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Key digital marketing trends to watch out for in 2025
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What’s going to be big in digital marketing space in the coming year? Epsilon’s team of experts put on their thinking caps and share their thoughts on the key trends to watch out for in 2025…

Esme Robinson, Director of Platform Solutions Epsilon:

Retail media on course to reach maturity

We have been talking about Retail Media for a few years now, with some commentators even suggesting the term is already outdated. But instead, should we be looking at it like a proud parent when a child finally reaches maturity?  Retail media has evolved from a secondary revenue stream into the core strategic driver for many retailers. Initially considered an add-on, retail media platforms now shape the entire business model, allowing retailers to leverage first-party data for targeted advertising.

Collaborations, like Curry’s partnership with Roku so brands to reach customers across Roku devices in the UK, including streaming players and Roku TV models, show how retailers are using retail media to reshape the customer journey​. Tesco’s efforts to introduce video ads on its site also signal a shift towards a content-rich retail environment that attracts and retains consumers. Retail media is no longer just about monetising digital space but crafting personalised experiences that foster customer loyalty​.

As it matures, retailers will refine product offerings and engage in precision targeting, making retail media a fundamental aspect of strategic planning. By embedding these media strategies into their core operations, retailers can drive long-term growth and strengthen consumer connections, marking a huge transformation in the retail landscape.

Maria Giacobbe, SVP, Business Development, Epsilon:

Make loyalty a journey not a destination

A one-size-fits-all approach to customer loyalty doesn’t work anymore. With consumers looking for value from brands, it’s becoming less about points and rewards and more about connecting with customers on an emotional level to win ‘share of heart’. Brands will need to see loyalty as an experience, not just a programme.

In our 2024 UK Customer Loyalty Index, we identified the fundamental loyalty drivers that predict future behaviour, including measures like quality, price, and service that must be on point. Aldi, who don’t have a loyalty program are a prime example of this having scored the highest out of the 10 brands within the grocery category in terms of attitudinal and behavioural loyalty.

Creating successful loyalty strategies will only be achieved by combining data-driven strategy and creativity. This way brands truly understand their audiences and deliver authentic engaging experiences that align both the brand and consumers’ values to create a shared sense of purpose. It also requires constant care and attention as loyalty is not a destination, but something that needs to evolve along with consumer attitudes.

Brands will have to tackle the CTV fragmentation challenge

This year we’ve seen new developments in the Connected TV (CTV) space, with Amazon Prime Video introducing ads and new interactive and shoppable formats, and the launch of the Freely service offering live and on-demand streaming. Netflix in the meantime saw a 150% rise in ad sales for 2023 after launching its lower-cost, ad-supported service, boosting revenue and stock performance. We can expect more developments in this space in the comping 12 months.

But with new opportunities come new challenges. Brands facing an increasingly fragmented CTV landscape will have to navigate multiple platforms to run media campaigns, potentially leading to overlapping budgets, and duplicated efforts. Fragmentation could also lead to discrepancies in metrics and difficulties in verifying where ads are being seen and weakening the consistency of brand messages.

To unlock its full potential, brands need a seamless, data-driven strategy across the entire customer journey. Accurately factoring in browsing habits, purchase history and engagement means better targeting and verification of user interactions, ensuring brands are reaching genuine audiences. Deeper insights into how long-term awareness impacts sales and lifetime value – going beyond traditional metrics like attention and recall – will be a real gamechanger, aligning brand awareness and performance more closely and ensuring money is well-spent.

The rise of ‘brandformance’

CTV is an ideal channel to drive the convergence of branding and performance marketing, known as ‘brandformance’, thanks to its ability to provide measurable outcomes from brand executions as we’re seeing with the introduction by Amazon Prime of shoppable formats.

This will become even more important as more brands shift their ad spend into streaming platforms. It’s predicted that CTV ad spend will surpass $42 billion by 2028. The enormous potential lies in CTV’s ability to combine brand building with precise targeting. For example, ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros Discovery are launching a new platform, which will feature major professional sporting events. Imagine the potential for brands to leverage the moment when viewers are watching a live sports game to offer an interactive, limited time offer via Deliveroo.

