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  • PayPal Here Launches Two New Card Readers, Giving Small Businesses More Ways to Accept Payments

    PayPal Here Launches Two New Card Readers, Giving Small Businesses More Ways to Accept Payments

    Every customer wants a swift and smooth payment transaction, with little fuss. This holds true regardless of whether they’re buying from a major enterprise or a small business. That goal is certainly possible with PayPal Here’s two new payment card readers.

    PayPal recently launched a Chip and Swipe reader and a Chip and Tap reader, both of which will help users and small companies easily conduct credit card transactions anywhere.

    The Chip and Swipe reader is an improved version of the company’s previous swipe-style reader. It now comes with support for debit and credit cards with EMV chip technology. Meanwhile, the Chip and Tap reader can process contactless payment options from NFC-supported devices and also accepts EMV-supported cards. The device also comes with a portable charging stand.

    Image result for paypal chip and swipe card reader

    Both payment readers can easily process transaction choices like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay.

    PayPal’s new readers have been designed with portability in mind. The two devices are about the size of a deck of cards, making it possible for small retailers and entrepreneurs to do business in any location—a country fair, the neighborhood cafe—without worrying about wires or having to carry bulky hardware. They can easily connect to any mobile device using Bluetooth technology. The readers also have a user-friendly interface and can now be used for extended periods, thanks to their rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

    PayPal is offering the Chip and Swipe reader for $24.99 and the Chip and Tap reader for $59.99. Both devices will work seamlessly with the PayPal Here. The app is available via the Apple App Store and Google Play.

    In a statement, PayPal In-Store’s Chief Chris Gardner stated that the company understands the “challenges small businesses face—including protection from fraudulent transactions and the costs of equipment to run their business—and constantly work to develop products and services that allow them to thrive in an increasingly competitive environment.” Their new and affordable card payment readers are their newest endeavor to help small business.

    Gardner also pointed out that small and medium businesses also look for a “one-stop shop” for all their commerce and payment services. After all, these companies don’t have the time to deal with various vendors to manage all these financial activities. PayPal is determined to be the company to handle these demands. Merchants can use PayPal for their online transactions, PayPal Here for their physical processes, and PayPal Working Capital to help finance their expansion.

    [Featured image via PayPal]

  • Facebook Sees Growth in Ad Sales Despite Drop in Usage

    Facebook Sees Growth in Ad Sales Despite Drop in Usage

    Facebook saw a decline in usage for the first time in its history, undoubtedly brought about by certain changes made to its News Feed. Despite that, the social media company’s digital ads remained profitable, stemming any concerns investors might have.

    Facebook recently released its earnings report for the last quarter of 2017. The report underlined the effects of Mark Zuckerberg’s campaign to improve his company while also emphasizing the social media giant is still a force to be reckoned with in the business sector.

    Facebook’s founder mentioned in the report how the company made changes so that fewer viral videos were shown. The changes “reduced time spent on Facebook by roughly 50 million hours every day.” Those hours showed up as a decrease from 185 million daily active users (DAU) in the US and Canada to 184 million users.

    It’s the first time that the company has reported a reduction of users in any of its market. Some sectors could even have been alarmed by the fact that this decline happened in the region where Facebook earns the most from advertisements. The company makes an average profit of $26.76 per user in the region, as opposed to the worldwide average of $6.18.

    However, the reported dip in users and time spent on the social media platform didn’t seem to hurt Facebook’s bottom line. According to the company’s earnings report, revenue in the last quarter of 2017 hit $12.97 billion, up from the $8.81 billion it garnered during the same period in 2016. This was an increase of 47% and it topped the $12.55 billion average projected by the analysts over at Yahoo Finance.

    The boost was apparently due to Facebook’s mobile ad sales, which included that from its sister company Instagram. The increase was also aided by the company’s marketing tools, which are steadily becoming more precise.

    Revenue from its mobile ad sales represented around 89% of the last quarter’s total ad sales and is up to 84% compared to the year before. It has been estimated that Facebook’s profits from its global ads this year would reach $53.84 billion, placing it behind Google as the biggest ad seller in the world.

    More changes are expected to come to Facebook, as Zuckerberg wants it to be more than just a fun platform. In his statement, he said he wanted his brainchild to also be “good for people’s well-being and for society” and plans to do so via more meaningful connections.

    He parlayed any concerns investors might have by saying that the user drop was just temporary and was needed to make a stronger product. Zuckerberg also emphasized that worthwhile interactions would lead to a stronger community and that the care users would have for this group would make them more amenable to seeing ads.

  • 5 Ways to Boost eCommerce Sales with Product Recommendations

    5 Ways to Boost eCommerce Sales with Product Recommendations

    Businesses know that acquiring new customers is more difficult and costlier than selling new products to existing customers. This is why eCommerce businesses prefer to invest in a good loyalty program. And product recommendations is one of the best marketing tools that a retailer can have in its arsenal. After all, the right recommendation helps sell more products to existing customers.

    Simply put, recommendations are suggestions made by the retailer on various things that the customer might also be interested in. But in order to do this, the company has to know its customers and what they want. This is to avoid scenarios like recommending red stilettos to a client who prefers white trainers.

    The question now is how to successfully use recommendations to improve eCommerce sales. Here are five suggestions:

    1. Generate Personalized Product Recommendations

    Personalized recommendations are carefully calculated and chosen products that are offered with the customer’s shopping behavior and history taken into consideration.

    Image result for amazon personalized product recommendation

    [Image via Amazon.com]

    Amazon is a prime example of personalized recommendations. First-time site visitors will initially see some generic suggestions that are either crowdsourced bestsellers or what other visitors are checking. But once a purchase has been made, they’ll see recommendations based on items they’ve bought or searched for recently. These suggestions are found in the product description of the item a customer is currently checking or on the homepage that they’re logged into.

    2. Have Well-Timed Customized Email Recommendations

    Email marketing is still one of the most effective marketing strategies. It’s affordable, practical, and can boost conversions. But to have a more robust customer engagement, personalized email recommendations are the way forward. After all, the more relevant the email’s content is, the higher the rate of emails opened, website visits and sales.

    Amazon is again a good example of this strategy. The company’s AI sends well-timed emails that recommend products that the customer has just browsed on the site. The emails are also sent as soon as the customer leaves the site, thereby ensuring that they’re still receptive to recommendations.

    3. Make Product Pages More Appealing With Relevant Suggestions

    The product page is one area where you can make more recommendations. However, it’s important that you find the best way to showcase your items because at this stage, you’ll either push your client towards the checkout process or drive them away altogether. Data-backed recommendations can provide shoppers with more choices at this key stage. By putting together selections based on the customer’s interest, the odds of conversions can increase by as much as 411%.

    Image result for customers who bought this item also bought amazon shoes

    [Image via Shopify.com]

    Brands can boost conversions by suggesting complementary items. For instance, if the shopper is looking for shoes, they can cross-sell by suggesting a shoe rack. Product recommendations can also be based on the shopping patterns of other shoppers. For example, if previous shoppers also bought a necklace after buying a blouse, then the product page would recommend what “people who bought this product also bought.”

    4. Don’t Stop at a Confirmed Order

    A successful order confirmation doesn’t mean you have to stop making recommendations. This stage of the shopping process can still be a good arena for recommending items that the customer could buy. Think of it as a last chance to add more products to the deal.

    There are two good ways to make the most of order confirmations. One would be to have recommendation popups. Aside from thanking your customers for their latest purchase, include messages that suggest “you might be interested in this product.” The second way would be to integrate recommended products in the order confirmation email. Make your offer more compelling with the promise of freebies or discounts in their next purchase.

    5. Making Friendly Referrals

    As already mentioned, recommendations shouldn’t stop just because a purchase has been made. Recommendations can be used as a referral tool, one that can push a brand further, generate traffic, and boost more sales.

    Brands can do this by asking customers to share the news of their latest purchase with their friends via social media. Bear in mind that people are more likely to buy or use the same brand that a trusted friend has used and recommended. To make this easier for your customer, integrate a “Share This” button on the customer’s order confirmation page.

    There’s no question that recommendations have positive results. It’s a marketing strategy that eCommerce businesses can easily adopt. So this year, put more emphasis on recommendations and see your sales numbers grow.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • Should You Market Your Business at a Trade Show? Here’s What You Need to Consider

    Should You Market Your Business at a Trade Show? Here’s What You Need to Consider

    The trade show business has been steadily rising the past few years and is projected to keep doing well. These events provide companies with a platform wherein they can launch new products, showcase goods, and network. But like any business opportunities, one has to carefully weigh the pros and cons of joining a trade show. While some sectors believe a company will benefit greatly from it, others are of the opinion that trade shows are just a waste of money. So, which is it?

