Articles - Page 95

Brightspot Illuminates the Future of CMS with Human-Controlled, AI-Powered Storytelling 

matt-garrepy

In our <a href="/exploring-solodev-cms-8/">first featured post regarding Solodev CMS</a>, I mentioned that the platform has a history of powering government websites.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.solodev.com/"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/soldodev-logo-1_400x0.png" /></a> Making use of built-in features like data-driven forms, document management, workflow management, and the Solodev API, local governments have leveraged the platform to power their online presences.Today, Solodev’s government clientele includes; State of Florida, Seminole County, Osceola County, City of Orlando and City of Miami Beach.<h2>Bridging the Gap</h2>I think it’s fair to say that local government websites are not typically known for cutting edge features and functionality.And yet, town, city and county residents are used to managing much of their lives online – and want to do the same with regard to their interactions with their town hall.To bridge that digital gap, Solodev CMS delivers a full range of features. Let’s take a closer look at the most relevant ones.<h2>Custom, Custom, Custom</h2>On top of websites and apps being mobile optimized out of the box, developers can produce custom applications to handle government data and activities, including;staff directoriesemergency alert functionalityevents, calendar managementnews managementvideo and photo galleriesblogs and landing page managementCustomized solutions can also be produced further thanks to Solodev’s RESTful API, which allows for custom and third-party integrations.<h2>Making Life Easier for Constituents</h2>Speaking of integrations, Solodev also integrates with a range of social media websites, encouraging social sharing and providing single-sign-on options.Solodev’s development team has also put tremendous emphasis on the platform’s easy-to-manage CMS capabilities with SEO optimization, aiming to help residents or other constituents find what they're looking for more easily.Furthermore, 24/7 self-service capabilities around bill pay, service requests, and general information is made available, streamlining those online constituent experiences as much as possible.To round things off, Solodev CMS 8 boasts ADA compliancy, as well as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.solodev.com/">AWS hosting</a> with full disaster recovery – perfect for government bodies who simply cannot afford to lose data.To find out more about Solodev CMS, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.solodev.com/">check out their website</a> and the <a href="/products/solodev">Solodev CMS Critic Directory listing</a>.And of course, be sure to stay tuned for more featured coverage during this <a href="/tag/solodev">Solodev CMS featured week</a>.

Solodev CMS: Powering Next Generation Local Government Websites to Improve Constituent Services

mike-johnston

It’s time to kick off another featured week, this time with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.solodev.com/">Solodev CMS</a>, an enterprise-grade platform built to handle websites, document management, digital marketing, eCommerce, as well as custom and mobile app development.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.solodev.com/"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/soldodev-logo-1_400x0.png" /></a>Launched in 2006, Solodev is a well-established CMS, boasting clients such as OneBlood, MobileHelp, CNL Financial Group, Springstone Hospitals, Dr. Philips Center and the State of Florida Department of Education.They tend to work within industries like: Consumer Services, Education, Healthcare, Government and Financial Services.<h2>Getting Comfortable with Solodev</h2>Solodev can be deployed as an on-premise solution, or as a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution, making it flexible enough for pretty much all corners of the online world.The platform’s core features span WYSIWYG and inline content editing, multi-site management, dynamic drag-and-drop templating features, a built-in Google Analytics dashboard, a landing page builder and a custom form builder.Solodev also has built-in modules (called “Managers” in the platform) that make it easy to manage dynamic features like blogs, calendars, management pages, news items, and photo galleries.It also integrates well with third party CRMs, marketing automation systems and other solutions to unite all marketing efforts under the same digital roof.Furthermore, thanks to enhanced multi-site capabilities, brands can deploy and manage multiple websites from the a single Solodev instance. Those websites can be cloned to easily spin up new sites, and can also share content with other websites managed by the Solodev instance.<h2>From AWS to API</h2>With the release of Solodev CMS 8, the platform was re-architected for maximum optimization in the AWS (Amazon Web Services) Cloud. The re-build means that Solodev can be rapidly deployed across global regions at the click of a button.Additionally, the AWS environment provides for load-balancing in multi-server set-ups and high capacity events. This helps to avoid restricted site access by triggering extra web servers or even a secondary load balancer in a redundant environment. Customers with the highest availability requirements can take advantage of hot standby sites in alternate regions to provide live failover capabilities for disaster recovery.Solodev also provides users with a RESTful API for custom application and mobile app integration.For example, Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority made use of Solodev CMS to develop a website that serves as a portal for developers to request dev keys and access documentation.The built-in API allowed their developers to take advantage of the existing and extensive Miami Beach data set to create mobile apps focusing on things such as: hotels, shopping, dining, arts and entertainment, nightlife, sports, music, transportation and more.<h2>Getting Started with Solodev</h2>Solodev CMS presents three subscription plans for brands to get started with their platform. Plans start from $7,100/year, and look a little like this:Business – single server with standard supportProfessional – multi-server with advanced supportEnterprise – multi-server cluster with dedicated supportTo find out more about Solodev CMS, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.solodev.com">check out their website</a> and the <a href="/products/solodev">Solodev CMS Critic Directory listing</a>.And of course, be sure to stay tuned for more featured coverage during this <a href="/tag/solodev">Solodev CMS featured week</a>.

