As a business, you need to market your services beyond your own walls. However, you’re aware that you also need to comply with GDPR and PECR.
Many businesses are unsure how to apply Legitimate Interest for multichannel communications. Our new guide will help you to plan outreach campaigns that meet your personal data obligations.
So what exactly is Legitimate Interest, when can you use it, and how can you actually apply it?
Legitimate Interest can be a great option for some businesses, but you need to follow the proper steps to protect yourself, your business, and the rights of your data subjects. You will need to demonstrate that your interests are not overridden by the interests of the individuals in question. And you do that by carrying out a Legitimate Interest Assessment.
If you would like to discuss LIAs – or the GDPR at large – in more detail, and how the Regulations relate to your campaigns, please contact Nigel Copp at KPM Group.
Each month on Digital Marketing Briefing we’re shining the spotlight on different parts of the print and marketing sectors – and in November we’ll be focussing on Creative & Design.
It’s all part of our ‘Recommended’ editorial feature, designed to help marketing industry professionals find the best products and services available today.
So, if you specialise in Creative & Design solutions and would like to be included as part of this exciting new shop window, we’d love to hear from you – for more info, contact James Howe on j.howe@forumevents.co.uk.
Here are the areas we’ll be covering, month by month:
Nov – Creative & Design
Dec – Online Strategy
For more information on any of the above topics, contact James Howe on j.howe@forumevents.co.uk.
B2B marketers struggle to create and deliver multi-channel campaigns that successfully align with their marketing strategy.
This is despite an understanding that the ‘Integration Imperative’ is critical to achieving marketing goals, maximising exposure with target audiences and boosting return on investment.
That’s according to a survey by B2B agency Skout, which polled 100 senior UK marketing professionals and found that 63% feel they are not taking advantage of the different marketing channels available to them.
46% struggle to integrate channels, claiming that this is the biggest obstacle to successfully delivering their marketing activities.
Failure to create content that can actually be used across multiple channels was also identified as a challenge to successful integrated marketing.
40% of marketers don’t reuse content because they feel that it’s unsuitable for other formats, while 35% are concerned that content has lost its value after its initial use and don’t believe it can be used again.
32% blame ineffective campaign planning for not reusing content, suggesting that many marketers don’t fully consider their goals and objectives before developing content programmes.
Interestingly, 42% of marketers agree that using multiple marketing channels is the most important aspect of campaign integration. In comparison, 40% believe it’s the need for marketingand sales alignment and for 36% the imperative is good teamwork. Despite this, respondents admitted to not using content effectively.
For example, 85% of marketers think that case studies should be created for use across many channels for maximum impact. This could include video, podcast, website testimonials, long form PDFs and press stories all from one source. However, many felt these crucial content assets are significantly underutilised.
Reassuringly, 80% of marketing professionals agree that PR is a vital element of improving SEO and link building alongside building targeted brand awareness. 87% also agree that developing a PR programme can also improve social media performance.
However, 57% still struggle to integrate PR, social media, SEO and link building when planning and strategising. Over half of respondents understand the value of integrating channels – both online and offline – but many don’t know how to do it effectively, or feel that they can convey a consistent message across all outlets to achieve campaign goals.
97% of marketeers surveyed identified training, skills and budgets as the things holding them back from improved integrated marketing. Only 16% feel that they are equipped with sufficient training and skills, while just one in five believe that they have the adequate budget in place to support integrated marketing.
Claire Lamb, Director of Skout, said: “Clearly marketers realise the benefits of using multiple channels within their marketing programmes but many are struggling to integrate them effectively. If a business fails to communicate through all the correct channels to reach their audience they’re limiting the exposure of their content and brand. It’s also crucial to integrate Paid, Earned, Owned and Social media, so that they maximise their target audiences in more ways than one. If businesses don’t embrace and work across all channels together, their content won’t gain maximum reach, and they could miss out on new prospects.”
‘Don’t talk the talk if you’re not going to walk the walk’. This is the sentiment that consumers are expressing to their favourite brands. It’s all well and good talking about inclusivity, but if brand doesn’t make tangible steps towards an inclusive environment, then their customer base is likely to suffer.
It has been proven that millennials in particular tend to gravitate towards brands that can evidence their inclusivity efforts, rather than the companies that just make sweeping statements. So which brands are succeeding in this mission? Read on to find out…
Morrisons
In recent years, this supermarket chain has made some real changes, with a focus on its customers with autism. Morrisons introduced a new ‘Quieter Hour’ scheme across all of its stores in 2018, working alongside the National Autistic Society. The supermarket explained that it is aware that the experience of shopping can be a difficult one for those with autism, or parents with autistic children. At best, it can be an anxious endeavour; at worst, it can be overstimulating and terrifying.
