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What Will Get Us to the Other Side of This Pandemic? PM 4 0 0 5 0 8 0 3
VOL. 33 • NO. 4 • APRIL 2020
THE AUTHORITY ON DATA-DRIVEN ENGAGEMENT & OPERATIONS
During Times of Uncertainty, Marketers Continue to Make Costly Mistakes ❱ 10 ❱ 8 What Marketers Need to
Know About Cloud Computing: Darker Skies Ahead?
❱ 9 Pop-Up Retail: It’s
Time to Go Where Your Customers Gather
❱ 11 Six Ways to Align Your Sales
and Marketing Teams Through Marketing Automation
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Vol. 33 | No. 4 | April 2020 EDITOR Brendan Read - brendan@dmn.ca PRESIDENT Steve Lloyd - steve@dmn.ca
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Canadian Chamber of Commerce Pop-Up Retail: It’s Time to Go Partners with Salesforce to Offer Where Your Customers Gather $10K Lifeline to Help 62 Small Businesses Recover from COVID-19 MANAGEMENT Downturn
DESIGN / PRODUCTION Jennifer O’Neill - jennifer@dmn.ca
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RETAIL MARKETING
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COVID-19 is Rapidly Reshaping U.S. Consumer Banking and Payments Behaviors, New FIS Survey Finds
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How and Why Online Payment Processing Helps Financial Services Marketers Cope With The Coronavirus Pandemic
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During Times of Uncertainty, Marketers Continue to Make Costly Mistakes
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Six Ways to Align Your Sales and Marketing Teams Through Marketing Automation
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Make Your Customers Your Competitive Edge
Twitter: @DMNewsCanada
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What Marketers Need to Know About Cloud Computing: Darker Skies Ahead? APRIL 2020
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What Will Get Us to the Other Side of This Pandemic? DMN.CA ❰
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INDUSTRY NEWS
Canadian Chamber of Commerce partners with Salesforce to offer $10K lifeline to help 62 small businesses recover from COVID-19 downturn Small businesses are the heart of Canadian communities and the backbone of Canada’s economy. Canadians everywhere have been supporting their local businesses throughout COVID19, from ordering take-out to buying gift cards. Civicminded organizations with the resources and means are also pitching in. Today, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canada’s leading and most representative business association, announced a new program, the Canadian Business Resilience Network Small Business Relief Fund, to provide small Canadian businesses from coast to coast to coast with $10,000 grants to help their recovery efforts during these unprecedented times. The applications that best demonstrate how the funds will help the businesses, their employees and their communities will receive the funding. The initiative, through the generosity of Salesforce will help 62 small Canadian businesses recover and support their resilience, for a total of $620,000 in funds. Businesses can use the $10,000 grants to support their recovery efforts, including paying salaries, acquiring safety and personal protective equipment for staff, replenishing materials or paying for the measures required to adapt business models to the economic impacts of COVID-19,
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among other key priorities. “During the COVID-19 crisis, the Canadian Chamber’s mission is to help as many businesses as possible stay afloat and remain open. Small business owners put everything they have into their businesses, and these grants will help give a little bit back to them. Good people coming together is how Canadians have managed this crisis, and the Canadian Chamber and Salesforce are following their lead, one business at a time,” said Perrin Beatty, President and CEO, Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “We care deeply about the challenges small businesses across Canada are facing as a result of the pandemic and recognize that they have been hit especially hard,” said Margaret Stuart, Canada Country Manager, Salesforce. “With this initiative, our focus is supporting the resilience of Canadian small businesses owners and helping them recover. Small businesses are some of Canada’s most innovative and hardworking communities, and it is our priority to help them get back to work safely and prepare for Canada’s next normal.” “Small business owners and entrepreneurs are innovative and resilient. To support the businesses who make our communities strong, our
government has taken decisive action to help them keep their costs low, keep their teams together, and keep up with their operational expenses,” said Mary Ng, the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade. “With the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Salesforce stepping up, even more small business owners are going to get the help they need at this critical time. We’re all in this together, and we’re going to be here for small businesses every step of the way.” The grant will be targeted at small, for-profit businesses that have been operating for several years and are now experiencing challenges because of COVID19. The application period will open on June 1, 2020 on the CBRN website and will close on June 12, 2020. The successful applicants will be announced in late June to early July 2020, with the funds being transferred to the successful applicants shortly thereafter. The announcement comes on the heels of a global announcement by Salesforce to distribute a total of $5 million USD dollars to small business owners internationally. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce established the Canadian Business Resilience Network (CBRN) in partnership with the Government of Canada to help the business community
prepare, persevere and, ultimately, prosper in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CBRN is a coordinated, business-led, inclusive campaign that will focus on providing businesses the tools they need to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on them, our economy and communities across the country. Its goal is also to help businesses emerge from this crisis and drive Canada’s economic recovery. ABOUT SALESFORCE - Salesforce is the global
leader in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), bringing companies closer to their customers in the digital age. Founded in 1999, Salesforce enables companies of every size and industry to take advantage of powerful technologies—cloud, mobile, social, internet of things, artificial intelligence, voice and blockchain—to create a 360-degree view of their customers. ABOUT THE CANADIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
– Because Business Matters. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce helps build the businesses that support our families, our communities and our country. We do this by influencing government policy, by providing essential business services and by connecting businesses to information they can use, to opportunities for growth and to a network of local chambers, businesses, decisionmakers and peers from across the country, in every sector of the economy and at all levels of government, as well as internationally. We are unapologetic in our support for business and the vital role it plays in building and sustaining our great nation.