    The Case for Joining Trade Shows

    • Increased Brand Awareness: One of the best things about joining a trade show is the boost of awareness it provides your business. You can put your brand out there in a major way and expose your company to numerous prospects. Seeing your company in action can also improve the odds of being taken seriously by clients who are already on your mailing list or sales funnel.
    • Secure Deals and Close Sales: Trade shows are great places to get your clients in one place and talk shop. This is particularly helpful to companies with sales teams that have to regularly travel to connect with clients. If you have signed up to be an exhibitor at a trade show, you can set up appointments with clients and prospects in advance and meet them on neutral ground, away from the distractions of their offices and regular schedules.
    • Generate Leads: The leads you get at a trade show can give your sales division plenty of prospective clients and months of work. These events will expose you to a broader market while giving you the chance to make a positive impression on a lot of prospects simultaneously.

    Why Trade Shows Could Be a Bad Idea

    • Exhibits Can be Expensive: Being part of trade shows entails shelling out money for the booth, setting it up and tearing it down, transporting all the equipment you need to the site, and paying the people who will man your booth. You’ll also need to consider the cost of marketing materials and small giveaways for your prospects. While you’re ensured of leads, it might take you months or even years to recoup the money you invested in a trade show.
    • Low-Quality Leads: Not everyone who has stopped by your booth and made inquiries will purchase your product. Bear in mind that while trade shows attract big crowds, not everyone there has the clout to make decisions for their company. It’s best to treat this event as an opportunity to generate leads, but understand that you still have to qualify those leads.

    Questions to Ask Yourself Before Deciding to Join a Trade Show

    It’s easy to see why many businesses are keen on joining such a powerful gathering. However, being part of a big event can either give you the boost your company needs or hinder you from reaching your goals.

    Consider the following before deciding whether you want to be part of a trade show or not:

    Do You Have Enough Funds for it? 

    There’s no guarantee that joining this types of events will generate a positive return on investment (ROI). If you don’t have the financial means to spend on an exhibitor’s booth or you’re not sure you’ll secure the meetings you need, then it’s best to let this opportunity go for the meantime.

    Assess your business’ standing. Maybe it would be better to participate in the next event or to sign-up for a smaller, local trade show. This is especially helpful for small companies or those based in urban areas as it’s less expensive.

    Is the Expected Crowd Close to Your Target Demographic? 

    The golden rule of trade shows is to join events where the expected audience closely matches your demographic. Before signing up, find out from the show organizers about the attendees and ask questions that are pertinent to your business. Keep in mind that even if the expected attendees are in your target industry, that doesn’t necessarily make them ideal prospects. You’ll also want to know how many of them fall into the specific segment of the industry you are targeting. This is to ensure that if you do exhibit at the event, your service or product fits the audience and is something that they need.

    Will it Provide New Opportunities? 

    Trade shows are not all about the ROI. Companies should also consider what opportunities the event will give them. Aside from potential sales and leads, these shows can also be the means to form solid partnerships with other businesses or to learn from different brands. These events can also be wonderful marketing tools, as it gives your company the chance to impress thousands of visitors.

    Brands can benefit a lot from trade shows. But it’s best to critically consider what your company’s goals are and weigh them against the pros and cons of these events so that you’ll get the most out of trade shows.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • New Facebook Collection Ads Dramatically Boost Sales for Advertisers

    New Facebook Collection Ads Dramatically Boost Sales for Advertisers

    Facebook’s Collection Ads have helped millions of companies boost their sales and drive discovery.

    The social media giant initially opted to go with image ads. But with video ads proving to be better at conversions, Facebook Collection Ads were soon launched. Collections Ads appear on the user’s News Feed and can showcase a video, a photo, or a slideshow with four affiliated images.

    Collection ads resemble a landing page. When users tap on the ad, they’ll be able to access a video or a fullscreen Canvas ad that shows more content. Businesses can pair their Collection Ads with other Canvas templates depending on their brand’s objective.

    More importantly, these ads have proven to be very lucrative for businesses. One company reportedly earmarked $177,000 for a Collection Ads campaign and received $1.2 million in sales. Big name brands like Adidas and Tommy Hilfiger had also reduced the cost of their Facebook marketing campaigns by as much as 40% while seeing their sales ROI doubling or tripling.

    Facebook has been particularly keen to point out how effective their ads have been for retailers during the recent holiday. The company reportedly saw mobile conversions rise to 64% on Cyber Monday last year. That was a major improvement from the 43% increase it had in 2016. Facebook says this boost in conversions is due to their Collection and Dynamic Ads.

    While Facebook’s ad offerings were undoubtedly a big factor, several companies believe it’s not the only reason why their holiday campaigns were a success. One such company, Wayfair, revealed that it did use Facebook’s Dynamic Ads and acknowledged that it was partially responsible for the brand’s 53% sales growth during the Thanksgiving holiday. However, Wayfair’s vice president of marketing, Bob Sherwin, also pointed out that their brand also has a very strong and loyal customer base and that they are always in touch with their customers. Because of that, Wayfair has also made it a point to work with other social media platforms like Google and Pinterest.

    There are many other companies who followed the same approach of using Facebook ads while also utilizing Instagram and other platforms. However, the majority also admit that Facebook Dynamic and Collection Ads did help in reaching more people during last year’s big shopping seasons.

    Facebook is hoping that retailers and other businesses will utilize what they learned during the last major holiday and simulate it with their other ads.

    Nada Stirratt, Facebook’s vice president of global marketing solutions in North America, says marketers should think about how they can further use Facebook and sister company Instagram to drive in-store and online sales for the whole year.

    Facebook is apparently hoping that video will play a bigger role in future ad campaigns. According to Stirratt, there’s a multitude of ways for companies to flex their creative muscles when using short-form video on mobile devices. Marketers would also do well to start thinking about video as more than just a branding tool. Video can also be a force to reckon with when it comes to merchandising.

    [Featured image via YouTube]

  • 4 CRM Trends to Watch Out for in 2018

    4 CRM Trends to Watch Out for in 2018

    There’s no denying that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software has changed a lot since the 1990s. These days, CRM software is the go-to tool for managing business relationships and closely studying customer data and interactions.

    CRM systems are continuously evolving, but what can it offer businesses next year? Here are four CRM trends to watch out for:

    Artificial Intelligence to Become More Intelligent

    Image result for chatbotAI is here and from the looks of things, it’s not going anywhere. It will even be making serious strides in terms of how companies will be doing business. From deep learning to machine learning, AI is expected to have a greater hand in evaluating and changing business systems so companies can get their expected results.

    AI assistants are already being utilized in the consumer environment, but analysts are predicting that businesses will benefit from this program by automating the repetitive and mundane parts of the marketing or sales cycle. So expect to see more companies taking advantage of AI chatbots as more businesses begin to see the benefits of using them as the first point of interaction with their customers.

    Intelligent Security to Become Even More Vital

    Image result for data securityResearchers believe that more security applications enhanced with AI will appear in 2018, especially with the upcoming implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union.

    The passing of the GDPR is expected to strengthen data protection for citizens, and AI-enhanced security apps can help marketers ensure that their clients are complying. AI can help by alerting companies of expiring consent that they need to take action on. Or they can warn of possible exposure due to customers moving to another country with a different set of regulations.

    Intelligent security is also essential to fight data breaches and other malicious hacking, especially now that hackers are getting smarter and bolder.

    Augmented Reality Will Make Its Presence Felt

    Image result for augmented realityA more sophisticated augmented reality technology is expected to be seen in 2018, and with it are more instances for its use.

    Market analysts agree that there was a lot of studying and experimentation with AR in 2017. Because of this, there were a lot of use cases developed in marketing, sales, and service for AR. It’s inevitable that companies would use AR more and 2018 might just be the year this technology breaks through in the sales and marketing business.

    Companies can utilize AR to showcase in greater detail large products, like furniture and automobiles. Architects and designers can also use it to preview layouts or designs. Meanwhile, marketers can even use AR to develop interactive campaigns and complement advertisements with virtual reality.

    Digital Market Will be Reinforced and Transformed

    Image result for digital marketingData enhancement tools, email syncing, and VOIP connections used to be features that companies would like to see in CRM systems they’re eyeing, but things are different now and 2018 is expected to bring even better enhancements.

    On top of that, industry leaders will continue to try and exert their dominance on the market. Niche vendors will attempt to fill vertical-specific systems while third-party applications try to integrate with CRMs to supply more capabilities. Experts believe that the market will see a growth of third-party vendor space as more businesses develop applications and products that would be offered in exchange stores.

    Companies like Sugar CRM and TenFold have already started on this trend. The former has rolled out HINT, a software that automatically searches the internet for company and personal information while the latter is developing a VOIP/CRM/ marketing connector with features like smart agent AI and Zoom meeting integrations.

    It’s still too early to determine what CRM trends will really shake up 2018, but users and businesses can expect to see more focused AI capacities, new uses for AR, and more offerings from vendors as they compete to set themselves apart from their competitors.

  • Salesforce Offers New AI Features to Small Businesses

    Salesforce Offers New AI Features to Small Businesses

    Most Corporations have the advantage of unlimited access to all the features a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform offers. Now small businesses can also enjoy this perk as well.

