Mobile Content Management and The New Rules of Mobile Marketing

I’ve been thinking a lot about how new technologies and greater adoption of smart phones will impact how we find information online.

Studies indicate the consumer adoption rate of mobile devices (smartphones) is significantly faster compared to the adoption rates of laptop computers and wired Internet access. Basic mobile devices are everywhere. Market saturation of smartphone devices and mobile internet access is not far behind.

Nearly 5 billion people on our planet are now mobile customers. Mobile devices are becoming full-fledged platforms running a wide range of applications. Both realities mean mobile devices will augment or supplant personal computers as the new e-business channel for employees and customers.

What does this proliferation of mobile devices mean for the content management professional, our information management and content publishing strategies and the software that we use to provide services to our organizations ?

Mobile Access to Content

Just when we thought we had all wrapped our head around developing interfaces for small phone sized devices (remember WAP?), not only do the phone screens keep getting bigger, but now we have this class of ‘pads’, slates or tablets, with screen’s ranging from 7 to 10 inch diagonals. And it's not just about the screen size, there's also resolution. The screen resolution of the pads / slates / tablets are all different, with different orientations and generally different user interaction paradigms.

Web Page Versus App

This brings us to something which appears to be a common topic for debate recently with respect to this class of devices, and their smaller smart phone cousins; web standards versus custom Applications.
Instead of attempting to configure a separate mobile web interface for your systems, you could create in house specific applications. Maybe your major application vendors have jumped on the iPad band wagon and already created a generic App so you don't need to worry about development (just deployment).

The argument against Apps is the fragmentation of the internet, i.e. we should stick with the web as a delivery channel and the well established web standards. So you code your new interface in HTML 5 and use other standards to ensure your systems can be accessed from iOS, Android, Blackberry or Windows smart phone devices.

So apps versus web interface is an interesting debate, but one which might be highly contextual, depending on the approach the vendors take to licensing their Software Development Kits (SDK's). Even so, the lowest common denominator is going to be the fact that all these devices have web browsers.

Another element of managing content for these devices is how they interact with software services, and whether your use of these devices may tie you into 'cloud computing'. For example because the iPad is essentially a 'consumer device' and does not have a user accessible file system, many apps rely on integration with cloud systems such as Box.net for moving or synchronizing content. That might be OK for some organizations, but maybe not for others. 

Considerations for Content Management Professionals

As always it will be highly contextual, depending on whether your organization is supporting engineers in the field with ruggedized handheld's running specialized vertical apps, or if your consultants want access to the intranet via their new BB Playbooks — we will still need to consider the following:

• Do you have a multiple channel publishing strategy (write once, publish many) for internal consumption of information? If not does the introduction of these devices mean you need one?
  
  
• Do you already have a 'mobile' strategy for allowing employee's to access internal information and services via smart phones? Can it be expanded to cover the new devices?
  
  
• Do you have the internal relationships in place to be involved in any discussions and decisions on the Application versus Web interface debate?
  
• Does 'mobile access' need to have greater priority the next time you RFI / RFP for a CMS?
  
  
• Does a cost benefit analysis of providing for example intranet access via mobile devices show net benefits for your organization?
  
  
• Do you have enough information to be able to calculate a hard / soft Return On Investment for mobile device access to your internal information?

These devices are here to stay, they will evolve rapidly, and it is has been theorized by experts that people who are used to having these devices at home, will demand the ability to use them for work. So adding 'mobile' elements to your content management and information publishing strategies just got even more important.

Does your company have policies regarding the use of mobile devices, and are you publishing content through multiple channels. If not, should you?

Mobile Marketing

Connected consumers — those who do online shopping, networking and sharing — are seeking mobile devices with similar expectations for productivity. They want accessibility, usability and simplicity, with user experiences tailored to their devices. They also want the mobile experience to be customized to their immediate needs and use patterns, often with a blend of “offline” and “online” experiences.

At minimum, a brand’s mobile strategy and budgets should be aligned to create mobile-friendly experiences across key digital touch points and critical business services.

Consumers expect a seamless, consistent interaction with their favorite brands, whether through a mobile web site or an in-store salesperson. If mobile is the bridge between channels, some consumers are decisively moving back and forth across it, while some consumers want to stay put. They are neither “online” nor “offline” – they are simply “mobile.” Consumers love this gray area, and your business better start loving it, too.

Mobile Web design and development strategies must be aligned to the fact that mobile web visitors are inherently different. Mobile Web content should be specific to mobile users looking to accomplish smaller tasks more quickly. The design, UI and functionality should be tailored specifically to varying device and browser types. This makes device-recognition capability even more critical, and emphasizes streamlined delivery of content and services.

A mobile device is not just a small desktop. Taking something that works in a desktop browser with a mouse/keyboard interface and shrinking it down to mobile doesn’t cut it. What’s different? Two things: limited screen real estate, and your finger is your only input device. These two things have deep design implications.

A branded mobile app may not be a sound investment for the foundation of a mobile strategy. Consider the initial development costs and resources needed to create awareness of the app and drive downloads. Marketers need to get over their app envy and take serious consideration of:

• Whether the app can deliver business value over and above a well-executed mobile web solution;

• What aspects of the app take advantage of the inherent capabilities of the device, such as the camera or accelerometer;
  
  
• Whether an optimized, branded presence in already popular apps like Yelp, Foursquare and Facebook can accomplish the same goals as a branded standalone app.

The increasingly mobile consumer is dictating the terms of engagement with brands and marketers, setting the bar high with expectations of quality interaction through their mobile devices.

Three Steps to Create a Successful CRM Strategy

Building a customer relationship management (CRM) strategy is a unique process for each organization that nevertheless should always involve three key steps. The three steps needed to create a successful CRM strategy are: setting the destination; auditing the current situation; and mapping the journey to the destination.

"A CRM strategy cannot be developed in isolation. It must be relevant and linked to the overall corporate strategy, and it must build on existing sales or marketing strategies that are already in use. Following these three steps will provide a solid framework for CRM success.

Set the destination: The vision of the company and the goals derived from this vision are the intended destination of the CRM strategy. The vision will be heavily dependent on the leadership of the company and on the selected CRM strategy.

Ensure that the CRM vision is to articulate the future environment for the organization in terms of profitability and customer experience. During the initial stages of the CRM initiative — while the CRM vision and strategy are being developed — the leadership and governance structure must be agreed upon and roles allocated before it is stressed by the impact of change management upon employees.

Audit the current situation: Skills, resources, competitors, partners and customers all need to be consulted in assessing the starting point. Before beginning the CRM initiative, organizations need to identify how mature their existing approach to CRM is. Most organizations have some existing or past attempt at CRM; even if these were deemed failures, there are usually some foundations that can be leveraged rather than ignored by the new team.

