Every product, category and service has a devoted community somewhere online. Do a little research and you'll find them. If the community doesn't exist, you have a great opportunity to create one.

Businesses know mobile apps offer tremendous customer engagement opportunities -- if done correctly. Unfortunately, businesses can also eat up marketing budgets -- without the customer engagement payoff -- if mobile apps are not planned out with customer needs in mind.

Per recent guidelines, you will be penalized if your emails do not have adequate levels of deliverability and "engagement". Consider the following options to optimize your lists to increase open rates and engagement.

Business Marketing Association, most BtoB marketers say customer engagement is a high priority within their marketing organization (72 percent), but 43 percent grade their company's level of customer engagement, a C, with even more giving their companies a D or an F.

The opportunity for brands: build loyal social communities willing to share useful information with friends.

Companies can deepen their engagement with customers by championing powerful causes. However, in order for these efforts to be effective, customers must feel that your efforts are authentic and truly helping the charity.

I just read a conversation with a man who owns a small pool-installation company, and how he saved his business by doing what so many businesses are reluctant to do: be open and honest about what he does.

If you are not creating a personalized preference-driven experience for your customers, they'll go looking for that type of experience -- with your competitors.

Traditional marketing has often focused on getting the sale. Instead, marketers should focus on retention and how to keep more customers for longer periods.

News and events provide powerful opportunities to connect with your audience. Twitter makes this easy.

Major email providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL have implemented new algorithms for email deliverability based on "engagement." If your emails are not triggering sufficient interaction, they are likely not to be delivered.

The Challenge: What can we learn from a 157-year-old fashion company that's being called "the world's most digitally competent luxury brand"? That a multichannel and personalized customer experience is becoming the expected standard among consumers.

Poor website usability is not the only shortcoming. Per findings from Marketing Sherpa: among 1,100 online retailers evaluated, the study found a near 60 percent average shopping cart abandonment rate.

Marketers everywhere are fighting an uphill battle: trying to deliver more personalized communications but lacking the accurate data to do so. Without that information marketers are still stuck sending 'Spray and Pray' blasts of email.

In the past, brands addressed customer service issues by way of a primary channel -- the 'call center.' But now, companies must also monitor, respond, and engage in a variety of social channels.

No company is immune to the possibility of damaging comments, posts and tweets. So how do businesses prepare for unwanted attention on far-reaching social channels? Here, we look at a few companies that have weathered the storm and provided some valuable lessons.

Creating content that is conducive to social sharing can be tricky. Here's how Disney used smart and creative magic to crack the code.

How has Coke thrived in a social media world, ranking as the world's most valuable brand and attracting the biggest Facebook fan base? Learn from their 7 Social Media Rules for Success.

Consumers, bloggers, and social celebrities with high social influence scores can amplify a brand's message and even a recommend a product they love or are paid to promote, but how targeted is their audience? Are they even in the buying cycle?

How can brands turn their social media fans into revenue? For Starbucks, success through social media begins with a commitment to relationship-building, not sales.