Customer data management
Customer data management includes monitoring data integrity, privacy and security for CRM platforms and, for some organizations, separate customer data platforms while maintaining updated, compliance customer records across sales, marketing service and e-commerce operations.
Top Stories
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Answer
20 Nov 2024
How does malvertising work?
With each ad placed, a hidden risk often goes overlooked: Cybercriminals who exploit ads to spread malware. Continue Reading
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Tip
07 Nov 2024
An overview of Power Apps integrations
While the platform works with other Microsoft tools, it can also integrate with third-party apps to unlock automation, customizations and a better view of enterprise data. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Jul 2020
Combat event fatigue with a virtual event marketing strategy
Virtual events can be a great way to generate leads and improve customer retention -- but only when done right. Here are some ways that marketers can host a successful online event. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Jul 2020
10 types of biases that affect customer data analysis
Analytics can help businesses make data-driven decisions, but common cognitive biases can skew how organizations interpret the information and CX. Continue Reading
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News
27 Jul 2020
SAP floats Qualtrics IPO 2 years after acquisition
SAP's decision to spin off Qualtrics in an IPO will likely benefit both companies, analysts said. Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2020
CCPA regulation enforcement begins; Salesforce an early target
Users of marketing, sales and e-commerce clouds -- and vendors, too -- are vulnerable to legal action under the CCPA, as enforcement begins and civil suit plaintiffs cite the data privacy law. Continue Reading
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News
02 Jul 2020
Voice biometrics for CX detects customer age, fraud
As of now, Nuance voice age-detection features are for security teams that want to prevent fraud and to route service calls. Analyst sees potential for marketing personalization. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Jun 2020
What IT leaders need to know about customer data platforms
Customer data platforms offer a lot, but many IT decision-makers remain skeptical -- there's still plenty of confusion over what they are. Find out what companies get with them. Continue Reading
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News
14 May 2020
Adobe releases AI tools for sales, marketing and e-commerce
Adobe beefs up its AI tools for Experience Platform, including a customer intelligence tool and ones for leads, content matching, channel monitoring and customer journeys. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 May 2020
Life and business post-COVID-19 for employees and companies
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how companies interact with both employees and customers. Karl Sharicz offers a look at what he sees from a CX perspective going forward. Continue Reading
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Feature
06 Apr 2020
How data science can help your company withstand the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic is adversely affecting businesses worldwide, but data science can help you solve immediate problems and create data-driven strategies for the long term. Continue Reading
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News
19 Feb 2020
Microsoft CDP leads 400-plus features in Dynamics 365 update
Microsoft's Dynamics 365 2020 Wave 1 release opens up the floodgates for outside data sources connecting to Customer Insights, its customer data platform. Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Jan 2020
Software CDP features don't equate to CDP branding
While many tech companies have software with customer data platform attributes, some vendors, such as Salesforce and Oracle, don't put the CDP label on them. Continue Reading
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News
09 Jan 2020
Customer experience world catches up on CCPA regulations
GDPR compliance has put many marketing, sales, e-commerce and customer service teams somewhat in line with the California Consumer Privacy Act. There are some differences, however. Continue Reading
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News
23 Dec 2019
Customer data platform tools top priority list for big vendors
CDPs, which unify marketing, sales and customer service data in real time, became a huge priority for Salesforce, Microsoft, SAP, Adobe and Oracle in 2019. Read about what's next for 2020. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Dec 2019
How to get value from customer insights data
Gathering and acting on customer insights can make the difference between a successful and struggling business. Here's how businesses can use it to their advantage. Continue Reading
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News
17 Dec 2019
How Amazon customer experience became e-commerce standard
Amazon made personalization, one-click shopping, quick shipping and easy returns de facto standards for all B2C and now, B2B businesses. Read about how the company did it, and what's next. Continue Reading
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News
16 Dec 2019
Deloitte launches Adobe Experience Platform accelerator
Deloitte-Adobe global joint strategic partnership for Adobe CDP deployments adds AI tools for Deloitte clients to measure customer experience on standard metrics. Continue Reading
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News
11 Dec 2019
Acquia acquisition of AgilOne CDP signals CX platform expansion
Acquia's acquisition of AgilOne, a customer data platform specializing in analytics, shows it's serious about competing against CX platforms from Adobe, Oracle and SAP. Continue Reading
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Tip
06 Dec 2019
Personalization engines help engage and retain customers
Content personalization is essential to getting the right material to the right customers. Here are some personalization engines that can help you better target your content. Continue Reading
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News
21 Nov 2019
New Salesforce Customer 360 aims to unify data sources
In aggregate, the new Customer 360 features Salesforce added to its sales, marketing, e-commerce and service platform resemble a customer data platform. Customers, analysts and partners weigh in. Continue Reading
