Leveraging customer data in your marketing communications

Are you ready to navigate the ever-changing digital world and stay ahead of your competition? Join us for an exclusive webinar where we'll dive deep into the implications of the iOS 17 update for marketers like you.

The death of the third-party cookie. For a moment, it seemed like the world would end. But fortunately, there are alternatives for marketers and their organisations, including first-party data. A thoughtful first-party data strategy can help you build close relationships with your customers, create value, and streamline your marketing activities.

The marketing world is changing faster and faster, with a new update or new guidelines to discover every day. Google Consent Mode version 2 is an upcoming update from Google that aims to help website owners comply with increasingly stringent privacy legislation (AVG/GDPR). This implementation is mandated by Google from March 2024. So be sure not to hesitate and get informed in this webinar so that you can set up the right actions in preparation.

There’s a digital gap between our marketing personas and the real people we service. And that gap is significant: nearly 50% of the population is digitally vulnerable. How do you handle that as an organisation? And how do you make sure your products and services don’t exclude anyone from the digital world? Register for our webinar now and allow David De Block, Public Services Director at iO, to show you the “reason to believe”, so you can take action.

Pretty much everyone has a smartphone these days, using navigation systems like Google Maps every day. Leveraging local search has never been this crucial to enhance online visibility and growth. Google reports that nearly half of all search queries on its platform (46%) have a local intent. You need to take advantage of that as a retailer. After all, you want potential customers to be able to find you, especially when you’re nearby. Sign up to join our exclusive webinar on local search to find out how to elevate your local presence.

Now that cookies are disappearing, the biggest challenge for everyone in marketing today lies in measuring and analyzing marketing efforts.   Companies currently find themselves facing a bit of a dilemma: on one hand, they want a transparent view of the results of their investments, on the other hand, they know that they need to rely more on data to make their advertising more relevant and efficient.

From libraries to Google to TikTok...in just a few decades, our source of information has shifted to unexpected places. Today, a whopping 40% of young people use TikTok as their primary source of information.   Did you know that this platform is increasingly focusing on its own search function? This makes TikTok SEO an essential part of your digital strategy. 

Is your website not being properly found by relevant visitors? Is your SEO traffic not generating enough conversions? But do you think you already have an SEO-friendly website? Then it's time to switch from tactical to strategic SEO. Find out how during our webinar on 23 August. 

Every business that uses email marketing in its strategy to reach a target audience wants to get a spot in the target audience’s inbox. But spam has become such an overwhelming part of email traffic that it’s become more difficult to get past Internet Service Providers and Mailbox Providers. That’s why an email marketing strategy needs to focus on email deliverability.

Interactive content engages people with choices, questions, and options. That’s no different with interactive video — in stark contrast to traditional video, which is linear and forces the viewer to watch passively.

Shouldn’t the client be at the heart of every marketing campaign? When it comes to good inbound marketing, the same is clearly true for B2B marketing. Inbound marketing is an effective way to gather everything you need to build a successful campaign: the right, qualitative leads - collected in a way that does not disturb the user experience, using data that’s willingly shared. It’s a fitting approach, not only for acquiring new customers, but for turning them into enthusiastic brand ambassadors in the process.

Selling through Amazon? Here’s how to become successful   Amazon is deeply ingrained in today’s digital retail landscape: you can buy and sell almost anything there.   For merchants, Amazon offers a unique opportunity to rapidly and efficiently expand their markets – even across borders.   But how do you start doing that? How will you successfully sell your products through the world's largest e-commerce platform? Well, you can find out how it works in our updated guide, 'Selling and Advertising on Amazon, a Guide for Belgium and the Netherlands'. 

Most of us have probably already ordered a product or two at bol.com. But the platform also offers merchants interesting opportunities to sell and advertise products, in Belgium and the Netherlands. In this white paper we will tell you more about the possibilities of the platform.

In this crowded and competitive environment amidst reduced budgets, pharmaceutical and life sciences companies must resort to new strategies to significantly improve the efficiency of their direct-to-physician marketing initiatives. As such, e-detailing came fully into effect.

How well do you know today’s web analytics landscape?When talking about web analytics, Google Analytics is usually at the top of the list. Google Analytics 4, is the undisputed king of web analytics tools. Or is it?

Soon, third-party cookies will disappear. Use our calculator and get an estimate of the potential loss of sales and website visitors. You will also get tailored advice on the next steps to take to minimise that loss. Go directly to the calculator via the button below or scroll down for more background information.

Does your organisation spend a lot of time providing customers with support and service? Think about scheduling appointments, contract management, or changing customer data — exactly the kind of things you can digitalise in a self-service portal. Only, how do you go about it?

