The 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing Blog

Twitter @the next level: CRM August 15, 2011 – 3:48 pm				Cristiana

Through the evolution of the business and practice of social media, it has become an efficient to not only to promote your business online, but to practice consumer relationship management (CRM).

Let’s take a look at Jet Blue’s Twitter account, and see how they’re approaching the situation.

By just reading the brief profile description, Jet Blue lets you know the purpose of their Twitter account and how people should approach interaction: “Have a question? Follow us and let us help!” The number is users increased for every passenger that has to report a problem. He or she knows that any question that may have regarding the airline and their services are a tweet away. Twitter grants the possibility of a direct response. As many have learned from experience, emailing a company representative does not ensure quick results. As quick, on-the-spot interaction is the very point of Twitter, people are likely to bring their problems to this forum for an easy answer. It also helps that Twitter is highly accessible via phone for many. Twitter as a CRM becomes efficient for both consumers and the company.

Having a look at the structure of each tweet Jet Blue publishes, we see that it is uniform. This allows followers to feel like they’re following the company and not individual workers, who they may or may not feel connected to. You will notice the “digital voice” in all tweets are the same; also creating brand consistency.

With more than 1,600,000 Twitter followers, Jet Blue uses Twitter to create brand awareness and manage public perception by accommodating their clients in the digital sphere. Jet Blue like many brands has adopted the philosophy – “go where customers are”, and use it highly effectively. This puts brands awareness and CRM all under one roof.

This marketing strategy has affected Jet Blue positively. It poses the question “Why not fly with an airline that really cares about me, the passenger?” For implementation purposes, responding to messages each day is involved and time consuming. However, in the long term, Jet Blue has decided that building customer loyalty far outweighs any monetary investment this strategy requires. Jet Blue’s Twitter becomes not only the place to go to have your questions answered, but to share the unforgettable moments of your trips and holidays. A company trusted will always win battle of customer loyalty.

Posted by Cristiana
Posted in blog, CRM, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: blueliner marketing 7 pillars of digital marketing, CRM, jet blue, Social Media Marketing, social networks, twitter

Blueliner Manages COSSERP Website Design June 22, 2011 – 3:28 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

Coss Systems has led the optimization of manufacturing since 1992.  Their software enterprise system, COSSERP, takes inventory of your production chain and offers a wealth of tools for product planning, work orders, scheduling, along with data collection.  COSSERP’s ability to integrate software across platforms is the key to paying dividends in streamlining production across industries.  Despite the rapport that COSSERP built with small and mid-size manufacturers, management wanted a new website design to reach a higher customer base.

Blueliner helped COSSERP design a site with a crisp interface and drop-down navigation panels to hold content for the rich array of services.  The solutions section offers an Adobe brochure for instant download to be shared at team meetings for brainstorms.  COSSERP’s ability to mine data has allowed it to stand out.  The website also has sharper photography to further illustrate their range and depth of services for manufacturers.

A client whose balance sheet felt the positive return with COSSERP talks here:

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, Business News, CRM, Small Business | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, coss systems, digital marketing agency nyc, management software, new york interactive marketing agency

Special Promotion For Marketing ROI Webinar on June 29th! June 21, 2011 – 3:54 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

Blueliner has an exclusive interactive marketing webinar coming next week. We are offering a 50% off discount of the $199 retail price. That’s correct. You will pay $100 instead of $200 for this two-hour session filled with insightful, unique content to drive your ROI!   

Wednesday, June 29th at 1:00 pm should be marked on your calendar. Blueliner CEO Arman Rousta, for the first time, will hold a two-hour web series discussing the architecture behind an ROI strategy. This methodical process involves budget planning, leadership delegation, cost forecasting, and designation of key performance indicators (KPI) for digital marketing strategies from mobile to search. Your company will see results regardless of industry.  At the conclusion, your business will have a clear road map regardless of size about how to leverage your business toward maximum performance.  

Blueliner Marketing, LLC has been lauded by other companies for the ability to leverage internet marketing technology for a proper ROI. Our accurate measurements with sophisticated web analytics and search engine optimization speak for themselves through client testimonials.

I highly recommend this workshop to entrepreneurs and freelancers.  When registering for the webinar, enter this code (blueliner-ny-11) at the checkout to receive your discount. Click the button below for more details.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, Business News, Content Marketing, CRM | No Comments »
Tags: arman rousta, Blueliner Marketing, blueliner webinars, digital marketing agency nyc, internet marketing ny, roi news, summer webinar series, web marketing new york

Engagement Is Not Financial Measurement June 16, 2011 – 4:18 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

In a traditional dictionary, one can look up the word engagement. They will find six interpretations of the noun. By reducing the root word to engage, one will find eleven interpretations of the verb. You will understand why I diagrammed this word in a minute.  

