According to Brett Zucker, CMO at Monotype—a company that empowers the world’s top 2000 brands with design, technology and expertise—sense-based marketing (i.e., appealing to consumers’ senses) is the best way to maximize returns during this high-volume, high-impact time of year. Namely, there are five key strategies marketers should consider, if they want to maximize yields through Dec. 25 and beyond.

• General Senses
  • Experiential Gifts Win Out—From ax throwing to aerial yoga, this year’s holiday shoppers, especially millennials and GenZ, are increasingly opting to gift experiences in place of material items. The trend makes sense as recent studies from university researchers reveal that experiential purchases tend to provide more enduring happiness. For brands in hospitality and travel, there is a natural connection to “selling” experiences to consumers. For marketers outside these channels, think about how you can make your products an experience; it may be as simple as a small tweak in messaging. For example, you’re not just selling a festive, scented holiday candle. You’re selling nostalgia, the feeling of warmth or being cozy.
• Sight:
  • Go for Authenticity—Gone are the days of stock photos. Ditch the staged photography, which can come across as cold or un-relatable, in favor of real images of real people. If, unlike CVS, you don’t have $$ to drop on refreshing packaging with untouched photos, consider other avenues, like UGC or influencer content. Both are solid alternatives that not only inspire loyalty, but it will make your brand feel more accessible and authentic. Bonus: reports show that UGC actually has the power to inspire purchase decisions (70% in fact).
  • Know When and How to Stylize Your Brand—Every brand has a complex visual identity, from the typefaces it uses, down to the color of the logo or packaging. Don’t overlook these small details that can have big impact.
• Sound:
  • Optimize SEO for Smart Speaker Shopping—22% of Gen Xers and 17% of millennials plan to use a virtual assistant for shopping this holiday season. If your customers start their shopping journey via smart speaker, you may want to overhaul your content marketing to prioritize long-tail keywords that are more conversational, or “featured snippets” that appear higher on search results. In any case, optimized SEO is the name of the game.
  • Consider Curated Playlists Consistent with Your Brand—How can you make your online shopping experience unique, if already convenient? Maybe it’s a stylized Spotify playlist shoppers can tune in to while browsing. Not only a festive and personal touch, but it just could put shoppers in the right holiday spirit to convert—not abandon—their cart.
• Touch:
  • Don’t Neglect In-Store Experiences—We hear a lot about the retail apocalypse or death to brick-and-mortar, but that’s far from the case. In fact, stats show that physical stores still play a critical role in the winding shopper journey. Want to make their in-store experience more memorable? Consider the power of in-store demos where consumers can discover and explore your product with their own two hands. This has proven especially powerful for the likes of beauty upstarts and legacy brands that are embracing experiential.

The post 5 Strategies Brands Haven’t Tapped Yet for Holiday 2018 appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

That’s according to a new study from Tapjoy, which further notes that a majority of gamers are also now more likely to engage with rewarded ads.

Findings from the study were released in a research report titled “The Modern Mobile Gamer: The Marketer’s Guide to Holiday Gaming Trends.”

All told, the report suggests, this holiday season should be a busy one for mobile gamers.

Nearly three-quarters of mobile gamers (72 percent) said they intend to download at least one new game during the upcoming holiday season, while 80 percent reported that they expect to spend more time playing games during the holidays.

“This study validates why the the mobile gaming audience presents such a great opportunity for performance and brand advertisers alike – particularly during the holidays,” said Shannon Jessup, chief revenue officer of Tapjoy. “Mobile gamers are already a uniquely engaged audience, but holiday downtime means that they spend even more time in-app, are more curious to try new games, and are more likely to engage with in-app advertising, making it the perfect time for advertisers to drive value for their campaigns.”

