Frontline Perspectives

If you’re still wondering about the value of using mobile platforms for business-to-business marketing, check out this new story in BtoB. According to B2B marketing expert Christina “CK” Kerley, mobile platforms deliver “the holy grail of one-to-one marketing.” She says, “what more personal media do business audiences have than their mobile devices? Further, all activity on our mobile devices is viewed as a priority. For example, SMS alerts (“texts”) are read 90% of the time and typically within three minutes of delivery. Can we say the same for any other kind of marketing?” Read more »

You’ve probably seen them: futuristic-looking black-and-white boxes that look like the love child of a barcode and a postage stamp. They’re called QR (for Quick Response) codes and they’re popping up everywhere — like on the side of this bus — as the latest buzz-worthy tool to hit marketing.

Developed in Japan in the mid-90s, QR codes bridge the gap between the physical world and the digital one. Readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and the cameras on smartphones, the black-and-white boxes contain encoded information such as text, URLs and other data. Read more »

I think every marketing person needs this written on a T-shirt to remind them what their customers are really thinking. Read more »

The latest trend in engaging customers via the web is the gaming culture.

Facebook and mobile apps have given rise to a pretty vast mainstream adult game playing culture. It’s incredibly popular and wildly addictive. It’s Tetris gone social. Read more »

…and hire a customer experience manager.

While this may sound like a play on words, it is a serious problem for many B2B companies today. Think about it: as you read this, your customer service team is down the hall answering calls and e-mails about orders, account issues, product problems, pricing questions, etc., right? Most customer service managers can tell me what percentage of their calls fall into each of these categories and how quickly the team can “resolve” these problems. Customer service is designed to react to each person who raises a hand with an issue. Read more »