    During Salesforce’s yearly Dreamforce conference, the company announced that one of their best performing CRM platforms – the Sales Cloud Lightning Essentials – will be available to all. With this, small businesses will enjoy the same access to features that large enterprises use to grow rapidly and work quicker and smarter. Small companies will also have access to Salesforce’s newest innovations, like Einstein AI, Lightning, and Trailhead.

    Essentials Meet the Demands of Small Business

    Salesforce knows that to be able to cope with the demands of today’s competitive marketplaces, businesses should be able to easily integrate new technology into their day-to-day operations. This need is underlined by the revelation that 66% of small company heads are handling two or more departments. Meanwhile, only 26% of small businesses have an in-house IT department while the rest either deal with contractors or try to work out IT problems on their own.

    Salesforce Essentials can go a long way in easing this burden, as the platform was designed for simplicity and functionality. Small business analyst, Brent Leary, explained that small companies need guidance and a user-friendly platform, especially if they’re new to CRM. Essentials’ simple interface does meet that requirement, with the Trailhead feature providing the necessary assistance needed to develop leads faster and see results more quickly.

    New AI Features Great for Small Business

    The three key features added to the Sales Cloud Lightning Essentials will definitely make a difference to small businesses.

    Trailhead is an interactive, online learning platform that assists users in its implementation. It also gives guidance on topics like how to implement innovation and raise business knowledge.

    Meanwhile, Einstein is showing small businesses the practical aspects of artificial intelligence. In an interview, Salesforce’s Senior Product Director of Marketing, Eric Bernsley, explained that while most have a lot of questions about AI, they don’t want big, vague concepts. They want to see how AI can help businesses get more done.

    Entrepreneurs and small business owners know that manually inputting data is time-consuming and leaves little time for a company to identify or pursue new opportunities. But with Einstein, basic sales activities can be automated or records kept up-to-date. It can also help with predictive lead scoring or look at areas connected to possible leads.

    Since Essentials is built on Salesforce’s Lightning framework, small businesses will be able to enjoy a smooth transition of their workflow on any device due to the system’s intuitive design. And when Essentials is combined with other Salesforce Apps, small businesses can eventually manage their whole sales conversation – accounts, leads to contacts – on any device, whether from the office or out in the field.

    More importantly, all of Essentials’ features are scalable, meaning they’re flexible and can meet the CRM needs of any company, regardless of the size. And since Essentials is also built on a global platform, upgrading can be done anytime, something that will be beneficial to small companies.

    [Featured Image via Salesforce]

  • Salesforce Has a New Partner, and Its Name is Google

    Salesforce Has a New Partner, and Its Name is Google

    Google and Salesforce have come to an agreement, one that will see the former’s G Suites productivity apps directly integrated with the latter’s CRM service. The impressive partnership between the two companies was one of the highlights of this year’s Dreamforce event.

    While the two companies have been associated with each other for more than a decade, the new arrangement will see Google Cloud becoming Saleforce’s prime choice of public cloud provider, as well as becoming its key cloud provider for the global expansion the company is said to be making.

    Not only will this partnership see the integration of Salesforce’s service with Google’s G Suite software, it will also give Salesforce’s clients a free G Suite subscription that will be good for a year. This means clients who run G Suite will have access and be able to share information from their accounts in Google Calendar, Gmail, Drive, Docs, and Hangouts. It will also feed data from the CRM platform’s Sales and Marketing Clouds into Google Analytics 360. It’s expected that Google Analytics 360 will already be embedded in Salesforce’s Sales and Marketing Clouds by the first six months of 2018.

    The alliance between Google and Salesforce will also see Quip being integrated as a live app in both Google Calendar and Drive. This will permit users to work in those apps inside a Quip document. The feature will be available to Quip license holders by the first half of 2018 as well.

    Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff described the partnership as a way for customers of both companies to have the best of both worlds. He explained that it will make it easier for companies to manage their business in the cloud, whether its analytics and emails, sales, service and marketing apps, and even productivity apps. Benioff also promised that the deal between Salesforce and Google will assist in making clients work smarter and become more productive.

    The integration of Salesforce’s data into the Calendar, Drive, and Gmail has already commenced, and other integrations are set to be released next year. What’s more, the tie-up with analytics is reportedly scheduled to be rolled out next year and will be offered for free.

    Salesforce and Google do not have time to rest on their laurels though, as Microsoft has been determinedly targeting the two companies’ services through the Azure and Office 365 platforms. Luckily, Google and Salesforce’s new alliance means that they have their own means to counter Microsoft’s prime selling points.

    [Featured image via Salesforce]

  • How to Use Whatsapp to Generate More Sales

    How to Use Whatsapp to Generate More Sales

    Since launching in 2009, WhatsApp has become one of the most popular ways for people to communicate with each other across the globe. Today, the mobile app’s active user base is second only to its parent company, Facebook, with over 1.2 billion people using it to send messages and share data every month.

    Social network sites ranked by number of active users (in millions) as of April 2017

    For most users, WhatsApp is a chatting application for casual conversations between friends and family. However, the app also has a lot of potential for doing business.

    Here are a few reasons Whatsapp makes a great business tool:

    • Easily send brochures, catalogs, e-books, images, and videos.
    • Get customer feedback by using WhatsApp as a survey tool.
    • Send alerts and notifications about sales and events.
    • Accept sales inquiries
    • Receive payment from purchases instantly.
    •  Direct engagement via phone calls.

    Getting Started With Whatsapp

    Perhaps one of the reasons behind WhatsApp’s popularity is its advertisement free experience. However, the lack of advertisement opportunities has caused business people to believe that there is no revenue to gain in WhatsApp.

    The thing is there are no media to invest in or ad space to purchase, and you most certainly can’t get away with spamming people you don’t know.  Fortunately, there are still a number of ways to make the app a useful business tool. Here’s how to get started:

    1. Build a Phone Database

    Image result for people using whatsapp

    The one thing that can stand between your messages and your target audience in WhatsApp is their phone number. Without a phone number, you cannot send messages to prospective customers which means you’ll have to earn their contact invitation.  You can do this by offering something of value to catch their interest, such as a special promo, a free service, or a free item.

    2. Establish User Loyalty

    Take advantage of WhatsApp’s extremely loyal users. The group lists on Whatsapp have shown more brand loyalty than any other social media groups. Couple this with a friendly and personal brand persona, and you will be able to develop a great reputation with your target audience.

    3. Be Quick on Your Feet

    WhatsApp has an amazing 70 percent open rate, which means that more often than not, your target audience is online and will see your messages. If you receive an inquiry, you must respond promptly. The worst thing you can do is establish a massive phone list and fail to reply to your customers.

    4. Create Quality Content

    You’ll have to stop thinking of WhatsApp as a mere chatting application. That being said, you must ensure that you deliver top notch quality content. Similar to how you would advertise on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, your WhatsApp ads must adhere to your brand’s style and format.

    WhatsApp is a very direct and personal app, so it pays to make sure that your brand is represented by a friendly persona to engage with customers. Like any other social media platforms, you’ll have to prioritize your target audience to get the most out of it.

  • Microsoft and LinkedIn Ready to Challenge Salesforce CRM

    Microsoft and LinkedIn Ready to Challenge Salesforce CRM

    Since Microsoft’s $26 billion acquisition of LinkedIn three days after Christmas 2016, little has been heard from what would be Microsoft Dynamic’s bold upgrade to the CRM industry. But the picture has become much more clear since Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently gave Reuters the details of upgrades to its sales software that integrates data from LinkedIn.

    As Reuters describes: The new features will comb through a salesperson’s email, calendar and LinkedIn relationships to help gauge how warm their relationship is with a potential customer. The system will recommend ways to save an at-risk deal, like calling in a co-worker who is connected to the potential customer on LinkedIn.

    The enhancements, which will be available this summer, will require Microsoft Dynamics customers to also be LinkedIn customers.

    Microsoft is a small player in sales software. According to research firm Gartner, the company ranks fourth – far behind Salesforce.com and other rivals Oracle Corp and SAP – with just 4.3% of the market in 2015, the most recent year for which figures are available.

    Nadella, long known as a champion for the democratization of artificial intelligence (AI), said it would be a key component to Dynamics: “I want to be able to democratize AI so that any customer using these products is able to, in fact, take their own data and load it into AI for themselves.”

    Microsoft’s “third cloud” is Nadella’s term for Dynamics which caters to the fields such as sales and finance. With Office 365 (work productivity and flow, email, etc.) and Azure (computing and databases) as the first two clouds, Nadella all Microsoft products utilizing a common set of business data that can be mined for new insights with artificial intelligence

    “I think that’s the only way to long-term change this game, because if all we did was replace somebody else’s (sales), or (finance) application, that’s of no value, quite frankly,” he told Reuters.

    With this news, it’s no surprise that Linked also announced both a new ad targeting platform (Matched Audiences) and that LinkedIn now has 500 million users.

