Database Marketing

Five years ago, McKinsey published an article calling ad personalization at scale the “holy grail” of digital marketing for consumer product brands. In those lower customer acquisition cost (CAC) and spray-and-pray Facebook ad strategy days, it was only feasible for marketers at the largest brands to properly implement McKinsey’s recommendations. But that was five years…

Let’s talk about the positive side of digital advertising, as it deserves equal airtime. The advertising industry is on the precipice of a more transparent ecosystem. Instead of creepy targeted marketing, consumers expect honest, personalized tactics, which will ultimately drive engagement and revenue. Here’s the thing I’ve noticed: many consumers are happy with the inspiration…

From Amazon.com to Facebook, privacy is at the forefront of major corporations’ product and service updates. Even consumers are changing their purchasing behavior to pick devices and products that ensure their privacy is protected. In June, Apple unveiled a series of privacy leadership initiatives, which included its Mail Privacy Protection update. With this new update,…

In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Jennifer Lee-Harrison, vice president of demand generation at Carter's, and Youna Kim, senior director of integrated performance media at Merkle. Lee-Harrison and Kim discuss their backgrounds and current roles, their takes on the state of the retail industry heading into another COVID-impacted holiday season, and…

The supply chain challenges couldn't come at a worse time for businesses. After a slower-than-average holiday season last year due to the pandemic, suddenly businesses are faced with supply chain slowdowns that make it difficult for them to deliver their products to customers in a timely fashion. These challenges are particularly salient for the medium-sized…

Whether it’s purchasing holiday gifts, festive home décor or plane tickets, consumers begin opening their wallets liberally each fall in preparation for the holiday season. This year, retailers may experience an even bigger surge in consumer spending as restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic wane and people plan long-awaited celebrations with friends and family. While remaining…

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner. In fact, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF): 59 percent of consumers started shopping for the 2020 holidays in early November; and by late November, 85 percent of consumers had already started their 2020 holiday season shopping. Furthermore, despite the pandemic, 2020 holiday sales…

Big data is dumb. (oooh ... this guy is being provocative) OK, I’ll back off that statement a bit by saying: Big data is ambivalent. I’m picturing a giant robot with a stream of data flowing from its mouth. And below, marketers hoot and cheer and slosh around in a lake of information. But soon,…

For online retailers, 2020 was truly a banner year: Per eMarketer, the e-commerce market grew explosively, to the tune of 32.4 percent year-over-year. But let’s not take a victory lap just yet. We know the circumstances of 2020 accelerated consumers’ acclimation to online habits, including shopping — and that these are once-in-a-lifetime circumstances. In 2021,…

The pandemic has clearly been pushing people to conduct more activities online. And with one survey showing that 62 percent of shoppers purchase more online now than they did before COVID-19 hit, this shift is likely to have staying power. To secure the insights needed to drive revenue and remain competitive in an increasingly online…