Sitecore® Announces the "Connect" Guide for Experience Marketing

-- Book offers insights for organizations on increasing their digital maturity and earning brand loyalty during monumental change in marketing

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Sitecore®, the global leader in customer experience management, announced availability of "Connect: How to Use Data and Experience Marketing to Create Lifetime Customers," (ISBN:978-1-118-96361-6)  a hardcover and electronic book for succeeding in the new age of marketing. Published by Wiley, "Connect" outlines the modern challenges marketers face and provides critical insight on how to successfully and simply engage increasingly distracted, vocal and demanding customers. Written by digital experience marketing experts and Sitecore Senior Business Optimization Consultants Lars Birkholm Petersen, Ron Person and Christopher Nash with a foreword by digital analyst and author Brian Solis, "Connect" provides readers with a proven, data-driven approach to experience marketing that earns customers for life.

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Since 2001, Sitecore has been combining marketing, technology and customer experience to inspire customer connections for life. Tapping into the collective history and resources of the organization, "Connect" leverages Sitecore's Customer Experience Maturity Model, a roadmap for experience marketing success, to reveal how readers can use these techniques to gain a competitive advantage. Readers will come away with thought-provoking theories and real-world examples to help them create marketing that is personal, relevant and accessible at all touch points throughout a customer's life cycle.

"Experience now makes or breaks a brand, and only brands able to provide the best experiences will prevail. However, our research indicates that a vast majority of organizations serve disconnected experiences for their customers that fall far short of their expectations," said Lars Birkholm Petersen, Global Director of business optimization services at Sitecore. "The time for change is now. If customer experience laggards don't evolve their approach and strategy, their businesses will be obsolete in less than five years. Marketers must collect and connect data and use insights in real time to remain relevant to customers and compete in their respective industries."

According to Sitecore's Customer Experience Maturity Model, which assessed more than 1,000 businesses, 85 percent of organizations are still in the first stage of customer experience maturity. Further, 43 percent of organizations do not measure digital marketing programs, and more than half of enterprises surveyed do not have a mobile strategy.

"Connect" offers compelling case studies, real-life examples, recommendations, initiatives and specific processes for moving beyond the initial stages of customer experience maturity to a higher level of marketing excellence. The book's companion website includes a wealth of content, templates and assessments that will help leaders align marketing and business objectives, develop more strategic approaches to customer experience, and achieve digital marketing success. 

For more information, visit the official "Connect" website here: http://www.connecttheexperience.com/

Purchase the book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Praise

"Customer experience management is no longer an option, a nice-to-have, or a remote step in the five year strategic plan. Now is the time to act, embrace technology and build connected experiences that put the customer at the center. Success is dependent on truly understanding the customer needs and matching the complexities of an ever-changing digital landscape with the goals of your organization. Read this book today, and prepare your business for a superlative tomorrow."
—Scott Liewehr, President, Principal Analyst, Digital Clarity Group

"This eye-opener should be read by all brands. It gives a comprehensive look at why customer intelligence needs to be at the center of any digital marketing strategy and more importantly how to create a phenomenal customer experience that leads to greater profitability."
—Michelle Accardi-Petersen, Chief Marketing Officer at Star2Star Communications and Author of Agile Marketing

"Companies are on a mission: they need to embrace digital marketing and Big Data to better engage and connect with their customers. The core precepts outlined in this book will help organizations along this journey. Engaging. Connecting. Words to survive and prosper by."
—Jeff Cotrupe, Industry Director, Big Data & Analytics, Stratecast|Frost & Sullivan

About the Authors

Lars Birkholm Petersen is a passionate and innovative senior strategist committed to helping organizations adapt to customer needs by providing strategy and guidance for creating connected customer experiences using innovative technology.

Ron Person enjoys his work so much he even spends weekends thinking how to create new performance improvement processes. He gets great satisfaction from seeing the people he works with adopt processes that energize and build a better business.

Christopher (Chris) Nash is a curiosity-driven analog and digital marketer who frequently hangs out at the corner of business and technology. Over the course of his business career, he has advised numerous brands on digital marketing adoption challenges, cofounded a marketing automation company, grown a successful independent consulting business, and traversed the international business arena.

About Sitecore

Sitecore is the global leader in customer experience management. The company delivers highly relevant content and personalized digital experiences that delight audiences, build loyalty and drive revenue. With the Sitecore® Experience Platform™, marketers can own the experience of every customer that engages with their brand, across every channel. More than 4,000 of the world's leading brands – including American Express, Carnival Cruise Lines, easyJet, Heineken and L'Oréal trust Sitecore to help them deliver the meaningful interactions that win customers for life.

For more information, visit: http://www.sitecore.net