Consumer Marketing

SUMMARY: Even when you have the same marketing message for prospects and existing customers, you may need to reach these groups through different channels.

Read how a state-based student lender launched an integrated email, direct mail and advertising campaign to drive traffic to an online loan application microsite. They attracted current customers and new prospects to the site and achieved a 20% conversion rate. Includes samples and metrics from emails they used. read the complete case study

SUMMARY: Purchases made with stolen credit cards and other forms of fraud can reduce your ecommerce profits and tarnish your brand. But you can fight fraud with some old fashioned teamwork.

We asked several online fraud-prevention experts to describe how marketers and fraud-detection teams can collaborate to fight the problem -- without hampering marketing initiatives or the customer experience. Includes tips on communication between teams, and how to test the potential impact of fraud-prevention rules. read the complete article

SUMMARY: "Lower-income shoppers are the fastest-growing income group in the United States and will generate $84 billion in incremental spending during the next decade." "During the third quarter of 2008, CPG spending and private label performance has improved, which is a trend being led by lower-income shoppers." view the complete research record

SUMMARY: The traditional marketing funnel is broken, says Joseph Jaffe, marketing consultant and author. Its emphasis on customer acquisition means marketers spend most of their time looking for new customers rather than nurturing the ones they already have.

Changing this marketing paradigm is the call-to-arms of Jaffe’s latest marketing book, “Flip the Funnel,” which officially launched with a keynote presentation at MarketingSherpa’s Email Summit in Miami last week. We sat down with him for an interview following his speech to learn more, and to outline five key strategies for changing your company’s marketing focus. read the complete interview

SUMMARY: We continue our look back at 2009, with a focus on how B2C marketers adapted to the challenges of the recession and gained new insights into emerging channels, such as social media and mobile marketing.

Here are links to five B2C articles from 2009 that show how marketers can boost conversions even when consumer spending is down, and can optimize existing tactics while testing new campaign strategies. read the complete article

While this is just one consumer’s complaint, it’s something to think about. “Rob” recently was quoted in a Consumerist post about how Amazon ruined his wife’s surprise Christmas present by sending email recommendations relevant to the gift he purchased.

His wife saw a subject line referring to the surprise gift (a TomTom GPS) on the couple’s shared Google homepage enabled with an iGoogle email widget showing recent emails.

I suppose one could argue that it’s... read the complete blog post