Direct Marketing Magazine Nov 2016

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Using e-commerce analytics to understand your customers

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Social media metrics: Are you measuring what matters?

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vol. 29 • No. 11 • November 2016

The Authority on Data-Driven Engagement & Operations

E-commerce The mobile wallet creates opportunities for marketers ❱ 6

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Targeting & Acquisition Vol. 29 | No. 11 | November 2016 EDITOR Sarah O’Connor - sarah@dmn.ca

Operations & Logistics ❯❯10

The evolution of an expert fraud investigation team

PRESIDENT Steve Lloyd - steve@dmn.ca DESIGN / PRODUCTION Jennifer O’Neill - jennifer@dmn.ca Advertising Sales Mark Henry - mark@dmn.ca CONTRIBUTING WRITERS PJ Rohall Aydin Acar Tim Cameron-Kitchen Rob Stocks Cathy Vigrass Jacob Ciesielski Susan Wall Sean Jimenez Olga Zakharenkava Mark O’Connell Graham Powell LLOYDMEDIA INC. HEAD OFFICE / SUBSCRIPTIONS / PRODUCTION:

302-137 Main Street North Markham ON L3P 1Y2

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U.S. customers eager to buy online from Canada

Never miss out on a sale with mPOS

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Data-driven e-commerce Using Google Analytics to learn about and market to your customers

Phone: 905.201.6600 Fax: 905.201.6601 Toll-free: 800.668.1838 home@dmn.ca www.dmn.ca

Engagement & Analytics

POSTMASTER:

‘Tis the season for e-commerce

Canadians expect dynamic digital payment solutions and experiences How Interac is adapting to deliver exceptional, innovative experiences for your customers

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The mobile wallet creates opportunities for marketers Marketers leveraging mobile wallet to connect with customers in real time

Social Media Metrics

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Are your social media accounts really engaging customers?

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Finding the right influencers for your campaign and which metrics matter

Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 40050803

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How smartphone numbers can help e-commerce retailers improve their marketing November 2016

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Five tips for a successful e-commerce integration

Proven tips to help you get through the holidays

EDITORIAL CONTACT: Direct Marketing is published monthly by Lloydmedia Inc. plus the annual DM Industry Source Book and List of Lists.

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One retailer details how U.S. purchases have played a big role in their company’s success

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CAMP Marketing Awards 2016 DMN.ca ❰

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Targeting & Acquisition

U.S. customers eager to buy online from Canada One retailer details how U.S. purchases have played a big role in their company’s success

By Susan Wall

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red Pritchard tapped a small vein of online gold a few years back when the company he works for, Golda’s Kitchen, stocked a cooking accessory popularized by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. U.S. shoppers were clamoring for Oliver’s flavour shaker, but the sole U.S. distributor didn’t have it. Torontobased Golda’s Kitchen did and so its online sales soared.

Keeping a keen eye out for niche products is one way Golda’s Kitchen is enticing U.S. shoppers to buy from Canadian online retailers—a phenomenon that our report, “Where We Buy: Consumer Attitudes on Global Ecommerce,” suggests is ripe to take off. The survey, conducted by Ipsos, polled U.S. consumers with access to a device on which they could conduct e-commerce and found that 20% of U.S. shoppers have purchased online from Canada and a whopping 77% are open to purchasing outside the U.S. Of those purchasing internationally, 39% had done so in the last week—that translates to 16.5% of the total U.S. adult population. By these estimates, the current market for purchasing crossborder totals nearly 39 million U.S. adults a week.

Golda’s Kitchen is capitalizing on that interest through a geo-segmented ❱ DMN.ca

email program, says Pritchard, the company’s vice president. U.S. subscribers to the baking supplies and cookware company’s newsletters and emails are automatically directed to the version of the website showing prices in U.S. dollars, and they receive offers for turkey roasters before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday in late November, not the Canadian one in mid-October. “We can curate our offerings and then find customers in the U.S. that would appreciate it,’’ Pritchard says. The company has one brick-and-mortar location outside Toronto along with its online business.

Pritchard’s strategy addresses the number one reason cross-border shoppers buy from retailers outside the U.S.—61% say it is for the unique merchandise. But it appears Golda’s Kitchen is more of an outlier as the strategy is not being exploited by other Canadian retailers. While Canada is by far the top country that U.S. consumers would consider buying from, only 20% have actually done so.

Overcoming shipping costs and other logistics There are issues that Canadian retailers selling to the U.S. need to be aware of and work to overcome.

Pritchard can’t sell to the U.S. if the manufacturer is holding prices high in Canada “as there is no margin for selling back to the U.S.,’’ he says.

Some product manufacturers who are their own distributors in Canada won’t allow Canadian retailers to sell into the U.S., while their U.S. operations place no such restrictions on U.S. retailers selling into Canada.

Also, some mail-in rebate offers from certain brands are excluded from U.S. customers of Canadian retailers.

Pritchard has also had to think creatively about shipping. Because shipping can be expensive to the more rural parts of Canada, Pritchard created a shipping deal that works well for multiple countries: On a minimum order of $125, the first $12 of the shipping costs are free. That also works with many of his U.S. customers who have small baking businesses and buy Golda’s cake decorating equipment and supplies in bulk.

Shipping costs are one of the barriers U.S. consumers identified in the survey. Sixty-seven per cent of U.S. consumers express concern about shipping costs and they also worry that delivery will take too long (43%), there could be hidden costs (42%), their transaction will not be secure (41%) and they will not have access to free returns (37%).

Pritchard says it can take up to six days for orders to reach certain parts of the U.S. and you must have tariff codes, detailed product descriptions and country of origin for cross border shipments. You must also work

through currency exchange issues.

While it’s generally not a problem when the exchange rate is stable (as it usually is), it did cause a bit of a pinch in late November of last year when the Canadian dollar weakened significantly in relationship to the U.S. dollar over a short period of time, just as the holiday season was taking off. “We didn’t feel that we could raise prices during the holiday season to account for higher exchange costs,’’ Pritchard says.

But none of these issues mean Canada’s online retailers can’t compete with U.S. merchants. Pritchard has done particularly well with niche products that might not sell in high volume, thus causing large U.S. online retailers to pass on them. He says Golda’s Kitchen is happy to take a chance on something new that might only sell a few dozen units in a year.

He also pays close attention to keeping items in stock that are popular with loyal customers—Canadian or U.S. “A large portion of our sales goes to the U.S. every day,” says Pritchard.

“It surprises us, given the breadth of selection that one is led to believe that the Americans have at their disposal, yet they buy from a Canadian because we carry things that they obviously can’t get locally or conveniently.”

Susan Wall is vice president of marketing for Bronto Software.

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Engagement & Analytics

Data-driven e-commerce Using Google Analytics to learn about and market to your customers

By Graham Powell

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ata has always been a part of online marketing and the data-first model should be no stranger to online marketers. Data-first means instead of running campaigns or strategies and then looking at the data to determine success or not, you look at the data first to decide on the direction of your search engine marketing strategy.

Traditionally this has meant keyword and competition analyses, but things are quickly changing.

One of the driving forces in this change is Google’s introduction of RankBrain to their search engine results algorithm in late 2015.

RankBrain is their machine-learning artificial intelligence (AI) system.

Early this year it was intercepting 15% of all search queries to “guess” what the user’s true search intent was and what websites they would like to see (this is an oversimplification, but even Google themselves have admitted they don’t completely know how RankBrain works). By September it was affecting 100% of all search queries. Links and keywords/content are all still important to your online store’s SEO but their importance may be dwindling as we head into this age of AI. RankBrain very quickly has become the third most important ranking signal behind the former two.