Exploring Solodev CMS 8

Drupal has made some big changes to the process surrounding community initiatives.<blockquote>“We realized we need better tools and ways to communicate with you about our current priorities, how you can influence those priorities, and how you can help make Drupal.org and the Drupal project better than ever.”</blockquote>The Drupal team haven't exactly been sitting idly for the last few months, either. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/drupal-8-release-date-november-19th-2015/">Drupal 8 was released in late 2015</a>, while more recently, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/fifteen-years-of-drupal/">the Drupal project surpassed Fifteen years of age</a> – which is some achievement.Let's take a look at what's new, and how it will affect the Drupal community going forward.<h2>Learning From Hard Lessons</h2>Drupal has admitted to learning a “hard lesson” [over the course of the past year, and that's that] we need to be involved early”.As they have come to know, even if the community leaders putting forward an initiative are experts in their area, without Drupal's core team being invovled early on, the idea is too often slowed down by, “architectural refactoring and design decision backtracks”.To get involved as early as possible in all initiatives, Drupal's new initiatives process now looks like this:<ol><li>Community members plan their contribution in an issue, and identify who (if anyone) is able to volunteer some time to make the contribution.</li><li>The community members propose their initiative to the Association – so that we can evaluate it for inclusion on our roadmap. This may include a call with the community members proposing the initiative to talk it through in greater detail.</li><li>Association staff evaluate the initiative: prioritize it into the roadmap, postpone it, or–if necessary– reject initiatives that are not a good fit.</li><li>Prioritized community initiatives are rolled into the larger Drupal.org roadmap, and monthly or bi-monthly community initiative meetings are scheduled to ensure the work moves forward.</li><li>A liaison from the Association engineering team is assigned, to help coordinate architectural decisions, to provide support and access as needed, and to coordinate with the larger team when it is time for the work to be reviewed.</li></ol>This move may bring all initiatives far closer to the core Drupal team, but that also means that their attention needs to be more readily available. In response to that, Drupal stated the following:<blockquote>“This process is time intensive – and so in general we expect to be able to run only one or maybe two community initiatives at a time, in parallel with our other work. We realize this may be frustrating, but the last year has shown that our most successful initiatives required this close coordination.”</blockquote>This is positive news overall, though.Sure, there may be less initiatives flying around, but it means that the ones that are selected will be focused on and honed with Drupal's core team on hand every step of the way.To learn more about this new process, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.drupal.org/drupalorg/blog/introducing-a-new-community-initiatives-process">check out the Drupal blog</a>.Also, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/drupal">Drupal through our CMS Directory</a>.

