How Analytics Is Transforming Customer Loyalty Programs

Customer loyalty programs are crucial.

The goal of loyalty initiatives is to engage, not pander more products to frequent buyers.

But how do you determine if your loyalty program is working well?

Use data to steer your customer loyalty program in the right direction.

McKinsey found that “executive teams that make extensive use of customer data analytics across all business decisions see a 126% profit improvement over companies that don’t.”

“By instituting a loyalty program, you not only improve customer appreciation of your business, but you also increase the chances that existing clients will share this joy with those close to them,” says Steve Olenski, a senior creative content strategist at Oracle Responsys.

Upgrade your loyalty program. Let’s explore how.

Focusing on Retention

One primary mission of loyalty programs is to increase customer retention. You want buyers to remain with your brand after they make a purchase.

For your business, higher retention means a steady flow of revenue. And it cuts down on your costs to constantly acquire new customers.

Therefore, your loyalty programs must be effective. They need to serve a real purpose for the consumer, not just your bottom line.

To provide the best customer experience, fuse data into your retention strategies. It will impact how your team approaches the buyer.

“Influencing customer loyalty in this way doesn’t require magic, it requires data – usually data that you already have but aren’t using to full advantage. Regardless of industry, most organizations today generate mountains of data,” writes Mike Flannagan, vice president and general manager of Cisco.

Uncover the correlation between customer characteristics and purchasing behavior. Assign your team to analyze the current data of your most valuable customers. And learn which characteristics these customers have in common and which traits are dissimilar.

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Consider data an ongoing process of observing, acting, and learning. Improve your loyalty programs by taking action on your insights. Measure success by monitoring your customer lifetime value, loyal customer rate, and redemption rate.

Start with retention. And let the data guide you to customer loyalty.

Targeted Product Recommendations

Research shows that “customers that are actively engaged with brands and their loyalty programs make 90% more frequent purchases, spend 60% more in each transaction and are five times more likely to choose the brand in the future.”

Sending targeted product recommendations is one way to keep customers engaged. Because if they are not receptive to certain products, consumers will feel more inclined to take their business elsewhere.

Integrate real-time purchase data with historical purchase data to make specific recommendations. For example, if a small business bought payroll software from you, their team might be interested in purchasing your series of on-demand accounting webinars.

“Consumer data must be analyzed to create highly targeted product recommendation offers. Analyze consumer data such as demographics, lifestyle, products purchased by category and type, frequency of purchase, and purchase value,” states Larisa Bedgood, director of marketing at DataMentors.

It’s key not to draw wild conclusions from one piece of data. Just because a Florida resident buys a winter coat doesn’t mean he wants to be flooded with similar recommendations. The consumer might have bought it as a gift for a friend living in Michigan.

So, gather multiple data points in order to make intelligent recommendations. You don’t want to frustrate loyal customers.

Your brand also can take a different approach. Use social proof to your advantage. If consumers are hesitant about particular products, remind them that other people are buying the product, too.

Home Depot uses this tactic by displaying a list of bestselling inventory. It persuades the customer to join the crowd.

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Sift through your analysis reports. Uncover the best product recommendations for your customers.

Timely Promotions

For customers, loyalty takes effort. They receive lots of promotional ads everyday to try products from other brands. Appreciating your consumer’s urge to resist the hype is important.

Mobile phone carriers lead the way in baiting consumers to switch their services. AT&T offers cell phone users up to $650 in credit just to say bye to T-Mobile, Sprint, or Verizon.

To keep their loyalty, customers will hold your team accountable. They expect timely promotions that not only fit their buying habits but also their lifestyles.

At the end of the day, you want to deliver the right offer at the right time. This will increase the likelihood of the promotion redemption.

Monitor the sales data to learn when promotional codes are redeemed. Do your consumers use promotions more often in the morning? Right after a sales announcement? Or during summer months?