APRIL 2020
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PAYMENTS
COVID-19 is Rapidly Reshaping U.S. Consumer Banking and Payments Behaviors, New FIS Survey Finds
T
he COVID-19 pandemic and government measures to slow its spread are altering the way Americans bank, pay and shop on an unprecedented scale and with rapid speed, according to a survey released by financial services technology leader FIS. FIS surveyed more than 1,000 American consumers about the ways they are paying and banking amid social distancing and stay-at-home actions taken across the U.S. since the COVID-19 outbreak. The findings indicate that the pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of banking and commerce, and that these adjustments likely will not be temporary but rather mark a new normal in consumer behavior in a
post COVID-19 marketplace. More than 45 percent of banked respondents stated they have changed how they interact with their bank since the outbreak of the pandemic. These findings were true across all generations surveyed, with 46 percent of Baby Boomers, 39 percent of Gen Xers, and 35 percent of Millennials saying they are using new channels such as online and mobile to do their banking. The FIS survey also found that consumers are flocking to mobile wallets and contactless payment methods to avoid the exchange of paper money or checks during the current pandemic. Forty-five percent of survey respondents said they are using a mobile wallet
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of some type and 16 percent indicated they are now using paper-based currency less than before the pandemic. Additionally, 31 percent of respondents said they would use contactless or mobile wallet payments instead of cash and checks in the aftermath of COVID-19. Other notable survey findings: ❯❯ 40 percent of survey respondents said they will shop online more in the future than in store ❯❯ 38 percent said they will rely on food delivery services and takeout more often than they did before the pandemic ❯❯ 65 percent of respondents cannot meet financial obligations for longer than six months, notably 74 percent of Millennials and 76 percent of Gen Xers say they do not have enough savings to last longer than six months These survey findings are consistent with internal data that FIS has seen within its own client base. In mid-April, when the first U.S. Federal stimulus payments were going out to American taxpayers, FIS saw a more than twofold surge in first-time consumer usage of mobile banking apps by its clients. “The impact of COVID-19 has rapidly accelerated trends that we have been seeing for years in terms
of banking and digital payments,” said Mladen Vladic, General Manager, Loyalty, FIS. “Once consumers begin using convenient new digital services, few tend to go back to their old habits, so we expect this to be the new normal going forward. We are now further along on our path towards becoming a cashless society in the U.S., and perhaps looking at the end of the paper check altogether. These findings should be a wake-up call for organizations about the importance of taking a digitalfirst approach. Now is the time for banks and merchants to be reassessing customer experiences.”
ABOUT THE DATA - Figures quoted are from the
survey results of 1,030 consumers across the United States between the dates April 3-5 through the Ipsos KnowledgePanel Omnibus study. ABOUT FIS - FIS is a leading provider of
technology solutions for merchants, banks and capital markets firms globally. Our more than 55,000 people are dedicated to advancing the way the world pays, banks and invests by applying our scale, deep expertise and data-driven insights. We help our clients use technology in innovative ways to solve business-critical challenges and deliver superior experiences for their customers. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, FIS is a Fortune 500® company and is a member of Standard & Poor’s 500® Index. To learn more, visit www.fisglobal.com. Follow FIS on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@FISGlobal).
Payments Update What’s Going On in America?
