Latest news with #customeracquisition
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Valuedynamx Commerce Platform Offers Apple Products for Premium Shopping Experiences and Rewards to Deepen Customer Engagement
Available across three continents, Valuedynamx commerce platform integration with Apple products helps banks, airlines, and hotels drive customer acquisition, enhance engagement, boost revenue LONDON, August 12, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Valuedynamx, a Collinson company and leading provider of purchase rewards, is transforming loyalty reward offerings by enabling banks, hotels, and airlines to optimize their rewards programs by offering Apple products to drive customer loyalty, acquisition and engagement through an unrivaled retail experience built for today's most valuable audiences. Live in three continents with additional growth underway, this allows financial services and travel companies to directly offer their most valuable customers and reward program members Apple products (including MacBooks, iPhones, AirPods and more) via a dedicated and fully branded commerce platform. Through this optimized customer engagement solution, organizations can deliver earn and burn, cash back and acquisition opportunities through a single intuitive interface. Research has unequivocally confirmed that reward program customers expect to receive exceptional value from participation. An effective way to create this value is through frequent, relevant "earn and burn" opportunities where customers can earn loyalty currency (e.g., points, miles, cash back) and redeem ("burn") it in quick succession. Another option is to provide customers with relevant offers and promotions. This offering does both, providing access to Apple products, enabling customers and/or reward program members to purchase Apple products with cash or loyalty currency—and simultaneously earn rewards for doing so. These actions translate to increased revenue potential, new customer acquisition, higher engagement, improved customer experience and satisfaction, and customer account upgrades. "Meaningful offers and reward programs represent the most critical engagement and acquisition avenues for banks and travel loyalty programs, which invest millions in optimizing their customer relationships every year," said James Berry, Managing Director at Valuedynamx. "The ability to offer Apple products is already proving to be highly successful. Among the banking and travel companies that have implemented this offering, many are quickly experiencing massive returns via increased customer earning, burning, retention, and acquisition. The integration provides a prime opportunity to feature Apple products via an authentic experience on a global scale—helping improve user engagement, while positively impacting the bottom line." Valuedynamx delivers exceptional value for businesses in the financial services and travel sectors as they aim to offer optimal customer and reward program experiences. Top program benefits include: Higher margins. A shopping experience including better, more relevant deals that resonate with customers and reward program members, resulting in better ROI and improved revenue across the board. For instance, this bottom-line boost could be driven by successfully marketed account upgrades or new services signups for banking customers or more frequent "earn and burn" engagement from reward program members. Better customer experiences. From unlocking direct shipping to new product access and pre-orders, Valuedynamx's partners can deliver a more seamless and exciting shopping experience to their customers—while offering extensive payment flexibility via loyalty currency. Happier customers. Building trust and loyalty with customers via distinctive shopping experiences with a top brand they love. End-to-end support. Valuedynamx offers comprehensive support through a seamless API-enabled delivery, managing the creation of an integrated commerce platform for Apple products, and providing ongoing site merchandising, customer journey optimization, order fulfillment, post-order servicing, and financial reconciliation. For more information about Valuedynamx's solutions, visit About Valuedynamx: Valuedynamx is a leading global provider of curated, data-driven omnichannel purchase rewards. Part of Collinson, a group acknowledged for delivering the world's most valued travel ecosystem, Valuedynamx combines its expertise across payments, card-linking, affiliate marketing, earning and redemption into a single entity that delivers relevant and engaging solutions for its clients. Valuedynamx enhances customer loyalty and drives transactional engagement for some of the world's largest airlines, banks, financial institutions and hotel groups. Valuedynamx supports over 400 million consumers, maintains 50,000 retail and travel partners and provides more than 400,000 rewards in more than 180 countries. Collinson has more than 30 years loyalty and customer engagement experience, and more than 10 years focused on delivering loyalty commerce solutions. The organization has been at the forefront of loyalty innovation, continually evolving and building capability to meet the changing needs of clients and their customers. View source version on Contacts MEDIA CONTACT: Alexandra Flack416-875-8494The Fletcher Groupally@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
04-08-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How Amazon Brands Can Turn One-Time Buyers Into Lifelong Customers
