Customer Journeys in the Real World:

Transcription

1 white paper Customer Journeys in the Real World: Realizing the Measurable Benefits of Seamless Multichannel Marketing

2 Table of Contents Digital Marketing: How the Conversation is Changing 1 Moving beyond silos, to multichannel marketing The business impact of an effective multichannel customer journey How the Conversation Flows: The Web- Dynamic 3 Event-driven and behavior-based Digital marketing s holy grail The real-world impact of multichannel marketing Multichannel marketing magnifies the influence of B2B marketing programs How Sitecore Enables Effective Multichannel Marketing 7 Leveraging web-based expertise to encompass - and beyond Blackmores Success Snapshot 9 Sitecore enables the dynamic delivery of personalized content Summary 10 About Sitecore 10 Copyright Copyright 2013 Sitecore. All Rights Reserved. Restricted Rights Legend This document may not, in whole or in part, be photocopied, reproduced, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form without prior consent, in writing, from Sitecore. Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Sitecore. Trademarks Sitecore is a registered trademark of Sitecore. All other company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

3 Digital Marketing: How the Conversation is Changing The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. The moment that the marketer can understand a web visitor s behavior, the products or categories he or she might be interested in, and can actually use that information, is when connection occurs and the visitor turns into a customer. David Daniels, CEO, The Relevancy Group As detailed in the first paper in this Sitecore series, From Litter to Glitter, Transforming Random Acts of Marketing into Brilliant Customer Journeys, nearly every company is guilty of committing so-called random acts of marketing and a consumer, you ve undoubtedly been on the receiving end. For example, that promotion for soccer cleats, which landed in your inbox right after you placed a big online order for new running gear. Or your local car dealer s invitation to test-drive a new two-seater convertible, when you chauffeur your family around in a crossover vehicle. The list of offenses is endless. Unfortunately, stopping these random acts isn t getting any easier. With customers today hopscotching between touchpoints, it s nearly impossible for marketers to keep pace with customer demands for relevant content across channels. That s because marketers themselves are constrained by a siloed organizational structure, and the siloed technology systems that perpetuate it. Multiple siloed channels web, and social media, and various offline media emit one-way signals that fail to engage customers in true two-way conversations because they remain disconnected, with no sharing of customer knowledge or common goals. While these methods tactically succeed in generating activity, they don t drive genuine business value by creating customer engagement. And, unfortunately, silos associated management tools typically have separate reporting, list management, calendars, metrics and scoring, adding further confusion instead of clarity. Moving beyond silos, to multichannel marketing By coordinating the consumer s end-toend experience, companies could enjoy revenue increases of 10 to 20 percent. McKinsey & Company As a result, marketing organizations are increasingly looking to multichannel marketing as a powerful alternative to the silo tradition. Effectively executed, multichannel marketing synthesizes the mountain of data that digital channels generate, helping marketers to understand and engage customers the keys to winning customers for life. Although siloed channels generate activity, they don t drive value by creating customer engagement. As depicted below, the best multichannel customer journeys encompass all digital conversation channels in an integrated manner, leveraging addressable data to drive greater campaign effectiveness. These customer journeys are necessarily complemented by a wellcoordinated, customer-centric organization in which success is measured by the level of customer engagement. 1

4 Figure 1: Multichannel marketing encompasses all of the disciplines necessary to effectively manage and integrate multiple online channels. Source: The Relevancy Group The business impact of an effective multichannel customer journey The efficacy of multichannel marketing is firmly established. For example, in its 2010 study of ways to get more value from digital marketing, McKinsey & Company assigned a hard value to the benefit of a strategically well executed customer journey: By coordinating the consumer s end-to-end experience, companies could enjoy revenue increases of 10 to 20 percent 1, as illustrated below. Figure 2: By coordinating the consumer s end-to-end experience, companies could enjoy revenue increases of 10 to 20 percent. Source: McKinsey & Company The firm noted, Across a range of B2C and B2B clients, we ve seen companies accelerate revenue growth by tightening the coordination of the end-to-end experience. These increases represent the cumulative impact of capturing more online traffic, engaging consumers effectively, raising sales conversion rates, and then deepening bonds with the brand after sales are made. 2 1 Four ways to get more value from digital marketing, David Edelman, McKinsey Quarterly, March Ibid. 2

