Social Media Roundup: February 27, 2018

6 Email Marketing Predictions for 2018 from 6 Experts

Campaign Monitor, a provider of intelligent email marketing and automation software, asked 6 email marketing and automation experts what trends they expect for email marketing in 2018. Here are excerpts from what each had to say. For more details, click here.

1) The marketing funnel as we know it is dead

“For decades, marketers have subscribed to the notion of a marketing and sales funnel where leads enter into the top and customers emerge, like magic, from the bottom. … But guess what? Somewhere along the way, as more and more new digital marketing channels and tactics emerged, this neat little linear funnel quit working like it was supposed to. The marketing funnel as we know it is over. But marketers need not despair. A new marketing funnel has emerged and merges pre-purchase and post-purchase stages to present a complete view of the entire customer lifecycle. Multi-channel, multi-touch, multi-path customer journeys are the new marketing funnel.”
      Samantha Anderl, Senior Director, Acquisition Channels, Campaign Monitor

2) Email targeting will become turbocharged

“In 2018, email marketers will increase their use of automated emails, which are central to creating more email experiences. For example, successful programs are 108.5% more likely than less successful programs to generate at least half of their email marketing revenue from automated and transactional emails (17.1% vs. 8.2%), according to Litmus’ State of Email Survey of more than 3,500 global marketers. … Rather than viewing these emails unwisely as ‘set it and forget it’ programs, we’ll treat them as ‘review and improve’ programs, maximize their efficiency, and supercharge our impact.”
      Chad S. White, Research Director at Litmus and author of Email Marketing Rules

3) The journey to 1:1 personalization is on

“In 2018, I predict email personalization will start shifting heavily toward ‘what’s next’ instead of ‘what was.’ New machine learning and data science-based features and platforms will give email marketers the ability to harness their content and data to prophesize relevant information to mass audiences in a personal way.”
      Alex Williams, Creative Director, Trendline Interactive

4) Marketers will own the multi-channel experience like never before

“It’s a new age of lifecycle marketing and it’s going to be lit. … Instead of focusing solely on acquisition, marketers will be more accountable than ever for each customer touchpoint. From the first time marketers meet prospects, to purchase and pre-delivery, to loyalty and advocacy, even retention and win-back; all of these touchpoints will require the marketer to be present in order to deliver value to prospects every step of the way.”
      Philip Storey, Founder and CEO, Enchant

5) Predictive marketing metrics will become coveted by marketers

“Right now, marketers are campaign-oriented. They focus on measuring the success of campaigns above measuring the customer lifetime value (CLV). This happens for various reasons, one being that campaign metrics are easier to measure than individual customer lifetime value. … But not for long. Predictive marketing metrics, such as CLV calculation, will be vastly improved upon. Machine learning and AI will predict individual and group customer lifetime value — this is called Predictive CLV. So goodbye historical CLV and hello predictive CLV.”
      Kath Pay, CEO, Holistic Email Marketing

6) A new type of combined email marketing automation is rising

“Expect the line between marketing automation, email marketing, and CRM to blur as email and automation companies continue to expand their features. A new midfield of marketing technology players will emerge. That is great for marketers. It lowers the barrier to get more advanced functionality and start with smarter marketing.”
      Jordie van Rijn, Founder, emailvendorselection.com

Consumer Marketing Technology Roundup

• Diebold Nixdorf introduced order-taking kiosks for QSR and fast casual restaurants. The K-two kiosk, which debuted in January at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show, also automates routine tasks, operates 24/7, offers flexible configuration options, and can be set up as standalone or wall-mounted.
• Google AdWords is making life easier for marketers by allowing businesses to use customer addresses and phone numbers to target customers with ad campaigns. The AdWords Customer Match system previously worked only with email addresses. According to Phil Frost, writing in Target Marketing magazine, “Business owners who have loads of customer data, but not email addresses, can now launch remarketing campaigns that are often cheaper and more effective than standard pay-per-click ads.”
• LevelUp has debuted a broadcast service aimed at helping restaurants reach customers. Mama Fu’s and Togo’s are already using the platform, called Broadcast. According to the company, restaurant brands can now reach larger audiences of new consumers “by allowing them to browse live menus, order ahead, and pay directly from within a network of the world’s most popular and highly trafficked digital channels including Facebook, Messenger, Yelp, Foursquare, Amazon Alexa, Chase Pay, Apple Pay, Android Pay, and more.”
• Toast, a restaurant technology company, has partnered with SpeedETab (native mobile ordering, mobile payment, and analytic solutions for restaurants) to offer a white-label app that provides a frictionless way for customers to order ahead. In a press release, Aman Narang, president and co-founder of Toast, stated, “In our Toast Restaurant Technology in 2017 Report, we found that only 22 percent of restaurants offer a mobile pay or custom app payment option for guests, despite the fact that 58 percent of diners will nearly always use the option when it’s available. Toast and SpeedETab want to change that.”