Marketing and sales
Marketing spreads awareness of your organization to its potential customers, while sales transforms them into actual customers. Read about the latest advances in marketing and sales force technologies, the different strategies each requires and the ways the two fields intersect.
Top Stories
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Feature
15 Nov 2024
9 sustainable event ideas
From hosting virtual conferences to repurposing exhibition stands as cow shelters, brands can find ways to make their events more sustainable. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Nov 2024
7 benefits of event marketing
From large conferences to small webinars, events can help brands improve lead generation and content creation. Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Feb 2020
5 terms to know before creating a sales enablement strategy
Sales enablement is important for companies to drive efficiency, maintain customer satisfaction and stay organized. Sales enablement uses different tools and strategies to do this. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Feb 2020
4 digital marketing best practices for businesses
Some digital marketing strategies for reaching customers include creating empathy and trust in marketing campaigns, personalizing content and having an omnichannel presence. 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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Answer
13 Feb 2020
How does AI in sales improve staff performance?
AI can assist in many aspects of the sales process, including analyzing calls, making employees more productive and retaining talented representatives. Continue Reading
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News
12 Feb 2020
New leadership, new features for LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Sales Navigator adds features to create CRM contacts directly from LinkedIn, and content-tracking tools to see who's reading marketing materials salespeople send to customer leads. Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Feb 2020
5 tips for an effective marketing automation implementation
Successful marketing automation implementations require steps beyond those that go into the usual technology rollouts. Here are some tips to help businesses along the way. Continue Reading
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News
21 Jan 2020
HubSpot adds usability features to Marketing Hub Enterprise
HubSpot launched new features to their Marketing Hub Enterprise tool that focuses on user-friendliness and ability, while maintaining the tool's powerfulness. Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Dec 2019
Salesforce Trailblazer community must keep pace to fuel growth
Salesforce Trailhead's mission is to provide current and prospective customers with admins and developers. Growing that talent pool is crucial to Salesforce's health. Continue Reading
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News
26 Nov 2019
Aviso introduces version 2.0 of AI-guided sales platform
Version 2.0 provides artificial intelligence tools that predict deal close probabilities, guide next best actions and limit typos and unsaved changes during entry of data. Continue Reading
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News
11 Nov 2019
Upland Software extends its portfolio with CRO tool Altify
Features offered by Altify include analytics with Salesforce Einstein and Tableau, relationship map visualizations and integrations with applications in the CRO tool ecosystem. Continue Reading
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News
06 Nov 2019
Inboundgeo Marketing Suite introduces new direct mail tool
Clients' website visitors can receive direct mail with customized content within 72 hours of their visits with the new Content Derived Filtering tool, according to the company. Continue Reading
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News
14 Oct 2019
Adobe's Marketo-Magento staff merger reveals midmarket push
Adobe positions itself for the midmarket in the year following the acquisitions of marketing automation platform Marketo and e-commerce platform Magento. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Oct 2019
Gen Z marketing strategies can benefit from new technology
Gen Z expects companies to be on the cutting edge of CX tech. New technology can help companies keep up with these demands, without having to spend a fortune on strategy or software. Continue Reading
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Feature
01 Oct 2019
Customer engagement fuels retail success
Down, but not out? It's a fitting description for the current state of traditional retail stores. But there are many ways retailers can still win against online competition. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Sep 2019
Martech strategy, Agile marketing are trends to follow
As the marketing model changes, businesses can adopt thousands of different marketing technologies to better reach customers and improve customer experience. Continue Reading
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News
06 Sep 2019
HubSpot Marketplace updated to get free CRM users to buy apps
HubSpot introduces new features to marketing automation and CRM platform, and revamps its apps marketplace in hopes of driving revenue from newfound free-CRM customers. Continue Reading
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News
28 Aug 2019
RollWorks updates its account-based marketing platform
New RollWorks features include account suggestions, Salesforce syncing and account groups to better align sales and marketing teams' efforts for potential customers. Continue Reading
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News
16 Aug 2019
Marketing, sales tighten in LinkedIn Sales Navigator features update
Lead lists and content-sharing features added to LinkedIn Sales Navigator give frontline salespeople more leads -- and more tools to engage them. Continue Reading
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News
15 Aug 2019
Metadata.io updates boost marketing personalization, automation
Updates to Metadata's AI marketing platform include new usability features and improved automation to bolster its marketing personalization to target new and existing clients. Continue Reading
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News
09 Aug 2019
PromoteIQ acquisition diversifies Microsoft Advertising platform
Microsoft expands its advertising platform to vendor marketing with the PromoteIQ acquisition. Continue Reading
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News
06 Aug 2019
Force Marketing introduces platform for personalized marketing