Changing behaviors in changing times: 45 percent of banked respondents said they have changed the way they interact with their banks since the coronavirus outbreak. Digital first is the new normal: 31 percent of respondents stated they would continue to use more online and mobile banking in the future, and 40 percent said they are likely to shop online more than in-store. APRIL 2020
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Make Your Customers Your Competitive Edge BY RYAN LAZAR
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n an economy that has been brought to a standstill by COVID-19, there is no such thing as “business as usual.” Many Canadian organizations have hit ‘pause’ during the global pandemic, but others are using the slowdown to reevaluate and revamp their operations. While these businesses have always “done their best” to serve and satisfy their customers, this moment of reflection has made them realize that they’ve never actually invested in creating high-touch, high-value customer experiences. Almost half (43 percent) of consumers would pay more for more convenient customer experiences, according to PricewaterhouseCooper, and one in three (32 percent) people will actually stop doing business with a brand they love after just one bad experience. With consumer demand showing that ‘experience’ can be an unrivalled competitive differentiator, now’s the time for companies to invest in this integral, often overlooked, area of their business. Collect personalized feedback along the customer journey Many Canadian businesses have started to realize the limits of customer satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys, which roll out annually and collect general sentiments about a brand that are usually out of date by the time they’re actioned on. Instead, leading organizations are now using tools that allow APRIL 2020
them to segment their customers (platinum, gold, silver, etc.) and collect insights across different touchpoints of the customer journey. A retailer, for example, could ask customers for specifics regarding the speed of the checkout process, if they found the items they were looking for, and if the store’s employees were helpful. At Qualtrics, we call our software a listening platform because the goal is to avoid “survey fatigue” by making the entire experience feel more conversational. By personalizing communication to different types of customers on the channels they prefer (SMS, email, within an app, etc.), we help brands collect actionable feedback throughout the customer journey. This is a process that customers appreciate as well. Act on customer insights in real time The most important part of collecting feedback is acting on it, and not just acting on it, but acting on it in a timely manner so it’s still top of mind or relevant to your customers. According to The Social Habit, 32 percent of people who contact a brand, product or company through social media for customer support expect a response within 30 minutes, and 42 percent expect a response within an hour. We operate in a much quicker world today so when a negative customer experience occurs, businesses must be able to close the loop fast. The key benefit of using a software-first platform like Qualtrics is being able to learn where you’re underperforming in
real time so you can address any problem areas immediately with tactical solutions. By allowing you to dive under the hood with data specific to region, market, store or team, our software helps organizations get ahead of emerging trends that might be negatively impacting customer experience. Incorporate employee experience The biggest mistake businesses make when trying to deliver high-value customer experiences is failing to consider employee experience. Tackling one without the other is kind of like dipping your toe in the water. A satisfied employee will create great products and deliver fantastic service, which means your customers are going to be very satisfied, which means you will have an incredible brand. They all tie in together. Consider the frontline employees who interact with customers more than anyone in an organization. When you allow staff to provide regular feedback on how to improve service levels, and then action on their suggestions in a timely manner, that can be an incredibly empowering experience for your team members. The same goes for businesses that are rolling out new technology across the organization. Collecting real-time feedback from your employees could be the difference between a successful digital transformation and a failed implementation. In a recent company survey, millennials told us they want to be asked for their feedback at least four times a year, or once a quarter.
See the whole picture There’s often an astounding disparity between how businesses think customers feel about their products and services compared to how they actually feel. For instance, 80 percent of CEOs believe they have a great customer experience, but only eight percent of customers feel the same. This is a stat I often use to illustrate the ‘experience gap’ in the market today. And it is my belief that many Canadian businesses are falling short because they haven’t been able to automate actions across business functions to drive improvement in customer, employee, product, and brand experiences. What I’m describing is the relatively new and growing field of Experience Management (XM). Today, over 11,000 organizations around the world are using XM software to listen, understand and action on experience data. This data provides an up-to-date snapshot of the beliefs, emotions and intentions of employees and customers, helping businesses comprehend why things are happening across their company in real time, while instantly figuring out what steps to take next. In a post-COVID world, companies will be eager to hit the ground running and make up for lost profits. By using these murky times to prioritize ‘experience’ across your organization, you can better position your business to deliver the kind of high-touch, high-value customer experiences that people now expect. RYAN LAZAR is Area VP of Sales in Canada
for Qualtrics. DMN.CA ❰
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CLOUD COMPUTING
What Marketers Need to Know About Cloud Computing: Darker Skies Ahead? ❯❯
BY JOHN INGOLD AND MICHAEL MOERMAN
