The Future of Ecommerce - How SMBs Should Prepare for 2019 February 2019 - Criteo
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The Future of Ecommerce How SMBs Should Prepare for 2019 February 2019
The 4 Big Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2019
Targeted Acquisition Marketing Goes
Campaigns Beyond Sales
Use Customer Data Programmatic, AI and the
for their Benefits Future of Marketing
2•
Introduction
While we wrap up 2018 and prepare to take on 2019, it’s crucial to take some time for reflection and strategic thinking.
To get your company ready for the new year we put together three key steps. Answer each question below, and your
business will be set up for success with the optimal marketing strategy in place.
1. Analyze 2018 results and data 2. Review the key 2019 trends 3. Build a robust 2019 strategy
What reviews are customers leaving about What trends are being mentioned from How can you scale your business in the
your products or service? industry leaders ? new year?
What new laws or regulations have been
Which marketing channels produced the What are the top ways you can stay ahead
put in place that affect your business?
highest revenue? of the competition in 2019?
When do you lose most customers along the
How are consumers changing their
buyer’s journey? How can the customer What ways can you improve conversion?
purchasing behaviors?
experience be improved?
You’ll learn many of the answers right here. In this guide, Criteo and Privy partnered up to share tips for small and
medium sized companies to stay ahead of the top trends in 2019.
3•
2018 Recap Looking back to 2018, many of the trends Criteo predicted set the stage for a 2019 that’s full of opportunity. With new laws and regulations, marketing channels, and consumer behaviors coming to the forefront, 2018 was a pivotal year for brands looking to connect with today’s shoppers. Some of the top 2018 trends included: • The Rise of Voice Shopping • The Social-Commerce Relationship • Connecting Offline-to-Online Sales • The Data Collaboration Imperative • The Power of Product Feed Optimization • Understanding GDPR & Data Management • The Battle for Video • The Growth of Acquisitions and Partnerships All of this has had a direct effect on how consumers are making purchasing decisions and the ways brands are reaching customers. 2019 is sure to bring even more exciting changes. 4•
2019 Trends for SMB
In 2019, companies that can reach and convert Internet Users in Billions
5
customers in engaging and innovative ways will win. 4.66
4.5
With more than 3.5 billion people regularly using the
4
Internet today and 4.66 billion predicted by 2022,
3.5
businesses are more aware than ever of the power 3.5
of digital marketing. 3
2.5
Learning to harness that power is where it gets
2
complicated. With so many solutions, tools, platforms,
apps, networks, and technologies, how can you know 1.5
for certain if you’re making the best decisions to grow 1
your business? 0.5
0
2019 2022
2019 2022
5•
2019 Trends for SMB
To help your business navigate the digital marketing landscape in the new year, we prepared a quick
introduction and background to the key 2019 trends to watch:
Targeted Acquisition Using Customer Data Effective Marketing Programmatic, AI, and
Campaigns for Their Benefit Means Personalization the Future of Marketing
All the data we collect means With privacy regulations such Today’s consumers expect We’ve all been exposed to
there is simply no reason to use as GDPR and new lawsuits for ad experiences that are marketing technologies that
a generic marketing message data misuse, consumers are tailored to them, so generic help us complete our daily
for a random audience. becoming more educated on marketing messages are marketing tasks.
data protection. no longer enough.
