When a company struggles with any one aspect of the business, recognizing the need for a change of direction can be referred to as pivoting. Many companies have used market research to successfully pivot. A list of examples when market analysis proves a business pivot would benefit your company: First, Product Pivot - The way you see your product can be very different from how it is perceived by the public, but seeing how others will use it can help broaden your own perspective. Second, Marketing Pivot - The way your product is presented to customers is crucial to whether or not they buy it. Third, Customer Pivot - Customer segmentation is a critical aspect of marketing for a company. Fourth, Technology Pivot – Due to the evolving tech world and the many start ups that have been born, ideas for apps and social media continue to appear. Fifth, Competitor Pivot - Researching competitors will allow you to determine what decisions you need to make to stay on top. Read more at:

First leverage prospects' social media profile information. Second, get to know leads with landing page form data- Marketing collects all that information when they're generating leads for a reason -- it gives them insight into leads that lets them target, segment communications, and route leads to the appropriate salesperson. Third, track social media mentions- Social media monitoring is often looked at as a marketing function, but sales teams miss huge opportunities when they aren't actively tracking social media mentions. Fourth, use the best performing offers when prospecting and selling- It's not every business that can close a sale after just one conversion event; it's more common that a prospect reconverts time and again as their relationship with your company grows and they move further along in the sales process. Fifth, build an arsenal of your most powerful content- People buy from people they trust, so it's crucial that every salesperson establish them as a trusted resource when speaking with prospects. Sixth, jump on leads right when they come in- Quick lead follow-up is crucial for sales success. Seventh, prospect smarter, not harder- Collecting site information like company name, location, name, number of visits, and length of visit lets prospecting salespeople do some serious recon work before hopping on a call with a new prospect. Read more at: 

Survey data tells that consumers regard their mobile phones as catalysts for productivity. Mobile tracking metrics reveals that consumers rarely ever conduct productivity-related tasks on their devices. A survey shows that consumers engage less frequently in productive behaviors than expected. Upon deeper reflection, consumers suggest that being productive on a mobile phone no longer means "getting things done" or, in the economic sense, measuring output in relation to input. Instead, being productive on a mobile phone really means being available or accessible. Having internet connectivity is equivalent with being productive, as consumers have the capacity to carry out an activity. It is found that although individuals might not be engaging in financial or retail transactional tasks frequently, consumers still expect their mobile phones to facilitate tasks that make their life easier. So, marketers should lend a keen eye to understanding consumers at a micro-level by which marketers can avoid common misconceptions about consumer behavior and motivations and instead build effective mobile engagement in the most relevant way. Read more about this at: 

According to a study nineteen percent of online Americans aged 15-to-54 is reached by social media at least once a day regarding prime-time TV. Sixteen percent of prime-time TV viewing occasions involve some interaction with social media. During nearly half of these occasions, the viewer is engaging with social media specifically about the show being viewed. Socially-connected TV viewing is most evident with new TV shows and sports programming. On 3.3% of viewing occasions; they're using Twitter on 11.4% of prime-time TV viewing occasions, viewers are using Facebook. On 3.8% of prime-time viewing occasions, viewers are using Facebook and 1.8% on twitter regarding the show they are watching - making them socially-connected viewers. Therefore, Facebook's socially-connected viewing occasions were 33 percent of its total TV viewing occasions while Twitter's were 55 percent. A key question is how social media usage relates to new viewing platforms and behaviors. The reason is that the majority of viewing remains live and on traditional TV sets but social media use has a stronger relationship with the newer platforms and behaviors. Social media influence is closely linked to viewing on non-traditional screens. Read more at: 

The problem that corporate decision makers face is not the lack of available data, but how readily that data can be accessed, understood and used. A BI system gives companies a really valuable insight into operational things. One must also navigate the market environment properly to operate a company perfectly looking at the internal metrics. Business Intelligence systems seem to see the Internet almost as an afterthought. BI has never made its way in any meaningful way to those that are looking at external data: The insights teams, strategy teams and tactical marketing teams. There's more good data out there than most people realize but the problem is discovery and access, not availability. Business Intelligence and Market Intelligence are about to meet up in a big and transformational way for both industries. BI will have to learn about the needs and desires of the world's marketing departments and Market Intelligence companies will have to learn how to deliver their data in a more useful way than they currently do. Read more at: 

