How customer voice
drives business

Social media provides a powerful way for companies to spread their brand’s voice and stories. But with this potential comes extra challenge. Social media is no longer used for solely posting marketing content — it is used as a major way to engage customers along their entire customer journey. Marketing, sales, and support teams all use social media as a platform to communicate with customers at scale. With multiple silos of a company using several social media channels, keeping a consistent voice and customer approach can become logistically tricky. This is where social media management platforms come in. Enterprise-grade social media management solutions allow teams across entire organizations to engage with customers seamlessly. Perhaps your team needs support managing your social agenda, but you don’t know where to start. A good place to start your research is to examine which solutions other professionals frequently search for and look into. Hootsuite is one of the most searched for social media solutions on TrustRadius. But it is not alone. We are going to take a look at the most frequent comparisons to Hootsuite. These are the main products other buyers who are interested in Hootsuite are also evaluating–so you may want to […]

What’s machine learning? That’s a complicated question. So where do we begin? The machine learning story is not a simple one, especially given the fact that what goes by that name in 2019 differs in many ways from the machine learning technology of the past. What’s more complicated is the fact that the internet is bursting with descriptions of machine learning at every imaginable level of expertise and abstraction. Try punching the term into a search engine and expect to find yourself digging through a mixed bag of technical discussions, academic publications, user forums, blogs, tech reporting, and so on. To cut through the noise and clear away confusion, it’s best to establish a clear foundation. What we can do is start with a simple, working definition of machine learning and use it, and the basic concepts connected with it, to better understand some fundamental issues around this rapidly developing technology and its growing practical applications. This article provides a brisk but deep dive into the world of machine learning by addressing the following key issues: What is it? How it differs from past technologies? How it is being used to guide decision-making and improve performance within many different kinds […]

This is old news. We’ve got new research for 2021. SEE THE NEW DATA Today—on International Women’s Day 2019—we are launching 163 Voices: Women in Tech Speak Up. It is a report that tells the individual experiences of 163 women in the tech industry, spanning roles and generations. It is a report that we hope will play one small part in improving workplace dynamics. Download the Full Report Here TrustRadius has always aimed to change the tech industry. Our mission is to bring transparency to the world of buying and selling business technology. For both buyers and sellers, we aim to let the truth speak for itself, in the words of the professionals who use the technology day in and day out. This report holds a different kind of truth. It promotes a different kind of transparency. There are plenty of broad quantitative research studies investigating the state of women in tech—providing evidence of discrimination such as wage gaps, lack of VC-funding, and accelerated quit rates for women in the industry. Those studies are extremely important in inciting change. So why read this report? Who cares about 163 voices, in an industry that represents more than a million jobs? This […]

TrustRadius Top Rated Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Accounting & Budgeting Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Accounting & Budgeting Software Software buyers have a wide range of Accounting & Budgeting software options to choose from, finding the right one can be a difficult process. Accounting professionals on TrustRadius use reviews written by software end-users and product comparisons to help them make better informed purchasing decisions. In the past quarter, more than 17,300 professionals used TrustRadius to evaluate Accounting & Budgeting software products—at least 1,188 of them were from enterprise companies with more than 1,000 employees. Visitors evaluating Accounting & Budgeting software were most curious about comparing different products and reading product reviews —64% compared at least two products and 59% read reviews. Here are the winners: Accounting by Wave Accounting by Wave is an accounting system designed for small businesses. It offers many […]

TrustRadius Top Rated Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Project Management Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Project Management Software Project management software helps teams and individuals define, plan, execute, and assess projects. These products often act as project hubs for teams, helping them keep track of tasks that need to be done, who will do them, and when they should be completed. Common features include task assignment and scheduling, file sharing and organization, task grouping, collaboration tools, time tracking, mobile applications, and integration with third-party software like Zapier, Slack, and Google Drive. The feature scope of project management products can vary widely. Some products, such as Wunderlist, focus exclusively on to-dos and team communication. Other products, such as JIRA, support a variety of organizational methods, custom workflows, and detailed reporting features. Buyers of project management software should consider their organization’s needs. Smaller teams or […]

