This article discusses values-based CRM concepts in regards to aligning marketing, IT, and financial functions. An interesting point made by the authors [F]ocusing just on the ability of IT to support strategy and processes bears the risk of not utilizing the full potential of innovative technologies[.] It’s clear there is a critical interdependence between both [...]
This e-loyalty research paper helps clarify the roll of online customer service in creating customer loyalty (“e-loyalty”). The paper focuses on the Austrian mobile industry but the findings are applicable to many industries, including real estate. Two broad categories frame customer loyalty: customers who become your repeat purchasers and customers who become promoters of your brand. [...]
This video, The World Park Campaign, illustrates an excellent use of QR to not only drive a marketing result but reward users’ participation with something delightful. The focus of the campaign was an immersive marketing experience to drive wider participation and learning within a NYC park. Similarly, read about what Bjork is doing to take participation [...]
Three blog posts that recently piqued my interest: Wake up, the demographic shift is flattening us. Although targeted at catalog marketing executives, what Kevin Hillstrom has to say is relevant to the marketer in us all. Here’s the essential take-away: Right now, “The Big Shift” is steamrolling us. We are essentially addressing the 55+ audience, [...]
Below are two fascinating studies on communication theory and practice. The commonality between both is the nexus between effective use of social media and word-of-mouth marketing. The first study Social Media Marketing vs. Prevalent Marketing Practices: A Study of Marketing Approaches for Micro firms in Sweden (.pdf download) focuses on micro firms leveraging social media to promote [...]
The book Democratizing Innovation by MIT Professor Eric Von Hippel (available via free .pdf download) makes an interesting observation about the term “consumer”. Throughout his book, Von Hippel employs the term “user” as opposed to consumer: Users, as the term will be used in this book, are firms or individual consumers that expect to benefit [...]
The Gartner Hype Cycle is a useful graph for analyzing technology hype. Looking at the Gartner graph, I’ll posit we’re somewhere near the “Slope of Enlightenment” and the “Plateau of Productivity” with respect to social media. Over the past couple of years, business leaders have stepped up to the plate and faced some serious pitches [...]
Collaborative CRM strategies offer firms unparalleled opportunities for establishing more meaningful relationships with their customers and clients. Mobile CRM is closely aligned to collaborative CRM concepts. This research paper characterizes collaborative CRM as: The notion of collaborative CRM is still in discussion and has two interpretations that are often mixed…The first is closely connected with [...]
This research paper focusing on the hotel industry indicates that although delighted customers have generally positively views of brands, a satisfied customer will more likely take action supportive of loyalty marketing constructs (i.e., actually book a return trip) because they have an emotional connection to the brand. Thus, the researchers suggest that marketers focus on [...]
This research paper on CRM strategies used by RBC Royal Bank of Canada (Bahamas), analyzes whether the bank successfully applied the four P’s of CRM (planning, people, process, and platform). It’s well established that financial success is tied to a well executed CRM strategy which drives customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. What this research paper [...]
I love it when research/theory manifests in application/practicality. In 2007, I wrote about research being conducted on semantic analysis related to social media and blogs, and now there are companies using products stemming from this type of research. Information Week covered text analytics, describing how JetBlue uses text analytics to understand customer sentiment from email [...]
This Harvard Business Review article (subscription necessary) makes a strong case for companies to create customer strategy departments and positions. One section of the article focuses on “Customer-facing functions” and makes some great recommendations: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) responsibility should migrate away from corporate IT and into the customer strategy department since CRM helps companies [...]
What factors influence effective cross-functional team environments that spur the greatest innovations and competitive advantage? The authors of this study (.pdf) (focusing on manufacturing) determined that baldly implementing a cross-functional team approach is not a universal good. Notably, the authors found that cross-functional teamwork involving marketing may have a negative effect (the authors noted too, [...]
To what extent does corporate reputation affect customer loyalty? This study (.pdf, begin reading at page 28) found that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the second most important factor influencing corporate reputation (with overall competency being first). In fact, CSR was found to have a higher impact on corporate reputation than product price. The authors [...]
What factors keep an online community happy, involved, and engaged? The authors of this study (.pdf) found four primary things influence these three factors: Purpose: Clearly define the purpose and values of the community space with a well-articulated and succinct statement so people who join the community know what to expect, while internally defining your [...]
To what extent does employee loyalty and commitment to a brand drive overall customer loyalty? This research paper (.pdf) tackles that question and concludes that employee attitudes toward their company have a high degree of impact on customer loyalty. What the authors essentially argue is that fostering a corporate environment that espouses a unique and [...]
Trust is a major driver of customer loyalty. How does a corporate brand secure this trust following a breakdown in service delivery? The authors of this study (.pdf) ponder this question and proffer some intriguing insights. The authors argue that negative emotions experienced by a customer following a negative service experience do not necessarily change [...]
Razorfish points out keen ways to leverage user-generated content (UGC). In the midst of all this social media mania marketers can leverage UGC to gain insight and develop relationships. A poignant take-away from the Razorfish blog post: UGC is not problematic in it’s own right, rather it’s filtering UGC to gain actionable intelligence that will [...]