Use the audit to evaluate the organization against equivalent organizations in the same or a similar industry. A competitive benchmark is an excellent way to gauge how far behind or ahead the organization is in comparison. Along with these two approaches, there are many other types of audit. Ultimately, companies should use as many of these assessment types as possible to prepare for the development of the CRM strategy.

Map the journey: The journey may take many years, and the map will change en route. It is important to plan for this before starting.

A CRM strategy explains how an organization will achieve the CRM vision. It is the integrated blueprint for how the organization will achieve its sales, marketing and customer service goals. Therefore, it must give quantitative answers to questions such as: What is the ideal customer base? What products or services is it going to sell, to whom, at what price and through which channels? However, it must also be able to give much more subjective answers to more-holistic, organization-wide questions such as: What is the best way to build customer loyalty? How will the organization connect with a customer to create a positive "gut feel"? What will drive customers to recommend the organization, brand and products to others more often to the point that they are willing to pay a premium price?

Setting the destination, auditing the current situation and mapping the journey is an iterative process that may require several revisions before a final CRM strategy is developed. The challenge is to avoid rushing the development process, as the company may be committed to many years of change.

Five marketing time wasters

From: Five marketing time wasters

Deciding how to allocate time and resources is a difficult process for any business -and it’s even harder for start-ups. But of all the allocation decisions to be made, there’s none more difficult than marketing.

In an excellent article Scott Olson tells about five marketing time wasters the details to each of those can be found at his blog. :

1. Bloated Marketing Requirements Documents (MRD)
   
   
2. Direct mail lead generation
   
   
3. Analyst subscriptions
   
   
4. Branding, advertising, and trade show sponsorships
   
   
5. Detailed sales PowerPoint presentations

The CRM Mashup

From small to large, from the enterprise to the mid-size organization, from on-demand to on premises with consolidations aplenty, there's a sea change going on in CRM.

Enterprise mashups aim to bring business intelligence to desktops, with automated tools collecting and integrating selected Web data into a spreadsheet. Business Mashups LLC is conducting a "social CRM" experiment called Social Sales which reduces the need to leave a CRM app to gather information.

If mashups sound like the kind of Web 2.0 application best used for checking traffic jams on Google Maps, think again: Mashups within the enterprise environment are becoming common for functions such as integrating social-networking information into CRM Relevant Products/Services tools. And as they get easier to make, they'll continue to grow in popularity and usefulness.

Business Mashups LLC, which creates mashup environments for businesses, has taken some steps forward in bringing mature mashups into the corporation. In the coming week(s) we will release several mashup products that aim to bring business intelligence to desktops with little human intervention.

CRM Mashups

Customer-service management tools are also benefiting from mashups. Business Mashups LLC will provides open-source tools for rapid Web application development, in a "social CRM" experiment called Social Sales.

Today's CRM application users are tapping half a dozen other Web resources to populate their databases and get their jobs done. For example, when salespeople review trade-show leads, they may come across a familiar name. If more information about that person is not already in the CRM system, then someone needs to start researching on social-networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to find out more about that person, which provides greater social context about the sales lead.

Social Sales will drastically reduces the need to leave a CRM application to gather the required information. Thanks to rapidly deployed Ajax applications and mashup robots, companies can create powerful social CRM applications in a day or two.

Subscribers Are Vital For An Online Marketing Growth Strategy

Adam Singer has posted an interesting post "Subscribers Are Vital For An Online Marketing Growth Strategy" on his blog "Online Marketing Blog" where he reveals the importance of having a commuhity to your online brand.

Singer has 9 points; the details to each of those can be found at his blog.

1. The ~11% of web users who know to use RSS include the users savvy enough to be web publishers
   
   
2. You’ll become a go-to area to link to
   
   
3. Subscribers are your sneezers
   
   
4. A base of well-connected fans could very well be the cornerstone of your social marketing strategy
   
   
5. Community is what makes sites worth visiting
   
   
6. Subscribers will motivate you to create better content
   
   
7. Consolidated network presence is the most effective
   
   
8. Social proofing
   
   
9. Subscribers and a fan base make you less reliant on push PR

My Favorite is:

#7 A consolidated network presence is the most effective

A simple, effective way to have your messages make the largest impact is to build one consolidated source for distribution. Once you’ve chosen that place, focus on funneling as many people to subscribe to it as possible and make it the authoritative voice for your brand or industry. Spawn satellite networks too, but with the purpose of feeding the main hub. Don’t lose sight that the end goal is to create one popular area.

Relationship Marketing

The key goal of marketing is to develop deep, enduring relationships with all people or organisations that could directly or indirectly affect the success of the firm's marketing activities.

Thus relationship marketing paves the way for attaining this goal.

Relationship marketing is the process of attracting, maintaining, and enhancing relationships with key people.

In good times and bad, savvy business people have but one focus --- the customer. They know it's much more cost-effective to sell more services to an existing client than to fund new customer acquisition. Their client list is their most valuable asset, but more than that, they develop long-lasting relationships by keeping in touch -- in good times and bad.

Relationship marketing delivers many benefits to a firm, big or small. Slowly but surely, as you build your client and prospect list, you'll be able to reduce marketing expenses, build referrals, and grow your business in step with your clients' needs.

Your marketing dollars will go further if you use it to build, nurture, and develop your customer relationships. This isn't as difficult as you think. Building these relationships just means treating your customers and clients as if they truly are your strategic partners and showing them that you truly care about them. It's important to try to satisfy them with the right products and services, supported by the right promotion and making it available at the right time and location. Customers can easily detect indifference and insincerity and they simply will not tolerate it. Long-term client and customer loyalty is a long-term challenge that you must strive for every day and with every transaction no matter how big or small.

While a growing business needs to constantly capture new customers, the focus and priority should be on pleasing your existing customer base. Companies that fail to nurture and retain their customer base ultimately fail. You will also spend twice as much to get new clients as you will in maintaining your existing customer base.You will also be limited in your ability to attract new clients if you can't hold onto and satisfy your existing customers and clients.

The bottom line is that one of the key components in marketing and business growth is to spend the majority of your time and effort nurturing customer relationships, so that you get business from existing clients and customers. This is a strategy that will move you forward in increasing your sales without increasing your budget.

1. Change your Perspective from "Here's what I do" to "What do you need?"
   
   The cornerstone of successful relationships is to discover precisely what your clients need and want. When you meet with them, you listen to their problems and recommend solutions. When you contact them after a meeting, you suggest resources for helping them address the issues you discussed. The solutions and resources you recommend may include your products and services, of course, but you don't stop there. You also offer answers that don't involve hiring you.
   
   The impact of this kind of generosity on your prospective clients can be dramatic. Instead of considering your calls or e-mails an interruption, they will welcome hearing from you. They will no longer count you as a salesperson or vendor, but rather as a valuable resource and important person to know.
   