Whether you’re a small business or a large multinational, it’s worth considering email marketing.

Creativity in B2B communication is an important way to engage and connect with your audience. The era of the pure sales pitch is long gone, and today B2B communication is also looking for new ways to add value in the long term. Creativity builds the bridge between story, feeling and individuality. And this translates into positive business results.

In 2023, consumers’ expectations are higher than ever. They reject generic messages and communication. More so; they want to be put on a digital pedestal. To be personally addressed and only shown content that is relevant to them. In other words, they want companies and brands to give them an experience. And that experience has become just as important as a product or service.

The world of online commerce is becoming increasingly complex. Businesses need to be able to create appropriate and unique customer journeys across multiple channels. But this is proving to be quite a challenge for those still using traditional commerce platforms.  Luckily, the world of online commerce is also constantly developing. When new and greater challenges arise, fresh solutions are created. Solutions like composable commerce. 

To make your online business run smoothly, there are several aspects you can focus on. One of them is your channel mix. But how do you know if your mix is the right one? And do you stick to your initial choices or is it better to adjust your mix regularly? Channel management provides answers to these questions. Channel management involves monitoring and adjusting the entire channel mix of your business or client based on predetermined goals. You work on all aspects that ensure better results, at every stage of the funnel.

Brands are built with advertising, and content then adds depth to the brand, right? Not if you ask Aart Lensink. As a content expert, he helped several brands tell strong stories, and now he's sharing his knowledge on building brands with content in this e-book— packed with examples and with a concrete step-by-step plan. 

For the 2023 Local SEO Benchmark, we analysed nearly 100,000 business locations in 36 cities in the Netherlands and Belgium, across 14 different industries. Curious about how the retail sector in the Netherlands and Belgium is doing in terms of Local SEO? Find out in our 2023 Local SEO Benchmark Report . Some key conclusions of the 2023 Local SEO Benchmark Report:

Webshops have reached the status of shopping standard in the digital age. Users are just a few clicks away from their favourite items. Anywhere, at any time of the day, from the comforts of home. This is why online advertising on digital channels has become key to webshop owners: channels allowing you to maintain your margins and successfully activate consumers throughout the purchase process.

Performance marketing is a branch of marketing where you focus on results. Which results? How can you measure it and - more importantly - how do you achieve it? This is different for every organisation, but the potential of performance marketing to deliver results? That’s universal. The efficient combination of leads, sales and targets is crucial.

In 2017, Google was fined €2.4 billion by the European Commission for abuse of power. The internet giant was pushing comparison websites (Comparison Shopping Services, or CSS) lower in search results with Google Shopping. That fine was bad news for Google, but good news for organisations looking to make more online sales.

Producing content is a tactic everyone seems to rely on these days. Many organisations are creating content today — they have blogs, are active on social media, and might even publish their own magazine. But the underlying, supporting strategy? Something you rarely come across.

For many organisations, social media is still a Pandora's box. Yes, they are useful online channels, and yes, we might need to have a presence there. But how exactly do you tackle that? What do you need to take into account? This helpful social media checklist will take you a long way.

A tight job market and a short attention span from your target audience, who are also bombarded with content on a daily basis. Does recruiting new talent sometimes feel like a lost battle to you? We believe it doesn't have to be! Break through your target audience's content overload: invest in in-depth content to reach them and strengthen your employer brand. How can you successfully recruit and retain new talent for your brand? Discover it in "From Employer Branding to Recruitment - Insights 2024".

Do you want to rebrand your organisation? Is an acquisition or merger imminent? Or do you want to improve your customer experience, and does this require an organisational change?  For these types of digital transformations, changing technology is often a challenging and crucial part for organisations of all sizes. Whether you need to upgrade the CMS system to a newer version, or you want to increase your innovation speed with a headless CMS, there is often one element that receives little attention: the content migration. Far too often, a content migration is nothing more than the last thing on the list, because it’s the technology that requires a lot of attention and budget, isn’t it? How complex can it be to lift and shift the content from the old system to the new? 

Ideally, as a (Digital) Marketing Manager, you focus on developing and executing your strategy to achieve your organisation's goals. But what if your strategic focus is constantly disrupted by operational issues? 