Although Google has stated you can’t optimize for RankBrain, as it’s constantly learning and evolving, the reality is you can. RankBrain is all about the user and creating a top-notch user experience is becoming the new search engine optimization. And now,

using data to drive this experience is more important than ever.

One of the top user signals Google looks at is engagement. Google’s free analytics platform provides some great page data as a default report.

It’s a great starting point to see what pages, products, departments, etc. are drawing the most attention. And which ones aren’t. Factors such as bounce and exit rates help you see where you are losing customers. For example, you may have a product or page that brings in a high percentage of organic traffic, but it also has a high exit rate. In this case you have a high click-through rate (CTR), a high engagement rate for that page, but a low overall engagement rate for those potential customers. The key is to figure who these users are, which ones are worth optimizing for and what can be done to keep them shopping.

To begin defining your audience it helps to use Enhanced Ecommerce.

Enhanced Ecommerce allows a more advanced break-down of the shopping process, including a graphical checkout funnel to help isolate possible barriers in the conversion path. More importantly, it will enable you to create targeted user segments based on specific shopping behavior.

User segments in Analytics gives you the ability to filter traffic by actions taken on your website. Some good e-commerce segments to get started with include separating out customers who have added items to their cart but never checked out, users who purchase in a single session versus users who take multiple visits to complete a transaction and users who have completed X number of transactions over a certain time period.

These can be further broken down into sub-segments by dividing them up into regions, demographics, device type and more.

Even Google themselves have admitted they don’t completely know how RankBrain works.

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Using these segments, you can then begin to build audiences. Audiences are very powerful, as they’re users who have visited your site and fit a segment you’ve previously identified as key.

There’s even a smart audience feature which uses machine learning to create audiences that are more likely to convert. Audiences have a wide range of use, but traditionally they have been used for remarketing PPC campaigns and A/B content testing. As Google looks more in-depth at user experience

can get data on the queries that are driving traffic to your site and where pages are getting impressions in the search results. Connecting this data to Analytics and cross-referencing with your segments will allow you to identify and create tailored content and shopping experiences for your higher converting audiences. Thirdparty tools such as SEMRush or Moz will also allow you to see impression and keyword data for your competitors to see what you may be missing or get

With the recent release of User Explorer containing the previously hidden Client IDs you can now trace the path of individual users and see their actions for each visit. for ranking, sites are using this data to deliver customized on-site content.

The latter is a more advanced use, utilizing Analytics APIs (Application Program Interface), it sends audience information back to your e-commerce platform to display more specific cross-sale products or site ads for example.

With the recent release of User Explorer containing the previously hidden Client IDs (the anonymous code that Analytics assigns each site visitor), you can now trace the path of individual users and see their actions for each visit. It’s not yet exportable to custom reports, but you can filter by segment to get a better idea of the paths different audiences take to conversion (or why they’re exiting the sales funnel early).

While user experience data is one (large) part of the equation, keywords and content still play a big role.

Using Google’s Search Console you

ideas, for both organic and paid.

This only touches the surface on what data-driven strategies can do for your e-commerce business.

While learning Google Analytics can seem like a daunting task to some site owners, as it’s interface isn’t necessarily inviting, new tools like Google Data Studio can take all this data and display it in graphically informative dashboards that will help highlight your site’s next big change.

Because if there’s one constant in search engine marketing, it’s change.

Graham Powell is an online marketing

strategist with ideaLEVER Solutions. He brings over 10 years of search engine marketing and online media knowledge, along with his analytical and creative writing skills to set, implement and monitor their client’s goals. He holds a BBA from Vancouver Island University. gpowell@idealever.com

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The mobile wallet creates opportunities for marketers Marketers leveraging mobile wallet to connect with customers in real time

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Engagement & Analytics

By Jacob Ciesielski

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n today’s alwaysconnected world, smartphones are literally everywhere—including in our hands, on our bedside tables and at our side when we’re shopping. So are opportunities for marketers who want to engage their customers by delivering relevant, customized, location-aware content and communications to them.

According to recent consumer mobile data, one in three customers today uses a mobile wallet, making it one of the most effective and efficient ways to connect brands with mobile consumers who are taking advantage of digital technology to store credit cards, loyalty cards, boarding passes, coupons and more.

For non-marketing communications, the mobile wallet eliminates paper-based transactions, giving consumers the added convenience of being able to use their mobile device to pay for a purchase or simply show their loyalty card.

At the same time, the mobile wallet allows marketers to leverage real-time insights immediately to improve performance and optimize customer experience—including triggering offers based on a customer’s latest transaction or geo-location while they are still in the store.

The bottom line? Mobile wallet enables marketers to reach always-on and always on-the-go consumers in real-time—leading to higher engagement which should ultimately positively impact ROMI (return on marketing investment).

Many ESPs and marketing cloud solution providers have already started integrating the mobile wallet into their platform as a value-add service and a new channel for marketing communications. The mobile wallet will ultimately become a platform for integrated, real-time marketing.

By using the mobile wallet marketing platform and integrating campaigns using opt-in email and SMS campaigns, marketers can now serve up coupons and manage loyalty program opportunities outside of traditional channels, improving November 2016

customer engagement and driving demand.

Better still, with the quality of realtime response data coming back from Android and iOS devices, marketers can quickly and accurately identify consumer segments that are highly engaged with wallet campaigns.

There are a variety of ways the mobile wallet platform can be used today. Here are a few examples that bring added value to both marketers and consumers: ❯❯ Mobile coupons to drive foot traffic to the store: Retailers can create real-time mobile wallet campaigns based on geo-location (or a specific store) that will drive consumers to their favourite location, leveraging behavioural and shopping habits to send a specific coupon or offer. Wallet campaigns and offers can store consumer preferences and personalization, such as most favourite store, most frequent location, etc. ❯❯ Personalized offers: Marketers can run mobile wallet campaigns that send personalized coupons to their wallet customers. Each offer can be fully customized and delivered in real time. Marketers have the ability to expire coupons in real-time, send push notifications and change content dynamically—based on predefined criteria or other events. ❯❯ Proactive marketing: Marketers can leverage coupon redemption as a way to trigger another message or offer, based on context received by the last transaction. Customers can be served up relevant, follow-up offers that specifically relate to the last transaction. For example, a customer walks into the store to buy a specific product using a coupon stored in mobile wallet; the marketer uses real-time transaction data and feedback loop from the customer’s mobile wallet to trigger the next best action and then sends another wallet offer in real time, while the customer is still in the store.

The numbers say it all. According to the “2016 Vibes Consumer Study,” 94% of mobile wallet users are likely to save personalized mobile wallet offers

and coupons, and more than a third of all smartphone users currently use mobile wallet. And younger consumers (ages 18-34) are more likely to use a mobile wallet than older consumers.

Given the current generation and the quick adoption rate of mobile technology among young consumers, those stats will only increase, giving marketers additional ways to connect with their on-the-go audience in real time.

There are several mobile wallet integration options available to marketers today that enable brands to use this new marketing communication channel: using an existing ESP (email service provider) that has mobile wallet already integrated, or using companies that specialize in mobile wallet campaigns and offer a mobile wallet platform that integrates wallet with email and SMS programs. Since wallet campaigns follow Apple and Google guidelines and references, marketers can easily re-use already created content and format it to fit the mobile standards.

According to Google study in 2015, 50% of consumers who conduct a local search on their phone visit a store within a day and 18% of those searches lead to a purchase within a day.

