How customer voice
drives business

Influencer marketing isn’t just for the B2C space. It makes sense in any industry where at least one person has become notable and respected for their knowledge, contributions, and insights. In fact, it would be difficult to find a niche where influencers weren’t making their mark. By successfully using influencers, you can increase trust with your target audience, make your content more appealing, and give your audience a person they can relate to. The latter may be the most important, because people tend to form relationships with brands not businesses. By having a respected person act as an ambassador or evangelist for your brand, you add a genuine face and personality. The old adage is true, people buy from people. Of course, in the B2B space, influencer marketing is a bit more challenging. In B2C, a brand can simply find a well-known person that their audience will find relatable. That person doesn’t necessarily have to have any direct relationship with the product or service offered, or any relevant professional expertise, they can simply promote it as something they consume in their personal life. In a sense, B2C ambassadors are really often pitchmen. In B2B, it’s necessary to dig a little […]

With project deadlines and new products rolling out, many businesses tend to put recruitment on the back burner. The thought is that a quick job posting with a few sketched out details will be enough to find a suitable candidate. While some businesses may get lucky with this approach, the truth is a bit more complicated. If you want a great company, you want great people. If you want great employees, you’ll need a great job post to attract them. “I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day, you bet on people, not on strategies.”  ~ Lawrence Bossidy, GE There it is: people trump nearly everything else you do. Why is that? Without exceptional, motivated people, success will be more elusive. A solid job post will help you attract promising leads, leaving a great first impression on your candidates and opening up an avenue for them to leave a fantastic impression on you. If you are looking to recruit stellar employees for your new product or project, you most likely already know what you are looking for. You have the experience, personality and strengths of your ideal […]

In order to grow a business, entrepreneurs need to stay on their toes, keep an eye out for new opportunities, and even put in extra hours. For small and new businesses, in particular, staying focused and improving productivity can make or break a company. Unfortunately, there are a lot of factors that can slow down productivity. These can range from chatty colleagues to non-essential tasks, causing productivity levels drop throughout the day. According to a recent Irvine study, interruptions can have serious repercussions. The study showed it takes up to 23 minutes to refocus your efforts and recover from a distraction. Working in distraction-rich environments is a significant problem when it comes to maintaining work efficiency. Here are some helpful tips for avoiding distraction and staying focused on your most important projects: Use the 2-Minute Rule Most of us have a tendency to react to something the moment it comes up, whether it’s a question from a colleague or an email from a client. But letting questions and new tasks interrupt your workflow only make you less productive. They take away your focus from the task at hand. Still, it can be stressful to not address tasks right away. Small […]

Graphic design has always been an integral part of marketing and business operations. In more recent years, design software has become more accessible for business leaders looking to bring a new edge to their image. Gone are the days when specialized knowledge was a prerequisite for creating compelling design. But how do you choose the right design software for your needs and abilities? Design software tools range from simple platforms for beginners to advanced suites for experienced graphic designers. Which design software you choose will depend entirely on experience level and what you are looking to do with design. But no matter what, you should look for a design tool that makes your job easier and your message clearer. Take into account these words from the designer of the world-famous FedEx logo. “I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity. Great design is born of those two things.” ~ Lindon Leader This design mantra applies equally well to design software tools which should also be simple to use and bring clarity to what you are trying to accomplish. If you’re looking to create social media graphics, you most likely won’t need an entire design suite. On the other […]

B2B Tech Buyers are Wary of Biased Information Sources As a B2B technology buyer, you seek sources you can trust to give you the full scoop on a product — how to use it as a secret weapon, all of its shortcomings, how well it plays with other tools, and what kind of ROI you can expect. You’re looking to feel secure in your choice. You know there’s no magic bullet — and you wouldn’t trust any source that claimed to be one. In fact, according to a recent survey we did of 438 B2B technology buyers, the average buyer uses 5 different sources of information, because no one resource is perfectly adequate or trustworthy. The top five resources used by buyers were product demos, user reviews, vendor/product websites, a free trial or account, and vendor representatives. Buyers also used resources like analyst rankings & reports, prior experience with the product, vendor marketing collateral, third-party publications and independent media, referrals from friends, colleagues or peers, communities/forums, vendor-produced case studies, vendor-provided customer references, solution consultants or agency recommendations, and vendor blogs. As buyers consult these diverse resources, they pay close attention to potential biases, evaluating not only the products but also […]