“By creating a time-sensitive sales promotion and having a good grasp on your target customer demographic, you’ll be able to incentivize the right actions, get them to respond, and grow your business in the process,” states Humayun Khan, former content marketer at Shopify.

Moreover, analyze your reports to discover the best product promotions. A timely discount matched with the wrong product won’t be useful for the consumer or your company.

Segment your customers to offer relevant discounts for multiple channels—in-store, online, and mobile. Every loyalty member doesn’t have to receive the same offer.

For instance, Starbucks offers its Gold members the opportunity to earn double stars. The coffee company surprises its loyal consumers on a different day each month. This technique increases the excitement and prepares customers to spend more money on a particular day.

Don’t wait for your competitor to offer your customers a good deal. Start creating your own timely promotions.

Personalized Rewards

Everyone likes to be rewarded. It signifies that you’ve done something commendable. And incentives compel you to continue the rewarded behavior.

Recognize the value of your customer’s actions. Because that’s what you’re rewarding.

You can offer perks based on monetary transactions, shopping frequency, or even survey responses. It’s all about showing appreciation for consumers’ actions.

But it’s your team’s job to appropriately reward customers. Don’t expect people to buy $1000 worth of services in one month if your highest service retails at $10.

In addition, manage your loyalty members’ expectations. They shouldn’t expect your brand to give away free Beyonce tickets every day.

Personalized rewards ensure you’re giving your customers what they desire. It also shows that you are truly invested in the customer experience.

Send a simple email survey asking consumers what type of incentives excite them. Or conduct social media listening to identify useful prizes that can make your customers’ lives better.

Dick’s Sporting Goods sends emails asking customers for their opinions. The company uses the information to improve its inventory and customer service.

Remember to focus on maintaining positive relationships with your consumers. Because that’s the ultimate goal for loyalty initiatives.

You want people to feel comfortable with your brand. Aim to offer rewards that bridge the gap between the consumer-brand relationship.

“A significant aspect of customer loyalty comes down to your likability. People will almost always remain committed to a brand if they believe they’ve developed a genuine and mutually beneficial relationship,” says Entrepreneur contributor Dave Thompson.

Tailor your rewards to satisfy your customers. Offer them something special.

Analyze Customer Loyalty

Customer loyalty can lead to retention. That’s why your team must use data to drive your loyalty programs.

Give consumers targeted product recommendations they can’t resist. Send promotions at the right time. And personalize rewards so the customer feels part of the brand.

Look at the data. Improve customer loyalty programs.

Did you know? With Kissmetrics, you can find your most valuable customer segments. Analyze customer behavior to understand where they’re coming from and how to acquire more of your best customers.

About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter @shaylaprice.

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Brand Ambassadors: Choosing and Maintaining a Relationship with the Right Person

Brand Ambassadors: Choosing and Maintaining a Relationship with the Right Person written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing

photo credit: Underwear for Men

Brand ambassadors are a great way for any company to grow its online and offline business. A brand ambassador is defined as someone who is passionate about a brand or product and shares their love on their own accord.

As more business transactions are conducted online, the consumer journey gets further fragmented. Having a strong brand ambassador program has become an increasingly important part of your marketing campaigns for two reasons:

1. Even in the digital age, people want to do business with people. A brand ambassador adds a human element to your marketing initiatives and offers someone your prospective and current customers can relate to when they see and hear your messaging.

2. To effectively grow and maintain a social media presence it takes a lot of content and requires a great deal of engagement to ensure the people that matter actually see your messaging. A brand ambassador can help support content creation, broaden your reach and even add credibility to your brand.

The following outlines best practices for choosing and maintaining a relationship with the right brand ambassador.

How to Select a Brand Ambassador

A brand ambassador’s sole purpose is to present your company in a positive light. A brand ambassador should be someone that gets people excited about your company and gets them drinking your brand’s Kool-Aid.

When the right person is selected, a brand ambassador will increase overall brand awareness and sales. If your brand ambassador is going to be the face and the voice of the company, select someone that represents your customers. The ambassador has to be someone they can relate to.

