So, why not give them exactly that?

Near-field communication (NFC) is making this possible. NFC is a chip that is embedded into products and transmits data through radio frequency. Tap your smart phone on an object with an embedded NFC chip to exchange information.

Why is this cool?

Users can immediately get relevant info, right from the experts: the creators. Plus, this new NFC technology is way cool (if you disagree, you are probably from the future and reading this blog in your flying car).

Why does this rock for marketers?

Mobile prevails. We know your shiny Blackberry Z10 with NFC is within arm’s reach, at all times. McKinsey’s article about on-demand marketing states that “research is the driver of most purchase decisions”, so we need to market to consumers accordingly. They need the lowdown on the product they are holding in their hands ASAP before they put it down.

NFC also gives consumers the ability to digitally interact with non-digital items. If I want to know more about scotch (that I will be enjoying after billable hours) I can tap my smart phone on the bottle in the liquor store. My phone will pull up details about which fields the grains came from, locations where it’s served and a list of my pals who like it. This process allows for rich marketing opportunities, like posting about the bottle’s cool graphics in return for a discount. Maybe tweeting about their slogan enters me for a trip to their distillery in Scotland.

With NFC on the rise, marketing will continue its euphoric rise on mobile. And at Tagga, we are a big fan of that.

Source: http://bit.ly/187So2l

Here’s the overview:

Objective:
Create an engaging experience for Caché shoppers this mother’s day.

Duration:
30 Days
April 22 – May 22, 2013

Solution:
Incent moms to participate, feel special, and get rewarded with great offers and an amazing sweepstakes prize.

Caché launches an Instagram photo contest that includes the opportunity to win a $2000 shopping spree!  Every entry wins an immediate promotion offer of $25 off their next $100 purchase. Furthermore, if contestants share the contest with a friend that completes an entry, they receive ANOTHER entry. The more shares (and entries) you get, the better your chances are at winning!

Campaign Discovery

Participants are directed to the Caché Wow Mom Moments contest via 6 different media channels, involving online and offline media, QR codes, SMS, Twitter and Facebook.

Campaign Mechanics

3 Easy Steps to Enter:

• Sign-in to Instagram
• Complete the entry form
• Take and tag a new photo with #cachemom.

*Old photos can be submitted too! Just add #cachemom to the comments view. Remember to click your promo code.

Links:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CacheStyle/app_402466009850897
• Responsive Site (Mobile): http://cache-mom.inc.ly/

Please Share!
Tagga & Caché celebrate mom with Instagram! Enter the Wow Mom Moments for a chance at a $2000 shopping spree http://cache-mom.inc.ly/. PL RT

About Caché:
Caché is a nationwide, mall-based specialty retailer of lifestyle sportswear and dresses targeting style-conscious women.

There are different ways to incorporate mobile coupons such as Apple’s Passbook, mobile applications, and SMS-based programs. But is it necessary to incorporate mobile coupons into marketing efforts?

The answer is yes! Let me explain, during the past few years, the smartphone market has seen significant growth as more and more people make the switch. In fact, according to comScore research, nearly half of the Canadian population own smartphones.

This smartphone trend has significant effects on consumer’s buying behavior.

Today’s customers have busy schedules and the smartphone provides an opportunity for them to interact with brands at their convenience.  On the other hand, especially in a recession, consumers are more price sensitive. These days, people are looking for ways to cut their spending and save money.

Couponing is an old method of saving, which is still around, and many people still use them. It is also an effective promotional activity to attract new customers, build loyalty with existing customers, and increase in-store traffic.

In mobile couponing, marketers consider these two facts and integrate them into a new marketing strategy called “ mobile couponing”.  Coupons are delivered to the audience’s smartphones via SMS, e-mail, push notification, or mobile apps. One of the advantages of mobile coupons is convenience. It is much easier for shoppers to show the coupon on their phone rather than carry around a piece of paper.

Another advantage of mobile couponing is offline integration. Mobile coupons act as a bridge that links online behavior to offline purchases. This integration can provide helpful insights on customers’ profiles and their buying patterns. It also gives marketers a comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of their campaign and customer engagement.

Mobile coupons can be a single marketing effort or can be linked to other marketing activities such as loyalty clubs and newsletter subscriptions to boost its impact and create more awareness.

All in all, mobile couponing is an effective marketing strategy that is on the rise and if incorporated correctly, it can be very beneficial and helpful for marketers.