   This requires a shift in your attitude, to being of service instead of selling a service.
   
   
2. Recognize your Vulnerability
   
   In the midst of a project, you might be in touch with your client several times a week. But it's the time between projects that is crucial to relationship-building. Once the work is done, you drop out of that enviable top-of-mind awareness position. Over time, your client isn't as likely to think of you as their first port of call for a solution to their problem. This is when you're most vulnerable to replacement by a competitor.
   
   Fortunately, an affordable solution can help you retain those clients you worked so hard to acquire.
   
   
3. Keep in touch
   
   It's such a simple concept, but keeping in touch often sinks to the bottom of the 'to do' list. The single easiest way to keep in touch is to publish an email newsletter. Ask clients to subscribe and insert a subscription box on your site to capture email addresses of prospects who like the look of what you're doing.
   
   The secret to a good newsletter is to avoid blatant self-promotion, and instead offer valuable information to your subscribers. With their permission, you have the opportunity to drop into their email boxes every month with news, tips, case-studies, FAQs, and other relevant info that subtly promotes your services, reinforces your brand, educates your clients, and builds trust.
   
   
4. Position Yourself as an Expert
   
   Words matter. Prospective clients are looking for more an elegant portfolio of sites you've built. Your job is to tell them how you can meet their needs. Your Website is the perfect place to start, but the focus must be on the client, not on you.
   
   Include white papers, special reports, case-studies, and links to other resources that will educate your clients on the best solution to their needs. Be careful to avoid jargon, overly technical concepts and acronyms. If you're publishing an email newsletter, use it to introduce this new content and bring subscribers back to your site.
   
   When you are perceived as an expert, you become attractive to prospects who use the Web to research. They see you as someone who has answers to their questions, and who can help solve their problems.
   
   
5. Grow to Meet Client Needs
   
   Websites are hardly stand-alone entities that need an occasional tweak. For most businesses, they're but one tool amidst many that are used to build brand, increase revenues or minimize costs. And by offering more tools that help your clients reach their goals, you become more valuable. Build affiliations or strategic relationships with specialists whose talents will benefit your clients.
   

The Payoff

The benefits of a relationship marketing approach go both ways. Your client views you as a valuable consultant, rather than a cost center. Your potential for increased revenues and a long-lasting relationship is real.

There's payoff for you, too, including reduced marketing expenses measured in both time and money. If you can retain more clients for longer periods, you'll trim costly space advertising and other marketing costs.

If you ask, you'll get more referrals from your clients. Priceless word-of-mouth endorsements from satisfied customers will result in new business which magically walks in the door.

You won't even have to request client testimonials. You do include several on your Website... right? Start by recognizing when you receive a spontaneous testimonial, whether it's in an email, thank-you letter, or a conversation. Ask your client if you may use his words and name in your brochure and on your site, with a link to his business. Most often, the answer is yes. Testimonials are a critical piece of successful service marketing and worth their weight in whatever precious metal you value.

Case-studies will be a breeze and add a powerful marketing tool - perfect for your Website or for inclusion in printed marketing materials. Follow a 'situation -- problem -- solution -- benefits' flow to highlight how you solved the client's problem, stressing the benefits the client now enjoys as a result of your work. Use a handful of client case studies in industries you're targeting for new business development. Examples of "just like me" situations help prospective clients understand exactly how useful your services are.

Relationship-focused marketing isn't something that will happen overnight. It requires a change in thinking and some discipline along the way. Your email newsletter won't do much good unless you publish it regularly and the content is valued by your subscribers. But the rewards can be significant. And the truth is that no matter how wonderful you are, clients go away. Their businesses close down, change focus, or are sold.

But if your objective is to build relationships instead of Web application software, you'll be one of the designers in business for the long run.

The Dark Knight Viral: Why So Serious? Case Study

From digitalbuzz

This is The Dark Knight Viral “Why So Serious?” Case Study.The “Why So Serious?” campaign won the Cannes 2009 Cyber Grand Prix in the viral category. It was a huge global success, with over 10 million unique players participating! It was created by 42 Entertainment.

Social Networks as a Market Research tool

Traditionally, marketers used demographics (compiled by market research firms) as one of the main tools to identify and target potential customers. Factors such as a person's age, sex, and where they live remain important to getting your message across to the right people.

Social networking is one of the hottest new Web technologies in sight with millions of users registering and participating around the globe. The social web is an often overlooked resource full of excellent information. Whether you’re working on a research project, building your brand, or just trying to find some information, look to social media sites to find what you’re looking for.

Participants worldwide contribute to and collaborate in readily available online discussions, creating new knowledge bases that are not yet fully recognized as information sources. Social networks typically require registration but are free to join, and significantly, to search for a vast array of reference questions, research projects, and to find experts for all kinds of requirements.

Word of mouth has always been one of the most powerful marketing methods—people more often that not use the products that their friends like and recommend. Social media sites can provide this type of data on numerous products and services. Want to find the best laptop computer? Doing a traditional Google search won't get you far. Why? Because you won't get a recommendation, or multiple recommendations. More than likely, you'll get review sites. Do a search on a social networking site, however, and I guarantee you will find a list of what people think are the best laptops.

Because of the open nature of social networking, you can easily find your customers and see what they do online and who their friends are. Friends of your customers are an excellent target market. In fact, research has shown that people are as much as five times more likely to buy a product if their friends like it.

While you may not be able to get full details of an existing customer's contacts from websites like FaceBook and MySpace, you can get a lot of valuable information. If you set up a FaceBook profile and ask to become a friend with an existing customer, you will most likely be accepted, if they liked your product. Through this one connection, you have the opportunity to identify their friends and other contacts.

Some people may argue against the ethics of this, it can certainly be effective. If you're genuine and upfront, you shouldn't have any problems. If you approach it as a problem solver, rather than a marketer, you'll be able to make some headway.

However, it's not a good idea to make unsolicited requests for friendships on these websites. You'll probably get rejected as well as banned from contacting that person again. However, if you can come up with good, interesting content you can send it along to your friend list. If people value your information, they will ultimately value you.

Use these tips to make the most out of social web research.

1. Set up alerts: Use various services to create tracking and alerts for industry keywords, your name, and any other information that is relevant to your research.
   
   
2. Filter your feeds: Monitoring social media can be time consuming, so set up your feeds to
   only deliver content that’s relevant to you.
   
   
3. Pay attention to demographics: Be sure to pay attention to the demographics of the social media users you’re using for research.
   
   
4. Monitor your reputation: Researching the social web will allow you to find out when others are talking about you and allow you to respond.
5. Use Google Search’s site: operator: By adding “site:yoursocialmediasiteofchoice,” you can delve into the depths of just about any social media site.
   