The 2024 summer holidays are behind us and it's time for organisations to set their budgets for 2025. And that is often a more difficult task than we would like to admit.   We wouldn't be iO if we hadn't come up with anything to help you with that tedious task... Get 16 tips to make your marketing and digitisation budget for 2025 smarter

It’s that time again: It’s Christmas commercial season 2023. I’m ready for a wagonload of snow, candy, British stars, and tortured covers of familiar songs. And what did I get? Exactly that. I love it! A (completely objective) overview of the (mostly) British 2023 Christmas commercials. Brace yourself for Rick Astley, kisses, Ryan Reynolds, talking mittens, singing oven gloves, pink flamingos, John Travolta as Santa Claus and... a rediscovered hit from 1965. And... What did John Lewis do?

Yay! There's a new way to get bite-sized content and insights from iO. In the fall of 2023, Meta launched WhatsApp Channels in more than 150 countries - including ours.

You may not have noticed, but a lot has changed in terms of analytics and tracking over the past five years. This is partly because we've already grown accustomed to many changes, and partly because their impact has come very gradually. Half a decade ago, no one knew of the existence of a cookie banner, a year later everyone thought they could never get used to it, and today we don't know any better. We've made serious strides in terms of data regulation, and perhaps the biggest steps are yet to come in 2024.

In February 2024, Google and Yahoo's new email guidelines will come into effect. These guidelines have to do with email deliverability and will be made mandatory by Google, unlike now. The guidelines will apply to all emails delivered to Gmail accounts — or, in other words, all emails to gmail.com email addresses and organisations using Google Suite as an email server. In this article, our email experts tell you everything you need to know about the new guidelines.

Seriously, it's done in no time. And we're about to show you how. The question is: is this what you want? In this blog post, you'll read how we do it at iO, you'll find some tips and tricks to apply on your own work and you'll start to grasp the added value of the human factor.

Does the name Leonhard Huizinga still ring a bell for anyone? Once a popular Dutch writer, now forgotten. He made his debut in 1936 with the book 'De Gestroomlijnde Wereld'. Already a wanderer at a young age, Huizinga's book opened an unknown world to many readers. An exotic world, which seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, because it was more accessible by car, train, boat, and airplane. Faster, more comfortable and with more and more streamlining — quite literally. Curious, boundless, full of wonder. Not realising, as early as 1936, that over that same world lay the shadows of tomorrow.

The end of December is list time. My colleagues at iO invited me to fill the last square of 24till24 with an inspiring list. December 24 is the last day of work before the Christmas holidays for many. That magical time of the year when the professional merry-go-round comes to a complete standstill. It isn’t just the time for family celebrations, it’s also the perfect moment to curl up on the sofa with a good book, a podcast, or a film. So, get into my personal list of the very best viewing, reading, and listening tips. Slide into the holiday season and keep the boredom at bay. Enjoy!

There is a digital divide between the personas we use in marketing and the population. In Belgium, this gap is large: almost 50% of the population are considered to be digitally vulnerable. How do you deal with this as an organisation? And how do you ensure that your products and services do not exclude anyone digitally? This blog contains nine practical tips to help you on your way to digital inclusion.

More and more organisations want to measure the return on investment of digital platforms accurately. But how do you develop a successful measurement plan?

The marketing world keeps turning faster, with new updates or guidelines at every turn. It’s a world that forces businesses to change with it. A recent change by this organization includes, among other things, that Google Consent Mode must receive an update by March 2024 to enhance user privacy. Take the Digital Markets Act, for instance. This European legislative body regulates digital platforms by creating laws. A recent legislative change includes that Google Consent Mode is required to carry out an update by March 2024 at the latest to better protect users’ privacy.

We all know third-party cookies, a marketer's bread and butter, are leaving the building. The cookieless future was irrevocably set into motion when Google decided to remove them completely by 2024. This presents us with the unique challenge of tracking an audience that does not only demand an excellent experience but is increasingly privacy-conscious, too – quite paradoxical, we know.  You’ve probably also heard that first-party data is the way to go. So, how can you turn leads into returning customers and, more importantly, how will you procure their data? We suggest a trust-first marketing approach that focuses on excellent content to establish a relationship with customers and users, making them more inclined to share their data with you. 

Users are becoming increasingly mobile: they're freely moving from channel to channel, looking for the content they want to consume. So keeping an eye on trends and taking full advantage of them is more important than ever. After all, trends offer a perfect opportunity to be creative. But what can we expect in 2024? In this blog, you'll discover three trends you can address to increase your impact with your target groups.

Google is the unequivocal search engine market leader (and probably will be for a while). However, when it comes to search queries, there’s a challenger to that monopoly: Bing by Microsoft. In the last few months, Bing made some significant strides, moving from 1 in 20 search queries to almost 1 in 5. That growing influence and Bing’s market share are some aspects you should leverage in your digital strategies. You can ignore 5% of your potential visitors, but ignoring 18% of the queries that lead to your business would probably have a significant impact on your business – and not in a good way.

