And How To Overcome Them

While we all know that the goal to win and retain engagement extends beyond the inbox experience and across channels, I continue to come across situations where otherwise smart marketers wind up hurting engagement with some regrettable (but avoidable) practices.

Gone are the days when customer interaction was limited to the retail store or call center. The number of channels available for consumers to interact with brands is getting bigger every year (remember marketing before Pinterest?), so it's all the more important that we are able to consider the entire consumer experience across all potential touch points. That means marketers need to stop viewing the customer experience by channel or line-of-business, which creates silo-ed customer data and engagement views.

During the holidays I received a gift card from my aunt for one of my favorite clothing stores. However, when I tried to use it, their records indicated it had already been used.  After some uncomfortable conversation and further research, it was determined that this card had been used by the clerk who sold it. Not surprisingly, this negative experience resulted in some pretty serious disengagement, including unsubscribing from email, un-liking on Facebook and resolving not to shop at their stores.  While this is an extreme example, it highlights how a negative experience in one channel can affect others.

How many times have you provided preference and interest information, either via a preference center, survey, polling, or even customer service, only to receive email, SMS or even direct-mail promotions that don't recognize or speak to any of them?  Last fall, I updated my interest categories at one of my favorite brands to shoes, workout clothing and handbags. But what did I receive in my next email?  Offers for Outwear and Kids, which have nothing to do with my stated interests, past purchases or real time location system. 

We've all been there. You visit a website and within moments, you're accosted with a pop-up requesting that you take a survey at the end of your visit. From a marketer's perspective, it seems reasonable, but you're asking consumers to commit to a survey before they've had any experience at all.  In essence, you're asking them to help improve an experience they haven't even had yet.

It's true that surveys, polls, and progressive profiling are very effective ways of gathering additional preference and profile information to fine-tune engagement. However, when used too often, too soon or across multiple departments, this “survey abuse” can damage your brand image and lead to complete disengagement.

Last fall, a friend was looking for some new furniture and received a “Last Chance” email from a well-known furniture company inviting her to participate in their “Inventory Close-out Sale” that weekend.  She wound up buying a couch and love seat, feeling happy she hadn’t missed out on a great sale.  This feeling of retail success lasted only until she received another “Last Chance” email from that same furniture company with the same offer the following week. Not only did this hurt the retailer’s credibility – the company also missed an opportunity to present a cross-sell offer to complement her purchase.

According to NPD, one-third of U.S. smartphone sales were prepaid in Q1, so it’s clear that the prepaid market is growing fast. That said, Windows Phone has taken its time to bring a prepaid phone to market, but it was worth the wait. The new Nokia 521 for T-Mobile has been  designed especially for T-Mobile’s prepaid customers and offers a ton of value for just $149.

The Lumia 521 runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 512MB of RAM, and packs in 8GB of storage and packs in Nokia’s super sensitive touchscreen. The screen is also a 4″ IPS display with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution and 235 ppi. This display can hardly go head to head with the display on the Nokia Lumia 920, or a higher end smartphone like the Galaxy S4, but it’s still quite a good display. It’s also a lot better than most of the displays we have seen on sub $250 smartphones. To that effect,  its colors tend to be quite accurate, if not super vivid. It’s also able to get adequately bright so that you won’t be straining your eyes. Plus, the 480 x 800 pixel does Windows 8 enough justice, and the IPS display also offers good viewing angles.

The device itself measures 4.72″ x 2.52″ x 0.39″ and weighs 4.39 oz. T-Mobile is offering the Lumia in a choice of white or black, but the backplate is removable, so keeping in line with Nokia’s tradition for interchangeable faceplates, you’re sure to see other colors available as accessories down the line. The actual build quality of the device is very good too. The backplate is very touch and overall it seems like the device will be able to handle wear and tear well. As a matter of fact, it’s hard to believe that the build quality is this hardy at this price point. Other features include a removable battery and a MicroSD card slot, which are actually two welcome design features that many premium Windows Phone devices lack.

The Lumia 521 packs in a 5MP camera with auto focus and 720p HD video recording. Unfortunately, they have cut corners by not including a front-facing camera, and the rear-facing camera doesn’t have a flash. But don’t most flashes on phone cameras suck anyway? In any case, 5MP is more megapixel then you’ll see on a budget prepaid smartphone. Besides, megapixel count is not everything – image equality is. Fortunately, the Lumia 521′s camera does not disappoint too much and is quite good for this price point. The camera app opens fast and the shutter responds quickly. Unfortunately, colors are very washed out and muted, and indoor shots tend to be quite grainy, but the pictures do tend to be pretty sharp. A Panorama app is also included. Overall, the camera is still quite good for this price point.