News and Analysis
Invoca Raises $83M to Help B2C Businesses Offer Better Contact Centers
The conversation intelligence company Invoca is helping businesses solve customer service problems by building personalized contact center services in addition to offering phone call analytics. As a result, Invoca just raised $83 million in Series F funding at a $1.1 billion valuation, four times the valuation of its last round in 2019.
5 Retail Media Networks to Watch in 2022
Demand for first-party data, coupled with the looming disappearance of third-party cookies, has created a moment of opportunity for innovative multi-location brands and retailers. Retail media networks offer a way for brands across the spectrum of verticals to monetize the reams of personally identifiable information they’ve collected from their own digital properties, like apps and websites, and expand their global footprints.
Brands Embrace Holistic Data to Improve CX
Flawless experiences, complete personalization, and timely communication across multiple channels. Consumer expectations have never been higher. With the line between success and failure now razor thin, more brands are asking how they can use data to provide customized experiences that cater to each buyer’s wants and needs.
Commentary
Making Human Connections in the Age of Automation
The end of the decade marks a challenging time for marketers as they attempt to envision the next 10 years. At the turn of the 2010s, no one could have envisioned the advanced AI-powered marketing and campaign automation tools that are available today.Â
Despite access to smart technology, modern marketers still must balance multiple factors to create business value for all stakeholders, including eliminating boring, ineffective ads, grappling with the automation myth, embracing the data privacy age, and maintaining ethical AI practices.Â
In 2020, Independent Publishers Must Invest in the Quality of their Brands
The door is far from closed to success in publishing, and there are clear paths to prosperity for newer and leaner independent and local outfits. Even as more and more ad dollars go to a handful of giants, publishers have a chance to turn the tide, provided they invest in talent, maintain the integrity of their brands, and build an audience advertisers find worth pursuing.
The California Consumer Privacy Act’s Promise and Limitations
At first glance, the California Consumer Privacy Act marks a major achievement for privacy advocates, the first statewide bill in the US to offer consumers control over how companies handle their personal information. It’s all the more significant that CCPA happened in California, a frequent bellwether for federal legislation and the state where many of the world’s top tech companies are headquartered.
It’s not entirely clear, though, that CCPA will put significant fetters on Silicon Valley’s hitherto unrestrained collection and monetization of user data. Major weaknesses include the law’s enforcement protocol, continued lobbying efforts to defang it, and its opt-out structure.
Latest Posts
Heard on the Street, Episode 11: Pivot Dynamics with Gravy Analytics’ Jeff White
“As an entrepreneur, they always say you have to be gritty and tough, and the world’s going to kick you in the teeth, and you have to keep going and persevere,” said Gravy Analytics founder and CEO Jeff White, our latest guest on Heard on the Street. “But sometimes that comes at the expense of having a vision that’s blinding. So you can’t not take your head up and realize, we may be off course.”
With Product Launches, Drift Moves Conversational Marketing Into Prime Time
By launching a Conversational Advertising product, Drift is looking to create a new category of online advertising—one that leads potential customers directly from digital ads to real conversations, without relying on the types of static landing pages and lead forms that tend to slow sales processes down.
3 Tips for Managing Local Services Ads
Google expanded Local Services ads to the San Diego area in November 2016 and has been rapidly expanding this platform across different verticals and markets in the USA over the last two years. If you’re considering running Local Services ads, here are three things to know before getting started.
How to Build a Quality SMS Subscriber List, Bridging the Gap Between Text and CRM
Imagine a marketing tool that is available to you that nine out of 10 targeted people will read within three seconds. For retailers and marketers to take full advantage of SMS marketing, plans must start with building quality contacts. This is the starting point to build an effective bridge between text and CRM.
Marketers Need to Know the Truth About GPS
The imperfections of location-tracking tech do not mean that all location data derived from GPS satellites is inaccurate or useless as a marketing tool. It just means that marketers need to better set their expectations, know the data they are buying, and factor the limitations into their partnership agreements and marketing plans.
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Beyond Search: AI Visibility the New Growth Lever for MULO Brands