By leveraging store beacons and mobile wallets, marketers can create real-time ads that offer mobile wallet integration and provide consumers with additional offers to drive engagement and loyalty.

Mobile wallet as an integrated marketing platform has matured very quickly. To learn more about how mobile wallet can be integrated into your current marketing and CRM communication strategies that can positively impact engagement, please visit www.fcbsix.com/mobilewallet.

Jacob Ciesielski is a VP of Data and Technology at FCB/SIX, a Toronto-based data-first creative group. He has over 17 years of extensive knowledge and expertise in marketing technology and automation, database and data management, helping agencies and clients create, manage and execute their CRM strategies and solutions.

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Engagement & Analytics

How smartphone numbers can help e-commerce retailers improve their marketing

By Olga Zakharenkava

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athering customer phone numbers and advertising their own phone numbers are two points rarely on the radar for marketers in e-commerce, yet both offer additional solutions to the main challenges for marketers: driving traffic to the website, increasing the number of conversions from browsing, preventing cart abandonment and remarketing.

If gathering a phone number from customers seems anachronistic, then, just for a moment, contemplate the projection that over 70% of all e-commerce transactions will occur on a smartphone by the end of 2017, a device which consumers carry everywhere, even the bathroom, and is used for texting, applications and calling in addition to browsing. It can also be used for storing coupons and contactless payments.

Geo-target e-commerce with local numbers Local search has gained in importance over the past few years and geo-targeted marketing has evolved to match.

While most associated local marketing with local services or a physical store, one way that smaller e-commerce companies can compete with large national and international stores is through concentrating their business and marketing on a local region.

In addition to using SEO to target customers, businesses can also consider including a local text-enabled phone number. The local number attracts customers looking for a product locally when they could be using an e-commerce business, and when customers don’t see a local number on an ad, they are also more likely to move on to a competitor.

Local numbers foster a number of beliefs that will encourage conversions, including: ❯❯ Faster delivery time and lower shipping costs for local businesses; and ❯❯ Issues with product or shipping delays can be dealt with through a person-to-person call.

way to locate and contact customers than email, a phone number can be used to text customers when they abandon a cart, send promos, coupons and sale announcements, and notify customers when their product has been shipped with the expected arrival date or time. After all, emails have now become disposable, while a phone number is something we all retain even when switching wireless service providers.

Text messaging for the time being trumps email in effectiveness with a 98% open rate as compared to an average industry-wide open rate of

21.73% for email. The open rates reflect customer preferences. In a survey by CFI Group, customers scored text messaging 90 out of from 100 and Facebook only received 66 points.

Customers prefer text messaging over any other channel of communication, because it gives them power over when they read the text (90% read a text within three minutes) Getting real, authentic phone numbers can be a challenge for any business, but there are few ways to counteract fake numbers. When asking for the phone number, explicitly state that it will only be used for texting and won’t be used to

Increase points of contact with text messaging In addition to asking for the email address, e-commerce businesses should consider asking for a phone number to increase points of contact and improve customer relations. A more reliable

If gathering a phone number from customers seems anachronistic, then, just for a moment, contemplate the projection that over 70% of all e-commerce transactions will occur on a smartphone by the end of 2017. ❱ DMN.ca

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Engagement & Analytics call the customer. Include incentives to input a real number through offers to send a coupon code for free shipping, a discount by text or updates during shipping on arrival times. If the company has an associated app, the phone numbers may already be collected for them.

Know thy customer with rich data profiles and predictive analytics Collected through phone numbers, rich data profiles on customers can help improve target advertising and remarketing initiatives with detailed information on consumer behavior and demographics.

Phone numbers offer a surprising amount of publicly available data on consumers that can include income level, age, home ownership, level of education and more. Aggregated by data collection companies through online sources, the information can be used either to build a specific profile of a customer or it can be used to make predictions about their behavior based on patterns from similar profiles.

If the shopper is between 25 and 35, college educated, owns a home and has a certain level of income, the predictive algorithms can determine how likely it is that they will buy electronics over $50 in the next two months. Using that information, the e-commerce site can build customer personas, customize their remarketing campaigns to those subsets and then target the customers most likely to buy.

Meet the shopper on each device E-commerce has moved beyond the point when a mobile friendly website was necessary—now all

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Text messaging for the time being trumps email in effectiveness with a 98% open rate as compared to an average industry-wide open rate of 21.73% for email. websites must be multi-device responsive and create a continual user experience across all devices or lose out on revenue: half of online shoppers start a purchase on one device and finish on another, according to a study

by Criteo.

A shopper may start out on their smartphone in the morning, add a product to their cart and then abandon it. At work, they may check the offer on their desktop, move back to their phone during the commute and then to their tablet at night.

E-commerce retailers can create a seamless, continual experience by encouraging shoppers to log on and introducing points of contact across all devices. For example, if a shopper moves to the tablet and visits the site, a chat message can ask the shopper if they can help them with their purchases. After an abandoned cart on the smartphone, a brief text message with a relevant new promo can invite them back.

Omni-channel experience Once the domain of the virtual, online world, the rise of smartphones and other mobile devices are redefining the

landscape for e-commerce marketing and increasing the importance of the phone number for online shopping.

For more than just a voice call, the smartphone offers a multi-channel experience from text messaging, browsing online, social media to various chat, messaging and other apps. That also means the smartphone offers access to multiple channels in one spot.

As smartphones reach 80% penetration in the U.S. in 2016, the device itself changes the way shoppers buy online to a multi-channel, cross-device experience. That opens up new touch points for engagement and a new channel for engagement—text

messaging. Gathering phone numbers gains in importance for marketers as the nexus for tracking and connecting with consumers, wherever they are.

Olga Zakharenkava is passionate about marketing and excels at helping businesses choose the right technology to solve their challenges. She spent the past 15 years immersed in marketing, tech, and leadership, building great products and teams in startups and established enterprises. At Telmetrics, Olga helps marketers interpret rich data from consumer phone interactions and optimize their advertising campaigns to convert more callers into satisfied customers. https:// ca.linkedin.com/in/olgazakharenkava @Telmetrics

Gathering phone numbers gains in importance for marketers as the nexus for tracking and connecting with consumers, wherever they are.

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Operations & Logistics

The evolution of an expert fraud investigation team

By PJ Rohall

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raud investigation teams are an essential part of managing e-commerce fraud, but with the proliferation of fraud tools they have become somewhat of a taboo topic in the industry. Many of the new fraud solutions suggest that fraud investigator reviews can be completely eliminated and merchants can instead rely solely on machine learning to make conversion decisions on all orders. What happens to the orders machine learning models deem too risky to process? Even the most advanced machine learning systems cannot reason, perform deeper investigations or connect the more obscure dots on risky orders—that all requires human intelligence. In reality, these risky orders are frequently labeled as fraud when they could actually be legitimate orders. Not only do these machine-enabled errors create a poor customer experience, they also reduce profit.

Consider the following scenario. An order is shipping a long distance to a person that is not the cardholder, the IP address where the order is placed is from a third location, you have never seen this customer before and the purchase has a high order value of $2,000 with overnight shipping.

Is this a criminal stealing credit card information and shipping the stolen merchandise to themselves, or is it a legitimate customer sending a gift across the country? Orders that are layered with suspicious attributes will often trip up a machine learning model. It takes human ingenuity to identify the following scenarios: ❯❯ The IP was off because the cardholder was traveling for business; ❯❯ The customer needed the item quickly because it was a last-minute birthday gift; or ❯❯ The gift recipient lives in a different state.

