Marketers predict wide-spread metaverse adoption

A cartoon of a women enjoying the metaverse.

Marketers are gearing up to take full advantage of the metaverse, according to Sitecore’s 2022 Perceptions of the Metaverse report.

However, despite bullish intentions to invest heavily, there is clear acknowledgment that consumer education is needed and 78% of marketers plan to work harder to educate consumers on the benefits of the metaverse. The survey asked almost 700 global marketers (including over 300 based in the UK) and 2,001 consumers about their perception of the...

20 October 2022 | Best Practice

25% of UK’s leading brands charge consumers for returning online purchases

A woman with a latptop and bank card.

A quarter (25%) of the UK’s leading brands such as Zara and Boohoo are now charging shoppers to return purchases they have made online; a year-on-year increase of 14%.

The State of Operations Experience Management Study Series 2022, conducted by parcelLab, the Operations Experience Management platform, found that of those consumers being charged for making a return, the average cost is £3.53 and it takes an average of nine days for refunds to be processed. To undertake this...

18 October 2022 | Best Practice

42% of customer queries to leading UK retailers go unanswered

A telephone off the hook.

More than two fifths (42%) of enquiries are being ignored or left unanswered, with just 13% answered in full and in a timely way.

This is according to a new report that has revealed significant failings when it comes to customer service performance across the UK’s leading retail brands.

The Convers-AI-tional Nation Report, conducted by customer engagement platform CM.com, analysed the performance of the UK’s top 25 retail brands, according to annual turnover...

3 October 2022 | Best Practice

Respecting data dignity: why CMOs should care about how they use data

data

‘Data Dignity’ might sound like yet another buzz-phrase, but the simple reality is that it represents a tidal wave of digital change that will fundamentally alter the way that enterprises can operate from a data perspective.

This should not just be on the radar of all CMOs, but the trigger for a sea change in attitudes towards data, as well as a reassessment of the opportunities it brings. 

The initial stage is set, with consumer awareness of privacy at an all time...

23 September 2022 | Best Practice

Marketers engaging better with disabled consumers but barriers remain

A barrier blocking a road.

83% of businesses are doing more to provide accessibility in digital marketing than in the past, demographics such as age, gender and race are more often prioritized in marketing efforts.

This is according to the 2022 Accessible Marketing Survey conducted by Capterra, an online marketplace vendor serving as an intermediary between buyers and technology vendors within the software industry.

One in four American adults live with a physical or mental disability, yet they...

1 September 2022 | Advertising Technology

Influencers have become heart of the brand-consumer relationship

A love heart painted on a wall.

impact.com, a partnership management platform, in partnership with WARC, an international marketing intelligence company, have published a report on the rapidly evolving brand-influencer dynamic, which shows the disparity and alignment of perceptions of marketers and influencers, and offers guidance on how better alignment can lead to more effective and valuable partnerships.

The report, Aligning Marketers and Influencers: Shifting Perspectives on Influencer Marketing Across the...

23 August 2022 | Best Practice

B2B marketing’s need for speed

A car's speed dial.

Tom Cruise isn’t the only one who feels the need for speed. For years, B2C marketers have understood the power of the speed of the lead.

Now, B2B marketers are realising they can no longer reside in the slow lane. With competition for the ears and eyes of B2B buyers increasingly fierce, capitalising on the time when a lead is most receptive has never been more important.

With many enterprises weighed down by cumbersome, inefficient systems for managing lead data, the...

2 August 2022 | Best Practice

Less than half of UK businesses respond to online reviews

Smiley faces with a tick next to a happy face.

Just 44% of UK business respond to online reviews, according to a cross-category online brand reputation study of more than 500 organisations.

Moreover, 38% do not have local branch pages, and less than half (42%) employ UTM performance marketing tracking.

The study, conducted by digital performance marketing agency DAC Group, audited businesses across seven categories - automotive, fashion, finance, health & fitness, food & beverage, land & property and...

13 July 2022 | Best Practice

Why 2022 is the year of ‘relationship marketing’

A 2021-2022 diary and pen.

The way to engage with consumers is through real-time, hyper-personalised experiences, a new eConsultancy report, in partnership with Cheetah Digital reveals. The report, ‘2022 Digital Consumer Trends Index: Consumer Attitudes and Trends in Personalisation, Privacy, Messaging, Advertising and Brand Loyalty’ indicates that consumers across the UK interact with a brand on multiple channels, oftentimes unpredictably.

Speaking with Paula Thomas on her weekly podcast “Let’s...

28 June 2022 | Best Practice

5 steps to increasing business resilience through data maturity

Dany El-Eid, Adverity.

The role of data to empower business leaders to make better-informed decisions is seemingly ever increasing.

But, with the world’s economy becoming increasingly complex and volatile, it is the more digitally mature companies proving to be resilient to economic shocks.

In 2021, Dany El-Eid, director of North America at digital analytics software firm, Adverity, conducted a study into this topic. His research examined 10 companies’ strategies and tactics that have...

13 June 2022 | Best Practice