How Relevant Is Your Marketing To Your Customer?

One of my favorite daily emails I receive is “Shop It To Me”.   “Shop It To Me” is like an online personal shopper.  I filled out a survey and told them my favorite brands and sizes, etc.  They do all the work!  They scout the web and deliver a personalized Salemail™ that features the latest markdowns, secret promotion codes, and VIP sale events!  “Shop It To Me” uses Commerce Relevancy, which is the next wave putting your client marketing on another level.  How often are you getting emails with “your personal product recommendations”? How personalized and correct are they really? How relevant is the information you are sending to your customers?

The retail environment has changed dramatically in recent years.  With instant access to information anywhere and from any device, consumers are in control of the purchasing process and solid product information is quickly becoming a commodity.  In any commerce environment, consistency and accuracy across all customer touch points is no longer enough: retailers and brand manufacturers need to start considering product information in terms of relevancy, to personalize the shopping experience and stay competitive.

Consistent and accurate product information has a profound impact on the buying decision, but in this hyper-connected world where competitive information is at the customer’s fingertips, retailers and consumer product goods manufacturers also need to ensure that the information provided is highly relevant in order to differentiate and stay ahead.
In order to enable Commerce Relevancy, companies are now asking themselves how to connect the dots between supplier, location, customer and product information. Think of the same TV sold to two completely different consumers, but using other parts of the description to tailor it to the customer.  One consumer may use it for viewing television; another consumer may use it primarily for gaming.   A business could broaden their customer base by using other channels to promote it.   So it is essential to use other marketing pieces (print, video, etc.) which match with the customer profile.  Commerce Relevancy means connecting the dots between all master data and product information; thus expanding your potential customer base.

The 4 Elements of Commerce Relevancy to consider when building your marketing campaign are:

1. Relevant product recommendations everywhere:  What is the next logical buy?
2. Relevant locations:  The ways of a product from an own warehouse, from a supplier warehouse and brick and mortar become more flexible. Customers are being served always from the location nearby.  A good example of this is utilized by Walmart.com.  You can order an item via the website and can have it shipped directly to your home or you can pick it up at the store.  I’ve also heard a lot of buzz regarding Amazon.com’s use of the drone for delivery.  Is this going to be the wave of future deliveries?  Imagine the speed of delivery.  You’ll no longer need to wait 3 – 5 days to receive your item, it could be delivered to your house the same day.
3. Relevant marketing:  Personalization will reach a new level combining product, location, supplier and first of all customer information. How this data is used (like customer profiles and product bundles) will build the core of customer experience, when delivered in real-time.
4. Relevant analytics:  As customers expect real time information and services, new technologies – such as the use of eye mark recording or image recognition of customer faces when customers returning into a store, will come in to play. Also, measuring the heart frequency to understand customers’ emotions while shopping opens new possibilities.  This could help a manufacturer gauge the success of a newly released item.  How excited was the consumer when they were looking at it?

The list could go on and on, but one thing you need to do to ensure a successful marketing campaign is to make sure your marketing plan includes consumer relevancy.