Recently, we gathered for an engaging event at the Dentsu office in Amsterdam, featuring insights from Marigold and Merkle on the importance of building strong customer relationships. With 14 years of partnership between Marigold and Merkle, the afternoon highlighted how both companies empower brands to connect with their audiences meaningfully. Interested in the insights? Then continue reading!
Simon Jeffs, Principal Marketing Strategist at Marigold, highlighted the significant impact of relevance on brand engagement. With 78% of consumers more likely to engage with personalized emails, and 74% remaining loyal to brands offering the right promotions, it’s clear that relevance drives brand outcomes and customer satisfaction (Marigold, 2024).
Simon outlined 7 essential messaging and activation drivers that can enhance relevance:
- Authenticity: Build trust through integrity and emotional connectivity.
- Know Your Customer: Develop a deep understanding of both rational and emotional needs.
- Clear Value Proposition: Clearly articulate what customers gain from your offerings.
- Moments That Matter: Identify key customer inflection points.
- Compelling Customer Experience: Minimize friction to create engaging interactions.
- Holistic Customer View: Centralize customer data for better insights.
- Make It Personal: Automate and personalize communication at scale.
Focusing on relevance also increases customer engagement, creates a better brand perception, improves conversion rates, enhances customer retention, provides a positive customer experience, and ultimately, leads to a greater ROI.
But it's not just about using the right tactics or identifying key motivators. To make your message truly effective, you need to connect on a deeper level by incorporating elements of uniqueness and surprise. Capturing the hearts and minds of your customers is what sets your brand apart and creates a lasting impact.
The Importance of Impactful Experiences by Didric van den Borne
And that’s exactly where Didric van den Borne, Executive Experience Director of Merkle Netherlands, stepped in. He emphasized the necessity of creating unique experiences that resonate with customers and discussed the concept of reciprocity: investing in your customers so they recognize their value to your brand. When customers feel appreciated, they are more likely to engage and invest back in your brand.
Didric shared compelling examples from notable brands, such as our award-winning work with Albert Heijn.
Tech Talk: Marigold Innovations by Kenny Broux
The event concluded with an insightful tech demonstration by Kenny Broux, Solutions Consultant at Marigold.
Kenny introduced the Marigold Liveclicker platform, a tool designed to enhance real-time engagement during digital interactions. He showcased its innovative features, including live polls, which allow brands to gather immediate feedback from their audiences. This interactive element not only boosts engagement but also provides valuable insights into customer preferences and opinions, enabling brands to tailor their messaging in real time. For more information about Marigold Liveclicker, please click here.
He also highlighted the Marigold Grow platform, a comprehensive resource that offers an extensive experience library. This library is designed to streamline customer interactions by providing brands with pre-built templates and best practices for various engagement scenarios. By leveraging the Grow platform, businesses can quickly implement strategies that resonate with their target audiences, making it easier to create meaningful experiences. More information about Marigold Grow can be found here.
The Merkle x Marigold event reinforced the importance of building meaningful relationships with customers through relevance and impactful experiences. As brands navigate an increasingly competitive landscape, adopting these strategies can lead to improved customer engagement, loyalty, and overall success. Would you like to learn more about building lasting relationships for your brand? Contact us to discover how our data-driven strategies and innovative solutions can help you engage your audience more effectively and foster meaningful connections.
