This week Yahoo’s board fired CEO Carol Bartz , news that rocked the industry and has some debating if the company’s inability to choose between being a media company or a technology provider is to blame. At the top of my list is the creation of a mobile loyalty club where users willingly share preferences and location information in exchange for deals and information that matter to them. Guest columns Mobile Loyalty Mobile MarketingWe’ll likely never know the answer. News site mocoNews provides some worthwhile insights and analysis. How big is that audience? MORE >>

Tracking consumer purchase patterns on the move, along with the ability to separate data into specifically targeted user groups and demographic patterns, gives brands an effective, expedient way of reaching prospective customers, and securing their long-term loyalty. How you choose to market your brand now will be critical for future customer acquisition and loyalty. Editor’s note: MobileGroove regularly features guest columns from industry executives and influencers. Guest columns Mobile Commerce Mobile Loyalty Mobile MarketingShopping will never be the same. MORE >>

There are three important criteria while working on Social Media: Acquisition Retention Building Loyalty Acquisition: This is the process of getting new people on-board. There are a couple of ways in which you could look at Acquisition: Forums: Join the industry / category based Forums. You know what the industry is doing. Building Loyalty: If you have managed to retain your Clients and Customers well then getting them to be a little more attached and loyal to you / your Brand or Business should not be a far away dream. Building Loyalty is a life long process. MORE >>

The company doesn’t just get So Lo Mo — it has literally written the book on it, and will be releasing The Tasti D-Lite Way :Social Media Lessons for Building Loyalty and a Brand Customers Crave a bit later this year — so watch this space. However, Tasti D-Lite made the conscious decision to integrate its loyalty program with Twitter, Foursquare and Facebook. ” To achieve this Tasti  D-Lite integrated its loyalty program and database with leading social networks. Events Location-Based Services Mobile Loyalty Mobile Social Media Podcasts16:03]. MORE >>

I was privileged to be on a panel with some outstanding social media practitioners from the insurance industry at the 2011 Social Media Conference for Financial Services put on by LOMA LIMRA this morning. His best story actually had nothing to do with insurance but everything to do with using social marketing to build loyalty and word-of-mouth awareness. Financial services firms – and insurance companies in general – are often seen as boring, but what these companies are doing within the confines of a heavily regulated business is anything but that. With 1.3 MORE >>