| trending topics | LIN POPHAL

Micro-Experiences: New
Opportunities in Multichannel
Marketing

In a digital marketing environment, experiences Micro-experiences (aka intelligent experiences), she says,
are becoming increasingly personalized. Consumer “are the next major evolution in UX, and they’re being
actions and interactions are constantly monitored, and designed and implemented as we speak.” These experi-
the information gleaned from these interactions can be ences are being driven by a combination of the Internet
used to deliver content in different ways across multiple of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), allowing
channels through various marketing automation and con- marketers to deliver integrated messaging across a range
tent tools. Using granular customer data, marketers can of connected devices. “The goal is to reduce friction,
deliver micro-experiences to consumers. Technology is reduce the need for user navigation, and increase engage-
allowing marketers to provide the right content, to the ment—or sales,” Erickson says.
right audience, at the right time. These experiences can Micro-experiences, she says, “are small, confined
include “shoppable images and interactive media that experiences generated within a larger system of experi-
keep the consumer in the digital experience throughout ences.” They are part of a cohesive whole that can be
the purchase process,” according to Doug Heise, VP of delivered alone or in myriad combinations based on au-
global marketing at CoreMedia, an adaptable content dience demographics, psychographics, purchase behav-
and digital asset management (DAM) solutions firm. ior, and other criteria that can be used to make content
Jenna Erickson is marketing manager of Codal, an increasingly personalized and immediate.
app development and user experience (UX) design firm. Heise says that micro-experiences are “pre-config-
ured, channel agnostic, experience modules that can be
delivered, on demand, to any visitor on any channel or
device. These experience modules can be hybrid objects
combining content and data from multiple repositories—
CRM [customer relationship management], DAM, WCM
[web content management], products, social, support—
delivered as a consistent experience across all channels
(webpages, mobile apps, ecommerce shops, employee
portals, in-store digital kiosks, etc.).” And, he adds, be-
Source: CoreMedia

cause they are both responsive and adaptive, marketers

can be assured that they will look good and perform
optimally on any device.
With an experience-as-a-service model, in which the
CoreMedia’s Studio interface makes it possible for marketers to create
reusable, shoppable image maps for multichannel distribution. CMS acts as a central content hub, marketers are able

6 ECONTENTMAG.COM
 | trending topics |

News & Product Briefs continued from page 5

to access content from a diverse range of pre-integrated of Lel Share3, the Arabic transliteration of “Street’s
repositories. The system then provides them with tools Point of View,” which prompts people on the street to
and pre-configured templates for combining these diverse share their views on the day’s trending topics at home
and abroad.
assets into shareable, omnichannel experiences. ALTV intends to expand on the success of Weghet Nazar
“Imagine that you can create an interactive shopping in Egypt by tailoring the show’s format to other countries
teaser that includes a shoppable image map,” says Heise. across the MENA region with the mission to entertain
millions of daily viewers, providing them with relief from
“Then imagine inserting that experience into your marketing
uninspiring local television channels and the Westernized
emails, texts, mobile apps, [and] social channels—all without programming offered by subscription-based streaming
significant modification or replication of content. Then imag- platforms.
(altv.com)
ine that your customers can share these modular assets via
their own emails, texts, and social posts.” These, he says, “are Translations.com Launches Drupal 8 Module
modular, shareable, channel-agnostic micro-experiences.” Translations.com, a division of TransPerfect, a privately
held provider of language services and translation-related
technologies, announced the launch of a new Drupal 8
‘But, if you’re a global brand whose module and the relaunch of a new Drupal 7 module after
brand image is the essence of your a record year of GlobalLink adoption and growth. With
more than 6 years’ experience supporting customers using
business, then you have to have this Drupal and as a Drupal Association Premier Technology
Supporter, Translations.com is no stranger to the Drupal
kind of flexibility.’ community.
More than 4,000 companies worldwide have deployed
GlobalLink to help reduce costs and turnaround times
There are, says Heise, two sides to this process. “The
involved in managing enterprisewide translations.
front end is making it possible for content marketers and Connectors into back-end authoring environments such as
marketing organizations to easily repurpose bites—the mi- Drupal provide users with a powerful solution to initiate,
cro part—of content and distribute it across various chan- automate, control, track, and complete all facets of the
translation process.
nels alone, or in combination with other pieces of content,” (translations.com; drupal.org/association/about)
he says. This is related to—or an evolution of—multichan-
nel or omnichannel marketing, Heise says. At the other Smartling Now Compatible With IBM
end is using AI and machine learning to deliver content to Watson’s Language Translator
Smartling, a translation technology and service provider,
the right individual, at the right time. There are different has released a new integration that enables global
terms used to define this process—micro-services, micro- brands to use Smartling products and services with IBM
experiences, and experiences-as-a-service have been float- Watson’s Language Translator machine translation service.
Companies using the new Smartling plug-in have more
ing around, says Heise. So, for example, a consumer could flexibility and control of the translation supply chain and
upload an image of himself or herself in a favorite outfit to access to machine translation technology that can help
a retail site and find accessories, tailored to that outfit, and them cost-effectively enter new international markets
without sacrificing quality.
try them on in a virtual setting. Smartling allows global brands to quickly access new
Companies moving in the direction of using micro- markets, acquire more customers, and increase revenue.
content will obviously need technology to help them cre- The new integration from Smartling connects customers
with the Language Translator and makes it possible for
ate, manage, massage, and deliver messaging to various
them to use the cognitive, machine learning tool for
audiences—individual audiences. Initially, says Heise, it’s existing and new translation needs.
likely to be the very large companies that are able to take (smartling.com)
advantage of these technologies. The big question for com-
panies will be, he says, “Do I want to go with a vendor
that basically provides all of the pieces, out of the box,” in
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continued on page 8