If you want your brand ambassador to help grow your social media presence, select someone with a large network of active social media followers, but make sure those followers represent your customers too.

Since not all marketing budgets allow for top dollar endorsements deals, a brand ambassador isn’t just someone you hire to be your spokesperson. A brand ambassador program can include your customers and employees.

When targeting your customers to become brand ambassadors, it is important to define what you want them to do. Brand ambassadors can appear in ad campaigns, give testimonials, attend corporate events, write content, submit photos featuring your products, and so much more.

Once you determine the role, invite your customers to participate in the evolution of the brand. You can do this by sending email blasts, and by posting messages on your website and social media profiles.

At the start of the year, my company created a contest to search for our next brand ambassador. To find someone that truly represented our customers, we leveraged our Facebook fans. We quickly discovered our customers were thrilled to submit photos and videos that we could use in our marketing efforts. The program continues to evolve and now includes a dedicated page on our website that allows customers to submit photos and videos in return for discounts and complimentary product.

In addition to customers, another great place to find ambassadors is within your company. The person at the top, the person who answers the messaging apps, and the person who makes the sales calls, has the power to be an effective brand ambassador, once you arm them with the right tools.

By meeting regularly, you can ensure everyone says the same things about the company. Share corporate success stories and anecdotes so they can craft a message that is natural for them to share while they are going about their day. Encourage them to support all of your social media efforts by publishing a calendar of key dates and promotions.

What Should You Expect to Pay

When hiring someone an ambassador, in addition to compensation for duties, it is typical for a company to pay travel expenses (i.e., flight, hotel and rental car) to and from events. Some ambassadors require first class flights and per diem. Be sure to create a contract outlining everyone’s expectations.

While brand ambassadors can be paid for their work, not all require compensation. Some do it because they simply love your brand. If you are compensating for participation, evaluate the investment the same as any other form of media — what you put out should be proportional to what you put in. If you are not compensating for participation, make sure your brand ambassadors have access to free product and other perks you can throw their way.

Maintaining a Relationship

Maintaining a relationship with a brand ambassador requires relationship building. You should regularly check in with your ambassadors to ensure they are still “excited” about your company. Once a month is a good place to start to ensure you are not over or under-communicating

It is very important for your ambassadors to know what is expected of them. In the contract outlining your expectations, include a work and event schedule. If they are generating content for your website, make sure they know the deadlines and send reminders. If they are attending events, make sure they know what to wear, who to talk to, and what to say.

When someone knows they are helping move the needle, it motivates them. Be sure to send event follow-ups and clippings (photo and video recaps). Make sure they are the first ones to know about company news.

The key to growing any corporation lies in having a strong team that can execute with results. Whether you decide to hire an outside spokesperson, engage customers or leverage employees, it comes down to consistency and dependability. If the messaging is consistent and the promises made are things your customers can depend on, your brand ambassadors’ efforts will generate results.

John Polidan is the Chief Executive Officer of Underwear For Men and regularly offers advise to startups and entrepreneurs on business leadership, marketing, prototypes, patents and lean manufacturing. To read John’s startup story, visit: www.ufmunderwear.com. For his LinkedIn profile, visit: http://ift.tt/2dsWGZl

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How to Build an Unbreakable Brand Culture

How to Build an Unbreakable Brand Culture written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing

photo credit Pexels

Within every company, big or small, brand and culture must unite to create a solid foundation for a lasting, successful business model. Individually these concepts serve a different purpose, but when combined, they are a driving force that enables long-term and sustainable growth.

Creating a brand culture isn’t easy. It takes a great deal of hard work, time commitment, and patience in order to create an identity that will endure the test of time, especially in today’s ever-changing society. However, there are several steps which business owners can take to invent their brand’s culture:

Step 1: Define (your brand)

A brand is one of the most valuable assets a company has. A strong sense of branding will lead to a stronger sense of pride for current employees, as well as a stronger presence for both prospective staff and customers. Your brand is what you stand for and what you offer to consumers and, in order to be successful, it needs to be unique.

