Gamification is a very trendy term right now, what does it mean?

The main purpose for employing Gamification is to incentify, engage and improve user engagement.  In devising a “game” you work out the particular behaviors you want and then give points when people exhibit those behaviors.

For example, at a recent conference I attended, an App was provided to download.  Gamification was “provided” by offering points for leaving speaker feedback, looking at the exhibitors details, etc etc.  The organisers then hoped that people’s natural competitive streak will mean they will compete (results published on a “Leaderboard”).  To get further up the Leaderboard you need to leave more speaker and session feedback, all good behaviors.

Gamification is for Trendy Marketing People it has no Place in Sales, Right?

Recently had a demonstration from a Gamification company called Rise (previously called Leaderboard) and it got me thinking. This is all…

Technology isn’t only getting faster, it’s getting smarter. Computers are able to recognize and learn from patterns and make changes in real-time. Their improved analytic and decision-making abilities now allow them to outperform humans in areas such as medical diagnosis and customized marketing campaigns.

However, it’s hard for marketers to embrace data analysis when they’ve trusted their own gut to fuel decisions for so long. It’s a point of pride for many.  The problem is, the strategy frequently fails. A 20 year study of political pundits found that they were only as accurate as a coin toss, suggesting that successful “intuitive” decisions are often a lucky guess.

On the other hand, a McKinsey study found that companies who put data at the center of marketing and sales decisions improve marketing ROI by 15% – 20%. Data-driven personalization, in particular, can lift sales 10% or more. For example, Bank of America…

As you know Big Data is capturing lots of press time. Which is good, but what does it mean to the person in the trenches ? Some thoughts … as a Top 10 List :

[update 11/25/11 : Copy of my guest lecture for Ph.D students at the Naval Post Graduate School The Art Of Big Data is at Slideshare]

10. Think of the data pipeline in multiple dimensions than a point technology & Evolve the pipeline with focus on all the aspects of the stages

• While technologies are interesting, they do not work in insolation and neither should you think that way

• Dimension 1 : Big Data (I had touched upon this in my earlier blog “What is Big Data anyway“) One should not only look at the Volume-Velocity-Variety-Variability but also at the Connectedness – Context dimensions.
• Dimension 2 : Stages – The degrees of separation as in collect…

Interest and discussions surrounding the 76 million millennials and their impact on social media, marketing and social commerce are seemingly increasing every week. Brands and marketers are seeking data to bolster their digital marketing efforts around this group, their interests and online patterns and rightly so. Millennials are unique in that they are not influenced by traditional ‘push’ marketing strategies as other population segments have been in the past and more importantly they have been raised with the digital world in place, rather than migrating to it as those before them.

Using data published in a report by UMass, we have created an easy to consume Infographic that contains the key points every brand and marketer should know. Following the infographic we break down some of the data points and include some takeaway action steps you may want to consider.

The Data Highlights:

• 35% of Millennials are likely to use a “buy” button…