2011 is the year of ???

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On January 1, 2011 I posted an article on some must do’s for 2011 – These were the key Must Do’s!

• You must grow your list
• You must know more
• You must interact across all channels
• You must sizzle
• You must make it to the party
• You must join them on Facebook
• You must be Real

You can read the entire article here.

Digital engagement has made some tremendous strides over the past decade. We went from the Wild West, to branding, to personalized service, to a complete focus on the consumer.

The last five years have seen an interesting evolution in email marketing and consumer engagement. Many marketers started firming up their email marketing in 2006 with an emphasis on trying to connect with the consumer through defined best practices.

The year 2007 was the year of being cool – the consumer loved emails that arrived in the in-box, they loved good content, and were more apt to share the emails through F2F. Yes, in addition to trust, gimmicks did work and the cooler your program the more likely you could engage with your recipients.

The year 2008 saw the emergence of converged channel and the consumer ranked multi-channel effectiveness based on good service. 2008 was the year of good service.

2009 saw consumers mature and expect more from businesses. They expected the business to keep things interesting and relevant. The consumer in 2009 expected to be engaged; 2009 was the year of engagement.

2010 saw the consumer in control where the consumer realized that they were in power and could purchase or transact wherever they wanted to. It was up to the business to recognize them, remember their previous transaction, and serve them quickly. 2010 was the year of preferences and businesses that were able to implement preferences effectively took the lead.

2011 is interestingly poised. The consumer will be pursued by many – their needs will be anticipated, businesses will be at their homes via social media, they will be tracked through mobile, and email marketing will continue to be dynamic & personalized.

The consumer will interact by opening up, clicking, conversing on social media, and even transacting. They will share information about themselves directly and indirectly – but what they expect from businesses is for the personal information to be protected.

2011 is anticipated to be the year of TRUST. The consumer will expect more, and the consumer will also expect the business to protect the information. Businesses that can demonstrate trust, and convenience will continue to be successful.

So remember to assure the consumer that their data is safe, make sure that their data is indeed safe, and leverage this data to enhance your relationship.

On Friday, January 16, 2011, I will be publishing an article of how a colleague of mine detected a fraudulent purchase in real time; contacted the credit card company, store, and cops to cancel the order; but was yet left bewildered by the amount of steps it took for the store to even realize that they had compromised her data.