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anada’s highly concentrated financial services market is dominated by the top 11: Six Domestic Systematically Important Banks (D-SIBs), one large foreign bank, one large regional co-operative, and three large life insurance entities. The fear for many is that darker skies are ahead, driven by concentration risk, coupled with a lack of transparency to actual cloud providers’ risk profile. Other risks such as privacy, security, and regulatory compliance, especially during these times, are well known to the industry and regulators. Many cloud providers have established dedicated sites in Canada now, which avoids financial institutions having to move data cross-border, and many of these providers certify for SOC 2 and ISO27001 compliance as well as financial industry and health privacy standards (e.g., PIPEDA, HIPA, etc.). What is it? Cloud computing isn’t going anywhere. Financial services firms have embraced the cloud in many different ways, realizing benefits, including: ❯❯ Reduced costs and complexity ❯❯ Accelerated change including ability to efficiently scale ❯❯ Improved efficiency, access, security, resiliency It comes in many forms, including private, public, community and hybrid. Cloud services models include: ❯❯ Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – such as flexible processing capacity, communication networks, storage either as dedicated hardware or ‘virtualized’ resources ❱ DMN.CA
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Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) – provision of standardized and/or automated building blocks, optimized by the service provider Platform as a Service (PaaS) – provision of hardware and software tools to support development activities Software as a Service (SaaS) - including application management and maintenance
While no definitive ranking of cloud providers exists in Canada, they can be grouped into: ❯❯ Leaders/big tech – Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft ❯❯ Telecom – Bell, Telus ❯❯ Specialized – Long View, CentriLogic ❯❯ Software as a Service solution providers – Oracle, Salesforce, Temenos, Workday While at first glance, the above list seems to offer a wide range of potential diversification, it’s essential to do a deep dive on concentration risk. Cloud service providers and, more broadly, fintechs currently operate in a loose regulatory oversight framework. Concentration: Concentration risk is the risk arising from having many cloud services provided by a single vendor that could fail to perform adequately and potentially lead to disruption in services. Having a single vendor may enable better pricing, access to specialists, potentially more influence on vendor strategy and product direction, and less administrative burden – regarding periodic reviews. However in a worst-case scenario, said critical cloud services providers could be unable to perform the contracted services for their clients, leading to significant disruption to the financial institution and potential ripple effects to the market at large
if more than one such institution is impacted. Canadian financial institutions have, to a degree, utilized similar cloud services providers to address technology modernization initiatives, leading to cross entity concentration risk. Some examples: ❯❯ Leaders/big tech: All major financial institutions utilize Microsoft Office 365. ❯❯ SaaS: Workday’s Human Capital Management SaaS has been implemented by six of the top 11 financial institutions. Most financial institutions are adopting Salesforce not only as a CRM platform but as a toolkit to build different solutions for their workforce. ❯❯ IaaS: Many Canadian financial institutions use one of the Big Tech providers for IaaS. This risk can be partly reduced by proper due diligence and continued oversight of the cloud services providers, as well as acting on early warning signals. You can reduce the risk further by having a well-defined cloud strategy that utilizes multiple ‘best fit’ cloud services providers. In this era of consolidation and rapid technological change, we encourage a focus on diversification and resiliency testing. By focusing on these areas, you can ensure the financial institution can repatriate or transition out services to move from one cloud service provider to another if required.
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Contract review: For new/ existing contracts with cloud service providers ensure transition out services are specified Resiliency testing: Establishing robust playbooks, risk scenarios and testability help speed up recovery. This includes testing transition services between cloud providers. Consider alternatives to cloud-based services as part of your business continuity planning and disaster recovery solutions do not solely rely on the ability to switch to a different cloud region within the same cloud provider. Establish portability: Enable moving workloads across platforms through effective design and execution through container orchestration Key risk indicator (KRI) tracking: Define and monitor common KRIs across all cloud service providers
Taking these steps can help organizations establish trust in their technology and maintain a secure operations environment. JOHN INGOLD has been focused on delivery of
business and technology consulting services to financial services and public sector clients in the Canadian market and globally for over 30 years. John is a senior professional with experience leading transformation programs focused on risk management, finance, compliance, enabled by large program management delivery and technology implementation experience. MICHAEL MOERMAN is Capco’s technology
What should you do? There are ways to address these risks and ‘brighten the sky’: ❯❯ Multi-vendor: Establish a multi-vendor cloud strategy to limit concentration risk ❯❯ Due diligence: Ask cloud service providers about in-market plans, transition out services and speak to selected relevant customers
practice Lead. He has over 15 years of experience architecting, designing and developing software solutions, and over five years of experience managing various aspects of the development lifecycle of medium and large-scale software solutions from the front-office to the back-office for financial institutions in Asia, Europe and Canada.
