As Content+ stated in their article “Content marketing is a way of creating and sharing content to promote ideas, engage targeted audiences and encourage them to take action. It’s an integrated approach to marketing, with quality content at its heart.”

Based on Content+ article:

• Word of mouth is the primary factor behind up to 50% of buying decisions
• Blogs on company sites result in 55% more visitors
• 37% of marketers say blogs are the most value content type for marketing
• 63% of companies said posting content on social media has increased marketing effectiveness
• 70% of consumers prefer getting to know a company via articles rather than ads

Since March 2010, when Pinterest had it’s closed Beta and until now – Pinterest has 11.7 million unique users; making it the fastest site in history to break through the 10 million unique visitor mark (Wikipedia).

Part of the appeal of Pinterest is the ability to curate themed image boards, populating them with media found online. And not only are regular people (just like you and I) finding the benefits of Pinterest, but companies are as well.

Take Better Homes and Gardens for example – they are a company who has adapted and leveraged this new form of social media.  To date, they have over 21,000 followers! If you think about it, Pinterest and magazine publishers are a natural fit – Pinterest pinboards leverage repurpose content in a creative way, opening  your brand to a whole new world of fans.

Historically, QR Code’s (Quick Response Code) were predominantly used in the automotive industry, but in recent years, QR Code’s have become the norm do partly to the mass adoption rates of smartphones.

Many companies are jumping on board, embedding their logo into QR Code’s and marketing to consumers like never before.

To help standout from the pack and to truly integrate social into the mix, create a QR Code for your company’s Facebook page. After your CR Code has been created, link your QR code to a dynamic URL, you can then customize and change the URL later if you decide you want to drive users to your website instead of your Facebook page.

Additionally, use data analytics to track how many people have scanned your code, their location and the type of smartphone that scanned the image.

Interested in learning more? On April 25th, CDS Global will be sponsoring a Target Marketing webinar discussing  cross-media communications, specifically print, email, mobile and social and how digital is disrupting the way we go to market –  no longer are the days of sending mass mailings or mass email campaigns with the hope of your message resonating.

Stay tuned!

Well, those days will soon be no more for school children as eTextbooks are becoming the norm. GetElastic published a  great infographic from OnlineEducation.com depicting the fall of hardcopy schoolbooks and the rise of digital textbooks.

Based on their article:

• 400% increase in digital text book sales between 2008-2009
• In 2014, it’s expected that 18.8% of textbooks being used will be eTextbooks
• Publisher textbook revenue will  decline to 85% by 2015
• Digital textbooks are 53% cheaper than new print books

As one of my previous blog post highlighted - digital disruption is fast moving and more powerful than than you could ever imagine!

So, how did this happen?

As the infographic indicates below, the most-talked about moments include:

• Adele’s performance of “Rollin in the Deep”
• Jennifer Hudson’s tribute to Whitney Houston,
• And while Chris Brown’s performance earned high on the social trend line, he received many negative comments relating to his past domestic abuse issues.

As Mashable Entertainment can attest to based on the results, ”there is direct correlation between an increased focus on social media, digital and social TV and the mammoth broadcast ratings.”

Meredith implemented CDS Globa’s premium Web Store Solution, which provided them with the flexibility they needed and fit within their budget requirements.

The store launched on time with about 110 items available for sale. As the holiday’s approached, they expanded their inventory to about 150 items to include a variety of presents and gift options.

During peak holiday shopping, the average conversion rate was approximately 2.5% with an AOV of $40. By Christmas, the store shattered sales goals by over 33%!

Thanks to its success, the Holiday Store will operate year around and change inventory with the seasons.

Check out their site!

See what’s available this Valentine season and find something more original than chocolates and flowers

Forrester Senior Vice President Josh Bernoff said, “You can count of technology-fueled, customer led disruption arriving unexpectedly on your doorstep.”

The evolution of technology is outpacing the ability of some to adapt and a fast-growing number of consumers are lining up to welcome the challenge. Mainstream purchasing is playing a significant part in driving the explosive evolution of devices, apps and Saas products.

In 2011, Forrester indicated that 62% of U.S. adults owned three or more internet-connect devices – and the number are expected to increase exponentially. Analysts are expecting to see 82 million tablet consumers and 77 million new smartphone users by 2015.

Digital is a distinctively self-reinforcing disruption.

“There is a heightened need to expeditiously find a new path as communication channels continue to evolve and expand,” said Malcolm Netburn, CDS Global’s chairman and CEO. “And where our partnership with you come into play is bringing order to disruption.”

Joshua Barnes (@joshuaatbarnes) from SocialMatica, who was a speaker on our Target Marketing webinar, took a stab at answering this question that plagues not only organizations with a small marketing team, but every marketer out there.

Question:

• If there was one channel that you had to focus most on (between Twitter, Facebook, and Google+), which would be the most important to focus on?

Answer:

• Marked Pick your audience, understand your value, understand their need, then decide the medium. Each channel represents a specific value to you and them, you need to find the best fit based on the above criteria.

Joshua touches on this topic in more detail in the full recorded version of the webinar.

Also, watch our executive 3 minute video summary on the webinar where great information is shared on this topic.

Cheers!

It’s not enough anymore to build an integrated marketing campaign and then perform random acts of social media.

To succeed, you must connect the existing social strategy within the integrated campaign.  That’s the way to really create a valid social channel.

Watch a brief 4 minute executive summary video highlighting key take a ways from a recent Target Marketing hosted webinar. Speakers included:

• Allison Dancy, VP of Marketing at CDS Global
• Gary Robbins, Partner of Integrated Marketing Solutions from Frost & Sullivan
• Joshua Barnes, Director of Social Strategy from SocialMatica

Clubs and continuities have diminished over time, but when done right, there are some that are still doing very well, take a look at Amazon.com auto-replenishment program. So what has Amazon done right where others have gone wrong?

Customers need a high level of control over their continuity program – they want what they want, when they want it, and want to be able to control the frequency of their shipments and the freedom to update their preferences.

In fact, CDS Global just launched an extended capability to our continuity program called Custom Continuity. Custom Continuity allow customers to pick up to 10 products they would like to receive first within their continuity plan.

BETA test results have shown that clients leveraging Custom Continuity saw an increase in customer response and customers remained active in the continuity longer.

Other Top Features of Custom Continuity includes:

• Customer Retention:  Customers have the control to customize up to 10 items they would like to receive first in their shipments, allowing for a more personalized continuity program; thus resulting in longer customer retention within the program.
• Lower Product Returns:  BETA testing has indicated lower returns..
• Increased Pay Up:  BETA tests have shown that customers are more willing to pay for increased control and personalization of their continuity plan.
• Increased Customer Satisfaction:  Providing customers the ability to build a hand-picked continuity program creates increased customer satisfaction.

Continuity programs offer an excellent opportunity for businesses to segment their customers by taking notice of consumer behavior within the continuity program.

So to answer “Are continuity programs still relevant in today’s market”, the answer is YES – if it takes into account the consumer choice and leverages savvy segmenting.