The science of search has been the 4th quarter marketing device of holidays past and, to be sure, holidays present. But this year we will see the addition of robust behavioral targeting activities, adding science to marketing exposures that will influence shopping well before the user reaches what Rob Norman, CEO of GroupM Interaction Worldwide, has called 'the digital shelf.'
Who will find coal in their search stocking and who will find happiness and joy this season? My money's on the savvy marketers who marry the art of communicating their brand and value propositions with the science of targeting the customers with the highest propensity to respond.
MediaLink President Wenda Harris Millard has led this call to action. She, like other industry players and observers, warns of the danger of looking at digital technology as the be-all instead of as a great facilitator, and challenges us to build new partnerships between the art and science of advertising and marketing in this digital world.
In other words, technology is a commodity. It is the imagination and creativity of the people using the technology that is the differentiator. Innovators like behavioral targeting firm Netmining, which is helping retailers and brands that rely on a robust holiday season to rewrite the rules of its sector.
Netmining uses both declared and undeclared behavior to understand what users are interested in and when to interact with them. It does this not by just focusing on one behavioral aspect, like others do, but by layering in a lot of factors like recency and frequency of visits, time spent and individual pages of interest (RFM –recency, frequency and monetary value), all in an effort to look for that one right "moment" to deliver the most effective message, or activate an offer—whatever the objective may be.
The right solution can help increase conversion on a Web site when buyers are likely to abandon the shopping cart process, or through a strategic interaction at the moment users shift from browsing to buying. Of course, using that to 'remarket' to users who leave the site will drive conversion with little waste and will focus on the right folks from the sales funnel.
This one-to-one approach is the key to successful marketing online today. It utilizes the concept of scarcity—the ads are the right ads sent to the right person at the right time, so fewer are needed. Customers don't get hammered by entreaties. Clients can view consumer interactions in real time. And by sending messages the customer wants, conversions are optimized.
Precision-driven results, born of creativity and facilitated by technology. That's a recipe for a happy holiday and a vivid illustration that, as Dee Salomon, MediaLink Senior Partner describes it, we now have the science that creative has been waiting for.
Could it be we're writing a new chapter in the young history of the Digital Age? One in which we're done with declaring how transformative it is and actually transforming things? I think so. I think Netmining and other innovative firms embody the next generation of thinking about digital marketing: it's art and science.
Brands that understand this will be the merriest this holiday season. Those who don't?
Well, there's always next year.
Michael E. Kassan is Chairman and CEO of Media Link, LLC, a leading Los Angeles and New York City-based advisory and business development firm that provides critical counsel and direction on issues of marketing, advertising, media, entertainment and digital technology. Michael can be reached at michael@medialinkllc.com
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