Attract, Retain and Delight More Customers
Close more deals in less time, track your sales activities and access customer data from your mobile device. Grow your business with Zoho CRM.
Sign up now for a free 15-day trial.

The Lowdown on QR Codes December 18, 2012 A year or so ago, digital marketers were head over heels, breathlessly in love with QR codes. Bearing a close resemblance to Rorschach inkblot tests, QR codes quickly became ubiquitous on labels, posters, signs, magazine ads, billboards -- pretty much any ad space a consumer might conceivably want to scan with a smartphone to download more information about a product or service.

AOL's Marketing Shuffle May Reflect Brand Uncertainty December 15, 2012 AOL is shifting toward decentralization of its marketing efforts. The online company this week named Allie Savarino Kline as chief marketing officer of its Advertising.com unit. In the newly created position, she will have global oversight of Advertising.com and will handle marketing strategy for the group's advertising solutions for publishers, advertisers and agencies.

Coremotives Connects the Marketing Dots December 14, 2012 CoreMotives, a Silverpop company, has launched a new integration that ties revenue-tracking capabilities embedded in its CRM system to the Ticketmaster sales application. The upshot is that teams that use Ticketmaster to market tickets can also easily track which campaigns actually led to a sale.

Building Loyalty When Customers Are a Moving Target December 10, 2012 When Double Cola wanted to encourage its customers to keep coming back for more of its vintage fizzy drink, it started a rewards program. Using tried-and-true loyalty methods, the company offered customers the opportunity to turn over the cola's caps, earn points, and get discounts and merchandise.

The Rise of the Mansumer December 07, 2012 This year men are doing more of the shopping, and they're not the befuddled dads TV shows project. They're purposeful shoppers looking for the best deals. This newly emergent breed is dubbed "mansumer" in BPN's 2013 Retail Trends Report. Mansumers take advantage of tools like online sites, price comparison engines and mobile apps to make informed purchases.

Microsoft Dynamics Aims to Pull All the Pieces Together December 07, 2012 Microsoft next month will roll out a service update for Microsoft Dynamics CRM that will have a new user interface, integration with Yammer, Skype and Office 2013, and cross-browser support. In general, the theme of tight integration with other Microsoft technologies runs through the release, said Seth Patton, senior director of Microsoft Dynamics CRM product marketing.

Zynga Plays TV Everywhere Platform With Synacor Deal December 05, 2012 Zynga signed a deal with TV Everywhere provider Synacor that gives Zynga currency in pay-TV and high-speed Internet consumer bundles. The move puts Zynga games seamlessly on all screens for more stickiness potential. Synacor works with multichannel video programming distributors, including cable and tecom companies, to package multi-platform options.

Getting Out There: Strategies for Social Media Advertising December 05, 2012 When the first banner ads came out in the 1990s, they attracted lots of attention -- and lots of click-throughs. Since then, though, their effectiveness has plummeted, forcing businesses to think creatively about the future of online advertising. This future is likely to include a mix of social media influencing, content marketing, and in-depth storytelling.

How Lenovo Is Resurrecting the PC December 03, 2012 I spent much of last week hanging out with Lenovo. Although much of what we chat about in those meetings can't be repeated, one thing I can talk about is how Lenovo almost stands alone in defending the PC. While there seems to be a consensus that the PC is dead and being stomped into its grave by wave after wave of smartphones and tablets, Lenovo missed that meeting.

The Big Data Marketing Gold Mine December 03, 2012 It's become clear that the true political star of the 2012 election was Big Data. There is much that marketers can learn from its meteoric rise. Trumping the old-school, gut-instinct days of electoral politics, today's campaigns employ data crunchers who mine the campaign's database for clues on what it takes to engage supporters and motivate them to donate, volunteer and vote.

Blazeloop Collects Customer Feedback on the Spot November 30, 2012 Benbria has launched Blazeloop, a customer engagement platform that revolves around one pointed question aimed at the consumer: How did we do? The theory behind the Web-based app is that most customers do not take the trouble to complain about little things -- but it is those very little things that can drive them away.

Study: Many Shades of Like in Brand-Consumer Engagement November 29, 2012 A Like on Facebook goes a long way. Seventy percent of consumers who engage in social media make purchases from brands they are connected to, according to a new study released by SocialVibe. Connections form when a consumer clicks Like on Facebook, Follows a brand on Twitter or interacts with a brand's presence on other social networks including YouTube, Pinterest or Google+.

Windows 8 Is Too Much, Too Soon for Many Users November 24, 2012 I have been taking a closer look at two of the brand-new technologies that are really shaking up the computer world. One is Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system with all those funky tiles. The other is the Lenovo Yoga 13 laptop. The changes are many. Some will think all this change is good, others will not.

United's Balky Computers Could Send Brand Into Tailspin November 17, 2012 United Airlines experienced a major computer problem this week, and the news no doubt sent shudders down the spines of would-be Thanksgiving holiday travelers everywhere. The glitch -- reportedly in its dispatch system -- led to the delay of a number of flights. United found and corrected the error, and by mid-afternoon, system-wide on-time performance was approximately 80 percent.

Courting the Prized Omnichannel Shopper November 16, 2012 Holiday shopping this year will take place on multiple channels, with many shoppers doing research and buying online or on mobile devices. That's according to Deloitte's 2012 Annual Holiday Survey, which found that shoppers who use multiple channels plan to spend more money than retail shoppers.

The AT&T of Tomorrow November 15, 2012 Last week, AT&T held a meeting for investment analysts. It will increase capital spending by about 16 percent to $22 billion a year over the next three years to upgrade its wireless and wireline networks. This would be a perfect advertising campaign. AT&T should consider creating an entire marketing and advertising campaign around these expansion and update plans.

Report: Mobile Game Devs Need Out-of-Band Marketing November 14, 2012 App developers, and especially developers of mobile games, are familiar with the cutthroat world of the app store. To get attention, developers must deploy marketing campaigns. However, it's essential for developers to do more than just app store promotions to drive mobile game downloads, concludes a report released Tuesday by Inside Network.

Demandbase Finely Hones B2B Targeted Marketing November 12, 2012 Demandbase is extending beyond its Web analytics and sales roots with a new platform that allows B2B advertisers to target and personalize display ads for specific companies. Demandbase Company-Targeted Advertising, which has been incorporated by Eloqua within its own marketing automation application, represents a shift for Demandbase.

Walmart to Crash Thanksgiving With Early Black Friday Deals November 10, 2012 Walmart is opening its doors on Thanksgiving Day at 8 p.m. local time. To persuade shoppers who may be digesting the biggest meal of the year to leave the comfort of their sofas, the retailer is offering door-busting specials at specific time slots. An HDTV for less than $400 is definitely a head-turning bargain, but is it enough to get shoppers to interrupt a family holiday?

Sensewhere Goes Hyperlocal With Social Advertising November 09, 2012 There's no better time to get an offer than a few steps into a store -- or so believes Sensewhere, a company focused on hyperlocal interactions with consumers. It just released Adwhere, a location-based mobile application that can position consumers who are indoors and otherwise out of reach of GPS.