For example, any pizza place can brand itself as a shop that sells pizza, but a truly unique brand has something to offer that others don’t. Whether it’s a unique pizza delivery model, one-of-a-kind toppings or unbeatable prices–they can easily entice people to eat their pizza over other pizza, and they capitalize on it.

What makes your company special? What sets you apart from your competitors? Define this and own it.

 Step 2: Write (your mission, vision, and values)

Once you’ve defined your new brand, write down your company’s mission, vision, and values. These should align with the brand and become the words each employee lives by. Companies that develop these laser-focused, non-negotiable values tend to see higher customer and employee satisfaction, as well as increased revenue.

Take note: your company’s values must be committable in order to be effective. Zappos, an online shoe and clothing store, has excelled at this. The company has a list of 10 core values, one of which is simply to “be humble.” In this video, CEO Tony Hsieh discusses these values and how they were ingrained into the company to create its unique culture.

Step 3: Create (your identity)

Utilizing your new brand, mission, vision, and values, you can now create your company’s identity – or how your company will be presented to the public. This includes the visual statement (color schemes, designs, slogans, etc.) that exemplifies the business’ services, employees, and overall philosophy.

While creating it, remember that this identity will become the permanent lens through which your company views itself. It must clearly and accurately portray everything that has been created so far – your brand’s mission, vision, and values.

As an example of a clear and effective identity, take a look at Treadwell, a small flooring company that specializes in building practical, durable floors. Treadwell partnered with Perky Bros, a creative branding agency, to create its entire brand identity – including logo and website design – with only one request: That the identity is centered around “standing upright and walking the walk” to help their clients feel confident in their product. The result? A combination of dark, bold colors with solid geometric lines that embody the strong and confident look Treadwell hoped for.

Creating this identity isn’t always an easy task. If you’re struggling to translate your brand into your corporate identity, a brand activation agency might be something worth looking into.

Step 4: Educate (your employees)

An employee’s personality and character have a tremendous impact on company culture. Employees are often your brand’s biggest advocates, and building a vibrant culture allows employees to thrive and personify your brand in a positive way.

For that reason, each employee needs to be educated and fully understand the company’s mission, vision, and values beyond just memorization; they must understand why each one exists and what it means to the company, its employees and the public. To truly build the culture you desire, these values should be ingrained in each of your employees and apparent in their daily work.

Step 5: Hire (your best-fit prospects)

Beyond educating any current employees, hiring new employees who fit within your company’s culture and share your company values is vital to building an honest brand. Does your company value cross-department collaboration? Do you have a culture where encouragement and empowerment are the driving force for the company?

If an individual’s personality or work style contradicts it, you are effectively poking a hole in the bottom of the ship that is your brand’s culture. A ship cannot float unless all of its pieces work together, and your culture will sink if the wrong tools are utilized.

In addition, hiring top talent improves employee retention, reduces turnover, and increases productivity. According to a recent study completed by Columbia University, job satisfaction and employee turnover are directly affected by satisfaction with workplace culture.

Step 6: Tell (your story)

Now that you have found your brand, identity, and the right employees, it’s finally time to present your brand and its culture to the public. What’s the best way to do this? Storytelling.

A story has the ability to capture its audience by engaging them and evoking emotion. Without a story, it is impossible to hold the attention of the people watching – or, in this case, the customers who are considering purchasing your product or service.

Your job is to tell the story with all that you have built; tell a story that will captivate and convince your audience (consumers) that they cannot live without your products and services.

Result

The brand culture you create should translate directly to the products or services you offer, and how your company interacts with clients. Each piece should line up strategically and creatively to have the maximum impact. When you establish a clear brand culture, and hire individuals who will complement it and carry it forward, your company is more likely to see the steady, long-term and sustainable growth small businesses can only hope for.