According to McKinsey reports the research & consulting industry is at the bottom of the list in comparison with other industries when it comes to economic mobility. Previously it took well over a decade for companies to realize that they no longer needed to build their factories near water, still considering water to be their prime source of power but now such similar slow response cannot be afforded with the speed of environmental change being far higher today than at the time electricity was invented.  The 4 possible strategic directions that the industry would take over the next years, adjusting itself to the conditions of today’s economy are: First, Lifting on DIY tools, driven by speed and tech infrastructure. Second, Making sense from ever bigger data, driven by size and tech infrastructure. Third bypass the rational brain, driven by methodology. Fourth tap into consumer collaboration, driven by trust, diversity, innovation and creativity. Read more at: 

When a product is newly launched in the market, product marketing attempts may fail for different reasons. Marketing research is often the first thing cut due to time or resource restrictions when companies develop an idea, whether it's a new product or a redesigned website. Working with marketing research firms can be expensive and time consuming. Some low budget ways to factor a research stage into a project and give the product, idea, or designs much better footing. Firstly conduct an interview for Prospects and Customers. Secondly, run a Content Strategy Survey. Thirdly, Run User Testing on the Website. There are a number of tools that can be used to get feedback on your designs or positioning. In short, market research doesn't have to be expensive or time consuming -- with the right tools, one can have get great insights in a short amount of time. Read more at: 

The blend of social media and customer relationship management referred to as social CRM enhances traditional CRM and engages it with social media which tracks new leads from Twitter and Facebook into the sales funnel. According to Jon Ferrara, CEO of Nimble, realizing the importance of authentic and relevant human connections in business customer relationship management has become an integral part of our lives. Customers nowadays want to connect with the real people they do business with and get delighted and empowered resulting in a renaissance of customer management. Nowadays marketing has gone beyond just driving customers to get the order. Today customers have moved beyond commercials, glossy stick marketing materials and “Slick Willy” sales people. They now can have converse online and expect relevant conversations. Instead of pushing customers to just buy their products social businesses should become a part of the marketing and buyer funnel adding value to those conversations to become trust worthy. Markets are utilizing the new technology today where conversations happen already in public, private and in others various mediums. Companies instead of controlling conversations and employees they should educate and empower both employees and customers. Companies now empower their customer-facing team members to share content and engage on a worldwide basis, and they understand that they are selling to a community comprising influencers, editors, analysts, tech partners, third party developers, value-added resellers etc. empowering, educating and adding value results in success which breeds success.

read more at: http://www.exacttarget.com/blog/how-social-media-and-crm-work-together-successfully/

Marketers are now using advanced analytic to spend less and get better results. On average, marketers use four to seven operational systems to interact with customers in areas like social media, mobile, email, display, budgeting/spend planning and campaign planning. The first stage of marketing maturity is getting your data in one place. Next, you begin to develop segments to understand the profile of new customers and their preferred engagement channels. In stage three, then focus on marketing attribution. Then marketers understand what's happened in the past and what's likely to happen in the future. It offers marketers leading indicators of the base of customers, by segment, is about to do next. These answers change the game in retail by seeing customer data light up. Read more at: 

A global provider of SaaS based mobile life sciences customer relationship management solutions brings in new enhancement to its product StayinFront Touch RX(R) which can run both on iPad and Windows 8 tablet devices. This is very helpful since it provides better access to critical information and data resources which makes the work simpler and maximizes the impact while working with reps in field. It also enables access of sales territories, analytics and reports, track call activities streamline Time off Territory requests and execute field coaching reports. Viewing and tracking information and progress has become easier. They have more access to detailed information with better targeting and enhanced calendar which improves reps’ ability to more effectively manage and sell in their territories and eliminates the need to toggle between systems to see all scheduled appointments.

