Join VB’s Mark Sullivan, Kahuna’s Doug Roberge and mCordis’ Michael Becker talk mobile app success. Watch their live and unscripted roundtable on-demand right here for free.

“If I’m the user, how is this going to make my life better?” This question raised by VentureBeat’s Mark Sullivan is one that must be answered if marketers expect to see any success with today’s consumers.

You can’t just email a generic advertisement to your consumers and expect them to hop aboard. In fact, a majority will hate you for it: According to a Janrain study, nearly three-quarters of consumers become frustrated when they receive content that’s not relevant to their interests, so it’s imperative for you to know what they want and when to give it to them.

Doug Roberge, strategic services consultant at Kahuna, said it best:

“Cohorts and personalization do not mix, because when you’re creating a cohort, you’re creating lookalikes, instead of actually getting what the customer might need.”

However, not every marketer is well-versed in discovering what their audience needs.

According to a VentureBeat Insight report, “The State of Marketing Analytics: Insights in the age of the customer,” about 65 percent of marketers lack the ability to accurately measure marketing impact, meaning lots of useful data is going to waste — data that could have been used to better understand the audience. Meanwhile, those same number of marketers are feeling pressured from their board or CEO to prove their value. The situation becomes more stressful when you consider that, according to the same report, brands plan to increase their spending on marketing analytics by 73 percent over the next three years. To make a long story short, companies need to do some work so they can get their money’s worth.

With so many channels available to use for communication, as well as the ever-evolving social-media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, it’s understandable why marketers are feeling overwhelmed as they try to track all of this data. Perhaps this is why a majority of marketers are only comfortable with reporting on what’s happened in the past, rather than utilizing predictive marketing to increase sales. As overwhelming as all this may seem, it is in fact possible for marketers to stay on top of all of these numbers.

Successful companies have figured out what works for them: Using the right ad platform best suited for their business; effectively engaging with their audiences through their own communication channels; and understanding where the market is heading in the next few years. And they do all this while keeping up on the trends for the growing and constantly-in-motion mobile market.

Mobile is an especially important platform for marketers to utilize, as it bridges a personal connection between you and your consumer at scale. As Michael Becker, managing partner and co-founder at mCordis, said, “The most important real estate in the world is the four-inch screen in the palm of someone’s hands.”

Marketers also don’t have to rely solely on paid channels offering temporary boost. As Sullivan said, “There are plenty of opportunities for marketers to latch themselves to other platforms.”

Facebook’s new notify service may seem like a great way to push your message, but the experience is owned by Facebook and doesn’t provide users with a link to your actual site, meaning you’re not building an audience.

By viewing this on-demand webinar, you’ll learn how the top brands and marketers are able to crunch the numbers to please their audiences; and how they balance paid and owned communications to push their message. With this valuable information, you’ll have an easier time making sure your consumers are satisfied.

Don’t miss out!

Watch on demand now.

In this webinar, you’ll:

  • Discover how to balance the advertising (paid) and direct (owned) marketing in your overall marketing mix
  • Enhance your paid and owned media, and connect with individuals
  • Learn how communication automation reduces engagement friction and opens the door for a rich dialog
  • Anticipate the consumer demand for individualized messages and how that impacts engagement and commerce

Speakers:

Michael Becker, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, mCordis
Doug Roberge, Strategic Services Consultant, Kahuna
Mark Sullivan, Writer, VentureBeat

Moderator:

Wendy Schuchart, Analyst, VentureBeat

This webinar is sponsored by Kahuna.