This year Cyber Monday set an all time record for online sales in America. According to data from IBM Smarter Commerce, holiday shoppers turned Cyber Monday into what is now known as “the biggest spending day ever”. Online sales grew by ~30 percent year over year. U.S shoppers spend over $1.25 billion as they rushed to go online and grab those “hard to say no to” deals.

Historically, department stores have been the slowest adopters of online sales platforms; however, this year was a different story as giant retailers such as Nordstrom, J.C. Penny and Macy’s experienced one of their largest gains in sales.

With most retailers vying for revenue growth, it is crucial to market your brand and company effectively to ensure that you attract new customers and manage to retain old ones. Some marketing tips for Cyber Monday:

1)      Review your data from last year: this should be step one in your planning strategy. What worked? What did not work?

2)      Social media: crowds will be searching for deals and discounts on all social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter. To jazz it up, try offering a different promotion on the hour every hour. You could raise awareness by announcing your promotions on the various social media platforms.

3)      Create a sense of urgency:   increase sales instantaneously using the “buy now” ‘s and “only today”’ s to avoid losing customers to competitors.

4)      Appreciate your customers: offer special gifts with the purchase of certain items. It shows you care.

5)      Visuals are important: Pinterest has gained popularity where potential customers could be browsing for holiday gift ideas. Post visually appealing pictures and slogans to announce your discounts and special offers. The key would be to create a picture or message board with a link that would take the customer to your online store at a click of a button.

6)       Mobile friendly: ensure that all your newsletters and ads are mobile friendly and links are easy to navigate. How many times do you remember trying to click on a link on your mobile phone only to realize that you are clicking on the wrong link because of the fat finger syndrome?  Remember – make customers lives easy. You don’t have to lose sales to a competitor because your app isn’t easy to navigate.

Today, brands that want to attain the highest level of exposure and buzz in the market must approach digital marketing channels in an integrated way i.e. converged method which is the merging of paid, owned and earned media.

As defined by Jeremiah Owyang, an Industry Analyst at Altimeter Group, a Converged Media Workflow is a simple yet comprehensive diagram that represents complex streams that coordinate paid, owned and earned channels in a holistic manner across an entire customer experience – beyond a siloed approach. As a result, the entire customer experience has a greater net benefit to customers and brands than individual deployments.

Brands that do not have this form of efficient workflow to merge these three mediums will certainly lose out on opportunities. The Altimeter Group released a report titled,  The Converged Media Imperative: How Brands Will Combine Paid, Earned and Owned Media which echoes the importance of coordinating these 3 channels of digital marketing and playing to their strengths in order to maintain their brand image and reputation.

A recent Nielsen Report released in April 2012 demonstrated that all mediums of paid advertising be it print, television, online or radio showed a gap in “trust”.

As illustrated by the graph above, a large proportion of respondents mentioned that they do not trust any of these forms of advertising on their own. However, “recommendations from people” scored in the upper quartile with 92% of respondents trusting this source. Further, the graph illustrates that owned media scored much higher than paid media, but was lower than earned media. The 2012 U.S elections debates for instance is what I consider the ultimate form of earned media. However, winning debates in isolation would not result in victory for either candidate; it would be their ability to utilize a combination of paid advertising, owned media and earning it through forms of debates that could ultimately lead a candidate to victory.

My thoughts:

Paid media: works so long as you have money being continuously pumped into glitzy ads. The minute you stop spending, paid media stops doing the work for you. Today, paid media seems to have less credibility than it did a decade ago.

Owned media: the upfront costs to establish a brand and its reputation can be quite high as it often takes time to scale. However, as long as you continue to do the right things, you do not have to keep pumping money into owned media to receive pay offs. Owned media ultimately allows you to invest in a long term asset with the hopes of decent if not high payoffs in the years to come.

Earned media: when done well, I think this is the best form of media. First, it sends out a brand message at no cost, yet it carries much more credibility than paid media as indicated by the Neilsen report. However, it can be very challenge to keep in check. To ensure its best use, you would need to utilize paid media to get your brand awareness started and owned media for some maintenance.