Drupal Unveils New Community Initiatives Process

How well do you know your customers? Sure, they follow you on social media and their contact details are listed in your CRM, but how much do you actually know about them?
If you haven’t yet utilized the connection between your CRM and social media management, then you're definitely not investing enough time in developing your customer relationships. And without investment, you’ll never see results.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigstock-young-business-man-connection--30132587604x0-is.jpg" />
The line between customer relationship management and social media management has become increasingly blurred over the past few years and today’s customers are much more likely to send a tweet than to pick up the phone. In fact, many companies have stopped listing customer service numbers on their websites at all.
Instead, their customer service teams are redirecting their focus to the 24/7 monitoring of their social media channels. After all, it’s pretty crucial to be on the ball when a disgruntled customer has unleashed a 0 star review on your Facebook page for everyone to see. Not to mention the Twitter onslaught that can occur if you don’t respond to a tweet within an hour – max.
As a result, Social CRM services are on the rise and businesses have started to recognize the importance of taking control over their online customer relationship management. It’s absolutely essential to turn your social media presence into an asset rather than a liability, whether it’s to gain valuable customer insights, drive extra traffic to your site, or simply to measure the overall sentiment of your brand.
By integrating social media with your CRM, you can develop your customer relationships on a much more personalized level and acquire data that you’d never have had access to otherwise.
If you’re not sure where to start, these 10 steps will set you on your way to social CRM success.
<h2>1. Make Sure You Have The Right Platform In Place</h2>
The first thing you need to do is to select a social media management platform and it’s important to select the right one for your business. This is where you’ll manage your social media presence across all channels, schedule posts, and interact with customers. Don’t forget to look for a platform with decent analytics capabilities too.
The platform you choose is really dependent on the size of your business and your budget, and there are a number of popular options to choose from such as <a href="https://hootsuite.com/">Hootsuite</a>, <a href="https://buffer.com/">Buffer</a>, and <a href="http://sproutsocial.com/">Sprout Social</a>. Remember, this platform also needs to integrate seamlessly with your existing CRM.
<h2>2. Put The Right Resources In Place</h2>
Most company social media channels will be managed by members of the marketing team, but it’s not always a great idea to have your marketing manager doubling up as a customer care agent.
Your social media channels will be bombarded with various customer queries every week and your marketing team won’t always know the answers. Sure, they can try to find out – but that takes time, and your customers don’t want to wait 24 hours for a reply to a tweet.
The best way to successfully manage your online customer care queries is to have a well-rounded team in place to address them. This team should include experts from both your marketing and customer care departments so that you can cover all bases and respond to all queries in a prompt and efficient manner.
<h2>3. Get Up Close And Personal</h2>
If your customers wanted to read the FAQ’s they'd go to your website, so please don’t simply redirect them there or copy and paste a few one-liners to answer their queries. These kinds of generic responses on social media are not going to go down well with your online audience.
It’s also really important to personalize your interactions and make your customer feel valued and listened to. This can mean something as little as addressing them by their name or simply responding in a friendly tone – but it makes a massive difference to the way your brand is perceived and will help to establish a sense of community within your customer base.
<h2>4. Find Your Focus</h2>
You don’t need to dedicate an equal amount of resources to every social media channel out there, and you don’t need to be on every single one of them either. For example, if your business is an IT company then you probably don't need to go jumping on Pinterest anytime soon.
Find out where your customers are and focus on those platforms, even if that means simply sticking to <a href="https://twitter.com/?lang=en">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/">LinkedIn</a> to get started. You definitely don’t want to spread yourself too thin when it comes to dealing with customers on social media.
<h2>5. Start Listening</h2>
It’s important to keep track of what your customers are saying about your brand if you want to stay one step ahead. This is all about putting the fire out before it starts. If your customers aren’t happy with an aspect of your product or service, you can change it before it becomes a major issue.
This kind of social listening also gives you the opportunity to gain valuable insights into your customer needs and use them to improve your product or come up your next idea.
<h2>6. Segment Your Customers</h2>
You can get smart with social by further segmenting your customers into target audiences. By using lists on Twitter and groups on Facebook and LinkedIn, you can add specific customers and tailor your interactions to ensure that they’re engaged.
<h2>7. Set Customer Expectations</h2>
Your customers are going to expect you to be available 24/7 on social media unless you put some expectations in place. If your team is only going to be active from 9-5 Mon-Fri then it’s important to make your customers aware of that. Otherwise, you’ll log in to a world of chaos come Monday morning.
A quick note on your bio with active monitoring hours and expected response times will sort this out.
<h2>8. Join The Dots</h2>
The whole premise of integrating your social with your CRM is to utilize the mountains of information available to you, so don’t forget to actually do it. By doing a bit of data mining within your customer social media profiles, your marketing team can quickly identify trends within your target audience and gain some valuable intel for future campaigns.
