Organizations forget the benefits of a customer relationship management (CRM) solution. They forget the benefit of having a centralized database in which they can store customer information. In this age of Big Data, the centralized database would not only help the sales team but also other departments. Management will be able to review customer records from one location when their time is limited. Organizations can train the users in one system rather than in multiple systems. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/centralized-data-for-crm-64692

Nowadays most people are working remotely and companies have accepted this. Working remotely has helped employees to have flexible schedules but companies must reassess the technologies needed to set up a remote workstation. The main purpose is to provide technology to perform their job while on the go. Businesses can set up a cost-effective way for their workers to work remotely. Norah Abraham (freelance writer), writes about the tools needed to set up a remote workstation in her article. Read more at: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/5-essential-tools-remote-working

Gartner has predicted that by 2020, customers will manage 85% of the relationship with an enterprise, without interacting with a human. 43% of respondents in a recent AYTM survey (rising to 62% when aged 18-24) feel they can solve service issues on their own if companies put better self-service tools in place. Companies have tools like automated customer service interactions, email response systems and intelligent agents. In the future, self-service technology promises greater capabilities such as retailer-specific mobile alert applications; entirely new personalized experiences; and data management. To know more, follow Rod Brown (co-founder and CEO of MCADO)’s article link:  http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/articles/who-s-serving-you-providing-enhanced-service-in-a-digital-age/1211

According to a report from Fracti, it was found that one in five consumers say that reflecting their identity is the most important reason why they share content online. Identity ranked as the third-most important reason for sharing content, after wanting to entertain (44% of respondents) and wanting to educate (25%) according to a recent survey in the United States. Read more at: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/26546/how-identity-influences-content-sharing-infographic?adref=nlt112514

The best way to know a customer is by looking into customer profile. But what is a customer profile. A customer profile is a picture of your ideal customer, the one you want to target your marketing and sales.  CRM system helps to keep track of customers' characteristics. An organization must consider some points in order to visualize an ideal customer. To know more, follow: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/profiling-the-ideal-customer-64693

Loyalty programs are important nowadays as there is stiff competition among companies to win customers. According to a research by Gartner, it was found that 50 per cent of customers cited loyalty programs as the key differentiator between brands. It also shows that these schemes play a key part in the decision process, and therefore right type of engagement is vital in building long-term relationships with customers. Brands also need to consider consistency of message with consumers now using a number of different ways to communicate with providers. In this article by Adam Goran (Divisional Director for Customer Engagement at Grass Roots Group), writes about some key rules of engagement that brands should follow to revive their customer loyalty programs. To know more, follow:  http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/customer-experience/how-not-to-lose-friends-and-alienate-people-key-rules-of-customer-engagement/1206

Today’s consumers are always connected by mobiles. According to a report by Forbes it was found that 90 percent of mobile searches lead to action, more than half lead to sale, and 74 percent of people use their mobile phones for shopping. Mobiles are used for connecting with consumers to stay ahead in competition and is also used to enhance consumer loyalty. Companies can tailor their mobile marketing by using subscriber data – known as “mobile context” – to offer messaging that drives customer behavior. Mobile context means mobile usage patterns, shopping behaviors and brand affiliations to build a model that predicts what offers will motivate a user. To know more, follow article link by Todd Thayer (Syniverse Vice President of Product Management, Enterprise and Intelligence Solutions): http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/mobile-digital-marketing/for-better-customer-engagement-it-s-time-to-go-mobile/1202

According to advertising industry, effective frequency is the number of times a person is exposed to an advertising message before a response is made and before exposure is considered wasteful. In advertisement industry, finding the optimal frequency of an ad is the key. In mobile advertisement industry, repeated exposure to ads, specifically at key points in the purchase cycle can positively change consumer awareness and over exposure can create negative sentiment. In case of mobile ad, higher frequency is needed. To know more, follow: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-advertising/re-defining-mobile-advertising-frequency/1205

Every company needs to stand out from other companies. So, measuring ROI in social media becomes a necessity. Measuring social media ROI depends on what your company goals are. A smaller company may want to track their measurements monthly, whereas a larger organization will want to track measurements on a daily basis. To know how to measure social ROI, follow Dawn Ellis (Content Outreach Executive, alldayPA), article link: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/ultimate-guide-determining-roi-your-social-media-campaigns