APRIL 2020
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RETAIL MARKETING
Pop-Up Retail: It’s Time to Go Where Your Customers Gather BY DAVE BRUNO
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or retailers in Canada — and many other countries around the world — increasing foot traffic is challenging given the rise of online shopping. In response to this, shopping centres are being redeveloped as community hubs, offering an immersive lifestyle experience beyond pure retail. Research from the International Council of Shopping Centres supports this, finding that 87 percent of Canadian adults would consider residing in “live, work, shop, play” environments. As retailers look for ways to
APRIL 2020
more organically be where their customers are, this trend has also impacted pop-up retail. While pop-ups may have originated as a solution to fill vacant real estate or as a seasonal sales opportunity (e.g. Halloween, Christmas), the “temporary” appeal of pop-ups has given way to a longer-term retail strategy. As more consumers expect “escapism” or “entertainment” from their shopping experiences, many retailers have found significant success by creating unique and appealing experiences that are not confined to the four walls of a permanent store. From fashion to footwear to
food, from luxury items to recycled items at vintage stores, no retail segment has ignored the potential of the pop-up store. And for good reason. Pop-ups bring new access to customers, powerful engagement opportunities, and with the right approach, a chance of going viral. They offer unique propositions to customers who may not otherwise enter a brand’s store or even research the products online. They can also bring a sense of exclusivity and scarcity, as they sometimes are the only place to get a new product, at least for a limited time. And while celebrities and brands have come together for many high-profile pop-up collaborations,
pop-ups don’t always have to be so complex or costly. There are now so many ways to get to your customers by simply going where they gather — and where they shop. People shop at music festivals and food festivals. They shop at street fairs and parades, and they shop at sporting events — anywhere friends and strangers gather to share common experiences. The flexibility and convenience of popping up small shops and meeting shoppers where they choose to gather is a great way to channel their energy and win their CONTINUED ON page 12
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MANAGEMENT
During Times of Uncertainty, Marketers Continue to Make Costly Mistakes BY ERIC VARDON
M
istakes are bad enough during periods of normalcy, but they could be particularly devastating in a world of market and consumer uncertainty. A recent study conducted in partnership with Censuswide, “Agency Confessions,” revealed that digital agencies are often hampered by payment issues, campaign spend problems and a plethora of other costly mistakes. In fact, just 1 percent of digital agency decision-makers say they have not witnessed any mistakes during their career. The rest have encountered many errors — at least six per week for 60 percent of the respondents. Onethird have paid between $5,000 and $10,000 for a single blunder. The severity of this problem does not have anything to do with an agency’s budget or a lack of personnel. In fact, agencies that generate between $1 and $5 million in revenue admitted to an average of 4.88 mistakes per week while those with revenue in excess of $5 million incur an average of 7.57 mistakes. Today’s mistakes could be tomorrow’s defeat Agencies sustain a wide variety of errors, but payment issues lead the pack. Thirty-three percent have suffered the consequences of an expired or declined credit card, which resulted in spending not happening when planned. Thirty-one percent say they’ve been hit by campaigns that didn’t start on time, that inadvertently offended their audience or that were accidentally left on longer than planned. Typos proved to be a problem as well, affecting 30 percent of respondents. Another major pain point included dead, incorrect or broken links, as well as faulty forms or ❱ DMN.CA
checkout systems that lost sales or leads (29 percent). Agencies were equally troubled by incorrect landing pages, geographical mishaps and other issues that affected the campaign’s target audience (29 percent). Agencies were also afflicted by disappearing pixels/broken tracking (28 percent), campaign over or underspend (27 percent) and ads that were flagged or disapproved because of noncompliance (24 percent). These blunders are unfortunately the norm for most agencies, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Now is the time to move away from old, outdated methods for mistake mitigation. Resources are too precious to waste In an effort to prevent the aforementioned errors, many agencies continue to employ the same familiar, resource-intensive strategies that they’ve likely been using for 10 or 20 years. This includes 42 percent who use master spreadsheets to manually track everything under the sun, including credit card limits, expiration dates, destination URLs and ad targeting. Forty-two percent also allocate resources to the constant and personal double-checking within ad platforms, including those from Google and Facebook. Thirty-nine percent employ a strategy that’s even more human capital-intensive, relying on a hierarchy of roles to check work for errors so that nothing is shared without first being reviewed by multiple individuals. Forty percent have made an investment
in technology, working to build custom dashboards that they hope will prevent future mistakes. Staying ahead of the curve The difference between those who thrive and those who struggle to survive will come down to the decisions we all make today, including the methods and technologies we deploy. And there is one smart technology in particular that in many cases outworks us and could help agencies persevere through market fluctuations: artificial intelligence. AI is especially useful for uncovering anomalies, whether looking at campaign spending issues, credit card conundrums or a tracking code that was not implemented in the right place. Similar to the way antivirus software protects your computer, AI can scan a campaign for failures that cause performance issues. The technology can also send alerts to notify agencies whenever data spikes (good or bad) occur. These are vital features, but even more important is the real-time potential that AI provides. By being able to catch and rectify errors as they emerge, agencies will be better positioned to withstand any and all challenges.
