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We often talk about marketing ROI, or the return on investment in advertising, as if it is a fixed and immutable number.You may have heard the story of a marketing professional at a large consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinnati who famously carried a little card around with the ROI of each media channel printed on it. Whenever a media salesperson pitched a new media channel, this dog-eared reference would be consulted. The marketing pro would compare the ROI of the proposed media to those listed on the card and frequently reject it based on these fixed (and inaccurate) ROI scores.Unfortunately, this anecdote represents a common theme in marketing. Looking at ROI in this myopic way limits the overall potential of your marketing mix to drive higher returns and increased performance for your business.So how should one look at marketing ROI, and more importantly, are there ways to increase it?Assess the returnFirst, let’s lay to rest the idea that a channel or marketing effort …

Ask marketers what their goals are, and one of the first things they will say is to deliver a more personalized experience to their customers. This isn’t a goal aimed solely at increasing conversions; it’s also about meeting customers’ growing expectations.To put this into context, five years ago, people were awed when Amazon could recommend a product they’d love. Today, users expect that Netflix will recommend to them another binge-worthy series based on their tastes.So how does a marketer meet this high demand for personalized communications? The answer is in understanding the power of dynamic content and how it makes static content marketing obsolete.In this free guide, Sharpspring outlines seven simple ways marketers can use dynamic content to connect with audiences in a more organic and personalized way.Grab your copy to find out:How top brands like Netflix and Amazon use dynamic content.The marketing automation features that enable you to deliver personalized experiences.Ways to…

Just because 'everyone's doing it,' doesn't mean your brand should follow suit.

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Whether you’re a consumer or a digital business, you couldn’t avoid hearing the words GDPR or consent in the last six months.So, what happens now? Consumers received email consents and opt-in notices, companies made a mad dash to prepare for GDPR compliance and industry conferences covered the topic extensively. Certainly, GDPR has changed business practices, but has it actually changed perceptions around data usage and what companies plan to do in 2018 and beyond?I spent a week at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity asking industry leaders their perspective on this topic. I set out to learn two things:What do you think about data-driven marketing post-GDPR?What questions and concerns are your clients voicing to you about GDPR compliance?I met with TiVo Advanced Media & Advertising SVP/GM Walt Horstman, Spotify Global Head of Advertising Brian Benedik and Apps Flyer Senior Marketing Director Ari Rosenstein. Here’s what I learned.Thoughts on data-driven marketing …

While many of us enjoy longer vacations and sunshine during the summer, major retailers spend the warmer months getting ready for the biggest sales events of the year. In fact, many retailers will report more than 50 percent of their annual profits from a single sales event during the coming fall months.In 2016, Alibaba’s Singles Day grossed $17.8 billion in 24 hours, and that figure rose to $25.3 billion in 2017:In the United States, Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2016 sales combinedbrought in $6.79 billion:These events kick off with Labor Day sales (back to school), which is just around the corner, and end with the holiday shopping season.With online merchandise selling out in seconds and competitive price wars getting exceedingly high, it’s no wonder retailers utilize summer months to prepare for eager shoppers.While retailers are focusing on campaigns, commercials, margins and inventory, what can a search engine optimization specialist (SEO) do to help a client’s bottom line? How d…

The Internet changes rapidly, which means marketers and business leaders must hurry to change with it. While most Internet searches were once done on laptops and desktops, people are now using their smartphones with similar devices to conduct searches for information, local businesses, products, and services.That shift was closely followed by another somewhat more distinctive shift called artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted voice search.In the past, a smartphone user would need to type a question or phrase into Google or another search engine to get a set of results to sift through. Now, AIs like Siri and Alexa – which reside in smart speakers and on smartphones, tablets, and laptops – have changed the way users are searching for the information, products, and services they need.You can conduct searches with nothing more than the sound of your voice. And that’s rapidly changing the SEO landscape.How voice-assisted search is changing searchesMost people have smartphones these days, a…

Many people are comfortable opening up their world to others, some are not. This can even extend to the use of the Internet; some feel uneasy at the thought of somebody watching and analyzing every move to build a profile. And ultimately, when users believe this to be the case, they self-censor and think twice about what they search for and how to word it.In the past the usual question would have been, “what do I have to hide?”. Surprisingly for some (disappointingly for others), the answer is often quite straightforward and benign. For me, it’s simply because I prefer to keep myself to myself, which helps to eliminate a feeling of shyness and preserve the energy it would have otherwise consumed.Times are changingThe major search engines have increasingly pushed the envelope on user privacy, often expanding their surveillance by stating it somewhere deep within the terms of service. Many, often non-technical, individuals may be completely unaware of the scope and scale of data mining …