Drive by Force Marketing is a personalized marketing video platform for car dealerships to increase engagement with returning and prospective customers. Continue Reading
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News
09 Jul 2019
Nintex Sign powered by Adobe available for SharePoint users
With this update, SharePoint 2013, 2016 and 2019 enterprise users have access to Nintex Sign powered by Adobe Sign for native e-signatures, in addition to other Nintex Sign updates. Continue Reading
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News
03 Jul 2019
CloudEngage updates personalization platform, chat feature
The new generation includes upgrades to its segmentation capabilities. CloudEngage's chat product has also been upgraded to save visitor details for personalization. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jun 2019
Enosix CMO, who branded SAP Leonardo, talks martech strategy
Shawn Reynolds, the former architect of SAP's Leonardo AI brand, moves to SAP-Salesforce integrator Enosix. He discusses marketing strategy in this age of overwhelming martech choices. Continue Reading
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News
17 Jun 2019
Deloitte's Heat launches Heat AI for trend predictions
Heat's AI-based advertising platform uses algorithms to gather and analyze customer data and then predict social trends up to 72 hours before they peak, according to the vendor. Continue Reading
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Answer
13 Jun 2019
What are the most effective uses of AI in marketing automation?
AI is beneficial in many marketing automation processes. Organizations use the technology in chatbots, personalization, voice and visual search, frequency optimization and more. Continue Reading
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Answer
10 Jun 2019
Why use third-party marketing automation instead of native CRM tools?
Though many CRM platforms offer native marketing automation tools, many organizations find it beneficial to use a third-party application, such as Eloqua or Marketo. Continue Reading
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Tip
06 Jun 2019
4 steps to create a digital marketing strategy
This four-step approach will help organizations build a digital marketing strategy designed to increase their online presence and attract new customers. Continue Reading
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News
05 Jun 2019
RedPoint Global mashes up CDP, DMP functions in new offering
RedPoint's Digital Acquisition Platform attempts to stop ads from chasing you around the internet after a purchase by mashing up CDP functionality with third-party DMP data. Continue Reading
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News
16 May 2019
Leanplum, Amplitude unite for personalized mobile marketing
Leanplum and Amplitude have united to combine Leanplum's mobile marketing engagement with Amplitude's product intelligence for more personalized mobile marketing. Continue Reading
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News
08 May 2019
Act-On launches Adaptive Web, AI-based personalization tool
Adaptive Web, an AI marketing software tool by Act-On, makes real-time content suggestions to increase user web engagement without the direct aid of a marketer. Continue Reading
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News
07 May 2019
Salesforce announces Pardot Business Units, coming this summer
Pardot Business Units, an automated marketing platform, provides large companies with a way to coordinate and personalize marketing efforts across the business. Continue Reading
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News
03 May 2019
IBM marketing automation sell-off represents market shift
IBM divests itself of marketing automation tools, but they will likely live on as the new parent company combines them with other acquisitions to incubate a new integrated CX stack. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 May 2019
How to use live chat for lead generation
Live chat can successfully generate sales leads -- if done right. Here are four steps organizations can take to boost brand loyalty and close the deal. Continue Reading
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Feature
15 Apr 2019
AI sales forecasting tools soothe sales-marketing rivalries
Sales forecasting vendors such as Clari extend reach into enterprise marketing, leveling the data and, with AI, solving an old problem: conflicting numbers on quarterly forecasts. Continue Reading
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News
29 Mar 2019
New Oracle Eloqua features, integrations collect actionable CX data
New integrations and updates for Eloqua, Oracle's B2B marketing tool, emphasize the importance of actionable data in delivering a positive customer experience. Continue Reading
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Podcast
27 Mar 2019
Relax, Adobe Marketo still plans to support Salesforce customers
Marketo VP Matt Zilli discusses what's next for the marketing automation platform, especially in regard to what devoted Marketo customers who use Salesforce CRM can expect. Continue Reading
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Feature
26 Mar 2019
The pros and cons of customer service AI
AI is growing deep roots into cloud-based support services, but there remains a question of whether it can provide the empathy and understanding that brand loyalty requires. Continue Reading
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News
22 Mar 2019
AWS DCX Competency vets cloud customer experience partners
The AWS Digital Customer Experience Competency for content management, e-commerce, service and marketing automation certifies partners for infrastructure and security to create cloud CX. Continue Reading
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News
21 Mar 2019
Adobe Experience Platform likely to get boost, Adoption Scoring debuts
Adobe Experience Platform (formerly Adobe Cloud Platform) focus of Summit, as analytics, AI and open-data initiatives with Microsoft and SAP converge. Continue Reading
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Answer
19 Mar 2019
3 ways the data scientist role benefits CX teams
CX teams don't traditionally include the data scientist role, but adding one can help derive more value from customer data than a CX analyst or canned analytics software can. Continue Reading
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Feature
14 Mar 2019
Q&A: How to narrow down your CRM vendor choices
SaaS consultancy Lunar goes over the dos and don'ts for choosing a CRM system, whether you're licensing one for the first time or migrating to a new system. Continue Reading
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Answer
05 Mar 2019
What are 4 essential social CRM strategies?
