Have you ever visited a site after being directed there by an ad or mailer and thought “I must be in the wrong place?” If so then you have experienced the perfect example of lack of marketing integration.

Integrating the customer experience so the offline and online experiences match is critically important to successful marketing. Doing so creates a seamless experience for the customer/visitor, solidifying that brand or product in the mind of the consumer. It aids product recall, brand recognition and all the other important metrics that marketers strive for.

Report less, do more with a thoughtful cross-channel strategy

When asked about their cross-channel strategy, more than half of all marketers polled indicate ROI is critical to cross-channel marketing success. There is a reason why marketing momentum continues to trend toward digital initiatives and it is that they are inherently trackable (and hence can justify a return on investment). By driving all of your customer interactions online you get one view into your customer’s behavior. A solitary view allows you to optimize both your online and offline efforts. According to the Forrester Research US Interactive Marketing Forecast (2009-2014 report), online marketing grew 21% this past year. With a marketing spend shift to online, it is critical to evaluate how to make that investment so that you effectively increase conversions.

Actionable Analytics

Driving your offline customer online to track their behavior sounds simple enough but too many companies do nothing with the data they gather. They end up with reams of information from their campaigns but have no one interpreting it. Only 28% of top performing companies will admit that data delivered through web analytics is difficult to interpret. And these are the best of the best companies! Even they struggle with interpreting data. And 47% of marketers cite an inability to convert key performance indicators into action as a top frustration. (Source: Aberdeen group)

You can use data to deliver insights into what you may need to change to make your offline and online campaigns more targeted. Doing so can help you get the conversions and acquisition rate you are seeking. Managing and mining online visitor data ensures you can deliver deeper analytical insights. It’s not just about the data, but what you can do with the analysis of the data: who visited, from what campaign, and how much time they spent as well as what content the visitor is engaging with. Through the gathering of this information we have helped clients like MetLife restructure their page navigation and site content to ensure it was not just being delivered but being digested and understood. With other clients, we were able to build detailed profiles on the prospective insureds to deliver the right content to the audience based on life stage and interests. Through some simple questions we were able to not only segment the audience but use the information to determine that particular insurance product’s best opportunity audience- the group most likely to convert.

When thinking about your cross-channel strategy, online and offline marketing alignment, and getting more out of campaigns by making them data-directed, consider the following:

  • Where is the majority of your marketing investment spent?
  • What is the split of online and offline?
  • What optimization strategies are being prioritized to raise conversion?
  • What tactics are your peers using to enhance onsite consumer experiences?

Of these, the last two questions are critical. In order to be a best-in-class marketer you must stay ahead of the curve. Look for and stay on top of what other insurance marketers in the industry are doing. That means periodically checking out competitor’s websites, reading their social media content and the like. Marketing and insurance industry publications are also great for staying on top of industry trends and best practices.

Which measurement and optimization strategies do you currently use in your marketing to help refine and optimize your campaigns today?
• Website analytics
• Social media analytics
• Testing
• Behavioral targeting
• Profile targeting (e.g., geography, segments, traffic source)
• Automated recommendations
• Audience segmentation
• Retargeting/remarketing

If any of this looks foreign to you, or if you aren’t employing at least two or more of the measurement and optimization strategies mentioned,  give The Lift Factor a call. Through an analysis of your current marketing strategies and campaigns we can help you build a cross-channel marketing campaign that performs.