Marketing automation
Marketing automation tools drive the next-generation customer experience by tailoring CX to the individual. See how companies beat the competition through creating personalized customer experiences.
Top Stories
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News
09 Feb 2022
Adobe Journey Optimizer adds mobile marketing capabilities
Adobe adds marketing personalization and messaging orchestration capabilities to Experience Cloud for B2B and B2C users whose customers favor smartphones. Continue Reading
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News
25 Jan 2022
Google debuts Topics, its latest third-party cookie replacement
Topics, a replacement for browser tracking cookies, is Google's latest idea to preserve browser privacy while preserving the value of its digital ad platform. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Dec 2021
Why marketing personalization has yet to pay off
Forrester analyst discusses why personalization investments aren't paying off, what marketers can expect in 2022 in technology -- and in the job market. Continue Reading
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News
20 Oct 2021
Twilio releases Engage marketing automation platform
Twilio's customer experience platform -- with the Segment CDP as a foundation -- adds a marketing component to its API-driven sales and service clouds popular with developers. Continue Reading
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News
12 Oct 2021
HubSpot CRM adds B2B online payments processing
HubSpot CRM adds no-code Stripe online payments as well as data governance and enhancements to Operations Hub such as analytics and a Snowflake integration. Continue Reading
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News
15 Sep 2021
Salesforce Marketing Cloud to get analytics boost
Salesforce to add analytics capabilities and AI tools that spider Salesforce CDP data; Commerce Cloud adds shipping and logistics integration through a FedEx partnership. Continue Reading
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News
03 Aug 2021
Salesforce automation strategy sharpens with acquisition
The CX giant plans to fold RPA technology from an acquisition into some of its platforms. The move comes after Microsoft and other big tech firms bought RPA vendors. Continue Reading
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News
13 Jul 2021
Acquia releases employee experience features for DX platform
Developers are the focus of Acquia's update to Open DXP. They get an all-cloud app dev environment, AI search and a toolbox to build employee-facing apps and services. Continue Reading
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Answer
17 Jun 2021
How do omnichannel vs. multichannel marketing differ?
While multichannel marketing connects customers and companies through various forms of communication, omnichannel marketing takes it further and removes any silos. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Jun 2021
5 real-world multichannel marketing examples
Companies with effective multichannel marketing focus on brand reach, message, consistency, engagement and experience. It's important to meet customers on platforms they prefer. Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Apr 2021
Apple iOS 14.5 App Tracking Transparency rewires martech
If your business strategy fully relied on iOS tracking for survival, your company was probably in trouble before 14.5 came out this week, marketing experts say. Continue Reading
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Tip
30 Apr 2021
6 personalization software options to know in 2021
Personalization software enables marketing teams to customize experiences for customers. There are many options to choose from with varying capabilities. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 Feb 2021
10 lead scoring best practices to improve sales efficiency
Lead scoring helps sales and marketing teams identify which customers to pursue based on a points system. Lead scoring aims to develop sales-ready leads. Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Feb 2021
Email marketing tools sustain old channel with personalization
Email is so 1990s. Yet as a marketing communications channel, it thrives into the 2020s with an assist from personalization technology and customer data platforms. Continue Reading
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Tip
01 Feb 2021
The top real estate CRM software
Today's competitive real estate market highlights the importance of CRM systems that provide listings management and property tracking, as well as typical CRM system features. Continue Reading
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News
14 Jan 2021
Capitol riots spark e-commerce terms of service enforcement
Shopify, Salesforce and Google take action in wake of Capitol riots, as adware and customer experience platforms play an uncomfortable role in political events and discourse. Continue Reading
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News
24 Nov 2020
Adobe CDP adds B2B-friendly features
Adobe CDP customers will get new features in 2021 that create workflows for marketing teams and connect to popular B2B marketing platforms -- starting with its own Marketo Engage. Continue Reading
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News
10 Nov 2020
Adobe to acquire Workfront for $1.5 billion
Adobe plans to acquire Workfront for $1.5 billion to gain ground in the customer experience management market. Continue Reading
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News
06 Nov 2020
Adobe forges data partnerships for Experience Platform
Adobe adds bidirectional feeds to Experience Platform to manage post-sale customer data from third-party sources such as customer service and loyalty program platforms. Continue Reading
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News
05 Nov 2020
SAP CX application stack grows with addition of Emarsys
SAP scoops up a marketing automation platform with CDP capabilities, as well as personalization and the ability to reach customers across digital channels. Continue Reading
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News
20 Oct 2020
Acquia Drupal, Marketing Cloud get feature boosts
Acquia users get Drupal migration tools and marketing automation features built with technology from recent acquisitions as the company expands its digital experience platform. Continue Reading
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News
06 Oct 2020
Pega Value Finder marketing tool uses AI to find segments
The Pega Customer Decision Hub adds an AI tool for marketers to uncover new customer segments and test campaigns for audiences that humans may have written off as not viable. Continue Reading
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Answer
29 Sep 2020
CDP vs. marketing automation: What's the difference?
