Next stop in Salesforce’s evolution: Becoming the platform for customer experience

Automating the customer journey. From Marketing Land:

“Customer experience has not only emerged as a differentiator among brands, but it is arguably the new face of digital marketing in the era of self-directed research, marketing and purchases.”

Level Insight:

• This adds a new product to Salesforce, the Commerce Cloud, which represents the first time Salesforce will support the setup of an online e-comm store.
• The shopping experience has become as much of a differentiator as the products themselves. Salesforce wants to help brands sell the customer experience.
• Level has been touting the benefits of holistic marketing since its inception, emphasizing the need for a seamless experience from awareness to purchase. The Salesforce shift in focus from the bottom to the entire funnel is indicative of a larger trend toward holistic strategy.

10 Recent Changes Impacting Facebook Advertisers

Facebook updates increase campaign sophistication. From Jon Loomer:

“It’s possible that this adjustment will bring back some of the reach and engagement that news and media companies lost during other news feed changes.”

Level Insight:

• Users will be shown stories deemed “personally informative” based on Facebook behavior, relationships to posters, and interest. Understanding preferences of users within target demographics could be helpful in crafting content deemed informative to these audiences. Lead ad updates improve both the user and advertiser experience, making submitting and finding leads easier. Targeting users by interest is still not refined or particularly effective due to the inexact means by which Facebook determines interests.
• New video metrics provide more data on how viewers are reacting to content. We will now be able to see demographic and geographic information, as well as how long viewers are watching the videos.

Business names start showing in AdWords Call Only ads

• Branded headlines are a welcome improvement. From Search Engine Land:“When Google debuted call-only ads last year, one of the issues businesses objected to was the fact that only the phone number appeared in the ads. That appears to be changing, with business names now showing up in a second headline in call-only ads.”

Level Insight:

• Consumers may have been reluctant to call a number without a name attached to it. This update should help by contextualizing, and brands with a modicum of recognition may be able to use that to an advantage.