The rise of AI, shifts in the social media landscape, and the end of third-party data...2023 was, to say the least, a tumultuous year. But this year, marketers and their organizations are also facing significant challenges. Discover the six digital and marketing trends that will dominate 2024 and, most importantly, how you can successfully tackle them.

As an SEO specialist I had the opportunity to attend Friends of Search, a well-known SEO and SEA conference in Amsterdam. The event attracts at least 600 visitors annually and guarantees thought-provoking talks, an exciting award show, and a networking moment. I was immediately impressed by the international expertise presented by the other attendees during this eleventh edition, held on 21 March 2024. Discover 3 valuable SEO insights that stuck with me. 

Deadline for exporting Universal Analytics: 1st of July 2024 After the 1st of July 2024, it will no longer be possible to access data in Universal Analytics. Therefore, it’s essential to take timely action and export the data before that day. By exporting the data before the access is closed, you can gain valuable insights, store the data securely and take any further actions. It is wise not to do this at the last minute, as there may be obstacles, such as errors in extraction or technical challenges. To avoid potential problems, it is advisable to transfer the data in time to environment where it can be stored securely. That way, you can later use the data for further analysis or transformation purposes. By acting now, you can ensure that you don’t lose the valuable data and are well prepared for the future. So don't wait until the last minute - make sure you export the data from Universal Analytics before 1 July to a secure environment, where you can continue to use it.

Does content marketing still serve a purpose in 2024? Patrick Severein (Head of Content and Strategist) raises some questions.

In the marketing optimisation of larger iO clients - such as Brussels Airport and Lidl - we see a shift from ad hoc campaigns to always-on. There are a few logical explanations for this trend. And both the elimination of cookies and the focus on the customer experience (CX) have a lot to do with it.

Conversational search in the form of an AI chatbot lets your website visitors interact with your content, resulting in a better customer experience.

When you look something up on the Internet, you always do so with a specific intention. Whether it's to gather information, compare products or actually make a purchase. Either way, you want to see results that match your intent as closely as possible. This intent - called search intent - is a crucial factor for both Google and marketers. 

For many marketers, allocating budgets for the year ahead is a real headache. Will you carry your budget over from last year – even though technology is evolving at lightning speed and the marketing world could look completely different tomorrow? Or will you follow your intuition and take a chance? Fortunately, data modelling exists allowing you to allocate your budget with the certainty that you are spending it in the right place, and at the right time.

How do you explain the energy transition? iO and Enexis developed a permanent campaign with smart tech and several storylines. 

The impact of AI on search engine marketing and business models is huge. So start experimenting now, advises iO CEO Pieter Janssens. 

There is unrest in the SEO landscape, and it's no surprise given the rapid changes taking place. With the advent of AI, the future of SEO suddenly seems uncertain. The number one search engine is vigorously testing AI applications, reducing the need to click through to websites. This has serious implications for everyone whose traffic is partially dependent on Google, including e-commerce.

Navigating the rapidly expanding MarTech landscape can be overwhelming, but with a clear strategy and focused approach, you can build an effective MarTech stack that drives your marketing success.

"With digital transformation, you can deliver added value to your customers," says Steven De Deyne, Head of Media and Production Competence Center Proximus), it in this video.

The Carglass website is a crucial platform, but other channels — digital and non-digital — are also very important in the omnichannel approach. Giving a personalised experience to every customer, with content tailored to their stage in the customer journey. Dorien Gevers (Email marketer at Carglass) explains every stage.

The decision to digitise has to start from the customer, not from an internal, business perspective. That's what Leslie Cottenje, CEO of Hello Customer thinks. Technology can help improve customer satisfaction, but the human factor has to be central. She tells you all about her vision in this video.

Our attention spans are shorter, we skip commercials, and we click from video to video all the time. When consumers are bombarded with an avalanche of content every day, how can your brand stand out? Ruth Nys explains how to do creative content marketing without falling into the same old boring marketing tactics trap. Expert:Ruth Nys, Strategy Director Content

Companies are unaware of the enormous the cost of bad customer experiences. Out-of-pocket costs such as customer service are being pushed up, at a time when it’s becoming more difficult and expensive to find new customers.And this is happening while the brand credibility is declining and there is erosion in terms of new business development. In the video below, Steven Van Belleghem calls for more investment in customer focus, as a driver for a successful 2025.

