Unit-V

Marketing Information System

A Marketing Information System (MIS) consists of people, equipment, and procedures to

gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing
decision makers

Sources of Marketing Information:

The sources of marketing information are:-
a) Transaction Data: Reports on order, sales, prices, inventory level, receivables, etc.
b) Marketing Research Data: Consumer related data that can support marketing decision,
personal interviews, surveys, questionnaire, etc.
c) Marketing Intelligence Data: Information about competitor’s strategy.
d) Strategic Plan: Types of products which the company plans to supply to the market.
Output of marketing information System:
a) Plan and control the performances of specific products, product lines, and brands.
b) Place Planning: How the product is distributed across geographical area.
c) Price planning: Cost-based pricing and mark-up for profit.
d) Promotion Planning: Advertising and Promotion
e) Budget and Sales Forecasting: Short-range for forecasting and Long-range forecasting. Sales
for periods up to one yr and sales period for one yr or more into the future.
Assessing Information Needs
• There must be a balance between what information is wanted and what is cost effective,
obtainable and needed
• Too much information can be as harmful as too little
• Information gathering costs can add up quickly

Developing Information
• Information can be obtained from internal company records, marketing intelligence and
marketing research

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 • Data warehouses contain all customer information in a single, accessible source
• Guest history information the most valuable

Marketing Research Process

Marketing research takes the form of following steps:

1) Defining the research problem:

Problem formulation or defining is the starting point .Defining a research problem involves 3 sub
steps namely
1. Discovering the managerial problem
2. Refining and redefining the problem
3. Translating managerial problem into research problem

2) Develop the research plan:

The second stage of marketing research requires developing the most efficient plan for gathering
the required information. This involves decision on the data sources ,research approaches, research
instruments, sampling plan ,and contact methods
1) Data source
2) Research approaches
i. Observational research
ii. Focus group research
iii. Survey research
iv. Behavioural data
v. Experimental research
3) Research instruments
Marketing researchers have a choice of 3 main research instruments in collecting primary data:
i. Questionnaire-open ended and close ended
ii. Qualitative measures
iii. Technological devices
iv) Sampling plan:
After deciding on the research approach and instruments, the marketing researcher must design a
sampling plan
 Sampling unit
 Sample size
 Sampling procedure
v) Contact methods
i. Mail questionnaire
ii. Telephone interview
iii. Personal interview
 Arranged interview
 Intercept interview
iv. Online interview

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3)Collection of marketing data
Primary and secondary data are collected
4) Data analysis and interpretation
It is possible only when data is processed .Data processing implies data reduction namely
editing, tabulating, analysis, and interpretation
5) Preparing and presenting the research report
The researcher is to present his findings to the user in the form of a report .The research
findings remain futile in case they are not communicated effectively, clearly and accurately to the
decision makers
6) Follow up of recommendations
Even an excellent research report loses its value when it is kept in cold storage and nothing
is done about it as to its implementation.

Product Research

In a changing market, staying competitive often requires the development of new

products .As consumer tastes and needs change, products must also change
The new product development process has at least 6 stages. In each stage, information about the
market as consumers is needed to support critical decisions about the product .The list below
outlines the stages of product development, information needed at each stage, the research
technique that may be helpful.

Stage 1: Opportunity identification:

At this stage, the following information gathering techniques are useful –focus groups,
consumers surveys, analysis of customer suggestions and complaints ,brainstorming, industry
research ,and analysis of competitors products. Make them the part of the product development
team by listening to the suggestions and complaints.

Stage 2: Concept Screening:

Next individual will move from generating ideas to testing ideas .In concept screening one
can describe the product idea to potential customers. Concept screening allows for the evaluation of
winners and losses early in product development before substantial resources or committed to a
products development.

