What we're reading this month

From: Chief Marketer Blog - Sell the Way Your Customers Buy

Every marketer's goal is to send relevant and engaging content to customers. But consumer buying behavior is evolving so quickly that the rules are constantly changing. In this article, the author discusses how marketers must realize that the balance of power has shifted to the consumer. Marketers need to quickly adapt and frame new programs that sell to customers in the way they now buy using the resources available across multiple channels.

From: Influential Marketing Blog - Marketing To The Sadly Underappreciated Email Inbox

In this article, the author examines how social media is making email more important because it is the glue that holds together our personal interactions through multiple sites. The article lists the reasons why the inbox is still the golden choice for not just interacting with people, but also vital to supporting the growing landscape of social media.

From: CRM Buyer.com - CRM for Telecoms

Part 1: Getting More Strategic

In this article, the author examines that while telecom operators willingly spend hundreds of millions to upgrade facilities, it is not at all clear that these investments, with long-term paybacks, are the right ones to meet customer demand. In contrast, investment in a CRM tool such as predictive analytics is very modest but generates payback in months -- not years. The author writes, “In an increasingly competitive environment, telecom operators will not only need to invest more in CRM techniques. They also will need to make those investments more effective and embrace the full range of CRM potential -- from conventional sales promotion, to generating improved feedback on customers, enhanced analytics, and better use of predictive capabilities, including modeling.“

From: CRMindustry.com Blog - Gartner Outlines Three Steps to Create a Successful CRM Strategy

This article briefly summarizes the 3 steps to carrying out a successful CRM strategy: Set the destination, Audit the current situation, and Map the Journey. The author writes that a CRM strategy must be able to give subjective answers to organization-wide questions, such as: How will the organization connect with a customer to create a positive "gut feel"?

From: Target Marketing - 3 Tips for Plugging Your E-mail into Your CRM Efforts

This article presents three key areas for a company to focus on when integrating its e-mail program with its CRM processes: Timing, Targeting and Content. The author writes, “Having a firm understanding of how frequently your customers are being contacted, with what message and through what channels, is an amazing driver of where and when to plug into those conversations with your e-mail programs.”

From: Forrester’s Blog on Customer Intelligence Professionals - Cross-channel campaign management trends

In this article, Suresh Vittal discusses some of the key findings from a survey with 150 marketers and customer intelligence professionals on trends in cross-channel campaign management. he highlights that, “Despite the renewed focus on retention, few marketers can claim to be skilled at managing customer churn.”

From: The Big Fat Marketing Blog - E-mails We Love: Special Welcome Edition

The author discusses how companies often send confirmation emails after a customer has opted in to receive messages.

From: Forbes - Lisa Arthur: Aprimo CMO

Lisa Arthur discusses how marketers can strike a balance between online and traditional marketing. Despite the growing spend in digital marketing, marketers aren’t choosing to drop their offline channels completely. Arthur emphasizes the need to integrate the offline and online channels versus replacing one with the other.