SEO stands for search engine optimization, and SEM stands for search engine marketing. So what’s the difference between the two? SEO experts focus on generating traffic and leads through organic search whereas SEM experts aim to generate traffic and leads through organic and paid search. When it comes to practicing SEO and SEM, it’s not an either/or — SEM actually includes SEO tactics. Still confused? Don’t worry, it can often sound like jibberish! We’ll explain what both SEO and SEM experts do, rather than soley their differences, to help paint the picture for you.  What does an SEO expert do? An SEO expert’s job includes a number of day-to-day responsibilities, from finding the right keywords to go after to reading industry news daily to ensure that the right tactics are being used. Below are some tasks an SEO expert might focus on. Perform keyword research Anyone working in SEO should have a firm grasp on how to perform keyword research. So, what’s a keyword? A keyword is a word or phrase you type into a search engine, like Google, to find the answer or result that you were looking for. If you’re trying to figure out what kind of spider you […]

Mobile workforces are becoming increasingly common. As companies look to save money on office space and employees look for flexibility, remote teams have become a popular choice. This development comes with its own set of benefits and challenges. On one hand, a mobile workforce can arguably increase productivity, lower costs and increase flexibility. On the other hand, companies may find it challenging to manage these remote employees well and encourage teams to collaborate. But these challenges are not insurmountable! There are many tools in place to help small businesses and large enterprises manage their mobile workforces. These business apps can help you keep employees in communication and productivity. But that’s not the entire point – you don’t just want to manage your employees, you want to support your mobile workforce. We took some time to research which software tools TrustRadius users utilize to help them support their mobile workforce. Some useful tools are for collaboration, while others focus on time tracking or video communication. This list is in no particular order, but all the products have at least one thing in common: they are used by customers to support a geographically diverse team. 1. Dropbox Business Dropbox Business expands the cloud […]

IT professionals want hands-on experience before they buy new products, but look to both vendors and peers for insights to guide evaluations. As an IT professional, you likely evaluate new software tools through a different lens than other leaders in your company. Of course, in any new system, individuals across all roles care about how well it can meet your company’s needs now, and in the future, and how quickly you’ll be able to see results. But because you intimately understand the complexities of technology, and because you will probably be more hands-on during implementation, integration, and troubleshooting, you take product evaluations further than the average stakeholder. You’re invested in understanding the nitty gritty of the product’s capabilities up front. And, you know how to push the system to discover limitations or breaking points to get the full picture of what a solution can and can’t do. You certainly aren’t going to take someone else’s word for it, and rely on that alone. You know your own technology environment best. But you probably do want some input on what to watch out for. You need an insider perspective on the product’s strengths and weaknesses, so that you can test them […]

Fake reviews have become a significant issue in the B2C world. To ensure reviews are authentic and unbiased, many consumer sites have banned the use of incentives, or in the case of Yelp, even prohibited businesses or third parties from asking customers to write reviews. These moves were driven by research that showed offering rewards or free products in exchange for reviews resulted in higher ratings. This has led to a perception among B2B buyers that the same is true for reviews of business technology. Yet in the B2B world, the opposite is actually true—invitations with small incentives actually lead to a larger, more representative sample, a more even distribution of ratings (not just promoters and detractors), and more detailed product reviews. Why do paid reviews in B2C and B2B look so different? B2B is on a smaller scale First, consumer-facing businesses enjoy exponentially larger customer bases, which translates to many more potential reviewers. Relying on a fraction of a percentage of customers to self-motivate to contribute reviews for B2C shops might produce enough quantity to be statistically meaningful. But many B2B vendors have just a couple hundred customers. At best, they could hope for one or two self-motivated reviews […]

There has been an explosion of news coverage around fake consumer reviews. As product reviews play an increasingly important role in buyers’ decision-making process, sellers are doing what they can to play the game—or game the system. Recent stories by BuzzFeed and the Washington Post dig into fake review schemes that Amazon sellers can (and sometimes must) buy into, paying for a slew of 5-star reviews of their product—or 1-star reviews of competitors’ products. For certain types of products on Amazon, as few as 33% of reviews of the top 10 products appear legitimate, according to an analysis in the above Washington Post article using data from ReviewMeta, a website that helps consumers spot unnatural Amazon reviews. The BuzzFeed article says, “Paid review writing is the modern lemonade stand.” The price per fake review can start small, but it adds up. At scale, the fake review hustle has a big impact on which product consumers buy. It costs sellers who are locked in an arms race, and consumers who choose the wrong product based on fake reviews. If you read through the comments on the above articles or others like them, you’ll find many stories that go just like this: […]

You can’t develop software without also creating bugs or flaws that cause it to behave incorrectly or in ways not intended by the design. It is imperative to squash these bugs as quickly possible since multiple bugs in a released software application can negatively affect the business processes of your customers and create significant customer support problems. What are Bug Tracking Systems? Bug tracking systems are programs that keep track of the defects or errors, also known as ‘bugs,’ in software development projects. Bug tracking software allows you to track bugs from inception through resolution. They provide a way to report each bug as it occurs. You are able to log the date and time the bug was noticed, who reported it, who is working on it, what the observed defective behaviors are, and issue severity. They also allow you to track the steps taken to reproduce and resolve the bug along with the resolution outcomes. Advantages of Bug Tracking Systems The main point of bug tracking software is to have an overview of each bug’s life cycle, status, and resolution. Bugs can be entered into the system by internal members of the software development team and, sometimes, by end users. System […]