Stage 3: Marketing Strategy Development:

 Product:
Define the product in terms of varieties, quality, design, features, brand, packaging, sizes, service
and warranties
 Price:
Develop a pricing strategy .Consider how any individual will use list price, discounts, allowances,
payment period, a credit terms
 Place:

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How will the products get to the customers? Which channels will any individual use? Consider the
best locations to reach the target market.
 Promotion:
How will individual use the following-sales promotion, advertising, sales people ,public relations

Stage 4: Product Development:

At this stage using the information individual have collected and the decisions made about
the four P’s, individual will design and create the physical product, as well as its packaging, name,
logo and advertising. Research at this stage usually involves repeated cycle of product
improvement and testing.

Stage 5: Market testing:

At this stage products performance tests are complete .Market testing aims to evaluate
advertising, awareness and usage of the product in test markets. Some marketing research firms
offer AAU studies

Stage 6: Product introduction:

As individual introduce the product to the market, individual should test the distribution of
the product. For companies that do not have in –built research capabilities, marketing research
consulting firm can provide needed information.
In deciding what kind of investment to make in research, the company must balance the
failure of the product with the costs of marketing research.

Advertising and Promotion Research:

Advertising is expensive. Every year companies spend huge sums of money for creating ads
and buying media time and space. They hope that these marketing communication efforts and
expenditure would benefit the businesses by influencing consumer choices.
Advertising research is a subset of marketing research .It systematically gathers and analyses
information to help develop or evaluate advertising strategies, individual ads, or whole advertising
campaigns. The advertiser needs to know how consumers perceive its products or services, what
the views about the competition are and what image of the brand or the company would be most
appropriate to built.

Purpose of advertising and promotion research:

1) Advertising strategy research:

It is used to determine the product positioning to assist in the selection of the target markets,
advertising messages or media vehicles.

2) Creative concept research:

It is used to assess to extent of the target audiences’ acceptance of different creative ideas at the
concept developing stage

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3) Pre testing
Pretesting of ads is done to diagnose any possible communication problems before
beginning and ad campaign

4) Post testing:
Post testing of ads helps advertisers to evaluate the campaign research

Advertising strategy research:

Advertising strategy is developed by carefully blending the elements of the creative mix.
The mix elements are

1) Target audience:
The major purpose of conducting target audience research is to develop a precise profile of
an brands target markets and consumers. The research may reveal which are the most potential
market segments and target them to achieve advertising objectives.

2) Product and its positioning:

Advertising can shape and enhance a brands position and image overtime. In fact, this is
one of the most important long term benefits of advertising. Advertising strategy research is
important to develop a blue print for creative specialist to follow

3) Communications media:
Communications media research helps develop media strategies and select media vehicles
from among different media class and type.

4) Advertising message element:

Advertisers undertake research to study and identify what the consumers likes and dislikes
or with respect to brands or products and hope to find the big idea and develop promising
advertising messages.

5) Creative Concept Research:

Researchers conduct focus groups in the agencies developmental, which combines intensive
qualitative interviews with quantitative techniques .A discussion leader moderates the conversation
and each group views the rough .The reactions of these proofs are measured, video tapped and
observed by researchers behind one way mirror. This help in identifying the most promising
creative concept among the ones that have been seen and discussed by the focus groups.

6) Pre testing and post testing:

Advertisers use pre-test and post test to ensure that advertising money is used wisely to
achieve the predetermined objectives. Testing can help in judging the effectiveness of the
advertising strategy and medium
By using pretesting, advertisers can sharpen the decisions about the number of advertising
variables. Many of these can be post tested as well. These variables can be put in terms of the 5 M’s

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 1) Merchandise
2) Market
3) Motives
4) Message
5) Media