Convergence:  the key is to focus on the strengths of each of the mediums and minimize the weakness they have to offer. Also, it is important to have a consistent voice, expressing what the brand represents. Converging paid, owned and earned media will solidify your brand in your customers’ and potential customers’ minds.

The most re-tweeted picture in history!

Since Tuesday November 26, 2012, the role that social media has played throughout the U.S elections has been continuously blogged about by marketers all around the world. Over the years, the role and impact that social media has had on politics has grown at exponential rates. In this year’s elections, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube became the most prominent forms of political communication. I remember less than a decade ago how political campaigns relied on public speeches, voting stands and rallies to convince voters. The 2012 elections have certainly changed political marketing as campaign leaders can spread their voice and their messages both instantaneously and interactively through social media.

In my mind, social certainly was a persuasive tool during the elections.  Between 2008 and 2012 Team Obama created the largest and most comprehensive voter database in history as as stated in Hispanic Business Week.

Differences between the two parties social media presence on election night ( International Business Times) :

President Obama: 32 million Facebook fans, 21 million Twitter fans and ~ 300,000 YouTube views.

Romney: 12 million Facebook fans, 1.7 million Twitter followers and only ~ 30,000 YouTube views.

Did Obama’s stance as the popular kid on the internet help him become home coming king?  The answer will never truly be known but one cannot deny the impact social media played on reaching a larger demographic and potential population that would otherwise never vote. We do not have the ability to quantify whether teenagers passion ignited through Facebook had any impact on the voting members of his/her family nor can we quantify whether the social media feeds projected to the millions of readers subconsciously impacted either of their siding or even their voting turn out. It very well may have been that apathetic citizens become roused by the scores of tweets and Facebook status that they couldn’t help but notice on a daily basis. One of the key drivers of my interest in the U.S elections came from everything I was reading online. It was Facebook and Twitter that made me aware of issues that I would have never personally pursued had it not been constantly thrown in my face

Facebook and Twitter are some of the greatest tools of engagement to date.  From a marketing perspective, the following are some of the lessons we can learn from the 2012 elections internet marketing campaigns:

1)      Community Engagement and earned media: earned media probably is least costly but seems to be the most powerful and influential medium today.  You need to drive community interactions and real conversations with voters and not just depend on paid advertising by pushing out your brand content to the world offline.

2)      Authenticity: both the tone and content of conversations on these various social platforms need to be authentic – something I believe Obama did a great job at. Pushing out content in a one way stream about your brand isn’t going to get you the “likes” and support that you did a decade ago. You can no longer “buy “ your target audiences’ attention; it is all about earning it.

3)      Timing is important: it is crucial to actively manage the various social media platforms by listening to your audience and responding to them in a timely fashion.

4)      Know your target audience and be everywhere they are: if your target market is on social media and you are not- it’s game over for you. Both Romney and Obama invested heavily in social media.. why? Because it’s exactly where there target audience (voters) were.

5)      Contingency planning: it is difficult if not impossible to predict the success of your campaign and therefore it is vital that you have a contingency plan in place that is able to fix issues that come your way.

So was social media the reason behind Obama’s victory after all? Thoughts…comments?

According to a recent article by Canadian Newswire,  52% of Canadian holiday shoppers prefer to shop online because it is more convenient, while 45% prefer it because it is “quick and efficient” as it is open 24 hours a day. This clearly opens a door for retailers to increase their brand awareness and market share by having easy to facilitate websites and mobile apps. I would consider the following to be key drivers for successful websites and mobile apps:

1) User efficiency: The website should be designed such that it is very easy to navigate from first point of contact. Ultimately, the goal of any retailer website should be to provide a consistent and high quality experience for their customers and prospects (considering it is often their first point of contact given the rise of social media).

2) Aesthetically appealing: Clutter and the newspaper look can be off putting for shoppers. It is essential that retailers ensure that their websites have some white space and are clutter free. All in all, it should be soft on the eyes and aesthetically satisfying.

3) Unnecessary text: Make sure only relevant content is coupled with graphics to tell a story.

4) Add interactivity and individualization: give customers the sense of a real shopping experience from the comfort of their home, work or anywhere else.

5) Feedback: Create a feedback forum to ensure that you are able to monitor and deliver what customers want from your brand and your website.

As stated in a recent Forbes article, it is those retailers who best understand consumer behavior patterns on usage of mobile shopping apps and design their strategies to meet those needs who are the most successful and positioned to capitalize on this dynamic shift towards digital marketing and online shopping.

Marketers Turn to Search Retargeting for Branding, Direct Response Goals

Research has certainly indicated that when done right, retargeting can be a very valuable marketing tool. Retargeting has proven to increase both brand awareness and organizations’ bottom lines as reflected in this recent emarketer article.

My personal experience:  Last week, my best friend and I were online browsing multiple wedding vendors from decorators to wedding dress designers. Several hours later, I decided to get some school work done only to realize that I was virtually being “stalked” by various wedding vendors. Frankly, I thought it was creepy. From a privacy perspective, I felt violated. However, it proved to be useful once I dug deep to understand the concept of “Retargeting”.

What is retargeting? Some refer to it as remarketing. I would define it as stalking those who are potentially interested in your service. However, that doesn’t mean I disagree with this tool from a business perspective. It clearly has proven to increase brand awareness, retains a “shadow” portfolio of clients (i.e. those who have shown interest but have not yet converted), and overall increases ROI.  Retargeting has proven to increase online sales by ensuring that company brands are at the forefront of “window shopper” minds in the pre-purchase stage, often increasing conversion rates. I think one of the key benefits of retargeting as a marketing tool is that it aims at only targeting those that have shown some interest in your brand/product/services. This makes it more cost effective than ad campaigns targeting a larger audience who may never be interested in your product/service as it would be of no value to them.

How it works…

On the other hand, I think that people can find retargeting to be overbearing, and those who do not fully understand the technology behind it could find it an invasion of privacy.  My understanding is that personal information is never shared and it is merely a cookie being dropped on to the site visitor’s computer.

Some retargeting best practices would be as follows:

1)      Segment carefully and then target the selected segment. You do not want to retarget anyone and everyone that has visited your site.

2)      The feedback loop is important. Follow forms of social media such as Facebook and Twitter to see what people are saying about retargeting, things they like and things they dislike. Further, this will allow you to control the frequency of your ads by catering to customer needs.

3)      Timing is important. Different products and services require different retargeting time frames. For example, someone who is looking for last minute travel deals should be targeted sooner than later when compared to someone who is looking for a luxury big ticket item.

TD Bank Financial Group (TDBFG) is dedicated to diversity as proven by the inclusive environment they have built for both their employees and customer base regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation or disability. Since 2005, TDBFG has shown incremental support of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) community via internal and external employee and customer pride events. TDBFG took a very daring stance by posting its own “It Gets Better” video, which featured their CEO, Ed Clark, in full support of LGBT teens who are dealing with their sexual orientation.

From a marketing perspective, advertising stances this powerful position companies on potentially dangerous and controversial ground. This “moral” tug of war has been a hot topic of debate, more so in light of the marriage right activism and backlashes taking place in the United States. I remember sitting at my desk as a Financial Advisor in a TD Canada Trust branch, being asked by customers as to why TD is a “gay lover”. While I disagreed with the closed minded perceptions of the customers wholeheartedly, I could not help but ask myself why a reputed bank would take such an astronomical risk? I sincerely believe that with all things business, business comes first. My first thought was whether the LGBT community was that large of a profit generator. Banks function on a relationship of trust and understanding with their customers, which can get very tricky when the entire nuclear makeup of a family is put in question. On a strict business level, targeting the LGBT community could result in incremental revenue streams but has a known down side which the Bank has been witness to: the loss of homophobic customers. The tightly knit LGBT communities across urban Canadian cities are dominated by successful individuals who would be assets as customers. However, there is a whole other set of clientele with “conventional” beliefs who would very much mind viewing online ads with a gay couple representing the bank who is financing their home, cars, retirement, and children’s education. So why the risk?