Jon Stojan is Founder of First North Marketing. We help e-commerce brands get their products seen, sold and celebrated. Few challenges in modern retail are as daunting as customer acquisition. In the world of Amazon selling, the reality is straightforward: Winning a new customer costs significantly more than nurturing an existing one. That's why smart sellers focus on boosting customer lifetime value (LTV). That means getting more revenue from people who have already bought from you by giving them more reasons to stick around. It is often said in marketing that people need to see your product or brand seven times before they commit to a purchase. This experience-accumulating journey underscores why every interaction with your customer matters. As the saying goes, familiarity is a powerful driver for conversion, and it becomes even more potent when you are targeting those who have already interacted with your brand. The High Price Of First Impressions Acquiring new customers is expensive. Every click on a sponsored product ad or every impression on a search results page is a small investment in a much larger strategy. But the insights are clear: Someone who's already bought from you is way more likely to do it again. In fact, the probability of selling to an existing customer is said to be up to 14 times higher than the probability of selling to a new prospect, according to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. So instead of pouring your entire budget into chasing cold leads, it pays to double down on the people who've already raised their hand and said yes. When you start focusing on LTV, your profit margins could start to look a whole lot better. The Magic Of Multiple Touchpoints In online consumer behavior, I've found repetition works. Like I said above, the rule of thumb is that people need to see your product or brand seven times before they buy. But the exact number doesn't matter as much as the principle: Familiarity builds trust, and trust is likely to lead to purchases. Your job is to stay visible long enough for that trust to kick in. Say you're selling adjustable dumbbells. A shopper might spot them in a search while browsing for home gym equipment, then again in the 'related terms' carousel while looking at resistance bands. A few days later, they see your product featured on their Amazon home screen. After abandoning their cart, a retargeting ad brings it back to their attention. Finally, once they buy a yoga mat from your brand, your dumbbells show up as a recommended item. That's not overkill. That's smart sequencing. Using Sponsored Display Ads To Cross-Sell One of the smartest ways I've found that can help boost customer LTV on Amazon is by running sponsored display ads that cross-sell your other products. These ads are surprisingly flexible. You don't need to be selling consumables to make them work. Whether you offer five SKUs or 50, there's usually a way to show buyers something else they'll want next. Let's say you're selling a leather journal. After the first purchase, you might follow up with an ad for a matching pen set, a refill pack of premium paper or a leather folio. If you're in the home fitness space and someone grabs resistance bands, you could hit them with a display ad for a foam roller or a set of push-up bars. You're not trying to squeeze more money out of the buyer. You're helping them go deeper into the world your brand offers. Also, these ads don't just show up on Amazon. They pop up across other websites your customers visit, reminding them that you've got more to offer. That kind of subtle, well-placed nudge keeps your brand in the conversation when the next buying moment comes around. Getting More Mileage With Brand-Tailored Promotions Display ads are great, but they're not the only way to keep customers coming back. Brand-tailored promotions can give you a direct way to reward buyers and nudge them toward their next purchase. These aren't just one-off discounts or seasonal gimmicks. When done right, they feel personal. They show your customer that you actually get them. Think of a beauty brand offering 15% off to people who have already bought the starter skincare kit. It's a nudge to try the serum or moisturizer from the same line. Or, imagine a pet brand offering a deal on senior dog vitamins to someone who picked up large-breed senior food a few months ago. Here, you're not just blasting out coupons; you're making smart suggestions based on what your customer already said yes to. That kind of relevance is what separates a forgettable brand from one people stick with. A Smarter Way To Grow You don't need a spreadsheet to know that getting a new customer costs more than keeping the ones you already have. The smart move is to build your strategy around existing buyers. Growth starts to get a lot more predictable when your marketing isn't just about grabbing attention, but about keeping it. Cross-selling with sponsored display ads and layering in brand-tailored promotions is a simple but powerful combo. It can help your brand stay visible, your offers relevant and your customers coming back without the heavy lifting of cold acquisition every time. As I see it, sellers who focus on increasing lifetime value are playing a more sustainable game. Instead of chasing one-off wins, they're building something with staying power. In the long run, the brands that win are the ones that treat every customer like someone worth keeping. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Forbes
30-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Relationship Marketing: Building Authentic Customer Connections