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News
19 Nov 2019
Salesforce Service Cloud Voice, Einstein Voice Assistant unveiled
Salesforce unveils a voice assistant and call center tools to enable real-time natural language processing for agents to connect customer data and supervisor help on a single screen. Continue Reading
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News
14 Nov 2019
Adobe Experience Platform CDP adds marketer-friendly features
Adobe adds features for non-IT marketing users to more easily deploy the Adobe Experience Platform CDP. Photoshop-like layering tools for data sets, previewed earlier this year, go live. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Nov 2019
Microsoft CDP helps businesses unify customer data
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights takes data from disparate sales, service and marketing systems to bring it all into one golden record of the customer. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Nov 2019
Small customer data platforms fend off big tech with service, features
With Microsoft, Oracle and Adobe releasing customer data platforms, to be followed by Salesforce and SAP, small CDPs defend their turf with more features, better service and pricing Continue Reading
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News
22 Oct 2019
New tools add AI power to Teradata Vantage platform
Teradata unveiled Vantage Analyst and Customer Experience, two new tools now part of the vendor's analytics platform, on Tuesday at its user conference in Denver. Continue Reading
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News
21 Oct 2019
SAP launches Qualtrics CoreXM customer research tools
SAP renames Qualtrics Research Core Qualtrics CoreXM and adds AI, enterprise analytics, dashboard tools and admin controls for data access. Continue Reading
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News
18 Oct 2019
Microsoft CDP pricing might prove attractive to midsize retailers
With entry-level pricing of $1,500 a month, the new Microsoft CDP could attract midsize retailers. Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2019
Salesforce search about to get smarter with Einstein AI
Salesforce will add Einstein AI to its cloud search functionality in hopes of better assessing context, personalization and reducing false hits for end-user queries. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Sep 2019
4 customer data collection best practices to follow
Building a good customer data collection strategy can be difficult. These tips explain how to collect data and how to use it to improve customer experience. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Aug 2019
Princess Cruises puts real-time customer experience into action
The Ocean Medallion provides real-time CX to passengers on Princess Cruises. The technology enables vacationers to automatically open stateroom doors, locate companions and more. Continue Reading
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Guide
12 Aug 2019
Customer data management tools shape personalization, boost CX
In this guide, learn about the many tools, including customer data platforms, that collect and analyze data from disparate sources and provide a single, 360-degree customer view. Continue Reading
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News
31 Jul 2019
Adobe Experience Platform adds features for data scientists
New Adobe analytics features Query Service and Data Science Workspace are generally available on the Adobe Experience Platform after being announced in beta almost a year ago. Continue Reading
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Tip
15 Jul 2019
Consumer behavior analytics makes the unpredictable predictable
With AI's arsenal of machine learning, deep learning and NLP, consumer analytics can take some of the unpredictability out of predicting buying patterns and up conversion rates. Continue Reading
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News
21 Jun 2019
Salesforce Customer 360 promises will be clearer in 2020
Salesforce expects to show off what customers are doing with Customer 360 at its next Connections conference in 2020, along with some new integrations. Continue Reading
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News
18 Jun 2019
Salesforce teases new CDP features ahead of fall release
Salesforce gives details about the makeup of its Customer 360 integration platform and features of the customer data platform that it plans to release this fall. Continue Reading
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News
17 Jun 2019
Oracle and Adobe CDP war heats up, Salesforce close behind
The customer data platform market continues to simmer as large vendors such as Oracle, Adobe, SAP and Salesforce rush to catch up to smaller, more nimble CDP competitors. Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Jun 2019
How data privacy and marketing coexist when influencing the public
The author of a new book on the intersection of advertising and marketing with AI and data privacy talks about influencing the public with technology. Continue Reading
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News
12 Jun 2019
Nuvi's sentiment analysis engine deciphers emotion, emoji and more
Nuvi's sentiment analysis engine enables organizations to interpret the true meaning behind text, images and emoji in order to get a more complete understanding of customers' experience. Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2019
$15.7B Salesforce-Tableau acquisition a direct shot at Microsoft
By acquiring Tableau, Salesforce dramatically strengthened its BI and data visualization capabilities. The move boosts Salesforce's ability to compete with Microsoft. Continue Reading
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Tip
04 Jun 2019
Benefits and best approaches to B2B customer segmentation
With the increasing focus on personalization in B2B marketing, customer segmentation is a more important strategy than ever for organizations that want to know customers better. Continue Reading
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News
15 May 2019
Effective customer surveys help contact centers drive CX
As companies try to figure out who will run customer experience initiatives, contact centers make a strong case for the customer support team, using the right technology. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 May 2019