Source:http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/mobile-coupons-edge-out-print-as-retailers-switch-strategy

While retailers naturally prefer to drive people to their apps, 65% of people prefer to use a mobile web site rather than downloading an app specific to a retailer according to a Siteworx survey with 5000 participants. This behavior can be attributed to people transferring their web habits or using multiple websites for comparison purposes.

Based on the survey’s findings, apps are still useful but people need specific incentives to download an app. These incentives could include special offers, less clutter, or easier access to information. For shoppers it is all about convenience!

An additional factor to consider is the number of people using mobile to make purchases. According to the same survey, during the recent holiday season, only 3.4% of smartphone users and 4% of tablet users made purchases from their devices. Meanwhile, 48.1% preferred the traditional brick-and-mortar way of shopping, and 44.4% used their laptops or desktops for purchasing presents.

This data is discouraging at first glance, but it highlights a new window of opportunity for retailers. People who have already adapted to online shopping are comfortable with purchasing an item without testing or trying it, which are common reasons people prefer in store shopping. With secure, mobile friendly websites, more and more people will be shopping via smartphones and tablets.
In order to promote mobile shopping it is important your mobile website is different from your desktop site. The site should be pared down to contain only the information shoppers are looking for so it doesn’t clutter the smaller screen. By providing clear products images, relevant information and a secure method of payment you can create a successful mobile shopping experience.

Source: mediapost.com

Now a days, people are on-the-go with packed schedules. Smartphones are the best solution for these busy lifestyles allowing people to check their emails, tweet a picture, and like a status; mobile phones enable people to read their daily dose of news while they are waiting for bus.

Mobile advertising has seen a huge jump over the past few years as marketers become aware of the importance of having mobile presence. Many websites are now compatible with mobile devices, and more and more companies are investing in mobile advertising. In fact, marketers are using smartphones as a tool to create connections between the brand and the target audience.

Marketers who are thinking one step ahead use smartphones not only as a tool to create connections but also make it a part of overall shopping experience. They want to see measurable actions!

In order to be successful, companies need to incorporate a cross-channel marketing approach by using a single channel such as mobile to support the other media channels. Consider the following example:
It is raining and Anna is sitting at a bus shelter waiting for the next bus to arrive. An ad offering a 15% discount on a specific brand of rain boot, with a QR code in the corner catches her attention. For the past few days, she has been thinking about buying a pair of rain boots to survive the rainy days ahead!

She scans the QR code, and she is redirected to the online store. Anna scrolls down and finds the perfect pair and adds it to her shopping cart. She fills out the required information and submits the coupon code to get the 15% discount. She then pays for her boots with a secure method of payment and is done.

By including mobile as part of the shopping experience, not just a tool to attract customers’ attention, marketers will have measurable results; they know how many people scanned the QR code and how many people made a purchase through this method of promotion.

Using Tagga’s cloud based platform, you can connect with your audience by capturing their attention with mobile integration, provide a uniqe brand experience and end up with a comprehensive customer profile to get a better understanding of your audience.

What differentiates this campaign is using mobile as the engagement tool across digital and offline media channels. The entry point for the sweepstakes from offline media (Kohl’s stores) is through keywords (SMS), which are unique for each region. These keywords are only accessible on location at a Kohl’s store for each specific region.  When participants text a keyword to a short code, they enter the sweepstakes.  This approach generates buzz, increases in-store traffic and generates more awareness towards college branded adidas products.  Sweepstakes’ participants can also access the sweepstakes through Kohl’s Facebook or the gateway page on the Kohl’s website. This is where participants have the option to select their team first and subscribe to a sweepstakes in connection with their selected team, or even subscribe for all teams if they choose to. The campaign site is accessible across ALL devices and platforms because of its responsive design. Responsive design is core to Tagga’s cross-channel offering.

After participants sign up for the contest, they have the option to visit Kohl’s website through their mobile device to peruse and potentially purchase the latest adidas licensed NCAAB merchandise. A cross-channel approach to campaigns combined with leveraging the Tagga campaign platform, provides adidas and Kohl’s marketers with comprehensive customer profiling information, and it also increases traffic to Kohl’s e-commerce website to promote their online sales. After all, thanks to Tagga, anyone wanting to interact with this campaign – can!

• Attracting new customers
• Generating revenue stream
• Creating brand royalty and customer engagement
• Staying competitive
• Minimizing the cost

However, mobile first-companies and mainstream companies have different approaches towards achieving these goals. Additionally, these companies place different emphasis on the role of mobile in their budget and marketing efforts. Either way, the proposed program goals may NOT be the best way to think about mobile – at least in our opinion!

