Why security in online forms is key to delivering great customer experiences

The web has made it easier than ever to gather and analyse valuable data from consumers. Whether that data is collected through cookies or online forms, it can transform how you operate by helping you improve the customer experience and develop smarter marketing and sales strategies.

But collecting and using this data can be a double-edged sword: When customers trust you with their personal information, it also means they will hold you responsible if it’s...

Facebook: Zuckerberg says ad boycott will end ‘soon enough’ as Oxford study explores impact

As the number of companies boycotting Facebook continues to grow, a study from the University of Oxford argues an 'immediate' negative impact could result, particularly in the retail sector.

Various major brands, including Adidas, Coca-Cola and Starbucks - with PlayStation the latest big name to join - are withdrawing advertising to pressure the social network into taking a stronger stand against hate speech.

According to the Information - with the story's veracity later...

The last (third party) cookie: How to prepare for a new era of digital advertising

In a 1984 episode of Sesame Street, Prairie Dawn, the most-level headed Muppet, is faced with a difficult challenge: she must explain the concept of ‘the last cookie’ to the Cookie Monster. The presentation begins well. Prairie asks the Cookie Monster to eat three of the four cookies on the table, and he does so with typical enthusiasm. But the mood changes when Cookie Monster is faced with the last cookie.

“But Prairie! Prairie! That’s the last cookie! After we eat that...

The four pillars of good spend management – a key skill amid the Covid-19 downturn

Spend management is hardly the most glamorous component of marketing, but its impact can be game changing. That fact is particularly important as businesses react to the downturn ushered in by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Done well, spend management can free up marketing budget and serve both as a foundation to weather a storm and a catalyst for future growth. Effective spend management enables agile decision making within days (or even hours), allowing marketers to rapidly re-deploy...

Getting beyond the buzzword of ‘agile’ digital marketing to improve your customer relationships

Mention the word “agile” in a business setting, and it may lead to furrowed brows and scratched heads. Agility creates a lot of buzz — and a lot of misinterpretation.

To clear up any confusion, agile generally refers to optimizing and managing workflows. According to McKinsey & Co., it involves “using data and analytics to continuously source promising opportunities or solutions to problems in real time, deploying tests quickly, evaluating the results, and rapidly...

Aimee Stone Munsell, CMO, Contentsquare: On leadership, learning, and lateral job moves

Aimee Stone Munsell, chief marketing officer at digital experience software provider Contentsquare, is a firm believer in the adage that a leader is only as good as their team. "A leader's job is to make themselves obsolete," she tells MarketingTech.

Realising the bluntness of that statement, Stone Munsell (left) laughs and clarifies. "What I mean by that is my job is to create at each level of management and leadership, to make the people underneath you successful and the...

Q&A: Nick Milne, Go Ignite Consulting: On data journeys and changing marketer – and vendor – expectations

The role of customer management at many organisations continues to evolve. Gone are the days when a simple CRM system would do the trick. With increasing data and workloads, alongside increased expectations for ROI, it is about balancing the requirements of multiple stakeholders and departments. 

Alongside this is the increasingly ludicrous martech landscape, which as of last year plotted more than 7000 vendors. Building out the...

Five key digital marketing strategies during Covid-19: Redefining and redeployment

While nobody can predict  what a post-coronavirus reality would look  like,  one thing is certain for marketers: digital channels are more important than ever. Online channels now play an increasingly crucial role, as people continue to self-isolate and spend more time online. In Italy, for instance, once the government introduced country-wide quarantines in mid-March, online traffic spiked 30%.

Today, we are seeing similar trends occur globally. In  these sensitive...

Carol McNerney, CMO, Information Builders: Marketing through digital and business transformations

If you begin a career in marketing and have ambitions to go to the very top, you want to become a chief marketing officer (CMO). Or at least, in most companies you do. For others, it is a question of semantics.

IBM, where Carol McNerney, CMO at business intelligence software provider Information Builders, cut her teeth, had traditionally been cut up into silos, with vice presidents (VPs) in charge. Indeed, it was only 2016 that the Armonk giant ‘officially’ hired its...

Analysis: The four key methods for marketing measurement to maximise impact

When looking at organisations today, market research and marketing analytics now absorb around 13-16% of marketing operations budgets. However, evidence from Gartner’s Marketing Data and Analytics Survey (client access required) indicates that these investments are mismatched with their output and this presents a significant risk to the ongoing investment.

So, what does one do to find what works and what does not – which marketing activities should be doubled down on and which...