Other key findings from the study include:

• Mobile gamers will play more hours per day during the holidays. While 8 out of 10 mobile gamers say they’ll play more often during the holiday season, 30 percent estimate they’ll play an additional three or more hours per day. Eleven percent report they’ll play an additional five or more hours per day.
• Three-quarters of mobile gamers will download a new game. Seventy-two percent of mobile gamers intend to download at least one new game during the holiday season, and nearly half (43 percent) will download two or more games. Twelve percent will download five or more games.
• Gamers are most likely to download Action titles. Gamers said they were most likely to download Action titles this holiday season, followed by Puzzle games, Adventure games, Strategy games, Simulation games and Casino or Card games.

To learn more, get the report here.

The post Tapjoy Holiday Prediction: Mobile Gamers to Install and Play More Games appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The survey also questioned global digital marketers, advertisers and app developers on their 2017 mobile holiday preparation and campaign plans.

While 95 percent of businesses see the holiday season as an important opportunity, the survey demonstrated an interesting chasm between mobile marketing activities and consumer preference, including when consumers find holiday promotions most effective and desired payment choice in a mobile environment.

According to business respondents, the holidays are an important source of revenue and mobile tops the list for engaging with consumers.

Marketers and advertisers also approach mobile purchasing differently than their customers, with 60 percent of businesses preferring in-app purchases for the holidays while only five percent of consumers do. And while 54 percent of consumers say they will watch rewarded video for added holiday perks, only 20 percent of marketers are choosing to include it in their holiday campaigns.

“Without question, the holidays present phenomenal opportunities for mobile brands,” said Jennifer Shambroom, chief marketing officer at YouAppi. “Yet without careful planning and targeted goals, companies can easily miss out on their best ROI of the year. Rewarded video is just one example of how mobile brands can better engage their customers this holiday season, and we’ve compiled additional top tips and tricks to help global brands make the most of their holiday mobile experience. Consumer preference is driving mobile engagement, and its critical brands react with the holiday experiences users want most.”

To learn more, check out the full report here.

The post Survey: Consumers Value Mobile Holiday Campaigns, But Digital Marketers Missing Opportunities appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

But escalated wages aside, the real story here in the mobile world is that retailers are seeking more mobile advantages in the hiring process.

The new report report in question indicates that hiring managers want more mobile assistance as they pursue part-time help in retail positions during the holidays.

In particular, the provides insight on the top technologies on retail hiring managers’ wish list to streamline their holiday hiring process.

Mobile job applications and a mobile app for hiring managers to view pending tasks remotely were cited as some of the top tools that hiring managers think will be the most effective to help hire temporary employees, along with an online interview scheduling system that syncs with email and calendar applications.

“Hiring managers also expressed interest in recruitment marketing software to send automated emails and social media posts, and video interviewing and video cover letter software to make holiday hires more quickly and effectively,” the report summary reads. “Among hiring managers who currently use an applicant tracking system (ATS), 100 percent agreed that their company needs to do more to integrate mobile recruiting technology into its current ATS.”

“With 48 percent of retailers planning to hire more seasonal workers, employers should not only rely on hiring software and recruitment marketing technologies, but offer unique perks to attract and retain talented temporary workers,” said Susan Vitale, chief marketing officer at iCIMS. “We wanted to provide employers with the tools and tips they need to make hiring decisions for the holidays, as retail and online sales are expected to be higher than last year’s sales.”

Job seekers looking to get hired this holiday season can view the full report here, and employers looking to enhance their holiday hiring process can reference these tips.

The post Mobile Matters This Year for Holiday Hiring in the Retail Industry appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

That’s a six percent increase over last year, according to the latest annual research from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).

This week, MMW was made privy to a summary of the 23rd Annual Consumer Technology Holiday Purchase Patterns Study.

The study in question illustrates that emerging technologies including drones and wearables “will pervade holiday wish lists this year.”

According to CTA’s holiday retail forecast, spending on tech will increase 3.1 percent to reach $36.05 billion during the 2016 holiday season. The forecast also shows overall retail sales in November and December, excluding gas and restaurant sales, are expected to increase a strong 3.8 percent to $824.8 billion year over year.

All told, CTA estimates total online holiday sales will grow by 16.4 percent to $84.2 billion, while online sales through mobile devices like smartphones and tablets will grow by 45.2 percent to $20.1 billion.