6•
Trend 1: Targeted Acquisition Campaigns
Targeted Acquisition Campaigns Moving into 2019, we’re laser-focused on reaching our full potential. As a SMB you know how important it is to take full advantage of the valuable data, tools, and audience that you already have. One of the most powerful strategies in 2019 will be unleashing the power of your data. Spreading a generic message to a randomized audience will no longer produce the results it used to. Using data from our current clients, we can create targeted acquisition campaigns that, in turn, provide positive user experiences that show consumers what they want, when and where they want it. Moreover, with search and social media algorithms continuing to evolve, brands that spread generic messages are not only wasting budget, but they’re decreasing overall visibility. Using targeted acquisition campaigns will be the only way to be seen and heard in 2019. 8•
Criteo Tips: Targeted Acquisition Campaigns Provide solutions Marketing communications need to provide specific solutions to specific problems. By using targeted acquisition campaigns with industry leading providers, you can predict user pain points in each stage of the buyer’s journey and use this to provide real value, right when your customer needs it. 9•
Criteo Tips: Targeted Acquisition Campaigns Reach the right audience It’s crucial to get the right tools in place to get to know your target audience’s trends and behaviors in depth. Where do they look for solutions? Where do they spend their time? What are their pain points? Nowadays with so much data we can figure all of this out with high accuracy and use it to make our retargeting campaigns relevant and valuable. This is even more important for small businesses who don’t have unlimited budgets to test different marketing channels. Small businesses need accuracy when making decisions how to spend their marketing budgets. The first step is to gather data to back up decisions and lower the risk of marketing investments. 10 •
Criteo Tips: Targeted Acquisition Campaigns Tell the right story The best preforming ads don’t always sell something. Instead, they entertain, educate, and inspire. Successful direct-to-consumer companies like Warby Parker and Away tell stories that users can relate to and share with their network. Successful brands share similar values and interests with their target audience, allowing them to feel identified and understood. Spreading one-size-fits-all messages across the internet won’t result in higher conversions. It’s time to step up your game and bring real value to your shoppers through digital marketing. 11 •
Privy Tips: Targeted Acquisition Campaigns Tell the right story to the right audience Most online businesses are only converting 2-3% of site visitors into email subscribers or paying customers. Why is that? This is because marketers spend a lot of time thinking about how to drive traffic to their stores or websites, but they don’t spend nearly enough time focusing on how to interact with them once they get there. Consumers are bombarded with different messages online day in and day out, and the brands that will cut through the noise in 2019 are the ones creating a more personalized experience. Instead of treating each person who visits your site the same way with the same offer, welcome message, or exit intent pop up, use what you know about your site visitors to create a more customized message. Consider how they entered your site, whether they are first time visitors or returning, which page they are on, if they are shopping within a particular product collection, and so on. Then use that information to serve them a relevant offer. 12 •
Privy Tips: Targeted Acquisition Campaigns Create a cohesive advertising and onsite experience Shoppers that visit your website through paid advertising - whether that be via Instagram, Facebook, Google, or any other channel - are there because you allocated dollars to drive them there (and they have some level of interest in what you’re selling). You want to make sure that their experience on your site is a flawless one and that you give them a lasting impression. One way to do that is to continue the messaging, imagery, and offer from the advertisement they clicked on once they reach your site. For example, if they entered your site through a Facebook offer for 10% off of their first purchase, greet them with a pop up that says, “thanks for visiting, here’s the 10% code we promised,” with similar imagery and branding from the original advertisement. This will not only help increase your chance of capturing their email or completing a sale, but also provide a memorable brand experience. 13 •
Adjust Tips: Targeted Acquisition Campaigns Re-targeting on the rise, with focus switching to ad efficiency. Rather than continuing to find new users who may not be that interested in the first place, brands have realized it’s more effective to re-target consumers who are already familiar with your brand or mobile app. In 2018, our data findings tracked an increase of 40% of attributions coming from re-targeting, an increase of 37% in revenue events from re-targeting campaigns compared to acquisition ones, and a 5% higher retention rate from re-targeted users compared to new ones within seven days. The old adage is that it costs less to retain a user than to acquire one. Well, another corollary to add would be that an existing user can be more valuable than newer ones. 14 •
Adjust Tips: Targeted Acquisition Campaigns Mobile: The new king of the living room Mobile is moving up from a secondary screen to the primary one - as the channel increasingly becomes the easiest way to reach consumers. In fact, mobile now represents a direct communication line with users, and all brands have much to gain by being mobile-first - even for traditionally brick-and-mortar companies that are only beginning to build out their mobile presence. For instance, our client AKBANK increased their successful loan applications by 60% due to accurate mobile targeting. At this point, marketing campaigns have to consider mobile-first experiences in order to take advantage of this shift. 15 •
Branch Tips: Targeted Acquisition Campaigns Compete Cross-Channel & Cross-Platform Whether you’re an SMB or an established enterprise, if you can’t compete cross-channel and cross-platform, you’re practically invisible. This dynamic is clear in customer acquisition marketing, where the difference between an install and an afterthought can hinge on a single link. Every successful brand we work with leverages data and tech to acquire (and retain) customers more effectively than their competition. They commit early in their lifecycle and never stop optimizing. In short, they turn every touchpoint into a conversion opportunity. 16 •
Branch Tips:
Targeted Acquisition Campaigns
Compete Cross-Channel & Cross-Platform
Here’s what makes these successful brands special:
• They know how their ROI is generated because they’re able to accurately
attribute the source of their installs, refine strategies that work, and
dispense with those that don’t.
