our setup at DDSWhat did we do at DDS?

Marketing Heroes Twitter Contest. Contestants sent us a tweet about their marketing hero for the chance to win an Apple TV for them and their hero. Over X people entered the contest throughout the conference. At the end of the conference we announced our randomly selected winner: Brandon H. from . Brandon said his marketing hero is Seth Dotterer, VP of Marketing at Conductor, after Dotterer’s presentation about blending branding and marketing in SEO.

Marketingpersonalization.com. We used DDS as an opportunity to announce the launch of our new publication, marketingpersonalization.com. Marketingpersonalization.com is the premier resource for marketers to stay informed on the fast-changing topic of marketing personalization. Besides publicizing, we also recruited a few writers to contribute posts to the site.

Video Interviews. We also had the amazing opportunity to conduct private interviews with a few Interviews for our upcoming video montageDDS speakers, regarding trends and forecasts for marketing and data usage. Some of our interviewees include Arnie Kuenn, CEO of Vertical Measures; Robert Richardson, Editorial Director for TechTarget Security Media Group; Jeff Sheehan, President of Sheehan Marketing Strategies; and Steve Hammer, President of RankHammer. Stay tuned for footage from our interviews, which we will post on marketingpersonalization.com next week!

 

Dallas Digital Summit 2014 is next week, and we’ll be there on both days to mingle with fellow data driven marketers and digital innovators.

This year’s speakers and agenda are listed here – definitely some notable figures in the digital marketing space that we’re interested to see. If you haven’t registered, it’s not too late. By using the code NECTAR50, you can save $50 from already discounted prices.

nectarOM will also be partnering with marketingpersonalization.com to interview top innovators across various marketing fields, and if you are interested, shoot me an email to reserve a slot.

Marketing-Hero-Campaign-DDSUM14
Marketing Hero Campaign at Dallas Digital Summit 2014

My Marketing Heroes Contest

Come stop by our booth to hang out and learn more about our #mymarketinghero twitter contest – you and your marketing hero both have a chance to win a set of Apple TVs for the holidays!

It’s easy:

1. Tweet #mymarketinghero is @(hero name), who is yours? #DDSUM14 @nectarom
2. Follow @nectarom
3. You and your hero each have a chance to win an Apple TV!

DMA 2014

Meet nectarOM at DMA 2014

Our team will be at DMA 2014 in San Diego from October 26th to the 29th at booth 1016, so come stop by and say hi to us when you have a chance.

DMA 2014 hosts some of the best and brightest data driven marketers and offers the marketing world a chance to connect over the rapidly evolving marketing space.

Learn more about DMA 2014 at: //www.dma14.org

Stay classy, San Diego

San Diego

 

Mobile Personalization

Last Thursday, part of the nectarOM team was able to attend the Dallas Business Journal Minority Business Leader luncheon at the Omni Dallas. Although there was a rare “blizzard” (maybe ½ inch of snow) in Dallas that day, the attendance was very good and the room was relatively full.

The new Omni Dallas venue was stunning; an almost brand new building with contemporary décor. As we walked up, we were able to grab our name tags and enter the cocktail area before the doors to the luncheon opened. As we spotted our table, we noticed that they placed the Dallas Business Journal Minority Leader Awards newspapers on each of our chairs, complete with a three course lunch.

We were able to eat for fifteen minutes before the actual awards ceremony started. As soon as the honoree’s name was called and as he/she walked up to the stage, a video played on the large screens of the honoree illustrating their triumphs and inspirations. Amrit Kirpalani, CEO and Founder of nectarOM, walked up to the stage to receive his award for being a Minority Business Leader.

nectarOM is proud to have its owner and CEO be amongst the accomplished award recipients who have made a difference in the Dallas/Ft. Worth community.

DFW Retail Executives Association

On February 19th, the DFW Retail Executives Association held a member appreciation wine tasting and a special presentation on the latest trends in social media! The event was FREE to members and only $10 to non-members, so it was a great way to get involved with the local Dallas retail scene. Immediately following the generous and delicious wine tasting, our CEO Amrit Kirpalani gave a 15-minute overview of our recently completed, first-of-its-kind Social Media Study, which we conducted in partnership with the Social Media Club. He shared what over 400 executive-level survey participants had to say about how their organizations are using social media, what type of investments they’re making in the channel and their thoughts on social media ROI! To get all of that information for yourself, download your own FREE copy of our research!

Are any of you members of the DFW Retail Executives Association?

Want more startup and social media info? Follow Nectar Online Media on Facebook & Twitter!

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Here at Nectar Online Media, we love participating in anything that could foster the growth of our social commerce industry! Last week, we were invited to sit on the UNT Career Center Employer Panel, involving a presentation on job search strategies. Hosted by the University of North Texas, it was aimed at students who are looking towards graduation and the job search they will have to endure until then. The event included time for introductions, Q&A and networking with other Dallas professionals, as we shared with them Nectar Online Media’s predictive social commerce platform that enables email campaign personalization. In addition to this panel, our CEO and Founder Amrit Kirpalani has been asked to join the UNT Career Center Advisory Board, so we look forward to participating in more events with the university.

Want more startup and social media info? Follow Nectar Online Media on Facebook & Twitter!

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