   
6. Set up feeds: Save yourself some time when researching-instead of occasionally checking for alerts, news, and other pieces of social web information, set up an RSS feed that will collect it for you.
   
   
7. Regularly assess subscriptions: Make sure you’re only following feeds that are helpful to your research by doing a review every month or quarter.
   
   
8. Perform market research on your connections: In Facebook, Twitter, and other social media tools, you can turn to your own connections and learn about their interests just by monitoring the videos, images, and information they post.
   
   
9. Use a dashboard: Create your own social media monitoring dashboard in order to keep all of your research in one place.
   
   
10. Seek out authorities: On Facebook, Twitter, and other sites, get connected with users who will provide you with excellent information.
    
    
11. Look beyond who you already know: Check out your contacts’ contacts to find people that can offer you quality knowledge as well.
    
    
12. Just ask: Make use of your social media connections, and simply ask the people you know on Twitter Facebook, LinkedIn and other social sites what you’d like to find out.
    
    
13. Use “best of” features: On FriendFeed, you can use the “best of” feature to only check out the best posts of the day, week or month, so you can just skip to the good stuff.
    
    
14. Find out what’s buzzing in your niche: Use social media to track ideas and see what’s going on in your niche.
    
    
15. Check out popular posts: Use tools that will allow you to see the most popular posts on the web.
    
    
16. Research your competitors: The social web is a great place to learn about what your competitors are putting out there, and what others are saying about them.
    
    
17. Stay on top of breaking news: Use social media research to keep up with the important events happening in your niche.
    
    
18. Always check out the comments: On blogs with a good following, the comments are often as valuable as the blog post itself.
    
    
19. Get networked: Find out who is talking about issues that are relevant to your niche through social web research.
    

Social Media Goldmines

Check out these sites for the most reliable research information on the social web.

1. Delicious: Delicious is the biggest collection of bookmarks online, and can point you to high quality resources for just about anything.
   
   
2. Wikipedia: This excellent online encyclopedia offers information on just about anything you’d like to know about.
   
   
3. Digg: Digg highlights top stories and breaking news across the web.
   
   
4. Facebook: With a large enough network, you can use Facebook to crowdsource information and perform your own market research on connections.
   
   
5. Yelp: Research local businesses through the information found on Yelp.
   
   
6. Twitter: Build your Twitter follow list to include sources that can provide you with the ongoing information you seek.
   
   
7. Flickr: Find images and photographs of people, events, and more on Flickr.
   

Polls, Q&A

Ask questions and get answers with these tools.

1. BuzzDash: Using BuzzDash, you can create a poll and get community members involved.
   
   
2. LinkedIn Polls: With LinkedIn Polls, you’ll be able to find answers to your research questions by asking your network and other professionals.
   
   
3. WikiAnswers: On WikiAnswers, users can edit answers to questions anyone asks.
   
   
4. IKnowTweet: This site monitors Twitter for questions and answers.
   
   
5. Research Aid: Use Research Aid to get information via questionnaires on Facebook.
   
   
6. Ask MetaFilter: Use MetaFilter’s tags and search to find the information you’re looking for on Ask MetaFilter.
   
   
7. ToAnswer: Ask a question to @toask, and you’ll get answers through your Twitter account.
   
   
8. Answerbag: On Answerbag, you’ll be able to post questions and receive answers that others can vote on.
   

Trends

Monitor what’s popular on social media sites using these tools.

1. TweetVolume: Find out how much your keyword is discussed, and its stats to similar terms.
   
   
2. Facebook Lexicon: Check out Facebook Lexicon to see what’s being discussed on Facebook walls.
   
   
3. Technorati: Blogger Central: Check out rising links, top blogs, and more in BloggerCentral.
   
   
4. Social Radar: Social Radar offers the Ultimate social media marketing with an overview of content from blogs, social networks, feeds, news, and forums.
   
   
5. TweetScan: TweetScan will tell you who is currently talking about the keywords you subscribe to.
   
   
6. eKstreme: eKstreme shares blog data from Technorati and social bookmarks from del.icio.us.
   
   
7. Google Trends: Google Trends shares some of the hottest search trends in social media and beyond.
   
   
8. Twendz: Stay on top of Twitter conversations and trends through Twendz.
   
   
9. BlogPulse: Nielsen Buzzmetrics’ BlogPulse offers automatic trend discovery on blogs, and what’s going on in the blogosphere.
   
   
10. Trendpedia: With Trendpedia, you can see charts that show the volume of topic discussion.
    
    
11. PostRank: Using PostRank, you’ll be able to find the most talked about posts on any RSS feed.
    
    
12. Omgili Charts: Through Omgili’s Buzz Graphs, you can measure and compare the buzz of different terms.
    

Search

These tools will make it easy for you to go straight to what you’re looking for.

1. Technorati: Use Technorati’s search to find out what’s being said in the blogosphere.
   
   
2. Google Custom Search: Google Custom Search will make it easier for you to get results only from the blogs and social media websites that you’re interested in.
   
   
3. Social Mention: Social Mention searches all over user generated content to find the information you seek.
   
   
4. compfight: compfight will search Flickr for inspiration, research, and more.
   
   
5. Yahoo! Pipes: Using Yahoo! Pipes, you’ll be able to better wrangle information on the social web and beyond.
   
   
6. Keotag: Use Keotag to tag multiple search engines and generate social bookmark links.
   
   
7. BlogCatalog Social Media Search Engine: This search engine seeks out information from the BlogCatalog directory as well as more than 20 other social media sites.
   
   
8. Addictomatic: Addictomatic makes it easy for you to create your own custom page with buzz on any topic.
   
   
9. Icerocket: Icerocket will allow you to search blogs, the web, Twitte, MySpace, and more.
   
   
10. FlickrStorm: Use FlickrStorm to find related and relevant images on Flickr.
    
    
11. WhosTalkin?: This social media research tool will allow you to find topics on more than 60 popular social media sites.
    
    
12. Google Blog Search: Find recent blog posts in your keywords to get ongoing insight.
    
    
13. BoardReader: Using BoardReader, you’ll be able to search multiple message boards and forums at once.
    
    
14. Alltop: Alltop’s “online magazine rack” will help you find information about popular topics being discussed in blogs.
    
    
15. Omgili: Omgili offers a search that focuses on user generated platforms like forums, discussion groups, and other social media.
    
    
16. Twitter Search: You can search to see current conversations on Twitter.
    

Tracking & Alerts

With these tools, you can conveniently get updated whenever your keywords are mentioned on the social web.