  • Major Study Reveals What Kind of Video Content Drives eCommerce Sales

    Major Study Reveals What Kind of Video Content Drives eCommerce Sales

    As the eCommerce industry has matured in sales and reach, it has realized it still has obstacles….namely engaging and persuading real people. To take this on, successful brands have embraced digital content to add a pop to their product presentation. But as recent survey from Episerver found, 98% of shoppers have been deterred from completing a purchase because of incomplete content.

    Research has shown that video is a valuable content form for online shopping engagement. Put simply, it helps overcome the advantage of tangible interaction provided by in-store experience.

    So that being the case, what kind of video content works best to boost eCommerce sales? A new study from the UK has found some insightful answers.

    Alex Connock of EndemolShine North in MediaCityUK wanted to examine how differing editorial styles and durations would impact the customer journey. “Around the world there are many territories which have a more relaxed approach to brand integration into mainstream or OTT programming, and here it is possible that e-commerce ‘clickability’ will be included in factual and fiction programming of a mainstream variety. Testing what works in terms of functionalities and styles of integration of that technology is fascinating and seriously useful. We already have interest in this study from colleagues all over the world, from Spain and Holland, to the US and China” he recently told Prolific North.

    A survey was conducted of 2800 UK respondents, in 28 standalone representative groups of 100 people each. Before they watched any of the test videos:

    30% said have clicked on an online video to find out more detail
    29% had actually made a purchase through an online video
    49% usually have the sound on, when shopping online
    They were then shown the video and asked: would you have bought the product?

    The study found that among other things: short videos worked the best, videos with people work better, branded content works better than a hard sell, marketing multiple items works well and leads to more “buys”, and waiting until the video ends before offering click to buy.

    “What didn’t surprise me was that short videos do very well as drivers to purchase, as I think we have seen that worldwide. But what was surprising was HOW short that took effect. Notably 15 seconds resoundingly beat 40 seconds as a shoppable video length,” Connock told Prolific North.

    “I was very surprised, as are most people who see the survey, that user-generated content ranked so badly as a driver of purchase. It’s definitely one to avoid and that’s a real learning for many ecommerce platforms.

    A lot of other surprising findings came from the study that are well worth any eCommerce/eTailer business to consider. The video below shows a summary of the research and results.

  • What is CRM? Salesforce Provides Small Businesses with a Simple Explanation

    What is CRM? Salesforce Provides Small Businesses with a Simple Explanation

    Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, often gets small business owners eyes rolling. Saleforce recently created a simple, yet effective, video answer to that question targeted toward small businesses.

    What is CRM?

    Salesforce explains to small business why CRM is important to them. The video is a little cheesy but helpful as a CRM intro to small business owners who find the concept daunting:

    “You are in a business that some call small business, wearer of many hats, blazer of new business trails, it’s anything but small. It’s everything, not the least of which is finding, winning and keeping customers in a world where you’re expected to keep up like a bigger business.”

    “But how do you do all that? Welcome to Customer Relationship Management, CRM for short. It does all the things you already do to keep track of customers, only easier. It starts when you take what you know about your customers, name, phone, job title, company and put it in a place that makes it easy for everyone in your company to use, share and take action from.”

    “It’s so everyone understands every interaction from calls, emails and meeting notes to quotes and closing deals. You can even see what your amazing sales revenue look like at a glance. It’s the kind of info that lets service be quicker, more informed and more personal with customers and lets marketing capture leads and follow up with smarter and better email campaigns to bring customers in.”

    “It’s one place that allows everyone to work together seamlessly from anywhere, right in the palm of your hand. There is no need for sticky notes or staring at spreadsheets so no one is ever in the dark about what’s going on, especially you.”

    “CRM… in a nutshell, it’s the everything helper, from people who need to do everything to make business grow bigger.”

  • Best Christmas Sales Ever for Amazon and Its Own Devices Lead the Way

    Best Christmas Sales Ever for Amazon and Its Own Devices Lead the Way

    Amazon had a record Christmas and its own Alexa devices, Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick, Fire tablet and Amazon Echo, lead the way. Sales were up over last year’s holiday season an amazing 9 times.

    “Echo and Echo Dot were the best-selling products across Amazon this year, and we’re thrilled that millions of new customers will be introduced to Alexa as a result. Despite our best efforts and ramped-up production, we still had trouble keeping them in stock. From turning on Christmas lights and playing holiday music to shopping for gifts and asking for help with cookie recipes, Alexa continues to get smarter every day,” commented Jeff Wilke, CEO Worldwide Consumer, Amazon. “We couldn’t have made this holiday season possible for customers without the dedication and hard work of our customer service, transportation, and fulfillment associates along with our carrier partners – it’s amazing to see the teams come together to serve customers during the holidays. On behalf of Amazonians all around the world, we wish everyone happy holidays and the very best for the coming year.”

    Prime was huge for Amazon this season, with over 1 billion items shipped for free to Prime Members worldwide. Another interesting tidbit is that Amazon recorded its fastest shipped item on Christmas Eve at 13 minutes from order to delivery that was most likely a last minute gift for a loved one. The order included a Tile Slim Item Finder and a Tile Mate Key Finder.

    The last Prime Now order delivered in time for the holiday was delivered at 11:59 p.m. on December 24, 2016 to a Prime member in Irvine, California. The order included a Heated Mattress Pad, NyQuil and Afrin Nasal Spray.

    Here is Amazon’s full release of holiday shopping data points:

    Holidays with Alexa:

    • Alexa helped mix hundreds of thousands of cocktails this holiday season with Tom Collins and Manhattans being the most requested drinks from skills like The Bartender, Mixologist and DrinkBoy.
    • Chocolate chip and sugar cookies were the favorite recipes from Alexa skills like Food Network and Allrecipes.
    • Home Alone and Elf were the most requested holiday movies with Alexa.
    • Alexa helped play millions of holiday songs this year, and the top songs were Jingle Bells (1999 – Remaster) by Frank Sinatra, All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey and Feliz Navidad by José Feliciano.
    • What was Alexa asked to cook? The most popular cooking tips requested on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were turkey, prime rib and chocolate chip cookies.
    • Who played the most holiday music with Alexa? Customers in Seattle, New York and Chicago asked “Alexa, play holiday music” more than any other city in the U.S.
    • Who turned on Christmas Lights the most with Alexa? Customers in Seattle, San Diego and New York asked, “Alexa, turn on Christmas lights” more than any other city in the U.S.
    • What games were the most requested with Alexa this holiday? Alexa entertained families with popular games like Jeopardy!, Twenty Questions and The Magic Door.

    Amazon Prime:

    • More than one billion items shipped worldwide with Prime and Fulfillment by Amazon this holiday season.
    • More people around the world tried Prime this holiday season than any previous year.
    • The fastest Prime Now delivery on Christmas Eve took 13 minutes and was delivered at 9:05 p.m. to a Prime member in Redondo Beach, California. The order included a Tile Slim Item Finder and a Tile Mate Key Finder.
    • December 23, 2016 was the biggest day ever for Prime Now deliveries worldwide and members ordered 3x more items compared to last year with one and two hour delivery worldwide. Echo Dot, Amazon Echo, Fire TV Stick and Oreo Cookies were some of the most popular items ordered that day in the U.S.
    • The last Prime Now order delivered in time for the holiday was delivered at 11:59 p.m. on December 24, 2016 to a Prime member in Irvine, California. The order included a Heated Mattress Pad, NyQuil and Afrin Nasal Spray.
    • Prime members in Dallas, Texas ordered more items with Prime Now than any other city in the U.S. this holiday season.
    • The last Prime FREE Same-Day Delivery order from Amazon.com that was delivered in time for Christmas was ordered at 10:23 a.m. on December 24, 2016. The order included Venum Contender Boxing Gloves, and was delivered to a Prime member in Richmond, Virginia at 2:42 p.m. – the same day.

    Mobile Shopping:

    • More than 72 percent of Amazon customers worldwide shopped using a mobile device this holiday.
    • Shopping on the free Amazon mobile app grew by 56 percent this holiday, worldwide.
    • On Cyber Monday, Amazon customers worldwide purchased about 46 electronics per second on a mobile device.
    • On Cyber Monday, Amazon customers worldwide purchased about 36 toys per second on a mobile device.

    Amazon Operations:

    • December 19 was the peak worldwide shipping day this holiday season.
    • In the U.S., more than 200,000 full-time and seasonal associates made the record-breaking shipping season possible.
    • In the last two years, Amazon launched operations at over a dozen new facilities, many of which house robotic technology.
    • Amazon fulfillment centers in San Marcos, Texas and Kent, Washington, as well as two Polish fulfillment centers, in Poznan and Wroclaw, shipped more than one million items in a single day.
    • There are now 45,000 robotics units working alongside Amazon associates in more than 20 fulfillment centers.

