According to a study by MarketingProfs and the Content Marketing Institute, it was found that Business-to-consumer (B2C) content marketers struggle tracking their content marketing return on investment (ROI). According to another study by B2C Content Marketing: 2015 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends—North America, Only 23% of B2C marketers say they are successful at tracking the ROI of their content marketing program, and nearly as many (21%) do not track ROI at all. Read more at: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/26252/2015-b2c-content-marketing-benchmarks-budgets-and-trends

According to a recent report from Marin Software, 88% of enterprise marketers are using digital retargeting to re-engage users who haven't purchased on initial visits. The most popular tools for retargeting come from Google. 89% of marketers re-target using the company's Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) or the Google Display Network (GDN). To know more, follow:  http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/26218/marketing-retargeting-benchmarks-trends-and-challenges

Audio Branding is an important aspect nowadays. But, what is Audio Branding? It is a distinct musical identity that expresses a product or service's promise, personality.  It defines your brand essence and value. The best practice is to have a clear process for developing your audio brand. Colleen Fahey (US managing director of Sixième Son) and Laurence Minsky (an associate professor in the marketing communication department at Columbia College, Chicago), writes about the processes which audio branding agencies have developed some methods to keep the team from going off track. Read more at:  http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2014/26202/how-to-get-the-most-of-out-of-best-practices-in-audio-branding

Nowadays, analytics is a key factor in sports industry. Analyst is part of any team whether it is a baseball team or an international soccer team. Yet, some sports team does not appreciate the value of analytics in the sports industry. Lloyd Melnick (CEO of fiveonenine games), in his article writes about some lessons on how sports teams use analytics that are relevant to all businesses which Davenport (Author of the book: Competing on Analytics) concluded. To know more about these lessons, follow: http://lloydmelnick.com/2014/09/04/lessons-from-sports-analytics/

A recent report from Retention Science said that 31% of online retailers in the US with annual marketing budgets exceeding $1 million do not personalize their websites and of the 69% of companies that do personalize their websites, just 21% offer personalized offers to visitors. The most popular form of website personalization for companies is product recommendations. To know more, follow:  : http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/25927/how-much-do-retail-marketers-personalize-websites-and-emails

Smartphones and tables enable consumers to stay connected and share their good and bad experiences. Marketers have to think mobile devices as a way of collecting valuable feedback. Mark Penson (CMO of Survey Anyplace), writes in his article how marketers can tap into customers' thinking to build their brand. Read more at: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2014/26150/always-on-marketing-to-the-always-connected-five-ways-to-tap-into-customer-thinking

Nowadays, the success of digital marketing depends on analytics and if it is used effectively, then marketers can recognize trends, uncover insights and take action such as personalizing content and remarketing. But, data loses its value if action is not taken timely. Now, the question arises that how marketers tackle the immense volume of data and take action. JD Nyland (Director of product management for Adobe Analytics), writes in this article how analytics can help in taking smarter action. To know more, follow:  http://www.cmswire.com/cms/digital-marketing/5-ways-analytics-enables-smarter-action-026782.php

Organizations should keep their marketing strategy flexible. Goals and strategy should be different. Caroline Melberg (Chief Engagement Officer, Small Business Mavericks) writes in her article about some ideas of different goals and strategies that a company should follow. Read more at: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/your-marketing-strategy-flexible-0

Interactive Voice Response is important for any call center. But, what is an Interactive Voice response or IVR? It is a technology that makes customer interactions efficient and streamlined. Some IVR’s are complex in design. Some companies don’t use IVR, and others have such a poor design. Richard Manulkin (Connect First), writes in this article some tips on how an IVR design can help in improving customer service.Read more at: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/861/Default.aspx

With the growth of business, one has to cater to a larger audience and that is the time to consider a new email service provider (ESP). Often CMOs and CTOs who want to upgrade ESPs meet with disappointment, because migration to a new platform can be tricky and it can have a positive or negative impact on a company's reputation and, therefore, in customer communications. Email is a channel that companies rely on for generating revenue, and mistakes can have a negative impact. Anthony Marnell (VP, North America of Mailjet), writes in his article about the mistakes that companies can avoid and save time and can expect a positive outcome. Read more at: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2014/26101/five-deadly-email-platform-migration-mistakes-to-avoid

Retailers are using analytical tools in order to drive sales. Organizations use tools such as pricing and assortment optimization, location analytics, and customer-driven marketing. Still, many retailers are puzzled to prioritize their analytical approaches. Some companies are astounded by the large number of options they have, while others find it difficult to manage data provided by various point-of-sale systems, websites and other internal transaction processes. Another reason is a lack of skilled analysts which hampers progress. Thomas H. Davenport (Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College in Massachusetts), writes in his article about the strategies and approaches organizations must follow while choosing their analytical tools. To know more, follow: http://www.teradatamagazine.com/v09n04/Viewpoints/The-potential-of-retail-analytics/