It’s important to note that orders should be held for review in extremely low percentages. In order to produce the most manageable order review population, merchants should utilize data analytics and strive to make the fraud investigator queue as fraud rich ❱ DMN.ca

as possible. Having a team that can review the small percentage of orders that would otherwise be canceled by many fraud tools ensures higher order conversions of legitimate orders, less friction for the customer and added revenue for the merchant.

While fraud investigation teams are essential, not all teams are created equal. To achieve optimum results, merchants should deploy a professional fraud investigation team whose breadth of knowledge and responsibilities enable the most sales and create the best possible customer experience.

By exploring the evolution of a fraud investigation team, merchants will better understand their true value.

Call centre order investigation teams A fraud investigation team is usually created by a company when they realize they are losing money from fraud and need to take action. Typically, these teams start off in a call centre and the agents are dual purposed as customer service representatives and fraud investigators. These early-stage teams have little to no analytic capabilities, causing the investigators to manually review far too many orders. They utilize basic fraud screening tools and, due to limited metrics and quality measurements, they struggle to deliver high quality decisions.

While some fraud is prevented, there is a higher incident of false positives that ultimately impacts a merchant’s bottom line.

Standard banking hours fraud investigation teams As companies grow and gain a better understanding of the financial and customer experience impact of using a dual purpose fraud investigation team, they realize adjustments are needed. The dual purpose customer service representatives are converted to full-time fraud investigators, generally working five days a week. With more advanced tools and methods for fraud screening, these teams are better at identifying fraudulent orders. Fraud

review best practices are created and goals with key metrics are set for all fraud investigators to ensure consistency. Depending on the size of the team, coverage may also be expanded to weekends. While these teams may do a better job at minimizing financial loss, there are still gaps when it comes to scaling, analysis and the customer experience. Because they do not operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there are lapses in review coverage that cause delays in order processing. Plus, limited analysis capabilities directly impact data quality and ultimately the type and quantity of orders held for investigator review.

Professional fraud investigation team Very few fraud investigation teams are able to evolve into a dedicated professional team but, if they do, they are experts at their craft. In addition to their proficiency in fraud detection, they add value in the following key performance areas: Data analysis: Fraud investigators are able to perform analysis, suggest rule changes, and block and link on fraud trends to prevent as much fraud as possible. These investigators are able to identify orders that should and should not be held for review. Their expertise enriches data quality and establishes a more efficient rules engine ensuring the investigator review queue is as fraud rich as possible.` Eventually investigation teams will spin off higher level analytical teams that strictly focus on rule analysis.

Fraud investigators give constant feedback to these dedicated rule professionals to ensure the outsort rate is always optimized.

Customer experience: Professional fraud investigation teams balance fraud loss and customer experience flawlessly. They place a strong emphasis on minimizing false positives and avoid canceling good orders at all costs. The team adheres to strict time-in-review goals to ensure any order held for review is prioritized and processed as efficiently as possible to meet customer SLAs. 24/7 review coverage: This is a

big differentiator from the standard banking hours fraud investigation team because, unlike banks, online retailers do not close. A nine a.m. to five p.m., five-day workweek simply cannot satisfy the dynamic nature of e-commerce fraud. Professional fraud investigation teams have 24 hours a day, seven days a week coverage to ensure minimum time in review. For some purchases such as digital gift cards and in-store pick up orders, customers expect their delivery within a few hours. With round-the-clock coverage someone is always available to ensure decisions are made promptly and sales are converted quickly.

Scalability to meet demand: These expert fraud teams are able to manage spikes in demand without hiring additional people. They can identify fraud trends to work orders in bulk and decrease the time in review when going through orders one by one. Because the department’s analytical teams are also highly skilled in order investigations, they can help the fraud investigation team scale to meet increased order volumes during seasonal and promotional periods.

By now, it should be obvious that building a professional fraud investigation team is a difficult and lengthy process. Even if a merchant succeeds in that essential 24 hours a day, seven days a week dedicated coverage, it’s unlikely the results will be any better than the industry average due to the lack of expert analytics backed by big data. That means a lot of money will still be left on the table. Fraud management is best left to experts.

PJ Rohall is fraud strategy supervisor at Radial. PJ has eight years of professional experience spanning the financial services and retail industries and manages a team of fraud analysts responsible for driving order conversion and balancing fraud mitigation while delivering a fantastic customer experience. Immersed in card not present fraud management for the past five years, he specializes in managing operational efficiencies. PJ holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from The University of Richmond.

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Operations & Logistics

Never miss out on a sale with mPOS

By Cathy Vigrass

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usinesses large and small never want to miss out on a sale.

In 2009, Jim McKelvey was operating a glass-blowing business and lost out on a sale because he was unable to accept credit cards. You may know the story: out of that experience McKelvey and Jack Dorsey founded Square, in many ways launching mobile payments to the mainstream.

Seven years later, mobile payments and point-of-sale (mPOS) are popular with millions of businesses of all sizes.

Businesses take mPOS seriously, precisely because they never want to miss out on a sale. While small and large businesses can each relate to that sentiment, how they benefit from mPOS differs. Let’s consider both ends of the business spectrum to understand this more clearly.

Historically, many small businesses struggled to accept card payments because the process to do so was too costly and too difficult. With their lengthy contracts, expensive fees and complicated set-ups, point-of-sale (POS) tools were traditionally suited for large businesses. mPOS like November 2016

Square appeal to small businesses because they make it easy to accept card payments. With an affordable card reader, quick app download and the smartphone or tablet they already own, businesses can be up and running in five minutes, accepting cards at a low, transparent rate with fast access to funds.

Small businesses benefit just by accepting card payments. Sales increase as customers spend more when they are not constrained by cash on hand. Card payments are frequently incremental transactions that would not have taken place without a mPOS. Customers also appreciate a business that allows them the flexibility to pay in the manner they want. Happier customers are more loyal customers.

Small businesses also benefit from access to value-added features, like real-time analytics, available for the first time with mPOS like Square.

Analytics give sellers access to sales trends, buyer insights, helpful charts and personalized data to help run operations efficiently and make important business decisions.

For example, sellers can surface key insights such as “Which items have been selling the best over the

last month?” or “How many of my customers are new versus returning?” without requiring spreadsheets or complicated tools. With mPOS, small businesses finally get access to tools that allow them to compete as efficiently and intelligently as their larger counterparts.

Large sellers also use mPOS to transform their customer experience in unique ways. On the sales floor, mPOS improves one-on-one customer interaction: an associate with an mPOS device can focus on helping the customer and then accept payment anywhere the customer happens to be in the store. mPOS also transforms the checkout process by making it easy for stores to line-bust. Having mPOS devices available reduces checkingout queues and cart abandonment significantly. Speed is key for both the seller and the customer: customers want to pay for their items quickly and get on with their day, while for sellers, line-busting increases the number of customers served, improving operational efficiency and driving revenue. This is especially important during peak store hours and seasonal shopping dates that see major spikes in footfall.

Large sellers can also leverage mPOS to great effect to enable innovative retail formats such as pop-up locations. Traditionally, taking card payments outside their brick and mortar stores was a headache for retailers, especially in locations without electricity or a fixed internet connection; the only option was to transport a heavy, cumbersome register or to go cash only. Now mPOS offers a lightweight, easy (but powerful) way to take payments.

Smartphones and tablets using mPOS can be used unplugged and can even accept payments in offline mode as needed to overcome WiFi issues. Pop-up locations provide an exceptional customer experience that mPOS helps to deliver. mPOS ultimately offers large and small businesses greater flexibility, efficiency and value. Just as mPOS has leveled the playing field for small businesses, the line between mPOS and POS is beginning to blur for large sellers. The ability to make a sale anytime, anywhere with anyone is becoming a reality.