    Amazon Digital Media:

    • The most streamed Amazon Original Series over the holidays was Goliath.
    • The most streamed Amazon Original Movie over the holidays was Love & Friendship.
    • The most watched TV series (non-Amazon Original) streaming on Prime Video this holiday was The Night Manager.
    • The most watched movie (non-Amazon Original) streaming on Prime Video this holiday was Eye in the Sky.
    • Customers listening to holiday music on Amazon Music more than tripled this year, compared to 2015.
    • The most streamed holiday song on Amazon Music was It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams.
    • Michael Bublé – Christmas was the most played holiday album on Amazon Music this season.
    • Amazon Music is the exclusive streaming home for all 16 studio albums by the best-selling solo artist in U.S. history, Garth Brooks – since his debut to streaming exclusively on Amazon, Brooks has become one of the top-streamed artists on Amazon Music.
    • The hours that kids spent interacting with educational content in Amazon FreeTime this holiday season was enough time to sail around the earth more than 6,000 times.
    • Popular FreeTime Unlimited holiday titles enjoyed by kids in the U.S. 2016 were Holiday Jokes (Hah-larious Joke Books), Elsa’s Ice Puzzles – FreeTime Unlimited Edition, and Caillou’s Winter Wonders.
    • The top foodie book Kindle customers are reading this holiday season is Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, currently available in Kindle Unlimited.
    • The #1 magazine downloaded in Prime Reading in 2016 by Kindle customers was People.
    • The top non-fiction book downloaded in Prime Reading in 2016 was The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman.
    • In 2016, more than 3 million readers took the Goodreads Challenge and read a collective 38.1 million books this year.
    • Authors answered more than 26,000 reader questions on Goodreads in 2016.
    • The highest rated audiobook of 2016 on Audible is Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, and narrated by the author.
    • The bestselling audiobook of the year on Audible was The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, narrated by Claire Corbett, Louise Brealey, and India Fisher.

    Holiday Fun Facts:

    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Hamilton: the Revolution collectible books and Hamilton albums to give every patron at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City a copy for 96 consecutive shows.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough 4K TVs to reach the peak of Mount Everest more than 9 times.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough KitchenAid Mixers this holiday to make nearly 7.5 million cookies at once.
    • On Cyber Monday 2016, Handmade at Amazon saw a 200 percent increase in sales versus Cyber Monday 2015.
    • If each Amazon.com customer who purchased Pokémon Sun and Moon this holiday spent at least an hour a day playing the game since its release, our customers would have spent the equivalent of more than 24 thousand lunar cycles capturing Pokémon.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough copies of the Harry Potter: Complete 8-Film Collection to play consecutively for more than 300 years.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Hasbro Connect 4 Games this holiday season to give each resident of Dallas, Texas a single disc from the game.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Sphero Star Wars BB-8 App-Controlled Robots to roll as a relay around the Earth more than two times before the batteries run out.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Razor Jett Heel Wheels this holiday to roll a fully loaded space shuttle to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Wilson footballs this holiday to give every fan at a sold-out Seahawks game a chance to throw a pass like Russell Wilson.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough golf balls this holiday that, if lined up, would equal the length of Pebble Beach golf course four times over.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased more Marvin the Moose dog toys this holiday than the number of actual moose in New England.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough copies of The Secret Life of Pets that if each one were a tennis ball, they would fill Central Parkover two and a half feet deep.
    • Amazon.com delivered enough men’s jeans to fill one Olympic-size swimming pool.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough ugly Christmas sweaters for every seat at all three NCAA College Football Playoff games.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough running shoes to run 18,603 times around the globe.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased 2.5 million watches – that is a watch purchased every 1.5 seconds this holiday season.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased 10,451 carats of diamonds, which is equal to 6.5 Russian Kokoshnik Tiaras, one of the Queen of England’s most famous tiaras.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased the weight of a grizzly bear in gold and the weight of a rhinoceros in silver.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Etekcity camp lanterns this holiday to replace the beacon lights on top of the Eiffel Tower nearly 11 times.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough luggage to fill 20 Boeing 747 airplanes.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough electric vehicle home charging kits to make 2,196 emissions-free trips around the globe in a year.
    • Amazon.com customers purchased enough Char-Broil’s The Big Easy Turkey Fryers to cook 225,000 pounds of turkey.

    Holiday Best Sellers (Amazon.com only):

    • All Categories: Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick, Fire tablet, Amazon Echo
    • Amazon Launchpad: Watch Ya’ Mouth Family Edition – The Authentic, Hilarious, Mouthguard Party Game, Tile Mate – Key Finder. Phone Finder. Anything Finder., Anki Overdrive Starter Kit
    • Audio & Accessories: Panasonic ErgoFit In-Ear Earbud Headphones, AmazonBasics 6-Outlet Surge Protector Power Strip, Sonos PLAY:1 Compact Wireless Smart Speaker for Streaming Music
    • Automotive: Hopkins Mallory 26″ Snow Brush with Foam Grip, Battery Tender Junior 12-Volt Battery Charger, Zwipes Microfiber Cleaning Cloths (36 pack)
    • Baby: Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes Musical Toy, Nuby Octopus Hoopla Bathtime Fun Toys (Purple), Baby Banana Infant Training Toothbrush and Teether (Yellow)
    • Beauty & Grooming: Philips Sonicare Essence Sonic Electric Rechargeable Toothbrush (White), Philips Norelco Multigroom Series 3100 with 5 attachments, Oral-B Pro 1000 Power Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush Powered by Braun
    • Books: Diary of a Wimpy Kid # 11: Double Down, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay, First 100 Words
    • Camera: Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Film Camera, AmazonBasics 60-Inch Lightweight Tripod with Bag, GoPro HERO5
    • Fashion: Levi’s Men’s 501 Original Fit Jean, Fossil Emma Large Zip RFID Wallet, kate spade new york Cedar Street Cami Convertible Cross-Body Bag
    • Grocery: The Original Donut Shop, Regular, Medium Extra Bold, Keurig K-Cups (72 Count), San Francisco Bay OneCup, Fog Chaser (80 Single Serve Coffees), KIND Nuts & Spices, Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt
    • Handmade: First Christmas in New Home Wood Ornament, Personalized Nameplate Gold Bar Necklace, World Travel Map Pin Board
    • Home: BLACK + DECKER 16V Cordless Lithium Hand Vac, Lasko Ceramic Heater with Adjustable Thermostat, Poo-Pourri Before-You-Go Toilet Spray 2-Ounce Bottle (Original Scent)
    • Home Improvement: WBM Himalayan Salt Lamp, 3M Indoor Window Insulator Kit, Woods Outdoor 24-Hour Photoelectric Timer
    • Home & Personal Care: AmazonBasics AA Performance Alkaline Batteries (48-pack), Bounty Select-a-Size Paper Towels, Huge Roll (12 Count), Cottonelle Ultra ComfortCare Big Roll Toilet Paper (12 Count)
    • Kitchen: RTIC 30 oz. Tumbler, Instant Pot 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Pressure Cooker (6 quart), Keurig K55 Single Serve Coffer Maker
    • Luxury Beauty: stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner, L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream, BaBylissPRO Ceramix Xtreme Dryer
    • Movies: The Secret Life of Pets, Finding Dory, Harry Potter: Complete 8-Film Collection
    • Music (CDs & vinyl): A Pentatonix Christmas, Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording), Blue & Lonesome
    • Musical Instruments: Blue Yeti USB Microphone, Kala Learn To Play Ukulele Starter Kit (Amazon Exclusive), Singing Machine Top Loading CDG Karaoke System with Sound and Disco Light Show
    • Outdoors: LifeStraw Personal Water Filter, Etekcity 2-pack Portable Outdoor LED Camping Lantern with 6 AA Batteries (Black, Collapsible), Yeti Coolers Rambler
    • Patio, Lawn & Garden: iDevices iGrill Mini, Bounty Hunter BHJS Junior Metal Detector, Snow Joe Telescoping Snow Broom with Ice Scraper
    • PC: SanDisk Ultra 32GB microSDHC UHS-I Card with Adapter, Seagate Expansion 1TB Portable External Hard Drive USB 3.0, AmazonBasics Mini DisplayPort (Thunderbolt) to HDMI Adapter
    • Pets: KONG Cozie Marvin the Moose Dog Toy Medium Dog Toy (Brown), GREENIES PILL POCKETS Soft Dog Treats, Chicken (Capsule, 15.8 oz), Fancy Feast Wet Cat Food – Gravy Lovers – Poultry & Beef Variety Pack, 3-Ounce Can (Pack of 24)
    • Smart Home: TP-Link Smart Plug, Philips Hue White A19 Starter Kit, Samsung SmartThings Hub
    • Sports: Spalding NBA Street Basketball, Bushnell Falcon 7×35 Binoculars w/ Case, Simply Fit Board
    • Tools: TEKTON 5941 Digital Tire Gauge, MagnoGrip 311-090 Magnetic Wristband, DEWALT DW2166 45-Piece Screwdriving Set with Tough Case
    • Toys & Games: Hasbro Pie Face Game & Pie Face Showdown Game, Scientific Explorer Mind Blowing Science Kit, Snap Circuits Jr. SC-100 Electronics Discovery Kit
    • TV: Samsung 32-Inch 1080p Smart LED TV, Avera 32-Inch 720p LED TV, Samsung 40-Inch 1080p Smart LED TV
    • Video Games: Pokémon Sun – Nintendo 3DS, Pokémon Moon – Nintendo 3DS, Final Fantasy XV – PlayStation 4
    • Wearable Technology: Garmin vivofit Fitness Band, Garmin vívoactive HR GPS Smart Watch, Samsung Gear VR – Virtual Reality Headset
    • Wireless: AmazonBasics Apple Certified Lightning to USB Cable (6 Feet), WeMo Light Switch, Samsung Wireless Charging Pad
  • How to Use In-Store Behavioral Data to Increase Sales

    How to Use In-Store Behavioral Data to Increase Sales

    We all know that online shopping behavior is tracked in order to increase sales, but what about the behavior of brick and mortar shoppers? The Global Director of Marketing for IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT), Scott Neuman, points out that gathering data about a shoppers activity in a physical retail store is just as important as it is when the customer is shopping online.