Engagement has been thrown into marketing strategy on many levels, particularly with social media. Writers across the blogosphere consider engagement a critical part of the brand development, which correlates with production. By definition, the term engagement is subjective. Vague is probably a more acute description, especially with marketers trying to scale KPI (key performance indicator) for CRM initiatives.

This writer from ClickZ talks here about social media’s impact as a brand. More importantly, he reiterates how social media truly connected to ROI, and that is through customer service. He goes on to mention that the relationship between “fans” and “likes” must be fleshed into a strategic map where responses can be fragmented for financial sectors of your business where social media is an agent of data transfer.  Some examples he lists to define revenue include subscription renewals, product up-sells, and customer saves. Thoughts on calculating ROI?

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in blog, Business News, Content Marketing, CRM | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, crm news, digital marketing agency nyc, new york interactive marketing agency, ROI, roi news, Social Media Marketing

How To Handle Conflicts of Interest in Business, By Arman Rousta June 10, 2011 – 5:30 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

This piece originally appeared on Young Entrepreneur, and was written by Blueliner CEO Arman Rousta.  I learned from my management theory courses that conflict in business is no different from ethical dilemmas we face every day.  Sometimes those conflicts are a necessity in order to drive valued initiatives to your corporate strategy.  Conflict is also the result of lingering sentiment which was not managed effectively at certain production points which can effect the final distribution.  Revenue performance management is becoming a critical facet of new CRM software entering the corporate structure.  Conflicts could develop within department employees and between apartment heads.

Regardless of your space orientation, Arman will talk in greater detail about how managing conflict can be a signal for overall management implementation. It can also spur productivity. Click here to read in greater detail.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, Business News, CRM | No Comments »
Tags: arman rousta, Blueliner Marketing, crm news, CRM Solutions, digital marketing agency nyc, young entrepreneur, young entrepreneur blog series

True Venture Stories For Marketing CRM, By L. Carlson May 17, 2011 – 5:04 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

This morning, I briefly discussed the emergence of a telecommunications cloud company named Intelepeer. Intelepeer recently submitted an IPO to leverage their valuation for future investment into cloud technology. Intelepeer works with corporate partners to integrate service allowing IP-based communication using rich media, chat, and text among other options. This flexibility to transfer content over traditional telephone network grids will attract marketing agencies.

Once marketers and advertisers have their interests piqued, they need to investigate their venture potential. Will we gain a significant improvement in sales after investing capital in a prospective customer? Can these new software applications efficiently validate the subscription model? Are metrics such as lead scoring effective measurements in a CRM solutions campaign?

My industry colleague, Lauren Carlson, specializes in answering these questions for venture capitalists. She gathered metrics from several sources to generate an extensive report. This piece contains substantial graphs and data to outline which marketing automation firms receive funding. You will also see reports that spotlight the principal stats of several firms next to industry leaders (SAP, Oracle) to explain the correlation between investment and earning potential.

Marketing automation solutions seek credibility from certain industries. The beliefs in its CRM potential to maximize profit in the future are growing positively. Investors must look forward with a deeper perspective than the traditional demands of immediate sales benchmarks. Lauren investigates the necessity to invest wholeheartedly with marketing automation right here.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, Business News, CRM, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, CRM, crm news, crm solutions news, digital marketing agency, lauren carlson, marketing crm solutions

Build a Lead Scoring Model, by Lauren Carlson May 12, 2011 – 3:13 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

Last week, I wrote a short piece discussing the implementation of lead scoring in CRM integration. That piece introduced you to Mac McConell, a partner of Bluebird Strategies. In tandem with Marketing Automation Software Guide, he ran a three-part web series breaking down the virtues of lead scoring. For the uninitiatied, lead scoring is a result of predictive data mining based on other leads. Some categories include submitted data, appended data, and source information.  Then this data is analyzed to determine the potential for engagement to conclude with a sale. One sale will justify the advantages of lead scoring. However, once is never enough. Variables can enter the algorithm and alter the lead scoring metric. Therefore, a customer relations manager must be thorough.

In the last part of a web series with Marketing Automation Software Guide, Mac McConnell develops a lead scoring model. This model hedges against variables by assessing points for criteria determination along with segmenting marketing quality leads from sales.