• They connect their target audiences to the content they desire by providing
a direct, unbroken link that accelerates the time between initial
engagement and install, onboarding, and/or re-engagement.
• They’re cross-platform because users are cross-platform. Any interruption
in user experiences due to lack of cross-platform capabilities is
unacceptable and a direct route to churn.
For SMBs, every minute and click must count. Thinking - and acting - with a
cross-platform orientation helps increase the probability that they will.
17 •Trend 2: Using Customer Data for Their Benefit
Trend 2: Using Customer Data for Their Benefit
Customer data has always been a huge piece to the What steps have US companies
success puzzle. The more data you have, the more people taken to comply with the GDPR?
you can reach and provide a personalized experience. With % of respondents, Aug 2018
new laws and regulations in effect around the world, having Conducted a GDPR
data is no longer the most important factor to success — gap assessment 78%
how you obtain and use that data is what matters. Implemented or
GDPR officially took effect in Europe in May 2018, and
updated privacy notices 78%
since then, companies around the globe have taken steps Updates branch
to become compliant with the new regulations, which affect notifications 43%
policies/procedures
not only EU companies but any company that does
Increase data
business with EU residents. As a SMB, new regulations
privacy budget 32%
such as GDPR can have outsized impact, with the ability to
put the entire business at risk. Appointed a data
protection officer 32%
Note: corporate directors of public company board respondents
Source: BDO USA, “2018 Cyber Governance Survey”, Oct 15, 2018
19 •Trend 2: Using Customer Data for Their Benefit
Some of the effects of GDPR on SMBs are: Facebook’s approval ratings among
• Lowered consent given from users to send marketing or sales emails the American Public have plunged in
• Inability to communicate with contacts in database who have not
the past five months
opted in 80
• Increased difficulty in ability to compete with industry giants 70
Oct -17
Mar-18
• Inability to work with technology partners who are not GDPR 60
compliant
Net favorability (%)
50
In addition to the new European specific data protection policies, many
industry leaders and legislators around the globe are in favor of 40
establishing similar privacy laws. Even industry giants like Google
30
have reportedly been considering changing the ways it gathers and
monetizes user data to give more control to the user. We can also see 20
data protection cases against companies like Facebook, who took 10
huge hits when put under scrutiny for the way it collects and uses data.
No matter where your company is located, the time to adapt to these 0
changes is now. -10
20 • Source: Axios Polls, Mar 2018 vs. Oct 2017Criteo Tips: Using Customer Data for Their Benefit Transparency With all the new privacy laws we can see how intertwined security, transparency, and privacy are becoming. This is directly related to a company’s reputation, branding, and values. The way you make a user feel is as important as the quality of your products or services. As we move into 2019 with full transparency, we will quickly see that the most successful companies provide an impeccable brand experience. 21 •
Criteo Tips: Using Customer Data for Their Benefit New laws and regulations GDPR and other data laws are a direct reflection of user needs and wants. These laws and regulations are not the enemy: The misuse of data is the enemy. Companies who understand this and make it part of their core values will get much further in 2019. Small businesses, anywhere in the world, cannot risk lawsuits of misuse of data. When making your 2019 marketing plan, ask yourself two questions: Are we compliant with all new data laws and regulations? How do we use customer data to bring them more value? Give your consumers a valuable reason to provide their data, improve their experience, and show them relevant products they are already looking for to surprise and delight them. 22 •
Criteo Tips: Using Customer Data for Their Benefit Smart tech partners We all know the importance of securing data, but when partners are gathering or using our client data, how can you be sure it is secure? Small businesses don’t have to rely on small providers who may not be up-to-date on the latest security systems. Optimize your ad spend while ensuring security by working with the best providers in the industry. 23 •
Privy Tips: Using Customer Data for Their Benefit Customized experiences for repeat customers Repeat visits mean a shopper is highly engaged. They could be unknown to you (meaning you have yet to capture their email and should take this opportunity to collect it), a subscriber that's never made a purchase, or someone who has made a purchase once, twice, or even more. We recommend no form campaigns (campaigns that do not ask for email addresses) for the latter two, because you already have that information and don’t want to ask for it twice. Whichever category they fall into, using that information to acknowledge “hey, I know you,” with specific messaging is extremely effective. The messaging could be as simple as “welcome back.” Or, if they left items in their cart (if you are an ecommerce merchant) you could take that time to say “welcome back” plus use it as a reminder for them to complete their purchase. 24 •
