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Building E-Commerce on Rough Economic Terrain March 13, 2010 
Although the shadow of the recent recession is still lingering over us, many business owners are moving toward starting an e-commerce business, which can seem like a scary leap to take. However, a reason to take that leap is that the number of consumers shopping online is growing. Recent figures show that online stores' sales were up 12.4 percent in January, compared with a year ago.
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Customer Data Is a Terrible Thing to Waste March 12, 2010 
Few marketers would argue against the importance of relevant, timely, personalized marketing communications. In fact, research has consistently proven the value of personalizing marketing messages by segmentation, targeting, or one-to-one messaging. Personalized email campaigns generate two to three times higher click-through rates than mass email campaigns and twice the conversion rates.
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Automated Bid-to-Win: Shrink the Sales Cycle, Seal More Deals February 26, 2010 
As sales organizations endeavor to escape the constricted economy of the 2009 recession, one of their most significant barriers is stagnant progress in terms of bringing their sales cycle under control. Recent Aberdeen research reveals that under-performing companies saw a year-over-year increase in their sales cycle of 12 percent.
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The Golden Age of Marketing January 27, 2010 
One of the reasons that sustainability is such a big issue for all of us is the way the marketplace has shaped up in the last few years. A telltale sign is the initial public offering market. The once-vibrant activity of bringing new companies to the stock markets has shriveled up, and with it you have a graphic description of a relative lack of innovation in the economy.
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The Sustainability Decade January 20, 2010 
"Sustainability" has been the key issue capturing my attention this year, so it makes sense to tease apart just what that term means for CRM. To me, sustainability is about business processes that are repeatable and, more to the point, processes that both sides readily engage in.
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The 4 Cornerstones for CRM Retail Investment in 2010 January 11, 2010 
Retailers in the U.S. are convinced that CRM is one of the most important aspects of their business. However, the sector in general has failed to utilize the full potential of these programs, and the industry will be striving to elevate its CRM game in the future. That's good news not only for customers, but also for the providers of CRM technologies and services.
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The Retail Industry's CRM Implementation Problem January 04, 2010 
Cyber Monday may be the most visible symbol of the increasing use of e-commerce technology in the retail sector. On just one day, Nov. 30, consumers operating from home or office computers in the U.S. spent $887 million on Internet purchases. The spending level amounted to a gain of 5 percent versus Cyber Monday of 2008, and it matched the heaviest online spending day on record.
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How Automation Can Bridge the Sales-Marketing Chasm December 15, 2009 
CRM systems are on a steep evolutionary slope, but marketing automation is evolving even more rapidly, spurred by a rash of innovative thinking and the SaaS delivery model. With the technology offering so much potential, integrating a crackerjack CRM system and an effective marketing automation solution seems like a surefire way to boost sales numbers.
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Marketing Trends Add Fuel to the SaaS Development Fire December 08, 2009 
A trend is not a fad. A fad comes and goes quickly, while trends have staying power. Great ideas become trends when they are widely adopted beyond their original driving force. Such is the case with the marketing trend of direct digital marketing -- relevant digital marketing communications that are addressable to a specific individual with an email address, a mobile phone number or a Web browser cookie.
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Yahoo Tool Gives Users a Say in What Ads They See December 07, 2009 
Yahoo has joined the growing number of companies updating their privacy policies with new tools to better manage the data that is collected about consumers. The company has launched a beta tool called "Ad Interest Manager" that shows users what interests Yahoo thinks they have based on their online activity. The tool also allows users to edit that information if they feel it is not accurate.
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The Metric-Minded Marketer December 03, 2009 
Most marketers will accept that some portion of marketing will always be an art that is tricky to measure. However, it's difficult to deny the overwhelming need for marketers who can "crunch the numbers." Aberdeen research from the past five years suggest marketers are getting more savvy, more technically minded, and more numerical.
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Creating Exceptional Customer Experiences, Both Coming and Going November 16, 2009
One of the most important ways marketers can differentiate their offerings in today's unique selling environment is by creating a remarkable customer experience. One step toward achieving this goal is to ensure they have a single database that is tightly integrated with their CRM system to capture inbound and outbound dialogue and create a multidimensional marketing view of the customer.
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Finding Out What They're Saying About You Is Worth Every Penny November 12, 2009 
Social media monitoring is a new business endeavor, with relatively few companies able to boast a significant track record of achievement. In fact, according to the new Aberdeen benchmark report, "The ROI on Social Media Monitoring," only 27 percent of Best-in-Class companies have engaged in social media monitoring activities for more than two years.
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B2B TeleServices: Bring the Right Intel to the Table October 29, 2009 
In research conducted among over 200 companies in 2008 for a reported titled "B2B TeleServices and Appointment-Setting: Less Risk, Less Reward?," Aberdeen Group found that end-user sales organizations relying primarily on external appointment-setting vendors for lead generation realized dramatically lower business results if the vendor deliverable was limited to simple appointments.
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SFA May Be Mature, but It's About to Have a Growth Spurt October 26, 2009 
Sales force automation -- nimble, lightweight and usually mobile -- seems to have little in common with its staid parent, enterprise resource planning. Until you consider this: After years of widespread adoption, SFA has also become mature -- but in its own way. Yet the space is not remaining static.
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Leveraging Social Media to Boost E-Commerce Holiday Sales October 21, 2009 
Word of mouth has long been a priceless asset to any business, and technology has expanded the playing field in a whole new way with mobile messaging and social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and more. Every day, it seems hard to avoid the buzz about social media -- who's on it, what they're doing and what the latest trend is.
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