<h2>9. Centralize All Of Your Customer Communications</h2>
There are tons of ways for your customers to get in touch with your business and it’s important that you have a central hub in place to list every single one of these interactions. This will improve communication lines between departments and ensure that customer queries get solved sooner rather than later.
It’s essential to make sure that every call and every email is logged on your CRM, as well as your social interactions. The last thing you want is to have an irate customer on the line who says she spoke to someone on Twitter the night before, when you have no record of what was said or who was monitoring the account that day. Sure, you can go searching for the info, but your customer won’t be happy about the wait and your whole online audience will probably hear about it too.
<h2>10. Reward Your Customers</h2>
Nothing breeds loyalty like a freebie now and then. Use incentives such as discount offers, free ebooks, and promotional codes, to reward your customers. By reaching out to key influencers especially, you can start to build a real community online.
It’s important to remember that your social CRM is a valuable addition to your traditional CRM system but it’s definitely not designed to replace it. Integrating a social CRM will help you to convert opportunities into customers by getting to know your target audience better and getting involved in their daily conversations about your business.
How is your social CRM going for you at the moment? Whether you’re a newbie or a veteran to the world of social CRM, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments section below.

10 Steps To Social CRM Success

grainne-logue

Marketing automation was one of the hottest topics of 2015 and the source of many heated discussions amongst marketing professionals.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/image850x0-is.jpeg" />
Whilst some professionals see marketing automation as the holy grail of an evolving industry, others still see it as a cold and impersonal way of doing business. And both parties are right.
When it’s done well, marketing automation can work wonders for the growth of a business. But when it’s not done well, it can have the opposite effect.
Fortunately, it seems that 2016 will be the year where businesses really start to get to grips with the marketing automation process, and learn how to make it work for their businesses rather than against them. In fact, according to a 2015 survey by Ascend2, 42% of businesses are now using marketing automation – which is a massive jump up from previous years.
Here are a few reasons why I believe 2016 is the year that marketing automation will really take off:
<h2>Increased Knowledge/Understanding</h2>
In early 2015, businesses became more aware that they needed marketing automation – but not all of them were sure why they needed it, or what to do wiith it. However, this has changed alot over the course of the past few months as businesses have developed a better understanding of exactly what marketing automation entails.
This will lead to more and more smaller businesses getting on board in 2016 as they become more confident in their investment.
<h2>Better Implementation</h2>
Getting marketing automation set up is a lot of work, and some companies just don’t have the time or resources for it – especially if they’ve blown their budget on a pricey product.
However, as companies begin to understand the importance of proper implementation, they’ll see a much better return on their investment and begin to really understand what can be achieved with marketing automation.
2016 will see the rise of third party companies offering to manage the implementation process, and perhaps even see better offerings emerge from the software providers themselves (we’ll talk more about this later), thus making life much easier for companies who want to get on board.
<h2>Pricing: More Accessible For SMEs</h2>
One of the main issues with marketing automation in 2015 was the associated cost and this was especially true for small businesses.
Many of the major marketing automation providers expect a 12 month commitment and payment up-front – which is a massive issue for smaller businesses who can’t afford to invest in something without trying it out first.
in 2015, larger enterprises had no problem with forking out for new systems, proper implementation processes, and ongoing management – but smaller companies didn’t really have the luxury of that extra spend. This meant that many SMEs spent all of their budget on the software and then didn’t follow through with proper staff training and implementation in order to get solid processes in place.
However, this is changing rapidly as new providers emerge with software options that specifically target smaller businesses. These new software solutions don’t ask for sign up fees, don’t tie companies into long term contracts, and allow for monthly payments. In fact, some of them are free. <a href="/12-free-or-super-cheap-marketing-automation-systems/">Click here</a> to check out our list of 12 Free Or Cheap Marketing Automation Systems.
<h2>The Transition To Software + Service</h2>
Bots can’t run the world… Yet. So the move to a more service oriented solution for marketing automation is pretty inevitable in 2016. Automation isn’t the endgame solution to marketing a business; it’s simply a tool for professionals to utilize in order to make their work more effective.
If businesses want their marketing automation processes to actually work, then they have to ensure that there’s an actual person running the show – and that person has to know what they’re doing. If they don’t, there’s little point to using the software at all.
2016 is definitely going to see more of a focus on how this software is implemented and on ensuring an adequate return on investment for companies. There are already a number of third party providers who will manage the implementation process for businesses, but perhaps 2016 will see software providers themselves providing an added service option in this regard.
Either way, marketing automation is on the rise and there’s an interesting year ahead.
What do you think is on the cards for marketing automation in 2016? Why not let us know in the comments section below.