Mobile should be considered as a marketing tool for connecting brands with customers and understanding their shopping behavior ACROSS ALL MEDIA CHANNELS. How is that possible? Cross-channel marketing is the answer.

Make your media work together

The common approach between marketers is to invest in one or a few media channels separately. In this approach, there is no connection between these channels. TV , radio, print, and  Facebook fan pages are a few example of these types of efforts. Companies can spend significant amount of money on each media channel, but not get the desired outcome. Just spending a tremendous amount of money on an ad, does not guarantee the success of the marketing campaign.

Today’s customers want to connect with a brand; they want to have access to the brand wherever they are, whenever they can and these connections are what make a brand uniqe in the eyes of the costumers.

Marketers need to have a comprehensive knowledge of their target audience, what is appealing to them, and what motivates them to purchase. Moreover, they must be able to measure the effectiveness of their efforts. Sounds complicated and expensive, but if executed correctly, it can be much more effective and less expensive than traditional approaches.

Cross-Channel Marketing is EASY

Consider the following scenario: You walk into a store, you see a print ad with a QR code on it saying: “Scan to learn more about today’s special offer!” If you have a smartphone, it would be very tempting to take out your phone and scan the QR code. When you scan the QR code, you will be directed to a page that will tell you all about the promotions currently running in store. From there, you can simply show it to the cashier and get your discount. It also gives you the option to subscribe to their daily special offers and their loyalty program. All you need to do is to enter your name and your email address. You can also share the offer with your friends on Facebook or Twitter. In this approach, you can easily learn and track your customers’ behavior and measure the effectiveness of your marketing effort. This approach is an excellent example of cross-channel marketing and how to use all your media channels towards a specific goal.  Mobile is the key tool to connect your media channels.

At Tagga, we create meaningful connections between brands and customers. We increase brand awareness, ROI, and we provide comprehensive customer profiling through integration of social, web and mobile technologies.

Source:

• http://www.iabcanada.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/04/IABCanada_Mobil eInCanada_041012_FINAL.pdf
• http://www.verticalresponse.com/blog/crafting-a-successful-cross-channel- marketing-strategy/

At Tagga, we create connections between brands and customers through their mobile devices and across ALL media channels. We create cross-channel campaigns that not only attract customers’ attention, but also drive them to the nearest store to make the purchase.

Source:http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/mobile-creative-will-be-linchpin-in-drivingin-store

In early 2012, Forrester launched a report on a new category — cross-channel campaign management (CCCM) — that is transforming the marketing landscape. We know it’s a bit of a mouthful, but the concept is sound and promises to give marketers what they’ve always been waiting for:

• Reduced cost-per-action
• Higher customer conversions
• Comprehensive customer profiling across the entire media mix

Reducing customer acquisition cost, improving customer conversions, and getting better customer data will make marketers exponentially better at what they do!

Mediapost writer and marketing expert Laurie Sullivan provided an excellent article to support Forrester’s work. You can view it here.

What is cross-channel campaign management?

Here is Forrester’s description of the category:

“CCCM applications that enable marketers to act on and react to empowered customers rather than just integrate more channels. In the future, marketers will select applications for their ability to orchestrate the always on, bidirectional, and cross-channel dialogue between customers and businesses.” — Robert Brosnan, Analyst Forrester 2012

In a nutshell, cross-channel marketing is about making all media channels work together to drive better results and provide a better experience for today’s consumer. For consumers, a better experience means meaningful outreach by brands based on the consumer’s demographic, where they want to connect, where they are, and what they care about. For marketers, better results mean…well…increased sales!

Currently, most advertising approaches are based on the age-old assumption that consumers want to “live” in specific channels — meaning they are comfortable connecting with a brand through a single media channel such as TV. Moreover, the singular method of advertising in a given channel (commercials on television or marketing emails for email subscribers) is enough to incent a consumer to take action and buy their product in-store or online. These dated tactics focus on targeting single campaigns to connect with subsets of consumers, one channel at a time.

The following is a common example: A retailer or brand runs a contest to garner as many Facebook fans as possible on its Facebook page. During that time, the same retailer or brand runs a promotion-only accessible in-store. Much opportunity is missed in this sample approach. For example, what if these Facebook fans wanted to become shoppers or already are shoppers but would be motivated to buy based on an offer? Why not incent them to convert from just being a fan to a measurable shopper by providing them with the same offer available in-store? And what about those in-store shoppers? Wouldn’t it make sense to give them the opportunity to share that in-store promotion with their social networks (and make that easy and measurable)?

