I published a blog post titled “DTC Wine Shipments are growing at a record pace. How long will it last?” in April of 2017. In it, I wrote about the euphoria around a 17% increase for DTC shipments the previous year. Several years before the pandemic, DTC was growing rapidly and Covid-19 gave it additional […]
How smart is AI? Not smart enough.
The world is abuzz about AI and how it’s going to revolutionize our future in both good and bad ways. Hardly a day goes by when we don’t see an article in a major publication about it. Truth be told, we’ve been fascinated by it and have been looking at various AI tools to help […]
How to make your holiday emails work
You may have noticed a growing number of marketing emails in your inbox recently. It may have been a slow increase at first but the pace is quickening. I’m in the customer engagement business so I keep track. For most of the year, I get around 2,500 emails a week, including those that automatically go […]
Change is upon us
A worrisome report from McKinsey projects that publishers stand to lose up to $10 billion in annual digital advertising revenue with the demise of the third-party tracking cookie and its ability to optimize targeting and revenue return. Many publishers are actively planning for reduced editorial headcount. In addition to chaotic conditions brought about by macro-level […]
Should we politicize tragedy?
For several years, I wrote a blog called Corporate Myopia and wrote on any business or personal topic that I thought was relevant to our daily work or home lives. Eventually, I got too busy building my company and went on an extended pause. I may pick it up again some day but I took […]
Why are you spending so much on social media when engagement is so low?
According to Statista, 2021 will see social network spending in the U.S. rise to nearly $50 billion. Research conducted by The Content Factory indicates that “the average organization spends between $200 and $350 per day on social media marketing. This works out to be between $6,000 $10,500 per month or between $72,000 and $126,000 per […]
What consumer marketers can learn from fashion
Whether you’re selling wine and spirits, luxury products or other consumer goods, look to see what fashion marketers are doing. If looking for leading indicators to where consumer marketing is headed, pay attention to innovations in fashion marketing. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling wine and spirits, luxury products or other consumer goods. Fashion is often […]
Big Changes in Digital Marketing Are on the Way
This is the year to invest in and revise your digital marketing plan. Why? Two big changes are coming in 2022: These two changes will revolutionize how we interact with consumers over email, text and on the Internet. If you didn’t know, first take a breath. Then, download this excellent article and overview of the changes from McKinsey […]
Let’s rethink how tech can build customer relationships
Ten years ago, there were dozens of marketing automation platforms that claimed they helped you engage with your customers. Five years ago, there were hundreds. Today, there are thousands and they make some pretty fantastic claims. Here’s what some of the biggies have to say: Okay, they all have great tech tools and make things […]
Don’t segment your customers by whether they buy or not
I read an article the other day on best practices for emailing customers of wine and spirits producers. In it, I found this bit of advice, “Within your CRM, you can segment your audience by lifetime value, club members, loyal or churned customers, subscribers who haven’t made an initial purchase, or customers who haven’t purchased […]