Morrisons have attempted to lessen this potential stress by introducing a ‘Quieter Hour’ between 9am and 10am on Saturday mornings. During this time, the lights are dimmed, the music is turned off and tannoy announcements are reduced to the bare minimum.
Staff also reduce the movement of stock trollies and the checkout sounds are turned down. This makes for a quieter and hopefully more enjoyable experience for customers who find an excess of noise and movements a struggle to get through.
Jeffree Star Cosmetics
Jeffree Star cleverly utilised social media to achieve brand success. With 13 million YouTube subscribers, 3 million Twitter followers and 11.8 million Instagram followers, celebrity entrepreneur, make-up artist, and singer Jeffree Star has worked his way up to become one of the ‘original’ internet celebrities.
As a key figure in the LGBTQ+ community, Star has made countless efforts to give back to his LGBTQ+ fans. One of the best examples of this came in the form of his cosmetics company, Jeffree Star Cosmetics, partnering with the Los Angeles LGBT Centre. Star launched a new product bundle specifically for this — the rainbow-coloured ‘Equality’ bundle, which contained a rainbow of liquid lip products. Proceeds up to $125,000 were donated to the centre in June 2018.
Utilising the money he earned through discount code links with Jouer, Star donated towards the centre as well. Given his popularity among the digital generations, it’s clear that Star knows exactly what his customers want — for the brands and icons they follow to make meaningful gestures towards solving social problems.
Gola Shoes
Veganism has taken the world by storm in 2019, and brands such as Gola have not been left behind. According to statistics from the Vegan Society, the number of British vegans had quadrupled from 2014–2018. But while most news headlines concerning veganism tend to be around the growing choice of food options available meat and dairy free, brands are also increasingly aware of their own products containing animal products.
Gola has asserted itself as a trailblazer in terms of vegan trainers. With their new online ‘vegan’ badge and dedicated vegan section, customers can easily locate a range of footwear options that are free from animal materials and components. The shoes have undergone intensive Ve-MAP chemical testing that identifies any trace of animal DNA from chemicals within Gola’s footwear and the manufacturing process, meaning customers can be assured of their purchase.
In addition, all Gola vegan styles are registered with the Vegan Society, the oldest vegan organisation in the world. Founded in 1944 the Vegan Society is a world leader in its field and Gola has partnered with them to give customers additional reassurances.
Hopefully, the amount of brands making actionable changes towards inclusivity will only increase. While companies and brands can’t, and shouldn’t, present themselves to be resolving these societal problems entirely, their efforts to stand for something certainly don’t go unnoticed.
Running a successful direct mail campaign requires a considered planning, creative and evaluation. But targeting remains crucial – success will depend on getting your message in front of the right audience.
Direct mail remains a great way to achieve this – it continues to deliver in today’s digital, post-GDPR world. You can safely use mail as a lead generator and to direct people online. Direct mail is not subject to the same data restrictions as email, so it is easier to implement and stands out from crowded inboxes.
Define your strategy
The most successful campaigns span multiple channels, reaching customers across a variety of touchpoints.
Your campaign will achieve more if it has a clear goal. Perhaps you’d like to reactivate lapsed customers, or promote a retention or loyalty initiative? Maybe you have a coupon or offer code? Talk to your print provider at the start about what you want to accomplish. They can help to define a strategy that best utilises mail at key points in your customer journey.
Develop buyer personas
A key step in identifying your audience is to develop buyer personas. It is worth spending considerable time and thought on these to establish a few different potential buyers.
They should be based on your own customer data, and include demographics such as age, income, occupation, location, gender etc. A good persona will go beyond demographics and also include behavioural insight:
What are the customer’s goals and challenges?
How can your business help them to achieve or overcome these?
What common objections or barriers there are to purchase?
Your marketing message should address these points. Whether your company is targeting senior business executives, fitness enthusiasts or charity donors, the important point is to determine how the ideal customer feels, what they need, and how you can help.
Ensure good data management
Direct mail offers a huge opportunity to reach your audience, providing that your campaign is well-targeted. Forbes reports that 82% of direct mail is read for a minute or more, so it’s important that your data is accurate.
Remember too that unlike email, you can send direct mail to customers without their explicit consent. Direct mail gives you more freedom to connect and engage with customers, and then to direct people to digital.
Of course, personal data is subject to the data protection terms of the GDPR, so you will need to prove a legitimate interest.
Segment for improved results
You can target your mailing more accurately by segmenting your data, depending on the profiles and buying behaviour of your buyer personas. Messaging can then be tailored to very specific groups about their needs; helping you to achieve the goal of ‘right message, right audience, right time’.
Personalisation can also be utilised here. It is possible to tailor messages with dynamic content including images, offers and formats that will better resonate with them personally – increasing your chance of a higher response rate and return.
