The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström®: Expert Mode Marketing Technology, AI, & CX

Today we’re going to talk about using customer feedback effectively, and how businesses can take the wealth of information they collect from their customers to make better business decisions that help both the customer, their employees, and the business.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Adam Alfia, Founder of Real Time Feedback.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode, the importance of responding to feedback is emphasized, with both the host and guest agreeing on its crucial role for brands. They discuss the negative impact of sending surveys and not receiving any response, which makes customers feel like their feedback is being ignored. The guest, Adam Alfea, founder of Realtime Feedback, emphasizes that responding to feedback is a win-win situation for both customers and employees. Customers feel heard and valued, while employees receive recognition for their good work. Adam also suggests that brands should analyze the feedback they receive to identify areas of concern that need improvement. Overall, the episode highlights the significance of responding to feedback and using it to enhance the customer experience.The episode also explores how effectively using customer feedback can benefit businesses. The host introduces the topic and mentions that businesses can use the wealth of information collected from customers to make better decisions. Adam Alfea further discusses the importance of responding to customer feedback and recognizing employees for their good work. He advises brands to respond to customer feedback as a first step in improving their methods of collecting and implementing insights from customers.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re going to talk about how focusing on internal processes can provide both internal and external benefits to a business.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Nikhil Nandagopal, Co-Founder and CPO of Appsmith.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re going to talk about first-party data strategies and how to be successful in a world of cookie deprecation, evolving data privacy regulations, the evolution of data clean rooms, and retail media networks.To help me discuss these topics, I’d like to welcome Derek Slager, CTO & Co-Founder at Amperity.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!The Amperity website: https://www.amperity.comThe Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode, the speaker emphasizes the value of taking action and implementing real use cases. They highlight the tendency for people to get lost in the abstract and stress the importance of focusing on the details and putting ideas into practice. By engaging in real use cases and collaborating with others, individuals can gain valuable insights and learn from both laggards and leaders. The speaker also emphasizes that progress should not be hindered by the pursuit of perfection, and encourages listeners to go out and apply real use cases. They mention that customers who have done so have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of results they achieved. Overall, the episode underscores the significance of taking action and implementing real use cases to drive learning and improvement.In addition, the speaker discusses the crucial role of better data in achieving better results across various marketing technology use cases. They explain that at Amparity, everything is viewed through the lens of better data leading to better outcomes. This principle applies not only to traditional MarTech use cases, but also to upcoming changes in ad tech, data clean rooms, and retail media. The speaker suggests that better data is essential for achieving improved outcomes in these areas.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brands must meet customer expectations for a personalized experience throughout the buyer's journey. One key opportunity to achieve this is by leveraging AI-based tools that offer relevant images and videos. These resources educate customers, manage their expectations, and ultimately drive higher conversion rates while reducing return rates.Today we’re going to talk about enhancing the e-commerce experience using personalization and generative AI, and to do this we’re going to talk about some statistics in some research that was recently done by Cloudinary.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Paul Thompson, Head of Technical Marketing at Cloudinary.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!Cloudinary website: https://www.cloudinary.com The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode, the importance of personalization and customization in enhancing the e-commerce experience and driving higher conversion rates is discussed. The host highlights a study by McKinsey, which reveals that 78% of consumers are more likely to make repeat purchases from companies that personalize their offerings. This underscores the significance of tailoring the customer experience to meet individual preferences and needs.The guest, Paul Thompson, further elaborates on how platforms like Cloudinary can facilitate this level of personalization. By leveraging their platform and APIs, businesses can create customized experiences and images for their customers. For instance, they can develop image target ads with localized text overlays or content specific to a user's location. Such customization fosters a more engaging and relevant experience, thereby increasing the likelihood of conversion.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a lot of talk about artificial intelligence these days in many areas of the business, and marketing is one that we talk about a lot on this show, but there’s a reason why - and that is because AI is fundamentally shifting the way we not only work, but the way we think about our work.Today we’re going to talk about AI as marketing team member, not simply as a tool you use in isolated instances.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Daniel Maloney, CEO & Co-Founder of Tailwind.