Being a leading eCommerce technology provider for retail brands is a common denominator shared by Listrak and partner Virid. But how do the two companies complement each other, and what’s the benefit for clients? In this edition of The State of Marketing, Virid Partner Manager Ivan Silva talks marketing challenges and solutions, and why the partnership is such a good “fit.”

Tell us a bit about Virid.

Virid was founded in 1999 by Steve Deller, a visionary who has been developing eCommerce business operation standards since the early 90s. His vision has made us what we are today, and many years later, there is still a vision that our teams share on all fronts. With this we are a leading provider of eCommerce technology solutions for growing retail brands, offering an eCommerce package that includes software, cloud-based hosting, integration support and ongoing technology consulting. Our pride in our business stems from knowing retailers and their businesses; we’re able to give them the tools they need to competitively sell in the ever-changing digital space. Our team has loads of intelligent, creative minds that are willing to go the extra yard to deliver the best solutions for each client we work with. We strive to make sites faster and operations more efficient, in an easy-to-manage way.

Why did you decide to team up with Listrak?

We teamed up with Listrak for many reasons, the main reason being that they are very similar in the way they care for their clients. They bend over backwards and are smart in the way they make recommendations; their perspective is uncanny. I personally have found many of the people on the Listrak team, like our team here at Virid.

How do you see brands benefitting from this partnership?

With the intuitive platform that Listrak has, along with the level of support they offer, combined with our scalable e-commerce platform and support, brands experience growth in sales and operational efficiency.

If you had a magic wand - what is the one thing you’d change in the digital marketing world, and why?

A picture speaks a thousand words, so I would change the way people handle imagery and product creation. Currently, the way I hear how some folks are handling it seems inefficient. We have taken a few steps to make it easier, but I believe there are more avenues to explore.

Which marketing channel do you think is the most underrated?

The Partner channel is the most impactful (but being the Partner Manager, I may be a bit biased…!). In this channel, you generate business or learn methods to make life easier for your clients.

What are the biggest challenges facing marketers right now, particularly with respect to how they make use of data?

I believe that the main challenge we face is maintaining visibility of the change in personas — tracking buying patterns is a good start. Also, a good chunk of the data that is isolated is clean, but at times that data might not give you the most impactful insights into what your customer needs or wants. Also, sometimes you get skewed results due to not having a clear view of the source of the data set. There are also data set comparison factors that are sometimes overlooked; keeping it all in sequence has been a challenge for some. Another big one is getting to the devices through the right social media channels.

What is the most common mistake marketers make?

Marketing to the wrong audience or marketing with the wrong voice.

What are you excited about? Anything on the horizon?

We’re excited about the launch of the new Peltz Shoes website. On the horizon? We have a bunch of fun events coming up. We’ll post them soon.

What’s on your personal media list right now?

Whoa, that list is pretty long, but here are twelve: Bonobo, Kygo, John Coltrane and Miles Davis, Major Lazer, Marshmello, Metallica, Slightly Stoopid, Stevie Wonder, Soja, Yo-Yo Ma, Zach Brown and Ziggy Marley.