“The 2016 holiday season looks to be the biggest on record for the tech sector, thanks to fresh and innovative products on the market such as wearable tech, VR headsets, drones and digital assistant devices,” said Shawn DuBravac, chief economist for the CTA. “Our research also finds that most Americans are now using tech devices to help them research and buy those tech gifts.”

The post Tech Will Topple Records This Holiday Season appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The data backs up this assertion. For instance, though the proportion of brands sending holiday-themed emails has risen 13.4 percent (almost doubling for some holidays), a new study from Yes Lifecycle Marketing documented a 5 percent dip in open rates.

Why? “Consumers’ inboxes were inundated,” a report summary reads.

Yes Lifecycle Marketing’s report —“Engagement and Deliverability for Holiday-Themed Emails: Biggest Lessons from 2015 and What They Mean for Marketers in 2016” —  tracked the year-over-year performance of email marketing campaigns by 30 major brands, including Amazon, Target, and Nordstrom (for Q3 and Q4 of 2014 and 2015).

“Holiday-themed email campaigns are a great way for brands to engage consumers in a timely and topical way, but we saw some diminishing returns as more brands were competing to attract customers’ attention with the same tactics over the same period,” said Michael Fisher, president of Yes Lifecycle Marketing. “These campaigns can still be highly effective and engaging, but marketers need to be thinking more strategically.”

The study also suggests a link between the abrupt increase in email volume during the holiday season and a decrease in open rates for all marketing emails during the same period.

So, what are the best ways to leverage the holidays in marketing email? Yes Lifecycle Marketing has a whitepaper with tips you can download here.

The post Holiday-Themed Email Campaigns Grew in 2015, But Less May Be More Effective appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Experian Marketing Services, a well known leader in data-driven marketing and cloud-based marketing technology, also documented an increase in email volume year-over-year. Details are contained in its “Holiday Hot Sheet: Insights for the Holiday Marketer.”

The report “indicates that email volume rose 24.8 percent during the 2015 holiday season compared to 2014, across all-industry verticals,” according to a news release shared with MMW. “Despite the increase in volume, the number of email opens, clicks, and transactions also increased. Unique email opens increased 19 percent, unique email clicks increased 10 percent, and email transactions increased 20 percent.”

Personalization and relevance improvements — thanks to ever-increasing data collection — are making email marketing important again.

“As retailers find more ways to incorporate data to create more personalized and relevant emails, we are seeing both volume and transactions increase,” said Spencer Kollas, vice president of global deliverability services at Experian Marketing Services. “The 2015 holiday season showed us once again that marketers are still finding email to be a valuable way to increase sales.”

The report includes findings on other key marketing trends from the 2015 holiday season —free shipping being one of them.

“According to Experian’s analysis, 90 percent of retail email campaigns during the 2015 holiday season included an offer, free shipping was the most common, followed by percent off,” the report authors note. “The percent-off email offers featuring coupons or codes increased from 34 percent to 40 percent in 2015, allowing more tracking of responses.”

And mobile definitely made its mark.

Email clicks via mobile on a missive from a retailer increased 7 percent from 2014. SMS messaging continued to be critical.

The top three email transaction dates in 2015 included Cyber Monday,

Black Friday, and the Sunday after Black Friday. The top three email dates in 2015 by volume were Cyber Monday, Black Friday, and the Day before Thanksgiving.

The post Holiday Email is Hotter Than Ever appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The following is guest contributed post by Deidre Bakker-Riches, owner of a boutique marketing firm and consultancy, Twlv31 Marketing, and the Head of Communications for Las Vegas advertising agency, Up All Day Creative Solutions (originally published by Mobile Leaders Alliance).

With the holidays just around the corner, we are all looking for ways to save us time, and more importantly, money when it comes to finding the perfect gifts. Fortunately, with all of the great advances in mobile technology, we are no longer required to wait in those excruciatingly long lines on Black Friday in order to find a good deal. From organization, budgeting, coupons, price comparison and more, here are seven great apps to help you become a savvy shopper this holiday season:

RedLaser

Rated a “Top 10 Must Have App for your iPhone” by the New York Times, RedLaser by eBay helps you find the best prices, coupons and deals for all your favorite products both online and in-stores. The app lets you search their database of millions of products, stores, and deals to help compare prices and reviews. If you are visiting the store in person, the app provides all the information you need, such as location, hours, coupons, and sales. You can create shopping lists directly in the app and then quickly share with your family and friends. Lastly, you can scan and store your loyalty cards so you don’t need to worry about bringing them along with you.

RedLaser is available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

ShopAdvisor

For the astute bargain shopper, ShopAdvisor watches prices for 200M+ products from more than 16,000 retailers and then alerts you of the best time to make a purchase based on your price preferences. The app can also tell you where to find items both online and in-stores, provide product recommendations, and can scan and locate items in-stores and in magazines.

ShopAdvisor is available on iOS and Android.

ShopSavvy

Like ShopAdvisor, ShopSavvy helps you find the best sales from your favorite stores. You can tell the app what products you are searching for and then it will track those products and alert you when there is a sale or discount available. You can also browse sales from the top retailers, scan items to find the lowest prices, price match while shopping in-stores, and receive daily and weekly deals from your favorite retailers.

ShopSavvy is available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

PriceGrabber

PriceGrabber lets quickly find the lowest price on millions of products from thousands of online merchants and local stores. You can search online stores for deals, as well as compare in-store vs. online prices using a barcode scanner. In addition, you can sort by price, rating or popularity, set price alerts and receive notifications, see complete pricing details with tax and shipping, and bookmark your favorite items so you can check back later.

PriceGrabber is available on iOS and Android.

Pounce

If you’re a more of a magazine or newspaper shopper, Pounce lets you scan images in print ads with a iPhone, iPad or Android camera, then you’ll immediately see similar items from a variety of stores. Once you find what you are looking for, simply tap the Buy Now button, enter your credit card information (which Pounce does not store) and then your purchase is processed and shipped directly by the retailer.

Pounce is available on iOS and Android.

Santa’s Bag

Santa’s Bag is great for organizing and budgeting your holiday shopping lists. The app allows you to import your recipients, and then you can map out your budget and gifts for each recipient, create your shopping and wish lists, share your lists, and more. The app is free, but ad-supported. If you prefer, you can do an in-app upgrade for $3 and you will get extra features, like Dropbox backups and the ability to archive gifts from past years.

Santa’s Bag is available on iOS.

GiftPlanner

Like Santa’s Bag, GiftPlanner lets you organize and keep track of your gift lists, budgets and events — but this app covers all holidays as well as birthdays. Some other great features include:

• A Safari bookmarklet feature that allows you to quickly add gifts to your gift list while surfing online
• You can scan barcodes using your device’s camera to quickly fill in product information
• It’s easy to sort your gift list by event, date, store, people, price, or status to keep organized
• You can export printable gift lists that you can use as your shopping lists or checklists
• Best part, you can send gift cards directly from the app via email or text

GiftPlanner is available on iOS.

With the wonderful world of mobile technology, there’s no need to dread your holiday shopping this year. Simply download one or all of these time and money-saving apps to help you de-stress and make your holidays is little more joyful.

The post Save Time & Money This Holiday Season With These 7 Great Shopping Apps appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Consider the results of a recent RhythmOne holiday-focused survey, which shows that a majority (71.5 percent) of holiday shoppers are “mobile holiday shoppers” and will use a mobile device to go online and/or use an app to shop or research holiday products and gifts.

RhythmOne is a technology-enabled media company that connects audiences with brands through premium content across devices. This year’s survey is the firm’s 11th annual holiday season commerce study.

“Among mobile holiday shoppers, 40.9 percent will use a smartphone only, 40.0 percent will use both a smartphone and a tablet, and 19.1 percent will use a tablet only to research/shop for holiday products and gifts,” the report authors explain. “Of note, three in five (60.4 percent) mobile holiday shoppers aged 18-34 years will exclusively use a smartphone as their mobile holiday shopping device.”