Don’t wait to take action Not all AI technologies are the same, and not all are worthy of the “intelligent” moniker. Agencies must take the time to examine their options before moving away from their normal (albeit outdated and ineffective) methods for mitigating risk. Only then will the ongoing risk errors and anomalies become a thing of the past. But with an intelligent marketing security solution – one that’s capable of delivering live data and automated visualization, fostering easy-to-read reports that are based on metrics that matter – agencies can prosper. They can overcome the bottom-line risk, ditch the spreadsheets and manual labor, and better serve their clients with improved accuracy and more reliable campaigns. ERIC VARDON is a Tech Entrepreneur, C-Suite
Executive, and Advisor with more than 20 years of success in the marketing, advertising, consumer-based cannabis, health and wellness, fitness, luxury, fashion, beauty, technology, and digital industries.
APRIL 2020
// 11
MANAGEMENT
Six Ways to Align Your Sales and Marketing Teams Through Marketing Automation BY CHANDRASHEKAR LSP
I
t is a given that the revenue of any company is the result of a coordinated effort between sales and marketing teams. In the simplest form, marketing departments raise brand awareness and generate leads later managed by sales departments. However, with digital marketing, many marketers struggle to accurately determine how to measure and value website traffic and/or social media engagement. Rather than assess the quality of the leads generated, marketers mistakenly evaluate success on website traffic, social media likes, and ad-banner clicks. These undefined, generated leads are then passed to sales departments unaware of the extent and quality of each particular lead. As companies look to tighten budgets and control costs, many organizations are turning to marketing automation to quantify leads and determine which digital marketing initiatives produce the biggest ROI. If you are looking to optimize your digital marketing efforts, here are six different ways to align your sales and marketing teams through marketing automation:
1
Setting up touchpoints to identify sources that contribute to a brand’s overall success Consumers today experience a variety of online touchpoints along their path to making a purchasing decision. Touchpoints are points of interaction with a customer or potential customer. Whether it’s an online ad, word-of-mouth on social media, direct mail, or a simple Google search, digital touchpoints are more important than ever. Marketers need to set up touchpoints to identify all the sources of online interactions to understand where leads come from, what sources acted as a APRIL 2020
conversion point, and how many touchpoints are required to convert a lead into a sale. Touchpoint analysis in marketing automation can optimize investments by revealing which sources are most effective, and what sources to remove due to underperformance. Marketers can then revise their touchpoint strategies to ensure they are getting the best ROI from their marketing efforts.
2
Knowing the platforms and channels that generate revenue With a multitude of channels and platforms on which to interact with customers, it can be challenging to know where to spend time, money, and resources to generate leads and drive sales. Marketing automation can quantify, compare, and reveal which online platforms and channels generate the most revenue. For example, should a marketer focus on Google Adwords or social media ad buys to generate revenue for a new product or service? Marketing automation can identify who is migrating through your online processes, who is leaving, where they are leaving, and why. This insight helps you optimize the platform and channels that have consistently proven to generate more revenue, allowing marketers to essentially fish where the fish are swimming.
3
Using web-behavior analytics to gauge an audience’s interests Behaviour analytics focuses on understanding how consumers act to accurately predict their future behavior. It allows marketers insight on how to make the right offer, to the right consumer, at the right time. Since the early days of the Internet, statistics such as Google Analytics have identified click-
through rates, time spent on a website, and the impression value of banner ads. Unfortunately this aggregated data does not provide behavior analytics of a prospect on an individual level. Marketing automation follows the evolution and development of a lead on an individual level. By gauging interest at the individual customer level, marketers can collectively gauge their audience’s interests to effectively influence their future behavior and subsequent purchasing decisions.
4
Setting up personalized content journeys for different types of leads If no two people are the same, it logically follows that no two leads—and their personal journey towards a purchasing decision— are the same. In digital marketing, every lead has its own route to becoming a customer. With marketing automation, businesses can create unique engagement plans for every type of lead such as sign-up forms, landing pages, webinar attendees, and more. Each lead source becomes personalized to trigger certain actions such as when messages are sent, when to follow up, and how leads are removed. Zoho’s MarketingHub’s Journey builder takes it a step further and allows marketers to visually build personalized marketing plans using a drag-and-drop builder from pre-designed templates. This saves a substantial amount of time by creating personalized leads, and marketers can also build logical journeys by adding conditions to simplify the decision-making process.
5
Categorizing leads into different stages based on their engagement levels Leads vary, and each can be classified into different stages based on their engagement levels.
For example, the engagement of someone searching for a product through on a search engine varies greatly from the customer that has abandoned a cart during an e-commerce checkout. With marketing automation, leads can be assigned scores based on set criteria. This quantifies leads and differentiates promising leads from ones that perhaps require more nurturing by marketing teams. Engagement levels by customers can tell a lot about how close they are to making a purchase. Categorizing leads into different stages allows sales teams to focus on the most promising leads first and close more deals in less time. By prioritizing leads, marketing automation brings cohesion and synergy to marketing and sales departments.