Trend 3: Effective Marketing Means Personalization
Trend 3: Effective Marketing Means Personalization In 2019, consumers will become marketing-tactic experts, easily recognizing and glossing over generic sales messages. Continuing with the same marketing and sales strategies from previous years will result in a continual decline on your return on investment. Instead, consumers want to be inspired and understood by brands, something marketing must strive to reflect. Brands in the new year will focus heavily on taking marketing campaigns beyond sales messages, evoking positive emotions, curiosity, and excitement to drive conversions. 26 •
Criteo Tips: Effective Marketing Means Personalization Make retargeting part of the journey To increase conversion, brands need to close the gap and realize that retargeting is simply another part of the buyer’s journey. These ads are used to build on a personalized experience, not to push irrelevant offers. Show users the right content at the right time and place with compelling discounts, high quality content, and interesting products. 27 •
Criteo Tips: Effective Marketing Means Personalization Use different formats Show ads through engaging content formats such as video to create an experience that will grab their attention and increase conversion. Create a personalized experience for each user by showing them engaging, relevant content at optimal moment and location. 28 •
Criteo Tips: Effective Marketing Means Personalization Surprise users with product recommendations Excite users by showing them products they have never seen but are sure to love by partnering with providers who have the tools in place to make this possible. New product recommendations are made based off the product the user has viewed compared to similar products, most viewed products, and most bought products. 29 •
Privy Tips: Effective Marketing Means Personalization Use interactive media to entertain and educate Education about your product is critical to increase sales. You can do that by creating content that is both thoughtful and engaging. It’s no secret that video is one of the most popular mediums among marketers and consumers alike, but have you considered embedding them within onsite displays? Not only are they eye-catching, they are also an easy and effective way to educate your customers. Maybe you sell a variety of plants and want to teach your customers how to care for each one. Or you sell spices and want to show a cooking demonstration of dishes that pair well with the spices - these are both ways to educate and entertain your customer, leaving them with a brand experience they are sure to remember. 30 •
Privy Tips: Effective Marketing Means Personalization Use interactive media to entertain and educate Another way to cut through the noise is to use GIFs in your onsite displays. It’s a fun and engaging way to display products on a quick loop. Think of a product unboxing, or featuring various items within a collection - it offers a lot more opportunity for you to show off your products versus a static image. Interactive quizzes are also an effective way to educate and inform consumers. If you sell products with multiple options, such as skincare or hair care, factors like skin type or hair type could affect which products would work best for customers. 31 •
Trend 4: Programmatic, AI and the Future of Marketing
Trend 4: Programmatic, AI and the Future of Marketing
Marketing technologies are continuing to evolve and enable Are advertisers* worldwide using
brands to better understand their audiences. Starting in 2018, AI for select digital ad tactics?
several digital marketing companies have announced % of respondents, May 2018
investments in artificial intelligence (AI) to help power their
technologies and improve marketing campaign results. All Personalized offers 38% 35% 27%
these new technologies sound great, but how do they really
impact SMBs? Here are some of the ways your brand can Media spend optimization 39% 31% 30%
benefit from these advances in marketing technology:
Campaign planning and
• Improve and automate marketing and budgeting decisions modeling
41% 30% 29%
• Boost campaign results automatically
Dynamic creative 42% 27% 31%
• Automate marketing tasks and processes
• Deliver highly relevant and personalized user experiences Audience segmentation 45% 35% 20%
As we move into the new year, we will start to see marketing
technologies become the forefront of our strategies to stay Audience targeting 47% 34% 19%
ahead of the competition and reach new audiences.
