123 eGuides

1 Minute Advice: Key Facts About "Mcommerce"

Online buying via a smartphone -- commonly known as "Mcommerce" -- is rapidly growing as consumers become more comfortable using their phones for more than calling, texting, and surfing the Web. Here are some key facts about Mcommerce from eMarketer:

• Retail Mcommerce sales should grow rapidly over the next several years, from an estimated $131 billion in 2016 to $294 billion in 2020
•  Nearly half of all retail ecommerce sales in the U.S. will be mobile by 2020
• By next year, over three-quarters of mobile shoppers will buy something with their mobile device
• Despite the growth of Mcommerce, over half of digital consumers say it is easier to shop using a larger screen
• Tablets and large-screen smartphones are popular with digital consumers; in a six-month period in 2015, ownership of large-screen smartphones increased from 27 percent to 37 percent.

Learn more about Mcommerce from eMarketer.

1 Minute Advice: How Retail is Changing in a Digital World

The third annual "Future of Retail" report from public relations agency Walker Sands shows the continuing march of retail toward the digital world -- but with some detours along the way.

According to the 2016 report, which surveyed more than 1,400 U.S. consumers, nearly a third (31 percent) of consumers now shop online at least once a week. This is a 41 percent increase over the report from two years ago. Interestingly, though, the report says "there is a clear preference to shop in physical stores for most product categories." But consumers are receptive to blending their in-store experiences with digital technologies; for example 70 percent of consumers said they were willing to consider in-store tracking and mobile push notifications if retailers made it worth their while.

One of the big growth areas in online shopping appears to be luxury goods. According to the report, "the number of consumers who have purchased a luxury item like high-end jewelry in the past year more than quadrupl[ed] from 2014." On the other hand, adoption of mobile payment applications has not yet caught on; only about one third of consumers have used such applications. And all the buzz you hear about drone delivery has not missed consumers -- 40 percent of them expect to receive their first drone-delivered package in the next two years or less.

You can get a copy of the report here.

1 Minute Advice: Five Value Factors for B2B Marketers

Writing for Marketing Profs, Mark Eardley makes a strong case for understanding customer motivation when it comes to marketing a B2B product or service.

Eardley says that value in the B2B marketplace can be divided into five factors:

1. Response
2. Service
3. Time
4. Quality
5. Price

Of even more significance, writes Eardley, "Each factor can be defined. Which means it can be measured. And when Value is measured in terms of its importance to customers, it can be managed, improved, and delivered in ways that will motivate customers to buy."

Eardley discusses each of the five value factors in more detail in his excellent article. Read it here. (Free registration required.)

And consider ordering a copy of B2B Marketing 123. This eGuide presents a 3-step approach for marketing to businesses that is grounded in timeless principles but recognizes and takes advantage of the brand new marketing world we live in. Purchase B2B Marketing 123 today for just $2.99 at the Amazon Kindle store or in any eBook format, including PDF, at Smashwords.com. This title is also available wherever eBooks are sold. 

1 Minute Advice: Multichannel Marketing a Necessity... But a Challenge to Most Marketers

Most marketers recognize the new reality that their marketing messages must reach across multiple channels. According to eMarketer, "the average US adult will consume almost 6 hours of digital media daily across mobile, desktops/laptops and other connected devices, such as an internet protocol TV (IPTV) or over-the-top (OTT) devices like a Roku."

But as eMarketer observes in its new report, Making Multichannel Marketing Work, "few companies are capable of integrating the required data sources, technologies and departments to make omnichannel marketing work." Recent surveys, such as the September 2015 study by the Association of National Advertisers and the PR Council, find that the top priority of senior marketers is, without question, the need for a "truly integrated marketing strategy."

Achieving such a strategy is a challenge however. Only 11 percent of Chief Marketing Officers indicated in a June 2015 survey that they had a "sophisticated omnichannel strategy" including both offline and online channels. Over half (55 percent) had yet to launch such a strategy.

Read more here.

1 Minute Advice: Do You Know How to Measure the Value of Your Content?

When it comes to marketing, particularly for B2B marketers, content is king. The problem is, content takes a significant effort to produce, and many marketers wonder how to measure its effectiveness.

In an excellent article for MarketingProfs, Tarah Speck of Kapost offers three sets of metrics designed to measure the value of content. Speck describes key metrics for "the health of your content production cycle: -- "average length of production, delivery rates," and "content coverage gaps. She also discusses content's "external" and "internal reach." Finally, Speck talks about your content's ROI using a "content scoring strategy." She provides three specific things to consider when establishing a content scoring strategy, as well as a great chart that maps out the type of content appropriate for each phase of a buyer's journey.

Check out the article here (free registration is required): http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2016/30023/how-to-measure-the-value-of-your-content-three-sets-of-metrics