M a y / J u n e 2017 EC o n t e n t 7
 | trending topics |

(How Virtual and Augmented Reality Ads Improve Consumer Engagement, from page 5)

product intent. “When consumers engage with VR ads with viewers emotionally,” Edelson says. “Considering
via a mobile device, we’re achieving an 85% interaction the level of immersion and complexity involved is cru-
rate compared to the industry average of only 2.5% for cial, as this will drive the cost of creation and the cost of
digital advertising as a whole,” says Mussard. hardware necessary to deliver the ad.”
A major reason why immersive ads outperform 2D Phaisan echoes that recommendation. “It is critically
digital ads is that they provide new levels of functional- important that digital publishers understand the impact
ity. “They’re not just advertisements as we’ve known of investments they make in this immersive medium. We
them, where people observe commercial information don’t think it makes sense for them to overinvest in VR
that’s presented to them,” Mussard notes. “AR and VR or AR content production or build custom VR apps.”
ads enable consumers to virtually experience products Be careful, too, not to limit content compatibility with
and services. They can try on makeup, attend a pop con- any particular hardware. “Brands that invest in VR and
cert, look around a holiday resort, or be a character in AR campaigns that require apps, headsets, and accessories
a branded game—and they don’t need to visit a store to to work reduce their potential audience immediately,”
do so. Those are significant changes to marketing com- Mussard adds.
munications.” Lastly, be prepared to roll with the changes. “A lot
Digital publishers looking to host or create their own will depend on consumers’ tastes and their willingness
VR/AR ads need to proceed carefully, without overcom- to adopt immersive technology and opt into the experi-
mitting resources that can yield a poor ROI. “Targeting ence,” says Edelson. “Ultimately, the user will dictate
360-degree video can be a good starting point. These what ad content they engage with versus traditional non-
ads should contain a powerful message that will resonate VR or AR advertisements.”

(Micro-Experiences: New Opportunities in Multichannel Marketing, from page 7)

a plug-and-play approach,” just selecting the specific better off you’ll be,” says Heise. For instance, “One
components they will actually use based on their—and of the things we’re working on is the ability to have a
their audiences’—needs. customer upload a photo of an outfit they really love
If it seems as if the content landscape is shifting ex- and say, ‘Show me anything you guys have in your
ponentially, it is—and that shift is likely to continue, product catalog that looks like this,’” he says. The sys-
fueled by the potential of already existing technologies tem would then use image analysis data to find things
such as AI and machine learning. These technologies will that might be the same color, have the same lapels, etc.,
make it possible not only to deliver personalized content and display those items. That, he says, “is just the tip
based on past behaviors or actions, but also to deliver of the iceberg.”
content based on predictions that come from the analysis “Marketers around the world are using these new
of past actions to predict future behavior. If it sounds a developments in UX and technology to drive the most
little Orwellian, it is. advanced era of contextual marketing integration within
CoreMedia has already partnered with IBM to find larger experiences ever known,” says Erickson.
ways that IBM’s tools—such as Watson—could be used Heise agrees. “If you’re just managing a website and
in the delivery of micro-experiences. “The more that maybe you have a mobile app, then you’re not thinking
you can tie in a machine learning system like Watson about this so much,” he says. “But if you’re a global
that can access a rich population of data from multiple brand whose brand image is the essence of your busi-
customers that can make those decisions for you, the ness, then you have to have this kind of flexibility.”

8 ECONTENTMAG.COM
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