Segmentation will help you to send relevant, useful direct mail to each recipient, rather than wasting vital resources and money.
In summary
It is essential to target your message at the people most likely to respond to avoid wastage and increase response rates. These may be existing customers, but even then there are various profiles from repeat, regular purchasers to infrequent spenders that you may wish to target separately. For new business, you need to identify people who match the profile of your existing customers.
The most effective direct mail campaigns are created using considered planning, fuelled by data insight. We can help your message to reach the right people, and ensure an integrated approach across platforms – making the most of your marketing budget.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to claim you complimentary guest pass to the Print & Digital Innovations Summit – we have just five places left for senior print and marketing professionals to attend for free.
This unique one-day event takes place on November 14th at the Hilton London Canary Wharf.
Meet with innovative suppliers for a series of face-to-face, pre-arranged meetings based on your own requirements.
Network with like-minded peers.
Attend a series of insightful seminar sessions.
Receive complimentary lunch and refreshments.
Our seminar programme includes:
Unconventional Leadership – by Motivational Speaker Danny Bent Grow Like A Badass Unicorn: How To Unleash Your Potential Like A Start-Up – by Alice ter Haar, Deliveroo
You will be joining representatives from the likes of:
Taking place on May 12th at the Hilton London Canary Wharf, the Digital Marketing Solutions Summit allows senior marketing professionals to share forward-thinking ideas, meet new partners and discover new ways to underpin their security strategies.
It’s entirely FREE for you to attend and your complimentary guest pass includes:
A bespoke itinerary of pre-arranged meetings with product and service providers who match your requirements and upcoming projects
Access to a series of seminars by industry thought-leaders
Ometria, a London-based customer marketing platform for retailers, has closed a Series B funding round worth $21m.
The round was led by Octopus Ventures, with existing investors Sonae IM, Summit Action, Samos and Adjuvo, as well as ten early angel investors, making further investments.
Marieke Christmann from Octopus Ventures and Eduardo Piedade from Sonae IM will both join Ometria’s board.
Ometria says the funding will be used to accelerate its product development, expanding the platform’s retail marketing capabilities and AI-based technology for its 200 retailer clients.
The company says it was founded on the realisation that consumers will no longer tolerate the torrent of communication that has no relevance to what they are interested in. It says marketers need to take responsibility for the impact of every communication they send, and be empowered to ensure that every marketing experience they create for any customer is a positive one.
Ometria’s CEO and Founder Ivan Mazour said: “We’re all overloaded with information and communication, it’s relentless and must be addressed. Retail marketing has contributed heavily to this, with most marketing experiences being ones we simply don’t enjoy.
“I’m proud that Ometria solves this ever increasing problem for hundreds of retailers, and hundreds of millions of customers. I’m incredibly excited that Octopus Ventures has partnered with us to help even more retailers make sure that their customers have marketing experiences they truly love.”
Each month on Digital Marketing Briefing we’re shining the spotlight on different parts of the print and marketing sectors – and in October we’ll be focussing on Brochure Printing.
It’s all part of our ‘Recommended’ editorial feature, designed to help marketing industry professionals find the best products and services available today.
So, if you specialise in Brochure Printing solutions and would like to be included as part of this exciting new shop window, we’d love to hear from you – for more info, contact James Howe on j.howe@forumevents.co.uk.
Here are the areas we’ll be covering, month by month:
Oct – Brochure Printing
Nov – Creative & Design
Dec – Online Strategy
For more information on any of the above topics, contact James Howe on j.howe@forumevents.co.uk.
This one-day Print & Digital Innovations Summit will give you the opportunity to meet with budget-saving suppliers, face-to-face, based on your own individual requirements.
14 November – Hilton London Canary Wharf
No time wasted. And no hard sell.
It’s free for you to attend, plus lunch, refreshments are included.
The suppliers attending will cover the full range of solutions you may require, and include:
Adare International – Marketing solutions
Augustus Martin – POS
Blink Print – End-to-end production
CCM – Print, creative & office supplies
Cubiquity – Creative design & printing
Eclipse Colour Print – Commercial print
ESM Branding – Promotional merchandise
First Move Direct Marketing – Direct Marketing
Geoff Neal – Print & design
Go Inspire Solutions – Marketing & print solutions
JPS – Print management
KNP Litho – Printing & mailing solutions
KPM Group – Direct mail
Latcham Direct – Digital & print marketing services
Linney – Multichannel marketing services
MRS Digital – Digital marketing
New Perspective Media – Print & digital publishing
Premier Paper Group – Paper merchant
SMP Group – Digital, screen & litho printing
This is one day of ‘speed dating’ for business, and you’ll also have the opportunity to attend inspirational seminar sessions and network with like-minded professionals throughout the event.
