The Pontiflex Blog

Use of engagement grows in online advertising

December 1, 2008 at 3:54 pm Arun Krishnan Leave a comment

In an excellent article, Emily Steel of the Wall Street Journal explains how marketers are moving from a “push” announcement based strategy to a “pull” engagement focused one.

Leading retailers such as GAP, Sears, JC Penney and Target are tapping into advanced analytics to target customers based on their past behavior. A bird in the hand is not only better than the fabled two in the bush; if it’s treated right, it’s also far more lucrative.

photo credit: kirinqueen

As we have discussed often on this blog, engagement marketing is slated to increase not only in the direct response realm, but also among brand marketers. After all, engagement marketing allows marketers to talk to their consumers in the most relevant way and what could make for a better branding experience?

In addition to engaging existing consumers, marketers will also have to combat attrition, and grow exisiting databases. While doing so, they have to check off two very simple criteria. The medium they use to grow their database must be:

1. Cost-effective: to increase marketing returns.

2. Transparent: to ensure an explicit opt-in and build a responsive donor base.

Entry filed under: Best Practices, Online Advertising. Tags: .