Prepare for California Consumer Privacy Act with these 5 questions
At Oracle's Modern Customer Experience conference, a privacy professional shared tips on incorporating privacy into CX systems so businesses are ready for the CCPA. Continue Reading
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News
24 Apr 2019
CDP Institute releases customer data platform certification
While waiting for Salesforce to release a customer data platform and for Adobe to perfect its newly released CDP, RealCDP certification aspires to validate CDPs available today. Continue Reading
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News
24 Apr 2019
CDP vs. DMP: Vendors battle for marketers' budgets
Customer data platforms and data management platforms have overlapping features, as vendors vie for marketers' IT budgets. It may not matter, as Adobe and Salesforce join Oracle in the game. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Apr 2019
4 customer insights research techniques for your organization
Organizations conduct customer research in order to understand customers, create new products and increase revenue, all of which can be overwhelming without a strategy in place. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 Apr 2019
7 customer segmentation methods to help connect the dots
Customer segmentation is essential to marketing, enabling businesses to provide the right people with the right products -- and is a move away from bulk appeals. Continue Reading
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News
27 Mar 2019
Adobe Experience Platform unites Magento, Marketo, customer data
Adobe makes a play for customer experience leadership by adding Magento- and Marketo-based clouds and building it on the Adobe Experience Platform foundation to unify the data. Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Mar 2019
How Philanthropy Cloud streamlines workplace giving
Perpetual Energy used Salesforce.org's Philanthropy Cloud to create content, track charitable donations and better engage with employees during its annual United Way campaign. Continue Reading
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News
12 Mar 2019
Salesforce strategy focuses on integration, customer data
Salesforce's strategy for 2019 and beyond includes better data integration and more plans for MuleSoft, Customer 360 and Salesforce Essentials. Continue Reading
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Feature
20 Feb 2019
How Salesforce Einstein machine learning makes AI practical
As it evolves, Salesforce's Einstein AI serves the needs of a growing number of organizations and takes the guesswork out of why certain decisions are made. Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Feb 2019
CRM for nonprofits helps organization streamline work
Wolverine Human Services' adoption of the Salesforce.org Nonprofit Cloud halved foster care licensing time and improved productivity within the agency. Continue Reading
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Answer
07 Jan 2019
What was the purpose of Salesforce's MuleSoft acquisition?
Salesforce completed the acquisition of MuleSoft in May 2018, gaining large customers, such as Coca-Cola and Anheuser-Busch, and adding beneficial technology to its platform. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Nov 2018
Salesforce Circles of Success help SMBs get up to speed
Circles of Success participants connect with other Salesforce users to swap challenges, tips and tricks for rolling out the platform in their businesses. Continue Reading
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Podcast
17 Oct 2018
Pipeline podcast ranges over Dreamforce news
Einstein Voice, Customer 360, Salesforce partners and all things Dreamforce. The Pipeline podcast takes on these developments and takes an inside look at Salesforce Tower, too. Continue Reading
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News
10 Oct 2018
Google Analytics for Salesforce helps users scour web data
Salesforce will sell Google Marketing Platform products on its own site in North America, strengthening the partnership between the two software giants. Continue Reading
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News
26 Sep 2018
Salesforce Health Cloud roadmap boasts payer tools, CX, AI
Salesforce users in healthcare get tools that bring membership and benefits data and insurance utilization and claims data analysis tools into Health Cloud. Continue Reading
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News
24 Sep 2018
Open data, customer experience AI the focus for retail automation
AI is infusing the customer experience not only online, but in stores. At Ignite, SAP, Adobe and Microsoft joined forces for the common goal of sharing data to push AI even further. Continue Reading
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Conference Coverage
18 Sep 2018
Dreamforce 2018 conference highlights and key takeaways
Salesforce will reveal new features, tools and platform updates at Dreamforce 2018 in San Francisco Sept. 25-28. Use this guide to stay up to date. Continue Reading
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Feature
13 Sep 2018
Salesforce implementation offers window into partner management
Implementing Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and Community Cloud has enabled a national window treatment company to streamline its operations. Continue Reading
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Tip
01 Aug 2018
Salesforce marketing automation tools close the data divide
Marketing automation CEO offers tips on bringing together siloed data, spotting sales trends, analyzing sales funnels and allocating marketing campaign spending. Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Jul 2018
Salesforce Health Cloud for Payers brings CRM to insurance
With its CRM system for payers, Salesforce is targeting a competitive market in which health insurers are fighting for members seeking lower costs and better health outcomes. Continue Reading
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News
26 Jul 2018
OpenText-Salesforce integration gaining momentum
An Australian life insurance company, given an opportunity to start anew with IT, chooses Salesforce as interface to deep OpenText content repository. Continue Reading
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News
18 Jul 2018
Salesforce's Marc Benioff calls for a national privacy law
After Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's call for a national data privacy law, Salesforce's chief privacy officer responds to questions about the Salesforce privacy stance. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Jul 2018