TrustRadius Top Rated Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Business Intelligence (BI) Tools. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Business Intelligence (BI) Tools Finding the right BI tool that meets all your business’ needs best can be a difficult task.  Software buyers on TrustRadius use reviews written by BI tool end-users and product comparisons to help them make better informed purchasing decisions. In the past quarter 39,900 professionals used TrustRadius to evaluate Business Intelligence (BI) tools—at least 9,600 of them were from enterprise companies with 1,000 or more employees. Visitors evaluating BI tools were most curious about comparing different products and reading product reviews —53% compared at least two products and 30% read reviews. Here are the winners: SiSense Sisense is a full-stack product with a columnar data store, an ETL layer and a set of front-end tools for constructing dashboards and visualizations. It has been […]

TrustRadius Top Rated Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Payroll Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Payroll Software Payroll software helps businesses process payment for employees, submit accurate tax reports, and provide employee benefits. Benefits administrators and payroll teams use it to calculate payments, deduct withholdings from paychecks, track payment history, make direct deposits, and adjust salaries and benefit plans. Payroll software is often both offered as a standalone product and included with comprehensive HR Management and HCM suites. Accounting software sometimes includes payroll features as well. A handful of the Top Rated payroll products below are either HR or Accounting software that also offer payroll capabilities. Buyers of payroll software should consider their combined accounting and HR needs when evaluating their choices. A standalone payroll solution can often meet the needs of a small business with low HR overhead. Midsize companies and enterprises might […]

TrustRadius Top Rated Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Collaboration Tools. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Collaboration Tools Collaboration Tools can’t always be compared apples-to-apples. That’s because they take different functional approaches. Depending on the type of collaboration a tool is designed to facilitate, it will have features around communication, project & task management, and/or file sharing & management. As you peruse this list of products, keep your team’s needs in mind. What’s right for your collaboration context won’t be right for everyone. Think about the kinds of work and information your team should be able to collaborate on. What are the specific challenges or bottlenecks you face today? How many people need to be able to collaborate together at once? What forms of communication are most natural for the potential users of this tool? Do they need to be able to talk in real […]

TrustRadius Top Rated Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software There is no shortage of Enterprise Resource Planning software solutions, figuring out which one meets you business needs best can be a long and stressful process. Buyers researching ERP solutions on TrustRadius use reviews written by software end-users and product comparisons to help them make better informed purchasing decisions. In the past quarter more than 23,900 professionals used TrustRadius to evaluate ERP products—at least 2,413 of them were from enterprise companies with more than 1,000 employees. Visitors evaluating ERP products were most curious about reading product reviews and comparing different products —56% read reviews and 38% compared at least two products. Here are the winners: Sage Intacct Sage Intacct is a modular cloud ERP system. It includes core accounting features like […]

TrustRadius Top Rated Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Ecommerce Platforms . The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Ecommerce Platforms Ecommerce platforms help users create and manage online storefronts to sell their products. Businesses use ecommerce software to manage product offerings and pricing, assist customers with purchases, manage orders and inventory, and track sales data. Common features of ecommerce platforms include desktop and mobile-friendly storefronts, support for multi-channel sales, blogging, customizable discounts, content management capabilities, payment processing, and tax preparation assistance. Some ecommerce providers partner with shipping companies, offering shipping discounts to their customers. In the past quarter more than 12,100 professionals used TrustRadius to evaluate Ecommerce Platform products—at least 258 of them were from enterprise companies with more than 1,000 employees. Visitors evaluating CRM products were most curious about comparing different products and reading reviews—38% compared at least two products, and 34% read product reviews. […]

