Marketers, managers, and digitally-savvy customers have all experienced first-hand the effects of Financial Services digital transformation over the last year.

Of course, challenges relating to digital transformation are not unique to the financial sector. As in many industries, COVID-19 was another resounding wake-up call for the financial industry in terms of digitalization. In this blog, I will be making my Financial Services digital transformation recommendations, based on trends and innovation in the sector at present. Even before the pandemic, Financial Services customers were already seeing rapid growth in digital services available online. The digital disruption caused by the events of 2020 only accelerated that. Now, many industry studies are suggesting Financial Services digital transformation will have a lasting effect. So, it's up to Financial Services marketing leaders to ensure their business is reaching, interacting with, converting and engaging customers across all digital touchpoints in the customer lifecycle. This is demonstrated via our popular RACE…

Keep up to date with online retail trends and innovations. What do the latest conversational commerce developments mean for your e-commerce business?

In the era of digital disruption, it's likely you have considered conversational commerce platforms and channels either personally, or as a marketer, or both. In this blog, I will cover the latest developments in conversational commerce for selling goods and services online across the 4 areas of voice-activated search, smartspeaker interactions, voice-based converse, chatbots, and Messenger. More importantly, we will consider what opportunities these martech developments bring for your e-commerce marketing strategy. So you can optimze your marketing strategy and tactics to convert more customers, efficiently.

What is conversational commerce?

A technology that empowers brands and consumers to interact with each other through chat or messaging, voice assistance, and other natural language interfaces. Simply put, conversational commerce uses natural language to interact with customers during their buying journey by providing them…

What do the latest retail marketing trends mean for your e-commerce marketing strategy?

The biggest takeaway from our 2021 retail e-commerce marketing trends is that, with increasingly complex customer journeys in 2021, retailers need an e-commerce marketing strategy that integrates customer experiences. Customer lifecycle marketing is more necessary than ever, as consumers increasingly use multiple channels along their path to purchase. Therefore, to ensure you build a strong e-commerce marketing strategy to both reach and convert your customers, you need to consider the whole customer journey. We have marketing training and tools to refresh your omnichannel approach to e-commerce marketing strategy. Our popular RACE Framework structures your strategy across the customer journey process of plan, reach, act, convert, and engage. You can find out more about these resources and how to apply them to your e-commerce marketing strategy throughout this article. The…

Tips and tricks to help you get the most out of paid search on China’s largest search platform

With Google claiming less than 2% of the market in China, the search engine landscape is markedly different from that in most Western markets. While there are several key players, including Haosou, Sogou, and Shenma, in the space, Baidu is undoubtedly the first port of call for most companies looking to run search marketing campaigns in China.

So, why Baidu?

There are several reasons why advertisers turn to Baidu when looking to advertise their products or services to Chinese consumers, the most important of which are outlined here.

Highest market share

Baidu search has the highest market share across both desktop and mobile users. According to Statista, Baidu boasts 74% of the Chinese search market, with…

What does future-proof digital marketing training look like?

When it comes to technology, “The ability of something to continue to be of value into the distant future and not become obsolete” seems pretty obvious. We can all recognize items that have become obsolete as technology changes and improves. But, what does future-proof mean in the context of digital marketing training for work and employment? From my perspective and looking at reviews from experts in education and psychology, to be future-proof is to “Continue to be useful or successful in future when the situation changes.”  This definition sounds a bit woolly but can be distilled into three primary components: Being able to identify opportunities by anticipating the future Using this knowledge to minimize the effects of shocks and stresses of future events by having a clear strategy Then, using this strategy to…

Explore the essentials of a successful e-commerce marketing plan, with real-life examples. Plus find out more about our tools and frameworks to support your strategic planning across the omnichannel retail customer lifecycle

What does a good e-commerce marketing plan look like? What structures and frameworks help e-commerce marketers to accelerate their ROI? In this blog, I'll be covering the essential elements for you to apply to your online retail strategy, including a case-study of Clinique. Plus, find out how the RACE Framework will help you streamline your omnichannel marketing, so you can plan, manage and optimize every customer touchpoint in their journey to purchase. Omnichannel e-commerce marketing planning took the top spot in our recent 2021 e-commerce marketing trends report. Clearly, omnichannel planning is a hot topic for online retail marketers at the moment. But still, so many businesses are not doing it well. In this…

Streamline your digital marketing strategy through omnichannel marketing planning

Knowing where to start and how to structure a plan is often the most difficult part of planning, especially if you aren’t experienced in creating plans. You may already have one plan or several in place and will be thinking you don't need an omnichannel marketing plan on top of that. Depending on the type and scale of business, you may have all kinds of different plans in place - both business-wide and for individual channels where different people are responsible for each. For example: The business plan Marketing plan Digital Marketing plan (may or may not be integrated into the marketing plan) Advertising plan Customer acquisition plan Email marketing plan A retention plan A social media marketing plan Conversion optimization plan That’s a lot of plans and a lot of complexity. All these plans can overlap and even pull in different directions. Omnichannel planning…

Your customer's omnichannel digital experience is key to meeting your healthcare marketing goals. Your ability to prioritize determines how fast you'll get there

Naturally, user experience (UX or CX) applies to just about every marketing sector right now. But, where healthcare marketing comes into its own, is the sheer opportunity for data-driven personalization. Customer-focused healthcare marketing taps into the benefits of digital transformation for manufacturing, logistics, supply chain, healthcare agents, and the patients as end-users. Firstly, let's consider the digital disruption which puts consumers in a researcher's shoes, and making personal decisions about their healthcare, online: 47% research doctors online 38% research hospital and medical facilities online 77% book medical appointments online But how can marketers and managers anticipate and satisfy the needs of healthcare consumers demanding products and services on-demand? In this article, we will look into some elements of digital experience, including recommended resources from our Digital Experience…

Industry experts explore the email marketing trends set to impact your strategy in 2021 and consider how COVID-19 has permanently and positively changed email marketing 

In 2020, email marketing trends, like so many parts of our work and personal lives, had to undergo a rapid transformation.

As the pandemic continues to lead to wide-ranging changes to the way consumers perceive brands and consider purchases, email marketers have adapted in many innovative and inspiring ways heading into the new year.

In this blog, five of the brightest minds from the world of email marketing provide their key trends for 2021. With email continuing to play a vital role in nurturing, acquiring and retaining customers, it’s time to explore the opportunities that lie ahead.

Email marketing through the K-shaped COVID-19 recovery

As we head into 2021, COVID-19 continues to impact marketing strategies and budgets within…

As digital transformation continues to shape the new relationship between healthcare providers and their customers, upskill your pharma marketing team with the key digital skills and tools to improve performance

The question of the key digital skills and tools in the pharma industry is an ongoing challenge. Pharma marketing generalists plan and optimize marketing strategies, campaigns and product launches, requiring a T-shaped digital skillset and continuous professional development to oversee all marketing activity. Pharma digital specialists manage day-to-day optimization of key digital channels, the new front-line of customer engagement. Investment in tools and training for these staff is crucial for your company's growth. Of course, the breakdown of these channels will depend on your pharma company's positioning and target markets, which we will visit further on in the article.

Why invest in digital marketing for pharma?

Improved distribution of, and accessibility to, pharmaceutical data and information is accelerating customer-centric disruption…