This post is a brief summary of my in-depth analysis of Adobe Recommendations, published in a Patricia Seybold Group report in August 2012. Adobe is a $4B software company with more than 100 products that it groups into two families: digital marketing and digital media. Adobe’s target markets are marketers and developers in every industry.Continue reading “SOLUTION REVIEW: ADOBE RECOMMENDATIONS”
Author Archives: Sue Aldrich
AGILITY TRICK #1: PERSONALIZATION
When companies adapt their customer experience to best serve the individual customer, using recommendation systems, behavioral targeting or other methods, this is what I call personalization. Face to face with the customer, this may take the form of recognizing the person, acknowledging the type and duration of the relationship, bypassing steps in the business pro-cess,Continue reading “AGILITY TRICK #1: PERSONALIZATION”
CONSUMERS LOVE MARKETING: DONE WELL, THEY DON’T EVEN SEE IT
A recent study by Adobe concludes that digital marketing is not meeting the needs of consumers. Online banner ads do not work. No one wants ads in social media or apps. Online ads are annoying and distracting. If you are a marketer, the study might make you feel kind of bad. But I think itContinue reading “CONSUMERS LOVE MARKETING: DONE WELL, THEY DON’T EVEN SEE IT”
YOU CAN’T BUY PERSONALIZATION
Vendors, especially vendors of recommendation systems, are selling personalization. Vendors can’t actually deliver personalization. In order to personalize the customer experience, your company needs strategy, organization, metrics, policy, practices, and skills. It needs a willing end user, one who doesn’t mind that you are collecting information about him, however anonymously and transiently. A really greatContinue reading “YOU CAN’T BUY PERSONALIZATION”
RETAIL BEST PRACTICE: ALIGN CUSTOMER AND BUSINESS GOALS
For retailers, the chief business goals for your web sites are likely revenue, margin, and acquiring and retaining customers. Customers’ goals vary from visit to visit. The most common goals are as follows: • Research what’s on offer to satisfy my need • Compare and consider alternatives • Buy • Realize the benefits of theContinue reading “RETAIL BEST PRACTICE: ALIGN CUSTOMER AND BUSINESS GOALS”
3 AGILITY SECRETS YOUR COMPETITORS KNOW ABOUT PERSONALIZED BUSINESS
I see trends in three broad categories of agile customer experience tricks companies use to be responsive to customers’ desires: • Personalization, which adapts the relationship to the customer, adjusting the dialog between the business and the customer to streamline the customer experience • Customization, which adapts the product or service to the customer’s specificContinue reading “3 AGILITY SECRETS YOUR COMPETITORS KNOW ABOUT PERSONALIZED BUSINESS”
Retail Best Practices for Targeted Merchandising and Personalization
Targeted Merchandising Benefits Merchandising is the practice of maximizing sales by leveraging product design, packaging, pricing, display, and most importantly, selection. Targeted merchandising selects content (including products and offers) for consumers based on traits such as consumer context or behavior, or based on rules set by merchandisers. Targeted merchandising improves the customer experience and merchantContinue reading “Retail Best Practices for Targeted Merchandising and Personalization”
3 Best Practices for Web Experience Management
What is Web Experience Management? Web experience encompasses all types of digital interactions. We are accustomed to thinking of web interactions as taking place at a desk, using a PC. But today’s web-supported interactions also support interactions via mobile phones, tablets, email, chat, messaging, and kiosks. The web experience with a brand may occur onContinue reading “3 Best Practices for Web Experience Management”
Best Practice: Establish Merchandising Strategy to Meet Business and Customers’ Goals
In an earlier post, we listed three best practices for Targeted Merchandising. This post presents the three principles you will use to apply the Merchandising Strategy best practice. Your business goals should be reflected in every decision you make about your site. Your customers’ goals should be considered in every decision you make. These aren’tContinue reading “Best Practice: Establish Merchandising Strategy to Meet Business and Customers’ Goals”
Recommendations and Personalization in 2012
The recent explosion in software-as-a-service recommendation platforms has delivered a powerful personalization tool to marketers in every size company. “People who viewed this also viewed that” isn’t just for Amazon anymore. I see three evolutionary trends for personalization and recommendations in 2012: Convergence of recommendations, search and ads solutions Vendor consolidation Market expansion In thisContinue reading “Recommendations and Personalization in 2012”
On Target 