Posts filed under ‘Online’
What do you reckon about the likely impact of these Marketing Trends on CRM in 2012?
Here are some more predictions of marketing trends that will impact CRM in 2012 according to Judith Aquino of CRM.COM in 5 Hot Marketing Trends (not surprisingly, mobile is at the top):
- Mobile Marketing
- QR Codes
- Voice Of Customer (VOC) Monitoring
- Social Media Marketing
- Video
Finally, she suggests an additional trend with the ‘news’ that Groupon and Daily Deals sites have fallen to earth and are no longer seen as the ‘answer’. Surely, you would have to suggest that they were only ever good for pissing of existing and loyal customers with unfocussed discounts in the guise of prospecting for new customers – BUT without gaining any personal details with which to build an ongoing relationship with those new prospects?
More transparency added to unfair ADD ON FEES
Fee Transparency = “a compromise to freedom of speech“
Oh pullease … my ass
Add on fees for “convenience” et al are just that .. convenient ways to squeeze more out of the consumer.
Here is a good comparison of airlines and concert tickets. They are both interested in yield management and revenue maximisation, but responsible behaviour comes down to one thing: … TRANSPARENCY
Isn’t it time you looked at integrating ticketing on Facebook?
Rob Martin, Digital Marketing Manager at The Lowry, Salford explains the implementation of Facebook ticketing at their venue as reported on the AMA COMMONS. Of note is the fact that at a cost of just £500 to integrate the new service, it paid for itself in the first month!
According to Rob “On average we sell around 50% of our tickets online, with the percentages rising for music and comedy.” Google Analytics revealed how important their Facebook page was for referring traffic, so logically they explored the option of selling tickets directly from Facebook.
“Live performances and ticket inventory taken from the Box office system into the … CMS now allows the website to share that information with Facebook users. The Facebook Events Page is a web application that … retrieves the current event information from the website via an exposed web service.“
Read more about the solution that paid for itself in a month: Lowry’s portrait of a Facebook ticketing operation
Who are the Big 3 in the War in the cloud?
A quick primer to the main providers of CRM in the cloud and currently battling it out:
1. Microsoft Dynamics CRM
“If you are an Outlook shop, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a no brainer. The application’s core offering is your standard fare CRM feature set, but it is adding social media functionality as fast as it can.“
2. Oracle Public Cloud
“brings its formidable database and business application bona fides — of which CRM is just one part — to the cloud.“
3. Salesforce.com
Just need someone to solve that issue of integrating external ticketing software/service transactions for those stuck in venues with exclsuive ticketing contracts …
Do you know of any other successful integrations of CRM with ticketing solutions?
I was contacted by Lauren Carlson a CRM Analyst with Software Advice.
Lauren introduced me to a review she wrote on five CRM alternatives to consider other than Salesforce, namely:
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM
- NetSuite OneWorld CRM
- Oracle CRM On Demand
- Sage SalesLogix
- SugarCRM
The review is Salesforce Alternatives | 5 Cloud CRM Systems to Consider
I recommend having a browse, not because I have a problem with Salesforce. However, I do think that comparison is always useful, as is competition. I would also suggest that the needs of entertainment wrt CRM are specific and the major requirement that is not addressed by any of these is integration with transaction capability, such as ticketing, memberships or donations.
There is are only two such integrations I know of currently:
- Patron Manager is built on a Salesforce platform and incorporates a variety of transaction types (including: Ticketing, Subscriptions and Donations) within the web-based service developed by Patron technology in New York.
- Event2CRM is an integration of Microsoft Dynamics and Eventbrite online ticketing developed by CRM Innovation in Kansas.
Do you know of any other integrations of CRM with ticketing solutions? Let us know by all means by adding a comment to this blog.
There is a short common sense summary available from Software Advice: Ten Steps to Selecting the Right CRM Software that you can download after registering.
Will you be stumbling around with Yumbling as your Entertainment Concierge?
I am not so sure about the name Yumbling, but it is an interesting development nonetheless.
“a free mobile app that recommends local entertainment options based on the user’s current location and preferences.“
This appears to be more than other apps like Urbanspoon which is more like a location based directory and in their words a “provider of time-critical dining data“. This covers a growing selection of entertainment options. They fine tune (or increase relevance of) recommendations by using what they call a “social DNA” algorithm.
“it factors in not only the user’s location, but also what it has learned of their tastes, and reportedly even contextual factors such as the time of day. Users who download the app … begin by creating a basic profile that includes some of their personal likes and dislikes. Yumbling logs this information, but also refines its understanding of the user over time based on their use of the app.“
It is device agnostic, available for iPhone, BlackBerry and Nokia devices.
Crowd Sourcing Meets Audience Sourcing, or is it just Audience Choice?
Some interesting trends for the future in Brazilian viewers choose what gets screened in local cinemas.
Mobz, a cinema chain in Brazil, hopes to make use of digital cinema to broadcast of live events, concerts, movies and more.
There is no programmer or “central decision-maker (who) chooses what gets shown, however; rather, local consumers are invited to vote on the site for the shows or films they want to see. When enough people vote for a particular screening, Mobz negotiates the details with the content owners and theaters, and viewers can then buy their tickets through the site. Mobz promotes the screening over social networks, and provided a minimum number of tickets are sold, the event or film is then aired. If the quota is not met, then those who had bought tickets are fully refunded.“
This is a similar model to that successfully applied by the filmakers of Four Eyed Monsters to build audiences for their film outside the traditional distributor model. Social networks are used to spread the word and, in effect, consumer advocacy drives the audience development.
While this is unlikely to have immediate applicability to whole live performances, maybe we will see more audience sourced content like that on a recent tour by Rufus Wainwright (for the Baby Boomer challenged, yes the son of Loudon III). The audience could vote in advance for the choice of songs that Rufus sang on an evening.
You will note that I have not, however, suggested cast selection reminiscent of Big Brother!
Aha, so that’s the differences in Twitter vs Facebook vs Google+
Thanks to Andres Silva at Universidad Andrés Bello in Chile for pointing this resource out.
Near Field Communication (NFC) and Ticketing … soon?
The video is not new now (2007), but it seems that everyone is only keener now to roll out NFC, we may be just waiting for ticketing providers and venues to support NFC.
PayPal has been trying out mobile to mobile payments via ‘bumping’ in PayPal bringing NFC to Australia in months
Visa and ANZ have been trialling NFC this year as reported in NFC Is Coming To Australia Sooner Than Later
Coming to a turnstile near you … soon
Will Apple still influence ticketing?
Back in April last year FULL HOUSES floated the possibility that ‘Apple is patently on the move into ticketing‘ and this was followed by ‘Apple Adds to Future Ticketing Potential of the iPhone‘.
It appears that NFC did not make it to the very recent iPhone 4S, but there is always the much vaunted iPhone 5 … stay tuned.
With the explosion in the adoption of mobile devices and mobile online access, enhancements like this can only be a matter of time.
Another proprietary interest trying to control ticketing or corral a section of the market is not desirable at this stage, however the groundbreaking innovation that Apple was reknowned for under Jobs may be just what the doctor ordered.
