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Here at Sensei, we’re always on the lookout for good and bad examples of customer development and community management strategies. This week an IKEA fan community caught our attention. However, where we could (and should) be discussing a best case example, unfortunately, we’re discussing a large brand misstep in both customer development and community managementRead more

Influence and advocate marketing, a popular and often contentious topic today, have been around since we first coined word-of-mouth marketing. When social media began to capture significant market share of the consumers’ voice, these strategies became more critical. As a result, new social media software evolved to identify, engage, and encourage those with a largeRead more

SEE UPDATED 2019 VERSION HERE LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, and Pinterest. Search engine optimization, social media, mobile marketing, gamification, relationship marketing, influence marketing, and content marketing. Every year, as new technologies and social channels explode on to the market, new marketing trends and “best practices” are developed to take advantage of them. NewRead more

I’m growing a bit weary of all the new forms of marketing and advertising being invented in the wake of the Internet and, in particular, social media. Social media marketing, content marketing, relationship marketing, influence marketing, etc. Every year sees a slew of “new marketing” concepts that become the hot topic around the blogger waterRead more

So I received this call from Rogers, my son’s cellular provider, asking if I wouldn’t mind taking 5 minutes to answer a few questions about why I called to cancel my service contract. It was the “exit interview,” a common practice within marketing and customer service departments in many organizations. The interview is both aRead more

I have attended a few conferences lately where I’ve heard both presenters and attendees use the terms “customer loyalty” and “customer advocacy” interchangeably, which frustrates me to no end – especially when it’s done by so-called “marketing experts.” In my experience, customer loyalty and advocacy are not interchangeable concepts.  There’s a significant difference between the two.Read more

What is the value of a happy customer? Is it more or less than a dissatisfied customer? Social media has trained customer service teams to be hyper-sensitive to online negativity, possibly alienating and discouraging online positivity. Online monitoring software allows for the identification of both positive and negative sentiment in online conversations, yet negativity isRead more

Serious question: is the customer survey dead?  Outside of linear data collection, I argue that there’s more insight to be gained from what customers say about you to others than what they say about you to you. Collecting survey data is like counting the number of followers a business has on Facebook or Twitter. You’llRead more

I’m a bit disturbed by the fact that most customer experience (CX) discussions I’ve had lately with marketers have been about marketing automation and technology. Software firms pitching clients at trade shows, on webinars or at conferences all seem to be leading with the promise that their technology will generate a greater customer experience throughRead more

B2B customers have become more independent buyers in the procurement process as a result of their increasing access to information, research and peer-recommendations. In fact, this modern buyer is something of an enigma to B2B vendors.   Traditional lead generation efforts such as trade show and publication advertising, direct mail, email, etc. are decreasing in effectiveness.Read more