Social CRM continues to evolve, using additional social media channels and techniques such as social media mining, advertising and listening. Continue Reading
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Answer
25 Feb 2019
5 common customer support problems that affect CX
In customer support, common customer experience issues include lengthy hold times, scaling, failure to follow up, lack of human touch and a lack of personalization. Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Feb 2019
CEO plots course for Televerde women's prison call centers
Working at a Televerde women's prison call center outpays many inmate jobs and sets agents up for careers on the outside. CEO Morag Lucey discusses how the company keeps current. Continue Reading
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Feature
15 Feb 2019
Giving inmates a second chance as prison call center agents
Televerde staffs contact centers with incarcerated women, where they are paid the federal minimum wage. CEO Morag Lucey and COO Vince Barsolo discuss the model. Continue Reading
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Answer
30 Jan 2019
4 chatbot success metrics to bolster CX
Chatbot success can be measured using a number of metrics. Each helps improve the customer experience. Read on to learn which KPIs are beneficial for improving CX. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 Jan 2019
Trusting marketing automation with CRM functions
Marketing automation with CRM frees up resources and improves the efficiency and accuracy of campaigns and lead development, but it still requires a degree of oversight. Continue Reading
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Feature
31 Dec 2018
Assess priorities before purchasing a marketing automation platform
The promise of marketing automation is exciting, but the proliferation of tools can be intimidating. Learn how to dispel the confusion when buying a marketing automation product. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Dec 2018
6 customer intent metrics to prevent lead dropouts
Learn about the key metrics marketing teams can use to analyze customer intent, detect leads in danger of dropping out and focus energy on nurturing those leads. Continue Reading
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Infographic
17 Dec 2018
Salesforce acquisitions a big part of CRM vendor's busy 2018
Again, 2018 showed how important acquisitions are to Salesforce's growth and expansion into markets such as AI, e-commerce, integration and collaboration. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Dec 2018
Guidelines for navigating the sales software market
Figuring out whether your organization needs sales force automation, sales enablement or sales forecasting tools can be challenging, and that's before factoring in AI. Continue Reading
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Answer
03 Dec 2018
How does Salesforce lead scoring benefit Sales Cloud?
Einstein lead scoring offers a customizable workflow and strives to get better at prediction over time, and Salesforce is one of the top three vendors in the field. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Nov 2018
Managers learn AI basics with Salesforce Einstein Discovery
With many successes and failures, companies create their own AI apps with the use of Einstein Discovery. Users discuss their experiences along the way. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Nov 2018
7 tips for improving marketing technology stacks
Being deliberate about integrating a new tool into marketing technology stacks will help ensure they produce ROI and makes processes more efficient. Continue Reading
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Tip
28 Nov 2018
8 tips for a successful Einstein artificial intelligence rollout
You'll fail a few times before you succeed with Einstein, Salesforce customers said at Dreamforce. Once you dial it in, though, success can follow. Here are eight ways to get there. Continue Reading
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Feature
21 Nov 2018
Omnichannel customer service improves customer experience
Customers have come to expect brands to provide omnichannel customer service, but many companies are still overwhelmed by the idea of introducing new channels and training agents. Continue Reading
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Tip
20 Nov 2018
Why sending personalized marketing emails is an effective strategy
For some companies, personalizing email newsletter content still proves to be a highly effective marketing strategy for engaging customers and driving sales. Continue Reading
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Answer
12 Nov 2018
How can I maximize the Salesforce-Google Cloud integration?