Today, we awarded the 2018 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Predictive Analytics Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are unique in that they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user satisfaction scores. Here are the winners in each segment, listed in order of research frequency on TrustRadius. We have also provided insights on how to pick the right predictive analytics software based on your needs and current industry trends. Overall Top Rated Alteryx Analytics SAS Advanced Analytics Anaconda MATLAB RStudio Top Rated by Enterprises Alteryx Analytics SAS Advanced Analytics IBM SPSS Anaconda MATLAB RapidMiner Studio RStudio Top Rated by Mid-Sized Companies Alteryx Analytics SAS Advanced Analytics IBM SPSS Anaconda RStudio What is predictive analytics software? Predictive analytics software is a category of tools that use statistical models and machine learning techniques to identify the likelihood of future outcomes based on historical data. The quality of data is key to producing reliable results. For example, to make predictions about what customers are likely to buy in the future, it’s essential to have detailed data on what they have bought in the past, attributes of purchased products, etc. Provided there is adequate high-quality data, predictive models are created […]

Today, we awarded the 2018 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Functional Testing Tools. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are unique in that they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user satisfaction scores. Here are the winners in each segment, listed in order of research frequency on TrustRadius. We have also provided insights on how to pick the right functional testing software based on your needs and current industry trends. Overall Top Rated Selenium TestComplete Sauce Labs Top Rated by Enterprises Selenium TestComplete Sauce Labs Top Rated by Mid-Sized Companies Selenium HP UFT TestComplete Top Rated by Small Businesses BrowserStack What are functional testing tools? In agile and DevOps environments, automated testing is an integral part of the product development process where the software is tested automatically to make sure that it conforms to the requirements. Test processes run continuously and are fully integrated with development and delivery. Unit, functional and nonfunctional testing are run automatically and are orchestrated by continuous integration and delivery tools. Functional testing is one flavor of testing, but is perhaps the most costly and time-consuming step in continuous testing. Functional testing is often referred to as “black box testing” as this kind […]

Today, we awarded the 2018 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Rapid Application Development / Low Code Software. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are unique in that they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user satisfaction scores. Here are the winners in each segment, listed in order of research frequency on TrustRadius. We have also provided insights on how to pick the right rapid application development software based on your needs and current industry trends. Overall Top Rated Appian OutSystems Nintex Workflow Platform Mendix Oracle Application Express KiSSFLOW Top Rated by Enterprises Quick Base Nintex Workflow Platform Oracle Application Express Mendix KiSSFLOW Top Rated by Mid-Sized Companies OutSystems Mendix Oracle Application Express KiSSFLOW Nintex Workflow Platform Top Rated by Small Businesses OutSystems Mendix What is low code software? Traditional code-centric software development is complex with long development cycles that inhibit development agility. Both low code and no code platforms are designed to solve this problem. Low code / no code application development framework options rely on graphical user interfaces (GUIs) allowing business users to design complex applications without having to learn complex computer languages. The ability for non-coders to build powerful applications without having to learn complex […]

Today, we awarded the 2018 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for NoSQL Databases. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are unique in that they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user satisfaction scores. Here are the winners in each segment, listed in order of research frequency on TrustRadius. We have also provided insights on how to pick the right NoSQL database based on your needs and current industry trends. Overall Top Rated Cassandra Redis MongoDB Amazon DynamoDB Top Rated by Enterprises Cassandra Redis Amazon DynamoDB Couchbase Data Platform Top Rated by Mid-Sized Companies Cassandra Redis Couchbase Data Platform HBase Top Rated by Small Businesses Redis IBM Cloudant What are NoSQL databases? Traditional relational databases store data in highly structured tabular form, with multiple rows and columns. While these data stores are highly flexible, easy to maintain, and effective for data stored on a single server, they do not scale very well in a distributed system. Distributed systems using inexpensive storage and processing power are often used in environments where there is a need for high availability and speed. NoSQL databases are designed to be used across large distributed systems. They are notably much more scalable and much faster at handling […]