Is 2016 the Year of Marketing Automation?

<a href="/products/shopify">Shopify</a>, one of the most popular eCommerce solutions on the market, has rolled out free SSL Certificates for all its users.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/2010_6_23_shopify-green_256x256-1.jpg" />An SSL Certificate displays a padlock icon before all URLs, and adds an extra “s” to the “http” (to make it https) at the start of each URL. These are all indicators of a secure connection between the web server and the browser.A typical SSL certificate will set you back a few bucks depending on where you shop for it, while free ones are difficult to come by, even when making use of an eCommerce solution.In other words, Shopify didn't have to make this move, which is why I admire it.<h2>Security, Trustworthiness &amp; Pleasing Google</h2>Along with this announcement, Shopify outlined their concern for the security of their customers, and in turn, their customers' customers.<blockquote>Today, we’re pushing for a safer, more secure internet by ensuring all pages, content, data…everything, on all 200,000+ online stores powered by Shopify can be accessed using SSL encryption. Not only will this ensure that no data could be intercepted as it goes over the network, but it will also help merchants build customer trust. This is the right thing for ecommerce in 2016.To make this possible, we’ve issued and set up SSL certificates for every Shopify store. And because we feel this is important, we did it at no additional cost to existing or future Shopify merchants.</blockquote>Also, although buyers look for the padlock icon on eCommerce websites, it's also true that Google values an SSL certified connection, too. So, the SEO efforts of Shopify merchants should be aided by this move.<h2>Generous? Maybe. Beneficial? Definitely.</h2>Shopify could have continued providing their software on its own, with the option for an SSL certificate being there for those who want to offer their customers extra security.That strategy would have continued to work, with no liability falling back on them if and when a security issue crops up on a merchant's Shopify-powered website. After all, that's exactly how its been since Shopify started up.Shopify will of course benefit from this move too, simply by being able to offer a free SSL certificate to all new users for added value and security out of the box. I'm sure they'll market those benefits accordingly.So, although merchants will be getting some very real benefits from their free SSL certificates, it seems like good news all round.To find out more about this new, free offering, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.shopify.com/blog/73511365-all-shopify-stores-now-use-ssl-encryption-everywhere">check out the Shopify blog</a>.And as always, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/shopify">Shopify through our CMS Directory</a>.

Shopify Hands Out Free SSL Certificates to All Shopify Stores

Shopify - The global commerce platform

Build your business with Shopify to sell online, offline, and everywhere in between.

