Customer Behavior articles by the best and brightest in the field

• Why Gen Y Is Passing You Byby Kimberly Smith
  What works in enticing a new generation of buyers? Here's why some of your efforts to reach this demographic might be going amiss. more
• To Sell During a Recession, Shop a Mile in Their Shoesby Jenny Schade
  Harnessing the power of customer insights throughout your organization produces a powerful, ongoing interactive connection with key constituents that competitors can't duplicate. Beyond the clever words and attention-getting visuals, the connection with the customer truly engages. When the product has been reviewed, when the ad is over, it's the feeling that remains that makes the sale and keeps the customer. If your marketing is based on customer insights, it's likely that your customers are going to feel understood—and therefore good about themselves. That's the feeling that will build the brand and drive sales. more
• How Hyundai Uses Behavioral Segmentation to Take the Bull by the Horns and Send the Bear Packingby Michael Barr
  Hyundai took the bull by the horns in this bear market and scored big. It used behavioral segmentation to identify what was keeping prospects from buying and then developed a strategy that made it easier for customers to part with their hard-earned dollars. What can you learn from its example? In every market change, even a downturn, there is an opportunity to use the power of behavioral segmentation to make your product or service stand out. more
• Retail Survival Tips in a New Economic and Customer Environmentby Adam Boyden
  Retailers did everything possible to attract buyers over the holidays. From educational sessions to discounts and coupons, and special offers, retailers used their ingenuity and marketing smarts to make the best of a dismal season. Nonetheless, numbers were down and every indicator pointed toward an even gloomier 2009. Perhaps the very profile of the retail environment has shifted as consumers settle in for what may be a protracted economic change. Here are some smart, manageable tips on how to survive through the second half of the 2009 buying season and keep your business on track. more
• Put Your Site Search to Work and Improve Your Targeted Marketing, Part 1by Shaun Ryan
  If you're like most online marketers, you may not realize that some of the technologies that power your website can be critical tools for improving the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. For example, did you know that you can use data from your site-search solution to create emails with lists of popular products that match your customers' preferences? The result: stronger brand visibility, higher conversions, and a more engaging customer experience. more
• Leapfrogging for Success: Change the Game via Innovationby Evan Gerber
  Marketers these days find themselves increasingly squeezed between a big rock and a very hard place: Their mandate is to demonstrably improve ROI, with reduced budgets, while communicating with skittish audiences that are less inclined to make purchases. Not surprisingly, people are looking for ways to change the game altogether. more
• Anatomy of a Novel-Sized Landing Page, Part 2by Kim MacPherson
  In Part 1 of this article, the author talked a little bit about the necessary components to a successful landing page: You need "bones" to hold it all together; you need to keep the message on track and motivating by maintaining a consistent theme throughout; and you need to stir emotions... pique curiosity... and so on. Once a prospect's heart (and all those emotions that go along with it) gets in the game, you're pretty much home free. Well... almost. more
• Why You Are Unpopular Online: Six Ways to Doom Your Community-Building Effortsby Mack Collier
  Companies are increasingly looking to create vibrant and healthy online communities for their businesses. But many companies are seeing their efforts fail or produce flat results. Here are six reasons why many online communities never materialize, and what you can do to improve your own efforts to build online communities. more
• Think and Act Like a Nonprofit to Deepen Connections and Build Relationshipsby Roger Sametz
  For decades, the prevailing wisdom was that nonprofits should learn from for-profit enterprises how to become "more businesslike." Many nonprofits thus embraced best practices in branding, marketing, service delivery, money management, and leadership. They have also learned how to keep different business models running simultaneously. To be successful in all these endeavors has required nonprofits to develop approaches and skills—particularly in communication and branding—that (surprise!) for-profits can now learn from. more
• 25 Ways to Build Trust (and Sales!) with Customer Success Storiesby Casey Hibbard
  Capturing the experiences of your most successful customers not only boosts your credibility but also educates buyers and shows them the payoff of your solutions. Here are 25 ways to use customer success stories in your sales and marketing to increase buyers' trust. more
• Customer Feedback to Improve Email Performance: Ingredients for Success from Betty Crockerby Stephanie Miller
  Marketers talk about asking for feedback all the time. Yet, few marketers take the time to really engage with subscribers on any level. That's why BettyCrocker.com stands out. more
• Secrets of Viral Video: Three Keys to Launching a Campaign That Resonatesby Kimberly Smith