1. Tip’d Social Tickers: SocialTickers on Tip’d will allow you to track stock tickers all over the social web.
   
   
2. ThreatTracker: Using ThreatTracker, you can identify and assess online threats to your company, brand, or product.
   
   
3. Google Alerts: Get email updates on the latest Google results for your keyword from Google Alerts.
   
   
4. TweetDeck: TweetDeck is a Twitter application that offers grouping and notifications for keywords.
   
   
5. Technorati Watchlist: Set up a Technorati Watchlist to find out when certain URLs or keywords are mentioned in blogs.
   
   
6. Wikiscanner: Wikiscanner will help you learn about anonymous Wikipedia edits from well known organizations.
   
   
7. Monitter: Set up keywords in Monitter to keep an eye on keywords on Twitter through RSS as well as live monitoring.
   
   
8. Backtype: Backtype is an excellent tool for monitoring blog comments.
   
   
9. The BuzzMonitor: Use this open source application to listen to what people are saying on blogs and other social media.
   
   
10. BoardTracker: Track words in forums with BoardTracker.
    
    
11. Yacktrack: Through Yacktrack, you can follow comments from a variety of sources all at once.
    
    
12. Filtrbox: Use Filtrbox to track your prospects, brand, competition, and investments on the social web and all over the Internet.
    
    
13. TweetBeep: TweetBeep is a reliable tool for getting alerted when someone tweets about your selected keywords.
    

Analytics & Information Gathering

Analyze and gather information with the help of these tools.

1. Adonomics: Use Adonomics to get analytics for the Facebook platform.
   
   
2. UGC Finder: Check out this tool to get information from citizen journalists.
   
   
3. SocialToo: Get daily updates on social media analytics, create surveys, and more through SocialToo.
   
   
4. Twitter Grader: Check out Twitter Grader to learn more about a Twitter user and discover related users as well.
   

Organization

Use these tools to get your social media research conveniently organized.

1. iLeonardo: iLeonardo is a social utility that can help connect people with notebooks of information.
   
   
2. PeopleBrowsr: PeopleBrowser will allow you to keep tabs on all of your most useful social networking sites at once.
   
   
3. ThinkFold: ThinkFold makes it easy to create outlines for sharing and collaboration online.
   
   
4. Netvibes: Netvibes is an excellent tool to use as an RSS social media monitoring dashboard.
   
   
5. Google Docs and Spreadsheets: Organize your documents and spreadsheets online, and keep them open for collaboration with Google Docs and Spreadsheets.
   
   
6. Bubbl.us: With Bubbl.us, you can get your thoughts organized online.
   
   
7. Zoho Notebook: Use Zoho Notebook to keep your research notes online in a handy place.
   
   
8. Zotero: Add Zotero on to Firefox, and you can collect, manage, and cite your research sources right in your web browser.
   
   
9. WebNotes: Using WebNotes, you’ll be able to highlight text, make sticky notes, and organize them all in folders.
   
   
10. Flowchart: Flowchart makes it easy to create organized charts for your notes and research information.
    
    
11. UberNote: UberNote’s tool lives where you do your research-in your browser, email, IM, mobile device, and more.
    
    
12. Backpack: Keep all of your research information together online using Backpack.
    
    
13. Google Notebook: Use Google Notebook to keep notes, clips, and more handy, with the option to access notes from your mobile device.
    
    
14. Connotea: With Connotea, you’ll be able to organize and share research information.
    
    
15. EverNote: Research and take notes both online and on the go with EverNote.
    
    
16. Google Reader: Make Google Reader your base for collecting research information from various RSS feeds.
    
    
17. Notecentric: Notecentric will allow you to organize your notes online and share them with others.
    
    
18. ClipMarks: With ClipMarks, you can save bits and pieces of any webpage, and even share them with others.
    
    
19. Remember the Milk: Remember the Milk is a great tool for project checklists and more.
    
    
20. openonmy: Use openonmy to store files up to 1GB online, so you can access them from anywhere.
    
    
21. iLighter: Highlight portions of a webpage and save them to your notebook with iLighter.

Source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/use-social-networking-for-market-research.html

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Sales and Marketing Performance Trends for Small & Medium Busines

Request Your Complimentary Report NOW! "Sales and Marketing Performance Trends for Small & Medium Business" Discover the hottest trends in Small Business Sales and Marketing—and see how the leading on-demand CRM solution can put these trends to work for you. The summary describes three keys to SMB success: Documenting and debugging your sales process. Providing enabling technology. Hiring/retaining sales talent. Offered Free by: Salesforce.com

What Oracle sees in Sun Microsystems

Over the past 13 years, Sun Microsystems' Java language has become one of the computer industry's best known brands, and under appreciated assets.

The tension wasn't lost on Sun's new owner, Oracle, which on Apr. 20 said it will purchase Silicon Valley pioneer Sun for $7.4 billion in cash. If Oracle has its way, Java will emerge not only as a strong revenue source but also a key component of plans to keep customers loyal for years to come.

During a conference call with analysts on Apr. 20, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison called Java "the single most important software asset we have ever acquired." It's a bold statement from a chief executive who has spent in excess of $40 billion to buy more than 50 software companies since 2005.

Powering PCs and Cell Phones

Ellison is willing to make that call because the Java programming language, widely used to write much of the world's business software, is a key ingredient in Oracle's recipe for ensuring the many products it has already acquired work smoothly together. Java also runs on 800 million PCs and 2.1 billion mobile phones. PC makers and cell-phone vendors, including Nokia, pay royalties to license the software.

"When you look at those numbers, they're enormous," Citigroup analyst Brent Thill says of Java's potential. "Oracle looks at this and says, 'This could be a $1 billion business.' Yet Java supplied just $220 million of Sun's $13.9 billion in 2008 revenue. "Java is the most valuable brand in software that has no value," says Joshua Greenbaum, principal of industry analysis firm Enterprise Applications Consulting.

Oracle hopes to wring value from the deal in part by cutting costs to make Sun's hardware and software businesses profitable. Oracle also wants to sell Sun's Solaris operating system and servers in tandem with its market-leading database software. Citigroup's Thill estimates Oracle could cut between 40% and 70% of Sun's roughly 33,000 employees. Excluding restructuring costs, Oracle expects Sun to add $1.5 billion in profit during the first year after the acquisition closes this summer, and another $2 billion the following year. Oracle executives declined to say how many jobs would be eliminated.

Buying Sun gives Oracle access to popular software it can wield against its competitors. In addition to Java, Oracle gains Solaris, widely used in industries including telecom and finance. Oracle also picks up the MySQL database, which is available free under an open-source licensing arrangement, and could help Oracle check sales of Microsoft's SQL Server database to smaller companies. "Sun is not a well-managed company," says one industry executive familiar with its business. "But it does have assets that can become lethal weapons for the one owning them."

Little Hardware Experience

But to gain those assets, Oracle also has to take on a hardware business, something it has little experience running. Ellison will have to make a success of Sun's server business, which has been losing money. Oracle has made its own forays into the hardware business, striking a deal with Hewlett-Packard last year to produce servers designed to provide a performance boost to Oracle databases that run on them.