For brands and consumers, cross-channel marketing presents an opportunity to use technology in a thoughtful way to connect, engage, and profile channel agnostic consumers across the entire media mix.

Now that we know what cross-channel marketing is, let’s explore the benefits in greater detail, starting with reduced customer acquisition cost and better customer conversions.

Reduced customer acquisition cost and higher customer conversions

Today’s consumer is always on and expects a bi-directional conversation with any brand they are interested in. This means marketers need to launch campaigns where customers can connect with a brand 24/7, wherever they are. Without technology integrated into media, this could be an expensive proposition. Think about it. Retailers can’t be expected to be open at all hours just because some consumers are thinking about the brand outside of store hours. However, connecting with those consumers could lead to increased sales downstream. The trick is to capture consumer intent in the moment it occurs so that marketers can efficiently convert that intent into a purchase.

In order to connect with customers at all hours of the day and do that cost effectively, all media must be rendered truly interactive. Interactive media enable consumers to connect and take action with a brand outside a retail location (via signage) at 10 p.m. just as easily as via an early morning television commercial or online.

Converting offline eyeballs to customers
Methods of making traditional media interactive are about leveraging the mobile phone and its technical capabilities — which can include social media. This could range from simple SMS calls-to-action, to QR codes connecting to a mobile optimized site or application download link, to plain mobile URLs, to applications, Shazam, NFC (near-field communication), Facebook posts, and more. Integrating these technologies into traditional media are cost effective because a customer can see an advertisement and immediately take action using their phone. It can happen in the moment the consumer has the intent to connect with said brand.

Imagine a consumer — let’s call him Fred. Fred is having his breakfast at 6:00am and reading the paper. He leaves for work around 7:00am every day, and so his mornings are busy and involve getting ready for work, eating breakfast, and reading the paper. Over the last few weeks, Fred has thought about buying a car, and has been most interested in a mini SUV. Of course, it’s early in the day and Fred is just having breakfast and not actively researching cars. However, Fred happens to come across an advertisement for Toyota’s mini SUV model — a Rav4. The advertisement has some compelling creative and a call-to-action to book a test drive that is most convenient to Fred (e.g., the time, date, and location he prefers). Fred doesn’t have to call anyone to book this appointment, nor fire up his laptop. Instead, there is a scanable QR code that directs him to a mobile optimized site that allows Fred to complete the necessary form to confirm a test drive.

Fred’s 6:00am interaction has now become a qualified lead for Toyota. That leads comes at a fraction of the cost of what it would take to capture Fred through other means (e.g., more advertisement, call center etc.).  It is truly these simple additions of technology and a direct call-to-action that allow a consumer like Fred to connect with a brand and take an action beyond simply seeing the advertisement. Best of all, this interaction can be as instantaneous as the consumer wants.

Turning online eyeballs to offline buyers
For digital media, the concept is similar. For the thousands of brands in the marketplace that look to connect with consumers online in order to motivate a purchase offline, smart uses of desktop, mobile, and social technologies are excellent tools to convert online eyeballs to offline buyers. Let’s go back to the Toyota dealership example.

Wendy is taking the time to research SUVs online. She is a busy woman but is procrastinating for a few minutes while at work to see what is out there. She lands on a Toyota Rav 4 dealership site, likes what she reads, and wants to book a test drive. Wendy clicks on the “Book a Test Drive Today” button and fills out a form indicating her preferences. Wendy then receives an SMS that includes a link to a mobile optimized site that has information, videos, and images on the Rav4 she is testing, testimonials of recent buyers, address and directions to the dealership appointment, and the option to add the confirmed appointment directly to her calendar with the click of a button. Wendy is pretty busy and had to book the test-drive a few weeks out. As such, she also elected to get a reminder notification via SMS a day before the appointment. Through mobile and desktop technologies, Toyota can convert a passive e-researcher into a qualified lead.

Better still, what if there was an added incentive and easy way for Fred or Wendy to share their test-drive experience with their social networks? Their support might just reach the attention of another potential buyer in Fred or Wendy’s social network. For Toyota, that is just another win.