Cathy Vigrass is head of Canada at Square.

DMN.ca ❰

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Operations & Logistics

Five tips

for a successful e-commerce integration

By Rob Stocks

T

o succeed with e-commerce at any scale you need to connect your accounting, ERP, POS or warehouse systems to your e-commerce software. While managing a handful of orders a day manually might be slightly inconvenient, managing 50 or 100 is a big challenge and 1,000+ is impossible.

There are many benefits to integrating your systems that build on each other. The benefits increase as the integration gets more sophisticated.

Reduce duplication of effort: You can’t afford to be updating information manually in multiple places. This leads to errors which could damage your brand and skyrocket staff costs.

Price and inventory accuracy: Customers are checking prices and availability from their smartphones before they leave their house, while in your stores and from your competitor’s stores and shoppers will follow the inventory. Being unable to fulfill orders because you are out of stock bogs down your customer service staff and damages your reputation with customers.

Reduce fulfillment time and expense: Time spent processing orders is time a customer is waiting and questioning their purchase so you need to get your orders shipped as quickly as possible. Amazon has set the standard for quick fulfillment and keeps raising the bar.

Get a 360-degree view of your customers: Cross-channel shoppers are likely your most loyal. Your occasional web shopper might be a regular in-store shopper and vice versa.

Put simply, integration will help you leave your non-integrated competitors behind.

❱ DMN.ca

So why don’t more mid-size companies integrate?

Most established businesses have legacy systems that do a great job managing critical functions but might not have been designed with e-commerce integration in mind. It can be a huge disruption, expense and risk to re-platform an entire organization just to meet the needs of e-commerce. The good news is that this is seldom required. All systems store data and every system we have encountered, even if they don’t have specific APIs, has some sort of reporting and import functionality that we can adapt to allow systems to talk to each other.

Once you have determined what the goals for your integration process are, keeping these five tips in mind will smooth the process and increase your chance of success.

1

Investigate Talk to everyone that uses your systems internally. Determine what shortcuts are taken to work around limitations in your current systems and what habits might need to change. These shortcuts can be anything from abbreviations and internal shorthand, to not using some of the features of the software. Ask all the questions. The only dumb question is one that isn’t asked during the planning phase.

After completing an integration for a retailer we discovered sales were not actually run through their POS system but entered manually at the till. It was easier for head office to just send store signs and an email to all staff than to change a bunch of prices.

This meant that the website never had sale prices. Another retailer saved time by just marking down the list price rather than setting a sale price and sale start and end dates for their in-store system. While web pricing was accurate, they lost the benefit of being

able to highlight sale priced items on the web.

2

Plan Before you begin, you need to have a good understanding of all of the data that needs to be exchanged between the systems.

Look at everything you are doing with your internal systems, how that will affect the data being sent to your e-commerce software and how often that needs to happen. Look ahead to those things that happen infrequently to deal with specific situations. ❯❯ Inventory and price updates from in-house to e-commerce: Schedule depends on sales velocity and how closely you manage your inventory. ❯❯ Orders: Real time or scheduled batches? ❯❯ New products: We recommend manual activation once all web details have been added. ❯❯ Out of stock: The “what happens at zero?” question. Is it temporary or permanent? Backorders? ❯❯ Low inventory or end of line clearance. ❯❯ Shopper data: For a 360-degree view of your customers

3

Document The system will outlast the staff that plan it so don’t rely on memory for what decisions or accommodations were made. Make sure everything is documented and everyone knows where it is documented. The documentation will evolve during development and over time as you learn more about the systems and users ask questions. This investment is critical to the long-term success of your project.

4

Prepare your data Most accounting systems are expert systems designed to be used by insiders. People use abbreviations and office shorthand

codes that “everyone” knows. The use of the systems likely evolves over time as well so we find data gaps and legacy data that has not been updated. You should expect some data cleanup before the integration and if needed retraining staff should start immediately to break old habits.

5

Test Test all the processes, even the ones you don’t plan on using often. This also needs to become a habit with any changes you are considering after the site is launched.

If you change how something works and it just inconveniences internal users that is one thing, but if it impacts your e-commerce site it will be seen by thousands of visitors a day who will leave and shop elsewhere. Your e-commerce vendor should provide you with a staging platform that is identical to your live platform that you can experiment with.

Once your site is launched, keep your vendors and consultants informed about upcoming changes and needs.

Planning on implementing an upgrade to your accounting platform? Check your documentation and talk to your e-commerce vendor in advance!

You can often plan a phased approach starting with inventory/ price updates, followed by orders and work your way up to full integration.

Your plan can be your roadmap and you wouldn’t take a trip without a map would you?

Rob Stocks is the president and founder of ideaLEVER Solutions and has been leading the team for over 20 years. ideaLEVER has given Rob a ring side seat to the ups, downs and evolution of the internet and e-commerce. As lead strategist he has worked with retailers, manufacturers, charities and brand owners across North America. rstocks@idealever.com Twitter: @idealever

November 2016

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Operations & Logistics

‘Tis the season for e-commerce Proven tips to help you get through the holidays

T’was the month before Christmas, when all through the house, Everybody was scrambling, looking to buy a blouse.

Company A waited and waited, now their site’s in repair, While Company B made the sale, they planned ahead to avoid the scare.

By Sean Jimenez

T

he moral of the story is: the holidays are a busy time— don’t sleep on your e-commerce. Companies frequently begin planning for the holiday season months in advance, so if you’re not already prepared, you’re well behind the competition. If you’re not quite sure where you currently stand with your e-commerce, here is a small checklist to help you get going.

1. Understand your audience Around the holidays, your target audience may not be the same as the one(s) you’re accustomed to selling to.

The first step to ensuring a successful e-commerce campaign is to narrow down who your audience is so you don’t spend your advertising budget on the wrong people.

A good start is to look at who is doing the gifting, as they will be the ones purchasing from you. For example if you sell toys, you may want to think about marketing to an older demographic such as parents or grandparents. Or if you sell women’s products try allocating some of your marketing efforts toward the male demographic, as they will likely be searching for gifts for their partners around this time.

2. Make that plan once and check it twice Don’t expect any holiday magic with your online campaigns if you don’t have a plan. Make your life as easy as possible by following this rule of thumb: allocate two-thirds of your time to create a plan for the holidays November 2016

and spend the other third executing it. A well thought out plan will save you enormous amounts of time later on having to go back and make corrections.

Start your plan by listing out all the major dates and creating a visual representation of when content, emails and promotions are to be deployed. It is important that you execute your promotions in a timely manner. By making your plan visual, you will be able to see what’s going on, making your job a lot easier.

3. Make sure your mobile jingles The importance of having a mobile site optimized for the holidays can’t be emphasized enough. Last year, nearly a third of all holiday retail sales were influenced by mobile shopping searches. That means consumers are using mobile platforms to both convert and conduct their research.

If your mobile site is down, poorly optimized or even non-existent, you are running the risk of not only being missed by Google, but also by potential customers. A basic mobile site has these characteristics: ❯❯ It uses dynamic serving (server sends different code when the site is accessed on different devices, but the URL remains the same); ❯❯ It has responsive design; and ❯❯ It is developed on a mobile subdomain.

From there, it is important you make sure all your pages are up and running properly, and that checkout and conversion on mobile is made as simple as possible.

