Why cloud-based interoperability is critical to the modern marketing stack

According to the Content Marketing Institute, 92 percent of B2B companies and 86 percent of B2C organisations now depend on content marketing to drive growth and customer retention. With daily online, social media, and video campaigns supplanting traditional print and television advertising media, marketers increasingly need a more robust, efficient way of creating diverse content and getting it in front of potential customers.

Traditionally, marketing departments have stitched...

9 May 2019 | Advertising

Six killer marketing metrics that really matter: Segmentation and engagement

The life of a digital marketer is rarely straightforward. Whilst other communicators may perhaps argue it’s easier for their digital peers to evidence ROI, those within the world of email marketing, for instance, may be quick to defend their position. Because yes, they have a wealth of metrics at their fingertips, but it can be difficult to know where to start. Death by data anyone?

Focusing only on open and click rates?

In his book How to Win Friends and Influence...

3 April 2019 | CRM

Moving from AI to ‘applied intelligence’ to identify revenue sources and deliver business value

As companies increasingly adopt CRM technology and improve their data governance, they now have more customer and prospect data than ever before. They have reams of sales and marketing metrics. Yet in the post-GDPR era, with plummeting data confidence, growing numbers now admit the sales funnel is broken.

With a challenging economic climate and Brexit looming, it is not poor products or services that are compromising business success: it is companies’ inability to close new...

22 November 2018 | Advertising

Transforming customer experience into an actionable marketing strategy: A guide

The workforce as we know it is changing and companies must be ready to adapt to fast change as we become ever more tech-centric. However, despite the digital noise there is one element that will always remain a constant requirement for success; delivering an excellent customer experience (CX) and maintaining a well-received brand image.

In our highly connected 'always on' digital world, CX combined with word of mouth is potentially one of the most powerful marketing tools...

12 November 2018 | CRM

The era of fluidity: How to achieve genuine customer-centricity in a post-CRM world

We’re in the era of fluidity. As the Experience Economy has exploded, there has been a seismic shift in the power base from brands to customers and, with that, a series of dramatic changes in how we enable brands to successfully bond with people. We must now meet emotional, tangible and functional needs seamlessly in every, and any touchpoint the customer desires.

Accompanying this change is a raft of continually emerging technology solutions that can be utilised to plan and...

31 October 2018 | CRM

The top trends shaping CRM in 2018

The concept of CRM has shifted over the years from a Rolodex of business cards to a digital sales contact management system to its current incarnation as a fully-realised sales and marketing enablement solution. But as markets grow and fragment, and consumer behaviours and technologies evolve at a rapid pace, CRM must keep up with those changes in order to remain valuable to sales-driven organisations.

So what will CRM look like for the rest of 2018 and beyond? Here are a few of the...

11 September 2018 | CRM

Will the SaaS revolution stifle digital marketing innovation?

It’s a common perception that software as a service (SaaS) now drives digital industry innovation.

Companies like Salesforce, MailChimp, Kenshoo, Marin and Impact ushered in SaaS revolutions in their respective industries by introducing new technology and pricing models. But some people question, will SaaS really be good for digital innovation over the next decade?

The growth and popularity of SaaS business models is undeniable. According to the Q1 2018...

7 September 2018 | CRM

CRM software giant Salesforce appoints Keith Block as co-CEO

Enterprise software giant Salesforce has promoted its former chief operating officer, Keith Block, to the role of co-CEO.

Reporting directly to the board and working alongside the cloud CRM specialist’s founder and CEO, Marc Benioff, who will remain chairman, Block’s move puts Salesforce in a very small camp of co-led companies which, funnily enough, includes rival Oracle - where the two originally met.

Block has served as the company’s vice chairman,...

8 August 2018 | Advertising Technology

Salesforce snaps up Israeli cloud-based AI group Datorama for $800m

Salesforce has announced the acquisition of Israel-based Datorama, a cloud-based AI (artificial intelligence) company.

While terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, reports suggest the deal could be worth approximately $800m (£602m), as the US sales and marketing cloud tech giant looks to keep pace with rivals such as Adobe and Oracle.

Datorama enables more than 3,000 leading global agencies and brands - including PepsiCo, Ticketmaster, Trivago, Unilever, Pernod Ricard...

17 July 2018 | Advertising