Stayin Front is a provider of full suite of mobile, cloud based field force effectiveness and CRM for consumer goods and life science organizations. Vast number of countries use it to make their work easier and to improve their business. Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/newest-release-of-stayinfront-crm-for-life-sciences-delivers-a-single-mobile-device-system-for-reps-and-managers-2014-07-14 

In today's highly competitive online marketplace, marketers must utilize every advantage they can get. Business intelligence (BI) software can help you look at your data in different ways, and draw actionable insights to allow allocating resources more effectively. BI software can use large amount of datasets, so you can execute successful strategies on the basis of information. By controlling the right key performance indicators (KPIs), businesses can look at trends that would otherwise be hidden. Online marketers have different indicators which are : 1)The Basics  2)Return On Investment 3)Incremental Sales 4)Conversions by Campaign 5)Cost per Lead 6)Visitor to Buyer Ratio 7)Sales by Lead Source 8)Social Media 9)Tracking Keywords. By visualizing sales funnel with business intelligence software, you can get a good view of how your customers move through the sales process from an initial lead to a sale. Having the correct data displayed in a dashboard format can enable your company be proactive instead of reactive.Read more about this aspect at Jayson DeMers (Founder and CEO, AudienceBloom)'s article link: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jayson-demers/how-business-intelligence_b_3507510.html

Big Data analytic has the ability to improve business strategy leading to the identification, provide unprecedented insights and utilize untapped profit sources. The top Big Data trends that emerged in 2013 are Open Source, Convergence and Cloud Data. Companies have to synthesize analytic results across domains and work to produce holistic insights in order to achieve the maximum benefits. A variety of new and complex sources of data, extracting tools and new data mining have been introduced specifically designed to handle disparate sources of data. These systems can interact intelligently; minimize data movement and share data and/or analytic results between components. Overall analysis efficiency has been given a boost and producing better returns. Big Data analytic is based on the open source revolution and the adoption rate of open source technologies. Companies are increasing their overall spend on cloud infrastructure. The intersection of analytic and cloud is creating new value and means for Big Data exploitation. Read more at: 

Cloud data centers are capable of handling higher traffic loads whereas traditional data centers are facing various challenges in terms of confluence of capacity, performance and infrastructure complexity due to the data explosion and rising need for scalability. The traditional incremental approach will no longer offer the scalability to face the challenges that are unavoidable in cloud computing. To overcome the challenges, the transition of data centers involves end-to-end transformation of servers, storage and networks has become a necessity. Cloud data centers support greater degree of standardization, virtualization and automation resulting in high performance and cost optimization. Mid-sized and large data centers are growing considerably attributed to huge cloud storage deployments and build-out of public cloud offerings. Investments are pouring from various vendor segments into the data center markets due to these changes. There is an industry trend where almost all cloud service providers are establishing two or more data centers in high economic and advanced zones near major metropolitan cities. Consequently, cloud data centers are clustering around major internet hubs in the world. Read more at: 

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/the-enterprise-cloud/cloud-computing-and-the-evolution-of-the-data-center/

Big data contains consumer information including transaction data, demographic information, buying patterns, CRM data etc., collected across multiple platforms. The data gives an insight to the customers' preferences of support options, desired communication mode, future buying patterns, impactful promotions, etc. Big data provides better customer service in several ways. Using predictive analysis tools organizations can now predict a customers' next move also. Big data using these tools helps the organization to predict customers' present and future preferences, drive real-time decisions, increase customer retention and increase profitability. More than 77 percent marketers agree that individualized messages and offers are more effective than mass messages and offers, which can drive engagement, boost sales and increase conversions. Usage of Omni channel marketing strategy increases client retention rates and bring superior financial results. Using data to create a cross-platform customer engagement strategy ensures highest customer service. A multichannel shopping experience shapes a brand's story generating revenue and customer loyalty. In two years smartphone users will be more than basic phone users, mobile service increases at the rate of 7 percent annually. Thus best customer experience is delivered through mobile channels for high performance organizations. Unable to ignore the potentiality of social media big brands register tens of thousands of social media interactions every day. There are wide range of options available. Communication through online communities reduces call center costs. Read more at:
http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/5-ways-big-data-can-enhance-customer-service-62054

In present situation having a suite of products called 'marketing cloud' is necessary for any enterprise. While renowned and young companies have their own roles, marketing analytics point out that the problem is that "marketing cloud branding obfuscation" across dissimilar products makes the jobs of marketers, merchandise and IT guys harder. Gigaom Research found the priorities and hot buttons of several digital marketers and got to know about the effective marketing tactics they used. They also researched about areas where they required help. The study showed that salesforce was not wrong in its eagerness to tap into social media. The majority of big spenders use almost every digital tactic on every phases of marketing, namely awareness, acquisition, conversion and retention. Smaller companies still use SEO and email. Bigger companies are the biggest users of social media marketing as well as mobile and digital video. 50 percent of them are likely to increase their social media spending. In spite of this most marketers head to social media based on faith. They find it difficult to prove ROI for social media. Read more at: http://gigaom.com/2014/07/13/whats-needed-from-marketing-clouds/ 