An organization can convert information into customer intelligence to strengthen relationships and maximize profits by integrating Knowledge management (KM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Knowledge management (KM) is the practice of identifying, capturing, distributing, and using information for a company’s benefit and CRM is all about data. The more information a CRM system receives, the better it performs. When a CRM system is integrated with the KM system, it creates an environment in which employees can share insights for the benefit of the company and the customer and customer knowledge remains with the company regardless of turnover or job changes. KM integration helps only if the database is properly maintained and employees actually use the application. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/knowledge-management-can-make-your-crm-project-a-success-64662

Nowadays organizations are adapting mobile as a marketing channel to meet the needs of consumer behavior. To increase customer loyalty, organizations are making mobile specific sites, device optimized applications, innovative user experiences. But, due to fragmented landscape, multiple operating systems, consumer identification, privacy and security features marketers cannot reach their target customers. These challenges will always be there for marketers but time has come to explore different avenues. So, location based marketing has become important to marketers. To know more about location based marketing, follow  Pravin Kumar Shanmugam (Digital Consultant at Mindtree)’s article link: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/articles/add-location-in-to-your-existing-marketing-strategy/1200

Mobile plays an important role in today’s marketing world. So, we need to answer some questions like timings to push mobile messages, how long the notifications be and what should be the messages. In a recent survey it was found that the average click rate—defined as the percentage of users who actually clicked a push notification upon receiving it from an app—was 5.5% across all messages and the click rate for individual notifications varied widely based on the content of the messages and when they were sent. Read more at: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/26511/best-practices-for-sending-mobile-push-messages

Earlier it was easy for marketers to advertise as there were few TV channels, newspapers and magazines. In this digital age, marketers need to identify and communicate benefits to consumers. Greg Satell writes in his article about some principles that will guide the marketers in today’s world. Read more at: : http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2013/04/16/4-principles-of-marketing-strategy-in-the-digital-age/

Organizations must sell their products in such a way that it improves the lives of people and to do that you have to make a person feel – not think. Emotional branding is all about feeling and that feeling doesn't even need to be directly connected to the brand. Jeannette de Beauvoir (principal at Harbor Marketing Associates), writes in her article about some tips on how to launch an emotional branding campaign for your company or product. Read more at: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2014/26405/five-tips-for-effective-emotional-branding

In Voice over IP (VOIP) one can link data, record, transcribe, search-enable, translate, authenticate, analyze, and act on conversations, treating each call as a source of information. It has the ability to add and extract value from a phone call. There are some ways to add intelligence to phone calls and increase the speed of transactions to use the untapped data flowing into business through private exchange and contact center. To know more, follow: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/voip-news/7-ways-to-add-intelligence-to-your-phone-calls-64634

It is generally said that “happy agents=happy customers”. But it is found that organizations generally make little effort to drive happiness and also less effort is taken to allow the agents who are happy to properly transfer that satisfaction to the customers. So, ultimately the result is that the interaction between agents and customers are inefficient and ineffective and instead customers impose their own frustration on the agents. Organizations must make an effort to attract more customers and this must begin with an investigation of the 5 Ws. To know more about 5Ws, follow article link of Brian Cantor (Contributor) at: http://www.callcenter-iq.com/agent-engagement/articles/5-ws-of-contact-center-agent-engagement/

In a recent survey it was found that 64% of respondents believe mobile is a critical channel for engaging customers and 39% of respondents say they have either not tried to integrate their mobile strategy or do not have a mobile strategy to begin with. To know more, follow: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/26504/the-state-of-mobile-marketing-strategy

Provider of cloud-based call center technology for enterprises, TCN Inc., has announced the release of new features for Platform 3.0 (a cloud-based call center technology that eliminates the need for complicated hardware and improves connectivity between agents and customers, thereby increasing efficiency without the need for additional staff). The new features are Extended Conditional Dialing and Aggregate Reporting. These are designed to enhance the usability of Platform 3.0. Read more at:http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2340989

Online sales is a common phenomenon nowadays. Companies need to focus on some strategies to boost online sales. One of the most important strategies is to make sure your online store design is appealing. To get more tips about online sales, follow Veronica Maria Jarski (senior writer at MarketingProfs)’s article link: http://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2014/26526/14-marketing-tactics-to-drive-online-sales-and-apps-to-execute-them-infographic

A recent report from Burst Media, found that 53% of US consumers will use a mobile device to research or purchase products this holiday season. Among these active mobile shoppers, 59% say they will use their devices to assist in making holiday online purchases, and 46% say they will do so to help with offline purchases. It was also found that consumers with smartphones/tablets also plan to use their mobile devices during the holiday season to compare product prices (62%) and read product reviews (54%). Read more at: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/26468/mobile-shopping-behavior-during-the-holiday-season