6
Maximizing marketing efforts of lead qualification While it is true that every lead you interact with can become a customer, marketing automation maximizes marketing efforts based on lead qualification. For example, if you’re running a promotion that targets upper management, you can set a score for all leads with CEO, CMO, and COO in the job title. Certain promotions or marketing campaigns can then automatically be triggered anytime someone from upper management visits your website or landing page. Marketing automation is one of the fastest growing segments in digital marketing. It can significantly boost the efficiency between marketing and sales departments by aligning their interests to one goal - turning leads into customers. CHANDRASHEKAR LSP is the product evangelist
for Zoho Corporation Canada. To learn more about Zoho’s marketing tools, please visit: https://www.zoho.com/marketinghub/ features.html. DMN.CA ❰
// 12
PAYMENTS
How and Why Online Payment Processing Helps Financial Services Marketers Cope With the Coronavirus Pandemic BY DUKE WILLIAMS
O
nline payments are convenient, secure and easy. But these days they can also help keep you, your employees and your customers stay healthy and ensure your insurance business stays productive during the coronavirus pandemic. Amid the virus health concerns, many employees across country are being encouraged to work from home, while older Americans are being advised to stay inside. That spells trouble for those consumers who prefer to pay their insurance bills in person or by the mail, many of whom are older. And it presents a tricky situation for insurance agents and companies who have shifted their work remotely for the time being. Not only should your clients avoid going out to pay their bills, but even if they do, your business may not have anyone there to accept payments. That could be especially problematic in the insurance industry, where timely payments are paramount to maintaining coverage, something many Americans are undoubtedly nervous about as the virus spreads. Even paying by mail could be problematic, as it requires having stamps on hand or going to the post office – and again, your clients should be focusing on social distancing, not worrying about making a payment in person—and your office may not have anyone there anyway to accept it. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston found in a 2017 study that the average American paid 8.4 bills in person, by mail or by phone, compared to 6.5 bills paid online and 6.4 bills paid through automatic ❱ DMN.CA
withdrawal. That means a significant amount of people still aren’t paying online --presenting a new opportunity for you to increase the number of online payors, a true benefit especially during the pandemic. If your insurance agency or company doesn’t accept online payments, it’s not hard to add that functionality to your website quickly, especially if your team is now all working from home. And it’s even easier to get your customers set up as well. And under the current circumstances, they’ll will be especially thankful of your new feature. Not only that, online payments also allow your customers to know exactly when the payment is received, while mailing payments is dependent on the postal service delivery timing. This helps your customers manage their own cashflow. Given so much uncertainty right now, they will appreciate when they receive confirmation of their payments, knowing it’s one less thing to worry about. As the coronavirus continues to spread, now is better than ever to shift your payment processing online with a straightforward plug-and-play payment system that you can quickly add to your website and just as quickly offer to your customers. At a time like this, you need to focus on the health and safety of your employees as well as your customers all while ensuring the longevity of your business. Online payment processing can help with all of that and at no cost to you. DUKE WILLIAMS is founder of Simply Easier Payments, a payment
solution partner for insurance and other industries accepting mobile or online payments.
Pop-Up Retail: It’s Time to Go Where Your Customers Gather CONTINUED FROM page 9
business. So how do you get started? When it comes to the more technical considerations, here are important priorities to keep in mind when planning your pop-up experience: ❯❯ Connectivity Will you have internet connection where you are? Will it be Wi-Fi, landline or cellular service? The answers to these questions are fundamental to adequately planning your pop-up, as they impact everything from payments to inventory. ❯❯ Tenders & Payments Once you’ve determined connectivity, you can then determine how to approach payments. Cash or physical tenders require a “cash drawer.” Meanwhile, credit cards and gift cards require cellular, Wi-Fi or landline connection and enterprise sleds for mobile. ❯❯ Hardware Next, you’ll need to determine what kind of hardware to use in your pop-up, including registers, mobile devices and networks. ❯❯ Inventory & Fulfillment Finally, you will need to decide how to manage inventory and fulfillment. One option is to keep inventory on-site at your pop-up store. This does not require connectivity and assures customers get products immediately, but requires storage space. An alternative is to leverage your omnichannel order management system to deliver purchases or allow customers to pick up the items in their local store. I strongly believe it’s time to consider adding pop-ups to your customer experience strategy. Your target customers gather in countless places, and taking your brand — and your stores — to those places is easier than ever before. DAVE BRUNO has been helping retailers make the most
of their technology investments for over 25 years. At Aptos he is responsible for global brand and content development, and in this role he is charged with researching, documenting and analyzing retail industry trends and market conditions in order to help retailers understand how technology can help them capitalize on opportunities and recognize, anticipate and react to opportunities and threats. APRIL 2020
// 13
Resource Directory DATA ANALYTICS
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// 14
MANAGEMENT
What Will Get Us to the Other Side of This Pandemic? BY DR. ADRIAN HYZLER
H