4. Add some magic—make it personal After you’ve narrowed down your target audience(s), you have to get their attention. How do you stand out from the hundreds of ads on the Internet during this busy time? The answer is simple. Tailor your ad copy and messages toward your audience with a goal of ensuring optimal relevancy (i.e. give potential customers a reason to want to buy from you). If you’re stuck with a few options and unsure which message will convert best, try using A/B testing.

By tailoring your messages, you will improve your conversion rate and won’t need to waste all your advertising dollars on a single campaign. Companies often believe that by spending as much money as possible to increase visibility, they will make more money. The reality of it is you will increase your chances of success if you can find the perfect balance of visibility, relevancy and scalability with your campaigns.

5. Don’t go cold turkey on your website While you’re in the midst of your promotions, campaigns and everything else in between, don’t forget the most important part of the whole conversion process—your website. If you can’t convert your site traffic, no amount of external marketing will help you. Common problems to look out for include the following: ❯❯ Site speed issues; ❯❯ Slow/faulty checkout; ❯❯ Broken links; ❯❯ URL issue; and ❯❯ Inaccurate product and meta descriptions.

Be sure to get as much (if not all) of these fixed or else you’re in for a long winter.

6. Tell your story—the best way to spread holiday cheer is to sing it loud for all to hear Now you’re probably wondering, how will storytelling help my e-commerce?

By telling a story that is both genuine and personable, you are creating a conversation around your brand that

will help you generate valuable word of mouth and create external backlinks to your site. By generating backlinks from credible sources, you are boosting your reputation with search engines, and that will translate into valuable organic traffic.

7. Figure out your shipping—we don’t all have a sleigh and reindeer This is a bonus tip and has little to do with your online presence. With any product-based business, you want to make sure delivery to your customers is prompt and timely. Make it clear to your customers when the cut-off deadline is for guaranteed Christmas delivery.

Secondly, around this time, customers don’t like to pay for shipping. Get into the holiday spirit and offer your customers the liberty of free shipping over the holidays. If you can’t afford to offer it for a lengthy period of time, at least do it over a fixed period (for your reference, December 18th is National Free Shipping Day).

If you live up to your end of the bargain by offering free shipping, your customers will be more inclined to buy from you.

Last but not least—have fun!

The holidays can be stressful, but follow these tips and you will save yourself plenty of time that can be spent on other things. Plan everything well, don’t stress over your e-commerce and enjoy the process.

Sean Jimenez is the CEO of Soulpepper, a full

service digital marketing agency based in Vancouver, B.C. A social impact entrepreneur, Sean uses his expertise in e-commerce, sales and sustainable business practices to develop digital strategies to help impact corporations grow. His areas of specialization include omnichannel and digital strategy, web analytics, search engine optimization and online advertising. Sean’s passionate about developing triple bottom line businesses equally focused on profit, people and the environment. He is the former owner and operator of Champions Martial Arts, Canada’s largest martial arts school.

DMN.ca ❰

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Operations & Logistics

Canadians expect dynamic digital payment solutions and experiences How Interac is adapting to deliver exceptional, innovative experiences for your customers

By Mark O’Connell

W

e have truly entered an age of digital transformation.

We are, increasingly, a digitally connected people engaging in ever more sophisticated tasks through technology—and this will only continue to escalate. This wave of technological change squarely impacts payments and is marked by the introduction of new technologies, new players and new expectations.

At the heart of this transformation is the need to deliver enhanced and optimal user experiences, which the market is expecting and demanding from all players. Canadians want convenience, speed and security and, increasingly, they want flexible access, available anywhere, anytime and on any device.

Can established players evolve to remain relevant during times of disruptive technological change?

These entities exist today because they have been able to make significant investments. They’ve been able to adapt, transform and evolve during periods of disruption. Within this context, yes, established players can do more than simply survive—they can thrive. We’ve demonstrated this consistently over three decades—first as pioneers and now as leaders in the Canadian payments space.

We are all questioning how we can accelerate our ability to respond to and challenge the current changing environment and future requirements. Fundamentally, it means transforming our teams— assessing our resources, skill sets and expanding capabilities. It’s something we have done in our organization and continuously do to meet the demanding needs of the market. I also believe that it means partnering with ❱ DMN.ca

global leaders, as well as new entrants, to deliver best-in-class solutions and user experiences.

From the very beginning, we’ve championed innovative, secure solutions for Canadians that make payments easier, simpler and faster. We know that in the world of payments, settling for the status quo is a one-way ticket to irrelevancy. Nor is it enough to simply compete for the moment, following trends and reacting to the changes taking place all around us. We know that the only way to stay relevant in the payments world is to compete for the future by being proactive and shaping experiences

using mobile devices, highlighting how important mobile has become to Canadians for payments. And while Interac e-Transfer began as a P2P (person-to-person) service, it has evolved to offer P2B (person-tobusiness), B2P (business-to-person) and B2B (business-to-business) options as well. More than 13.5 million online bank accounts are connected to the Interac e-Transfer platform to send money securely and efficiently from one bank account to another.

Business use of Interac e-Transfer will continue to increase, in part due to the recent introduction of a Bulk

just provide an email address or mobile phone number for payment notification, as they would with regular Interac e-Transfer.

Our mandate has always been to operate a modern, efficient and secure payments system in Canada, delivering ubiquitous, cost-effective platforms and services with the scale and reach required to be successful in a highly competitive market. While the backbone of our Interac products and services has and will continue to be our Inter-Member Network (IMN), we recently introduced a new foundational platform—the Interac Token Service Provider (TSP)—to allow us to meet evolving consumer and business expectations. Developed in collaboration with IBM, Bell ID and Everlink, the Interac TSP is a natural evolution of the strong security value proposition built into every Interac product and service.

The concept of substituting consumers’ financial information with a “token” has always been integral to the security of Interac products, such as debit cards that feature an identifier instead of an account number or Interac e-Transfer transactions that use email addresses or mobile phone numbers instead of account information to allow for digital transfer of funds through web banking. The TSP continues this, offering both security and customization that consumers and clients demand with the capability for tokenized digital debit transactions on any device or mobile wallet that supports it.

With our three foundational platforms—the IMN, the Interac e-Transfer platform and the Interac TSP—we’re ready for whatever happens in the world of digital

We know that in the world of payments, settling for the status quo is a one-way ticket to irrelevancy. rather than being led by them.

In Canada, it helps that Canadians are great adopters of payments technology. They’ve embraced Interac Debit, using it more than any other payment card. They’ve embraced Interac Flash contactless payments, driving year-over-year transaction growth of 163% between 2014 and 2015. And, in larger and larger numbers, they’re embracing Interac e-Transfer, making it the leading digital money transfer platform in Canada. It’s delivering faster payment capabilities by processing more than 958,000 transactions per day with more than half of transfer notifications received instantly, allowing for immediate access to funds once deposited through online banking.

But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Currently, 65 per cent of Interac e-Transfer funds are deposited

Disbursement service that provides new capabilities for payments that have traditionally been made using cash, prepaid cards or cheques—a costly and inefficient legacy payment instrument that still accounts for nearly a billion payments every year. The Bulk Disbursement service provides businesses with an efficient, secure and streamlined electronic payments system for things like payroll for temporary and casual staff, insurance claim payouts, company rebates, competition winning disbursements and emergency fund disbursements. Through an automated file transfer process, businesses and other organizations can securely and reliably send multiple payments in a single file upload, eliminating the need to issue, track and reconcile payments.