Consumer Research

The marketing concept states that, to be successful, a company must understand the needs
of specific groups of consumers and then satisfy these needs more effectively than the
competition .The satisfaction of consumer needs is delivered in the form of the marketing mix,
which consist of the 4 P’s product, price, place and promotion.
Consumer research enables marketers to study and understand consumer’s needs and wants
and how they make consumption decisions
Consumer research includes following points:
1) Determining demographics of existing and potential users
2) Identifying customers needs and product expectation levels
3) Identifying factors influencing purchase decisions, and
4) Ascertaining the level of customer satisfaction
Scope of consumer research:
It covers the following dimensions:
1) Market research:
 Assessing the purchase trends
 Demand/sales forecasting
2) Product research:
 Modification needed in the product
 Current /new possibilities in usage of the product
3) Distribution channel research
 Appraisal of existing channels; identification of new ones and
 Identifying the appropriate intermediary plus their locations
4) Advertising Research:
Testing of
 Effectiveness of advertising company
 Media related research
5) Pricing Research
 Consumers price expectations and reaction to prices ,and
 Testing of alternative price strategies
6) Sales research:
 Appraising and determining sales methods
 Measuring sales performance
7) Post transaction research:
 Level of cognitive consonants /dissonance
 Level of customer satisfaction

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Positive aspects of consumer research:
Both the consumers and marketers can benefit from consumer research
1) Better consumption research:
Because consumer research helps marketers become more customer focused ,consumers can
get better designed products better customer service ,clearer usage instructions,more information
that helps them make good decision ,and more satisfying post purchase experiences
2) Potential for building customer relationships:
From the marketers perspective consumer research is helpful for identifying ways of
establishing and enhancing relationship with customers
Negative aspects of consumer research:
Consumer research is a very complex process, with a number of potentially negative aspects
1) Tracking consumer behaviour in different countries:
Marketers who want to research consumer behaviour in other countries face special challenges
2) Potentially higher marketing cost:
Some consumers worry that the process of researching behaviour leads to higher marketing cost,
which in turn translates into higher product prices
3) Invasion of consumer privacy:
A potentially more serious and wide spread concern is the marketers conduct and us of research-
especially data base marketing –may invade consumers privacy
4) Deceptive research practices:
Deceptive practice is promising that the respondents answers will remain anonymous ,when in fact
the company is adding identifying information to individual answers so the company can us the
data to market to these consumers later [Link] researchers may also promise to
compensate respondents but fail to deliver on this promise.

Retail Research
Research is carried out at the retail level for concept testing, business feasibility analysis,
identification of the right product mix, studying the target group profile, analyzing consumer
behaviour, etc.
Retail market research measures industry and market trends and helping to provide insight
and information for the development of new products and services. In its simple form this service
can b used as an effective method of capturing and cross analyzing complete ranges within each
relevant retailer highlighting gaps for development opportunities
The retail research process embodies a series of activities-defining the issue or the problem to be
studied, examining secondary data, generating primary data, analysisng data making
recommendations, and implementing findings.
Components of retail research
The components of retail research are
i. Quantitative survey:
This studies target demographic groups by mapping target segments. By mapping the current
market according to behavioural and need based segments, the survey helps to ascertain the right
profile to target.

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 ii. Qualitative research:
While developing a product mix, the focus groups among the target segments identified are treated
as lead segments for studying product preferences.
 Identifying the most promising positioning /product position in the core target
 Getting cues on ambiance, shopping needs, styling ,must have ,don’ts and so on
 Conducting a negative check on the preferred initiative among the secondary target
It is also done while redefining an existing a pro position by involving focus groups among the
target audience
iii. Research design:
This comprises the clear objectives of the study: the nature and source of data, sample quota
size, in questionnaire design and analysis methodology, etc.

