Before the holiday break we started off with a high level introduction to social CRM. If you haven’t read that post please do so. Today I want to address the topic of automation. CRM stands for customer RELATIONSHIP management so does automation really belong in CRM? Does it kill the whole relationship aspect of CRM? Brands have a lot of customers online that are having relevant conversations that these brand should be a part of. However, it becomes more and more difficult for brands to become a part of every single relevant conversation on the web. So what does a brand do? Can we rely on people working for a company to respond to every relevant conversation? How scalable is that solution in the long run? I pulled the image below from the blog of ScorpfromHell who also has an interesting discussion on social CRM automation. Take a good look at the image below.
The image is from PeopleBrowsr and shows a type of social CRM automation on Twitter. Notice that when users mention a particular set of keywords they are automatically sent a message from Coke. Does this type of automation destroy the relationship? One of the things I talked about a while ago was the notion that we are eventually going to get to more companies/brands on twitter (and other social netw/> [...]
Google and Compete teamed up on a study on consumers' shopping habits as they relate to purchases of wireless devices and smartphones.
"With over 450 mobile devices in North America and an average of 10 new phone launches each week, how do shoppers decide which phone is right for them? How do marketers influence these purchase decisions?" asks the Google Tech Team, previewing the report.
There are some very interesting numbers in it. Here are a few:
- At the beginning of the purchase process, 42% did not have a a specific carrier preference, while 78% did not have an OEM preference
- 5% bought a new smartphone because they wanted more features, while 22% bought because they saw a new phone they "had to have"
- 62% of consumers who searched for a newly launched mobile device purchased one, and the average consumer conducts 13 searches throughout the purchase process
- There was a 29% increase in the number of online resources used in research
- 63% of people who bought phones in stores researched their purchase online
There is plenty more statistical and visual data within the report. View it here.
If you asked startup founders whether they would rather give away 5% equity in the company or one of their toes, many would choose the toe. CEOs like Zynga's Mark Pincus have always argued for startup founders to "own their destiny" and maintain control and ownership of their company. That's why it was surprising to read VC Deal Lawyer Chris McDemus's recent article entitled If You Provide a Strategic Technology or Outsourced Service, Consider Taking Some Equity in Your Fee Structure.
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Early-stage startup companies are used to giving away equity to advisors, IP lawyers and key staff, but McDemus argues that those vendors who provide core technologies should also build an equity agreement right into their service contracts. McDemus gives the example of Mint's acquisition by Intuit and how if Yodlee had taken some of Mint's equity for providing the backend of the service, the company would have made great money on the sale. While this might sound like a good idea for service providers who risk abandonment, the idea is likely to ruffle the feathers of many a startup founder.
Effective marketing efforts require that prospects are communicated with not only via effective messaging, but also with the correct information. Misspelling names, sending to the wrong address or sending out multiple emails to the same person are how credibility is lost, not gained. Ensuring that your list of prospects is treated well by your automation system can be a real challenge once the number of people on it grows into the tens of thousands. When this happens, a single basic error can instantly alienate a large percentage of your potential customer base, setting you back years.
Maintaining data quality ensures that the right prospects are sent offers that are appropriate to their demographic. This SAP report examines issues related to maintaining the quality of marketing data. Here’s what the report covers:
Typical Data Problems in a Marketing Campaign
The Tangible Benefits Of Quality Marketing Data
How To Locate Marketing Data Problems
How To Attack The Source Of Data Quality Issues
Creating A System Of Data Quality Maintenance
Considering the amount of revenue that can be generated by optimizing lead utilization, this is essential reading. Read this and implement the optimization suggestions inside before aquiring even more leads that end up being under utilized.
Copyright 2009 (c) Dylan Rosario - The founder of www.FleeQ.com a new semantic search and discover agent. Utilizing web 3.0 technology, fleeQ levels the playing field for small publishers and advertisers alike. www.fleeq.com and www.xyppy.com are based upon fleeQ technology.
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Before the holiday break we started off with a high level introduction to social CRM. If you haven’t read that post please do so. Today I want to address the topic of automation. CRM stands for customer RELATIONSHIP management so does automation really belong in CRM? Does it kill the whole relationship aspect of CRM? Brands have a lot of customers online that are having relevant conversations that these brand should be a part of. However, it becomes more and more difficult for brands to become a part of every single relevant conversation on the web. So what does a brand do? Can we rely on people working for a company to respond to every relevant conversation? How scalable is that solution in the long run? I pulled the image below from the blog of ScorpfromHell who also has an interesting discussion on social CRM automation. Take a good look at the image below.
If you asked startup founders whether they would rather give away 5% equity in the company or one of their toes, many would choose the toe. CEOs like Zynga's Mark Pincus have always argued for startup founders to "own their destiny" and maintain control and ownership of their company. That's why it was surprising to read VC Deal Lawyer Chris McDemus's recent article entitled If You Provide a Strategic Technology or Outsourced Service, Consider Taking Some Equity in Your Fee Structure. 
Early-stage startup companies are used to giving away equity to advisors, IP lawyers and key staff, but McDemus argues that those vendors who provide core technologies should also build an equity agreement right into their service contracts. McDemus gives the example of Mint's acquisition by Intuit and how if Yodlee had taken some of Mint's equity for providing the backend of the service, the company would have made great money on the sale. While this might sound like a good idea for service providers who risk abandonment, the idea is likely to ruffle the feathers of many a startup founder. 