TrustRadius Top Rated Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software CRM software helps users store, organize, use, and share customer information. Common features of CRM software include contact organization, sales pipeline management, email templates, and automatic logging for contact interactions. Many CRM products include additional features, such as sales and marketing automation, customer support systems, and data analytics. Sales and marketing teams use CRM software to keep track of contact information, manage the flow of prospects through the sales pipeline, and maintain consistent communication with leads and customers. By doing so, sales and marketing teams can centralize contact data collection and streamline the sales cycle.   In the past quarter more than 23,600 professionals used TrustRadius to evaluate Customer Relationship Management (CRM) products—at least 2,172 of them were from enterprise companies […]

TrustRadius Top Rated Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for HR Management Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. HR Management Software There is no shortage of HR Management software solutions, and figuring out which one meets your business needs best can be a difficult task. HR professionals on TrustRadius use reviews written by software end-users and product comparisons to help them make better-informed purchasing decisions. In the past quarter more than 39,800 professionals used TrustRadius to evaluate Human Resource (HR) Management products—at least 5,579 of them were from enterprise companies with more than 1,000 employees. Visitors evaluating HR Management products were most curious about reading product reviews and comparing different products —59% read reviews and 31% compared at least two products. Here are the winners: UltiPro From Ultimate Software, recently acquired by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, UltiPro is an HCM Suite that offers companies […]

TrustRadius Top Rated Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Talent Management Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Talent Management Software Talent Management software is designed to help businesses find, hire, and train high quality employees. Essentially, talent management products enable businesses to manage their talent pools for the duration of their life with the company. Most talent management suites include seven core modules; recruiting and ATS, onboarding, performance management, compensation management, learning management, and succession planning. This set of talent management capabilities are regarded as one of the ‘strategic’ functions of human resource (HR) management. Some of the top rated products listed below are HCM suites with robust talent management capabilities. There are also a few products below that serve as stand-alone talent management solutions. One thing buyers should consider when looking for talent management software is the scope of the solution they need. Larger HR […]

TrustRadius Top Rated Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Learning Management Systems (LMS). The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Learning Management Systems (LMS) An LMS is a platform that helps instructors manage educational resources, communicate with students outside of class, and conduct online classes. Common LMS features include content creation and management systems, course management tools, grading tools, separate portals for students and instructors, and student data analytics. Some LMS vendors offer additional features such as mobile apps, gamification systems, integration with social media, and learning object repositories (LORs). Most products support standard Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) plugins that add new features or integrate with third-party software like YouTube, Microsoft Office, and Learning.com. Some LMS vendors include support for technology-enhanced items (TEIs), which add interactive elements to assessments. TEIs can be used to ask students to perform tasks such as identifying keywords, labeling images, or completing […]

TrustRadius Top Rated Today, we awarded the 2019 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Corporate Performance Management (CPM) Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. Top Rated awards are the voice of the market and are not influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s company size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. Corporate Performance Management (CPM) Software Choosing the right Corporate Performance Management software, one that meets all your business needs, can be a difficult task. CPM professionals on TrustRadius use reviews written by software end-users and product comparisons to help them make better informed purchasing decisions. In the past quarter more than 20,900 professionals used TrustRadius to evaluate CPM products—at least 2,800 of them were from enterprise companies with more than 1,000 employees. Visitors evaluating CPM software were most curious about reading product reviews and comparing different products —40% read reviews and 37% compared at least two products. Here are the winners: Prophix Prophix is corporate performance management platform aimed primarily at small and medium-sized businesses. It has an extensive list of capabilities including budgeting, planning, modeling, […]

Brand and product promotion is a big part of what drives business. What better way to do that than through email marketing? In today’s digital world, the drive to promote your products and services must gravitate to the available technology to stay ahead of the game. Thus, marketers across the nation are gearing up to rocket their efforts in email marketing campaigns with increased budgets. Email marketers are expected to spend an estimated $350 million this year, up by $80 million from 2015. Yet, with consumer attitudes towards email marketing plummeting, brands need to be careful with campaigns if they want to see ROI on their increased investment. Understanding what drives consumers attitudes may save your email marketing campaigns from falling into the SPAM pit of despair. Here are the top email marketing complaints from U.S. consumers – and what you can do about them with the right software tools. High frequency emailing is a turnoff–overly eager marketers get ignored While persistence has its bonuses, sending overly frequent marketing emails can be a counterproductive for your product, service, or even your brand. Sometimes frequency is a good thing, leading to increased click-through rates, but that isn’t always true. Marketing Charts […]