As more and more platforms come online and the market continues to evolve, streaming services will have their ‘golden age’ with advertisers. But it’s only with better targeting capabilities and enhanced audience engagement that ad-supported streaming can deliver on its promise and sustain demand.

Ben Foulkes, VP Digital, Epsilon:

Programmatic advertising: Time for a name change?

X, the platform formerly known as Twitter continues to lose advertisers over trust and brand safety concerns and this exodus shows no signs of slowing down. Recent Kantar data reveals that 26% of marketers globally plan to decrease their spending with X in 2025, while overall trust for X ads has fallen from 22% to 12% since 2022.

Advertisers are moving onto more reliable and less controversial platforms like TikTok and Instagram, while innovative brands like Spotify and Netflix are leaning into programmatic advertising on both buy and sell sides. But programmatic advertising is often misunderstood. Re-framing its capabilities, like precision targeting and real-time optimisation, or even renaming it, could do more to show off its value and relevance, distancing it from outdated perceptions.

Better data-driven approaches mean programmatic offers personalised and relevant ads that can enhance the user experience and drive results. For instance, in the realm of CTV, a scalable and accurate identity framework enables brands to forge long-term connections with individuals, allowing CTV efforts to be linked to measurable performance outcomes.

Sustainability will drive second-hand marketplaces

The popularity of buying second-hand is surging. Platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Vinted are thriving as people increasingly seek pre-owned items, especially younger, eco and cost-conscious shoppers, who prioritise sustainable choices.

Retailers are keen to capture this commerce, much of which currently occurs off their platforms. This approach not only meets demand but also allows retailers to broaden their product range and attract new audiences, fuelling their retail media flywheel with richer data insights supporting more personalised customer experiences.

One of the biggest advantages of this model is that retailers don’t need to invest heavily in stock acquisition or storage. Sellers manage the supply chain, enabling retailers to expand their offerings without significant operational costs, making it a highly efficient way to scale their business. Additionally, embracing second-hand commerce inevitably improves a retailer’s eco-friendly image, resonating with sustainability-focused consumers while supporting long-term brand loyalty.

Elliott Clayton, UK Managing Director, Epsilon:

Moving closer to ‘personalisation’ perfection

Brands know that personalisation is essential for winning and maintaining customer loyalty. Consumers expect them to understand their needs and preferences – and to target them with ads that are relevant and timely.

We are seeing some progress, but there are still some challenges according to a consumer study published by Epsilon this year. Consumers are still getting irrelevant ads. Nearly half (47%) see the same ads too often and more than half (56%) report they often scroll past promotions that don’t resonate with them. More concerning are the issues raised with the disruption caused by advertising with just over a third (34%) saying ads pop up at the worst possible time.

At the heart of effective personalisation is a ‘person-first’ identity approach, which fundamentally transforms how brands engage with consumers. At its core is first-party data, which gives brands a comprehensive view of each shopper so they can make the shopping experience more personal. It also reduces the reliance on third-party data sources, including third-party cookies that will eventually become obsolete despite Google’s U-turn this year.

Brands that embrace first-party data will build lasting connections with shoppers and get them closer to personalisation perfection. By creating a seamless, tailored experience that resonates with individual preferences, personalisation can transform from a mere marketing tactic into a powerful tool for loyalty.

Focus on younger generations at your peril

In a study on personalisation that Epsilon undertook earlier this year, we found that in some cases brands are too busy focusing on personalising their advertising for younger generations and failing to target older consumers. The survey of 2,000 UK consumers shows that 38% of 18-24s say brands have got better at personalisation, while just 11% of over 55s felt the same. Two-thirds (67%) of over 55s say most ads are irrelevant to them and they simply scroll past.

This could be a costly mistake for brands. The 2030 Forecast published by Ogilvy Consulting suggests that 60+ is the fastest growing and wealthiest demographic, representing a potentially lucrative ‘silver economy’ for brands. Advertisers must be careful not to take a one-size-fits-all approach. As with younger generations – Millennials, Gen X and Gen Alpha – brands must tap into their interests, experiences and aspirations while understanding that older people are also tech and social media savvy and enthusiastic online shoppers.