In today’s world, marketing is everything. If you cannot influence your customers, you will suffer loss. So, for that marketers try out different kind of things to influence customers. They bombard them with messages about how their products or services are better than those of others. Every company is giving such messages. The competition is stiff and that’s why companies have to make sure that they are heard. Hence, a new concept has come up - influencer marketing. But to understand influencer marketing, we need to understand who influencers are. Influencers are people who have established credibility and influence by their reliability and authenticity.  They can be bloggers, influential customers, thought leaders, journalists, consultants, industry experts. Andrew Cravenho (CEO of CBAC) writes in his article about some important steps that will help you build a successful influencer marketing strategy. Read more at: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2014/26058/how-to-build-an-influencer-marketing-strategy

In today’s world, social marketing media is important and companies should take advantage of it. But, you must know how to take advantage of this. So, understanding of social media marketing is an important to understand social media fundamentals. Susan Gunelius (CEO of KeySplash Creative Inc.), writes about 10 laws of social media marketing and how this will help build a base that will serve customers, brand and most significantly – the bottom line. Read more at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/218160

Nowadays,Ice Bucket Challenge has gone viral in social media. According to the author, Gabrielle Boko (Executive Vice President of Marketing at Sage North America), startups, established firms and marketers can learn from the success of the Ice Bucket Challenge. Those companies who are trying to develop a viral campaign can take into account the following points: 1 Identify the goal or cause. 2 Make it fun and easy. 3 Add immediacy. 4 Understand the power of multiplication. 5 Share on many platforms. 6 Give participants a chance to feel good. Read more at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236843

Contact centers are making the transition towards cloud technology from premises-based solutions. In a premise-based solution, companies make a huge investment, whereas in a cloud based solution, there is quick deployment, and less investment. It is more flexible. The operational cost is also less in cloud based solution. Updates of the contact center software can be delivered quickly through the cloud. Unlike premises-based solutions, a cloud hosted contact center is not a fixed solution. Call centers are developing beyond phone support to also handle customer interactions. Customer services are now given via chat, email, SMS, and social media. For contact centers call reliability and security are major concerns while moving to a cloud based solutions. But, due to flexibility, reliability, and future-proofing, companies are looking forward to move to cloud based solutions. To read more about the benefits of cloud based solutions, follow Carl Noblitt (VP Account Management, AireSpring)’s article link: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/850/Default.aspx

Branding is just not selling to your customers but also to connect with them. You have to make yourself trustworthy and have to build a fan base. So how do you make them coming back each time? You create brand FOMO or the fear of missing out. Katie Leimkuehler (Social Media Strategist, Author and Speaker) writes about four strategies that will help to create social media presence that people want to miss out on. They are: 1Make your fans feel important.  2. Make your content so amazing they won’t want to miss a post. 3.  Offer exclusive benefits to your fan base. 4. Be innovative. Read more at: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/4-key-strategies-create-social-media-brand-fomo

In cloud based contact center market, various types of solution, service, application, vertical, and region are playing an important role. Applications like call routing, queuing, data integration and recording, chat quality monitoring, real time decision making and work force optimization are being provided. The vendors in this market provide customer related data with call recordings to monitor agent performance and provide customers with better experience. To know more about cloud based contact center solution market, follow: http://www.sys-con.com/node/3194060

Customer loyalty is very important for any organization. Organizations must focus on how to build customer relationship and create customer loyalty. Chris X. Moloney (Director of Market Development and Strategy for Maritz Loyalty Marketing) writes about some tips on how to build customer loyalty and improve customer retention. They are: 1. Forget Price, Quality and Service Levels. 2. Satisfaction does not equal Loyalty. 3. Know your Best Customers. 4.  Treat Different Customers Differently.5. Understand and Use Marketing ROI. To know more details about these tips, follow: http://www.customerfocusconsult.com/articles/articles_template.asp?ID=19#.VB-mgZSSyJI

Content Management System (CMS) is an important part of success of any corporate website. But, to choose CMS is a difficult task. Here are five points we can consider while choosing a CMS for an organization. 1. Open Source vs. Proprietary. 2. Know Your Business and Technical Requirements. 3. Editing and Workflow Functionality 4. Customization Support 5. Social Community Support. To know more about the above points, follow Will Kelly (technical writer and analyst focusing on enterprise mobility and analyst at Studio B)’s article link: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/5-things-to-consider-when-selecting-a-cms-62901

Cloud based Customer Relationship Management  system helps in follow ups after getting leads. Cloud-based CRM systems also helps in providing an overview of sales, customer service, and prospective clients. Some systems also contain features that provide guidance on what your sales team can say in relevant follow-up efforts. In some CRM system, one can set up automated follow ups that in turn helps salesperson minimize their work. Salesperson can capture, save, and upload customer data into a cloud-based CRM system and this helps to reach out to leads within minutes. Some CRM software is designed to filter cold leads based on time. To read more about cloud based CRM systems, follow Anthony Ortega (analyst with Studio B)’s article link: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/cloudbased-crm-helps-your-business-followups-62898