Alyssa Armstrong is a digital marketing coordinator at Sparxoo, an integrated digital marketing agency based in Tampa, Florida. At the Xoo, Alyssa helps bring her clients’ brands to life with social media management and content creation. She works with clients of all sizes in industries ranging from education and technology to sports and entertainment.

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Is This the Next Step in Marketing Automation?

Friday Five, a curated collection of five recent articles on one topic. This time it's all about Marketing Automation.

Personalized Videos: the Next Step in Marketing Automation

If you want to stay ahead of the game in the competitive binary options marketplace, then you need to ensure that you harness the power of the most effective marketing tools. When it comes to attracting visitors to your website, encouraging those visitors to become paying customers and then retaining those clients, you need to be sure that you are active in all forms of marketing engagement.

Read the full story on financemagnates.com.

5 Top Ways Marketing Automation Is Making Your Brand Look Bad

I write a lot about marketing automation here and usually I'm just trying to get people to understand that it's an extremely beneficial thing for your business if done right. The only problem with that is, there are also times it just makes us dumber as human beings. When done incorrectly, automation can encourage laziness and generate lower quality work than we would typically produce had we just done it ourselves.

Read the full story on Inc. 

Navigate your marketing automation options with this checklist

Companies using marketing automation see 53 percent higher conversion rates, according to the Aberdeen Group. But there are hundreds of software companies that have been identified as marketing automation platforms. Add in customer relationship management software, email marketing platforms and experience management tools and the market is daunting at best.

Read the full story on Marketing Land.

Use Marketing Automation the Right Way

Several days ago, Mitch Joel, who is the President of Mirum, wrote a compelling piece on the misuse of marketing automation. I could not agree more with his statements made in the article about how so many organizations are using marketing automation (and many other marketing technologies) in the wrong way in an attempt to garner the attention of their buyers. I have written about this topic in the past and was thrilled to see Joel also begin hammering away at marketers who apply bad practices to technology.

Read the full story on Marketing Insider Group.

Marketing Automation 101

There have been countless articles in recent months about the benefits of marketing automation circulating online. In my opinion, most of these posts give very little practical information about how a B2B company can start to effectively put together a solid strategy.

Read the full story on bizjournals.com.

The truth is marketing automation is a lot simpler than it sounds. Don't believe me? Download Marketing Automation Simplified and see for yourself. 

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Online Marketing News: Bird’s Eye View, FTC Skepticism and Facebook for Business

