Author: Franz Malten Buemann

  • Some thoughts on Mastodon

    It is, by far, the fastest-growing social network in history, growing more than 20% in about a week.

    And yet it didn’t stutter much.

    How can this be?

    It’s a network in the real internet sense of the word. It’s not just a network of users, it’s a network of servers as well. No one owns it. Like email, it’s a set of principles and rules, not a place. A federation is different than a corporation. It might not be as shiny, but it’s far more resilient.

    It’s inconvenient. You can’t get started in ten seconds. This leads to less initial stickiness. It means that the people who get through the learning curve are more likely to be committed and perhaps generous. In the early days of email, of Compuserve, of AOL, of the web, of just about every network I’ve been part of, these early users created a different sort of magic. It never lasts, but it’s great to see.

    I started one of the first internet companies in 1990, and the new frontiers tend to rhyme with each other. This might be one.

    Part of the power of a network is its distributed nature. That’s a plus when it comes to tech and innovation. It’s a minus when it comes to the speed of central agreement as well as the potential for abuse. Email never quite recovered from the open nature of inputs, which meant that spammers, scammers and hustlers could do what they liked, and the defense was imperfect filters.

    The intentional decentralization of the Mastodon federation seems designed to make those filters more natural and effective, at the expense of a super loud amplifier in the middle. You can discover new voices and ideas, but there isn’t a megaphone at work, just begging to be hacked by selfish behavior. It’s a bit more like life and a bit less like traditional social networks that create controversy to earn a profit.

    And finally–the culture of this federation is still being created. A lot of the folks who just arrived will be the authors of that culture, and if they figure out how to be generous and kind, that’s what will get built. Alas, as is often the case, culture is up to us, particularly when the commercial bias is removed.

    I’m reposting my daily blog here, and might dip in from time to time, and I’m eager to see how this peer to peer experiment unfolds.

    If you’re a developer with chops in APIs, apps, and what’s happening in the Mastodon world, I’d love to hear from you for some future projects I’m noodling on. Simple form is here.

  • What Is Salesforce Net Zero Cloud?

    As an OG in our Salesforce world, one of the things I love about Net Zero Cloud is that it takes me back to the early days of Salesforce. Just like Sales Cloud, with Net Zero Cloud, Salesforce are their own first customer. This product… Read More

  • Benefits of Influencer Marketing [Data + Expert Insight]

    The creator economy is built around influencers and their audiences.
    As audiences put a significant amount of trust in their favorite influencers, it makes sense that marketers would want to pay more attention to influencer marketing than before.
    This post will go over the data-backed benefits of using influencer marketing, along with insight from a HubSpot social media expert.

     
    7 Benefits of Influencer Marketing
    1. Influencer marketing has high ROI.
    1 in 4 marketers that currently leverage influencer marketing report that it offers the second highest ROI of any marketing trend, so your investments in influencer marketing won’t go to waste.

    Image Source
    2. Influencers help you save money.
    We’ve mentioned above that influencer marketing has a high ROI, so your marketing budgets are worth something.
    You also have the potential to optimize your campaign budgets and see high ROI, especially when partnering with smaller micro-influencers (those with under 100k followers/subscribers). In fact, of marketers that work with both large and small influencers, 44% say that the biggest benefit of working with small influencers is that it is less expensive.
    3. Influencers are more trusted than friends and family for Gen Zers.
    Gen Zers say that influencer recommendations are more important and impactful than those from friends and family. This means that the weight of influencer recommendations is much more powerful than before, as past trends have shown friends, family, or reviews from other consumers being the most impactful when making purchases.
    Annabelle Nyst, Senior Content Manager, Brand Social, says about influencers, “Their followers pay attention to their guidance just as they would that from friends or family. That is far more powerful than some advertising copy.”
    4. Influencers help you establish social proof and build awareness.
    According to HubSpot’s 2022 Marketing Industry Trends Report, influencer marketing is the most popular and effective trend (with the highest ROI) in generating authentic content for your business, establishing social proof, and building brand awareness.
    Nyst says, “Influencer marketing can be a really impactful tool for building brand awareness for your company and trust for your products or services. The power of influencer marketing lies in word-of-mouth marketing.”
    They add, “Think of it this way: on the one hand, you have a brand telling you how cool it is and how its product is far superior to anything else on the market. On the other hand, you [audiences] have an individual who you’re already familiar with and whose opinions you trust and respect, telling you they love this brand’s product. Which are you more likely to trust?”
    5. Influencers inspire purchases.
    33% of Gen Zers have bought a product based on an influencer’s recommendation in the past three months, so influencers have the unique ability to drive purchases for your business, especially among your younger audiences.

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    6. You can establish long-term relationships.
    Marketers say that a benefit to partnering with smaller influencers and creators is being able to develop long-term partnerships.
    Long-term relationships are beneficial because they increase credibility with an influencer audience when their followers see that they continue to work with you, use your products and services, and trust that what they use serves them well.
    7. Influencers help you share authentic content in a human way.
    Nyst says, “Influencer marketing doesn’t just get you in front of the audience you’re trying to reach — it gets you there in a way that feels authentic and human.” They add that influencer messaging comes through as a recommendation or mention from a real person who has built a dedicated community based on trust.
    As consumers have moved away from sales to drive leads-type ads and more humanized content, a recommendation from a trusted influencer helps you inspire sales by building upon a pre-existing relationship.
    Over to You
    As the creator economy grows, influencer marketing will only become more popular and necessary. The stats and insight in this post show that investing in it will help your business.

  • HubSpot to Continue Delivering the Promise of Connection

    Platform solutions have always been known as a one-stop shop for all of a marketer’s needs.
    At their core, platforms are meant to help marketers, whether that’s understanding their customers’ journeys, optimizing the path to purchase, or quantifying the revenue that a campaign produces.
    And, as I discussed last year, HubSpot delivered on the promise of platform through our world-class solution that doesn’t sacrifice power for ease of use.
    Last year we focused on what it meant to be a valuable platform for our customers. Since then, we’ve made a number of product enhancements to double down on this promise.
    Here at HubSpot, we’ve intentionally built our platform to meet the needs of organizations regardless of where they are in their journey. Our customers have always taken comfort in our easy-to-use tools and freedom to scale when they’re ready to.
    That said, a lot has changed in the last few years and as a result, our customers’ needs are shifting. Although platform solutions are still the answer, customers need more than just the promise of strong technology.
    They need connection.
    Facing the Crisis of Disconnection
    We’re living in a disconnected world – disconnected from one another, from the people we work with, or in this case, from the companies we do business with. In a time when connection matters now more than ever – this is a huge problem.
    At INBOUND 2022, our CEO Yamini Rangan introduced this concept, that we’re suffering from a crisis of disconnection – disconnected data and systems, disconnected customers, and disconnected people.
    As a result of that, our customers are interacting with products and businesses differently – they’re cautious and slow to trust brands.
    They’re not only taking back ownership of their personal data, but they’re placing more trust in one another and expecting more flexibility and value from the companies they do business with. And it’s our job to fix that, keep them connected, and continue to trust our brand. But how?
    If you ask our Chief Customer Officer, Rob Giglio, he would say that in order for your customers to feel valued, they need tools to evolve as they do. Empowering our customers to grow better by building deep and lasting connections with their customers is a top priority for HubSpot.
    Give them those tools and they’ll naturally orchestrate stronger, more efficient processes.
    United teams working on united systems translate into connected and consistent experiences for customers. Creating this is what translates to trust, and ultimately loyal customers.
    Entering the Age of the Connected Customer
    Creating connection matters. Customers want to feel known and valued, with the power, ease, and support to help them scale.
    Our customers are facing difficult financial headwinds and are finding themselves needing to do more with less.
    This is why the value that marketers are able to receive from their technology investment is more important than ever – whether that’s consolidated views into campaigns, sharper analytical tracking, or more powerful targeted ad capabilities, all while respecting customer privacy.
    More on that here.
    Marketing Hub gives marketers access to their customer data and tools in real-time, so they can create personalized experiences that attract, engage and delight customers in a more connected way.
    HubSpot has always put the customer first, and we’re doubling down on that commitment by prioritizing genuine connection and continuing to build products that meet the ever-changing needs of growing businesses.
    Built on our commerce-powered CRM and supported by a robust support network, partner ecosystem, and integration marketplace, Marketing Hub unifies our customers’ data right out of the box and gives them flexibility to grow within the platform as the business grows.
    Continuing to Provide Connection
    Creating a trustworthy environment with your customers is more important than ever. When making a purchase decision, customers need to trust that they can adopt our brand for not only ease of use, but also that we are here to support their needs.
    Customer feedback will always be an important indicator of our performance. From our perspective, true magic happens when the market and industry experts also recognize that success.
    This is why I’m extremely proud that, for the second year in a row, HubSpot has been named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms with Marketing Hub being evaluated.
    We feel that being recognized as a Leader in B2B marketing automation by Gartner® is another point of validation that we’re doing what’s right for our customers, and a true testament to our continued commitment to delivering the best possible product, and trustworthy user experience, for our customers.
    Source: Gartner, Magic Quadrant for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms, Rick Lafond, Julian Poulter, Matthew Wakeman, Jeffrey Cohen, Jeff Goldberg, 20 September 2022.
    GARTNER and MAGIC QUADRANT are registered trademarks and service marks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
    Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

  • Marketing Effectiveness Bundle: Limited Time Marketing Cloud Discount

    Salesforce announced the Marketing Effectiveness Bundle – essentially introductory pricing – with up to 50% discount off list price, until Dec. 31, 2022. The bundle includes three Salesforce Marketing Cloud products which must be purchased together: Customer Data Platform (powered by Genie): Unify customer data… Read More

  • Evolution of customer experience in e-commerce in 2023

    📌It’s incredibly complex to interact with another human, even in its simplest form. In-person social cues and the subtle nuances of simple conversations are sometimes difficult to discern. Obviously, attempting to translate in-person interactions into online experiences poses more challenges. In recent years, customers have increased their expectations of how businesses should treat them. If you walk into a store, most people expect an associate to help you. An assistant will then help you find the right product or service based on what you say you need. In the years since COVID hit and even prior to it, we’ve noticed that people expect the same level of navigation online, just like in the physical store. As businesses collect data about their customers, they expect an online experience that is highly customized to their intentions and needs. Due to these factors alone, it has become necessary for many businesses to translate in-person interactions into digital experiences. BUT WHAT ABOUT NEXT YEAR?! Find out some of the trends here: https://www.lumoa.me/blog/evolution-of-customer-experience-in-e-commerce/ submitted by /u/pupunggi [link] [comments]

  • This week in CX: retail in focus; Zoom & Optimizely

    Happy Friday! ‘This week in CX’ brings you the latest roundup of industry news. This week, we’re looking at retail reports ahead of the shopping season and which fashion retailers provide the best CX. Zoom have also launched their first Contact Centre, and Reputation have investigated hospitality reviews. We also have the latest business updates from…
    The post This week in CX: retail in focus; Zoom & Optimizely appeared first on Customer Experience Magazine.

  • Sorry/thanks

    If you often find yourself saying “sorry” in a way that doesn’t advance the conversation, it might be interesting to substitute “thank you” instead.

    So, “I’m sorry this came out of the kitchen after your other dishes,” becomes, “thank you for waiting so patiently.”

    And, “I’m sorry we got disconnected,” becomes, “thank you for calling back.”

    It’s a subtle shift, from separation to connection.

  • 9 Salesforce Memes to Make You Smile

    Here at Salesforce Ben, we all appreciate the ‘power of memes’ – as they say, a picture paints a thousand words, and pairing an iconic image with a witty caption can really hit the spot! We dipped a toe into the world of memes earlier… Read More

  • CRM Analytics: Replace Nulls With Specified Values

    Last Updated on November 17, 2022 by Rakesh Gupta Big Idea or Enduring Question: How do you replace null with specified values when working with Datasets or Recipes? Objectives: After reading this blog, you’ll be able to: Work with CASE Statements or coalesce formula Apply logic to replace null value
    The post CRM Analytics: Replace Nulls With Specified Values appeared first on Automation Champion.