    Capturing Offline Shopper Data

    “Over the past decade we have seen many advances in online retailing ranging from dynamic pricing to predictive buyer behavior, all with the goal of providing better service and driving increased revenue,” notes Neuman. “All of this has been achieved through the creative use of data captured through the experience. But have in store experiences kept pace with the online experience? Is the in store data that is being captured falling into a black hole? Is the potential data being captured at all?”

    Neuman suggests that just like how retailers track their online customers, knowing what products are viewed and in what order, physical stores could and should do the same in order to increase the bottom line. He says that by adding RFID tags on each item in the store, a retailer can track the movement of shoppers and know what order they put products into their carts.

    Adjusting In-Store Marketing Based on In-Store Behavior

    You can also know how long customers browsed in the vicinity of certain products. Neuman says that with this data retailers should ask, “What made them move on? Was there more you could have done with the display? Was the price point wrong?”

    Using IoT data a retailer can “correlate the current flow of customers with check out receipts” in order to adjust in-store promotions with in-store data. “Much the same way online retails can track a customer’s digital journey of page views and their shopping cart at checkout,” said Neuman. “Then you can tease out where opportunities lie to not only increase sales, but increase customer satisfaction.”

    How Will the Internet of Things Impact Marketing?

    IBM’s IoT marketing director was recently asked how will the Internet of Things impact marketing. “It really comes down to the data that’s available to marketers,” said Neuman. “When you think about the sensors and what they are connected to, reaching out to where customers are and where they are making decisions, that’s really the nirvana for marketing!”

    The IoT revolution is an “explosion of data” that is a significant opportunity for retailers, but also an extreme challenge. “How do you make sense of all of that?” asks Neuman. “That’s where technology really starts to play a role.”

  • Twitter Improves the Use of Direct Messages as CRM

    Twitter Improves the Use of Direct Messages as CRM

    Twitter announced today new features that help companies use the Direct Messages aspect of their platform to improve communications with customers. They have enabled companies to build in Quick Replies and Welcome Messages via Direct Messages so that businesses can serve customers better.

    The new tools let businesses better incorporate Direct Messages into their CRM strategies. Twitter hopes that this further encourages businesses to make its platform the heart of their customers experience.

    Quick Replies and Welcome Messages

    Twitter’s new Welcome Messages allow businesses to pre-set greetings or offer information at the top of their Twitter feed to encourage questions and speed resolutions.

    “Businesses can create multiple welcome messages and deep link directly to a specific greeting from Tweets, websites, or apps,” said Ian Cairns (@cairns), Customer Service Product Manager. “Welcome messages help businesses demonstrate their commitment to service and help people learn what options exist to engage with a business in Direct Messages.”

    The Quick Replies feature gives businesses a way to automate replies to customers by letting them choose from a list of options. Businesses could combine Quick Replies and Welcome Messages in order to make the customer interaction more efficient and effective. Cairns says that they might, for example, prompt faster resolutions by encouraging customers to provide specific information before a customer service agent is actually involved.

    Twitter noted that Pizza Hut is using the new features to improve the customer experience. “We are constantly pursuing ways to simplify our ordering experience,” said Baron Concors, Global Chief Digital Officer at Pizza Hut. “This platform allows our consumers to quickly order or get information within Twitter where they are already spending a great deal of their time.”

    Twitter has listed these companies as currently incorporating the new features into their Direct Messages experience with customers: @EvernoteHelps, @PizzaHut, @AirbnbHelp, @SpotifyCares, @NortonSupport, @Tesco,@TfLTravelAlerts, @WeatherNetwork, and @AirTailor.

    Information for Developers

    Twitter has worked to integrate these new features with a number of ecommerce tools including: Assist, Audiense, Conversable, Conversocial, Dexter, Hobbynote,Lithium, Massively, Proxima, Rozie, Spredfast, Sprinklr, and Sprout Social .

    They recommend you contact them directory to enable a custom approach for your business.

  • Technology Helps Salespeople and the Customer Connect

    Technology Helps Salespeople and the Customer Connect

    Technology is impacting sales in a way never seen before as evidenced by Salesforce’s massive integration of artificial intelligence into all of their various clouds and products. At the Salesforce Dreamforce event much of the discussion is about how technology is changing the sales landscape requiring salespeople to adapt or fail.

    There are so many trends really impacting sales right now,” says Tim Clarke, Director of Product Marketing at Salesforce. “You can’t lead with products anymore, as Brent Adamson of CEB said, 57% of the buying process is completed before they engage the salesperson. We know that with a lot of the purchasing decisions that we make we’ll just do our research online, so the professional sales person now needs to truly add value.”

    He noted what we all know, that the most effective sales strategy relies on having the right conversation at the right time, at the right place and on the right channel. However, it’s really more than that, it’s about standing out knowing everything there is to know. “We’ve probably all received those prospecting emails which are just generic, and then you get the second one saying, I didn’t hear from you and then the third one asking, did you get hit by a car?” said Clarke. “Clearly, prospecting and sales development is really an exciting area right now and there’s so much technology that really can support sales professionals to be successful.”

    Salespeople Must Stand Out From the Herd

    An extreme depth of knowledge about the customer is becoming more important. “First, the customer is obviously much more educated today than they were even 5 or 10 years ago,” said Will Anastas, SVP of Enterprise Corporate Sales at Salesforce. “The proliferation of technology that enables customers to be smart is also at our disposal as well in sales.”

    He noted that it is key for salespeople to “stand out from the herd of salespeople” that literally have the same information as we do. “So how do we change our perspective and how do we do discovery so that we can show up literally like your customers customer?” Anastas asks. “By providing that point of view that is authentic, genuine and empathetic that will help you break through and separate yourself from really everyone that is trying to sell to this individual. I think it’s a challenging time, but I think it is full of opportunity.”

    Try Different Things to Get in Front of Your Prospects

    “We launched a project with a company called Somersault Innovation which is led by Ashley Welch and her co-founder Justin Jones,” said Anastas. “What they did was take the principals of design thinking and applied it to a sales process, a sales discovery methodology. There were 3 main components of it, empathy, customer centricity and curiosity.”

    Salesforce rolled out their program internally in order to improve their own sales. “What I’ve noticed is that as we’ve rolled out this training to our salespeople they have found themselves in situations that they didn’t expect to find themselves in,” noted Anastas. “For instance, one of my executives has Greyhound as a prospect account and we been trying to get into Greyhound for years, doing the same thing over and over again, looking at LinkedIn and looking at the available information on the web.

    “Finally, after we did this training, our account executive just went and got on a bus,” he said. “Instead of flying to LA for the weekend, he took a Greyhound from San Francisco to LA, he talked to a bunch of people at Greyhound and he figured out a bunch of insights that he would never have gotten by sitting at his desk and looking at the web.”

    Later, Anastas said that when the salesperson phoned up Greyhound he was able to talk about his personal experience of the bus ride and as their customer. “That warm, empathetic intro has taken him all the way to the office of the CEO at Greyhound in a very short period of time.”

    “So to me, it’s really about separating yourself out and trying different things to get you in front of your prospects faster.”

    The Personal Connection is Also Important

    The CEO of CCI Global Holdings, Walter Rogers, says that technology has become available that really allows a seller to become much more knowledgable about their buyer, their buyers customers, their buyers needs, both personal and professional. However, he says making a personal connection with these individuals and leveraging all of this information enables the salesperson to make an “impact” on the potential customer.

    “We talked a lot about the impact of technology on sales,” he said. “I want to sidestep and talk about the personal connection with a human being. That’s something that I personally experienced working in partnership with Amazon Web Services. I’ve actually gone deep into their sales cycles as they try to convince customers to move from on premises to a cloud based infrastructure.”

    “There was one customer that we were working with that just did not want to move,” Rogers said. “They were very efficient in how they were running their operation and they felt they would not save any money. However, when we dug really really deep, his personal motivator was impacting the public education system.”

    He said that showing the customer that moving their data from to the cloud, would allow them to correlate information across many other databases and build out a predictive analytics model. “This let them spot students before they got in trouble, by looking at various trends, such as did the parents just go on welfare, those types of things,” says Rogers. “Because we are able to make that human personal connection, this company is beginning to make a migration across the AWS infrastructure.”