By 2025, it’s estimated that the global spending power of those aged 60 and older will reach the trillions. With time spent by this demographic online only increasing, DTC brands in particular have a real opportunity to target consumers with more disposable income. Tailoring products, services and experiences to this group can lead to greater customer loyalty, higher lifetime value and access to a market that is less price-sensitive and more focused on quality and service.

Finally, get rid of third party cookies in 2025!

The never ending flip-flopping on third party cookies over the last few years – including the latest U-turn by Google – is not helpful for anyone. If I could have just one wish for 2025, it would be to finally get rid of third party cookies, which just leads to poorly targeted audiences supported by poorly measured outcomes. It’s far too messy as it stands today.

As an industry we need to start focusing on first-party data where brands own the relationship with the consumer and can drive really meaningful communications with them. The net-net of this is better advertising, which is good for brands and retailers, and better quality communications, which is good for consumers.

Consumers want to be connected to the brands they like, so let’s make sure it’s done in the right way.

Personalised promotions are ‘twice as likely’ to convert UK shoppers
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While discount codes top UK consumers preferred promotions, offers that are personalised and tailored to a specific product a consumer has viewed are almost twice as likely to prompt a sale compared to general ‘range-wide’ discounts, according to a survey of over 1,500 shoppers.

Original research by AI-driven performance marketing solution Wunderkind, published in its 2024 Consumer Insights Report, revealed that demand for personalised promotions remains critical to re-engaging consumers in the online buying journey, with 83% more likely to purchase from brand messages that highlight exact products they have recently browsed.

And, according to the poll, almost half (49%) of UK consumers are more likely to make a purchase when they are offered personalised, product specific discounts for items they had already viewed, compared to a quarter (26%) who would be influenced to buy after receiving general, brand-wide promotions.

While discount codes remained the most effective promotional lever for 54% of UK consumers, the poll highlighted the role of personalisation and product-specific offers in promotional effectiveness.  Over a quarter (27%) would be prompted to convert by reminders or low stock warnings about items they had put in their online shopping baskets, while 22% said they would be persuaded to buy after receiving a ‘back in stock’ message about an item they had previously viewed.  Meanwhile, a further fifth (19%) of shoppers would be influenced by offers on new products promoted to them that were similar to products they had looked at previously.

Wulfric Light-Wilkinson, International General Manager of Wunderkind, said: “Despite falling inflation, consumers continue to display high-consideration buying behaviours, often taking longer to validate where and when to spend.  In this context, bringing customers back to the products they’ve shown the highest interest and intent towards becomes all the more important.  To do this effectively, retailers need to be able to identify that individual shopper – regardless of device or cookie status – and then retarget them with highly personalised triggered messages, at the right time and via the right channels.”

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Marketing execs ‘unprepared for future of personalisation’
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97% of digital marketing executives report they feel unprepared for this foundational shift in how companies will learn about consumers’ preferences and behaviour, and while 75% of consumers more likely to consider buying products from brands that personalise, 86% of executives believe their ability to run personalised marketing campaigns is inadequate.

That’s according to a recent survey conducted by Optimizely, which includes respondents from 1,000 marketing, eCommerce and IT executives in six markets – the US, UK, Germany, Sweden, Australia/New Zealand and Singapore. It comes at a pivotal moment for marketers as Google phases out cookies, AI emerges and regulatory threats grow.

“This report makes clear that brands are ill-prepared to navigate the emerging, generational shifts in the ways they can reach customers,” said Shafqat Islam, CMO at Optimizely. “While executives know that investing in personalisation and experimentation is key to survive in the new reality of digital experiences, they too often feel they don’t have a streamlined, intuitive toolkit to implement effective campaigns at scale. Accessing marketing solutions that create personalised digital platforms without third-party data will be key to thriving in the coming decades.”