  Video viewing is way up, but so are video postings. These days, it takes more than a dancing baby to attract eyeballs and gather viral momentum. Here's a straightforward guide for netting your audience's attention, with advice from organizations that are working video to their advantage. more
• How to Become 'Their Brand': Engaging Today's Fickle Customersby Manila Austin
  Marketers today understand that consumers think, feel, and react in ways different from June Cleaver some 50 years ago. We use descriptors like fickle, indecisive, and disloyal to describe the modern consumer. Just what do these terms mean? Mainly, they mean that consumers have too many choices—multiple brands, brand extensions, and sub-brands—and too much stimulation, especially online, making it nearly impossible to predict their next move. And yet, marketers continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on segmentation analysis and other research, hoping to understand and predict the behavior of these fickle consumers. It's as though they're still chasing June Cleaver when neither her modern counterparts nor today's consumerism as a whole bear any resemblance to the past. So what can marketers do? They can start by grasping the profound societal and technological changes that define today's new consumerism. more
• Five Questions to Ask Before You Hit Sendby Doug Stern
  Some businesses opting for digital instead of print do it because they've gone green. Others want to harness the internet's speed, reach, and other capabilities. The rest like the convenience of online or have some other strategic purpose that points them that way. But it might pay to slow down and make sure that you've picked the better route... or, combination of tools. So, here's a list of filters to consider. more
• In a Tough Economy, Go to Battle for Your Customersby Karl Gustafson and J. Mark Carr
  Decision-makers who are worried over the stability of their company's finances should remember one simple truth: The source of your business's cash flow is your customer base. What all of this boils down to is the need to make smart, informed investment and cost-cutting decisions that have both a short-term and a long term perspective. more
• Speaking Their Language: How to Localize Your Message for Global Customersby Chanin Ballance
  Many companies already recognize the value of translations for reaching that vast worldwide audience. They've been having product information, press releases, and marketing and advertising copy converted into the languages of their current and potential customers for years. But smart companies realize that to strike a chord with more buyers, they'll have to "localize" their messages so that audiences will feel that everything about an electronic or printed communication has been produced by someone just like them. Not only is the text in their language (with proper idioms and slang), but the graphics, navigation buttons and user interface are familiar. In short, nothing hinders the flow of information—or elicits a chuckle. more
• GM's Biggest Strategic Blunderby David A. Aaker
  GM's CEO, Rick Wagoner, has opined that the automaker's biggest blunder was to walk away from the electric car. But GM's biggest strategic blunder might have been its failure to view Saturn strategically—and as a consequence not allowing it to fulfill its destiny as a domestic competitor to Toyota, Nissan, and Honda that could actually win. As the company makes hard decisions in the struggle to survive, the challenge to GM will be its ability to learn from—and not compound—that mistake. more
• The Top 4 Ways Smart Marketers Use Digital Branding Applications to Operate More Efficientlyby Allen P. Adamson
  As part of the research I did in preparation for my recent book, BrandDigital, I interviewed some of the best and brightest people in the fields of marketing and digital technology, and they provided incredible insight on how digital tools and tactics can be used to not simply increase operating efficiency but also increase customer loyalty. Here I share some of those insights, with specific focus on my conversation with Bob Pearson, Vice-President of Communities and Conversations at Dell. Though Dell is a computer manufacturer, the ideas that Bob discussed can be adopted by any organization, no matter what size, industry, or level of technological acumen. more
• What's the 'Return on Sound'? Build Long-Term Emotional Equity by Applying Sound Strategicallyby Noel Franus
  What's your Return On Sound? Budgets may be tight and long-term planning may feel out of reach, but a few simple principles can help lay the groundwork for long-term brand value for "sonic identity." Music and sound create significant long-term brand power. That effect comes by design, and it starts with a few questions. more
• A Lesson from Sears: Creating Relevance in Email Marketingby Stephanie Miller
  Sears performed a courageous email-marketing act in mid-December. Like every retailer, Sears was surely eager for additional sales and revenue as the worst holiday season in memory reached a crescendo and the sale window started to close. Despite that pressure, the Sears team had the discipline to hit the pause button on the hard sell in attempting to make a connection with subscribers. Instead, it sent a co-marketing email with Heroes at Home, promoting a national gift registry for returning US soldiers. more