Nitin Gupta, founder of QRCodeChimp. He's a technology leader with over two decades of technology development and management experience. A few years ago, I used to believe that flashy ads and crazy discounts were the magic pills to grow a business. And to some extent, they worked. People clicked, bought and left. But the ROI didn't last. People came for the deal and disappeared right after. That's when I had a hard realization: Growth derived only from customer acquisition is a leaky bucket. Unless people feel seen, heard and valued, they typically won't stick around. This led me to dive headfirst into relationship marketing, not just as a strategy but as a mindset shift. If you're building a brand today, let's explore further how authentic relationship marketing can give your business a competitive edge over your contemporaries. Defining Relationship Marketing Relationship marketing is more than just sending 'Happy Birthday' emails or offering loyalty points to your customers. It is about building long-term emotional connections with them and treating them as partners, not just as transactions. I've found that in an age where AI can write your ads and automation handles your emails, what customers crave is realness. When you focus more on listening than talking and more on serving than selling, you bring empathy to your interactions—a uniquely human quality. Why Making Relationships Matters Many businesses think that customer relationships are 'soft stuff.' I was no different until I came across a few eye-openers. Back in 2014, Harvard Business Review famously noted that 'acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one.' Now pair that with Temkin Group's findings for 2020, which state that 'companies that earn $1 billion annually can expect to earn, on average, an additional $700 million within three years of investing in customer experience.' The numbers made me rethink my modus operandi. I realized that customer loyalty is currency in today's hyper-competitive business world. And authenticity is one of the best ways to earn it. Four Lessons Learned Many businesses talk 'at' customers. Fewer speak to them. When I started actively listening to customer feedback (via emails, chats and even social media comments), I discovered gold. They weren't just telling me what they didn't like: They were telling me how to improve. That feedback loop shaped my product road map more than any market research ever did. I highly encourage you to establish a 'voice of the customer' channel internally and review it on a weekly basis. You may be amazed at what people are saying if you take the time to listen. People buy from brands they trust, and trust is built one interaction at a time. According to Edelman's Trust Barometer, 81% of customers say trust is a deciding factor in their purchase decisions. To achieve this trust, treat your customers like insiders. Share behind-the-scenes stories, product development hiccups, team wins and, most importantly, challenges. In my experience, transparency isn't risky—it's reassuring. It helps customers feel more connected to your brand, which can lead them to support you not just with their wallets but also with their ideas and loyalty. 'Personalization' doesn't just mean using someone's first name in an email. I've found that behavior, preferences and timing equally matter in delivering value. According to Salesforce's 2020 State of the Connected Customer report, '66% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations.' If you don't, someone else will. Research has found that businesses providing personalized product recommendations based on past purchases are more likely to increase repeat buyers. But here's the kicker: This has also helped my company reduce our unsubscribe rate. It seems our customers felt understood. Yes, you should use automation and CRM platforms. But use them to enable relationships, not replace them. For instance, many businesses use automation to segment users and trigger birthday offers. However, I've found that if the messages don't include a personal note signed off by a real team member, they're less likely to have the intended impact. Remember, you are chasing the most intelligent species on Earth, and having the right blend of tech and touch can make all the difference. With AI taking over the crafting of marketing messaging for more and more brands, it's important that you use technology to scale human connections, not robotic ones. The Future Of Relationship Marketing Let's face it: Consumers are changing. With shorter attention spans and higher expectations, trust is harder to earn. But here's the bright side: Customers are also hungry for connections. They want to support brands that align with their values and treat them like humans. Here's where I think relationship marketing is headed: • Community-first brands with loyalty programs that feel more like exclusive clubs • Empathy-driven storytelling that wins hearts (and wallets) • Cocreation with customers becoming the new norm • Privacy-respecting personalization instead of creepy targeting In the insightful Salesforce study, '80% of consumers said the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services.' That's the future, and I believe relationship marketing is how we can get there. Final Thoughts: Real Relationships, Real Results Building authentic customer relationships usually isn't fast or easy. But it's real. And it's sustainable. Chasing conversions is like sprinting: They may be helpful to achieve short-term results. However, if you're eyeing more viable growth, focus on building connections, much like running a marathon. In business, especially in uncertain times, I've found that it's usually the marathoners who survive and thrive. So, let's stop obsessing over clicks and start focusing on conversations. Let's go beyond likes and build loyalty. Let's treat every customer as a person whose time, trust and money we're honored to earn. Ultimately, relationship marketing can be the heart that makes your brand endure. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is DraftKings Winning the Customer Acquisition War in Sports Betting?
