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From Buzz to Buy: Social Commerce and Word-of-Mouth Marketing (ClickZ)
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Posted: 04/01/2010
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There’s a new buzz in town: social commerce skilfully links customers to customers online and then bridges them into commercial connections... driving customers to transition from "buzz" to "buy." The ultimate goal for delivering a meaningful and measurable social commerce program is to integrate all marketing activities into one streamlined campaign, blending social programs like Facebook, Twitter and company blogs with more traditional programs like in-store, direct marketing and mobile advertising. Building a social commerce program entails the following: (1) give your customers a venue for creating user-generated content; (2) expand your customer-voice from the outside-in and (3) leverage customer feedback in all your marketing initiatives. The challenge then is to deliver meaningful products and services that meet your customers’ needs.
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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iPhone App Enables Paying with Plastic (CNN Money)
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Posted: 03/18/2010
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Operating businesses remotely just got even better. While credit card transactions were standardized in traditional business settings long ago, paying with plastic was only a pipe dream for those conducting business on the road. Now, a host of software is on the market allowing mobile businesses to process credit card payments on their cell phones. From Apple's iPhone applications to Inner Fence, which developed the first iPhone app for processing credit cards, there are a slew of applications out there that allow proprietors to issue refunds, review sales, and email electronic receipts for transactions.
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Industry:
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
E-Commerce,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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Programming With Screen Shots, Not Just Code (Dr. Dobbs)
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Posted: 03/04/2010
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed a new system that allows one to program with screenshots. For more than three decades, the graphical user interface (GUI) has dominated computer programing, but its underlying reliance on code manipulation means it’s still relatively labor intensive for computer programmers to customize or build programs. The new system, Sikuli, enables programmers to develop programs using GUI screen shots. While it requires some knowledge of Python, the system enables even casual users to create new programs without mastering complex programming language. The user simply draws a box around the desired content, captures the screen shot and then places it appropriately into the Python code. The research team plans to present a paper entitled GUI Testing Using Computer Vision at CHI, the premier conference on human-computer interactions, where they will describe new applications of Sikuli aimed at large software development projects, both for programmers and non-programmers.
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Industry:
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services
Topic:
Experience & Interaction,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer
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FranchiseOpportunities.com Increases Own Opportunities (BtoB Online)
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Posted: 02/18/2010
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In an effort to increase its leads in finding potential franchise owners, FranchiseOpportunities.com changed its usual e-mail marketing tactics. Rather than sending the standard monthly e-mail newsletter highlighting six or seven franchises to all 100,000 of its prospects, the company now sends out targeted e-blasts. These e-blasts, which are sent to specific, smaller groups of prospects, highlight a single franchise (based on prospects’ industry, geographic location, available liquid capital, and net investment capabilities), and provide a direct link to the franchise owner’s page. E-blast copy is also more action-oriented. “It’s all about semantics—taking an active voice that uses language our prospects use,” said Garth Snider, president of FranchiseOpportunites.com. An increase in leads resulted. “From 2008 to 2009 we have increased the number of leads coming from e-mail campaigns by 50% to 75%,” Snider said.
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications
Topic:
Content Strategy,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business
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Market Intelligence the Smartphone Way (CRM Daily)
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Posted: 02/04/2010
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Context-aware software tries to connect the real world with the vast stores of information about places in a virtual world: the Internet. The technology channels the knowledge amassed to provide useful tools to the smartphone user. Consumers gain more control over their buying experiences and save time when they purchase from vendors who have critical insight into their shopping habits. The software’s diverse industry applications include retail, business management, hospitality, and food and beverage. Research firm Gartner projects the market for this technology will grow to $12 billion by 2012, with Google standing in prime position to address and profit from the new wave of demand. Other companies that stand to benefit are Nokia, Cisco Systems, Avaya, large telcos like China Telecom or potentially even social networks such as Facebook, Gartner says.
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Industry:
Marketing, Design, & Interactive Communications,
Retail & Products,
Technology, Consulting, & Professional Services,
Telecommunications
Topic:
Business Intelligence,
Experience & Interaction,
Marketing Communications,
Technology Implementation
Region:
Global
Audience:
Business to Business,
Business to Consumer,
Peer Groups & Communities
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We cut through the clutter of the web to highlight innovation and forward-thinking. The best stories from leading publications – hand selected and organized to provide you a single point of access.
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