Customer Behavior: See all 420 marketing articles

Customer Behavior case studies, deconstructing real life examples and illustrating lessons learned

• Generating Serious B2B Buzz With Dead Bugs... and VideoGrasshopper.com
  CASE STUDY: Entrepreneurs, by definition, don't play it too safe. So for a company that serves startups and small businesses, what better way to launch a rebranding campaign and generate buzz than doing something novel and risky—but being wicked smart about it. Which is where the bugs come in. more
• Tips From Microsoft on Cultivating Customer Satisfaction & Loyalty on a Global ScaleMicrosoft Corporation
  CASE STUDY: With millions of customers in more than 90 countries, Microsoft has its hands full keeping customers satisfied and loyal. But it has found a way to do so—by using Web-monitoring tools, social-media analytics, and the energy of influencers. Read on for valuable insights. more
• How a Single Modification to a Web Site's Functionality Significantly Upped Natural Search Traffic, SalesDiapers.com
  CASE STUDY: Customer reviews are powerful, held in high regard by consumers—and search engines, which love keyword-rich content. But the technology that serves up reviews on a product page makes them all but invisible to those engines. By getting around that conundrum, Diapers.com scored big. more
• How Kodak Generated Marvelous Results by Turning Users Into SuperheroesKodak Imaging Network
  CASE STUDY: Kodak knew that in all of us there's a superhero yearning to come out. It launched a viral-video campaign that reached two million customers and prospects who unleashed their inner superhero (along with howls of laughter), generating traffic to—and sales for—KodakGallery.com. more
• How a Facebook Game Attracted 10 Times the Traffic, New Fans, Real SalesAdobe Systems, Inc.
  CASE STUDY: Here's how a single Facebook game application attracted more than 11,500 plays, 10 times the usual traffic, 5,500 new fans, and more.... more
• How a CEO Uses Twitter to Convey the 'Sole' of His CompanyZappos
  CASE STUDY: While others are still hashing out whether their CEO should be Twittering, blogging, or Plurking, Zappos Tony Hsieh has been using Twitter for over a year. Here, he reveals what he gets out of micro-blogging, and why he thinks it's important for his company and others to embrace social media tools. more
• A Niche E-tailer Sizes Up Glamour... One Customer at a Time, Boosting Sales with a Personalized Web Site ExperienceSydney's Closet
  Five years ago, Sydney's Closet sold only plus-size prom dresses. Since then, however, the company has significantly expanded its lines, and it sought to segment its customers to help deliver content and offers that would be specific to their interests and needs. Here's its approach. more
• How a Consumer Electronics Company Leveraged the Power of Community to Uncover Market Preferences and Build Excitement for a New Product LineEastman Kodak Company
  When it chose to enter the saturated inkjet market 20 years late, Eastman Kodak had a few surprises up its sleeve. Still, the company found it also needed a little marketing ingenuity if it was to gain market share. more
• How a University Embraced Social Media and Scored Millions in YouTube ViewsCarnegie Mellon University
  How does a university up its visibility with an increasingly wired target market of both students of alumni? By orchestrating a Web 2.0-focused Web site redesign that set the foundation for an ongoing social media campaign. more
• How a Web-based Company Increased Leads 90%—and Sales 23%—via PPC-Visitor Profiling, Landing Page PersonalizationCompany: Continental Warranty
  Continental Warranty used pay-per-click ads to generate leads by providing free quotes for extended-warranty coverage. But lead volume had plateaued. So it began to profile its web visitors, then direct them to microsites matching their profiles—and nearly doubled leads. more
• How MyFax Upped Customer Engagement, Achieved a 79% NetPromoter ScoreMyFax