The global commerce platform

#ffffff

A streamlined implementation process is essential for marketing automation success.
When utilized to its full potential, marketing automation will be a highly valuable asset to your organization; but if you haven’t implemented it properly, you’ll end up seriously disappointed with the outcome.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigstock-business-people-in-a-meeting-r-12523484539x0-is.jpg" />
Getting things right from Day 1 is the best way to start, so I’ve put together 5 steps to help you to successfully implement your marketing automation and get the results you’re looking for.
<h2>1. Spring Clean your CRM</h2>
Before you even get started with your marketing automation implementation, you need to start cleaning up your CRM. You’ll need to import your contacts from your CRM and the last thing you want is to sync a whole bunch of duplicate accounts.
If you haven’t used marketing automation before – it’s likely that you already have number of duplicate entries on your system. Take the time to sift through these and make your list as clean as possible before you start the implementation process. It may be a tad tedious, but it will take a massive mess off your hands further down the line.
<h2>2. Verify Email Addresses</h2>
You’re going to be sending out more emails than ever before, so it’s important to make sure that someone is actually going to be at the receiving end when you do. After you’ve cleaned up your contacts, you can use an email verification service to weed out any incorrect emails before you start uploading them.
Check out email verification service providers such as <a href="http://www.datavalidation.com/">Data Validation</a>, which integrates with numerous email marketing tools such as <a href="http://mailchimp.com/">Mailchimp</a> and <a href="http://www.aweber.com/">AWeber.</a>
<h2>3. Define What Constitutes A Qualified Lead</h2>
Marketing automation will <a href="http://www.emailmonday.com/marketing-automation-statistics-overview" target="_blank">significantly increase</a> the number of inbound leads you receive, however – it’s also important to identify and segment these leads properly. In order to do this, you need to sit down with your sales and marketing team to define what constitutes a qualified lead and which leads fall into the ‘need a little more nurturing’ category.
This will ensure that your sales team only receive leads that have progressed further along the buying cycle, whilst your marketing team can focus on warming up the leads that aren’t quite as there yet.
<h2>4. Communicate With Your Sales Team</h2>
It’s important to sit down and talk to your sales team about the new marketing automation processes and what they can expect. Remember, these leads fuel their paycheques, so they’re going to have a lot of questions and it’s important to be prepared.
If you ask for their input from the outset, you’ll flag any issues in advance and avoid any unexpected setbacks down the line.
Your reps will probably be concerned about how the new leads will be distributed and assigned, so you’ll need to be able to address that. You’ll also need to ensure that communication processes between your sales and marketing teams are set up properly so that none of your leads get lost in translation.
<h2>5. Start With The Basics</h2>
There might be a ton of exciting new features available to you, but that doesn’t mean you have to use all of them at once. It’s important to ease into the implementation process and take it one step at a time.
Focus on the marketing automation processes that you need in place right now, and take it from there. You can look at adding more features once you’ve become more familiar with the platform. Start with what you’re doing at the moment, automate it, assess it, tweak it, and then move on to the next thing.
If you don’t have the resources available to dedicate to even basic implementation, then it might be a good idea to look at hiring a third party partner to assist with the process.
This is pretty common territory for CRM implementation but there are also many companies offering the same service for marketing automation. Most marketing automation providers, such as <a href="http://www.pardot.com/about-pardot/partners/">Pardot</a>, will provide a list of recommended partners on their site.
<h2>Ready To Go? Great. Keep Going.</h2>
Once you’ve set up your marketing automation processes, it’s essential to stay ahead of the pack by keeping an eye on your analytics data and trends. Keep your marketing automation skills fresh by staying abreast of what’s working, what’s not working, and what’s left to learn. That’s really the most important thing here.
Once you continue to stay on top of things, you’ll continue to see results.
If you have any key tips you’ve learned for successful marketing automation implementation, we’d love to hear them. Why not scroll down to the comments section below and fill us in.

Deploy Your Marketing Automation System In 5 Easy Steps

Despite evident backing from the likes of Apple and Samsung, Smartwatch technology is still viewed by many to be a passing fad.However, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kentico.com/">Kentico</a>, the enterprise-grade CMS, CXM and eCommerce solution, has thrown its weight behind the Smartwatch industry by setting out some research-backed marketing guidelines.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.kentico.com/"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/kentico_rgb_bigger_400x0.png" /></a>Brands as large as Starbucks, Mazda and Twinings all trust Kentico with their online presences.Kentico carried out their research in aid of their newly released White Paper, entitled, “Smartwatches: The Opportunities &amp; Challenges for Marketers“<h2>The Marketing Era of Respectfulness</h2>The White Paper highlights a number of key points surrounding Smartchwatch marketing, although one of those points in particular stood out for me.<blockquote>“More than anything, advertisers and marketers will need to learn how to be even more respectful of their audiences.”</blockquote>This statement from Kentico is in reference to the hyper-personal (and perhaps one might argue, hyper-public) nature of Smartwatches.Push notifications sent to a smartphone are typically viewed when the user is alone, or at least in an environment where viewing messages and marketing material are appropriate. In other words, the user gets to choose when and where to start reading notifications.When it comes to Smartwatches though, marketers must realize that those same push notifications will be seen almost immediately, and perhaps by more than just the Smartwatch owner.Unlike with other smart technology, the owner has far less choice over their environment when receiving such messages, thanks to instant wrist vibrations and the ability to quickly glance down at whatever just popped up on their Smartwatch screen.Marketers will have to further consider the timing of their content, its wording and the importance of each push notification. Because without a doubt, even semi-regular messages that disturb a user's day or environment will be enough to warrant them tapping the unsubscribe button.<h2>Too Expensive &amp; Not Enough Functionality</h2>Kentico's research also included a survey, conducted around the question, “Which of the Following Reasons Are Keeping You from Buying a Smartwatch?”Respondents mostly opted for the answer, “Too expensive” (69%). The second most selected answer though, was “Not enough reasons to use one” (38%).To be fair to the Smartwatch industry, those same two obstacles are traditionally faced by new tech. The iPod was, once upon a time, a fairly expensive and one-dimensional piece of equipment. Many thought it was too expensive, while others couldn't find enough functionality to warrant any cash at all.With this research, and with the resulting marketing guidelines, Kentico is a company that sees a future for the Smartwatch. And I for one, totally agree with them.Download Kentico's White Paper here.And as always, be sure to explore more of <a href="/products/kentico">Kentico via our CMS Directory</a>.