Assessing GDPR's data protection officer requirements
The GDPR's data protection officer mandate gives the EU a point person for compliance complaints, but not all companies need one. See when DPOs are required and what they do. Continue Reading
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News
13 Jun 2018
Salesforce Interaction Studio unveiled at Connections 2018
At Salesforce Connections, Salesforce builds off its Google partnership announced at Dreamforce by releasing new integrations between Marketing Cloud and Google Analytics 360. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 May 2018
Salesforce's GDPR DPO preps partners, customers for compliance
Salesforce's data protection officer discusses GDPR compliance challenges and strategies for customers and partners, along with the company's own GDPR readiness. Continue Reading
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Tip
07 May 2018
Ten tips to help Salesforce teams prepare for GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation implementation date is closing in. Salesforce experts have some advice for companies tasked with complying with the EU guideline. Continue Reading
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Tip
01 May 2018
How Salesforce teams will feel the impact of GDPR
With less than a month until GDPR has to be implemented, both B2B and B2C sales teams must be prepared to properly protect or even dispense of customer data, according to experts. Continue Reading
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Podcast
12 Apr 2018
Salesforce World Tour Boston talks Integration Cloud, Social Studio
Salesforce World Tour sessions included dives into Philanthropy Cloud, integrated surveys and Salesforce's new Integration Cloud. Continue Reading
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News
10 Apr 2018
Oracle CX Cloud adds AI tools for B2C, B2B customers
Oracle announces infusion of its Adaptive Intelligent apps into several CX Cloud products and promises more to come, with sales, marketing and service all getting upgrades. Continue Reading
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Podcast
23 Mar 2018
Salesforce acquisitions reach new heights with MuleSoft purchase
The intrepid Pipeline podcasters break down the MuleSoft acquisition, which enables hybrid cloud/on-premises CRM. Also: Salesforce Essentials replaces Desk.com and SalesforceIQ. Continue Reading
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News
22 Mar 2018
Salesforce-MuleSoft deal focuses on data integration
Beyond producing a hybrid cloud product with its new Integration Cloud, Salesforce now has capabilities for customers to build microservices with MuleSoft's technology. Continue Reading
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Tip
28 Feb 2018
Salesforce GDPR marketing compliance involves rethinking lead gen
The bigger -- and more complicated -- your marketing tech stack, the more complex your Salesforce GDPR compliance will be, vendors and experts say. Continue Reading
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Tip
28 Feb 2018
The importance of GDPR best practices for Salesforce customers
The new EU General Data Protection Regulation has far-reaching consequences that extend beyond European nations, according to experts. Continue Reading
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Tip
28 Feb 2018
E-commerce GDPR for Salesforce: Watch what data you capture
Making your Salesforce GDPR compliance strategy for e-commerce starts with monitoring the customer data you collect, starting with cookies -- and we don't mean the Keebler kind. Continue Reading
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Answer
31 Jan 2018
What do GDPR principles mean for CRM data management?
Avoiding General Data Protection Regulation penalties means getting your CRM compliance program in order before the sweeping regulation goes into effect late this spring. Continue Reading
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News
18 Jan 2018
Salesforce databases remain Oracle, for now
Oracle and Salesforce executives deny reports of Salesforce moving on from Oracle infrastructure. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Jan 2018
Taking on a virtual agent helps mint new wine connoisseurs
Having trouble selecting the wine that goes best with a special meal? And what if your preferred shop doesn't have it? Vivino helps you choose -- and, if needed, find -- the right wine. Continue Reading
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Feature
04 Jan 2018
Future of artificial intelligence in CRM rests with the bots
Chatbots may seem basic or rudimentary now, but just wait: AI advancements will take virtual agents to new levels of competency to engage customers. Continue Reading
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Podcast
10 Nov 2017
Pipeline podcast: Salesforce SMB customers to benefit from Google deal
Salesforce executives at Dreamforce discuss the impact of the new partnership with Google on Salesforce SMB customers, who'll be able to tap into Google Analytics and more. Continue Reading
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Tip
28 Jul 2017
Smartphones sound the death knell for outbound marketing strategies
Telemarketing might not be dead, but the near-complete saturation of smartphones in the consumer market has landed some death blows to outbound marketing strategies. Continue Reading
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Podcast
08 Jun 2017
AI, IoT and Trailhead were main themes at Salesforce World Tour Boston
In the second taping of The Pipeline podcast, we discuss the customer stories mentioned at the Boston event, the tight security and Salesforce's push of Trailhead. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Jun 2017
Customer data governance policies: Stop stalking, start selling
Customer data governance policies differ from traditional data governance in several ways. Finding that line between building trust among customers and stalking them is a start. Continue Reading
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Podcast
06 Jun 2017
The major themes from SiriusDecisions Summit 2017
Winning martech strategies highlighted the recent three-day conference, as well as SiriusDecisions keynotes and product showcases. Continue Reading
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Answer
30 Mar 2017
Is MSFT or Salesforce leading the market in business app development?