    “We can’t ever overlook the impact of the human connection,” he said. “You’d be amazed at what a difference it can make in getting email response when you take the words me, I and we out of your emails completely and focus them all on the word you and what’s important to the other person. The response rates will go up about 50%.”

  • Salesforce Einstein Announced–Artificial Intelligence for Everyone

    Salesforce Einstein Announced–Artificial Intelligence for Everyone

    In a major initiative that has been in the works for two years, Salesforce is integrating artificial intelligence into all of its CRM cloud platforms. It enables any business to use clicks or code to build AI-powered apps that get smarter with every interaction. Their AI system learns from all of the data you enter about your customers and prospects (CRM data, email, calendar, social, ERP, and IoT), and makes predictions and recommendations on actions you should consider. It can even automate tasks it certain situations.

    Salesforce Einstein is designed to help their customers take advantage of the huge amounts of data produced by making sense of it and seeing trends before humans typically do. What Salesforce has done is to make the use of artificial intelligence possible for all businesses, without have to employ their own data science teams.

    “Powered by advanced machine learning, deep learning, predictive analytics, natural language processing and smart data discovery, Einstein’s models will be automatically customized for every single customer, and it will learn, self-tune, and get smarter with every interaction and additional piece of data,” writes Jim Sinai who is VP of Marketing at SalesforceIQ in their company blog announcement. “Most importantly, Einstein’s intelligence will be embedded within the context of business, automatically discovering relevant insights, predicting future behavior, proactively recommending best next actions and even automating tasks.”

    Salesforce Einstein is designed to be a simple and intuitive approach to deliver AI to companies using their cloud CRM products. They say that by “removing the complexity of AI” they are “enabling any company to deliver smarter, personalized and more predictive customer experiences.”

    “We couldn’t be more excited to finally unveil Salesforce Einstein after two years of hard work and targeted acquisitions,” added Sinai. “As we continue to build out AI for CRM, we are committed to understanding the next generation of AI technology and how it can best be applied to Salesforce. This effort will be led by Salesforce Research, a new research group focused on the future of AI, under the leadership of Dr. Richard Socher, our Chief Scientist.”

    Bringing Artificial Intelligence to Sales

    Adam Blitzer, the EVP & GM of Sales Cloud at Salesforce sees significant value in companies using AI within the sales process. “At Salesforce, we are focused on helping companies evolve from the first level, where the CRM is a one-dimensional system of record, to the second level, where the CRM is a system of engagement. And finally, we are helping companies make the leap to the highest level, where the CRM works for them as a predictive system of intelligence.”

    “AI arms teams with more intelligence, enabling them increase productivity and predictive capabilities across everything they do,” adds Blitzer. “Importantly, it gives sales teams better insights that build human relationships, an area where sales reps far excel beyond machine capabilities.”

    Screen Shot 2016-09-19 at 11.20.25 AM

    “This (Sales Cloud Einstein) makes people, teams and entire companies, better able to discover insights from data, recommend actions that help close deals, automate processes that give reps more time to build 1:1 relationships, and predict outcomes or hiccups that enable reps to be proactive and remain a step ahead of each customer’s needs and competitor’s potential attack,” stated Blitzer. “I’m excited for our customers to start experimenting with the features we’re announcing today—Predictive Lead Scoring, Opportunity Insights and Automated Activity Capture, you can learn more here. And, I’m even more excited about the business growth these AI solutions are going to drive.”

    Bringing Artificial Intelligence to the Service Industry

    “Until now, most customer service leaders have been unable to put intelligence in action,” stated Mike Milburn who is head of the Service Cloud at Salesforce. “With Service Cloud Einstein, companies of any size will be able to deploy a connected customer service experience that is predictive, automated and intelligent, bringing AI to the forefront of customer service like never before.”

    Milburn says that with Service Cloud Einstein, organizations of all sizes will be able to resolve customer service cases faster by utilizing history and trend data, automate routine inquiries and predict case resolution times.

    He also offered a bigger picture of how the Salesforce Cloud Platform could be integrated within devices far removed from CRM and marketing. “Consider this: a connected device–like a dishwasher–could self-diagnose that it needed routine maintenance from a field tech. The dishwasher is connected to Salesforce IoT Cloud, where it’s performance is monitored. When IoT Cloud identifies an issue, it triggers a case in Field Service Lightning and a dishwasher repair tech is dispatched automatically–without a customer or agent needing to be involved. That’s the future of service, and the amazing thing is that with Einstein and the Customer Success Platform, it’s possible today.”

    Bringing Artificial Intelligence to Marketing

    AI in marketing is about combining historical and real-time data in order to see trends, predict what’s likely to happen and offer contextual suggestions on what to do next. “We are giving marketers the ability to shift away from using analytics that only look at past behavior to analytics that predict the optimal timing, channel, content and audience for any marketing message,” says Bob Stutz, CEO of the Salesforce Marketing Cloud and their Chief Analytics Officer.

    Einstein integration within their marketing cloud enables companies to take advantage of Predictive Scoring which puts a percentage on the likelihood of a customer taking a certain action such as making a purchase, or unsubscribing from an email blast. With the Predictive Audiences feature marketers can group predictive actions based on their scores in order to more effectively modify marketing strategies. Finally, Automated Send-time Optimization predicts the best time to send new marketing messages.

    Screen Shot 2016-09-19 at 11.45.34 AM

    Stutz says that Marketing Cloud Einstein has been in beta for about a year with “tremendous” results. He says that ecommerce and coupons company ShopAtHome redefined customer engagement around predictive scores and experienced a 23% increase in email clicks, and a 30% increase in email opens.

    Bringing Artificial Intelligence to the Entire Salesforce Platform

    Salesforce has also added Einstein AI to their Community Cloud, IoT Cloud and App Cloud.

    “What is most important to Salesforce Community Cloud customers is that Einstein’s intelligence will automatically discover and surface relevant insights, predict answers to solve questions fast, and proactively make recommendations,” said Mike Micucci who is the SVP of Product Management at Salesforce. “It will even automate certain tasks. And you don’t have to do a thing. Einstein puts the best alternative right in front of you.”

    “With IoT Cloud Einstein, our customers will be able to unlock a whole new wave of innovation for the Internet of Things by pairing their IoT data with services powered by Salesforce’s new artificial intelligence platform,” notes Woodson Martin, the head of Thunder & IOT Cloud at Salesforce.

    Salesforce is also making it possible for companies to build custom apps using their Einstein AI technology. “Today, as we launch Salesforce Einstein, we’re democratizing the technology necessary for any business to build AI-first apps,” said Adam Seligman, Executive Vice President and GM of the App Cloud at Salesforce. “Einstein combines all of our adventurous reaches into data science, data management and modern app development into one set of platform services enabling anyone to build the next generation of apps, powered by AI, that customers will love.”

  • ComScore Study – Marketing Power Of Podcasts Is Huge

    ComScore Study – Marketing Power Of Podcasts Is Huge

    A ComScore study focusing on podcasting proved to be good news for podcasters and advertising seeking to reach hard-to-reach audiences. In their study commissioned by Wondery, nearly on in five Americans aged 18-49 report listening to podcasts at least once a month, while nearly one in three men 18-34 do so.

    Compared to the average consumer, podcast listeners are more likely to have:

    • a college or higher education
    • $100k+ household income
    • be early adopters in multiple categories including movies, electronics and CPG.

    Hernan Lopez, Founder & CEO of Wondery commented, “Are you listening? Your hardest-to-reach consumers are.” Wondery has a reason to be excited about these results considering that it is a company focused on creating and curating podcasts and then integrating brands into the mix. Podcasts have often been a hard sell for marketers because they don’t typically generate a huge amount of direct response to offers. It’s much more of a brand play in my opinion.

    According to ComScore, one in three podcast listeners expect to increase their podcast consumption over the next six months, following a similar increase in their behavior in the past six months.

    Podcasts can be a very effective platform for marketing according to ComScore. The study reports that two-thirds of podcast listeners have engaged in various research and/or purchase related behaviors as a result of advertising exposure from podcasts. Among all forms of advertising on mobile devices, podcasts create the highest improvement in perception. And among all forms of digital advertising, podcast ads are considered the least intrusive.

    “It’s clear that we’re in the midst of a new podcasting boom, spurred in large part by improved accessibility via mobile and a tidal wave of rich and compelling content,” said Andrew Lipsman, VP of Marketing & Insights, comScore. “This research provides strong evidence for why this sector is very attractive for advertisers. Not only do podcasts over-index on reaching some of the most valuable and hardest-to-reach audiences, but they also put consumers in a mindset that’s favorable to ad receptivity.”

    “In a world of clutter, attention deficit and elusive audiences the work Wondery is doing adds another valuable string to our bow,” said Nick Emery, Global CEO of Mindshare.