Executives broadly agree that personalisation is key to an effective marketing strategy – 62% of respondents increased their personalisation budget since last year. They also recognise the specific benefits of experimentation within these efforts, including its ability to identify mistakes, (40%), allow for data-driven decisions (40%), test strategies before they’re employed (39%), personalise customer experiences (39%), and discover which personalisation strategies work (39%).

However, companies are still widely struggling to implement an effective personalisation strategy

  • Executives implementing real-time personalisation experiences face numerous challenges, including a lack of focused analytics (43%), difficulty scaling personalisation programmes (40%), and difficulty activating experiences in real-time (39%).
    • While 64% have begun implementing real-time personalisation strategies, just 9% have reached full implementation.
    • Many also face process-oriented obstacles: over a third (36%) cite disjointed workflows as a top challenge.
  • Just 26% of executives report having a unified definition of personalisation throughout their organisation.
    • While virtually all executives surveyed with a personalisation strategy are measuring their ROI, no single metric is used by even half of respondents, suggesting a broad uncertainty on how to understand and track success for these efforts.
  • 43% fear an ineffective personalisation campaign will result in reduced future marketing budgets.

Google’s phaseout will leave companies hard-pressed for the data they rely on. To succeed in the upcoming era digital marketing, brands will need to stop relying on third-party data, and instead focus on creative ways to develop campaigns based on data they can discern from consumers directly.

Read the full report here: https://www.optimizely.com/how-digital-leaders-are-thinking-about-personalization/.

Photo by Amélie Mourichon on Unsplash

SURVEY: 63% of marketers not prepared for cookieless personalisation
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63% of marketers still have no clear strategy for cookieless personalisation, despite Google’s announcement that it will begin phasing out support for third-party cookies in Chrome at the beginning of 2024.

That’s according to a survey from Optimizely that highlights the urgent need for marketers to reassess their personalisation strategies for 2024.

The research, which surveyed 100 UK marketing professionals across the UK, found that more than half (54%) also lack a clearly defined strategy for personalisation using first-party data. This indicates a critical gap in preparation for the post-cookie era, where personalised experiences will rely heavily on direct user interactions.

Currently, 83% of marketers feel that their current personalisation efforts are primarily based on assumptions about customers rather than data-driven insights. To prepare for the future, marketers will need to re-evaluate their personalisation technologies and transition from using third-party cookies to utilising first- and zero-party data.

This shift will require brands to securely manage and use the data that customers provide, which most marketers feel they can prepare for. The survey revealed that 73% of marketers believe privacy and personalisation can coexist – suggesting a growing awareness within the industry of the need to balance tailored experiences with robust privacy measures.

What is troubling, however, is that 74% of marketers express concerns about the obsolescence of their current personalisation technology – signalling the need for more reliable and privacy-conscious first-party data-based platforms.

Commenting on the findings, Shafqat Islam, CMO at Optimizely said: “With Google set to abandon cookies next year, now is the time for marketers to stop thinking in terms of third-party data, and start building campaigns and strategies around the data that consumers are open to sharing.

“Right now, 70% of marketers are combining multiple technologies to achieve their current level of personalisation. Having a single platform that integrates with – and brings data in from – each channel a brand has is critical in developing comprehensive customer identities and creating personalised experiences based on those real-time insights. Making these changes now will ensure brands are prepared for a cookieless future and are able to deliver the digital experiences that customers have come to expect.”

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Personalised packaging pioneer Penny Black secures £1.5M investment
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Personalised packaging start up Penny Black, which is aiming to transform mundane ecommerce parcels into engaging branded unboxing experiences, has secured additional £1.5 million investment from AGFA and VC investor ninepointfive.

Both investment funds were triggered by the partnerships and wins across the UK and Europe, with the business having shown steady month-on-month growth and attracted a number of new customers. These include sustainable toothbrush retailer SURI, gin brand Warner’s Distillery and health supplements retailer Zooki.

Retailers and third-party logistics centres (3PLs) have been attracted to the easy-to-use marketing technology to help differentiate themselves from competitors.