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode, the importance of having a plan and a willingness to learn and improve when adopting AI tools is emphasized. The guest speaker acknowledges that initially, the quality of AI tools may be average, underscoring the need for a well-thought-out plan. The person responsible for exploring and implementing the AI tool must be willing to acknowledge its imperfections and be open to learning and finding ways to enhance it. This highlights the significance of having a growth mindset and adaptability when integrating AI into marketing strategies.The episode also highlights the importance of leaders initiating conversations with their teams about AI. This is crucial because the team may already be utilizing AI in ways that the leader may not be aware of. By creating a safe space for dialogue, leaders can quickly gain insights into the AI tools and processes their team is using, while also fostering an environment where team members can educate each other. These conversations can also help leaders understand the challenges and opportunities that AI presents in their specific work environment. Engaging in dialogue with the team allows leaders to gain valuable insights and knowledge about AI and its potential applications within the organization.Furthermore, the guest discusses how AI can be utilized as a tool to enhance workflows and improve efficiency. They suggest that individuals should focus on improving one specific workflow and begin exploring the various AI tools available for that purpose. By concentrating on a specific area, individuals can gain a better understanding of the AI tools that are available and how they can be integrated into their workflow. This targeted approach enables a more effective implementation of AI technology. Additionally, the guest emphasizes the importance of human oversight and intervention in checking the work done by AI tools, as they are not perfect substitutes for human capabilities. Human involvement is still necessary to ensure accuracy and quality. Overall, the episode highlights the potential benefits of incorporating AI into workflows and encourages individuals to explore the various AI tools that can support their specific needs.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am here at Hubspot’s INBOUND Conference in Boston to talk about the impact that AI is having on marketers and how they can more effectively reach their customers. Today we’re going to talk about how marketers can avoid the hype and meaningfully use AI to create better customer experiences and build loyalty. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Nicholas Holland, VP of Product and GM of HubSpot Marketing Hub.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!HubSpot website: https://www.hubspot.comThe Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company           Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am here at Opticon 2023, Optimizely’s annual conference, here in San Diego, California where there have been a lot of exciting announcements, and we’re going to get to at least a few of those today.Organizations that have a culture of experimentation are able to innovate more quickly and get to the best ideas by learning both what does and what doesn’t work.Today we’re going to talk about how marketers can use experimentation to get the most out of their MarTech stacks, their AI tools, and their collaborations in general. To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Kevin Li, VP, Product Strategy, Optimizely.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!Optimizely: https://www.optimizely.comThe Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISBuilding a culture of experimentation is crucial for organizations to thrive, but it is a challenging task that requires collaboration and involvement from various teams, including marketing, product, design, legal, and compliance. However, many organizations struggle to establish this culture due to factors such as lack of visibility, poor communication, and inefficient workflows.Without the right tools and processes in place, teams can face difficulties in completing tasks and understanding what is happening. For instance, a customer from the financial services industry shared their experience of trying to solve a workflow problem using spreadsheets, approval chains, and email. In their case, a single change required approval from seven different people, resulting in inefficiencies and delays. This lack of streamlined processes and visibility can lead to confusion and frustration within the organization.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am here at Opticon 2023, Optimizely’s annual conference, here in San Diego, California where there have been a lot of exciting announcements, and we’re going to get to at least a few of those today.Today we’re going to talk about an exciting announcement at the show this year, which is called Optimizely One, and while I will let my guest provide a more robust definition for us, it’s a SaaS platform for digital marketing that is decoupled, highly composable, and includes components for creation, delivery, personalization and testing of digital content to improve the customer experience.This connects to several trends happening in the market which include a shift towards both composable approaches while also providing marketers with the need to provide consistent and continually improving experiences in an omnichannel world.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Rupali Jain, Chief Product Officer, Optimizely.