Oracle executives suggested during the conference call that they could sell specially tuned packages of Sun hardware and Oracle software in industries including telecom, retail, and banking.

But Oracle's 46% operating profit margins, among the industry's highest, will no doubt be squeezed by the addition of Sun's server business. "There are far more challenges here than opportunities," says James Staten, an analyst at Forrester Research. Some Wall Street and industry analysts suggested Oracle sell Sun's hardware business to help pay for the software with more long-term value.

In that regard, Java could be a trump card for Ellison. For one, Oracle can throw its large and effective sales force at Java, and contracts with Nokia and other handset vendors are coming due for renewal, says one source close to Oracle.

A Counterweight to Microsoft

Second, Java is key to a set of Oracle business applications called Fusion, designed to stitch together the array of programs Oracle has scooped up through its acquisition binge. Controlling the software in house could help Oracle assure customers of a smooth transition from older products to new ones. And owning Java gives Oracle a counterweight to Microsoft as it tries to convince more developers to incorporate its database, middleware, and other software into their products.

Oracle is expected to generate more than half of its estimated $23.1 billion in 2009 sales from technical support and "maintenance" of products its customers have already licensed. Those support contracts carry profit margins of about 90%. Controlling Java "is all about future maintenance streams," says Citigroup's Thill. "This will create stickier lock-in for the Oracle installed base."

One company that notably held its fire about the Oracle-Sun deal is IBM, which also heavily relies on Java. Oracle's bid for Sun edged out IBM's $7 billion offer, which fell apart earlier this month. While Oracle could use the acquisition to make it harder for Big Blue to develop software using Java, a person close to IBM says Oracle would be better served using Java as a bulwark against Microsoft, whose .Net technology competes with Java. "Both IBM and Oracle need, more than anything else, a healthy Java market," says consultant Greenbaum. Now that IBM has taken a pass, Java's fate lies largely in Oracle's hands.

Time to Protect Your Best Customers

Studies of recessions dating to the 1920’s prove that marketing aggressively in a down economy can increase market share substantially more than during good times.

A top best practice in tough times is fiercely protecting your loyal customers, making Customer Retention Marketing more important today than ever. Put your customers at the heart of your business, and you build a competitive advantage that continues to grow after the economy recovers. Unfortunately, many marketers limit themselves to an outdated, simplistic, and less effective CRM approach. It’s time to usher in a 21st Century CRM that utilizes the most powerful strategies and tools available, and achieves great success in a weak marketplace.

Out with the Old CRM Approach

Too often CRM programs consist only of outbound e-mail or direct mail. As more consumers become engaged with alternative communication channels, and less with e-mail, now is the time to upgrade CRM. For example, young people seldom use e-mail unless they have to, instead relying on social media (e.g., Facebook), text messaging or IM. (“You sent me an e-mail? I never check my e-mail,” say my teenage and college-age daughters.)

Keep the CRM mainstays — e-mail and direct mail — that have worked well, but augment your efforts by exploiting digital and social marketing opportunities, like digital tools (IM, widgets, etc.), mobile, and social media. The new CRM mix has many concurrent elements, such as social communities needing an e-mail blast to update members, or some e-mail requiring a social media approach that engages more personally.

Welcome to 21st Century CRM

Here are 7 ways to seize the tremendous opportunity of 21st century CRM:

Think CMR. The term “Customer Managed Relationships (CMR)” was coined to recognize that consumers exercise more control of marketing interactions. Studies indicate the more control you cede — letting consumers select their preferred communication channels, content they want, how frequently they hear from you — the more likely they will opt in, interact, engage, etc.
Example: Centrum Healthy Habits lets consumers select the frequency of communications they receive.

Detach & distribute. Don’t limit consumer interaction with your brand to one channel. Provide portable content, tools and experiences that are multi-channel and travel with consumers wherever they go (e.g., mobile). Place your content and tools on 3rd party sites. Develop communications across e-mail, mobile, social, etc. that let consumers subscribe in multiple ways.
Example: Kraft Foods’ iPhone application provides mobile recipes and tips.

Practice “Marketing as Service”. Deliver content and tools that consumers see as providing real value and relevance. Communicate with a helpful, customer-centric voice to deliver content or tools that deeply engage, provide a tangible value-add, and build an ongoing relationship.
Example: Hallmark Crown Rewards offers calendar reminders for most occasions.

Be “social,” a “community organizer”. Create community areas on your site and on social media destinations (e.g., Facebook) where your target congregates, to facilitate connections sharing with one another. Actively participate through community content and interactions, like engaging customers in product discussions. Enrich the experience by creating a dialogue inviting feedback or input.

Example: Nestle Very Best Baking allows bakers to share recipes.

Measure more than 1 to 1. Continue comparing sales of a control group of customers that don’t receive your CRM program with those who do to quantify the incremental value of the program. But also track the Word of Mouth, Viral and Advocacy effect, through quantitative social media measurement tools and qualitative surveys.

Example: Nuts Online tracked the impact of a 2007 viral campaign that saved the CBS Show Jericho.

Beyond Customers. Expand CRM to incorporate key constituencies — employees, distributors, retailers, professional gatekeepers (e.g., physicians for pharma). Create programs that build stronger relationships with your organization’s important groups, and link them to increase CRM’s performance, such as when a retail consumer receives your CRM and subsequently sees a related in-store display.

Example: Royal Caribbean offers programs to both travel agents and consumers.

Identify Advocacy Potential. Identify your most valuable and loyal customers via your database or during opt-in registration. Treat your most valuable customers like VIPs. Invite loyals to be advocates or ask their propensity for word-of-mouth. Identify influentials in social media discussions and empower them as potential advocates, too. Time your CRM contacts for when customers are most passionate about your products.

Example: Karmaloop enlisted customers in its “Street Team” with unique rep codes to pass along to friends — the customer got a discount, the rep a commission, and the company over $700M in sales.

In this challenging marketing environment, these 7 opportunities will elevate your CRM to a 21st Century caliber, and ensure you achieve the best results possible.

Expresss your opinion, comment below.



By Michael Maher

Marketing is a Process, Not a Project

Smart businesspeople understand that they must build and maintain long-term relationships with profitable customers. This starts when they invite their prospects to purchase their superior products and services and ends when they become loyal customers.

In order to achieve this goal you’ll need more than passion and technical knowledge. You’ll also need to learn ways to manage two primary business activities...

projects and processes – and understand the differences between the two.

Projects are distinctive, temporary and have a beginning, middle and end. For example, building your website is a project. It starts with an idea - you get designs, someone builds it, you place in on a server and launch it on the Internet. Once the site is up, the “project” is over. Conversely, processes are your businesses’ ongoing activities. So while you’ve completed a project by getting your site up and running, you now need to develop a process for updating and maintaining it for as long as your online business exists. This also applies to marketing in a more general way. Building a marketing strategy may be a project, implementing that strategy is the process. While each contains actionable tasks, projects are finite and processes can be duplicated and used over and over again.