5 How the Conversation Flows: The Web- Dynamic The high potential of effective multichannel marketing can be seen when looking at the interaction of website and channels, a classic digital dyad. It s easy to see why marketers use to drive prospective customers to their websites: according to the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), some 82% of marketers say their brand s website is their number one touchpoint for building emotional connections with consumers. Consumers see websites as the gateway where they go when they want to begin a brand relationship, says Bob Liodice, Why is multichannel marketing essential? Consumers see one brand holistically Consumers are channel-blind; they expect the same experience and relevance across web, , social, mobile and in-store Prospects turn into customers through iterative, multi-channel conversations To maximize the value of their marketing spend, companies must align their digital capabilities to enable seamless conversations across all channels. president and CEO of the ANA. 3 is the most prevalent tool marketers use to transport visitors to websites; together, these two channels form the workhorse of most companies digital marketing strategies. In addition to facilitating introductions, is an important triggering mechanism. It keeps the conversation alive and reengages customers over time. But even though 2010 data released by the Direct Marketing Associated showed that marketing s had an average open rate of nearly 20%, they had a click-through rate of only 6.64% and a paltry conversation rate of 1.73%. 4 This low success rate less than the 2% that is direct marketing s standard success benchmark is perhaps due to the fact that it is difficult to target recipients with information that s highly compelling. Information that, in fact, connects the customer s need with what a company has to offer. Event-driven and behavior-based Digital marketing s holy grail Across industries, there is a high degree of agreement on what techniques would improve conversion rates. Asked by MarketingSherpa to list their most significant challenges to marketing effectiveness, by primary channel, recipients ranked Targeting recipients with highly relevant content as the top challenge in both the B2B channel (68%) and the B2C channel (66%). 5 Traditionally, the problem has been that recipients definition of relevant content constantly changes. For marketers, this translates into temporal relevance, meaning there is a shelf life as to what someone is interested in, and that interest will fade over time. It is important for marketers to capitalize on those subjects when interest is high, and progress the conversation during periodic windows of opportunity. 3 Press release, Brands Strive for Emotional Connection, but Communicate at Rational/Functional Level, American Association of National Advertisers, May 18, Marketing e mails see open rate of nearly 20%, says DMA survey, Frank Washkuch, Direct Marketing News, June 15, Source: MarketingSherpa Marketing Benchmark Survey, December s were sent to house lists. 3

6 presents an ideal vehicle through which to capitalize on the fleeting nature of temporal relevance; it is the perfect way to initiate and extend conversations based on an individual s specific interests at any point in time. One of the best ways to do this is through s sent in response to an individual s activities on a website. The s can either be triggered through specific events, or in follow-up to online behavior patterns, i.e., what the visitor looked at on the site, and did or didn t do. Research bears out what many online marketers already instinctively know. In a global survey of 304 corporate online marketing professionals published by emarketer, 92% said that Event-triggered/behavioral would be highly valuable or valuable in improving conversion rates. In addition, Customer journey analysis was viewed by 96% as highly valuable or valuable, ranking second on a list of 11 possibilities. 6 Yet while both are effective, event-triggered and behavioral tactics are viewed by marketers as the most difficult techniques to implement. Figure 3 shows, for example, that segmenting campaigns based on behavior and automatically sending based on triggers are both viewed as highly effective, but more difficult to execute than campaigns based on stages of the sales cycle. Figure 3: Event-triggered and behavioral are viewed as the most effective, but most difficult types of tactics to implement. Source: MarketingSherpa The real-world impact of multichannel marketing By specifically integrating web and channels, companies can take a giant step toward achieving one of multichannel marketing s most important benefits: meeting customers demand for relevance across channels. This applies equally in business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) selling environments. 6 Source: Econsultancy, Conversion Report sponsored by RedEye, provided to emarketer, October