    “This study underscores the power of the podcast as a vital digital platform for brand advertising,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB. “We saw marketers and media buyers come out in strong numbers for first IAB Podcast Upfront Showcase. Now, with research showing the medium’s reach and resonance, we anticipate an even bigger turnout for the event later this year.”

    “When we hear ‘podcast listeners’ we think of early adopters, passionate consumers, dedicated to deep cultural content; Wondery’s study confirms this view”, added Jim Elms, Global CEO, Initiative Media.

    The study also asked about a listeners emotions before and after listening to podcasts. Many said they felt more “connected, intelligent and energized” after listening. The ComScore study was commissioned between March and April of 2016 among over 2,000 respondents in the US aged 18-49.

    A study by Nielsen Scarborough released May 23, 2016 also found that podcasting consumption is on the rise. The study reported that the number of adults 18 and older listening to a podcast during the past month has doubled over the previous five years. Five years seems like a long time to only see doubling, but at least it’s not declining.

    The Nielsen Scarborough study found that:

    • Podcast listeners are equally male and female
    • The majority (70%) are between the ages of 18-44
    • They are 39% more likely to be single
    • 44% more likely to be a college graduate
    • 33% more likely to be employed in a white collar occupation
    • Have an average household income of $83,700 exceeding the national average by about $12,000

    Nielsen stats indicate that they could be good targets for marketers:

    With higher average incomes than the general population, podcast listeners are particularly interested in investments and wealth management. More than 65% of podcast listeners have some type of investment, with nearly half participating in a 401K plan. In addition, podcast listeners are 25% more likely to have stocks, 105% more likely to engage in online investing/stock trading and 15% more likely to use a financial planner.

    And while podcast listeners are serious about their finances, they are equally serious about giving back to their communities with three-quarters having contributed money to a cause during the past year. Their contributions focus on areas they are passionate about and where they can make an impact on society. These causes’ include education, social programs and arts and culture.

    They also are very active:

    Screen Shot 2016-06-06 at 9.45.40 AM

  • Google Adwords Adjusting To A “Mobile-First World”

    Google Adwords Adjusting To A “Mobile-First World”

    It’s a Mobile-First World for Google with significant Adwords changes announced at its Google Performance Summit. Google also posted about these changes on its Inside Adwords blog. Among the changes are increasing ad titles from 25 to 30 characters and increasing ad descriptions from 35 to 80 characters. Google noted that in tests of these larger sized ads some advertisers reported a 20% improvement in click-through rates.

    Check out the full announcement here:

    Google also is encouraging ads to blend in with content:

    How do display ads look in a mobile-first world? From sites to apps to videos, mobile has unlocked a universe of new spaces to reach consumers. Responsive ads for display adapt to the diverse content across the more than two million publisher sites and apps on the Google Display Network (GDN). They also unlock new native inventory so you can engage consumers with ads that match the look and feel of the content they’re browsing. Simply provide headlines, a description, an image, and a URL — and Google will automatically design these beautiful responsive ads.

    Another big announcement from Google is a new flexibility within Adwords to optimize bids for specific devices:

    What does bidding look like in a mobile-first world? Marketers need more control and flexibility to optimize bids on specific devices. In the next few months, you’ll be able to set individual bid adjustments for each device type — mobile, desktop and tablet. This lets you anchor your base keyword bid to the device most valuable to your business and then set bid adjustments for each of the other devices. You will also have a wider range to adjust bids, up to +900%. With more controls, you can now optimize with greater precision while keeping things simple with a single campaign that reaches consumers across devices.

  • A Bloodbath For Digital, Mobile And Terrestrial Media

    A Bloodbath For Digital, Mobile And Terrestrial Media

    Outspoken Vice Media CEO Shane Smith predicts, “A bloodbath in the next 12 months of digital, mobile and terrestrial (media).” Smith was interviewed by Hearst Magazine’s digital media president Troy Young as part of Hearst’s Master Class interview series, according to Digiday.

    Smith said he expects Viacom to “implode” and something similar will happen at other media companies, like Time Warner and Fox.”

    Some other interesting nuggets from the interview:

    – But how do we take it to the next level? How do we take on CNN? How do we take on BBC? And Josh (is that guy. Josh (Tyrangiel) is a fucking angry young man who wants to shove it in their asses.

    – We have the number one, out of all networks in America, the most highly educated demo, the most affluent demo, now the fastest “younging down of a network.” It’s true, we’re bring millennials back to TV.

    – You have to be on all screens, at all times.

    – There’s a whole generation that came up with no advertising but yet ads paid for everything, so there’s this whole disruption happening…

    – When you really get into VR, you see it’s the future.

    And then Smith slammed publishers reliance on Facebook:

    This is the biggest problem of the world: Facebook has bought two-thirds of the new media companies out there without spending a dime because they own a majority of their mobile. That’s great for Facebook, but bad for their platform. That’s why we’re trying to get on all platforms because we can monetize on all platforms then we can get away from the patrimony of Facebook.

    Read the full interview at Digiday.

  • Upfronts Vs Newfronts: Controversy Over Online Video Audience Measurement

    Upfronts Vs Newfronts: Controversy Over Online Video Audience Measurement

    What is the appropriate way to compare the audiences of an online video series and a television series? This controversy can also be called… The Upfronts vs. the Newfronts!

    The Upfronts is where ad agencies on behalf of advertisers buy TV ads in bulk and also get presented with pitches by the various networks. The Upfronts have been around since 1962. The Newfronts are the digital equivalent, mostly featuring premium online content such as made for YouTube professionally produced series. The Newfronts have been gaining steam over the last few years but actually began in 2008. The Newfronts and Upfronts were just held back to back in New York City.

    What’s provoking jabs by TV execs such as CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, is that it’s becoming clear that the Newfronts and Upfronts are competing for the same ad dollars. The budgets from advertisers of premium online digital video is coming out of the original budgets for TV commercials. For instance, ad agency Magna Global announced at the Newfronts that they are shifting $250 million from TV to digital in 2016.

    At an Upfront breakfast speech, Moonves told the audience, “When it comes to digital, “The bloom is off the rose and the lack of effect of digital advertising are “absolutely true.” According to Adweek he put it this way:

    As for other networks highlighting their success in specific demographics during upfronts, Moonves noted, “different people brag about statistics that they just made up last week.”

    Moonves joined the chorus of broadcasters who are swinging back this week at the debatable claims coming from digital companies. “There’s a lot of stats that aren’t true,” said Moonves. “We see [ad] money coming back to the network. The bloom is off the rose [for digital].”

    The Wall Street Journal Thursday added fuel to the fire by questioning a comparison of the audience size of the TV show “Pretty Little Liars” and the YouTube show “How to Survive High School”. At the Newfronts Fullscreen said that the online show, “How to Survive High School” has amassed 36 million views since it launched last year, while in comparison “Pretty Little Liars” had 2 million viewers. This is a weak statistic, but it’s meant to illustrate the growing reach of premium online video content, not that the YouTube show is actually more popular than “Liars.” Per WSJ “Pretty Little Liars” has been averaging 2.5 million viewers an episode since January based on seven days of live and recorded viewing.

    Statistically it’s an apples-to-oranges comparison because the TV show has 2.5 million viewers every week while the web video show had 36 million views over the course of its existence. But at least those numbers are indisputable, while TV viewing is still relying on Nielsen estimates that are extrapolated from diaries and homes that installed their box.

    Another argument was made by a TV advertising trade group:

    Via WSJ — “Sean Cunningham, chief executive of the Video Advertising Bureau, a TV-led trade group that has been making the argument that digital outlets are overstating their audiences, said that with Fullscreen’s comparison, “the basic media math falls apart here in every way.”

    The VAB made the case that a better way to compare a Web video show with a TV show is to calculate the average audience at a given minute for both shows. The group found that since last August “Pretty Little Liars” averaged over 1.6 million viewers watching live at any given minute when on the air, while “How to Survive” averaged just 850 individual viewers during a given minute.”

    That way of comparison is silly and starts to make the hyperbole of online video proponents look sane. Not a good idea if you really want to make the case that online video views are overstated.

    By its nature TV shows are mostly viewed live or after being recorded while online video is viewed over a much longer period of time and the period of time right after they are uploaded is irrelevant. Measuring the audience of an online video at a given point in time instead of overall may apply to TV somewhat but obviously way understates the viewing audience of online video. “How to Survive High School” had 36 million views! That is in NFL playoff territory.

    Are they all unique? No. But so what? TV viewership is not unique over a multi-week period of time and TV execs don’t seem to have a problem with that. They charge advertisers based on their total viewership for the episode, even if the advertiser is advertising every week where there is substantial overlap in their viewers over time.

    Another aspect rarely noted is that digital ads are viewed preroll and cannot be bypassed, whereas TV ads are routinely fast-forwarded through or ignored (bathroom break!) and this is true of the younger age brackets especially. Of course with digital, unlike TV, there is usually only one ad per episode, but that’s likely to change over time.

    The point is that online digital is catching and likely surpassing the viewership of traditional TV viewership and it is freaking TV execs out!