Google Analytics is hands-down the most utilized website analytics platform available today. This granddaddy of web analytics solutions accounts for 60% of the market share. When companies need to know how their site is performing, Google Analytics is one of the first places they turn to. Despite this, many marketers do not use this solution at full capacity. By integrating Google Analytics (GA) with marketing software, marketers can gather more advanced insights to drive brand management and engagement. This allows professionals to better understand their customers, create better goals, and effectively drive growth. How to boost brand engagement with digital marketing and analysis Marketers know the importance of brand engagement. Brand engagement sounds like a great idea but lacks a clear, technical definition. Without a clear definition, marketers can get lost in pursuing a goal they don’t fully understand or agree upon. Brand engagement has to do with consumer connection with a brand – emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally. Some refer to this concept as a purely emotional connection and commitment one has with a brand, whereas others believe this concept has more to do with what actions a consumer takes in regard to a company. Still, others believe that it […]

Reviews are a driving force for your brand’s reputation. Your reputation is what creates conversion. Do you need reviews for your company but don’t know where to start? We are going to take a dive into why reviews are important, where your reviews should live online, and 10 ways for you to ask for the reviews your business needs. Why Reviews Are a Big Deal Customers are relying more and more on word of mouth and online reviews to make an informed purchase. 95% of customers read online reviews before buying a product. Customers are doing independent research more than ever. A product with zero reviews is 270% less likely to be purchased than a product with only five reviews. Reviews help future customers become aware of products. They also allow customers to narrow in on their final decision by giving them realistic and honest expectations of the product. Additionally, reviews enable customers to ask better questions of sales representatives. Lastly, they supplement marketing materials with real-life experiences. Even negative reviews are better than no reviews. 85% of buyers look for negative reviews before buying a product. Bad reviews build the trust and credibility of a collection of customer responses. […]

Being a great Project Manager means wearing a number of hats. Not only do you have to ensure a project executes on time, in the budget, and within scope, you will also serve multiple roles: negotiator, decision maker, team-builder, mentor, schedule-maker, risk-evaluator, budgeter, and task manager. Each of these roles requires skill and practice. Below, in no particular order, are seven skills you want to master when as a project manager. 1. Leadership Arguably the bread and butter of project management, leadership is a skill you wouldn’t want to miss in a project manager. There are a number of smaller skills that go into being a good leader, some of which you may have already. What they essentially boil down to is being a cheerleader, coach, and referee to your team and being able to balance these three roles. Good teams are made up of people that are motivated, skilled, and accountable to themselves and others. A good leader creates an environment where this can happen. Leaders that cheer their team on and provide  “feel good” vibes will have happier teams. Not only do happier employees make the workplace a more enjoyable place to be they’re also beneficial for the […]

Where there’s a rule, there’s a loophole. Where there’s a security feature, there’s someone to hack it. Where there’s a system, there’s someone figuring out how to game it. So, once online reviews revolutionized how we buy stuff—allowing us to use the real experiences of others to decide which vacuum cleaner to buy, which hotel to stay at, which doctor to consult, which cruise to take, which book to read—that system got gamed too. Amazon is the quintessential example, where a slew of fake review schemes have led to a system where even legitimate sellers feel they need to buy fake reviews to stay competitive. And the latest news—that the Elon Musk-based AI nonprofit OpenAI has created an AI tool that can generate fake text—doesn’t bode well for the consumer online review industry (though it’s not releasing the code for fear of misuse). What about business software reviews? Our process ensures that they don’t get published, but we see (and reject!) our share of fake reviews submitted to TrustRadius too. (And I feel confident our review readers would spot an AI-generated review off the bat.) But the motivation is different. In the consumer world, it’s the sellers buying fake reviews to […]