Developing a methodology for retail research:

Research techniques are based on consumer decision path the processes through which the
customer goes –leaving home, shopping and returning home. The shopping experience begins as
soon as the shopper plans that trip while some prepare a shopping list others work from memory.
Many thoughts go through the consumers mind before he even reaches his destination, influencing
where he chooses the shop.
This includes:
1. Proximity of the store, whether it is easy to get there are not
2. Availability of the goods at the store
3. Cost /pricing of the goods
4. How to carry the goods when at the store,
5. Parking space

Customer driven organizations

Customer driven marketing involve seeing the products or services from the customers
perspective and communicating the messages in the customers language
Customer focus in customer driven organization
Customer focus is important for several reasons .It determines
 How the organization communicates on a daily basis with its customers to better understand
their needs and wants
 The degree commitment to customer supplier relationships and how they will be managed
 Employee roles and responsibilities and the culture of the organization
 How problems are handled and speed with which they are resolved
 What feedback is important and how data are collected and used

Types of customers:
1. Internal customers are the people, or process, in an organisation
2. Businesses often have a customer between them and the ultimate end-user
3. The third type of customer is then, the final ,end-user –the one who receives and uses the
final product or service

Merits of customer of customer oriented marketing organisation

 Successful products

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  New ideas for products
 Higher loyalty
 Increased connection to brand
 Better financial results
 Considers the needs of the customers
Demerits:
 It makes coordination difficult
 It may lead to underutilization of resources in some departments
 There may be a duplication of activities
 This type of sales organization is not suitable particularly for small enterprises

Cause-Related Marketing
Altruism. Corporate responsibility. Philanthropy. These are often used to describe cause-
related marketing, an activity in which businesses join with charities or causes to market an image,
product, or service for mutual benefit.
Embracing a cause makes good business sense. Nothing builds brand loyalty among today's
increasingly hard-to-please consumers like a company's proven commitment to a worthy cause.
Other things being equal, many consumers would rather do business with a company that stands for
something beyond profits.
 In today‘s marketing world, the companies have to be caring and they should look after the
welfare of their customers and society

Cause marketing or cause-related marketing

Cause Related Marketing is defined as

Strategic positioning and marketing tool that links a company or a brand to a relevant social
cause or issue, for mutual benefit.
A commercial activity by which business and charities or causes form a partnership with
each other to market an image, product or service for mutual benefit.

Concept of Cause Related Marketing

Cause related marketing can be understood as a strategic positioning and marketing tool
which links a company or a brand to a relevant social cause or issue for mutual benefit. It is the
initiation and funding of deserving causes. Cause related marketing is a strategic marketing activity
a way for a company to do well by doing good-distinct from sales promotion, corporate
philanthropy, corporate sponsorship, corporate Samaritan acts and public relations, though it is
often an amalgam of such activities. Nothing builds brand loyalty among today‘s increasingly hard
to please consumers like a company‘s proven commitment to a worthy cause. Other things being
equal many consumers would do business with a company that stands for something beyond
profits. In nutshell, cause related marketing results in increased sales, visibility, and consumer
loyalty and enhanced company image along with positive media coverage.

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Indian Scenario
Cause related marketing and its impact on organizational selling and brand loyalty.
1. The HLL announced a contribution of fifty paisa to a diarrhea project on sale of each of its
LIFEBUOY brand soap. It helped to improve market share for ‗lifebuoy‘

2. OBEROI Hotels had specially designed and printed envelopes placed in all Oberoi properties
where in the guest could contribute to CRY, a non government organization and collected more
than Rs. 6.50 lakhs in 18 months. CRY is a NGO whose role is that of an enabler a catalyst
between two groups of people (a) development organization and individuals working at grass root
level with marginalized children, their families and communities and people from all walks of life
who believe in the rights of children.