7 For example, the excerpts below show how critical the web- link is in converting B2C web site visitors into customers: Think about it: You know a lot more about visitors who have purchased products from your site not just what they purchased, but also what they looked at but did not purchase. Both inputs provide valuable clues about the customer s affinity and interests that can be used to entice the customer to come back for more. For example, a follow-up thanking the customer for her purchase and asking her to review the product could bolster sales efforts on two fronts: It brings paying customers back to the site, where they can be presented with more personalized offers, and it adds to the collection of customer reviews that have been found to influence new buyers. For shoppers who did not complete an order, an promotion that offers an incentive to come back and complete the order can keep the sale from slipping away. 7 Or, to remedy all-too-frequent cart abandonment: Marketers may measure overall sales results, cart abandonment rates, or average order values (AOVs), but few understand the conversion levers from the top to the bottom of their conversion funnel, and even fewer are equipped with the insights required to press the right ones. The result: An astonishing 97 out of 100 online shoppers leave a site without buying a thing. If shoppers do abandon their carts and let s face it, some will it is a good idea to follow up a few hours or a day later with an with relevant content and promotions. Perhaps offer them free shipping or 10% off. The customer who almost bought is a pretty good bet for a future purchase he or she might just need some extra encouragement. 8 As the article concludes, Another way to look at it: It s much less expensive to sell to an existing shopper who is already in your funnel than it is to find a new one. 9 Multichannel marketing magnifies the influence of B2B marketing programs The before and after scenarios below vividly illustrate the difference that multichannel marketing can have in the B2B selling environment. The before diagram below shows the many disconnected steps that a customer may take in reaching a purchasing decision, encompassing the web, , social media and other touchpoints. 7 CMO.com, A Measured Approach To Personalization, Michael Klein Dean Snell, September 9, CMO.com, The Online Retail Conversion Guide, Kevin Lindsay, August 18, Ibid. 5

8 I want to buy Visit vendor s website Attend webinar Download white paper Search tweets Sign up for newsletter Open Free trial Read analyst report Random Acts of Marketing How do I decide? Google competitors Visit competitor s website Read blogs Ask peers Chat online with CS Ask boss The Customer Journey Today Figure 4: In today s typical, disconnected B2B marketing environment, the customer s path to purchase is littered with myriad random acts of marketing. By enabling multichannel marketing with the proper technology, the customer can be guided down a streamlined path with a two-way conversation, as illustrated in Figure 5 30 day after trial, receive e-coupon for promotional I want to buy Recommend Whitepaper in Follow-up Download white paper Free trial Google Vendors Watch Video Like On Facebook Read 3 rd Party review Orchestrated Marketing How do I decide? Google competitors Based on keywords, make recommendations Visit Vendors website Receive offer Ask peers based on Areas of interest from last web visit Chat online with CS CSR notes past and web History and recommends free trial Purchase using promotion The Orchestrated Customer Journey Figure 5: Multichannel marketing shortens the path from awareness to conversion by facilitating the back-and-forth conversations that occur naturally in any purchase decision process. 6

9 Sitecore plays a central role in a multichannel marketing environment In B2C and B2B environments, Sitecore facilitates today s cross-channel digital conversations through its position as the technology centerpiece of a multichannel marketing strategy. The Sitecore Customer Engagement Platform (CEP) enables customer-facing organizations to engage in 1:1, bi-directional conversations with individual customers, across any channel, to move the conversation forward for real, measurable business results. How Sitecore Enables Effective Multichannel Marketing Targeted at helping mid-tier to enterprise companies to engage their customers seamlessly across all digital channels, Sitecore CEP was developed with a strong understanding of the conversational nature of today s marketing dialog. The Sitecore solution was purpose-built to incorporate all the tenets of conversation, starting with the fact that it is a two-way interaction in which all participants have their own goals. There is a natural cadence to conversation, even online, and even as it may occur across a mix of channels. In terms of web- integration, the workhorse of today s digital marketing efforts, the Sitecore solution allows marketers to easily interpret individual web visitors activities and connect them with behaviorbased s the capability universally recognized as the holy grail of conversion, and previously all but unattainable. It does so by delivering all of the capabilities that allow a digital conversation between a customer and company to flow: The Sitecore solution remembers the previous interaction and continues where it left off It speaks in the context of the customer s needs vs. the needs of the marketing department It anticipates needs and is ready to help customers take the next step It asks questions of the customer, to learn more. Furthermore, in addition to and web, the Sitecore Customer Engagement Platform spans all other digital channels ecommerce, social and mobile to ensure that no conversation thread is left loose or incomplete. Figure 6 depicts how Sitecore CEP enables true multichannel marketing by weaving together the three key elements of conversation acceleration Channels, Engagement and Customer Intelligence into a cohesive solution. 7

10 Figure 6: The Sitecore Customer Engagement Platform enables companies to have clear, cogent cross-channel conversations with customers, dramatically improving engagement. Leveraging web-based expertise to encompass and beyond By orchestrating web- conversations, Sitecore CEP allows companies to take a giant step toward achieving their technology-related multichannel marketing goals, including : Customer-driven conversations: Sitecore uniquely allows customers to lead the conversation by registering their online activities, enabling marketing to easily use the activities to mold personal, highly relevant marketing conversations. Real-time relevance: Sitecore additionally interprets individuals customers website activities in real-time, ensuring that relevant content is served through dynamic personalization. Greater agility: Through a continuous cycle of experimentation, evaluation and try again, Sitecore allows companies to quickly adjust their marketing activities to capitalize on successful techniques. As a result, the Sitecore Customer Engagement Platform uniquely catalyzes all organizations efforts to deliver multichannel marketing programs and business results. 8