Find out four new ways to make the most of the Google and Salesforce integration, including updates to the Salesforce data connector for Google Sheets. Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Nov 2018
Q&A with IBM Watson's call center AI tech lead
We sit down with IBM's contact center AI lead to talk about chatbots and their evolving role as human customers and support agents learn to coexist with them. Continue Reading
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News
23 Oct 2018
Oracle CX Unity unveiled at OpenWorld
In an attempt to compete with Salesforce, Oracle unveils Subscription Management, a software tool to help users manage the growing number of consumer-facing subscription products. Continue Reading
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Feature
19 Oct 2018
Invest in people for better customer experience in marketing
At the MarTech conference, analysts discussed the importance of customer experience in marketing, customer data protection and designated martech leadership. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Oct 2018
AI sales technology trends for 2019 and beyond
AI automation tools for sales technology have the potential to lead sales teams toward certainty in their decision-making, grow pipelines and reduce risks. Continue Reading
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Answer
18 Oct 2018
How does Salesforce Einstein Language NLP improve productivity?
Salesforce NLP learns in a manner similar to that of the human brain, performing a variety of functions, such as semantic parsing, summarization and more. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Oct 2018
Voice commerce rides on the backs of little smart speakers
The use of voice assistants and smart speakers continues to rise, but now companies are looking for ways to apply voice commercially in B2B and B2C sales. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Oct 2018
Loyalty rewards program fuels convenience store's CX
Since launching a loyalty rewards program last year, convenience store and gas station Yesway has driven 45.2% of loyalty members from the pump to the store. Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Oct 2018
How artificial intelligence in customer service improves CX
AI in customer service enables products and services companies to respond to consumers before the customer experience breaks down and negatively affects retention. Continue Reading
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News
25 Sep 2018
Salesforce AI users reveal pros and cons
Salesforce Einstein users shared their experiences with the AI tools, including the challenges of getting the C-suite to buy in. Continue Reading
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Podcast
20 Sep 2018
New HubSpot products strategy, CMS updates from Inbound
At Inbound 2018, HubSpot unveiled a new enterprise product line. It also introduced the flywheel, a circular metaphor for the customer relationship with sales, marketing and service. Continue Reading
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Podcast
07 Sep 2018
HubSpot products expand reach into enterprise
HubSpot's VP of products details the newest HubSpot enterprise-level offerings, as well as HubSpot's new video tool. Also: A glimpse of what's on the future roadmap. Continue Reading
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News
06 Sep 2018
HubSpot enterprise edition unveiled
In addition to releasing enterprise-level systems, HubSpot unveiled a CMS tool for companies to build and customize websites, and a video tool to help create content. Continue Reading
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News
21 Aug 2018
HubSpot Conversations adds chatbots, collaborative inbox
HubSpot sales, marketing and service hubs get new features with Conversations, previewed last year and going live this month. Continue Reading
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News
15 Aug 2018
LinkedIn Sales Navigator refresh adds deals pipeline
LinkedIn overhauls Sales Navigator with deals management, Adobe Sign and Office 365 integrations, new search tools and mobile deal pages and direct connection to product team. Continue Reading
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Podcast
13 Aug 2018
Revenue ops main theme at Ramp by InsightSquared conference
Beyond recapping the Ramp by InsightSquared conference and some of the keynote speakers, the Pipeline podcast looks back at other favorite guest speakers at conferences. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Aug 2018
Sales enablement tool uses AI to hone pitches
Sales enablement AI goes beyond Einstein lead scoring as Brainshark applies sentiment and other analyses to practice videos that salespeople create before meeting customers. Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Jul 2018
Tea Forte steeps value from new B2C CRM
B2B CRM vendors like Marketo and Salesforce have tailored their wares for consumer-facing businesses, but B2C CRM vendor Zaius proved to be the right cup of tea for one company. Continue Reading
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News
20 Jul 2018
Salesforce Datorama acquisition to bolster Marketing Cloud
Salesforce continues piecing together its Marketing Cloud -- this time with the $800 million acquisition of Datorama, an AI marketing software company. Continue Reading
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News
07 Jun 2018
SAP e-commerce extends to Azure, other new features added
Artificial Christmas tree manufacturer Balsam Brands uses Hybris to expand internationally, allowing for dynamic pricing and product catalogs, depending on the country. Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Jun 2018
AI for the enterprise transmitted directly from Mars
For marketing intelligence to explore new frontiers and achieve its ultimate goal, chief marketing officers may find their CRM applications were once developed by NASA and tested in space. Continue Reading
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Opinion
05 Jun 2018
AI for customer service at the peril of personal relations