  Internt fax service provider MyFax wanted to tap into the power of word-of-mouth referrals by improving the customer experience and maintaining highly personalized customer interactions. But as an online company, it faced the issue of how to individually engage customers to ensure long-term relationships. Here's what it did. more
• How a Finance Director Left Her Day Job and Launched an 'Engaging Brand' Online via a Podcast and BlogThe Engaging Brand
  A finance director, feeling stifled by the corporate world, launches her own business based in branding and egagement... with only $1,000 to spend. Two years later, she's a blog and podcast star with a successful business. more
• How a Small-Business Consultant Leveraged a High-Profile TV Commercial to Generate New Traffic and Win New BusinessLocalZing
  As a tiny Florida player in the field of advertising for small businesses, Karl Long knew he should consider unconventional ways to promote his company. Taking a cue from a competitor, Long launched a campaign that upped traffic to his blog 500%, raised his Google profile, and led to new business. more
• How an Online Software Biz Doubled Its Sales Leads, Increased Site Traffic 75%Makana Solutions
  Makana Solutions needed an inexpensive way to reach the elusive small business market. Rather than chase small businesses, it hired an online "inbound marketing system" to help small businesses find Makana. The results: Web site traffic climbed 75%, and sales leads have doubled. more
• How a Retail Company Increased Web Sales Order Value 60% via Automated PersonalizationPersonal Creations
  For personalized gifts retailer Personal Solutions, matching up complementary items for a monthly catalog was one thing. Manually serving up suitable recommendations and keeping up with seasonal inventories for real time online sales without an automated process was another. more
• How a Rental Car Firm Upped New York Revenue 24%, Improved Customer ServiceDollar Thrifty Automotive Group
  In late 2006, Dollar's business was slowing at New York's LaGuardia airport. With some outside help, the local marketing manager developed an email survey, then used the answers to pinpoint Dollar's weaknesses. The resulting efficiencies helped Dollar grow its parking-related business by 24%. more
• How Goodwill Attracted Hip Customers via Social Networking, a Virtual Fashion ShowGoodwill of Greater Washington
  Goodwill Industries receives generous donations of clothing, many in good shape and by popular brands, but is perceived as a purveyor of low-quality, outdated merchandise. With a social-media marketing campaign, the nonprofit was able to change that perception and connect with young professional women who buy vintage clothing. more
• How a Viral Campaign Gave OfficeMax Brand Recognition, Drove ShoppersOfficeMax, Inc.
  Office supply chain OfficeMax also sells digital cameras and other products popular as holiday gifts—but its customers didn't think of it as a holiday-shopping destination. What's more, it was often confused with its chief rival. A wildly popularly web-based viral marketing campaign helped OfficeMax distinguish itself and encourage shoppers. more
• How a Patient-Support Program Increased Therapy Participation 20%, Upped SalesActelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.
  Tracleer won approval in 2001 as the first oral treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension, an illness difficult for patients to grasp. Tracleer helps patients control the symptoms, but it has drawbacks. Faced with high patient-dropout rates early on in treatment, the drug's maker needed to change patient perceptions. more
• How a Dental Office Attracted Clients Using SEO and Other Internet Marketing StrategiesSynergy Dental Center
  Synergy Dental Center of Portland, Oregon, wanted to increase its client base, which Dr. Anthony Newkirk had inherited from the previous practitioner in 2003. He hired a marketing firm to develop a client-acquisition strategy, with a goal of 25 new patients a month. Here's how the Internet-based campaign played out. more

