Ernan Roman

Businesses know mobile apps offer tremendous customer engagement opportunities–if done correctly. Unfortunately, businesses can also eat up marketing budgets–without the customer engagement payoff–if mobile apps are not planned out with customer needs in mind.

According to a study by MyBuys, an e-tailing group, 40% of respondents stated that they buy more from retailers that personalize their shopping experience across channels.

Just as high fashion brands have been trendsetters in clothing, they are now trendsetters in multichannel marketing. Global fashion icon, Burberry, launched a program recently that upped the ante on multichannel marketing. Burberry’s Millennial-targeted “Runway Made to Order” campaign allowed viewers from around the world to live stream their Fall fashion show, and purchase and personalize items directly from the runway via a state-of-the-art interactive e-commerce platform.

In a study by the Business Marketing Association, most BtoB marketers say customer engagement is a high priority within their marketing organization (72 percent), but 43 percent grade their company's level of customer engagement, a C, with even more giving their companies a D or an F. The opportunity for BtoB marketers: successfully engage their customers by establishing new avenues of relevant communication.

The Challenge: Per recent guidelines, you will be penalized if your emails do not have adequate levels of deliverability and “engagement”. Consider the following options to optimize your lists to increase open rates and engagement.

Companies can deepen their engagement with customers by championing powerful causes. However, in order for these efforts to be effective, customers must feel that your efforts are authentic and truly helping the charity.

Research from Forrester has found that 90% of consumers distrust brand messaging, including social media. However 70% of consumers believe in recommendations from friends or family. The opportunity for brands: build loyal social communities willing to share useful information with friends.

While not all companies can have a social media "touchdown" like Oreo's now famous Superbowl blackout tweet, real-time marketing is accessible to any size company.

Traditional marketing has often focused on getting the sale. Instead, marketers should focus on retention and how to keep more customers for longer periods. Customer Lifetime Value, (CLTV), is a simple equation for helping you calculate the value of increased retention.

Major email providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL have implemented new algorithms for email deliverability based on "engagement." If your emails are not triggering sufficient interaction, they are likely not to be delivered.

No company is immune to the possibility of damaging comments, posts and tweets. So how do businesses prepare for unwanted attention on far-reaching social channels? Here, we look at a few companies that have weathered the storm and provided some valuable lessons.

Marketers everywhere are fighting an uphill battle: trying to deliver more personalized communications but lacking the accurate data to do so. Without that information marketers are still stuck sending 'Spray and Pray' blasts of email.

In the past, brands addressed customer service issues by way of a primary channel -- the 'call center.' But now, companies must also monitor, respond, and engage in a variety of social channels.

The Challenge: Creating shareable content that is conducive to social networks can be tricky. Here's how Disney used smart and creative magic to crack the code.

How has Coke thrived in a social media world, ranking as the world’s most valuable brand and attracting the biggest Facebook fan base? Learn from their 7 Social Media Rules for Success.