“The moment consumers open their order will be an opportunity for brands to entice and retain consumers, helping them drive more revenue from existing customers,” said Penny Black CEO, Douglas Franklin. “Our software seamlessly connects ecommerce stores, marketing tools, warehouse management systems and fulfilment centres, making sure brands can bring in customer data and create hyper-personalised experiences and printed material that delights customers the moment they open purchases.”

Penny Black’s marketing SaaS tool for ecommerce brands is already being deployed across Europe by global fulfilment providers like Radial, Elanders, I-Fulfilment and Schroeders.

“3PL companies currently struggle to personalise ecommerce packages and can’t do much beyond mass-printed, one-design, gift notes thrown inside. Our unique offering helps automate a revenue-boosting process for on-demand, beautifully-designed printouts, specifically geared towards each customer, location, product or package,” Franklin explains.

Recent trials of Penny Black’s solution showed that retailers saw a measurable uplift in online sales after running personalisation campaigns. The toothbrush retailer, SURI, used Penny Black inserts to drive customer referrals and saw referral share rates up to 30% per cent, driving more customers to discover the brand for the first time. Other brands managed to equate up to an additional £2.20 in revenue per insert sent.

“Penny Black’s personalised inserts increased the size of our loyal customer base by six times; and once customers are in the community, their lifetime value (of sales) automatically rises. We can invite loyal repeat buyers to join the club, interact with fellow customers and take them on a physical journey of education and delight,” says Krisi Smith, Co-Founder at British tea retailer Bird & Blend Tea Co.

“As a young direct-to-consumer brand, enhancing our unboxing experience is a crucial growth opportunity for us. With Penny Black’s platform, we’re already seeing some brilliant results and delighting our customers. The integration with our 3PL was super simple, the personalisation process is intuitive, and with regular testing and iterating, Penny Black has helped us unlock tremendous value through this channel,” says Gyve Safavi, Co-Founder and CEO of SURI.

“Penny Black has solved the problem of creating a personalised unpacking experience for consumers in the world of ecommerce. The technology allows us to produce highly personalised campaigns, printed on-demand in our distribution centres, with engaging communications that elevate the consumer experience. This adds value to the service we provide to brands and delivers a solution that few other 3PLs can rival,” says Kevin Rogers, MD of Elanders UK.

Reflecting on the company’s swift ascent, Douglas Franklin, CEO at Penny Black, added: “The moment consumers receive their online orders is the only touchpoint left for ecommerce brands to have a physical connection with them. Brands need to surprise and delight customers to secure their loyalty, especially when acquiring new ones can be so expensive. Riding the wave of global growth in ecommerce, we’re delighted to be attracting more interest. And this latest boost in investment will help us develop even further.”

The UK tech startup first launched in the UK and Europe in April 2022. AGFA and 9.5 had the vision to support the business with an initial investment of £1.3m in October 2022. This further £1.5m investment is to help accelerate growth.

WEBINAR: Personalization – Get heard above the digital noise
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CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR WEBINAR

In light of the current climate, business leaders globally are making significant changes to the day-to-day running of their organizations. The events industry is in hiatus, face to face meetings are not possible and your prospective customers are likely to be spending time in quieter offices with fewer colleagues around, or even working from home. 

It’s safe to say that now more than ever, marketers and consumers alike are relying on digital media and technology. So, for maximum success while working remotely, an enhanced digital strategy and innovative personalization software are absolute necessities to ensure keep your sales pipeline full.

At Webeo, we’re passionate about personalization. We know that, with the right strategy and tech, you’ll skyrocket your marketing measurables.  And, in turn, reap the rewards — whether that’s better engagement, increased conversions, higher retention-rate, or enhanced customer acquisition.

Whatever your business goals, personalization can help you cut through the noise. 