The scenario of Fred, Wendy, and Toyota is fake, but serves to illustrate a point. It doesn’t matter whether a brand is trying to convert a consumer from online to offline or offline to online — integrating mobile, social, and digital technologies to enable consumers to take action from any advertisement in the media mix is critical. Advertisers reap the amazing benefit of immediate conversion of impression to lead, should a consumer elect to take action. Immediacy of action is dramatically cheaper than investing in extended hours of operation, more frequent media spots, and other expensive tools to connect and convert eyeballs to customers. Cross-channel marketing opens the door for customers to connect and engage cost effectively 24/7.

Comprehensive customer profiling

As we have noted above, cross-channel marketing calls for the “instrumentation” or integration of technology and calls-to-action on all media channels. This extends beyond the digital sphere and encompasses literally everywhere a brand may show (including business cards!).

Instrumentation can mean adding a QR code to a sign or a form to a Facebook page. Of course, instrumentation also refers to tracking digital ads and website activity. The key concept is that a marketer can instrument everything in the media mix using mobile, social, and web technologies. Furthermore, media instrumentation can be as detailed as the marketer wants. For example, unique SMS keywords, PURLs, and QR codes for individual locations or products.

Once this media becomes instrumented it is measurable. That is power for the marketer, one of the greatest benefits of cross-channel marketing. With instrumented digital and traditional media channels, the marketer can gain insight into how customers are connecting with the brand, where they are, and off of what media channel! Finally, marketers can attribute better analysis of their media spend based on understanding how often a consumer connects with advertisements in a given campaign.

Taking measurement one step further: Correlation
Knowing and comparing when and how consumers interacted online and offline is good information, but cross-channel marketing can uncover even more data.

With the right technology and approach, a marketer can even instrument their media mix and connect inferred data that is collected as a customer interacts (uniques, hits, CPMs, phone numbers, etc.) with any historical opted-in data that is already on record or part of a current campaign. Opted-in information is information that a customer shares. Examples include the completion of a contest form and completing a Facebook share via a Facebook application. The result? Rich customer profiles that tell a marketer the who, the when, the what, and the where a customer interacted with their brand.

Marketers can make on-the-minute decisions around their content and media allocation based on data from a performing campaign. Of course, it goes without saying that this approach to customer profiling and its supporting technology must be 100 percent compliant of relevant federal privacy laws and promises given by the advertiser.

Earlier this year, a retailer customer of Tagga had data that showed that certain stores were outperforming others. Using this insight, the retailer created a contest to time with their next promotion, targeting the actual employees of the individual retail location. The objective was to motivate the underperforming retailers to do a better job of supporting the campaign in order to increase overall campaign performance.

Cross-channel marketing, at the risk of sounding audacious, provides an answer to the age-old adage: “I know half of my advertising is effective, I just don’t know which half.” It allows advertisers to analyze campaign performance down to the location, media channel, time and date, and profile of the consumers participating. By completely instrumenting media, marketers can capture data on the fly and make real-time decisions to optimize results during the course of a campaign or after the fact.

The final word

Gaining meaningful metrics
With silo-ed channel marketing approaches, marketers may use multiple channels (known as multi-channel marketing), yet the content, tactics, and strategies are designed to drive specific customer conversion within each independent channel. This means marketers focus on silo-ed channel conversion metrics, and while these metrics (e.g., fans count) are important, on their own, they are not meaningful enough to inform good decision-making.

Cross-channel marketing means creating campaigns where the conversions are aligned with a common campaign goal that involves clear consumer action. Facebook or TV should be used to both reach consumers and enable them to immediately engage should they want to.

Inciting engagement can be as simple as tweeting about entering a contest or redeeming a coupon. Rather than just driving towards Facebook “likes” or TV viewership numbers, the campaign is about leveraging these channels to convert consumers to a bigger goal — sales!

A new approach to marketing
Cross-channel marketing is not simply new technology; it is a new approach to marketing that requires newer and smarter technology.

Consumers are already expecting to communicate with a brand on their terms. They are always-on and channel agnostic. If a marketer wants to connect with them, the consumer demands relevance and meaning based on not just where they are, but who they are and what they like. The transformation of their behavior is a result of the widespread adoption of mobile, social, and web technologies integrated into their everyday lives.

As a result, conventional marketing approaches have been disrupted. Simply adding channels to the strategy is not enough. Marketers must think about how these channels can work together to drive more value and better information.

Amielle Lake is chief revenue officer of Tagga.

Co-author Jean-Guy Faubert is the CEO or Tagga.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

“Mobile Communication,” “Vintage or Grungy White Background,” “Vector Shield with Ribbon,” and “Arrows Business Background” images via Shutterstock.