Infographic: Latest Twitter Study Sheds Light on Just How Well Video Is Doing Based off of Twitter's annual Online Video Playbook, this infographic shows what's cleverly referred to as 'The Bird's Eye View of Video' on Twitter. For example, 93% of the video views on Twitter are on mobile. Users who watch video want breaking news, information, and viral content the most, followed by entertainment and celebrity content. AdWeek The FTC Is Skeptical When Celebrities Are Paid to Like Your Product The FTC is investigating a few big name brands for bending the rules that govern paid celebrity endorsements. Of course, rules regarding endorsements from celebrities aren't news to marketers, but the onset of digital marketing did prompt new rules and regulations. The one thing that hasn't changed? Disclosure. Entrepreneur Facebook Set to Launch ‘Facebook at Work’ Next Month Facebook is launching 'Facebook at Work' -- a private network for your business -- in the next three to four weeks. This will allow inter-office communication in a known format for larger, or even smaller, organizations. The network exists separately from personal profiles so there's not as much temptation to use personal Facebook during work time. Social Media Today Content Marketing Takes a Turn for the Better: New 2017 Research MarketingProfs and Content Marketing Institute paired up to produce their B2B Content Marketing 2017: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends -- North America, and the findings are fascinating. Most notably, marketers are more positive about their content marketing efforts than they were in the previous year. Read the full report, it's full of great information. Content Marketing Institute Snapchat reveals its $130 Spectacles and rebrands as Snap Inc. Snapchat revealed Spectacles, a $130 pair of sunglasses with a 115-degree lens camera. According to The Next Web, "content recorded using the glasses is automatically pushed to the Memories section of the Snapchat application in a new circular video format — which can be played full screen in any orientation — via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi." The Next Web Salesforce, Google, Microsoft, Verizon are all eyeing up a Twitter bid TechCrunch reports: Twitter continues to inch its way to a sale process, and the latest developments come in the form of alleged bids from potential buyers ... we have also independently heard that both Google and Salesforce are interested in buying the company. We have additionally heard that Microsoft and Verizon have also been knocking." What, if anything, could this mean for Twitter marketing? TechCrunch Google (finally) launches cross-device retargeting According to Marketing Land, Brad Bender, VP of display and video advertising at Google revealed breaking news about Google AdWords retargeting: "We’re introducing cross-device remarketing for Google Display Network and DoubleClick Bid Manager to help you reach the same user across devices, apps, and sites." This means marketers can target the same users, across devices, for a more cohesive experience. MarketingLand Facebook Allowing Advertisers to Create Rules for Turning Off Ads, Email Alerts According to recent information submitted to SocialTimes, "Facebook appears to have given advertisers the ability to establish rules to automatically turn off ad or send email alerts once certain criteria are met." The report comes complete with screenshots for reference, we'll have to keep an eye out for this developing story. SocialTimes What were your top online marketing news stories this week? I'll be back next week with more online marketing news! Have something to share? Drop it in a comment or tweet to @Tiffani_Allen or @toprank.

The post Online Marketing News: Bird’s Eye View, FTC Skepticism and Facebook for Business appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.

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Two Ways User-Generated Content Can Keep Your Brand Relevant

Two Ways User-Generated Content Can Keep Your Brand Relevant written by Guest Post read more at Duct Tape Marketing

In today’s digital age of marketing, brands are focusing on User-Generated Content (UGC) campaigns to improve their web performance and increase organic responses. User-Generated Content refers to any form of online content such as a Tweet, Snap, Facebook status, Instagram post, or blog that contain authentic opinions about a service or product as experienced by a non-professional.

Fairly, their choice of marketing strategy is justifiable with all these successful user-generated content campaigns trending in various social media platforms. Whether you’re a startup business building an audience or an existing brand struggling to establish a solid base of loyal customers, developing a marketing strategy that heavily emphasizes user-generated content will benefit your product one way or another.

Understanding UGC: Its Essence and Its Capabilities

Before exploring the internet labyrinth and its mysteries, the first thing you should do as an adaptive marketer is to fully comprehend the value of user-generated content at its very core. If you need any presentation assistance for your brand, there are two things you should consider: a well-planned social marketing strategy backed by a structured social content approach, and a broad knowledge of internet copyrights.

You need to know that user-generated content can build or destroy your brand’s reputation. A recent study shows that user-generated content is in demand – being produced and recommended to social circles at a rapidly increasing rate, especially among the younger generation.  As the reach of online platforms has expanded throughout Web 2.0, consumers have been given the freedom to express themselves in a span of seconds. People can post good and bad things about your brand, the quality of your service, and the performance of your product in a short amount of time. However, the most crucial part for any post apart from its authenticity is if the customer will end it with a call to action that recommends you.

Here are two ways user-generated content can keep your brand relevant:

1. It does brand awareness campaigns for you.

User-generated content is pervasively dominating social media as if it were an epidemic outbreak, which is good. The Nielsen Company conducted a worldwide survey and found that consumers trust word of mouth marketing the most; 90 percent of survey-takers believe recommendations from people they know while 70% put faith in reviews posted by strangers online. Even millennials are said to be obsessed with user-generated content.

All these statistics have one common ground: authentic feedback. Buyers are more likely to get hooked on a brand due to real and trustworthy experiences provided by other users.