Webeo will be hosting a complimentary webinar, ‘Personalization: Get heard above the digital noise’ on Thursday 23rd April at 3pm BST.  Presented by Webeo’s Charlotte Everson, Social Influence and Rich Media Marketing Manager, Charlotte will share actionable insights on the following 

  • Remote working: what does it mean for B2B organizations?
  • Cutting through the noise with relevant content
  • Why your B2B website is your most valuable asset
  • Your digital personalization strategy
  • How personalization can support your business in a remote working world

Webeo would like to invite you to join them for this webinar. To register, please click on this link – https://www.webeo.com/personalization-heard-above-digital-noise

Live webinar details

  • Date: 23rd April 2020
  • Time: 3.00 pm BST

If you have any questions as to how Webeo can support you today, please get in touch with Webeo directly on enquiries@webeo.com.

For further information, please visit www.webeo.com

Consumers want personalised experiences at retail and shop accordingly
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Customers want to shop wherever and whenever they want with the benefits of both the digital and physical retail environments, according to a study by Boston Retail Partners.

The study found that 79% of consumers indicated that personalised service from a sales associate was an important factor in determining at which store they choose to shop.

Consumers understand that receiving personalised service requires retailers to identify them. While this has been the normal standard online or via mobile, identifying the customer in the store is a little more difficult and not as common.

Most retailers who identify customers in the store use the customers’ mobile phone as the identification tool paired with a combination of beacons, WiFi, MAC address, etc.

While 64% of consumers are comfortable with retailers identifying them via their mobile phone when they enter a store, as long as it means they are offered a personalized experience, only 37% of retailers are able to identify their customers prior to checkout.

The Boston Retail Partners report says customer identification is a requirement for any type of personalisation of the shopping experience – if a retailer can’t identify the customer until she is at the checkout then it’s too late to empower the associate to influence the current purchase decision.

Ken Morris, Principal at Boston Retail Partners, said: “Without early identification of the customer, retailers miss critical engagement opportunities to deliver a personalised customer experience and increase sales. And in today’s crowded and highly competitive market, personalization is a critical component for optimizing the customer’s shopping experience.

“The customer has spoken and she wants a personalised shopping experience in the store, how are you going to provide her that experience?”

Mailjet crowns Waitrose winner of best Christmas email campaign…
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The email service provider Mailjet has revealed that Waitrose is ahead of its competitor supermarkets in the email campaign stakes, analysing key metrics including the chain’s subject lines, automation, cross-channel marketing and personalisation.

Reaching a total score of 21.3 points out of an available 29.0, this marks the second consecutive victory for Waitrose in the study and represents a significant improvement on supermarket’s performance from last year, rising 10 per cent overall.

Mid-market brands Tesco and Asda closely followed Waitrose’s success, hitting 20.0 and 19.9 respectively, however, Marks & Spencer struggled to compete scoring just 17.4 in total.

With regards to emails prospecting new consumer audiences, the research places Morrisons and Sainsbury’s joint last as both failed to send any communications to consumers who haven’t yet purchased through their online shopping platforms.

Josie Scotchmer, UK marketing manager at Mailjet said: “Consumers buy from the brands they build emotional connections with, particularly during the Christmas season. With low scores in critical areas for digital marketing like personalisation and automation, many supermarkets are not making the most of their emails to engage consumers with powerful storytelling.

As Mailjet suggests there has been much discussion on the importance of campaign personalisation this year, just two of the total eight supermarkets surveyed registered a score above 0.0. Specifically, Asda fell short on the top spot for its lack of personalisation, losing five points by omitting any room to add personal messaging to the email in favour of a singularly product-focused, visual structure.

Scotchmer added: “Winning greater share of the market in run up to Christmas holiday relies on having an online and offline campaign that fires on all cylinders. There are opportunities for all of these brands to learn from one another and broaden their use of digital strategies to engage and build loyalty with consumers at this critical period in the retail calendar.”

Guest Blog, Nick Henderson: Traditional demographic data will always have its place…
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Traditional marketing can refer to the channel that is taken, or it can refer to the technique that is used to determine what to market and to who. While the channel of marketing has been an obvious transition from postal to online, what hasn’t been so obvious is the rise of utilising digital, rather than traditional demographic, data to make marketing decisions. More than a third of marketers are looking to shift spend from traditional mass advertising to more tailored advertising on digital channels (Salesforce, 2015).