DraftKings Inc. DKNG appears to be outpacing rivals in the customer acquisition battle across the competitive sports betting landscape. In first-quarter 2025, the company posted robust metrics that point to strong user growth and retention strategies, underpinned by efficient promotional spending and expanding product customer acquisition was consistent with expectations, but what stands out is the efficiency with which DraftKings is scaling. Marketing costs are being optimized as the company continues to benefit from brand equity, improved promotional targeting and favorable advertising conditions in digital media. These dynamics contributed to better gross margins and EBITDA performance despite challenging sports is helping DraftKings stand apart is its investment in product innovation. More than 50% of the total handle in first-quarter 2025 came from live betting for the first time. This growing engagement reflects the successful integration of acquisitions like SimpleBet and Sports IQ, which enhance real-time wagering and keep users actively engaged. Additionally, DraftKings is seeing a healthy uptick in parlay and same-game parlay adoption, popular bet types with higher structural hold with customer-friendly outcomes dampening actual sportsbook hold (down to 9.5%), structural hold rose to 10.4%, indicating DraftKings' underlying profitability engine is strengthening. Moreover, as newly acquired users mature, promotional intensity declines while contribution profit rises, a pattern DraftKings is managing effectively across data-driven, product-led approach is yielding results. With improved live betting features, a loyal user base and scalable promotional spend, the company is well-positioned to maintain its lead in the ongoing customer acquisition war in U.S. sports betting. How DraftKings Stacks Up Against FanDuel and BetMGM In the race for sports betting dominance, FanDuel and BetMGM remain DraftKings' closest competitors, but recent trends show it pulling ahead on multiple owned by Flutter Entertainment plc FLUT, continues to lead in market share but is starting to face pressure. DraftKings' surging live betting handle and product enhancements are narrowing the gap, especially in states where FanDuel once held a clear lead. Unlike FanDuel's heavier reliance on aggressive promotions, DraftKings is proving more efficient in customer acquisition and BetMGM, backed by MGM Resorts International MGM and Entain, has struggled to match DraftKings' pace in product innovation. Though BetMGM boasts strong iGaming performance, it lags in sportsbook engagement. DraftKings' seamless integration of acquired tech and rapid adoption of features like same-game parlays and live micro-bets gives it a distinct edge. DKNG's Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates Shares of DKNG have gained 30.3% in the past three months compared with the industry's growth of 31.2%. Price Performance Image Source: Zacks Investment Research DraftKings is currently trading at a premium compared with the industry peers, with a forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio of 5.69X. P/S (F12M) Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DKNG's 2025 and 2026 earnings implies a year-over-year uptick of 226.7% and 61.3%, respectively. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research DKNG currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report MGM Resorts International (MGM) : Free Stock Analysis Report DraftKings Inc. (DKNG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Flutter Entertainment PLC (FLUT) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Forbes
02-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Key To Customer Acquisition For Home Service Providers? Alignment
Michael J. Fox is a finance & marketing pro and founder of Corberry. He has successfully helped home service contractors scale operations. If you're spending thousands on digital ads and still struggling to grow, the issue probably isn't the ad creative or the platforms you're using; it's what happens after you generate leads. For most home service businesses, the real challenge isn't generating leads but converting them into booked jobs. Sometimes, it's a matter of targeting the wrong audience. Other times, it's a breakdown in follow-up, sales processes or operational readiness. Optimizing both lead generation and conversion systems is the key to maximizing revenue. Here's how aligning your marketing, sales and operations teams can dramatically improve your customer acquisition strategy. Ad Spend Is Getting Torched At Handoff When a potential customer clicks on your ad and calls or fills out a form, they're a hot lead. But if your team takes too long to respond, that lead will probably book with a competitor. That means the money you're spending on ads is getting wasted at the moment of handoff. Marketing gets the lead, but operations fumbles the conversion. If your customer relationship management platform, your dispatch and your sales flow aren't tightly integrated, you're not just inefficient; you're likely bleeding revenue. The Metrics That Matter Most Many agencies focus on vanity metrics like impressions and click-through rates, which alone don't drive revenue. However, these metrics can reveal issues with ad relevance or audience targeting, so you should analyze them alongside revenue-focused metrics like booking rate, close rate, average job value and your target return on ad spend. These are what drive your business. If you want to know what you should be paying per lead, you need to know what each booked job is worth and how well your team converts those bookings into sales. When you break it down, the real question is this: How much can you afford to pay for a lead while still hitting your ROAS target? That's the math that should drive every marketing decision. Why Team Alignment Changes Everything The most successful service businesses aren't winning because they have the biggest marketing budget. They're winning because their teams are aligned. Everyone is focused on the same goal: converting leads into revenue. The marketing team knows what kind of leads the sales team can close. The sales team knows how to communicate value. The service team knows what promises were made. And it all runs on shared data. Real-time dashboards give everyone visibility into performance. If booking rates drop, campaigns get paused instantly. If close rates are spiking, ad spend increases. When every team can see the same numbers, you stop guessing and start optimizing. Automation: The Difference Between Growth And Chaos It's hard to scale a home services business on manual processes. If your leads are routed manually or your systems don't talk to each other, you're setting yourself up to fail. The fastest-growing companies are using smart platforms that automate lead distribution, customer follow-up and service updates. Tools like ServiceTitan and Jobber give your team the ability to operate in real time, without the handoff friction. And here's the truth: Automation doesn't just save time. It saves deals. It ensures that no lead goes cold, no customer feels ignored and no revenue is lost due to human error. Misalignment Is Costing You Revenue Let's say you're getting 1,000 leads a month at a cost of $100 per lead. We've found that an average booking rate of 70% and a close rate of 60% are realistic for well-trained teams. With an average job value of $2,200, which is common for HVAC and plumbing businesses, you're generating around $924,000 in revenue each month. That sounds impressive until you realize what alignment can unlock. By optimizing your team's communication and improving systems, it's possible to increase your booking rate to 85% and close rate to 75%. These improvements have been reported to us by service providers using integrated CRM and automation platforms. In a nutshell, this is the cost of misalignment and the upside of fixing it. Train Your Team Before Scaling Your Spend Most companies make the mistake of scaling ads before fixing their back end. That's like pumping fuel into a car with a broken transmission. Before you spend a dollar more on acquisition, make sure your customer service representatives are trained to convert at a high rate. Sales scripts should be proven, practiced and consistent. Follow-up automation needs to be so reliable that no lead ever goes dark. Once your team and your systems are hitting consistent numbers, then you increase spend. That's how you scale with control. Five Tactical Moves To Realign Your Strategy You don't need another six-month strategic plan. You need five key changes, starting now. 1. Audit your full lead journey. Look at where leads fall off, and fix those points. 2. Unify your key performance indicators so that everyone across marketing, sales and service is working toward the same revenue target. 3. Connect your tech stack. Make sure your CRM, dispatch software and ad platforms are all integrated. 4. Align compensation with outcomes. If your customer service representatives and marketers are influencing revenue, tie their bonus structure to the right metrics. 5. Test alignment on one high-value service first. If it works there, roll it out across the board. These moves can help you achieve predictable growth. Build A Revenue Engine That Works If your leads aren't converting, the problem is probably alignment. And if you don't fix it now, you'll essentially be handing your leads to competitors. The home service businesses winning in 2025 are doing so because their systems are integrated, their teams are aligned and their decisions are backed by live data. You likely don't need more leads. You need your team operating as one cohesive unit. Your CRM and ad platform must sync in real time. You need follow-up automation running 24/7. And most importantly, you need a team where everyone, from customer service representatives to technicians, understands that they're in the revenue business. Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
