BCA

By Xavier A. Rault

Once upon a time, women managed the family finances, making decisions about  home purchases, clothing, food and other necessary items. If a store owner  provided poor service, there wasn’t much the customer could do. She might gossip  with the neighbors about it, or perhaps discuss it over a cup of coffee. But  ultimately, there was little competition for the store owner’s goods and the  complaints of one person had little impact. Life and profits – for the store  owner went on as usual.

Technology has changed the face of consumerism 

Fast forward to 2007. Technology has changed the face of consumerism,  empowering shoppers to be smarter, more demanding and more resourceful.

With  literally hundreds of retailers providing the same products at similar pricing,  today’s consumers have endless options and can tailor purchases based not just  on price or product availability, but on other variables like return policies,  ease of online purchasing and payment options.

Anger a customer today, and chances are the news will spread like wildfire  through YouTube, Myspace, Yelp, Angieslist and Amazon, as consumers “take to the  airwaves” to let other unsuspecting shoppers know of their experience.

According  to iProspect and Jupiter Research, 25 % of the U.S. population visits sites like  these at least once each month, sharing complaints and compliments about  retailers with other shoppers.

People rely on recommendations of other customers

In an online retail world where products can’t be  touched and the store owner has been replaced with a web page and Shopping Cart,  people have come to rely on the recommendations of other customers. Like the  shot heard “˜round the world, consumer complaints can and do make a  difference.

In just the past ten years, technology has turned most of us into savvy  Internet shoppers and driven prices downward, as consumers are able to purchase  24/7 and have their purchases delivered immediately. While this ability does not  negate the need for the human touch, many experts believe today’s technology is  just the tip of the iceberg.

Al Myers, senior vice president of TNS Retail Forward Inc., believes that  “for those consumers and companies who can handle it, technology will continue  to improve the whole proposition. It has to, because the industry can’t find  enough people, train enough people and the customer isn’t willing to pay for  better service when a competitor has it for a lower price.

Service with people makes it harder to compete

We’re not saying the  trusted salesperson will be replaced at Saks, Neiman’s or Nordstrom’s, but in  most of retail, providing service with people is going to make it harder for  them to compete.” Myers concluded, “It won’t be long before we are scanning  entire grocery carts and paying for its contents with a thumbprint. Mirrors will  send images to friends from dressing rooms, replacing the salesperson with the  vested interest in telling you it looks good.”

As retailers move from bricks  and mortar locations to Internet-driven environments, the balance between  operational needs and profits and customer demand for low prices and excellent  service will continue to be a difficult one. But will the customer experience  improve for those retailers who struggled with it to begin with?

As Myers noted, “The same companies that provide bad customer service will  provide bad technology and vice versa.”

Mystery  Shopping Companies Can Help You Reach Your Customers Expectations.  ICC/Decision Services (iccds.com) Can Help Your Customer Service Experience.

By Roses Mark

Due to arrival of Social Media everything has altered. An online community of  Twitter or Facebook users can make or break your business with their mobile  platforms. Your company or service may be getting hundreds or thousands of good  or bad reviews on the new mobile sites like Gowalla or Foursquare. Social  Network management is growing exponentially.

Social Media tools help integrate activities

It’s in a more efficient manner manages outbound & inbound interactions  along with other small business marketing activities. They rationalize and  strengthen how to participate in significant conversation happening around in  different platforms like blogs, networks, and other public or private web  communities and sites.

SMM tools also helps you integrate activities with your other business  marketing campaigns. Here are five tools that can make your life easier:

1. TweetDeck

TweetDeck is your best (free) tool if you’re looking to administer all your  personal social profiles. TweetDeck allows you to connect across Twitter,  Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Foursquare and Google Buzz. You can update all or  specific networks with the same status at one time.

TweetDeck is probably best when dealing with four or five accounts at a time,  though the dashboard is generally easy to use.

2. CoTweet

CoTweet is a brilliant tool for small businesses or division of larger  businesses that thrive social media duties among team members and have a  customer-service approach to engagement.

CoTweet allows follow-up messages to be assigned to specific managers. This  can make responses more pertinent as team members with upbeat knowledge bases  can handle appropriate questions and comments from followers.

3. HootSuite

HootSuitefree version allows you to add five networks and supports Facebook,  Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, MySpace, PingFm and WordPress.

HootSuite is best for actively-managed accounts because its design focuses on  streams, which are housed in customizable tabs. You have the elasticity to  organize tabs by account, network or content, making it easier to monitor a  definite type of feed.

4. Spredfast

Spredfast has everything you need for agencies managing social media with  high ROI demands.

Its biggest advantage over other SMM tools is analytics. Measurement is  determined by the amount of content distributed, how many people were reached  and whether the intended audience was engaged.

5. Engage 121

Engage121 is best in its class at encircling monitoring, broadcasting and  engagement.

The tool is extremely customizable and can support just about any site with a  community presence. Permissions may be set to allow & approve a message from  corporate before it is distributed to area followers, maintaining a local voice & brand consistency at the same time.

The process needs be sustained to maximize opportunities

In conclusion, follow these procedures and you will be successful in social  networking and marketing that will drive profits in your business. Using  networks includes making use of a process. Therefore, you need to remember to do  this on a regular basis so that you take full advantage and attract more  followers in the future.