It’s the customer service and experience the customer that help businesses to retain customers and grow.  The companies which deliver a good customer service and experience are customer-centric putting the customer in the centre of decisions, ideas, marketing, system design and more. Companies like apple manufacture products that people don't even realise they need, and the packaging of their products adds to the customer’s experience, which makes them the leader in customer service. A company that delivers only a great customer experience won’t survive if the product or service the company sells doesn’t work or do what it’s supposed to do, so they have to manufacture high quality products as well as provide a great customer service. It’s the combination of the two, a great product and an amazing customer service experience, that can meet the expectations of the customers and make a company grow to the top of their industry. To know more go to: http://www.hyken.com/customer-experience-2/product-experience/#more-5264

Research is a costly and time-taking process. Many businesses use social media as a cost effective and depth-tool to learn the insights about the market, consumer behavior, brand appearance, and other market research. One has to understand the benefits and create a proper research plan to use Social media. To use Social media one has to understand the benefits and create a proper research plan. The ways to implement and use social media in market research methods are: Firstly, Track Trends with Social Media for Real-Time Insights. Secondly, Learn the Language of Your Audience for Improved Marketing Appeal. Thirdly, Use the Real-Time Aspects of Social Media for Quick Research. Fourthly, use Social Media to Broaden the Scope of Your Market Research. Fifthly, Discover Unnoticed Trends and Insights by Engaging Instead of Leading. Sixth, Harness Social Media Research for Improved Cost Efficiency. Read more at: 

Consumer choice process has two steps. Firstly, he assigns a value to each product according to his willingness to pay. Secondly, the consumer compares and ranks these values. People evaluate the stimuli that they see even if they do not have to choose. Marketing may not necessarily need a billboard or commercial in order to materialize. It may extol the positive values of a product.  A consumer may subconsciously value a product anyway.  There are certain aspects that a company's advertisers have to worry about besides what its competitors say or how they advertise because if consumers automatically assign values to products, then marketing may not save a product that has many deficiencies. This may lay out cost effective opportunity to the present advertisers. Companies can highlight some positive virtues of a product on the product itself. Read more at: 

Knowledge gap is the disparity between what we know and what we need to know. Most of the information is imperfect in the real business world. The question that arises when leaders make decisions is the cost and its valuation. It is time consuming to know whether the decision is good and valuable. Organizing an internal effort to determine what reservoirs of knowledge exist inside the company and sometimes it exist in unexpected places, channeling people and published market studies are often good for the market. In case of an outside research partner, they must be open on methodology, listen to you and must be on the same platform on the basis of the timing and level of precision. It may be happen that you are in a stage where nothing more than validation is required to move to the next step. Common sense is most important to bridge the gap and move toward perfect knowledge which is both acceptable and appropriate. Read more at: 

Email still remains one of the best communication methods for buyers and consumers. Marketers should use the benefits of email marketing given the ease with which emails are delivered in the inbox. Certain variables which should be considered before sending an email, like send times to subject lines. The following are the six essential steps foe email creation:

1. Segment Your Audience: The marketer should have a clear idea about the target audience before deciding on a send time and the content of the email.

2. Create Your Content: The content of the email should depend on the interest and need of the target customer.A compelling subject line  and call to action is must.

3. Build Your Email: After creating the content the email template should be created. Images and call to action buttons to break up text should be included if possible.

4. Conduct Deliverability Tests: It’s important to conduct an email deliverability test to avoid the possibility of the email not getting delivered to the customers inbox.

5. Choose Your Send Time: Send times are not fixed, and they often  varies from one customer to another. As a general rule of thumb, emails should be sent during business hours in the morning or in the early afternoon, right after lunch.

6. Track and Analyze: Open rates, click-through rates, and email bounces should be tracked to see what content is resonating with the audience, which subject lines work best, and which areas could use improvement.

To know more, go to: http://www.exacttarget.com/blog/email-campaign