More Than a Fad: Kentico Research Implies That Smartwatches Are Here to Stay

<a href="/phpfox-4-2-on-the-horizon/">Thanks to a sly Fox</a>, we all recently got a sneak peek behind the scenes at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.phpfox.com/">PHPFox</a> headquarters. More specifically, we got to know a little about PHPFox 4.2. The online community builder used to come in two flavours; Neutron, their latest offering, and Nebula, their classic flagship platform. Now, though, they've left classic stuff in the past, and are now pressing forward with a unified, modernized platform.Now, close to the date promised, PHPFox 4.2 has landed, And it brings with it a nice range of new features and apps. Let's take a closer look.<h2>Easier Theme Customization</h2>PHPFox's theme manager now includes much easier customization and theme management options.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/theme-manager.png" alt="theme manager" />Also, IM chat and Video apps are now available in the AdminCP, thus making management of those apps easier. PHPFox users can find tutorials for enabling these in newly improved PHPFox <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.phpfox.com/display/FOX4MAN/phpFox+4+User+Manual">knowledge base</a>.<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/video-main.png" alt="video main" />The PHPFox team has also has added Facebook Connect, Google reCAPTCHA and Twemoji to the core product as apps.<h2>More Breaks for Developers &amp; Pricing Adjustment On The Way</h2>A few months back, <a href="/phpfox-appoints-sales-community-manager-scraps-developer-fee/">PHPFox scrapped all developer fees in order to encourage third party app and theme development</a>. With PHPFox 4.2, more benefits have rolled in for those same developers.PHPFox's Bootstrap theme is now the product's core default theme, a move which PHPFox hopes will help them fully extend their theme system in a more modern way.Clients and developers are able to make themes based on Bootstrap, while Sync CSS has been integrated into the upgrade process to make it easier for upgrading. Theme changes can also be exported and imported whenever needed.The PHPFox Apps system has been improved, too. Third party developers that have made V3 modules can now easily make them available as apps for V4 clients.Plus, <a href="/phpfox-introduces-new-knowledgebase/">PHPFox's new knowledge base</a> is almost complete, with tutorials for developers nearing publication.As for future updates, PHPFox seem optimistic about what's yet to come:<blockquote>“We’ve got more coming folks! This is just the tip of the iceberg. For those that stuck around, you’ll be ecstatic with what’s coming and in your choice to hold course. For those thinking about purchasing, you might as well do it now as our pricing will be changing as mentioned in earlier blog posts.”</blockquote>I'd consider that as a confirmation and final warning that PHPFox is about to get a little more expensive. So, if you're considering it for your project, I'd act sooner rather than later.To take PHPFox for a spin, check out their <a target="_blank" href="https://v4.phpfox.com/">live demo</a>.To find out more about PHPFox 4.2, <a target="_blank" href="http://blog.phpfox.com/2016/01/27/phpfox-4-2-0-released/">check out the official blog announcement</a>.

PHPFox 4.2: New Features, Further Breaks for Developers & Pricing Set to Change

Marketing automation is definitely having its moment in the sun right now. Everybody seems to have an opinion on it – even people who aren’t using it yet. And you should too.
Why? Because a marketing automation system can massively improve your ROI if you implement it correctly.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bigstock-roi-return-on-investment-analy-106052375405x0-is.jpg" />
Let’s forget about the hype for a few minutes and focus on the facts. Did you know that marketing automation results in a<a href="https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2013/07/roi-of-marketing-automation.html"> 53% increase </a>in lead generation and sales conversions? Or, that <a href="http://www.gleanster.com/gleansight/marketing-automation">79% of companies</a> who have used marketing automation for 2+ years are top performers in their industries?
In fact, in a study by the <a href="http://www.lenskold.com/LeadGenStudy_2013/">Lenskold Group</a>, 78% of successful marketers cited marketing automation systems as most responsible for improving revenue contribution.
So, in this post, I’m going to run through the 8 ways you can improve ROI in your own business with the aid of marketing automation practices.
<h2>1. Collect More Customer Information With Smart Lead Forms</h2>
No-one likes filling in forms and your website visitors won’t like it either. This is where the smart lead form comes into play. Smart lead forms allow you to gradually build contact records for your customers and use this information to improve your marketing campaigns.
How this works, is that a customer will visit your site and fill in the form with information – such as their name and email address. Then, when they return a second time, they’ll be directed to a new form that has removed the information fields already acquired. This allows you to ask for additional information without bombarding them with an essay questionnaire.
By introducing smart lead forms, you’ll make life much easier for both you and your customer. You’ll also acquire valuable intel that you can use to improve your targeted campaigns and increase your overall ROI.
<h2>2. Target High Value Leads With Lead Scoring</h2>
Lead scoring is a marketing automation process that allows you to identify a lead as either warm or cold, before passing it on to the sales team. It does this by assigning points to each lead based on characteristics of each contact and/or the actions they’ve taken on the site.
By using a lead scoring system, you’ll ensure that your sales team receive qualified leads only – which means that conversions will increase and they’ll be seriously happy campers as a result. It’s a win for both parties.
<h2>3. Use Lead Nurturing To Warm Up Cold Leads</h2>
Lead nurturing is an essential process used to progress your cold/tepid leads further down the sales funnel.
Your marketing team can take control of this by using marketing automation to set up targeted, lead nurturing email campaigns and convert your cold leads into the ‘ready to buy’ variety.
<h2>4. Reduce Funnel Leakage And Retain Solid Prospects</h2>
Once your marketing automation system is set up and integrated with your CRM, you’ll find it much easier to keep track of, nurture, and develop any warm leads.
Most marketing automation softwares are design to integrate well with existing CRMs and CMS anyway, and so this should be something which comes quite naturally.
<h2>5. Remove Low-Potential Leads</h2>
Sometimes you can nurture a lead ‘till you’re blue in the face, but it just never gets warm. By keeping your database clean and removing any tyre kickers, you’ll see a definite increase in conversion rates. You can use the lead scoring system to do this.
<h2>6. Create Targeted and Personalized Content</h2>
Following what I just mentioned about lead nurturing, targeted content creation is definitely worth its own mention. A recent study by<a href="https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/email-marketing-new-rules/"> Campaign Monitor </a>revealed that sending emails with a personalized subject line can actually increase your open rates by 26%.
By using the behavioural information collected via your marketing automation tool, you can send emails that are personalized to the interests of each customer and specific to whichever stage they are at in the buying cycle.
<h2>7. Monitor Campaign Performance</h2>
Marketing automation creates a potential haven of intel for those of you who are prone to a bit of data mining. And if you’re not already a closet data geek, you should be.
By using marketing automation, you can gather all of your marketing information in the one place – which makes it much easier to monitor marketing campaigns and make strategic decisions going forward.
<h2>8. Increase Your Marketing Campaign Capacity</h2>
Marketing automation will allow you to run more campaigns than before, reach more prospects, and produce more qualified leads without having to hire another staff member to cover the workload.
Sure, you still need a human at the helm, but having the process automated means that they can dedicate their time to other activities that require their attention also.
<h2>Is Your Business Seeing Results?</h2>
It’s pretty clear that marketing automation can have a significant impact on your business's ROI, once it's done correctly, so why not take some time to evaluate your own system and see how it's doing?
If you have any of your own tips for increasing ROI via marketing automation practice, share your thoughts with us in comment section below.

