While largely considered a trigger for app push notifications, geofencing can be a viable means to understand a customer's location and subsequently send a location-relevant email.

Are your email marketing programs really delivering the most relevant, personalized message to each individual customer? If not, why not? I'm not talking about inserting the customer's name in your email message. I'm not talking about delivering customized messages to different segments or groups of customers. I'm talking about putting the right offer in front of every "individual" customer at the right time - the one most likely to get them to buy now. Is there a more important objective for marketing than that?

While Forrester and Gartner have long set the standard for defining categories of marketing and advertising technologies, it is hard to address an entire landscape of needs when looking from the top down. For instance, we know that the email marketing industry has a 10%-12% compound annual growth rate, but we've also seen a general commoditization of email sending fees over the last five years. Has your email budget changed 10% per year? The growth has mostly occurred from increased spending in analytics, personalization and mobile/creative, generated by the need to match increased use of smart devices.

Now, I enjoy a good benchmark study as much as the next guy -- but I worry that marketers don't get as much value from them as they could. "How are we doing?" is a legitimate question, but a better one is "How can we do better?"

A linear customer journey is no longer a reality. Consumers and brands now communicate constantly, fragmenting the path to purchase as never before. Instead of having a few persuasive interactions with a brand, consumers have many small interactions that, together, are plentiful and powerful. Google recently dubbed every tiny interaction consumers have with brands as "'micro-moments,' the new battle ground for brands." We've labeled the same interactions "atomic moments of truth." No matter what you decide to call them, these moments are forever changing the way consumers interact with brands, creating new opportunities and presenting new challenges. Google offered five …

The in-store experience can be greatly enhanced by seamlessly layering in the digital CRM experience. Retail is making great strides in breaking down data siloes, which is enabling marketers to implement effective programs for driving desired in-store behaviors. We need to push more of this innovation, though, as there are still gaps in the consumer experience. Here are some ways retailers can translate online efforts into in-store revenue.

While conducting a recent study of frequency's impact on email marketing performance, we found again and again that one key factor played a critical role in how volume affected response: mailbox type. When it comes to finding the right sending frequency to maximize subscriber engagement without generating excessive complaints, marketers can gain a real advantage by knowing whether subscribers are reading commercial mail in their primary accounts.

Consumers want seamless access to information when making a purchase. Our world will be a push vs. pull world, and triggers will be the catalyst to this value exchange.

The question that companies are asking about automated or triggered email programs is no longer "Should we deploy them?" but rather "Where should we focus our limited resources?" I've witnessed this shift in conversations with dozens of companies, mainly in retail and ecommerce. My industry colleague David Baker asked a similar intriguing question in a recent Email Insider: "Where do you start?" One place is with this 11-step program to prioritize, launch and improve your portfolio of automated email marketing programs. View it as an outline or checklist rather than a specific blueprint.

The "summer slump" seems to hit everyone. But now is the time to get your program ready for a strong back-to-school and holiday season. One of the biggest opportunities in July and August is putting some focus on acquisition tactics. Sure, acquisition is important year-round, but there should be a heavier focus right now to ensure you have "all systems go" to build up your database with more consumer activity as we head into the fall season. Here are some ideas to help you plan: