With the entire world battling it out for consumer dollars, it comes at no surprise that creativity and innovations are increasing at a rapid rate. Understandably, this places increased pressure on businesses to act quickly for risk of being left behind, or worse, forgotten. The impulse for most people is to dive-in and start rapidly turning over stones for new ideas, to follow the shiny-new-object, or closely echo their competitors. Unfortunately, responding too quickly can be more disruptive and harmful than most people are aware. When you're exploring new innovative ideas, knowing the problem you’re trying to solve can force a natural process of elimination, in turn minimizing the overwhelming options, tempering creative impulses, and dismissing ideas that do not fit your purpose.
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To determine the success of a site or e-marketing effort you need to first establish objectives. What do you qualify as success? Moreover, what are your overall objectives — why did you create a Web site in the first place? To create awareness for your brand? To augment your brick-and-mortar store-front? So your sales people don't have to answer the phone as often with questions like "What are your hours?" These are all good reasons to create a Web site and many are built for at least one of them.
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In 2010 and beyond, the travel industry has a unique opportunity to leverage the mobile device platform to build travel brands — from offering unique location-based goods and services, to optimizing Web sites for mobile viewing, to opening up the real-time dialogue between companies and consumers. Mobile devices can give travelers relevant, actionable information, and in return, customers can provide feedback that allows travel brands to be nimble, proactive, and customer-focused. The travel industry's successful implementation of a mobile strategy — based upon listening to customers and analyzing their needs — will empower brands to give their travelling customers more of what they want, converting customers into mobile brand evangelists.
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With the launch of the Internet, the customer assumed the reins in the marketing relationship between people and brands. Access to information became ubiquitous, and customers were able to make buying decisions using perfect information. Online social networking has pushed control even further into the customer's court, with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and the relationship between customers and brands at the forefront of many companies' marketing agendas. So important are the customer and his/her input to the brand, that co-creation is becoming increasingly the norm, rather than the exception. The brand winners are those that can respond nimbly and agilely, becoming more of what their customers want them to be.
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A decade ago, AOL Keywords served as the Internet's phonebook. Today they're gone and search engines serve that purpose. Ranking highly is important in bring customers to a site. But focusing on search engines at the expense of the users will hurt your site more than it will help. Refocusing your efforts on users instead of search engines will help both your search engine ranking and your bottom line.
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