3. In India ‗whisper‘ a brand in the sanitary nappies market where the materialistic difference is
minimal announced a contribution of Re 1 on every pack of its sales for blind relief society. It
helped to improve market share for ‗Whisper‘

4. NOVARTIS INDIA LTD. a pharmaceutical company in a cause related marketing scheme

donated 2% or value of sales of OVALTLINE PLUS towards CRY‘S (a NGO‘s) Gujarat
rehabilitation operations. Total amount raised was approximate Rs. 40, 000

5. The HLL announced a Rs. 5/- contribution to SOS children‘s village, a social service
organization working for educating every little heart by inserting coupons in its Brook bond Taj
Mahal tea powder packs. The customer has to tell the coupon number to the company through a toll
free telephone number.
American Express first coined the phrase ―Cause Related Marketing‖ in the 1980s while
raising money for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty in New York City. The CRM trend
rapidly caught on with corporate in India during the 1990s. CRM became the vehicle by which
companies indirectly propagandized their brands and it has provided companies with a new tool to
compete in the market. The Principle goal of a Cause Related Marketing program has been to
impact a company‘s bottom line through increased Sales.

Some of its potential benefits include:

Attracting and Retaining Customers, Market Differentiation, out reach to Niche Markets.
The increasing involvement of corporate in philanthropic or socially related causes has led to the
growth of Cause Related Marketing (CRM) across the world. Although a phenomenon that had its
roots in the western countries, CRM has gained rapid acceptance in India in recent Years. A case in
example for this is Aravind Eye Care, TATA Salt.

The Principle goal of a Cause Related Marketing program has been to impact a company‘s
bottom line through increased Sales. Yet research has shown that, for companies committed to
corporate social responsibility, CRM programs can offer other, often unanticipated, benefits to a
company as well. Long –term impacts such as increased profitability or cost savings are often
attributed to the observed changes resulting from effective CRM partnerships. The value realized
by Cause Marketing programs will differ among companies and Industries

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How we make cause related marketing?
 Find a cause your member can support

 Get corporate partner for funding

 Engage the media
 Generate publicity and attention
 Donate funds / volunteers to a worthy cause

Some of the potential benefits include:

 Attracting and Retaining Customers

 Market Differentiation
 Out reach to Niche Markets
 Powerful Marketing Edge

Cause-related marketing can become a cornerstone of your marketing plan. Your cause-related
marketing activities should highlight your company's reputation within your target market. Cause
related marketing can positively differentiate your company from your competitors and provide an
edge that delivers other tangible benefits, including:

 Increased sales
 Increased visibility
 Increased customer loyalty
 Enhanced company image
 Positive media coverage

By choosing a cause you are passionate about, cause-related marketing is emotionally fulfilling.
It's a way to merge your profit center with your "passion center" and build a business that mirrors
your personal values, beliefs and integrity. If your cause also resonates with your target market,
your activities will generate tremendous goodwill and media attention can be its side effect.

Types of Cause marketing

Cause marketing can take on many forms, including:

 Product, service, or transaction specific

 Promotion of a common message
 Product licensing, endorsements, and certifications
 Local partnerships
 Employee service programs

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Ethics in Marketing

PREAMBLE

The American Marketing Association commits itself to promoting the highest standard of
professional ethical norms and values for its members (practitioners, academics and students).
Norms are established standards of conduct that are expected and maintained by society and/or
professional organizations. Values represent the collective conception of what communities find
desirable, important and morally proper. Values also serve as the criteria for evaluating our own
personal actions and the actions of others. As marketers, we recognize that we not only serve our
organizations but also act as stewards of society in creating, facilitating and executing the
transactions that are part of the greater economy. In this role, marketers are expected to embrace the
highest professional ethical norms and the ethical values implied by our responsibility toward
multiple stakeholders (e.g., customers, employees, investors, peers, channel members, regulators
and the host community).

ETHICAL NORMS

As Marketers, we must:
1. Do no harm. This means consciously avoiding harmful actions or omissions by embodying high
ethical standards and adhering to all applicable laws and regulations in the choices we make.
2. Foster trust in the marketing system. This means striving for good faith and fair dealing so as
to contribute toward the efficacy of the exchange process as well as avoiding deception in product
design, pricing, communication, and delivery of distribution.
3. Embrace ethical values. This means building relationships and enhancing consumer confidence
in the integrity of marketing by affirming these core values: honesty, responsibility, fairness,
respect, transparency and citizenship.