Deux Gros Nez, an eclectic, wonderful restaurant in Reno, Nevada, closed its doors a couple of years ago. It’s where I, as a dedicated employee of Tim Healion and Jon Jesse (then owners of Deux Gros Nez), learned about community, service, and the power of passionate brand ambassadors: Flickr tribute YouTube interview A person’s thoughts [...]
Chris Brogan interview Excellent interview with Chris Brogan on how he’d run an airline and implement some social web karma; great insights, well worth the 9:58 investment of your time. The interviewer, Shashank Nigam, CEO, SimpliFlying, asks some really good questions. My comment after listening to the interview: That was seriously cool. Semantic Web This [...]
Thank you to Nic Brisbourne and his The Equity Kicker blog for (a) highlighting an intriguing video of UK journalists debating the veracity and viability of blogs and (b) pointing out an excellent presentation on the Customer Development Model. Both offer some tasty take-aways. I find the debate curious. Universal McCann’s 2008 Wave 3 study [...]
Are your prospective clients having to act like abalone divers to interact with you? Abalone divers furbish themselves with an abalone iron to pry off abalones from submerged rocks. These divers are committed to their task, as abalone is considered a divine delicacy to some. But if prospective clients have to work like an abalone [...]
Chris Brogan’s recent post challenges marketers to begin thinking of ways to use the social web to leverage traditional marketing expertise: Marketers, are you paying attention to who’s spending how much and where when you read magazines, watch TV, or see billboards? Are you extrapolating out what it means to you, your business, etc?…If you’re [...]
Real estate marketing professionals interested in farming, cultivating, or harvesting customers should consider something new. Livestock management perhaps? How about genetic engineering of new hybrid corn? Better yet how about driving a combine or cultivator? It’s time to shed these agri-centric terms that are so often used in conjunction with traditional Customer (Client) Relationship Management [...]
Here’s an excellent article on the PR 2.0 blog about the new homepage design features Facebook will soon release. The article gives a reasoned analysis of the new Facebook feature-set as well as possible implications for brands, individuals, and services like Twitter and Friendfeed. What could be considered the Wall 2.0 or quite simply, a [...]
Digital Trends is a big topic and this post really goes through a substantive analysis of Edleman’s recent predictions. The digital train is tearing down the tracks and has no signs of slowing. Every industry is being reshaped by the expectation that everything should be digitized. Add digital hungry consumers with web devices, NetPCs, Kindles [...]
Here’s an interview about Twitter with a friend of mine who owns a manufacturing plant in Northwest Chicago. Of course, I was evangelizing the incredible value, benefits, and just awesome coolness of Twitter, but he was a little skeptical… I think Tom has good advice. It’s easy to get caught up in a Gartner hype [...]
What’s the value of a real estate firm’s or agent’s service? What actions justify a firm’s or agent’s fees? I’m contemplating these questions as I re-read “The Theatre and Its Double” written by Antonin Artaud, and some of what he says in his writing has a certain philosophical resonance with respect to the current state [...]
This post on real estate brokerage future and this one on hyper-local targeting are two excellent discussions about the strategic decisions real estate brokers will face over the next few years, especially with the technology side of the equation. I will focus on two salient points from these posts: (1) the ascendancy of broker power [...]
This Universal McCann study states that Blogs are a mainstream media world-wide and as a collective rival any traditional media The blogsphere is becoming increasingly participatory, now 184m bloggers world-wide And as recently referred to in my previous post on the long tail, the New York Times discusses the power of blogs for real [...]
This video, sourced from Bring the love back, beautifully illustrates the new dynamic–and power shift–between consumer and brand.
An e-Marketer recent report shows that moms are a major power on the Internet. Notice how FrontDoor.com leverages this fact. And this research article points out that women adopt e-Service loyalty programs at a higher rate if their enjoyment and perceived social presence of the site is high. Notably, the researchers point out that In [...]
Create value for the swarm. That is the overarching goal of a swarm business mindset. Swarm creativity embodies the passion that drives this goal, along with coolhunting as an adjunct exercise. Real estate, as an industry, seems well-poised to take advantage of swarm creativity. Nicholas G. Carr, of the Economist.com explains the basics of swarm [...]
In 2004, Inman News profiled e-mortgage processes. In the ensuing years, paperless mortgage processes have improved but have yet to achieve wide agent adoption rates, as do many other real estate technology initiatives (e.g., real estate ecommerce centers). Could this be a classic example of the Technology Acceptance Model theories at work? ( Wiki definition [...]
Continuing the discussion from the McKinsey interview of Cammie Dunaway, she states [Yahoo!] is using behavioral data–really mining the wealth of transactional data we have about how people are spending their time online and trying to marry that data with attitudinal data…that’s where the most powerful insights can really come from. Insights into what? It [...]
Notes from my presentation on ROI at the recent Inman Real Estate Connect conference: Issue: What are the first steps real estate firms should take to get a handle on their data to enhance near-term and long-term ROI on this data? Since 80%+ of all originating real estate transactions begin on the Internet, firms should [...]