How is this relevant to developing your business?

Simple. If you acknowledge the difference and manage the two successfully, it will make many of the challenges you face seem less daunting. As I’ve said before, marketing is about building lasting relationships with loyal customers. It involves a commitment to serve – before, during and after a sale. It’s a process, not a project – one that requires a long-term perspective. It’s not one transaction. It’s not one order. It’s not one anything… Rather, it’s accepting the benefits of ongoing connections and doing whatever it takes to grow and nourish them. Like a good marriage, it begins with a sincere desire to please two people – your and your spouse – and continues with a constant commitment to make that happen. So while the wedding itself is a project, the marriage is a continual process – one that must be “fed and watered” every day. If not, it usually fails. In a more specific way, your marketing communications is a process.

Consider this… Most experts agree that it takes a between 9 and 27 marketing messages before a consumer moves from a prospect to a customer. Although estimates vary widely one thing is sure – it’s more than one.

Should Microsoft Stores Worry Apple?

On Monday, David Porter starts at Microsoft as corporate vice president of retail. He comes to Microsoft following a two-year stint with DreamWorks Animation and a quarter-century at Wal-Mart. His first responsibility: Planning Microsoft stores.

I've long advocated that Microsoft should open retail stores. Apple's success isn't the reason. Microsoft has serious marketing problems that Apple is just now starting to encounter: Product complexity that complicates marketing. Succinctly, Microsoft problems are:

* Product benefits tend to multiply, which makes the selling harder. Microsoft widget A is pretty good but better with widget B and also C. Microsoft calls this concept "better together," but it's worse from a marketing perspective. Apple's hardship is less, because popular products such as iPod and iTunes started out doing one thing well and expanded features over time; customers are familiar with the basics. New capabilities tend to be related and consolidated.

* Retailers could better promote Microsoft product benefits, but often don't. They typically still push hardware and software specs and features over benefits. Apple has similar problems outside its own stores.

* No one sells a Microsoft lifestyle. Most successful brands promote a lifestyle related to their products. Apple, Harley-Davidson, Nokia and Pepsi are all lifestyle brands. Among Pepsi products, Mountain Dew is perhaps best example of lifestyle marketing. The official Web site, with the now shortened Mtn Dew, shows the lifestyle approach. Apple Stores promote a Mac lifestyle. Microsoft has got none.

These are the reasons Microsoft should open retail stores, but company executives might have other ones. If the primary one is Apple, I predict the stores are doomed before they open. Chasing Apple is the wrong reason to go into retail.

Budget? Hip? Practical?
There are tweets aplenty about Microsoft's retail plans, today. Jim Hong appropriately questioned: "What kind of brand image are they going for? Boutique or Budget? Hip or Practical?"

Microsoft could go a number of different ways with the stores:

* The Wal-Mart approach would emphasize value: Microsoft software and OEM partner hardware pack in lots of features for low cost. Value marketing would emphasize the so-called "Apple Tax"—the price premium Microsoft claims people pay for Macs over PCs. Apple wouldn't want these kinds of retail shops in the same malls as its stores.

* Hip would emphasize gaming and entertainment. That means Xbox 360 and all the cool ways to customize the game consoles with third-party gears. Yes, Zune would have its place in the stores and Windows Mobile phones, too. Two themes would emerge: Having fun and being social using Microsoft software and services or supporting third-party products.

* The practical approach would cater to small businesses—how they can get more done for less by going Microsoft. But there would be a practical aspect relating to lifestyle, too. Increasingly there are simultaneously convergent and divergent personal and professional lifestyles. The same products are often used at work or school and home.

Jim's questions are appropriate, because the answers should be "yes" to them all. Microsoft should open one kind of store that is budget-oriented, hip and practical. Microsoft would be smart to quadrant the stores, but not the same as Apple does. Apple stores used to be sectioned by lifestyle function, such as photos and video. Today, the stores are more-often divided up around products. Microsoft should be bolder, with quadrants embracing different digital lifestyles.

Build the Right Store
I would design a Microsoft store around a central hub that is brimming with motion and excitement. Flashing screens would show different hip aspects of the Microsoft lifestyle and how different products can work well together. Along the periphery would be lifestyle quadrants. Some suggestions: Business, gaming, mobile, music, school and teens.

Teens should be a top marketing priority for Microsoft because:

* Apple and Google are doing well courting the teen segment to their products.

* Analysts say that today's teens don't have brand allegiance, which is wrong. There's a pack mentality; teen allegiance follows brands used by friends. If they all buy Microsoft, they all buy Microsoft. Or Apple.

* Even in a weak economy, teens will have lots of disposable income to spend.

Where Microsoft should imitate Apple: Sideline or even ditch altogether the cashier section. Apple's handheld point-of-sale device approach is simply brilliant. Microsoft should do the same. After all, those handhelds used in Apple Stores run Windows Mobile/CE.

The Nokia-Sony Hybrid
The best model for a Microsoft store isn't Apple, but a Nokia-Sony hybrid. Nokia and Sony share similar marketing and channel problems with Microsoft:

* They offer a wide variety of products.

* Their products are sold through many other retailers (e.g., channel conflict).

* The stores sell different digital lifestyles.

Sony says it all with the name: SonyStyle Store. Lifestyle is the point, and like Microsoft Sony sells many products that presumably get better when used together. Sony recently started putting BackStage booths in the stores. Like Apple's Genius Bar they provide technical assistance. Sony also promotes BackStage from the SonyStyle Web site. Microsoft stores should offer similar support and training services as Apple and Sony, with emphasis on promoting the Microsoft lifestyle.

Nokia operates two flagship stores in the United States compared to about 60 Sony locations (including outlets). Americans are deprived of Nokia marketing, since the cell phones sell more in Asia, Africa and Europe than here. Among technology companies, Nokia is the gold standard for lifestyle marketing, much better than even Apple.

My suggested Microsoft store design is for the purpose of emphasizing lifestyle. Microsoft may want something more concrete for people to identify with, which could even be "I'm a PC."

Microsoft should not just sell its technologies but use them in a hip, lifestyle-marketing way. There should be Surface tables, Touch Wall, Windows 7 multitouch screens, digicam demonstrations using Photsynth and learning area with WorldWide Telescope. Why not some Songsmith Karaoke?

Timing Is Perfect
I've read some commentary over the last 24 hours suggesting that Microsoft has got lousy timing. They contend that it's lunacy to be launching new retail stores when so many retailers are going bankrupt. That's butt thinking. Stop sitting on your brain! The recession makes 2009 a very good year to launch a new retail chain. Some reasons:

* Microsoft's retail channel is shrinking. Circuit City won't be the last electronics dealer to go belly up this year, or next.