Currently using Planning to use No plans to use
Source: Econsultancy, “Dream vs. Reality: The Start of Consumer-First and
Omnichannel Marketing”, in partnership with MediaMath, Sep 10, 2018.
33 • n=260 and includes brand advertisers, ad agencies and tech vendors.Criteo Tips: Programmatic, AI and the Future of Marketing Leverage the power of AI In 2018 marketing companies around the world made announcements that they were investing in AI. In 2019 we will see progress made in these technologies and the clients they serve. Choosing partners who are ahead of the curve in AI technology will help to push your business ahead. 34 •
Criteo Tips: Programmatic, AI and the Future of Marketing Utilize data at scale for success The providers who have access to large scale data will be the most successful in building AI-based solutions. Small businesses that work with these industry leading technology providers will benefit from the collection and analysis of huge sets of actionable data. 35 •
Criteo Tips: Programmatic, AI and the Future of Marketing Compete in a world of walled gardens Increased accessibility of cloud-based and AI technologies will enable many businesses to move their ad tech operations from agencies to in-house and benefit from cost savings and quicker turnaround time. The growing focus on data security and compliance will also drive this trend. 36 •
Privy Tips: Programmatic, AI and the Future of Marketing Mobile is becoming even more powerful During Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, we found that over 70% of visitors to our customers’ websites were browsing on mobile devices. Because of this, marketers need to be sure to adopt a mobile-first mindset. Just because something looks good on desktop, doesn’t mean it will look the same on mobile. This is why marketers need to adopt a mobile first mindset. For instance, even if you’ve created the most beautiful, eye-catching, and compelling pop up display for your website, chances are it won’t look great on mobile, creating a poor onsite experience for your visitors. This is why it’s necessary to create a variation of that same campaign that is mobile specific. Flyouts are a display type that are similar to pop ups, but they are created specifically to be compatible with mobile screens. By targeting your visitors by device type, you are certain to increase conversion while also creating a much better user experience. 37 •
Adjust Tips: Programmatic, AI and the Future of Marketing Increased data analysis efficiency will create time for optimization From a mobile analytics perspective, marketers have more and more data at their hands. But this data overload comes with headaches, as marketers need to work with a growing number of tools, platforms and dashboards. That leaves less opportunity for the internal mobile marketing teams to optimize creatives or to focus on strategies for new campaigns. Building the tools that can consolidate data is key to increasing efficiency. Marketers need to spend less time slaving away at multiple dashboards or data sets. Automation of these tasks will mean that marketers no longer have to do the heavy lifting to see where they can optimize. 38 •
Adjust Tips: Programmatic, AI and the Future of Marketing Fraud will continue to be a major issue With spend increasing on mobile to $232.34 billion in 2019, fraudsters will become more motivated and apply even more cunning and malicious methods to steal user attribution budgets - so ad fraud will continue to be a key topic in 2019. This is especially true as automation becomes more prevalent - automation is only as good as the data it processes, and unchecked fraud can ruin entire data sets. Adjust’s Global Benchmarks tool shows an average rejection rate of 14% due to fraudulent attributions. This figure, however, only takes into account the clients who have activated Adjust’s Fraud Prevention Suite, so we estimate the real number to be actually far higher. 39 •
Thank you
Visit the SMB Marketing Hub for additional tips, resources and best practices! https://www.criteo.com/insights/category/digital-marketing-for-small-medium-business/ About Criteo Criteo (NASDAQ: CRTO) is the advertising platform for the open Internet, an ecosystem that favors neutrality, transparency and inclusiveness. 2,700 Criteo team members partner with over 18,000 customers and thousands of publishers around the globe to deliver effective advertising across all channels, by applying advanced machine learning to unparalleled data sets. Criteo empowers companies of all sizes with the technology they need to better know and serve their customers. For more information, visit criteo.com.
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