Google is invading Amazon’s turf in turn. They recently signed an alliance with no less than Walmart to make it easier to buy Walmart products through Google Express and the voice-powered Google Assistant. Costco and Target had already done similar deals. What’s that saying – when elephants dance, the ants get crushed? Look up!
We’ve been toying with the idea of a podcast at the CDP Institute: frankly, it sounds like a lot of work. But enough people have taken the plunge that ad-supported podcast network HowStuffWorks has attracted a $15 million Series A investment and is becoming an independent company.
A mere one billion, you scoff. YouAppi tracks content consumption on two billion people across 4,200 apps and mobile sites. It uses the data to target in-app, on-site, and social advertising for mobile app customer acquisition and retention. The company just launched a “360 Degree Growth Marketing Platform”, which is an extension of its earlier products. But we’re not talking self-service: YouAppi is a full-service agency, currently running almost 17,000 campaigns for 470 brands worldwide.
Just over half of consumers (54%) like to receive personalized messages because they show the consumers are known to the brand, plus they can be time savers. The rest (46%) find it at best unimportant, at worst creepy. Relevance far outstrips personalization when it comes to driving email opens (54% vs. 19%). Takeaway: treat each customer the way they prefer.