* Retail real estate is going to be cheap. Mall managers are freaking out about all these stores closing. Microsoft would be a great multiyear tenant. Malls will get commitment, but perhaps not price. They're hurting for stores, and Microsoft will know it. No company negotiates good deals like Microsoft. Terms will favor Microsoft.

* Microsoft has the cash to invest in retail. If the stores are done well and located in high-trafficked malls, they'll pay for themselves in marketing.

Microsoft will succeed or fail based on vision. If the model is Wal-Mart, which is David's retail background, Microsoft shouldn't bother. If the vision is Microsoft's fake store, showcased in early January, again, there's no reason to bother. Staid Microsoft must be bold and do for retail what Apple did: Make competitors look oh-so last century. If not, Apple shouldn't worry much about Microsoft stores.

Personal Marketing for future needs

If you want to stand head and shoulders above the crowd and be in charge of your career, you must employ the latest Web 2.0 techniques and be willing to change those techniques as they are replaced by newer opportunities.

The only constant is change, and the rate of change is increasing. So the Web 2.0 world of today will certainly be replaced by Web 3.0—probably before you know it.

To achieve the highest level of success and fulfillment today, you must immerse yourself in the Web 2.0 frame of mind. That means developing a new set of career management habits.

Become the perfect passive job candidate
Soon, you will move from hunting for jobs to being hunted. Job boards will be a thing of the past, and open positions will come looking for you. That means you need to make yourself visible to prospective hiring managers and executive recruiters.

Social-networking sites and online portals are a great way to connect with like-minded professionals and increase your visibility in your area of thought leadership.

The MarketingProfs Know-how Exchange, LinkedIn, Ryze, and countless other portals and social-networking sites are your opportunity to become selectively famous. But like most tools, you need to use them if you want them to add value to your career.

When’s the last time you logged into a social-networking site?

Build your own fan club
Establish a blog. Make your point of view clear. Build an SEO strategy for your blog so you can attract people who are interested in what you have to say. With RSS feeds and open commenting, you can stay connected to a community.

Those with whom your message resonates will subscribe to your blog and/or post comments. This is a great way to express your thought-leadership, expand your virtual network, and increase your GQ (Google Quotient).

Remember, every post you make is one more item that Google will return when someone googles your name. And visibility is essential to professional success.

Use multimedia to express your views
Audio and video abound on the Web. They provide a fun, multifaceted way to clearly express your message. With over 50,000 new clips added to MySpace today (the day I wrote this article), video is no longer the exception. And with cool, free audio tools like Audacity, anyone can create sound clips that are professional-sounding.

A drab resume or Web site that does not take advantage of images, sounds, and movies will likely bore those who some across it. In a world where the average 20-year-old is an amateur film producer and sound engineer, you want to make sure you are using multimedia effectively to communicate your message

Next Generation Social Marketing

Next Generation Social Marketing

View more presentations from weinreich. (tags: issues health)

Marketers vs Consumer Expectations

There are two sides to satisfaction. The first is, of course, the quality of the product or service being marketed. The second is the level of quality the consumer expects. When the former exceeds the latter we win a crucial marketing battle.

As marketers we are continually reminded that we must exceed expectations. We are rarely warned, however, that these expectations are fluid and forever changing.

It is a difficult lesson for most organizations to accept. A US bank once spent £1.3m halving the amount of time that its customers had to spend in line waiting for a bank teller. With waiting time reduced to under two minutes, the bank anticipated an enormous leap in customer satisfaction and were depressed to discover no such increase in their next satisfaction survey. Research later explained that customers expected to wait between one and four minutes for a teller. It needed to exceed expectations, not just improve the bank's existing performance.

Customer expectations are notoriously slippery. They often temporarily change.

On a more long-term basis a competitor's tactics can quickly influence the expectations of a target market. Most economy airline passengers were happy with a single movie choice on long-haul flights until Virgin started offering a selection of movies. Suddenly one movie was not good enough.

What can marketers do in the face of such capricious consumers? First, avoid the product-oriented trap of viewing internal incremental improvements as victories. Start with an understanding of what customers expect and center your strategy around exceeding it.

Second, don't get cocky. A good marketer is a nervous marketer because they realize that a satisfied customer only represents a temporary victory.

Third, keep busy. Last year's market research revealed historical data on customer needs and it grows more irrelevant by the day. Be one of the few firms that conduct year-round research.

Retailers' tricks of trade to woo customers

It was only a matter of time before the economic climate hit the retail community , and the demise of Woolworths looks to be the first of many high street casualties. The reports from the street indicate that the situation is likely to get worse rather than better, and many retailers will be entering 2009 will trepidation.While consumers are benefiting from what seems like endless offers to drive sales there will be some retailers who will simply be unable to sustain this approach.

Ultimately such sales are always a last resort and will not ensure retailers maintain loyalty from consumers as they merely move from shop to shop to find the best offer. If the UK retailers are to have a fighting chance of survival they need to consider introducing a strategy which integrates marketing activity and drives an immediate response from the consumer.

This can be found by adopting an instore communication strategy, underpinned by sophisticated data analysis on purchasing behaviour. Long term activity such as loyalty cards have had great success in the past, however in the current economic climate retailers need to engage quickly to ensure the consumers spend in their store and not with the competition.

Relying on activity which takes weeks or months to result in an offer for the consumer will struggle to engage. What retailers need to understand is that there is an alternative and they can embrace an in-store customer activity which will drive sales and can also be utilised as a very powerful mechanism for marketing messages - clearly a win-win situation for all concerned. The beauty of this approach is that it ensures the customer is issued with an immediate promotion based on their recent purchasing history.

This form of communication will allow retailers and brands to prevent customer defection therefore as soon as they notice a customer’s spending is reducing they can respond to the current financial chill.

This strategy has long been embraced in the US and Europe and has provided unrivaled ROI against other activity. What is important for retailers to understand is this approach can be integrated seamlessly with other activity such as loyalty cards. This means they can continue to run these schemes but address the immediate economic climate.

Throughout 2009, retailers need to be smart with marketing budgets in order to ensure they don’t lose any market share, while still enticing new customers, which is by no means an easy challenge.

More companies use social media for marketing

From SentinalSource.com

Social media marketing is spreading as companies including SAS, Red Hat, Blue Cross and others recognize the benefits of blogs, online video and social networking sites such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and more. According to Forrester Research, the number of social media “spectators” — people who read or watch social media — has increased from 48 percent last year to 69 percent of people who venture online.

There are tons of studies that say word-of-mouth is more effective than any other marketing, and this is essentially word-of-mouth online.

People are talking about you and your brand and your issues. The only question is whether you want to have an influence on it.