In case you missed anything from last week...
Interesting Infographics: How Reliable are Review Sites?
By Louis Foong, CustomerThink, April 26, 2014
Did you know that 78% of B2B buyers start their research online and 50% of them turn to social media or peer reviews (source: The Data Behind How B2B Buyers make Purchase Decisions). Have you thought about how ...
Social Media Ad Budgets Are Rapidly Shifting To Native, In-Stream Advertising
By Cooper Smith, Business Insider, April 25, 2014
Depending on who you talk to, native advertising has many definitions. In the context of social media, we define native advertising as: Ads that are seamlessly integrated into a user's feed and are nearly indistinguishable from organic content.
The ads are becoming popular among publishers and other media properties, but social networks are at the forefront of the trend toward ads that work more like content.
The Best Examples, Questions, And Guides To Find Your Social Media Marketing Voice
By Kevan Lee, Fast Company, April 22, 2014
Voice can draw your audience in or drive them away. Here's how to strike the right tone.
Among the many ways to stand out on social media--killer content, amazing visuals, specific formatting, and more--one that often gets overlooked is voice.
Customer Experience, Company Culture Drives Chipotle to New Heights
By Jim Tierney, Loyalty360, April 24, 2014
Mexican fast-food chain Chipotle is reaping the benefits of an intense focus on its customer experience. During the company’s April 17 first-quarter earnings conference call, Chipotle officials boasted impressive statistics:
Revenue soared 24.4%, to $904.2 million
Same-store sales increased a whopping 13.4%
Net income rose 8.5%, to $83.1 million
B-to-B Marketers are Missing the Human Element in Marketing Automation
By Lewis Miller, Advertising Age, April 24, 2014
When the dust settles from IBM's acquisition of Silverpop, b-to-b companies should pause to consider the full story surrounding the automation market. Solutions that enable outreach to b-to-b targets by automating more personalized user experiences have become the hottest item on the auction block -- in addition to Silverpop, ExactTarget, Unica and Eloqua have all been acquired within the last few years.
Six Digital Disruptions Rocking Marketers’ Worlds
By Jake Sorofman, Gartner Blog Network, April 25, 2014
Earlier this week, I delivered a free public webinar called “Digital CMOs, Digital Roles on the Rise as Marketing Transforms.” If you didn’t get a chance to see it, you can find the replay here.
In my wind up, I offered some of the white-knuckle realities that are more or less upending the marketing function and forcing many marketing leaders to fill crucial technology and organizational gaps on the path to going digital. I cited six game-changing shifts...