ETHICAL VALUES

Honesty – to be forthright in dealings with customers and stakeholders. To this end, we will:
 Strive to be truthful in all situations and at all times.
 Offer products of value that do what we claim in our communications.
 Stand behind our products if they fail to deliver their claimed benefits.
 Honor our explicit and implicit commitments and promises.

Responsibility – to accept the consequences of our marketing decisions and strategies. To this end,
we will:
 Strive to serve the needs of customers.
 Avoid using coercion with all stakeholders.
 Acknowledge the social obligations to stakeholders that come with increased marketing and
economic power.
 Recognize our special commitments to vulnerable market segments such as children,
seniors, the economically impoverished, market illiterates and others who may be
substantially disadvantaged.

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  Consider environmental stewardship in our decision-making.

Fairness – to balance justly the needs of the buyer with the interests of the seller. To this end, we
will:
 Represent products in a clear way in selling, advertising and other forms of communication;
this includes the avoidance of false, misleading and deceptive promotion.
 Reject manipulations and sales tactics that harm customer trust.
 Refuse to engage in price fixing, predatory pricing, price gouging or ―bait-and-switch‖
tactics.
 Avoid knowing participation in conflicts of interest.
 Seek to protect the private information of customers, employees and partners.

Respect – to acknowledge the basic human dignity of all stakeholders. To this end, we will:

 Value individual differences and avoid stereotyping customers or depicting demographic

groups (e.g., gender, race, sexual orientation) in a negative or dehumanizing way.
 Listen to the needs of customers and make all reasonable efforts to monitor and improve
their satisfaction on an ongoing basis.
 Make every effort to understand and respectfully treat buyers, suppliers, intermediaries and
distributors from all cultures.
 Acknowledge the contributions of others, such as consultants, employees and coworkers, to
marketing endeavors.
 Treat everyone, including our competitors, as we would wish to be treated.

Transparency – to create a spirit of openness in marketing operations. To this end, we will:

 Strive to communicate clearly with all constituencies.

 Accept constructive criticism from customers and other stakeholders.
 Explain and take appropriate action regarding significant product or service risks,
 component substitutions or other foreseeable eventualities that could affect customers or
their
 perception of the purchase decision.
 Disclose list prices and terms of financing as well as available price deals and adjustments.

Citizenship – to fulfill the economic, legal, philanthropic and societal responsibilities that serve
stakeholders. To this end, we will:

 Strive to protect the ecological environment in the execution of marketing campaigns.

 Give back to the community through volunteerism and charitable donations.
 Contribute to the overall betterment of marketing and its reputation.
 Urge supply chain members to ensure that trade is fair for all participants, including
producers in developing countries.

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Online Marketing Trends

Internet marketing is now a critical piece of just about any company’s marketing mix. There
are few marketing options with the speed, efficiency and reach as internet marketing. And so you
should take the time to ensure you are focusing sufficiently on your internet marketing to maximize
your revenue and growth.    

Marketing Trends

1. Design Matters

Design matters, because design sells. Just look at the success

of Apple, Pinterest, [Link] or Nike. All four websites are stunning, and that’s no coincidence.
Apple is the most valuable company of all time. It actually carries very few products, though. It’s
the design that powers Apple’s value. Nike is a shoe and apparel company, yet pays just as much
attention to the design of its website, videos and ads as much as to anything else.

2. Marketing Goes Visual

Similarly, communication through visual means is hot, and only getting hotter. Whether the
explosion in infographics, or the dramatic rise in the popularity of Pinterest, or the redesigns of
Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, we are going through a visual revolution. 3. Parallax Design

Parallax website design incorporates special scrolling techniques whereby background

images on the screen move slower than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth on the
screen. You can see examples at the following websites: Volkswagon Beetle and Activate 

4. Mobile Mobile Mobile

Wordwide, there are over 5 billion mobile users and 1.1 billion smartphone subscribers
specifically. The iPad was the fastest growing technology product EVER! Wow, if you need further
convincing that you should start planning how to connect with your audience via mobile channels
for your business, you’re nuts!