Microsoft is trying to lead the market in business app development, but is struggling to hold on as Salesforce easily creates user-friendly applications, platforms and processes. Continue Reading
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Podcast
22 Mar 2017
Make your CRM more impactful than the latest tweets from Trump
Twitter and other social media sites are powerful communication channels. But CRM should be a two-way conversation, not one-way, like the latest Trump tweets. Continue Reading
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News
18 Jan 2017
Quip acquisition of Unity&Variety beefs up subsidiary
Salesforce hopes to add visual and creative elements to its document tool, while Commerce Cloud's integration with Facebook Ads hopes to make buying easy. Continue Reading
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News
29 Nov 2016
Insightly adds CRM security to its product
With smaller security budgets and IT teams than enterprise businesses, small and medium-sized companies are more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Insightly's new security features hope to combat that. Continue Reading
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Tip
25 Oct 2016
How using predictive analytics helps public agencies predict demand
Predictive analytics aren't just for the private sector. Government agencies are tapping into analytics to gain more lead time in determining demand for services. Continue Reading
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Tip
05 Oct 2016
How Salesforce Health Cloud changes patient care
Salesforce Health Cloud gives healthcare providers access to patient data, including medical treatments and care plans, to improve care plans -- and it does this securely. Here's how. Continue Reading
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News
05 Oct 2016
Predictive lead scoring among new Sales Cloud features
Einstein offers sales reps insight to smarter lead scores, but users wonder how deep the predictive capabilities of Salesforce's newest feature will go. Continue Reading
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News
15 Aug 2016
Inside Ted Cruz's presidential campaign management software strategy
Sen. Ted Cruz didn't clinch the Republican nomination, but not for lack of technology. Campaign management software on Salesforce tracked donations, volunteers and voters. Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Aug 2016
Accenture serves up data for all via Salesforce Wave analytics
Accenture rolled out Wave analytics along with other Salesforce tools to 25,000 users within five months. Though the project moved quickly, it's also being done carefully. Continue Reading
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Podcast
27 Jun 2016
Microsoft buys LinkedIn database for treasure trove of CRM contacts
Microsoft bought the LinkedIn database. How will the professional contacts data enhance existing information in Dynamics CRM? Continue Reading
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Feature
31 Mar 2016
Is user adoption of Salesforce Analytics Cloud the next wave?
Salesforce Wave filled an analytics void when it was released -- but there are caveats. Learn more about the benefits and challenges of moving to Salesforce Analytics Cloud. Continue Reading
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News
24 Feb 2016
Users discontent with data insights from analytics apps
Companies use analytics apps to derive meaningful data insights, but survey results indicate they are discontented with their BI tools. Can Salesforce Analytics Cloud fill the void? Continue Reading
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Tip
16 Dec 2015
Handling unwieldy data with Salesforce Wave Analytics
With sales teams struggling to access and consume data, Salesforce Wave Analytics promises ease of use and accessibility. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Dec 2015
Despite cloud-based CRM success, data silo issues remain
While cloud-based CRM tools are making inroads in bridging data silos, smaller, niche tools are becoming more necessary to solve data management challenges. Continue Reading
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Answer
05 Nov 2015
What does Salesforce Lightning, Wave enable for users?
Salesforce's latest upgrades to its Lightning and Wave platforms show that the cloud CRM company is trying to bring analytics closer to the individual user. Continue Reading
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News
14 Sep 2015
Will Salesforce Wave Analytics' upgrade be persuasive for users?
After a year on the market, Salesforce Wave, the BI platform, gets an upgrade. But there are continuing question marks about its value. Continue Reading
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Podcast
14 Sep 2015
Challenges hinder Salesforce Lightning, Wave adoption
One year after they were released, users are looking before they leap into Salesforce Lightning and Salesforce Wave. What is crimping adoption? Continue Reading