Mac McConnell

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, Business News, CRM, Small Business | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, crm small business agency, digital marketing agency nyc, lauren carlson, marketing automation software guide

Deconstructing Lead Scoring May 4, 2011 – 4:26 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

Marketers have more power to influence the buying process more than ever before through software management.  This statement goes beyond simple data mining. It involves tailoring your CRM applications based on sales projections and your management capabilities.  One technique that expedites the operation cycle is lead scoring.

Lead scoring highlights the potential for successful sales transactions and assist financial departments with the execution.  A successful lead score will have strong measurement in two specific definitions:  ’fit’ and ‘engagement’.  Fit represents the explicit information about a prospect (role, industry, revenue, corporation, person).  Engagement, conversely, represent the implicit information about a prospect (activities, topics of interest, level of interest in product).

These two keywords are important for the following video.  Our friends at Marketing Automation Software Guide had Mac McConnell, partner of Bluebird Strategies, in their Austin, Texas office to discuss proper implementation of lead scoring.  He will flesh out the measurements of fit and engagement for business applications in greater detail. Click here.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, Business News, CRM, Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, crm news, digital marketing agency nyc, lauren carlson, marketing automation software guide

The Definition of CRM: Customer Relationship First, Management Later April 20, 2011 – 5:09 pm				Abdul Fattah Ismail

Marketers contend with a lot of segmentation in cyberspace.  Customers peruse for their favorite goods and services through coupon purveyors, auction sites, social media networks, and chat applications.  As this writer from Direct Marketing questions, how can brand loyalty be cultivated and maintained? This is critical, as the writer notes, because loyalty comes from engagement, a fundamental block to strengthening customer relationships.  Strong customer relationships help unify CRM solutions before applications are typed in code.  Strong customer relationships are built before applications are utilized in corporate operations.

Through my professional and personal experiences,  I feel that relationship is critical for decoding our response to objects in the world.  In the case of marketers, this is paramount for successful strategy.  America, for better or worse, is a society dependent on the consumer.  Brands must stimulate their intended segment.  The demographic must be engaged through human interaction. Marketers need to understand their desires and offer things that solve their issues, imagined or tangible.  

After these tenets are established, then marketers must maintain integrity.  If a customer has specific privacy demands, guide them through the possible opportunities where both parties can reach satisfaction.  Customers have shown that they are more confident in telling the world about a faulty service experience.  The balance is tricky, but must be achieved to see success with a new promotion because loyal customers will offer the first complete round of feedback.

Marketers should also not be too quick to surrender a campaign initiative if customer feedback is negative.  That can actually fan flames on the issue, disillusioning your employees who put in the blood and sweat for innovation. The Gap’s logo change is a clear example.  A venerable American brand that was struggling flushed millions of dollars invested in market research down the drain last year when advertisers and social media waves panned the logo change.  I can only imagine the private seething that took place in the San Francisco headquarters.  A logo change will not make a difference in the long run for the financial profile of an apparel retailer.  Apparel retailers these days must be aware of inventory control and property expenses, not a logo. Customers get mad, but they move on from that over time, as long as the product delivers good value. Gap has not been doing that with their collections. Slow sales don’t lie.

Customer relationship management can only provides a solution to your operations if you know the issues at hand. Marketers must not bite those hands that feed them.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, Business News, CRM, Interactive Marketing, Marketing | 1 Comment »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, crm news, CRM Solutions, digital marketing agency, new york interactive marketing agency

Revenue Performance Management, by Lauren Carlson April 11, 2011 – 9:30 am				Abdul Fattah Ismail

Enterprise software is filled with acronyms.  Acronyms are perfect for segmenting content in a hyperactive world.  CRM solutions are one acronym that corporations are using to integrate, review, and execute for the marketplace.  I’ve talked briefly at points about RPM (Revenue Performance Management).  Some would compare the service to marketing automation. Companies like Eloqua want to give it greater clout with software programmers.  Larger corporate entities should look into RPM to amplify their marketing automation standards.  RPM has the potential to align sales metrics and drive strategy in tandem with traditional CRM.  RPM’s mission is to give marketers an opportunity to look through the glass inside away from the noise.

Statistics, however, show that RPM needs more time to mature as an automation solution. My industry colleague Lauren Carlson will discuss the pros and cons of RPM here.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in 7 Pillars of Digital Marketing, blog, CRM, Interactive Marketing, Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: Blueliner Marketing, crm news, digital marketing agency nyc, lauren carlson, marketing automation software guide, new york interactive marketing agency