Today, we awarded the 2018 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Relational Databases. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are unique in that they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user satisfaction scores. Here are the winners in each segment, listed in order of research frequency on TrustRadius. We have also provided insights on how to pick the right relational databases based on your needs and current industry trends. Overall Top Rated Microsoft SQL Server Oracle Database Oracle Database 12c DB2 Sequel Pro Top Rated by Enterprises Microsoft SQL Server Oracle Database Oracle Database 12c DB2 Top Rated by Mid-Sized Companies Microsoft SQL Server Amazon Relational Database Service Oracle Database 12c SQL Developer Top Rated by Small Businesses Microsoft SQL Server MySQL Sequel Pro What are relational databases? Many new database types have emerged in the last 10 years, including Hadoop, NewSQL, and NoSQL. But the primacy of the standard, relational database workhorse remains in place. Relational databases continue to be a critical component of data architectures. Relational databases differ from other database types in that the data is stored in a highly structured form that still forms the foundation for information infrastructure in most organizations. A relational […]

Today, we awarded the 2018 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Platform-as-a-Service Solutions. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are unique in that they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user satisfaction scores. Here are the winners in each segment, listed in order of research frequency on TrustRadius. We have also provided insights on how to pick the right PaaS solution based on your needs and current industry trends. Overall Top Rated Microsoft Azure OpenShift Heroku Mendix Google App Engine AWS Elastic Beanstalk AWS Lambda Top Rated by Enterprises Microsoft Azure OpenShift Mendix AWS Elastic Beanstalk AWS Lambda Salesforce App Cloud Top Rated by Mid-Sized Companies Mendix Google App Engine Salesforce App Cloud AWS Elastic Beanstalk AWS Lambda Top Rated by Small Businesses Heroku OpenShift Mendix Google App Engine Oracle Cloud Platform What is Platform-as-a-Service? Platform-as a-Service (PaaS) is a category of cloud computing services that provide a computing platform and a solution stack as a service. It is a set of tools and services designed to make coding and deploying applications much more efficient. A PaaS platform can be a very good way to develop scalable web applications with modest up-front investment. The emergence of PaaS is […]

Today, we awarded the 2018 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Web Analytics Tools. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are unique in that they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user satisfaction scores. Here are the winners in each segment, listed in order of research frequency on TrustRadius. We have also provided insights on how to pick the right web analytics tool based on your needs and current industry trends. Overall Top Rated Google Analytics Adobe Analytics Matomo (formerly Piwik) Mixpanel Google Analytics Premium AT Internet StatCounter Woopra Top Rated by Enterprises Adobe Analytics Google Analytics Mixpanel Google Analytics Premium Top Rated by Mid-Sized Companies Google Analytics Adobe Analytics Google Analytics Premium Kissmetrics Top Rated by Small Businesses Google Analytics Google Analytics Premium StatCounter Woopra What are web analytics tools? Web analytics tools are used to understand how people are interacting with your website so that you can optimize the experience for visitors. Some tools in this space have evolved to track other online interactions as well, such as how people interact with social media and mobile apps. Web analytics tools provide reporting and analysis capabilities that can help you diagnose and improve the effectiveness of your […]

Today, we awarded the 2018 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for Enterprise Video Platforms. The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are unique in that they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user satisfaction scores. Here are the winners in each segment, listed in order of research frequency on TrustRadius. We have also provided insights on how to pick the right enterprise video platform based on your needs and current industry trends. Overall Top Rated Vimeo Pro Vidyard Wistia Top Rated by Enterprises Kaltura Brightcove Vidyard Top Rated by Mid-Sized Companies Vimeo Pro Vidyard IBM Cloud Video Wistia Top Rated by Small Businesses Vimeo Pro Brightcove Vidyard What are enterprise video platforms? Enterprise video platforms provide a suite of tools designed to help you effectively leverage video content in your business, whether video is the product you sell, the vehicle you use to advertise your product, or a method of training. These platforms allow you to upload, store, and distribute (or in some cases, live stream) video content to customers and/or employees in a more personal, engaging format. Some products are geared towards particular internal or external use cases, while others are more flexible, with a broad gamut of […]

Today, we awarded the 2018 TrustRadius Top Rated badges for System Monitoring Software.  The TrustRadius Top Rated awards are unique in that they are an unbiased reflection of customer sentiment, based solely on user satisfaction scores. Here are the winners in each segment, listed in order of research frequency on TrustRadius. We have also provided insights on how to pick the right system monitoring software based on your needs and current industry trends. Overall Top Rated ConnectWise Automate Nagios Ivanti Endpoint Manager Kaseya Virtual System Administrator (VSA) LogicMonitor Top Rated by Enterprises Nagios Ivanti Endpoint Manager Top Rated by Mid-Sized Companies Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager LogicMonitor Kaseya Virtual System Administrator (VSA) Top Rated by Small Businesses ConnectWise Automate Pingdom What is system monitoring software? System monitoring software provides tools that help you manage and monitor the performance of all your technology solutions in one place, which can include networks and applications or devices such as servers, computer systems, printers, storage, and even mobile devices. These systems generally support IT professionals in accessing and analyzing the health of all computing systems, whether they are on-site or remote. System monitoring software can send alerts if failures, slow downs, or other downtime […]