And unlike direct deposit, recipients don’t have to provide any financial institution details, as the recipients

November 2016

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Operations & Logistics commerce. Whether it’s In-App payments, where we are enabling merchant mobile applications to securely integrate digital debit payment functionality, or In-Browsers, where we do the same for merchant e-commerce websites, these innovative payment solutions will create new customer experiences and value-added solutions to financial institutions. They also extend the consumer and merchant benefits of paying with debit beyond brick-and-mortar transactions into the digital space.

Constant innovation and a reliable, always-on systems infrastructure lays the foundation for further evolution in digital payments, including enabling Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to leverage the Interac e-Transfer platform. And we’re always reviewing the platform for even more capabilities, such as transactions within social platforms, be they P2P, P2B or B2P. Canadian consumers and businesses have

Check us out online dmn.ca

Currently, 65 per cent of Interac e-Transfer funds are deposited using mobile devices, highlighting how important mobile has become to Canadians for payments. shown that they want access to digital payment capabilities. They want mobile payment offerings that are fully functional across any device and any platform. They also expect them to be secure and protect their privacy. If existing payment providers don’t give them what they want, they’ll turn to new entrants who will.

Fortunately, they don’t have to.

If the past 30 years have taught us anything, it’s that you can’t stay relevant by standing still or following the herd. We know our environment, we know what is needed and we adapt. We have domain expertise and know-how to build out capabilities and transform, and that’s what we are doing. Our continual evolution means that we continue to set the standard for secure debit payments and money transfers in Canada, as we accelerate the growth of digital payments by meeting the needs and expectations of consumers and businesses, today and into the future.

Mark O’Connell is president and CEO, Interac Association

and Acxsys Corporation.

November 2016

For online advertising opportunities contact

Mark Henry, mark@dmn.ca For online editorial opportunities contact

Sarah O’Connor, sarah@dmn.ca DMN.ca ❰

Do you make decisions about your marketing operations?

Are you responsible for customer acquisition, retention or loyalty?

Is your department in charge of fulfilling orders or customer service?

Sign up NOW for a free subscription to Direct Marketing magazine.

Visit our website at www.dmn.ca and learn more about the magazine Direct Marketing is a Lloydmedia, Inc publication.

Lloydmedia also publishes Financial Operations magazine, Canadian Treasurer magazine, Canadian Equipment Finance magazine, Payments Business magazine and Contact Management magazine.

// 17

Social media metrics

Are your social media accounts really engaging customers?

By Tim Cameron-Kitchen

U

sing social media to promote, advertise and engage customers is vital for online businesses. People are now using social media platforms to communicate directly with brands—whether that’s saying how awesome they are or complaining about a service or product.

Online businesses now have staff dedicated to keeping social media accounts up to date and active, because nothing highlights a bad brand like an inactive social media account.

So while businesses are putting all this time and money into social media marketing and activities, how do they know if the company is actually benefiting? How can you measure customer engagement?

Engagement comes in different forms In terms of social media, engagement is how much people interact with what you post on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

The first thing businesses need to recognize is that engagement comes in different forms. Consulting and software development company Moz defines types of engagement by categorizing different types of engagement rates: ❯❯ Amplification rate: How much something is shared. This broadens the audience of your post. Some argue that this form of engagement is actually the most important as it grows your audience, thus leading to wider knowledge of your businesses and a better chance of increasing sales. ❯❯ Conversation rate: This is simply the amount of comments you get on each post. ❯❯ Applause rate: This is something that can be done quickly and easily by followers such as a ‘like’ on Facebook, or ‘favourite’ on Instagram—something which gives a post an upvote. ❯❯ Relative engagement rate: This is where you can compare the metrics across all social media accounts.

By comparing the different engagement rates on each social November 2016

network, you can identify which ones need improvement.

When looking at any form of engagement, you need to think less about numbers and more about actual people and percentages.

For example, if your Twitter account has 50,000 followers, this could be seen as a great mark of social media engagement; however, of those 50,000 followers, how many retweets, shares and likes do you get? If it’s only 50 per post, that’s 0.1% of people responding to you. However, if you only have 5000 followers but 50 people are engaging, that’s a much better percentage of engagement.

useful statistics. These are targeted to help you increase your engagement by showing the common characteristics of your audience and providing data around your best-performing content types and posting times.

Third-party tools can also provide you with useful data. Social media scheduling apps, such as Buffer, show you the days and times that your posts are getting the best response from your followers. Using this information, you can automatically schedule future posts to publish at these times, ensuring maximum visibility.

Of course, everyone wants to see their audience and engagement statistics increase. By using tools such

You don’t necessarily want a large following; you want the right kind of following. These are people who are interested in your product and will engage.

You don’t necessarily want a large following; you want the right kind of following. These are people who are interested in your product and will engage.

The final piece of engagement which is particularly important to note is the click-through rate. If you share a blog post or a new product, how many clicks do you get from your social media platforms? Engagement on your social media account might be great, but is the relationship going further?

Some people may just like to interact on social media without going to web content or products.

Social engagement metrics and analytics One of the simplest methods to see if your social media channels are really engaging customers is to use engagement metrics provided by networks themselves. Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics both provide

as these, over time you’ll find your audience’s sweet spot, combining a message that engages them in a format they respond well to, seen at the times they are most active.

If you’re using social media well, running competitions and offers via your channels should be embedded into your strategy, as well as posting blogs or sharing photos or information. If you launch a new product and talk about it on social media, it’s important to monitor the success of that. How much engagement did you get? Did it have a knock-on effect on your website? Does it vary on each social media account?

Setting up dedicated landing pages for your social media contests or promotions can help you track the performance of these. By having a specific landing page for these visitors, it allows you to clearly track the performance of each social post or ad, refining and improving over time.

Creating a social media strategy from analyzing engagement After looking at your metrics, the key is then to use it to guide your social media strategy.

It’s important to check in and measure your social media engagement because, from this, you can set goals and create a new social media strategy, measuring engagement from quarter to quarter.

Gathering all this information is important when reporting back to the rest of the company about how social media is working to engage customers. Many businesses will want to know if social media engagement is having a direct knock-on effect to sales. This can be difficult to measure, but tracking your social media engagement can have multiple benefits to the company, which in turn will affect sales.

Buffer explains that social media is an easy way to get customer feedback.

This is a quick and efficient way to deal with any issues, as well as a great way to ask what customers would think of new products.

A lot can be said for maintaining relationships with customers via social media. Engaging with them and being friendly can do a lot for keeping dedicated customers.

What can businesses do next?

Every business currently succeeding on social media will need to continue to adapt to continue growing.

Meanwhile, companies new to this form of engagement will need to experiment to find an approach that works with their audience. Both types will be guided by analytics, monitoring their engagement and, most importantly, their business results.

One thing is for certain, though: how consumers engage with us has changed forever.

Tim Cameron-Kitchen founded Nottinghambased e-commerce marketing agency Exposure Ninja. Tim and his 60-strong team offer a range of online marketing services for clients, including creating social media strategies to create maximum engagement with customers.

DMN.ca ❰

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Social media metrics

Finding the right influencers for your campaign and which metrics matter A

By Aydin Acar

s the digital marketing industry has gone social, influencer marketing is no longer the next big thing—it is the big thing. Marketing budgets have already shifted significantly this year to make way for influencer marketing. Around 47% of online customers use adblock technology and the way to reach them is to provide content they want from people they trust. Additionally, 51% of marketers believe they get better customers from influencer marketing.

That’s because the relationship began with trust in the influencer. Based on a study that Influenster conducted on more than 10,000 consumers across Generations X, Y and Z, 68% of them rely on product reviews to inform their shopping decisions, followed by 56% who rely on social media and 55% who rely on word of mouth. There is no doubt that influencer marketing is here to stay.