A good example is Starbucks’ successful design-a-cup campaign in 2014. The campaign encouraged U.S. and Canada-based customers to design their own Starbucks cup, take a photo of it, and post it online with the hashtag #WhiteCupContest. The winner receives the privilege of having his masterpiece as the official design of Starbucks’s limited edition reusable cup. In four weeks, the campaign received 4,000 entries. Yes, it wasn’t a 5-digit figure but think about it – with each entry, dozens of friends and family members rooted for their participant and constantly shared it through online posts.

Another example would be Marc Jacobs’ #CastMeMarc stunt in which participants posted their best modelling photos/selfies on Twitter and Instagram under said hashtag. Winners were scouted by the company for its  2014 advertising campaign. Within a day, Marc Jacobs received more than 15,000 submissions. Again, each entry had its corresponding supporters based on the participant’s number of followers; each post was linked with a number of likes generated  by the connections of the aspiring winner.

2. Even negative reviews increase your customer database.

Focusing the spotlight on customer reviews makes your brand more authentic. To make your brand more credible in the eyes of your customers, highlight people’s feedback. Old-fashioned marketing strategies would opt to advertise positive responses. However, people would want to see the other side of the coin:  negative reviews. There is no perfect product so it’s impossible to evade negative labels from buyers. After all, there is no “one size fits all” brand. Given this reality, it would be better if you admit the flaws of your product or service and make up for it.

Addressing negative feedback does more than elevating your ratings; it makes your customers feel that you are genuine as a seller and that you value customer service. SDI states that 30 percent of customers will return to a brand to see if there were any improvements made regarding their negative feedback.

According to The Retailer Consumer Report, 68 percent of consumers who posted a negative review on a social networking site (after an unpleasant holiday shopping experience) got a response from their corresponding retailers. Unexpectedly, 18 percent of these buyers were converted into loyal customers and bought more than they previously purchased.

User-generated content is a huge game changer in the field of marketing and advertising as it is the driving force that channels the attention of buyers and potential customers to your business. Therefore, it is important to create campaigns that does not only engage people, but also encourages them to spread the word about your brand.

REFERENCES:

Alter, Joanna. “3 Ways to Grow Your Business with User-Generated Content.” Marketo. June 3, 2016. http://ift.tt/2dx2YvV

Duggan, Leeann. “Marc Jacobs Casts New Ad On Twitter, Selfie Storm Ensues.” Refinery 29. April 4, 2014. http://ift.tt/1k7EeY1

Foong, Louis. “Millennials Love User-Generated Content [Infographic].” Business 2 Community. March 29, 2016. http://ift.tt/1RF7aEp

Loechner, Jack. “Retailer Follow Up On Negative Reviews Pays Off.” Research Brief. March 16, 2011. http://ift.tt/2dx2FkE

MacKinnon, Katherine A. “User Generated content vs. Advertising: Do Consumers Trust the Word of Others Over Advertisers?.” 2012.

http://ift.tt/2dx3ome

MacLeod, Sumari. “Why You Should Launch A User-Generated Content Campaign.” Hootsuite. December 16, 2015. http://ift.tt/2d8kcgn

Pemberton, Chris. “Fuel Social Marketing with User Generated Content.” Gartner. June 10, 2016.

http://ift.tt/2dx2JkJ

“Global Advertising Consumers Trust Real Friends and Virtual Strangers The Most.” Nielsen. July 7, 2009. http://ift.tt/1FJjpcg

“Meet the #CastMeMarc Winners.” Marc Jacobs. July 3, 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywg-_kHbJyo

“Starbucks Invites You to Decorate its Iconic White Cup.” Starbucks. April 22, 2014. http://ift.tt/2d8kHXR

Rick Enrico is the CEO and Founder of SlideGenius, a global presentation design agency. He regularly publishes expert presentation tips on the SlideGenius Blog. He currently oversees an experienced team of designers, software developers, and marketing professionals that specialize in creating custom corporate presentations and cloud publishing applications. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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