ealix International/ HX Global works with multinational corporations, NGOs and governments around the world to provide medical, security and travel assistance and help fulfil duty of care obligations. There are a few things that will (eventually) get us all to the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the globe, everyone is hoping for an effective treatment or vaccine. The possibility of a viable vaccine that can be licensed and mass produced remains a distant prospect for the coming year. There is hope that ongoing trials and research into potential treatments may produce successful drug therapy within a few months. Nevertheless, there are nonpharmaceutical interventions that will have an impact on when we will emerge from “quarantine fog,” and what it will be like when we do. Social Distancing The first measure—and we cannot stress this enough, is continuing to adhere to local government guidelines. Stay home unless you absolutely need to go out for food, supplies or medication. When you do leave the house, recommendations are shifting to say that people should wear a cloth face covering. This instruction for people without symptoms to wear masks or scarves over their face when they are out and among other people would be to prevent the unintentional spread of the virus during an asymptomatic period, rather than act as a primary barrier for protection against transmission. But as much as you can, do stay home. The more time you spend at home, the less you are exposed to the virus, and the less you risk ❱ DMN.CA
exposing others—especially those most vulnerable among us; people who are 65 and older or those that may have pre-existing conditions or be immunocompromised. If these individuals become infected with the virus, they are more likely to suffer severe symptoms and require hospitalization. The more COVID-19 patients that are admitted to the hospital, the more exposure healthcare workers have to positive cases and a greater strain is placed on the limited resources of an overwhelmed healthcare infrastructure. We must also remember that it’s not just those with COVID-19 that are affected by limited resources in medical facilities. The impact extends to anyone with other routine medical and surgical needs such as cardiac issues, injuries from motor vehicle accidents and pregnant women—and that’s just to name a few. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) One of the major resource issues that must be addressed in the midst of this pandemic is the production and procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for all healthcare workers. While manufacturers have ramped up production, the demand for PPE in the hardest hit countries is not being met. Healthcare workers have been required to re-use items like masks—something that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. Manufacturing companies like General Motors and fashion retailers like Gap, Inc. have pivoted their supply chain in recent weeks in order to assist in the production of these critical materials. Testing There’s one more thing that’s going to make a tremendous impact on
how and when this pandemic will come to an end, and that is testing. Currently, the testing in some of the most developed countries in the world is lagging woefully behind. This has resulted in backlogs and delays and the spread of the virus by those who couldn’t access a test or were told they didn’t meet the current parameters to be tested. There are two distinct tests for COVID-19. The current PCR test that was approved and distributed by the WHO in January requires nasal and throat swab samples and tests for a particular strand of the viral RNA. This test is the gold standard for diagnosing a pathogen, but the testing is complex and mainly carried out at large reference laboratories. Tests typically take 4–6 hours to complete, but the logistical requirement to ship clinical samples means the turnaround time is 48 hours at best, and in many countries can take up to 5 days. But there is hope for minimizing the waiting period. Last week the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a COVID-19 test from Abbott Labs that delivers positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes. The potential development of a rapid COVID-19 test would revolutionize the protocols for self-isolation and quarantining. The other test that is being trialed in many countries, prior to an expected roll-out in the coming weeks, is an immunoassay test, also known as an “antibody test.” This test provides historical information about the virus, as well as confirming a diagnosis. It requires two drops of blood from a pinprick and gives results within a few minutes. It is essentially a home test that requires no medical skills for sampling and no
laboratory expertise for analysis. These tests are cheap, but not as accurate as PCR testing. On March 25, a UK government official said that the country had ordered 3.5 million of these “finger-prick” antibody tests that would allow people to perform the test at home. The test would show whether the individual had been previously exposed to COVID-19 and help researchers to determine what kind of immunity those with such exposure might have. Further, these kinds of tests would show how many people may have contracted the virus without their knowledge—some people could have had the virus with no symptoms, others could have had it and assumed it was a cold or perhaps the flu. In the case of high numbers of healthcare workers who are having to self-isolate because of potential exposure, they would be able to return to work if tests show that they have been exposed and have antibodies. The same is true for essential workers in food distribution, transportation and other vital services. These tests would mean that we can gradually get people back to work safely. Antibody testing will also provide a more accurate idea of how deadly COVID 19 really is. The deaths caused by this pandemic are tragic—but the true mortality rate will never be known until there is a more accurate idea of how many people have had the virus. This, along with treatments and a vaccine, will eventually lower the calculated mortality rate and allow this coronavirus to assume its position as yet another pathogen in history that posed a threat to humanity. DR. ADRIAN HYZLER, Chief Medical Officer, Healix
International/HX Global APRIL 2020