NewWaytoEngage

Social. Email is important because of the high ROI, but Social is the biggest priority.
@ibmcommerce

For my business – RetailMinded.com – I rely a lot on email marketing to deliver new content to my subscribers, however social media is vital for my everyday connection to my audience.

I like social - feel that you can reach the most amount of people in real time using social networks.

Anything digital! #CMOs are testing an innovating with more digital tactics, include mobile and social.

Social provides awesome opportunities for engagement and to understand consumers’ sentiments. @ibmcommerce

@StephenMonaco What social channels do you think will be the most important in 2016?

A4 - Social should include both mobile and email...definitely the number 1 priority...

I think it all works together. As a consumer, I fall for a good email every single time.

One thing to consider is which may make sense for your UNIQUE business. I deliver content, while some of you may sell products. So your #1 and #2 may vary from mine, for example

Learning likes, dislikes, wants, needs and desires provides excellent insights to deliver offerings consumers will embrace. @ibmcommerce

I think mobile is a big priority due to the large amts of customers using it as their "platform of choice" to browse/shop, however I think social is key in regards to customer engagement.

@michelle_ludwin I think Twitter remains a great communication tool between brands & customers, as well as Facebook and Instragram

@Sarah_Gibb I agree - anywhere the customer feels comfortable engaging - that should be the proper channel to communicate

Let's start my saying these isn't an either or discussion. The reality is marketers probably need to invest in these....and much much more

Social media monitoring / listening platforms provide opportunities to gain these valuable insights. @ibmcommerce

Great article in today's Mediapost confirming Facebook is top referrer to m-commerce sites: http://www.mediapost...

Why does email offer such a greater ROI and how should businesses target the right consumer emails? @StephenMonaco

Something to think about also is social commerce. More and more growth in online sales will come from customer linking to products directly via social media apps that allow you to buy right away

Then, I'd add that mobile and social aren't single monolithic channels. For example in mobile there are emails rendered on mobile devices, mobile ads, mobile search, mobile push, SMS, mobile apps, etc etc

I think data should drive this decision. We should look at where our customers are first.

@StephenMonaco Totally agree – active social listening is the key to customer engagement and in many cases, a sale from social

I just wrote about a new platform on my column with Forbes.com for example, discussing a new app from Soldsie for Instagram

@michelle_ludwin Depends on the type of company, Michelle. Love Twitter. Not keen on FB. Pinterest rocks for some brands. Instagram is gaining popularity. Not sold on SnapChat yet.

For most of our clients, email is the still the workhorse of marketing - driving the bulk of the results. But mobile and social are important and growing parts of the mix that are very successful in the right situations.

@StephenMonaco I think Instagram has huge potential - just look at IBM and the US Open this week. The issue with Snapchat is you are only getting a certain age range.

Personalization rocks! Personalization provides the necessary context in a world where loyalty is fleeting and attention spans are short. @ibmcommerce

Yes and no. I think you can balance both in your business, allowing you to deliver more broad messages as the bulk of your communication while still narrowing in on more one of a kind messages as necessary or as it makes sense.

But as always, I do think it depends on your business.

Delivering highly personalized #cx through all channels creates relevance.
Relevance Matters! @ibmcommerce

It isn't a giant news flash that different people respond to different messages....or that customers respond better to a message that is tailored to their wants, needs, interests. The real question is how execute on that at scale across channels

As long as the recommendations are not something I already bought :)

For many small businesses - such as independent retailers - it's hard to personalize emails and other communication every time. I think balance is key.

Good point, @cshasarrived

Testimonials are great, yet people can be leery of self-serving recommendations some brands write for themselves, which is another reason I like personalization. @ibmcommerce

Nicole great Karate Kid reference! That's a good way to remember it :)

We, customers, expect brands to know us. And this is #personalization.

Carrying conversations across multiple devices is very cool. .@Silverpop is a great platform for automating personal touches. @ibmcommerce

As a customer myself, I actually don't like brands assuming they "know" me all too well. I like options more broad so I can narrow down my own choices

Companies should strive for customers to feel more connected to the brand, and personalization helps achieve that. @ibmcommerce

In your opinion, where's the line between creepy and cool w/ personalization?

@RetailMinded I agree, Nicole. I think sometimes personalization can be taken too far and steer me away rather than pull me in.

I think marketers need the ability to balance what the customer wants with what they need to achieve. Sometimes you just have inventory that you need to sell or goals to hit. The key to success is balancing company goals w/ the customer's need

@StephenMonaco good point - however, there are many recommendations that aren't solicited - @Yelp / @tripadvisor etc. What's important is having the ability to monitor 3rd party review sites and be able to respond to them effectively...

@cshasarrived When a company uses my hometown, college, and job information to send me ads crosses the line, IMO.

@FrankGuardi agreed - that becomes creepy...

#Personalization is more than just communications. It's also product recommendations and contextual engagement. Very important to ROI.

Personalization works in retail banking too.

@FrankGuardi In the creep v cool debat, we share that information already, its just more creepy when it's shown back to us.

@StephenMonaco But to do it at scale is the hard part.

We have some clients who explicitly ask question to get information ("Hey what's your hometown?") and then use it in personalization. This is often successful and avoids the creep.