Firstly, it is important to stress that traditional demographic data will always be necessary. Certain services and products have a target audience limited by age, gender or location, for example over-50s insurance, gender-specific products, or location-dependent offers such as a restaurant chain with multiple locations.

With marketers reporting that customer satisfaction and customer retention rates are both key digital marketing metrics for success (Salesforce, 2015), it is even more important to keep up with the ever-growing demand for a personalised user experience. 70 per cent of consumers want a more personalised shopping experience, and 60 per cent of consumers are comfortable with their digital data, such as their interests, being used by retailers so that they can receive more relevant offers throughout the year.

While traditional data has its place in a modern marketing world, this alone is not sufficient to provide true personalisation to your consumer base, and it often fails, resulting in drop-offs during the buying process, and a reduced sense of brand loyalty stemming from feeling unvalued as an individual. Assuming that an entire demographic group all hold the same interests is a huge mistake that can cost you thousands of customers. Not every millennial likes coffee cups with their name on; not every female loves pink; and not everyone living in London wants to see a West End musical. Offers based on demographic data like age, location or gender can result in communications being impersonal and consumers feeling frustrated. Research has found that targeting more specific emails to smaller groups of consumers results in higher open and click rates.

A way that businesses can get around these restrictions is by utilising big data analytics. Big data is a term which refers to a large set of unstructured data that requires advanced analytic techniques to derive meaning. One way to put it would be considering big data as a goldmine – there is a lot of value there but it is useless without the correct tools to extract it. Big data analytics is the process of getting gold bullion from this gold mine – where the gold bullion is the meaningful and actionable insight.  Big data is by no means a new term utilised by businesses, and it has been discussed, and even invested in for a long time. What businesses seem to be missing, however, is the right tools to extract meaning from it.

As mentioned earlier, consumers are increasingly becoming comfortable with having their online data utilised in return for a more personalised user experience. When comparing the depth of consumer insight that can be derived from a consumer digital footprint to the amount that is utilised in traditional marketing techniques (which is usually limited to sociodemographic data), there is no question that it would enable more effective personalisation. With the right analysis, businesses can gain real-time insight into consumer personality, their hobbies and interests, their life events, and more, all on top of the traditional sociodemographic data, and this is what is required to make the consumer experience truly personalised.

It is unlikely to be the case that traditional data in marketing will become obsolete to businesses, and this data can be used in conjunction with more advanced data mining techniques to enable more personalised targeted marketing based on deeper consumer insights.

On top of personalised marketing, this insight can be used to pre-fill application forms, detect and reduce fraudulent transactions, asses credit risk and boost financial inclusion, and personalise products based on customer interests, saving time for customers and increasing the chances of them completing an application or buying an item.

It’s important to remember that the acquisition process and using targeted marketing is only the start. Following through the consumer journey can go a long way to building customer loyalty. Understanding consumer behaviour based on personality, interests, and life events provides key indicators of what products and services they might be interested in. For example, if a TV and internet provider has real-time insight into its customers’ life events, it could identify which customers are going to university and market their services as a student bundle, ideal for multiple users streaming at once. Likewise, a coffee shop could identify which of its customers have upcoming exams and offer them a revision such as ‘skip the library: get your second coffee free for a stress-free revision session.’ This is just one of an endless list of examples of how businesses can leverage big data insights to create a personalised user experience.

By harnessing the power of big data businesses can personalise the user journey from sign-up, throughout the entire relationship and adapt alongside their consumers’ ever-changing needs. Real and effective personalisation isn’t just offering a football fan football tickets, it’s about offering a football fan tickets to their favourite team on their birthday.

 

Nick Henderson

Nick.henderson@hellosoda.com

0161 694 9747

www.hellosoda.com

 

Nick has over 13 years’ experience in sales and business development in credit risk, fraud and ID. Nick joined Hello Soda in July 2016 during an exciting time of growth for the business, and focuses on one of our core big data analytics products, PROFILE Personalisation, enabling businesses to empower consumers by providing an individualised user experience based on unique real-time insights.

