Many business leaders subscribe to the old adage that it costs more to win a new customer than to retain an existing one, also known as the “80/20” rule – stating that 20 percent of your customers represent 80 percent of your sales. This is actually a fallacy and usually leads to higher churn rates due to misaligned customers who will likely jump ship after a short time.

It’s difficult to drive a profit margin if you’re chasing the back of the cart. Instead, companies should focus their energy, resources and investments into delivering high-value products or services that solve the real-world pain points of their target customers. Rather than bleeding themselves dry to stop potential turnover, this growth-minded approach leads with a customer priority-centric view that enables the business to produce what their customers actually require. With that model in place, churn naturally reduces due to increased alignment with customer needs and the resulting customer engagement. 

This concept is easier said than done, but it is long overdue. Solution providers must build their businesses around a foundation of sound offerings that are designed to meet their target audience’s specific needs – and be willing to adapt their products as those needs rapidly evolve. This will ultimately lead to organic growth and remove the threat of churn overall.

– Bill Dinan is the president of the not-for-profit trade association Localogy 

The dust has settled on another holiday shopping season, and now it’s time to evaluate and analyze what went right for advertisers. As usual, brands and agencies turned to the tried and true ad channels. This year, however, there was a new entry to the list — Connected TV (CTV).

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Tapad teams up with Gimbal to enhance attribution capabilities. The identity resolution platform Tapad has partnered with Gimbal, a location-powered marketing solution. The partnership will bring Tapad Graph to Gimbal’s Arrival solution, an attribution offering for in-store foot traffic. “By leveraging The Tapad Graph, Gimbal’s clients gain an even more complete view of the consumer decision journey across devices,” said Tapad SVP Chris Feo.  

GumGum raises $22 million in its latest funding round. The AI-powered advertising and media platform GumGum has landed $22 million in Series D funding from existing investors, bringing the total raised so far to $155 million. The company said it aims to maximize the growth of its core marketing-related business and plans to release two new products this year: a new in-video ad unit and a contextual targeting and brand safety solution called Verity for Publishers. GumGum also added Lisa Licht, the former CMO of Live Nation Concerts, to its board of advisors. 

Automation platform Aisera secures $20 million in Series B funding. The AI-powered workflow automation platform Aisera has raised $20 million in Series B funding led by Norwest Venture Partners with help from six other investors including True Ventures. This brings its total funding to $50 million. The company, which is led by CEO Muddu Sudhakar, says it will use the investment to drive “rapid expansion and deployment” of its platform across enterprise IT, HR and customer service organizations. “Aisera’s forward-thinking approach to streamlining workflow is yet another example of Muddu’s foresight into what will soon become a best practice in business,” said Jon Callaghan, co-founder of True Ventures. 

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Forget The Cookie Apocalypse. Here Comes The ‘Adtech Renaissance’  – Forbes

Two months into 2020, 6 retailers have named or laid off a CMO  – Marketing Dive

TripleLift’s First Chief Privacy Officer Is Tackling ‘The Most Pressing Strategic Issue In Our Space’ – AdExchanger

Adobe’s product chief explains how pro apps are changing in response to TikTok – The Verge

The New Business of AI (and How It’s Different From Traditional Software) – Andreessen Horowitz

Success in Mobile Commerce Requires a Mobile-Specific Strategy – Practical Ecommerce