Customer Behavior: See all 44 case studies

Customer Behavior online seminar broadcasts from the best minds in marketing

• How to Create Advertising Campaigns that Make Men Do What You WantAttendee rating:  - May 28, 2009
• Using e-Metrics to Optimize Your All-Around Marketing StrategyAttendee rating:  - Apr 3, 2008
• Buyer Personas: A Smart Way to Align B2B Sales and MarketingAttendee rating:  - Jan 17, 2008
• Strategy First on Facebook: Opportunities of a Ready-Made Marketing PlatformAttendee rating:  - Jan 10, 2008
• Personas 2: Using Mental Images of Customers for Better Product Planning, Branding and MessagingAttendee rating:  - Mar 8, 2007
• Personas 1: Breakthrough Customer Insight for Product, Website Design and MoreAttendee rating:  - Mar 7, 2007
• Hispanic Marketing EssentialsAttendee rating:  - Nov 16, 2006
• Boosting E-Commerce Conversion Rates with Persuasion ScenariosAttendee rating:  - Nov 9, 2006
• BOOM: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer — The Baby Boomer WomanAttendee rating:  - Oct 26, 2006
• Demystifying Website Usability: Rapid Research for MarketersAttendee rating:  - Jul 25, 2006
• How to Build Your Customer Experience Framework in Five Steps, with Columbia Business School Professor Bernd SchmittAttendee rating:  - May 18, 2006
• Reach the Big Spenders: How to Market to Women from 50 to 75Attendee rating:  - Dec 1, 2005
• The Anatomy of Buzz: Lessons in Word-of-Mouth Marketing, with Emanuel RosenAttendee rating:  - May 26, 2005

Customer Behavior: See all 13 seminars

Customer Behavior mini articles distilling bite-sized advice (from our Get to the Point newsletters)