8 Ways Marketing Automation Can Improve Your ROI

When it comes to blogging, there are <a href="/minimalist-blogging-platforms/" target="_blank">tons of amazing alternatives</a> to the traditional software people are most familiar with. This year, we ran a category called Best Blogging Platform with the hopes of showcasing some excellent options for those looking for a great outlet for their thoughts. Today, I'm pleased to announce the winner of Best Blogging Platform is…
<a href="http://www.medium.com" target="_blank">Medium</a>!
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-blogging-platform300x0-is.png" />
Founded by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter">Twitter</a> co-founder <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Williams_(Internet_entrepreneur)">Evan Williams</a> in August 2012, Medium is an amazing platform for thoughts, stories and more. You build followers and your stories are shared within a queue of other content. I've found that writing even one good story can quickly gain you a large following. It's a great writing experience as well with far more interaction on the content than I see traditional blogs getting.
Check out <a href="http://www.medium.com" target="_blank">Medium</a> today.

Announcing the 2015 Winner of Best Blogging Platform

Win One of Three Premium Templates in the <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/" target="_blank">TemplateMonster</a> Giveaway Today, our friends from TemplateMonster are giving our readers an exclusive opportunity to win ANY template from their huge inventory.
The giveaway of 3 TemplateMonster templates starts on 28 January, 2016, and its deadline is 4 February, 2016. Three lucky winners will be chosen at random, and each of them will get one template of their choice. Would you like to upgrade your site for free? Then, read on to find out how to win a premium TM template.
<h2>How to Win</h2>
To take part in the giveaway, visit the TemplateMonster marketplace, choose any template you like and simply leave a comment with its ID, e.g. “I’d like to win the template #58381.” Follow the quick links below.
<ul>
<li>To win a WordPress theme, <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes.php?utm_source=cmscritic&amp;utm_medium=giveaway&amp;utm_campaign=cmscriticblog" target="_blank">click here</a> and choose a design from 1700+ unique options.</li>
<li>If you need a Joomla template, <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/joomla-templates.php?utm_source=cmscritic1&amp;utm_medium=giveaway&amp;utm_campaign=cmscriticblog" target="_blank">look through a collection</a> of 1300+ Joomla designs.</li>
<li>To pick a design for a Drupal-powered site, <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/drupal-themes.php?utm_source=cmscritic2&amp;utm_medium=giveaway&amp;utm_campaign=cmscriticblog" target="_blank">browse an assortment</a> of 450+ themes.</li>
<li>Those of you who want another kind of template should go to <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/?utm_source=cmscritic3&amp;utm_medium=giveaway&amp;utm_campaign=cmscriticblog" target="_blank">templatemonster.com</a> and select the design suitable for your particular needs.</li>
</ul>
Keep in mind that it’s important to provide a valid address for your email. We’ll use it to contact you and tell you the details of how to get your prize, should you be a winner.
<h2>About TemplateMonster</h2>
What’s notable about TemplateMonster is a diverse inventory of 30,000 ready-made templates and 13 years of experience behind the company.
Since 2002, TemplateMonster has released templates for different sites (e-stores, blogs, portfolios), CMSs (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal), eCommerce platforms (PrestaShop, Magento, WooCommerce) and niches (business, fashion, food, etc). With such a wide range of designs available, you will quickly find the right option for your individual requirement.
<h2>Examples of TemplateMonster Templates</h2>
Take a look at some TemplateMonster templates to learn more about the prize you can win.
Example of WordPress Themes
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/monstroid-wordpress-theme-1744x0-is.jpg" />
<a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/demo/55555.html?utm_source=cmscritic4&amp;utm_medium=giveaway&amp;utm_campaign=cmscriticblog" target="_blank">Demo</a> | <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes/monstroid/?utm_source=cmscritic5&amp;utm_medium=giveaway&amp;utm_campaign=cmscriticblog" target="_blank">More Info</a>
Monstroid is a multipurpose, eCommerce-ready theme supplied with innovative backend features, particularly a static area builder, CSS minifier, shortcode template editor, etc.
It’s also integrated with premium plugins for different purposes, e.g. drag-and-drop editing, creation of responsive slides, and more. With Monstroid, you have access to multiple free extras including 45 child themes, 50 professional images, and lifetime updates.
Example of Joomla Templates
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/wegy-joomla-template748x0-is.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/demo/53576.html?utm_source=cmscritic6&amp;utm_medium=giveaway&amp;utm_campaign=cmscriticblog" target="_blank">Demo</a> | <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/joomla-templates/53576.html?utm_source=cmscritic7&amp;utm_medium=giveaway&amp;utm_campaign=cmscriticblog" target="_blank">More Info</a>
Wegy is a multipurpose Joomla template packed with a wide range of pre-designed pages. They include 5 homepage versions, 3 blog page versions, 2 versions of contact, about, FAQ and portfolio pages, etc.
The template also comes with a rich set of features such as a form builder, parallax effect, video backgrounds, page loader with a logo, and much more. A pre-defined newsletter template will come in handy for your email marketing needs.
Example of Drupal Themes
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/rocket-design-drupal-template709x0-is.jpg" /> <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/demo/55557.html?utm_source=cmscritic8&amp;utm_medium=giveaway&amp;utm_campaign=cmscriticblog" target="_blank">Demo</a> | <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/drupal-themes/55557.html?utm_source=cmscritic9&amp;utm_medium=giveaway&amp;utm_campaign=cmscriticblog" target="_blank">More Info</a>
This Drupal theme is tailored for design agencies, but can be customized for any other site. Its dynamic design boasts a sticky menu, parallax header, video background, square-tiled gallery, Google map and many other must-have features of today.
This responsive and retina-ready design can provide a flawless performance of your site on different mobile devices.
Don’t overlook the fact that these three templates are given just as examples. You can choose any other design that fits your individual needs. So, choose the desired template, leave a comment, cross your fingers, and wait for an announcement of the giveaway results.
* * *
This post is sponsored by TemplateMonster. Find out more at <a href="http://www.templatemonster.com/" target="_blank">TemplateMonster.com</a>.

Win One of Three Premium Templates in the TemplateMonster Giveaway

<a href="http://www.marketo.com/" target="_blank">Marketo</a>, the world renowned marketing automation system, has just turned ten years old.
<a href="http://www.marketo.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/marketo-300x300.png" /></a>With clients like Intel and Acquia, Marketo has grown into one of the most trusted marketing automation systems on the market.
Although, it's not a product exclusive to the world of enterprise. Small and medium sized businesses make up a large chunk of Marketo's clientele, despite the fact that it's “Spark” package, designed for smaller projects, is still priced for businesses that are already relatively well developed.
<h2>Marketo: A Brief History</h2>
<blockquote>
“Ten years ago this month, Phil Fernandez, David Morandi, and Jon Miller founded Marketo with one idea: to create a new kind of enterprise software company, one dedicated solely to the needs and mission of today’s marketing professional.”
</blockquote>
Founded in 2006 by Phil Fernandez, Jon Miller and David Morandi (all formerly of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany,_Inc.">Epiphany</a>), Marketo has been ranked in the Inc 500 as high as 78th, and was listed as 28th on Forbes' Most Promising Companies in 2011.
In 2008 Marketo released its first product. In 2011, it established its first international office in Dublin, Ireland, before going public (MKTO) in 2013.
Today, Marketo supports over 4,000 customers, with services including; B2B Marketing Automation, Consumer Engagement Marketing, Real-Time Personalization and Marketing Management.
On their <a href="http://blog.marketo.com/2016/01/happy-10th-birthday-marketo.html" target="_blank">celebratory blog post</a>, Marketo put together a full timeline of their history, which is a pretty interesting read.
Congratulations to making it to Ten years old, <a href="http://www.marketo.com/" target="_blank">Marketo</a>. Here's to Ten more!

Ten Years of Marketo

CMS Kickoff 26

Find out at CMS Kickoff 26, January 13 - 14, St. Pete FL

What's the future of CMS in the AI era?

Explore a wide range of informative articles, insights, and industry updates. Stay informed and ahead of the curve with our diverse collection of news and posts covering the latest trends and developments in the industry. Page - 95

News

The global commerce platform

What's the future of CMS in the AI era?