CDPs and marketing automation software collect customer data, automate processes and increase efficiency, but they also have features that set them apart from each other. Continue Reading
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News
03 Aug 2020
Adobe AI-based Predictive Audiences added to Marketo Engage
Adobe adds Predictive Audiences to Marketo Engage. The personalization tool is geared for users who manage marketing messaging to live and online event attendees. 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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News
16 Jul 2020
Salesforce Pardot, Interaction Studio get feature boosts
Salesforce adds Einstein AI, as well as personalization and data visualization features from its acquisitions of Evergage, Datorama and Tableau, to Marketing Cloud. Continue Reading
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News
26 Jun 2020
Act-On now a growth marketing platform, launches upgrades
Act-On's product upgrades include a partnership with Zapier and enhancements to SMS and email messaging to customers, as well as new creation tools for edits on landing pages. Continue Reading
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News
20 May 2020
RevOps strategy keeps B2B sales moving during pandemic
Revenue operations purports to orchestrate the technologies governing marketing and sales and measure their effectiveness. During the pandemic, the strategy is put to the test. Continue Reading
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News
30 Apr 2020
Live conferences shift to virtual events, yield surprising results
Digital events can't replace live conference experiences, but organizers who quickly shifted to virtual event platforms report surprising benefits and expect to use them long-term. Continue Reading
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News
24 Apr 2020
Martech budgets slashed, more layoffs loom amid COVID-19
The COVID-19 economy has hit marketing jobs hard. As spending for advertising and martech stall, layoffs mount and still-employed marketers fear the worst. Continue Reading
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Tip
22 Apr 2020
5 email marketing trends to follow in 2020
When done right, email marketing can reach the right customers and be engaging. Organizations should keep email design simple and easy to read and enclose a unique call to action. Continue Reading
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News
20 Apr 2020
In COVID-19 economy, CX teams shrink despite greater need
B2B companies realign sales and marketing efforts as the COVID-19 economy creates slowdowns and layoffs for some, opportunities and new leads for others. Continue Reading
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News
31 Mar 2020
Adobe AI tools coming to Experience Cloud
This year's Adobe Summit, held online, marked the debut of the Adobe Analytics Digital Economy Index, a massively scaled gauge of online purchasing trends. That, and AI tools. Continue Reading
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News
31 Mar 2020
Salesforce Live web series offers tips for uncertain times
Salesforce execs and celebrity speakers deliver advice to help customers rewrite the sales and marketing playbook while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue Reading
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News
13 Mar 2020
Direct mail automation spikes in wake of conference cancellations
Marketers are turning to CRM-ready e-gift and direct mail vendors to send postcards and swag boxes to prospective customers they would have met with at canceled conferences. Continue Reading
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News
27 Feb 2020
Aprimo partners with Templafy on digital asset management
The Aprimo Connector for Microsoft Office allows users to streamline data assets through a Templafy connector to applications like PowerPoint and Word. 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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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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Feature
10 Feb 2020
Get to know 4 workflow automation tools
Workflow automation can benefit businesses by making manual processes digital, giving employees more time to work on other tasks. Learn more about workflow automation tools. Continue Reading
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News
04 Feb 2020
Experts: Salesforce Evergage acquisition for personalization, not CDP
Salesforce acquires Evergage, which offers personalization and a customer data platform. Analysts say Salesforce bought the tech for the personalization -- not to add to its CDP. 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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Tip
24 Dec 2019
The benefits of Microsoft Power Automate for content automation
Microsoft Power Automate is a useful tool that businesses can use to incorporate automation into their organizations and minimize their use of manual content management processes. Continue Reading
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News
14 Nov 2019
Acquia cloud CMS on AWS, Vista cash flow raise user expectations
Acquia's new venture backing and customer experience cloud apps precipitate a need for easier integrations and setup for future releases, customers and partners said. Continue Reading
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News
13 Nov 2019
Acquia, Drupal founder Dries Buytaert on open source, Vista, CDPs
Acquia and Drupal founder Dries Buytaert discusses his company's move into marketing automation, CDPs and what's next after Vista Equity Partners' billion-dollar investment in Acquia. Continue Reading
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News
12 Nov 2019
New Acquia Drupal tools show open source loyalty post-Vista deal
Acquia, recently acquired by Vista Equity Partners, remains committed to Drupal and moves deeper into the CX space with tools for e-commerce and marketing automation. 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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Feature
28 Oct 2019
Influencer marketing best practices to reach millennials, Gen Z
To reach the millennial and Gen Z consumer, you need to build trust and create experiences. Follow these tips to spin up an influencer marketing campaign. Continue Reading
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News
23 Oct 2019
Ex-Salesforce exec Bob Stutz takes the reins of SAP C/4HANA
Ex-Salesforce Marketing Cloud CEO Bob Stutz, known for jump-starting stagnating CRM and CX software at Siebel, Microsoft and SAP, returns to SAP to bolster C/4HANA CX cloud. 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