The company’s 11 consecutive seasons of surveying shows not only that mobile is now huge in the path to purchase, but that marketers should take advantage of that knowledge.

Of note is the fact that mobile is increasingly used in-store as well. About half of holiday shoppers will use their mobile devices while in a physical store location to assist in the shopping process (checking competitor prices is the most common in-store mobile activity).

“In our past holiday consumer studies, we documented the steady rise in the number of consumers turning to mobile devices to help with their holiday shopping,” said Dan Slivjanovski, CMO at RhythmOne.

“Today we can unequivocally say that we are beyond the tipping point and mobile shopping — whether window shopping or making a purchase — is as much a part of the holiday season as Black Friday deals,” he added. “For brands and retailers, this means mobile experiences from advertising and content distribution to native apps and in-store mobile experiences have to be nurtured.”

The post Annual RhythmOne Holiday Season Study Points to Increased Mobile Shopping, Research appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

It doesn’t take too long after the kids go back to school for thoughts to turn to the holidays. Here we go with Halloween, Thanksgiving … and the big retail kahuna … Christmas.

And there’s proof the shopping has already started in earnest. It comes from a new Consumer Pulse survey from Rubicon Project, a global technology company powering the only independent advertising solution to automate the entire digital advertising ecosystem.

This annual survey took a look at holiday shopping habits among consumers ages 18 and above in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. It also analyzes data on online and mobile shopping trends and the ways in which consumers are spending their dough.

“This year, we are seeing a clear shift in when, where, and how consumers are spending their holiday money,” commented Dallas Lawrence, Senior Vice President for Rubicon Project. “Consumers have taken control of the holiday shopping season, starting earlier, and signaling a clear desire to shop online and on mobile devices.”

And where are they shopping? Amazon and eBay will be pleased.

“For the first time, U.S. consumers are telling us that an online-only outlet, Amazon, will be their number one shopping destination in the US and eBay will be one of the top three shopping destinations in the UK,” noted Lawrence. “Brands looking to win big this holiday season should take note and align their engagement campaigns to the new reality of the in-control and on-demand consumer who is just as comfortable buying online or on their mobile devices as they are in store.”

The report showed that nearly one-third of all shoppers are already shopping — and an even bigger number of parents — 42 percent — are making lists, checking them twice, and pushing the buy buttons.

Luckily for retailers, the mood among consumers appears upbeat.

“This year consumer confidence appears on the rise as a significant majority of shoppers plan to spend the same or more on holiday purchases with most budgets exceeding $1,000,” according to Lawrence.

“Seventy eight percent of those surveyed across the three regions plan to spend the same or more money this year than they did last year – an average of $1,011,” according to the research summary. “U.S. parents are leading the generosity push this year with 48 percent willing to open their wallets a bit wider this year than last.”

But the biggest news relates to online shopping.

“According to the survey, nearly three in four holiday shoppers across the three regions will make purchases online,” explains the report summary. “Specifically in the U.S., more than one-third of shoppers anticipate conducting the majority of their shopping online, with 96 percent of U.S. parents planning to shop online in some capacity this holiday season. Those consumers in the U.S. who plan to do the majority of their holiday shopping online plan to spend 20 percent more than consumers who plan to do the majority of their shopping in-store.”

The most notable trend this season? U.S. consumers say Amazon.com is their top shopping destination followed by traditional go-to stores, Walmart, and Target.

And this year, 25 percent of holiday shoppers in the U.S. will turn to their smartphones to make holiday purchases.

“Whether consumers are shopping from their tablet or clicking through an ad on their smartphone, more consumers than ever are researching, price comparing, and shopping on-the-go, with nearly one in four holiday shoppers in the U.S. planning to shop on their smartphones this year,” said Joe Prusz, Head of Mobile for Rubicon Project. “For brands that embrace the consumer shift to mobile, it will surely be a very merry mobile year.”

There’s more holiday news to be had, including expectations for tech purchases this season. Click here.

The post The Countdown Begins: Rubicon Survey Shows Holiday Shopping Season Has Already Begun appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.