Typically, banks engage in non-controversial forms of marketing that are safe and mundane, with the goal of attracting a larger client base with an attractive service, or lower mortgage rates. As the time I spent with the institution grew, and the amount of backing I saw for Women in Leadership, fundraising, environmental involvement, etc. by the bank, it occurred to me: these campaigns were about what the Bank stands for, which is an all encompassing environment where every member of the community is welcome and supported. TDBFG’s mission is not a matter of whether their LGBT campaigns would or would not result in incremental revenue streams, but rather, about staying true to their core beliefs of inclusion and diversity.

After interviewing Judy Lundell (Internet Marketing Manager, TDCT), it was apparent that TD had consciously made a decision to utilize gay advertising material including the Youtube video that featured their CEO. TD’s LGBT ads are actually setting a precedent. Whether it was digital rainbow stripped ads on Facebook of a lesbian couple cuddling on a couch with a “Loud and proud to be your bank” caption, or gay men looking in love, walking down the street; the Bank clearly illustrated what their brand stands for.

Their ads served as a reflection of their culture of inclusiveness, illustrated by their various PR activities such as sponsoring the Pride Parade. TD’s choice of using non-traditional couples in their ads did not necessarily target the LGBT community, but rather, clients and prospects that are supporters of diversity. From a marketing channel, we can view this as a great corporate move; while the bank may have lost customers, they also gained many who responded positivity to their progressiveness.  Other banks in Canada, let alone the United States, show subtle support of the LGBT community (and diversity in general), and none have ever taken a stance as bold as TD.

The fact is, controversy does create a buzz, and there is no such thing as bad publicity. Upsides and downsides will exist for both the short and long run. In the case of TD, there will certainly be a group of individuals, clients or prospects that would find gay friendly ads offensive and unacceptable. This could cause the bank to lose some existing customers in the short run. Further, the stance may create so much chatter that some groups may forget the product and service offerings that drew them as clients in the first place. These short-term losses are well countered by the long-term trajectories and shifts in public thinking. Social perceptions have greatly altered over the past few decades, and will most likely continue to do so as acceptance of diverse lifestyles becomes increasingly mainstream. We need only look back 50 years to see where women, gays, and ethnic/religious minorities stood to predict where they will stand in another 50 years. Therefore, this form of controversial marketing positions TD Bank as a progressive institution and will bode well for them from a profitability standpoint in the long run. They will be remembered as the industry leaders who supported diversity so outspokenly, securing them first mover advantage. Moreover, this form of online controversial marketing engages feedback in ways that print ads never can. The bank is easily able to measure how customers, employees and other stakeholders react to the brand’s core beliefs, facilitating open dialogue with the community via blogs, Twitter and Facebook. To this end, social media has assisted organizations in creating brand advocates, creating this so called buzz that could ultimately bring more people including family and friends into this “funnel” of acquiring customers. Increasing your customer base is no longer seen as a one way road; instead brands need to utilize social media tools to create a feedback loop which would ultimately influence customer and prospects decision making including controversial forms of internet marketing.

The key to success when utilizing controversial forms of internet marketing include:

1. Remaining authentic: organizations should fully understand their values. Further, ad campaigns become relevant to the buyer decision making process, allowing consumers to make more informed decisions about the brands they would like to support or be affiliated with.
2. Identifying your target market: not all marketing material targets all market segments. In the article in case, TD targeted anyone and everyone who embraces diversity.
3. Clear and judgment free messages: In the case of TD, the Bank clearly positioned themselves as proponents of positive space progressiveness.
4. Considering and measuring both long and short term costs and benefits: in TD’s case, the short-term costs of immediate loss of clients who do not embrace diversity will be outnumbered by the long-term gains of a society gravitating towards progression, and TD as an institution that is moving in that same direction.

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