Guest Blog, Thomas Jeanjean: People-based marketing – the death of demographics…
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For years, demographic targeting was at the vanguard of advertising strategies. Thanks to the growth of online and digital channels, brands found themselves able to segment an audience by age, gender and other factors, introducing a new level of sophistication to targeting. But as digital and traditional channels evolve at an incredible pace, the race is on to understand customers better than ever before.

Demographics still play an important role in how businesses communicate with consumers – after all, if you don’t have access to basic information about your target audience, you’re definitely missing a trick. But they are no longer enough…

Today’s consumers expect a much more personalised approach, and brands that target solely by the fact that a shopper is, for example, a woman in her 40s, risk their advertising being irrelevant or, worse, coming across as clichéd or stereotypical.

Any brand, whether big or small, has complex and ever-changing audiences that consume and shop in a range of ways. Each specific audience segment needs to be acknowledged and addressed but one size no longer fits all. In an age of personalisation, predictive technology and real-time updates, it’s all about looking forward and understanding the needs and aspirations of customers both old and new.

At this time of year the stakes get higher. As we prepare for peak season – the period from Black Friday through to Boxing Day sales – competition for consumers’ attention becomes even more fierce. Advertising that doesn’t align to their shopping preferences and interests will likely be disregarded in favour of more engaging messages.

The gifting mindset

The holidays, and particularly Christmas, triggers a shift in consumer mindset. All of a sudden, people stop shopping exclusively for themselves and switch to a ‘gifting’ mind-set.

This shift makes marketing hard to predict, but retargeting campaigns allow businesses to tap into the seasonal trend. Only 2 per cent of people make a purchase on their first visit to a site; retargeting is a way to reach the 98 per cent who are still making their mind up. This allows retailers to react to actual shopper behaviour and offer ads based on what they know a consumer is interested in, rather than what they have deduced via demographic segmentation.

Mobile optimisation

Today the path to purchase involves multiple devices including tablets, personal desktops, work computers and, of course, the mobile phone. In this multi-screened world, mobile has become the ultimate platform for these ‘cross-device’ shoppers to complete their purchases. So much so that people who use multiple devices to shop are at least 20 per cent more likely than average to complete a transaction on mobile. Particulalry as Christmas shopping fever strikes, people will instinctively act through the closest, most convenient device to buy this year’s ‘must have’ gift.

Here in the UK, over 50 per cent of all eCommerce transactions now take place on mobile and a staggering 2.5 million of us are buying on mobile every day. But just because these transactions are taking place on mobile, it doesn’t mean that the consumer journey is confined to the small screen. Many marketers struggle to track and uniquely identify individual shoppers across devices and therefore can’t tailor their experience accordingly. Consumers view a brand’s websites, apps, and online ads as part of the same experience meaning that marketers need to implement an effective cross-device strategy to be able to meet customer expectations and to optimise advertising. The key to cross-device success lies in a people-centric, not demographic, strategy.

What all of this means is that a site not optimised for mobile represents a missed opportunity and could result in a loss of custom, as exasperated shoppers abandon baskets in search of smoother experience elsewhere

As a rule for businesses looking to implement an effective mobile site, the fewer clicks a consumer has to make between adding something to their basket and making a purchase, the better. For example, allow customers to check out as a guest or, if someone has to make an account, ask them for as few details as possible, in the first instance.

Get ahead of the game

Demographics should still be factored in to campaign planning, but should be approached as just one piece of a complex jigsaw. Individuals need to be viewed by marketers as more than just an age, gender or geography. But incorporating technology, like re-targeting and attribution modelling, that are based on behaviour rather than assumption means businesses can target the individual, and not the sum of their parts.

So forget demographics and start targeting people. They’re the ones buying products after all. For growing businesses in particular, every single person is an opportunity and these steps are the first along the path to eCommerce success this Christmas, and beyond.

 

Thomas Jeanjean is regional managing director of the MidMarket business at Criteo. Prior to this, Thomas served as managing director for France and Southern Europe at Criteo. Thomas has over seven years’ experience in performance marketing and a wealth of experience working with fast growing small to medium-sized businesses.

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