• Where SEO Yin Meets SM YangSearch Engine Marketing
  "Is your website search- and social-media-friendly?" inquires a recent post at the Online Marketing Blog. According to Lee Odden, search is the most efficient and effective way for consumers to ...
• Time After Time After TimeEmail Marketing
  "We fuss over subject lines, offers, calls-to-action, and targeting, but sometimes a lack of response is simply a matter of timing," says Mark Brownlow in a post at the Email ...
• How Dare You Assume That?Email Marketing
  When you hand someone a business card at a conference, do you assume your email address will be added to their list for marketing campaigns? Probably not. And that's why ...
• Is This My Fairest URL of All?Interactive Marketing
  As of June 13, Facebook has made it possible for users to secure a URL for both their profiles and any Facebook Pages they administer. Why this matters: Facebook is ...
• You Have Much to Learn, GrasshopperMarketing in a Downturn
  In a post at the Marketing Minute, blogger Drew McLellan admits he gets some rather strange mail. "But I have to say," he notes, "chocolate-covered grasshoppers might just top the ...
• Mom Probably Knows BestEmail Marketing
  In a post at the Deliverability.com blog, Dennis Dayman presents a short series of off-the-cuff emails that his wife wrote in response to his question about video in email marketing ...
• Seed That Video and Reap Its HarvestInteractive Marketing
  Good news for all you budding Spielbergs out there: YouTube this month made it possible to automatically seed freshly uploaded videos across popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and even ...
• Hey! Over Here! We're Buying!Customer Insight
  Good news for retailers! There is one consumer segment that apparently remains ready and willing to buy: Hispanic shoppers. "According to a new study conducted by Experian Simmons for Univision ...
• Nobody Likes a Wild-Goose ChaseEmail Marketing
  Chad White of the Retail Email blog was impressed when he recently received an email from Lands' End with this subject line: Free Shipping + 20-50% off summer! Swim, shorts, ...
• Mixology 101Email Marketing
  In a post at the Daily Fix blog, Stephanie Miller says you don't have to choose between the social and email channels. "No need to take sides, my friends," she ...
• We Suck!Marketing Inspiration
  When you think of ways you want customers to describe your product or service, you'd probably want them to avoid that most dubious of superlatives: The Worst. But in a ...
• Do It Now: Get WhitelistedEmail Marketing
  Mailer Alert: A new Yahoo Mail feature—the "contacts button"—should make whitelisting even more important for email marketers. "You get a lot of emails, some good (from friends, family, even favorite ...
• Walk a Few Steps in Their ShoesB2B Marketing
  "Value, desire, and price rule our lives as salespeople," says Mike Sigers in a recent post at the Simplenomics blog. When a prospect considers a purchase, Sigers explains, the product's ...
• Pack 'Em InSmall Business
  In a post at the Viral Garden blog, Mack Collier discusses why so many companies struggle to launch and maintain active online communities. To find success, you'll need more than ...
• Think of It as Scaling DownCustomer Insight
  "It's not all doom and gloom in the U.S. economy," Deb Riechmann says in a recent AP article. "Some products are bucking the recession and flying off store shelves." Folks ...
• Sign Me Up!Small Business
  If you want to improve your online-conversion rate, says Amy Gesenhues in an article at MarketingProfs, you should probably take a look at your registration page. There are several reasons ...
• Short, Sweet and Clicked-ThroughEmail Marketing
  In a post at the DIRECT website, Ken Magill discusses the results of a survey conducted by MailerMailer. Among its more interesting findings: Subject lines containing up to 35 characters ...
• You Talkin' to Me?Interactive Marketing
  Once in a while, a digital ad grabs you just like that. And one thing that really boosts its impact is if the person featured in it is—you. Read on:  Last year, to sell tickets ...
• A Fine Mess Caused by the Fine PrintSmall Business
  "I was going to hire a company today to do something fairly simple that would have cost [an advertised] $45," begins a post at the Service Untitled blog. But there ...
• The Three Rs of Recession MarketingMarketing in a Downturn
  "There are three 'R' words—retention, repurchase and referral—that can help your company survive and thrive during the 'R' word that's plaguing our economy, the recession," says Deborah Eastman in a ...

Customer Behavior: See all 341 quick reads

Customer Behavior marketing downloads for the busy professional

• E-Newsletter How-To Guide
  The e-newsletter has become ubiquitous. Almost a dime a dozen. How do you make yours not only stand out in the inbox, but make a positive impact on your bottom line? This guide will show you how.
• Online Research How-To Guide
  Set clear objectives and a realistic scope to online research projects. These are just two of the steps that this comprehensive, step-by-step planning guide will help you to accomplish to insure your online research results in the most relevant and useful information possible.
• Lead Generation How-To Guide
  Great product, great sales team, great marketing collateral - now what? People to sell to, of course. Put your lead generation tactics under the microscope with this enlightening how-to guide. Get more and better qualified leads, faster today.
• B2B Direct Marketing How-To Guide
  Direct marketing is one of the fastest changing disciplines within marketing today. What worked 10 years ago, isn't working today. Heck, what worked last week sometimes doesn't even work today, so keep your skills sharp with his How-To guide, focusing on the B2B market.

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Customer Behavior Daily Chirp for the busy professional

• iComicRelief
  Apple has certainly captured the heart of consumers across the globe with the iPhone, and it recently announced new, upgraded models at the WWDC Conference this past week, after having recently hit 1 billion app downloads at the iTunes store. more
• Marketing Addictionary: 'Badvocate'
  Badvocate: (noun): People who passionately criticize or detract from companies, brands, or products. more