5. Video Video Video

More than 4 billion online videos are watched every day. Sixty-eight percent of video
watchers share video links. So it’s clear your audience likes video. On top of this, consider that
after 72 hours, a typical person can retain about 10% of text that they’ve read, 65% of an image
they’ve seen, or 95% of a video they watched. Think that video might be helpful with
communicating your message to your audience?

6. Cloud-Based Tools

To be uber-efficient with your internet marketing efforts, you should be using cloud-based

tools. For email marketing, you might be using MailChimp. For SEO, you might be using SEOmoz.
For landing page testing, you might be using Unbounce. For heat map analysis, you might be
using CrazyEgg. For website analysis, you might be usingBoostSuite. Check out all the
unbelievably useful options available to you.

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7. The Multi-Screen World

With 86% of mobile internet users actually using their devices while watching TV, and with
more than 10,901 Tweets PER SECOND being issued as TV viewers watched Adele win Record of
the Year at The Grammy’s, it’s clear that we all live in a multi-screen world. Make sure that your
internet marketing accounts for not just desktops, but ALL screens.

8. Social Media Gets Smarter

Facebook has more than 1 billion users, and Twitter has more than 500 million. Social
media is an opportunity for your business, but it’s been difficult for many businesses to make sense
of it all and to gain solid business value out of it. With a growing number of marketing platforms
such as Wildfire by Google and ShortStack, and with more granular social media analytics as
provided by tools such as SproutSocial, Followerwonk and PageLever, extracting clear meaning
from your social marketing will get easier over time.

9. Retargeting Goes Mainstream

Retargeting is a means of placing your advertisements in front of your audience after they
have left your website without converting. What many marketers fail to realize is that retargeting is
one of the most effective internet marketing techniques available. If you are already investing in
your site and your marketing campaigns for more site traffic, then it typically pays big dividends to
remind the people who left your website without a conversion of your value in solving their needs.
Your options for retargeting include Google Remarketing, AdRoll, Retargeter and also Bizo (for
exceptional B2B retargeting). 

10. Email Remarketing

In lead generation campaigns or retailer email marketing, there are always going to be

occurrences of form or cart abandonment. However, it’s a waste to just let the prospect go without
reaching out and finding out if you might indeed offer exactly what they want or need. After the
abandonment of a registration form or online shopping cart, through email remarketing you can
send out an automated email to give your brand another chance at winning the heart and mind of
the prospect. According to SeeWhy, 26% of those who abandoned an online shopping cart will
return to complete the purchase in the case they receive a remarketing email. 

11. Search, Social & PR Collide

Organic search has been incorporating social signals for some time, and the integration of
search and social has accelerated with the introduction of Google+ and the Google Knowledge
Graph. With Google’s Panda and Penguin search algorithm updates, it’s become extremely clear
that quality and value matter. That means high quality content, combined with sincere, transparent
social marketing, combined with targeted PR is going to be a triad that’s hard to beat. 

12. Attribution Measurement

If you run multiple forms of internet marketing, such as paid search, SEO, email
marketing, display advertising, and retargeting, then it can be difficult to assess the value of each
piece of your marketing puzzle. If someone encounters your brand five times in a given week

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through the different marketing vehicles, who’s to say how much credit to give to each of the
different pieces. That’s where attribution measurement services come in,
whether Google, ClearSaleing or VisualIQ.

13. The Hispanic Market

Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the US population. And as they represent
approximately 25% of new births, expect them to have an impact on your future business. Research
points to Hispanics spending more time online than non-Hispanics and being more active online
than non-Hispanics. If you have been ignoring the Hispanic market, perhaps this is the time to start
providing the market with the attention and customization that it deserves.

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