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
23 Sep 2019
Icelandair turns to headless CMS to improve CX
The right CMS makes a big difference for CX, so Icelandair moved off its on-premises content server to a headless CMS – with one layover on a cloud CMS that wasn't quite right. Continue Reading
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News
12 Sep 2019
Oracle CDP coming in CX Unity, along with video cloud
Oracle goes after Adobe and other CX platform vendors with new CDP-oriented sales, marketing, e-commerce and service hub, and adds a video platform to CX Unity. 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
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
24 Jul 2019
Litmus email platform adds cloud integration, privacy protection
The Litmus update enables marketers to import email files from cloud storage services -- including Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive -- and adds privacy protection. 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
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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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
22 May 2019
Salesforce outage exposes Pardot marketing automation data
Salesforce's 15-hour outage may not scare away users. But it might get them to use more encryption, as the outage exposed customer marketing automation data in the GDPR era. Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2019
Acquia-Mautic acquisition underscores open source model
Holding to the strategy of building a digital experience platform based with open source roots, Acquia acquires Mautic, an open source marketing automation cloud. 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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News
29 Mar 2019
Adobe-Microsoft-SAP Open Data Initiative gains momentum
It wasn't a marketing scam announced last year: An alliance takes clearer shape, as Adobe, Microsoft and SAP cooperate on a common data model for ERP, CRM and marketing automation. 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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Feature
28 Mar 2019
Marketing automation tools deliver personalization, customer focus
When buying a marketing automation product, it's important to consider key features, how the tool addresses the organization's size, deployment options, support and pricing. Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Mar 2019
Make marketing automation software choices to fit business needs
Examine what core features leading marketing automation software vendors -- including Adobe, HubSpot and Oracle -- and CRM vendors -- including Microsoft, Salesforce and SAP -- offer. Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Mar 2019
A martech stack is vital for successful marketing operations
When building a marketing tech stack, project stakeholders should consider what tools the organization needs, the level of automation it's trying to achieve and the overall budget. Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Mar 2019
6 must-know customer experience technology trends
Our customer experience technology trends survey of 250 North American tech buyers and influencers reveals that the CRM to CX migration is well underway. 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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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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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
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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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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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
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
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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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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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
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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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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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
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Feature
22 Dec 2017
Looking ahead at trends in CRM in 2018
More AI capabilities, intelligent security and augmented reality should gain prominence for CRM users in 2018. Continue Reading
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News
26 Sep 2017
Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM takes center stage at Ignite 2017
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella kicks off Microsoft Ignite with talk of future products, use cases for AI and continued bundling of Microsoft products. Continue Reading
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Opinion
31 Aug 2017
Tech vendors cite TOS violations to push hate groups off their clouds
'Alt-right' groups put to the test marketing and CRM cloud vendors that promote employee diversity and forbid users from hosting hateful or offensive content on their platforms. Continue Reading
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Opinion
20 Jul 2017
Recipe for lost customers: Flight cancellations and AI algorithms
As companies enjoy the benefits that automation and AI algorithms bring to next-generation CRM, leaders must closely examine the legal and customer retention ramifications. Continue Reading
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News
07 Jun 2017
Customer data mining rules changing in Trump's corporations-first era
As Trump negates regulations against mining of customer data, consumers are mixed when it comes to trusting AI to act on those insights, Pegasystems research shows. Continue Reading
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Podcast
02 Feb 2017
Enterprise AI to target attention deficit-addled customers
AI will define the next 12 months, says consultant Brent Leary, because it can help capture the consideration of attention-taxed customers, and can put companies a cut above their competition. Continue Reading
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Podcast
12 Jan 2017
Flurry of technology M&A foreshadows 2017 trends
As the market continues to undergo a series of major mergers and acquisitions, some observers say to expect more technology M&A in 2017. Continue Reading