Tim Kopp, CMO of ExactTarget, discusses how Twitter is being integrated with email, shares examples of multichannel marketing campaigns work and talks about how digital communications are evolving. Kopp has held executive level positions at WebTrends, Coca-Cola and Procter and Gamble.
Direct Marketing News (DMN): Why did email company ExactTarget acquire Twitter marketing company CoTweet?
Tim Kopp (Exact Target): We felt we needed to buy the capability, to broaden our social media capabilities. When Exact Target was founded ten years ago, the idea was to help brands make better connections with their end consumers. Email was the best way to do that ten years ago. Today to drive relevant communications, it is all about data and aggregating this data to target messaging across channels.
DMN: How are you integrating email and Twitter data?
Kopp: We use the person model. We have the ability to assign a unique identifier to each consumer and aggregate the data at each touch point we have with them across media. To help brands manage the conversation at each point of interaction, we integrate CRM and web analytics. We integrate with Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and so forth to aggregate data from multiple channels.
DMN: How do the channels differ?
TK: Email is still best channel for monetization. Typically consumers are looking for entertainment in social media, but Facebook and Twitter become pretty good action tools. You can give an offer to someone in exchange for hitting the ‘Like’ button on Facebook or the ‘Follow’ button on Twitter. It is a nice trigger to bring them into the email experience where they are more likely to buy. For example, Crocs used their Facebook wall to get email subscribers. If you opted in to their email program from Facebook, you got 25% off of your purchase.
DMN: Can you give me another example of a multichannel campaign from one of your clients?
Kopp: A fun example is a campaign from Scott’s Lawn Care. They really understand the consumer and knowing where they are in time. In the stadium in Cincinnati, they would have a simple nice sign that says, ‘If you would like a great American ballpark looking yard, text in an email address to a shortcode. Then they follow up with an email asking consumers to opt into their email program and ask for their zip code. With this info they would give you localized tips on keeping up your lawn, which seeds to use and so on. They include video demos and share to Facebook and Twitter links. It is a great example of how you can take mobile, email, Facebook and Twitter and create a 360-degree experience.
DMN: How will this integrated approach evolve over the next year?
Kopp: I see marketers moving more from one-size-fits-all to one-size-fits-one approach. To make that happen you need two things –a system that provides a centralized view of your consumer and the ability to aggregate and execute on this information. The notion of real time will be new. As a consumer drops a tweet because their flight is delayed, or because they are in a store, they are beginning to expect a real time interaction and not a response the next day. We think social is driving this paradigm shift, to real time.