With the advent of influencer marketing platforms, choosing the right one for your marketing needs can be daunting. Selecting the right type of influencer can be a challenge as well.

Micro-influencers have the maximum impact on their followers as they are motivated by meaningful connections and are perceived as the go-to people for advice and recommendations within their social circles. Studies have shown that for unpaid posts, Instagram influencers with fewer than 1,000 followers have a ‘like’ rate of about eight per cent, while those with 1,000 to 10,000 followers have a ‘like’ rate of four per cent. As the base of followers continues to increase, the ‘like’ rate keeps decreasing. Hence, a celebrity status and a critical mass of followers does not guarantee results.

There are myriad ways to go about selecting the right influencers—those who will take your campaign to the next level. Here are just a few of the strategies I’ve found to be successful.

❱ DMN.ca

Building relationships with influencers First and foremost, it’s important to adopt a relationship-centric approach.

If you build meaningful relationships with influencers over time, you’ll be able to convert them into genuine social advocates for your brand. Here at Influenster, we created our platform with a focus on building a community of socially active members who enjoy interacting with one another, not to be just another automated system for finding influencers. We engage our members through a gamified system of fun activities such as writing reviews, uploading photos, asking and answering questions, and answering snap (short survey) questions, to enable us to get to know them better and qualify them for campaigns that match their lifestyles and shopping habits. Influencers are not necessarily celebrities on social media but, rather, those who are meaningfully engaged with their networks of followers.

Vetting influencers Zeroing in on the right influencers depends on what a brand’s marketing and business objectives are. A campaign may be focused on generating quality user-generated content and/or driving reviews; we prioritize the brand’s social media platforms of choice and influencer selection is based on those objectives.

Every Influenster member has a social score that is calculated based on the number of social followers they have on each network as well their engagement on the Influenster platform. Members are hyper-targeted for each campaign based on their demographics and location. Want to find suburban moms who are about to give birth to their babies and have them test and review diapers? No problem. Want to send paper towels to urban Millennials and have them create social posts showing them off?

Consider it done.

For more tailored programs that require VIPs—aka top-tier influencers with a certain level of

clout among their followers—we have our community team onboard to vet members and pick the influencers that not only have a high following and engagement, but who also align with the brand’s voice and vision. Such customization allows for genuine connections between the brand and influencer, tapping into the full potential of social advocacy and the building of authentic brand buzz.

as a product of future sales to testers (total participants x post-survey product conversion rate x customer lifetime value), the choice is based on the key KPIs you base your campaign’s success on.

Finally, in order to calculate the short-term social media ROI, the average dollar return can be projected based on social media impressions generated during the campaign (total

A celebrity status and a critical mass of followers does not guarantee results.

Measuring the social media impact of influencers On a micro, influencer-specific level, it’s helpful to measure the call to action that you’d like influencers to engage their audiences with—whether it’s driving their followers to share content, purchase a product, sign up for an account or something else entirely.

On a campaign level, there are three main social metrics that are important to keep in mind when determining the success of your program: action, interaction and impressions. An action is any act taken by a member on a specific platform (i.e. posts, likes, tweets, comments, shares, videos, etc.) An interaction is any act taken by a member’s network in response to the act (i.e. retweets, comments, etc.) Impressions are a measure of the number of times those acts and interactions for a specific platform are displayed online.

On a macro, brand-objectives level, it’s important to measure the numbers that relate to your business goals. Whether that means calculating the number of offline conversations generated based on second-generation sharing, or punching the numbers for customer acquisition profit calculated

revenue return x profit margin / program cost). This is a crucial step to prove validity for further investments in your social strategy in the near future.

In regards to a deep dive into long-term social media ROI, you have to think first about the brand’s investment as being applied to both its social balance sheet and its social earnings statement, according to Dave Hanley, principal at Deloitte Digital, and look at the value of certain assets (fans, followers, brand ambassadors, influencers and other elements that have been active and tracked for more than three months) over time.

In order to fight against the possible depreciation in value of those assets, the key is for a brand to keep its audience engaged with great content and conversations. Only then, would a brand earn long-term ROI on its social media strategy.

Aydin Acar is the co-founder and CEO of Influenster, the product discovery and reviews destination that enables consumers to find new products and get advice to make informed purchases. With a community of more than two million members, these digital influencers have written over 10 million reviews of over 1.7 million products.

November 2016

// 19

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// 20

Resource Directory FULL SERVICE OPERATIONS

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Direct Marketing Magazine 10:43 AM With a qualified13-07-04 circulation of 6,400 primary readers and another approximate 11,000 secondary readers, Direct Marketing reaches a unique audience of marketing executives and their agencies who are responsible for creating, managing, supporting and fulfilling more than $51 billion in annual sales generated through a range of direct response channels.

To advertise in Direct Marketing Resource Directory

to advertise Contact Mark Henry, mark@dmn.ca

Contact: Mark Henry, mark@dmn.ca

// 21

Resource Directory LIST SERVICES

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bellhowell.ca © 2014 Bell and Howell Canada Ltd. All rights reserved.

to advertise in

Direct Marketing Resource Directory Contact Mark Henry, mark@dmn.ca

Get your ad on this page for as low as $152 per issue!

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To advertise in Direct Marketing Resource Directory Contact: Mark Henry, mark@dmn.ca

// 22

BRAND This award is given to the marketer that demonstrates excellence in developing, launching and/or evolving a brand through campaigns that may include areas such as advertising, public relations, communications and/or social media.

Winner: City of Vaughan Nominees: Treefrog, Agency 59 – Silkn

Direct Marketing This award identifies exemplary performance in direct marketing channel forms of marketing, such as direct mail, email and other targeted media.

Winner: Conversion Marketing-Communication Inc.

(Kobo) Nominees: ASEQ Studentcare, EQ Works

Digital This category rewards the effective use of marketing in all categories of digital, including (but not limited to) SEO, SEM, social media, content marketing and data analysis/integration.

Winner: Brees Communications Nominees: BlueTrain, FleishmanHillard

Integration This category will award excellence in the use and integration of all marketing categories—from digital to traditional media.

Winner: FleishmanHillard Nominees: Agency 59 – OSPCA, ClearMotive Marketing Group

Marketer of the Year:

The ultimate prize in the following categories: Marketer of the Year – Corporate Winner: INKAS Group of Companies Nominees: General Mills, Buick – General Motors Canada

Marketer of the Year – Small to Mid Size Enterprises Winner: Nominees:

Cornerstone Insurance Brokers Rangle.io, The Story Architect, Lyra Communications

Marketer of the Year – Not-for-profit/government Winner: Nominees:

Ryerson University Songbird Marketing & Communications, City of Vaughan Recreation Services

Marketer of the Year – Entrepreneurs

(1 to 5 employees)

Winner: Launch 48 Nominees: Ignite Digital, Lost Craft, Pinch Social

Marketer of the Year – B2B (Business to Business) Winner: Quarry Nominees: Influitive, Rangle.io

Marketer of the Year – Start-up (in business less than 3 years)

Video This award identifies exemplary performance in video marketing, such as video production and creative, development and video marketing initiatives.

Winner: Agency 59 Nominees: Angle Media, FleishmanHillard, b-Mc Creative

❱ DMN.ca

Winner; Nominees:

Rangle.io Brizi, Patio Interactive

Marketer of the Year – Students Winner: Nominee:

MAD Mix ACDC//Creative

November 2016