AI tools in CRM help companies deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences but prevent customers from actually having personal interactions with service agents. Continue Reading
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News
04 Jun 2018
Pega Infinity upgrades include marketing AI tools, blockchain support
Pega Infinity adds new digital transformation tools for low-code app development, bot libraries and AI that can optimize apps and assist with marketing campaigns. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 May 2018
Premium pay for technical CRM skills must reflect volatility
Premium pay for skilled IT jobs remained largely unchanged heading into 2018, but workers will still be rewarded for CRM certification, according to Foote Partners' latest research. Continue Reading
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Tip
02 May 2018
How Conversational Queries aims to ease using Einstein Analytics data
A new AI conversational feature from Salesforce lets users enter sales, service and marketing questions about timely customer data and build charts on their own in less time. Continue Reading
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News
23 Apr 2018
What Salesforce's CloudCraze acquisition means for customers
CloudCraze president calls the acquisition by Salesforce 'a huge win' for its customers and for Commerce Cloud customers, with the capability of selling B2C and B2B on one platform. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Apr 2018
Comparing the top marketing automation software vendors
Don't be afraid of software migration if there's another technology that better fits your company's needs and if long-term benefits outweigh short-term costs, experts say. Continue Reading
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News
30 Mar 2018
Customer personalization takes center stage for 24 Hour Fitness
When it came time to engage more effectively with customers, 24 Hour Fitness looked to industry leaders in customer personalization for inspiration. Continue Reading
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Tip
21 Mar 2018
MindTickle, Salesforce speed sales learning in merger
Last year's Blue Coat-Symantec merger posed a dilemma: getting salespeople up to speed on the reshaped product line. MindTickle with Salesforce paid dividends in sales learning. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Mar 2018
'Digitize or Die': Embrace IoT digital transformation or perish
In his book, Schneider Electric's EcoXpert program global vice president decodes how IoT digital transformation strategies differentiate winners and losers. Continue Reading
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News
07 Mar 2018
How a millennial workforce benefits sales teams, CRM
Millennials bring more than just their iPhones to the conference table. Here's why you need to stop dumping on your millennial sales force and embrace their tech-savvy ways. Continue Reading
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Podcast
27 Feb 2018
Expert: Boring retail is dying as tech gains importance
Technologies such as augmented reality and AI in retail are becoming more important for brands looking to gain a selling edge. Tune in to the latest Pipeline podcast to learn more. Continue Reading
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Feature
26 Feb 2018
Customer service chatbots help reduce product returns
In previous years, Azumi Mobile was overwhelmed with customer calls after the holiday season as users attempted to return smartphones. This year, chatbots helped address that issue. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Feb 2018
Salesforce gets a blockchain distributed ledger tool
Blockchain technology is the ultimate connectivity layer, and it can be used to help solve thorny customer service issues when paired with Salesforce, according to one vendor. Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Feb 2018
Meet your friendly service agent -- The sales chatbot
AI chatbots enable companies to automate some sales and service tasks, but the combination of people and smart machines creates better outcomes than either one alone. Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Feb 2018
Smart contracts on blockchain the next wave of CRM automation
Sales and service contracts get automation from blockchain platforms as applications become more user-friendly and infrastructure evolves to support them. Continue Reading
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Feature
25 Jan 2018
Marketing reporting software is dying, says InsightSquared CMO
InsightSquared CMO discusses the importance of vendor-agnostic reporting and why marketing-only reporting software is dying. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Jan 2018
Artificial intelligence technologies a boon for customer insights
AI can help companies shrink the gap between customer data and actionable insight by feeding intelligence into CRM, marketing automation and other operational tools. Here's how. Continue Reading
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Podcast
23 Jan 2018
Salesforce-Oracle breakup on the horizon? Some say it's possible
Whether or not Salesforce is building out its own infrastructure is the first big CRM story in 2018, but it won't be the only one. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 Jan 2018
Comparing Salesforce Einstein AI across the clouds
What do you get when you pay for Einstein features in the Salesforce Sales, Service and Marketing clouds? We put it all in one chart. Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Jan 2018
Survey marketing leads to sales insights for outdoor association
After decades of catering to the needs of known customers, outdoor retailers now see the light and are targeting old and new customers with data-driven marketing and sales initiatives. Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Jan 2018
Retail AI predicts consumer behavior for targeted marketing
Not all of travel club Secret Escapes' members want to see all 140 last-minute sales it runs every week. AI marketing personalization tool Jetlore helps prevent over-messaging. Continue Reading