Products

Demandbase Tech Targeting Trims B2B Marketing Waste
March 04, 2013

Demandbase has incorporated a new filter in its Demandbase Company-Targeted Advertising platform. The filter, called "Technology Targeting," lets users target and personalize display ads based on the technology they use. In other words, users can now include the specific criteria of 'technologies used' as part of their campaign targeting requirements with the Demandbase platform.

Where Customers Go, Salesforce Service Cloud Follows
February 26, 2013

Salesforce.com on Tuesday unveiled Salesforce Service Cloud Mobile, the first of a number of mobile computing initiatives planned for this year. Salesforce.com is stepping up its focus on mobile in 2013, said Michael Peachey, senior director of solutions marketing.

HootSuite for Twitter Gives Advertisers a Souped-Up Dashboard
February 22, 2013

HootSuite has incorporated paid advertising into its dashboard for the first time with the rollout of HootSuite Promoted Products integration for Twitter. It allows users to buy Promoted Tweets and manage their accounts on the HootSuite dashboard. This is a significant step for HootSuite's users, said Greg Gunn, VP of business development.

IntelliBuzz Helps Brands Keep an Eye on Social Media Mentions
February 15, 2013

Intelliverse has rolled out a new cloud-based tool that monitors social media for brand mentions and responds when appropriate. IntelliBuzz is simple enough that a company with minimal IT resources in-house -- that is, a computer and an Internet connection -- can manage this outreach just using the app.

With LiveOps, All Customer Channels Are Created Equal
February 01, 2013

LiveOps this week debuted LiveOps Engage, a browser-based desktop agent app that centralizes myriad channels -- phone, email, live chat, SMS, Twitter and Facebook -- on one screen. The screen also displays the history of past interactions with the customer. "This release is bringing together all of the channels of communication, both inbound and outbound," said CEO Marty Beard.

CRMCulture Productivity Pack Puts Pivotal on Steroids
January 25, 2013

CRMCulture is preparing to release its latest iteration of Productivity Pack for Pivotal CRM. On one hand, it might seem counterintuitive that Pivotal would need a productivity pack. "Pivotal is a great platform," said Steve Roch, CRMCulture's founder and president. "It is pure .Net on the front and back end."

Zoho Update Gooses Sales Productivity
January 11, 2013

Although Zoho routinely updates its CRM application every few months or so, its latest release is far from routine, according to Zoho Evangelist Raju Vegesna, who described it as a step forward in collaborative productivity. "Essentially we added three new features, all of which focused on improving the productivity and collaborative capabilities of the sales person," he said.

Zurmo: Playing Games Is Serious Business
January 04, 2013

Last summer, open source CRM provider Zurmo threw its hat into the CRM ring with a beta version of its particular take on the hot new gamification software category. The theory is simple: CRM, especially sales force automation, has notoriously poor user adoption figures. Why not use some of the fun features people are accustomed to seeing in games and social media to drive adoption?

CRM Product Profiles: The Year in Review
December 28, 2012

CRM applications tend to embody a range of features, depending on the maker and the audience. Some applications are stripped-down products sporting a handful of features -- and only those features -- deemed necessary to the user. Other products have become de facto mini-ERP systems with their integrations into back-end systems and business analytics.

Salesforce.com Pilots Tech for Team-Building
December 21, 2012

Salesforce.com rolled out an integration between Sales Cloud and Work.com this week. The integration is currently available in pilot and will be made generally available to all Salesforce.com customers in the first half of 2013. To understand the value-add the integration offers, one first has to become acquainted with Salesforce.com's social performance management platform, Work.com.

Coremotives Connects the Marketing Dots
December 14, 2012

CoreMotives, a Silverpop company, has launched a new integration that ties revenue-tracking capabilities embedded in its CRM system to the Ticketmaster sales application. The upshot is that teams that use Ticketmaster to market tickets can also easily track which campaigns actually led to a sale.

Mobile CRM Apps: Easy In, Easy Out
December 11, 2012

It is a truism that consumers' smartphones, armed with a slew of sophisticated apps, function as mini computers. That being the case, smartphones programmed with sales force marketing and productivity applications have almost become sophisticated enough to be compared to mainframe computing. They're not quite there yet, but mobile sales force software has become quite formidable.

Microsoft Dynamics Aims to Pull All the Pieces Together
December 07, 2012

Microsoft next month will roll out a service update for Microsoft Dynamics CRM that will have a new user interface, integration with Yammer, Skype and Office 2013, and cross-browser support. In general, the theme of tight integration with other Microsoft technologies runs through the release, said Seth Patton, senior director of Microsoft Dynamics CRM product marketing.

Mobile CRM's Lofty and Contagious Expectations
December 04, 2012

The mobile experience has clearly changed consumers' expectations of the shopping experience, creating higher expectations. With in-stock notifications, a mobile shopper doesn't have to run around to various stores. Want to ask a question about a product? Many apps offer chat. If mobile has changed just this one piece of the consumer experience, one can only wonder what else it has changed.

Blazeloop Collects Customer Feedback on the Spot
November 30, 2012

Benbria has launched Blazeloop, a customer engagement platform that revolves around one pointed question aimed at the consumer: How did we do? The theory behind the Web-based app is that most customers do not take the trouble to complain about little things -- but it is those very little things that can drive them away.

Avaya Puts More Eggs in BYOD Basket
November 26, 2012

Avaya IP Office joined the BYOD revolution with the release of version 8.1 earlier this year. Now the company is gearing up for more changes, including a forthcoming release that will integrate video functionality into its feature set. It will continue to expand its functionality around mobility in 2013, said SVP Tom Mitchell, president of Avaya Go to Market.

Genesys One Gives Mid-Market a Second Shot
November 16, 2012

Genesys is making a play for the middle market with the release of Genesys One. The last time the company targeted the middle market was more than 10 years ago, when it was owned by Alcatel. Since then, the middle market has changed significantly. Both customer needs and buying behavior have changed considerably, observed Brian Bischoff, vice president of global offer management for Genesys.

Demandbase Finely Hones B2B Targeted Marketing
November 12, 2012

Demandbase is extending beyond its Web analytics and sales roots with a new platform that allows B2B advertisers to target and personalize display ads for specific companies. Demandbase Company-Targeted Advertising, which has been incorporated by Eloqua within its own marketing automation application, represents a shift for Demandbase.

StrongMail Lifts Weight Off Burdensome Marketing Operations
October 26, 2012

StrongMail has upgraded the latest version of its flagship email marketing product, Message Studio, now available in version 7.1. Chief among the changes is a new type of data integration with an ERP system, as well as new testing, optimization, automation and reporting capabilities. "This is our third release of the year," said Dave Cormier, VP of product marketing at StrongMail.

Nimble CRM 2.0 Adds to the Social Whirl
October 22, 2012

The name of the product is "Nimble CRM," but the "CRM" part is almost a misnomer -- if you accept the traditional sales-marketing-service definition of CRM, that is. A startup that launched early last year, Nimble CRM chooses to embrace a morphing view of CRM. This is a view of CRM driven by social media, by mobile computing -- and most of all, by savvy contact management and networking.