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Greg Zakowicz
My Reading & Podcast List

Here is my list of recent reads and podcasts I am currently enjoying. Maybe they’ll give you something new to look into and enjoy.

Read more to find what I’ve been digging into lately, including:

  • Building a Story Brand

  • The Power of Geography

  • The Greatest Beer Run Ever. A Crazy Adventure In a Crazy War

  • The Escape Artist. The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World

  • Devil in the White City. Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Multichannel Merchant

Gray November Is Almost Here. Are You Ready?

Over the past 4+ years of advising retailers on how to drive more revenue from email programs, I began noticing a general shift Q4 promotional strategy. It started earlier each year and featured more aggressive discounts. This shift forced other retailers who fight for the same customers to keep up with the Joneses and offer their own discounts earlier in the season.

One week at a time, year after year, this transformation turned planning for Black Friday and Cyber Monday into a Gray November – a month-long extension of the traditional holiday shopping season.

5 Ways to Prepare for the Holiday Season

You’ve likely got a list of to-dos longer than a kid’s wish list for Santa. And with the hustle of the season, it’s easy for some tasks to fall by the wayside, which could result in a poor customer experience or first impression, lost sales, or even an under-performing holiday season.  Don’t let this happen to you. Here are five essential tasks that should be on every commerce marketer’s holiday preparation list.

Why Post-Purchase Email Marketing Is So Important

Imagine walking into a car dealership. You browse the cars on the lot, exchange info with the salesperson and then leave without buying. You then drive down the road to another dealership and repeat the process, but this time, you actually purchase the car on the spot. The next morning you wake up to two emails in your inbox, one from each salesperson. How would you feel if the messages were identical? Would you feel truly valued as a customer? Wouldn’t you prefer to receive something a bit more personalized?

How Consumers Across the Globe Shop and Buy Online

Consumer technology is constantly evolving, reshaping the way retailers and consumers interact on a daily basis. These changes force retailers to provide functionality that allows consumers to easily make purchases on their device, or devices, of choice. It’s become critical to understand how devices are used in different ways from one region to another.

Anniversaries Aren’t Just for Couples: Build Lifetime Value with Automated Offers

Retailers are constantly looking for simple, automated lifecycle messages that not only contribute to their bottom line, but also re-engage subscribers. The usual suspects – birthday and re-engagement messages – are common.

The anniversary message, though, is often underused, especially since the kinds of anniversaries celebrated are as varied as the products and customers you have.

Here are three very simple date-based automated messages that can drive revenue and successfully re-engage your email subscribers.