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!Optimizely: https://www.optimizely.comThe Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode of the Agile Brand podcast, host Greg Kihlström and guest Rupali Jain, Chief Product Officer at Optimizely discuss the announcement of Optimizely One at the Opticon 2023 conference. Optimizely One is a SaaS platform for digital marketing that offers a decoupled and highly composable approach. It includes components for creation, delivery, personalization, and testing of digital content to enhance the customer experience. This aligns with the current market trends of composable approaches and the need for consistent and improving omni-channel experiences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m excited to talk with my guests today on a special episode brought to you by The Office of Experience, a design-driven, digital-first, vertically integrated and collaborative agency that believes in the power of ideas and the strength of people.Today we’re going to talk about demystifying platform selection and how taking the right approach enables better strategic alignment, streamlined integration, and a better customer experience.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Bryan Jones, CTO and Cara Bourdage, Director of Product at The Office of Experience.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!The Office of Experience website: https://www.officeofexperience.comThe Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode, the speakers discuss the importance of successfully adopting new platforms and how it can optimize operations and reduce maintenance time for organizations, allowing them to focus more on sales. They emphasize the significance of selecting the right platform and suggest considering key features and requirements to achieve these benefits. By identifying the most important features that drive revenue and minimize customization needs, organizations can streamline processes and enhance efficiency. This enables them to allocate more time and resources to sales and growth.The speakers also highlight the need to consider both the end customer experience and the internal customer experience. They emphasize that if the teams using the platforms cannot effectively utilize them, it will hinder their ability to serve the end customers. Therefore, successful platform adoption should aim for a win-win situation where both internal and external customers benefit.The episode emphasizes that digital transformation should be approached as a top-down exercise, requiring alignment and buy-in from senior executives. It is crucial for all key stakeholders to share the same vision and work towards common goals to ensure a cohesive and effective digital transformation initiative. Additionally, involving employees who will be working with the new tools or platform on a daily basis is equally important. Their feedback should be sought early and often to understand what is currently working and what improvements they would like to see.The episode also stresses the importance of cultural fit when selecting an implementation partner. While expertise and capabilities are important, having a positive working relationship with the partner, even during disagreements and challenges, is crucial. The ability to handle tough situations professionally and respectfully is essential for a successful partnership. Collaboration and finding solutions together when things go wrong are also mentioned as important factors to consider. Cultural fit and the ability to work well together should be evaluated when choosing an implementation partner.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re going to talk about the power of data sharing and collaboration and how data clean rooms can help organizations in several ways.To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, Founder & CEO at Samooha.RESOURCESPartnerHero: to waive set up fees, go to https://partnerhero.com/agile and mention “The Agile Brand” during onboarding!Samooha website: https://www.samooha.tech/The Agile Brand podcast website: https://www.gregkihlstrom.com/theagilebrandpodcastSign up for The Agile Brand newsletter here: https://www.gregkihlstrom.comGet the latest news and updates on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-brand/For consulting on marketing technology, customer experience, and more visit GK5A: https://www.gk5a.comCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.comThe Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnowThe Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.companySYNOPSISIn this episode, the concept of data clean rooms and their benefits for organizations in terms of data sharing and collaboration are discussed. The guest speaker explains that clean rooms are secure platforms for data collaboration and sharing, comparing them to popular tools like Zoom, Slack, and Teams. The speaker highlights the accessibility and comfort that non-technical individuals have developed with these tools, especially during the pandemic.A data clean room is defined as a secure environment for sharing data with external parties who share a common objective of gathering insights from the shared data. The speaker emphasizes that the data sets within a clean room are processed in a way that ensures data remains in its original location, stored on the cloud. Both parties can collaborate and combine their data sets without visibility into each other's data.The episode also emphasizes the importance of respecting customers' and consumers' data privacy. Using a data clean room eliminates the need to compromise data privacy. While the episode briefly mentions the benefits of data clean rooms for marketing and advertising professionals, it does not delve further into this topic.Guest speaker Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, the founder and CEO of Samuha, provides insights on data sharing and collaboration. She highlights the significance of these practices in the world of big data and the opportunities for enterprises to gain insights by sharing and collaborating within their ecosystem. Kamakshi acknowledges the availability of tools for data sharing and collaboration but emphasizes the need to make it easier and more accessible, particularly for non-technical audiences such as marketing, customer success, and customer experience teams. Her company, Samuha, aims to address this problem and create success in the B2B enterprise technology space. Kamakshi advises marketers to consider data collaboration as a critical part of their arsenal and choose a secure solution that aligns with their needs.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices