I recently spent my entire weekend with cheerleading moms in Dallas, at the National Championship and, ironically, in our downtime, there was a lot of discussion about stores and brands and their marketing efforts. It was fascinating to listen to. (If you know anything about Cheer Moms, you know we are not short of opinions!)

The word "engagement" has become a buzzword for marketers lately, but many brands do not fully understand its definition: to ignite excitement that leads to participation. A call-to-action does not always need to equate to a transaction. Yet, not every campaign must directly sell a product in order to be considered successful. In many scenarios, brands have grown their businesses by building relationships with their target audiences, eventually turning consumers into brand advocates. For many, social media has become the driving vehicle for consumer interaction. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have transformed the meaning of campaigns in order to sell a …

Customers are valuable. We all know that, of course. We work hard, strategize, and spend good money to acquire them. We brainstorm what they might want from our products and services, and then we try to give it to them. We do everything within our creative powers to engage them and keep them engaged.

Conferences and trade shows are nothing new for marketing professionals. They can be a great way for brands to network with current and potential customers as well as interact with peers. However, conferences also require a good deal of preparation, time and money, so if you are investing, it's critical to prepare a conference presence that will pique visitors' interest and encourage them to stop and ask questions.

Cross-selling became popular in through customer service and sales centers in the 1990s and on the web more recently. At the time, The Economist described it as "the synergistic notion that buyers of one of a firm's services would become customers for another." As expected, the rules and opportunities around cross-selling have evolved and expanded since. It's still effectively used to generate revenue but also as a value-added service to a customer.

The words you say, as well as the ones you don't say, can make a big impact on your sales results.

Recently, in a detailed conversation with a client, they had some very specific and preconceived notions about re-targeting. Having seen what re-targeting could do for one of their sister brands, the marketing leadership of this particular effort wanted to go even more direct, more specific and most importantly, "always on."

A recent survey commissioned by Adobe and administered by Keynote Services looked at how consumers are using mobile sites, apps, and emerging technologies. All of the data was interesting in one way or another to marketers who want to take advantage of multichannel touchpoints in reaching prospects and customers.

As customers head to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social channels to connect with a brand, where does the company website fit in the mix? Should organizations be devoting the time and resources to engaging customers on their corporate sites if social media channels are garnering more traffic?

Ask marketers or loyalty marketing service providers (L-MSPs) what will be a common 2013 theme and they'll tell you "convergence" - just like 2012.