Best Free Online Marketing Guide For Online Entrepreneur

Customer service when done well, can be an invaluable source of business growth and when done poorly, can be disastrous. Back in 2018 Forbes reported that businesses were losing $75 billion because of botched customer service. Just four years later, poor customer service is costing companies over $1.7 trillion . And that doesn’t even include the loss of customers. No matter how big your balance sheet is, these kinds of losses are unsustainable in today’s climate. Knowing that 64 percent of consumers want brands to connect with them, and that companies exceling  at customer experience have 1.5x more engaged employees, brand leaders must focus on delivering exceptional and seamless customer experiences possible. But how can they ensure success? In my experience, it starts by making these three pillars a priority, all of which focus on people, processes, and technology. Pillar one:  Perseverance Interactions between customers and brands cannot be evaluated in isolation. The...

Boots, one of the UK’s largest Beauty and Pharmacy retailers, has a rich 170-year history. Their customers have always been at the core of this. The latest tagline, ‘Boots with you. For life.’ is emblematic of this sentiment. Being close to your customers means understanding their interests, wants, needs, and behaviours. To do this, you need data. However, whilst the importance of consumer data is unwavering, major industry shifts such as the death of the third-party cookie and the introduction of GA4 have left marketeers in the lurch. Without the 360-degree perspective third-party data provided, how can brands fully understand their customers and provide the valuable experiences they are now seeking? Enter the role of a first party data and a data-led mindset which has helped Boots deliver campaigns that increased online visitors by 700% and delivered a £2 ROI for every £1 spent. We spoke with Ollie Shayer, Director of Omni-Media at Boots, to understand how and why realigning thei...

A reputation crisis happens when a brand is facing a serious threat to their reputation. With cancel culture upon us , reputation crises may not arise from your brand’s unfortunate interaction but from also your representative’s comment that may have nothing to do with your organization. In this climate, every business investing in building a recognizable brand should keep the almost inevitable risk of reputation crisis in mind. Every single business has unhappy clients from time to time, or official representatives that may leave a rude comment. It is how you manage the situation that will help you get out of it safely and hopefully even benefit from it. Here’s how to create a process helping you predict a reputation cruising before it happens and thus get better prepared for it. 1. Listen to your customers An effective customer relationship management strategy is the strong foundation for predicting and quickly handling a customer-driven reputation crisis. This obvious steps...

30-second summary: Consumer data privacy is no longer just a movement to monitor but a business fundamental Brands will need a three-dimensional approach to cope with the new realities of privacy Peter Rice, AVP, Marketing Systems Strategy at Kepler discusses maximizing first-party data, building capacities to reach audiences in a cookieless world, and creating a new measurement paradigm The world of digital marketing is approaching a new normal. Consumer privacy is no longer just a movement to monitor, but one that is reshaping the industry through regulation and action by the tech giants. Major brands are now coming to realize that the way they organize, invest, think about audiences, and engage with consumers, will be reorganized around people’s privacy preferences – rendering many traditional digital marketing strategies fundamentally different. Changes to the data privacy landscape With further regulation coming down the track soon and more walled gardens launching au...

Bar Louie was founded in 1990s Chicago as ‘The Original Gastrobar ’. Its foundation as a neighbourhood bar is integral to Bar Louie’s identity and has been central to their continued expansion to over 70 US locations. Accordingly, their marketing strategy originally had a focus that was far from digital. General managers would meet their audience by handing out flyers and attending community events. However, as the digital world has accelerated, Bar Louie have had to tweak the recipe for their marketing strategy to bring it up to date. The success they have witnessed has been substantial. Instagram impressions rose by 1289% from Q1 2021 to Q2 2022. We spoke with Bar Louie’s Head of Marketing, Kayla Dillon, to understand how the restaurant chain transformed their digital strategy without sacrificing their personalized approach to customer engagement. ‘The Original Gastrobar ’ goes digital As a restaurant chain, Bar Louie centres itself on community. Each location is tailored to its...

ClickZ Marketing Masters Podcast Ep 2 – Untangling the diversity and inclusion threads with Orchid Bertelsen Marketing and technology cascade as society changes, the skill set required to fill talent gaps for brands to connect with consumers is constantly evolving. Given that the average shelf life of a skill is about 18 to 24 months, marketing leaders must invest in, upskill, and allow diverse talent the space to grow and explore. The second episode of ClickZ Marketing Masters features our host Tim Flagg in conversation with Orchid Bertelsen, chief operating officer at Common Thread Collective, a California based ecommerce growth agency. Orchid taps into her experiences as a first-gen American Asian woman who journeyed her way through the ranks at businesses like Nestlé, DentsuMB, and FTI Consulting in 18 years. In her earlier role, as head of consumer experience strategy & innovation at Nestlé USA, Orchid evaluated and tested emerging technologies like artificial intelligenc...

30-second summary: Companies need to move from making statements about themselves if they want to stand a chance of getting audiences to engage with their content Impactful content is one that adds value to the audience’s experience, linked up to the business’ capabilities PAVE is a framework for content creation that aims to achieve that impact and keep the focus on the right efforts. Consider using it before commissioning any pieces The four elements of PAVE are Purpose (What is the company getting out of this piece?), Audience (Who is this for?), Value (What is the audience getting out of this piece) and Execution (How are you going to make it work?) It’s common for brands, as it is for people, to want to talk about themselves. We have all come across some fascinating people in our lives, but we’ve all also have encountered the type of person who doesn’t know where to draw a line and keeps going on taking no heed of your eyes glazing over! In life, as much as on LinkedIn (...

For years, marketing leaders and brands have treated AI equivalent to an enigma. Some businesses succeeded and some failed to apply AI across marketing and business functions. And why this typically is the scenario is because we often forget that AI is supposed to be the enabler for human efficiency and not an absolute replacement. We must handle it ethically with discernment and human intelligence. AI can bridge the gap between customer experience, digital experience, and brand experience. Despite all this evidence, why do brands still struggle with AI and customer experience optimization? Let’s walk you through the maze. Identifying the most expensive customer experience shortfalls Stellar customer experiences lie at the heart of business success. Nearly 66 percent of customers expect brands to intuitively understand their needs and are willing to pay more for a good experience. It doesn’t end here, a customer-first business is more likely to 60 percent more profitable as compare...