According to chiefmartec.com’s MarTech Landscape infographic, there are almost 7,000 companies providing marketing technology in the market. This is a huge jump from the 150 listed companies in the 2011 version of the graphic. Globally, the MarTech industry is estimated to be a $100 billion market, with half of that concentrated in North America and…
For nearly 20 years there has been a heated debate about small businesses (SMBs), digital marketing and self service. The basic industry bias has always been that sales reps or some human involvement is required to close sales and that most SMBs won’t “self-serve.” There are still many people who would maintain that today. However,…
The ease with which consumers can research a product, service or business has called into question long-standing sales tactics and philosophies. In many ways, modern consumers sell themselves and if a sales rep is part of the journey, he or she is merely to fulfill or close the sale. As it relates to SMBs, this…
In recent years, voice search has emerged as a convenient and useful technology for consumers within their daily lives. However, despite reports that smart speaker ownership is projected to reach 76.5 million in 2020, many consumers are hesitant to utilize voice commands regularly, according to recent data from Social Lens Research. The study revealed that…
Earlier today ThriveHive and David Mihm announced that he would become the new VP of product strategy for the company. I’ve known David for years and consider him one of the most thoughtful people working in local arena. He’s also pretty independent. So, I was curious about what attracted him to ThriveHive and why he decided to take…
Everyone knows Google Analytics (GA). Since its launch 13 years ago following the takeover of Urchin by Google, GA has become a standard in website analytics. However, at the time of its launch, for many companies, having a website was already an end in itself. Companies focused on design to increase website retention (primarily intended…
Technology has laid the foundation for increased consumer expectations for things like product selection and availability, price, shipping and more. In fact, a staggering 88% of consumers expect their experiences with companies they use to continue improving in the future. A recent whitepaper from WE revealed what consumers expect technology to allow companies to do…
This week Salesforce is holding its massive developer and partner conference Dreamforce in San Francisco. In conjunction with the event, the company has released a survey (reg. required) of 490 small and medium size business owners (SMBs). It explores technology adoption and other issues. The surveyed SMBs range in headcount from 2 to 199. Many of the findings are segmented into…
Machine learning and automation are changing the dynamics of delivering marketing services to both small businesses and enterprises alike. Do automated campaign creation and optimization represent “an existential threat”? How should agencies respond and what areas and tasks should they focus on to avoid being commoditized or replaced? During a recent webinar, Greg Sterling of…
Is automation and machine learning eliminating the need for agencies and resellers? It’s a fair question. In Greg Sterling’s recent post, he examines it in the context of Google’s Smart Ads, which enable automated ad campaign creation, management, and optimization for small businesses. The short answer is no, automation and machine learning are not existential…
