/our_knowledge Read our latest perspectives on marketing and technology. en Lee Schwartz Copyright 2009 2009-10-16T15:39:45+00:00 http://www.sundog.net/images/logo_art.png /our_knowledge 50 46 Sundog feed artwork http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/when-is-the-time-to-switch-your-ad-budget-to-social-networks/ lee.schwartz@sundog.net (Lee Schwartz) Social networks have become unavoidable, personally and for your business. This is obvious when the President is the most-followed person on Twitter. Your kid is on Facebook, and so is your mom. You have a LinkedIn account, you’ve watched dozens (if not hundreds) of YouTube videos, and someone in your family sends you photos on Flickr or Snapfish after every holiday. Social network advertising has to be considered by every business already doing offline advertising, and is a must if you are already using search engine and pay-per-click ads on sites such as Google. The reasons are the same as with any other way to advertise: your customers are there—no matter what business you are in. Advertising, Business, Social Media 2009-10-16T15:39:45+00:00 http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/when-is-the-time-to-switch-your-ad-budget-to-social-networks/ http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/website-performance-assessment-101/ jason.gibb@sundog.net (Jason Gibb) “Why is our website slow?” Too often website performance assessment is based on speculation rather than facts. Website administrators and developers may be uncertain how to improve the speed of their sites, so they waste time and resources on costly and time-consuming activities while ignoring easily fixed bottlenecks. This paper will introduce you to simple tools and techniques anyone can use to measure the performance of any website or online application. You can identify and prioritize specific performance problems to direct your efforts (or your web developer’s efforts) to get the biggest speed boost for the smallest investment of time and resources. Online Marketing, Web Development 2009-10-08T21:53:59+00:00 http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/website-performance-assessment-101/ http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/securing-your-technology-infrastructure/ anthony.suda@sundog.net (Anthony Suda) Securing your network can seem to be an overwhelming task at times. There are so many ways that intruders can get in and information can be leaked out. This whitepaper focuses on five areas that should be researched and deployed first so that you can get to sleep at night. Internet, IT, Security, Technology 2009-10-01T14:10:38+00:00 http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/securing-your-technology-infrastructure/ http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/onboarding-new-bank-customers/ ron.lee@sundog.net (Ron Lee) Onboarding new customers represents an untapped area of bottom-line impact and competitive distinction for bank marketing executives at a time when financial institutions are fighting for deposit share, customer retention and consumer trust amidst a financial crisis.  Banks who are figuring out onboarding are realizing growth in deposits, increased cross sells, higher satisfaction and greater loyalty – all during the fragile period of a new customer’s first 90 days. This white paper provides an analysis of onboarding headaches and opportunities, with a review of both traditional and high-tech ways banks are connecting the marketing and technology dots to design a great customer experience. Customer Experience, Customer Insights 2009-04-28T18:25:47+00:00 http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/onboarding-new-bank-customers/ http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/the-l-word/ jonathan.gilbertson@sundog.net (Jon Gilbertson) In today’s competitive business environment, companies have to do more than provide quality products at reasonable prices. Customer loyalty is playing and increasingly important role in long-term business success. Why is it so important and how do we measure it? In this paper, we will look at why loyalty is important and examine how companies are attempting to gather customer feedback. We will review why traditional customer surveys may fail, and examine how asking a single question could be part of the solution. Customer Experience 2009-03-28T07:53:20+00:00 http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/the-l-word/ http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/the-roi-of-writing-maintainable-web-applications/ paul.bourdeaux@sundog.net (Paul Bourdeaux) As online marketing moves from a static content approach to the more vibrant world of Web 2.0 marketing, the code driving these dynamic marketing engines is becoming more and more complex.  As the code evolves, the development practices used to create it must evolve as well.  In order to reduce lifetime costs, maintenance must be taken into account from the very beginning.  The solution is a paradigm shift in the way web applications are viewed in the marketing world.  A Web 2.0 application is not just a web site.  It is a true software application, and should be treated as such.  This includes applying the same tried and true design techniques and patterns proven to reduce lifetime costs in software development outside the web application world. ROI, Software Maintenance, Web Development 2009-03-25T08:51:14+00:00 http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/the-roi-of-writing-maintainable-web-applications/ http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/code-coverage-revealed/ paul.bourdeaux@sundog.net (Paul Bourdeaux) Code coverage reports:  The informer of project managers, the bane of lazy developers, and the champion of test driven development (TDD) aficionados.  With each build, code coverage tools unleash their fury of coverage metrics and provide us with an intimate knowledge of the level of quality being infused into a software project.  Or so goes the commonly held belief.  Unfortunately, as it turns out, coverage is only as good as the way it is interpreted… Programming-Platforms, Software Development 2009-03-25T08:48:43+00:00 http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/code-coverage-revealed/ http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/compelling-content/ dean.froslie@sundog.net (Dean Froslie) So many aspects of the online world - search engine optimization, blogs, social media and yes, your core web site - rely on effective content. But as the web continues its breakneck evolution, online content continues to be misunderstood, ignored and even devalued. For writers who embrace new technologies and possess solid online content fundamentals, huge opportunities await. You don’t have to become a technology fanatic, but an understanding of six online fundamentals is essential. Content, Search Marketing, SEO, Writing 2009-03-25T08:31:51+00:00 http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/compelling-content/ http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/accessible-ajax/ darin.livdahl@sundog.net (Darin Livdahl) As with any emerging Web technology or technique, there is the potential for misusing or not including an important section of the Web browsing public. Ajax is no exception and although it can dramatically enhance user experience, it, if used unwisely, can negatively affect such things as accessibility, usability and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The intention of this paper is to promote the use of Ajax, to consider the implications of using it, and to identify best practices to ensure successful Ajax-driven Web sites. Web 2.0, Web Development 2008-11-25T03:07:18+00:00 http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/accessible-ajax/ http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/javascript-smackdown/ jason.gibb@sundog.net (Jason Gibb) The goals of this paper are to provide an overview of the current state of JavaScript libraries, review the current “best of breed” libraries in use today, and compare and contrast each library based on a common set of criteria. Programming-Platforms, Technology, Web Development 2008-09-03T04:25:39+00:00 http://www.sundog.net/our_knowledge/whitepaper/javascript-smackdown/