CRM

• Agencies

  Watch Out for the Little Guys

  Sure, many of the big players in direct response have embraced database marketing’s best practices. They’re extending analytic capabilities across all mediums and integrating marketing channels into a single file.

  But they’d better watch their backs: Small and mid-tier companies

• Agencies

  What’s in Store: Dave’s Take on the Retail Pet Pound

  CM Plus chatted recently with Dave Ratner, the “chief instigating officer” of Dave’s Soda and Pet City, an Agawam, MA-based chain of pet supply stores (that, yes, also sells soda).

• Agencies

  Meow Mix: This Cat Companion Just Isn’t Feeling the Love

  There are brands of food that we regularly buy, simply because (a) the cats like them, or (b) the vet suggested them. But despite all the times I’ve mailed or e-mailed in my contact information in the hopes of getting offers, coupons or whatever, nothing much ever came of it. Likewise for the brand of premium kitty litter we’ve used for over a decade.

• Agencies

  Don’t Be Shy About Making Conversational Marketing

  Selling products and services through multiple channels offers a number of touch points where you can gather information from customers or potential customers.

• Agencies

  Five Costly Customer Satisfaction Myths and Misunderstandings

  Most multichannel merchants know why customer satisfaction is important. It is understood that satisfied customers are more likely to make repeat purchases, shop more often, spend more money,

• Agencies

  COLLOQUY Corner: Dialogue–the Coin of the Realm

  Most loyalty-marketing gurus agree that the only reason to run a loyalty program is to generate incremental profit. After all, if you’re not in marketing to make money, then you’re in the wrong business.

• Agencies

  Loyalty Program Awards Buying, Fidelity

  Every marketer, it seems, has a loyalty program for something frivolous. But very few think of life’s basic necessities. So thinks one West Coast entrepreneur who has come up with just that: a program that will reward married couples up to $1 million for purchasing over the long term — provided they stay married.

• Agencies

  Customer Data: Protect Your Assets

  You don’t leave your front door or your car unlocked, do you? Of course not, because you want to protect your valuable assets. For marketers, customer data are among their most valuable assets.

• Agencies

  Communications That Count

  THE WAY A CATALOG REACTS TO CUSTOMERS CAN AFFECT ITS whole business. That said, it’s a wonder more catalogers don’t dedicate far more money to stellar communications.

• Agencies

  Marketing Accountability and ROI, Part I

  In the last few years, marketing accountability has evolved from being a directive of industry analysts and thought leaders to become a full-fledged strategic imperative for corporations.