Welcome to our “Changing Face of Retail” blog series. As we’ve explored in our previous posts, today’s consumers have much higher expectations when it comes to brand interactions than they did in the past. They seek individualized experiences that cater to them as people, not just buyers. The preferences of Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z vary significantly, and failing to acknowledge these differences can have serious consequences. This presents a big challenge for marketers, forcing them to adopt a comprehensive approach that takes into account the distinct characteristics and values of each individual consumer.
The key to unlocking effective generational engagement lies in the successful implementation of three foundational pillars: identity, activation, and intelligence. With the right technology marketers can tap into the full potential of their customer data and create exceptional experiences that set them apart from the fierce competition that dominates the crowded retail landscape. In this post, we dive into the power of the Zeta Marketing Platform and explore how it equips marketers with the necessary tools to navigate the challenging path ahead and create experiences that delight their customers.
Identity: Build a Strong Data Foundation
Identity is at the core of successful generational marketing. Without a clear understanding of your target audience, effective communication becomes nearly impossible. This has never been more apparent than it is today. Gone are the days of fuzzy customer archetypes. Today, marketers must recognize that every individual is essentially their own unique archetype. Market data can be used to inform broad-strokes strategies, but the messaging, the offers, the promotions, and the recommendations need to be tailored individually.
According to Forbes, consumers overwhelmingly demand personalized communications and experiences from brands they interact with. They found that a staggering 88% of Millennials share this desire, followed by 87% of Gen Z and 82% of Gen X. Without a strong foundation of real-time data that spans online and offline purchases and behavior, marketers will be unable to meet these needs.
How Zeta Helps:
• Identity graph: The Zeta Data Cloud consists of an identity graph of more than 235 million adults in the US, covering 90% of the population which leverages proprietary opt-in information and real-time intent signals to enrich first-party data and find new customers that like your top customers. Unlike traditional methods that heavily rely on third-party cookies, Zeta ensures reliable and accurate identification even in a cookieless environment.
• Flexible data ingestion: Effortlessly handle data from a diverse range of sources. By using a schema-less data structure, Zeta eliminate the need for rigid data formatting requirements, empowering marketers to easily integrate and process data from various channels, platforms, and systems.
• Low-Code Tools: With minimal coding required, you can efficiently orchestrate data flows, apply custom identity rules, and streamline your processes. This empowers your teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than getting tangled in complex technical implementations.
• Data Hygiene: Ensure the integrity and accuracy of your customer data with advanced algorithms and validation techniques to cleanse and enrich your customer records, resulting in a more reliable and up-to-date, customer view.
Activation: Turn Data to Action
With a strong foundation established, marketers can transition to the next, and arguably most important step in generational engagement, Activation. Without the ability to action off your customer data, it’s essentially useless. An effective omnichannel activation strategy ensures that the right message is delivered to the right person at the right time, regardless of the channel they’re on. This is particularly important when interacting with different age groups, given that each has strong preferences about the channels they use, as well as different means of interacting with brands they’re loyal to.
This is illustrated by research from our new eBook,
“The Changing Face of Retail” which illustrates that a variety of different channels are still needed to create a full court press for your marketing messaging.
• Direct Mail is still the number one way to reach each age group, with social media and search following close behind.
• Social plays a key role in the lives of Millennials (85%) and Gen X (83%), but Gen Z is the most social generation, with an impressive 94% of the youngest generation being active on social.
• Search isn’t going anywhere, with 76% of Gen Z reachable via search, compared to 68% of Millennials and 66% of Gen X.
• Email remains a workhorse in the marketing toolbox with 86% of Gen Z preferring email communications from brands, followed by 74% of Gen Y, and 71% of Gen X.
By leveraging a platform that can seamlessly engage across different online and offline channels, you’ll be better positioned to create and capitalize on generation-specific marketing that resonates.
How Zeta Helps:
• Omnichannel Orchestration: Zeta unifies operations and experiences across paid and owned channels using a single intuitive interface. Seamlessly manage and coordinate marketing efforts across various channels, streamline internal processes, and deliver consistent messaging and experiences across all touchpoints.
• Experience Builder: Effortlessly create and manage omnichannel experiences, build sophisticated customer journeys, and craft personalized experiences based on real-time preferences and behaviors. By simplifying the process of orchestrating multichannel campaigns, Experience Builder empowers marketers to drive engagement, conversions, and customer loyalty.
• Data and Audience Syndication: Syndicate data and audiences to virtually any channel or third-party system and easily share customer data, segments, and audience insights across various marketing channels.
Intelligence: Find Signal in the Noise
Finally, we arrive at Intelligence, the secret sauce that empowers marketers to sift through millions of signals, enabling the creation of individualized generation specific experiences. Without an intelligence layer, humans are incapable of achieving the same level of analysis that machines can accomplish. By harnessing tools that leverage real-time data, marketers can unlock programmatic personalization, eliminating guesswork when creating individualized experiences and determining the most effective channels for customer engagement.
When communicating across generations, an intelligent marketing platform is crucial. As we’ve explored in this series, each generation, and more importantly, each person, has strong preferences with regards to messaging, corporate positioning, and promotion, which rules out traditional marketing approaches that treat large groups of individuals the same.
How Zeta Helps:
• Personalized AI Engine: Zeta’s patented AI engine delivers rich personalization, enabling you to create customized experiences for each customer based on their preferences, behaviors, and context.
• Contextual Engagement: Know when and where to engage your customers and align your messages with their current activities, ensuring that your communications are timely, relevant, and impactful.
• Continuous Campaign Optimization: The Zeta Marketing Platform continuously optimizes campaign elements such as messages, channels, products, and offers, leveraging real-time data and feedback to improve performance and maximize results.
• Propensity Modeling: Using advanced modeling techniques, the Zeta AI engine accurately scores and predicts the propensity of customers to take immediate and desired actions, enabling you to prioritize and target your efforts effectively for optimal outcomes.
Intelligence: Find Signal in the Noise
As we’ve uncovered throughout our blog series, the changing face of retail demands a comprehensive approach that acknowledges the distinct characteristics and values of each individual consumer across different generations. The Zeta Marketing Platform offers marketers the necessary tools to navigate this challenging path by focusing on the three foundational pillars of identity, activation, and intelligence.
You can learn more by downloading our eBook
The Changing Face of Retail or you can see the power of the platform for yourself by
booking a personalized demo. Unlock the power of Zeta and learn how to create exceptional, personalized experiences that will delight your customers and set your brand apart in the competitive retail landscape