Do you remember when ... the invention of the computer caused a seismic shift in the job market? People unwilling to work with computers were quickly replaced by people who were; and today everyone carries a laptop. Today the same thing is happening with AI. In this webinar, Rodger Werkhoven will share his passion for Artificial Intelligence and introduce you to OpenAI as a love brand.

From Van Eyck’s brothers' Ghent Altarpiece to Rock Werchter: the Canon of Flanders is finally here. The much-discussed list resulted in a bulky book of more than 300 pages and includes an overview of the Flemish language, culture, and history from the end of the last ice age to today. But there is also an online version: www.canonvanvlaanderen.be . iO developed this on behalf of the Commission Canon of Flanders, which received a mandate from the Flemish Government, Department of Education & Training.

Discover the fruitful collaboration between Primagaz and iO in this 'Walk and Talk' video. In this video, you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at the collaborative dynamics between Primagaz and iO. We discuss how we dealt with challenges, how we exploited opportunities and what strategies we developed. We'll take you through our shared journey of growth and success, where trust and a commitment to excellence are central. This Walk and Talk is more than just a conversation - it is a celebration of a collaboration that has stood the test of time. It is a story of mutual growth, of learning and evolving, and of creating value for both organizations.

In his talk at the 2023 BAM Marketing Congress, David De Block (Public Services Director at iO) talks about e-inclusion — or what it means to leave no one behind digitally.

For Brandt & Levie, responsible production is not an afterthought, but the core business. The Amsterdam sausage maker produces animal-friendly meat according to its own recipe — exclusively from well-kept pigs. An impactful story about sustainability in an industry that sometimes struggles to find it.

Natuurhuisje is not just a booking platform for holiday homes, it's a full-fledged climate company. Nature is at the heart of everything they do, and it's — in their own words — their responsibility to protect it. The booking platform is merely a means to that end. That's why Natuurhuisje donates part of its revenue back to local projects to improve biodiversity.

Gosselin, active in international relocations, wanted more leads to boost growth. Our experts helped to bolster their digital presence. 

For De Kindertelefoon we developed a channel and content strategy to reach kids and young people on TikTok. 

iO helps Torfs, the Flemish shoe giant, to position itself better in the Walloon market and as a fashion player. Read more about this case.

Maximizing ROI: iO's Approach to Boosting Conversion Rate in Beobank's Campaigns. Read the full story here.

Creating a Cohesive Platform: Assuralia's Rebranding and Site Redesign for Enhanced User Experience Read the story here.

Modernizing Automotive Digital Communications: Unleashing the Potential of Social Networks. Read the story here.

From Festival Wristbands to Online Accounts: Converting Festival-Goers with Effective Paid Media. Read the story here.

YER is already big but aspired to double their presence in the world of recruitment and selection and secondment. iO helped them with creating a new brand, internal branding, external activation online and offline and bringing 3 websites into 1 site for all target groups.

With creative always-on and ad hoc campaigns, our experts help Manna Sauzen grow into a leading Belgian brand.

Read how we worked with Brunswick to create a full branding and international go-to-market strategy to launch their latest brand Navan.

iO developed a website and UX-driven configurator for and with Suzuki Belgium. Read all about it in this case.

Discover how awareness, behaviour change, and hyper-local personalization lead to cost efficiency and relevance at the right moment.

How do you tell a clear online story that pulls traffic towards your website if you represent multiple businesses? Read the case and find out.

How does iO keep its long-term relationship with Farmaline fresh as a daisy? By mixing trust with a profitable synergy of tech and marketing services.

Find out how we helped cheese brand CAMBOZOLA reactivate its existing customers and attract younger generations. Read the case.

Discover how iO made the websites and the personal admin portal of High Profile Locaties more manageable, findable and scalable. Read the case study.

Discover how iO helped Imperial transform into a future-proof food brand

How do you develop a digital and internationally deployable retailer concept that takes your customer experience to the next level?

Discover how Avans University of Applied Sciences and iO attracted over 20,000 new student choosers with creative, data-driven campaigns. Learn strategies that hold Gen Z's attention and create strong brand connections. Get inspired and discover how to entice your target audience.

Brussels Airport: In this case story, read how iO has become an extension of the airport.

How iO convinces travelers to choose Brussels Airport for their next trip. Discover the marketing campaigns.

iO takes Brussels Airport to new heights with influencer marketing. Read how we did it.

We ensured GDPR-compliant, cost-efficient cookie management for Van Hoecke's platforms using CookieHub. Read our success story.

What it takes to make booking as easy as possible for you? Discover the power of a strong management vision, a streamlined work process, and long-term, open, and transparent collaboration between Landal GreenParks and iO.

Gaining insight into the customer journey in a data-driven way with journey mining