11 Blackmores Success Snapshot Blackmores, Australia s leading natural health brand, improves peoples lives with natural health solutions. Their high quality products, reliable free naturopathic advisory service and award-winning website are among the many reasons Blackmores is Australia s most trusted name in natural health. To stand out from competitors in a crowded market space, Blackmores wanted to offer their customer a better online experience that would put each individual consumer in control. Working with Sitecore partner, Bullseye, Blackmores has created a destination that is set to become Australia s biggest online community dedicated to natural health. The new website is personalized to each individual who joins, and is designed to inspire, inform and educate Australians to better health. Today, Blackmores online community is vibrant, with more than 300,000 active members. Sitecore enables the dynamic delivery of personalized content One of the biggest online differentiators for Blackmores is its ability to deliver dynamic, personalized content for every member while he or she is online, and seamlessly extend the personalized conversation to the medium. Blackmores achieves this through the capabilities of Sitecore CMS with a process that includes: Content profiling, by keeping track of articles that the member views and selecting other appropriate articles to display Filtering, using the member s profile preferences to categorize content by topic of interest Tracking of the member s most recently viewed pages. This in turn fuels Blackmores Profile Key Tracking, which is used to personalize campaigns. Sitecore additionally tracks popular search terms, which also factor into Profile Key Tracking and personalized campaigns. For each individual member, this process is refined and optimized over repeat visits. Its outputs are rationalized against a database targeting that looks at each member s online activities in the context of: Segmentation, based on category loyalty, level of spend and point in time (for example, an expectant mother in her third trimester of her pregnancy) Profiling, based on the member s overall behavioral dynamics, preferences and real-time online activities, including participation in Blackmores robust online community. Incorporating all of these inputs, Blackmores delivers personalized content in an optimized design format. Members are sent periodic s, in accordance with their preferences. For Blackmores, it s clear that Sitecore-powered personalization is effective. The company reports 50% open rates for personalized s, an exceptional 250% higher rate than the industry average open rate of 20%. In addition, Blackmores personalized clickthrough rate (CTR) is four times greater than the CTR of non-personalized s. Jason Davey of Sitecore partner Bullseye sums up, Using the intuitive features of leading edge technology, we have built a website for Blackmores that offers a totally personalized user experience. It s slick, clever and designed entirely to delight each individual visitor. Powered by Sitecore, Blackmores reports 50% open rates for personalized s, an exceptional 250% higher rate than the industry average open rate of 20%. 9

12 Summary While the principles of multichannel marketing have intrinsic appeal to every online marketer, realizing them requires visionary leadership, organizational alignment and a strong technology foundation. The Sitecore Customer Engagement Suite provides the latter. As data is freed from channel silos and becomes a powerful asset to drive individual conversations, Sitecore allows marketers to shift their focus from individual channel optimization to optimizing the conversation across all digital channels. With Sitecore, marketers set the tone for the entire experience that customers will share with their peers and allows the Marketing department to achieve demonstrable business results. Sitecore enables Blackmores and thousands of other customer-centric organizations worldwide to engage in seamless, cross-channel digital conversations, starting with the all-important integration of web and . In both B2C and B2B environments, Sitecore helps make every point in the journey a relevant, progressive interaction that delivers value by providing: The right content, across the right channel, at the right time More revenue, faster sales cycles and proven value Clear, comprehensive customer data that drives interactions A true solution that optimize the total conversation, not the siloed channel A consistent, positive brand experience. For more information about Sitecore, please visit About Sitecore Sitecore is the global leader in customer experience management software for delivering the marketing that matters most highly relevant content and personalized digital experiences that delight customers, increase loyalty and drive revenue. With Sitecore s fully unified, powerful, and easy-to-use software suite, marketers can focus on engaging customers instead of managing data to deliver experiences that are relevant, immediate, and integrated across channels. More than 3,000 of the world s leading brands including American Express, Carnival Cruise Lines, easyjet, Heineken, LEGO, Microsoft, and Nestlé depend on Sitecore to help them deliver the meaningful interactions that win customers for life. 10