Roses Mark is a Social Media enthusiast and an Internet entrepreneur. Spent  over 10 years working professionally with Internet business employers worldwide,  he frequently writes articles involving new-age, social media and personal  motivation. You can find him all around the web via Facebook, Google & on  Twitter as @Socialcubix

Greater ability to demonstrate efforts vs. financial impact of marketing programs

According to Sagefrog Marketing Group, 68% of US business-to-business (B2B) companies allocate 5% or less of their company revenue on marketing. For an enterprise-level company, this could mean millions of dollars. But for SMBs, marketing money could be much tighter.

Although April 2011 data from Forrester Research suggested companies with 100 to 499 employees tend to allocate a slightly higher percentage of their company revenues to marketing than companies with more than 1,000 employees, these percentages still remain only a tiny wedge of total company revenue.

Given how tightly B2B companies tie marketing budget to company revenue, one would assume the majority of companies are closely measuring the effect of their marketing efforts on their bottom line.

 

Only one of three B2B marketers now report financial metrics to management 

However, research from Lenskold and the Pedowitz Group indicated only about one in three B2B marketers worldwide report financial-contribution metrics to senior management.

Though a third of B2B marketers track revenue metrics associated with marketing-generated opportunities, closed deals and percent of total sales, 35% said they do not report any financial-contribution metrics to executives.

Slightly fewer (33%) did not track return on investment (ROI) at all this year—a percentage mostly unchanged since 2009, indicating little movement on the part of B2B companies worldwide toward holding their marketing departments more accountable for the company’s bottom line.

 Marketing-performance related metrics is the norm now

For now, it appears marketers are more likely to be held accountable for marketing-performance-related metrics. More than half (58%) report the number of marketing-qualified leads to senior management and 48% track the number of opportunities generated. Far fewer B2B marketers report lower-funnel metrics like percent of opportunities converting to closed sales (40%) and number of days from lead to closed sale (20%)—a particularly important metric to understand for proper campaign flight and window of measurement.

Undoubtedly, these types of metrics are much easier to track and report than financial-related metrics that require a closed-loop reporting setup that takes time, effort and financial investment on the part of marketers and internal stakeholders. For example, the marketing department must work closely with sales to align metrics and often must invest in CRM technology or software to accurately track campaign influence through the life of the sales cycle.

Those B2B marketers who are able to move beyond performance-related metrics will not only be able to better justify their existing efforts, but also their future marketing budgets.

For complete data charts and story, go to e-Marketer.com

From: e-Marketer

Almost 100 million consumers will be on the mobile web this year

The US mobile web population will be up almost 25% this year as 97.3 million mobile owners log on to the internet from their device at least monthly, eMarketer estimates.

Almost half the total of  US Population will use mobile Internet

By 2015, more than three in five mobile users and almost half the total US population will be using the mobile internet, eMarketer forecasts.

“The rapidly expanding smartphone and mobile internet user populations raise the stakes for marketers and make the mobile web more of an imperative than ever,” said Noah Elkin, eMarketer principal analyst for mobile.

eMarketer’s estimates of mobile internet usage include people of any age who access the internet from a mobile browser or installed application at least once per month.

Most growth will come from increased smartphone penetration

Most of the growth in mobile internet usage will come from increased smartphone penetration, which will reach 38% of mobile users and 28.8% of the overall population by the end of this year. The number of smartphone users is set to increase 49.6% this year and continue growing at a steady double-digit pace through 2015, when nearly 150 million US consumers will have such a device.

Mobile internet usage is still heaviest among younger adults, with 43.2 million US consumers ages 18 to 34 logging on to the mobile web this year, eMarketer estimates—or 44.4% of the total.

Mobile Internet usage among older adults will rise

Usage is on the rise among older adults as well, however. This year, eMarketer estimates 21.5 million 45- to 64-year-olds and 3.7 million seniors 65 and older will use the mobile internet. By 2015, those numbers will both more than double to 45.4 million and 11.3 million, respectively.

For complete data charts and story, go to e-marketer.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Judy_Hendershot

Recognizing its importance is not enough to make social strategy a reality

Social media marketing has gained its place at the table. eMarketer estimates 80% of companies with at least 100 employees will use social networks for marketing this year, up from nearly three in four last year. By 2012, usage will be even greater, and, in turn, efforts are becoming more sophisticated.

Most companies now recognize a well crafted social media strategy is a vital part of the marketing mix. In fact, a study from Jive Software and Penn, Schoen & Berland found 78% of executives thought a social business strategy was somewhat or very important to the future success of their business.

Despite this realization, most executives are still only in the tentative stages of making social strategy a priority.

The survey of executives who have final say or significant input on social business strategy found that only 27% listed social business as a top strategic priority. Nearly half (47%) admitted a social plan was necessary but not a strategic priority and 19% said social business strategy was simply not necessary.

Meanwhile, executives were also not overly optimistic about their current social strategy efforts. Only 17% felt their social strategy was ahead of the curve. About four in 10 (42%) felt their social strategy was just keeping up and 33% felt they were behind.

A different study from Forbes Insights and Coremetrics showed a similar amount of enthusiasm for social strategy. Only 11% of US and UK executives surveyed at large businesses listed social media strategy as a leading priority in 2011—tied for last place with mobile marketing. Social media strategy will receive a small boost in 2012, though, with 19% of execs listing it as a leading marketing priority for the coming year.

Many companies may be using social media marketing, but those that choose not to focus on a social strategy risk falling behind the curve in integrating social media with their overall marketing goals. Recognizing the importance of strategy alone isn’t enough; companies should start implementing a plan.

For complete data charts and story, go to e-Marketer.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sterling_Jackson