Is Christmas really over?

With the madness that  was the week leading up to Christmas over and businesses ready to shut down for a week and a half (two weeks for some lucky individuals) and employees ready to fill themselves with Turkey and chocolates many people will feel that the New Year brings with it a new start. 

In theory this is correct but you would be missing out on crucial previous customer engagements if your Christmas build up is not part of your New Year marketing strategy. The phase strike while the iron is hot has never been more applicable than it is here. 

You have worked so hard to get your prospects and customers to interact with you and many of them have, as they looked to take advantage of the offers you have available – so why would you not take advantage of them and target your marketing accordingly?

A simple email is all it takes

Hi Karl, 

Thank you for your recent custom. We hope you had a great Christmas and New Year.

I’m sure by now you are back into the swing of work and I wanted to let you know how Profunnel can really help you start 2014 well!

This would make me take notice – you have recognised that we have done business previously but you are also helping me further, it feels that you have my best interest at heart. 

As I am sure you are aware making the connection with your prospects is key and you have a great opportunity to do this now and really start your 2014 well.

Here are Profunnel we are big advocates of personalisation and planning your marketing accordingly – we would love to discuss this further and highlight how we can help you so do not hesitate to get in touch. 

Karl
Account Manager

Integrating Social Media Proves Powerful For Customer Engagement

A report by Virgin Media Business highlights how more companies are realising the success they can achieve through the use of social media for customer engagement.

Reported by Computer Business Review, the study, which surveyed over 5,000 companies, reveals that businesses are focussing on just one or two social media channels – selecting the tools which work best for their strategy. British businesses are becoming more aware of the benefits of social media to engage customers with 43% of the respondents reporting they use this form of communication, an 8% increase on last year.

Incorporating social media into a marketing strategy is certainly proving to be a beneficial tool for businesses, however integrating this with traditional methods, such as targeted email marketing, means the overall marketing activity can be more effective. Profunnel offers a platform which includes various marketing solutions, such as social media tracking, to assist sales and marketing teams in building relationships with prospects, and to generate more sales.

Visit Profunnel for more information on demand generation

Email marketing ‘has a place’

Although some experts claim email marketing is being made redundant by social media, the latest research by Econsultancy shows quite the opposite.

As reported by MyCustomer.com, the UK market for email marketing grew by 15.5% last year with the value for platforms and services rising to £388 million. The figures have been drawn from email service providers, the cost of internal staff resources for email and spending on agency services.

The research indicates that this boost to email marketing is being strengthened by cross-channel campaigns and according to Econsultancy’s research manager, Aliya Zaidi, the key factor for marketers to master now is relevance. She suggests: “The growth of social media and greater volume of emails means companies can simply no longer afford to ignore email tactics that will increase the effectiveness of their campaigns, including personalisation, targeting and segmentation.”

By integrating email marketing solutions, businesses can create focussed, segmented campaigns based on the use of their website by prospects, such as keywords, downloads and number of visits. The technology can also provide real time statistics on open-rates to ensure marketers can concentrate on warm prospects while companies improve overall communications with customers.

Visit Profunnel for more information on targeted email marketing.

Marketers are the happiest and hardest workers

Research conduct by Mars Drinks UK shows marketers are the happiest workers within an organisation.

As reported on Marketing Week, the study included the responses of 2000 office workers from various departments including, marketing, creative, finance, IT and legal. 60% of the marketers questioned said they were happy where they worked – more than any other office sector.

Trade marketing manager for Marks Drink UK, Jenni Morgan, who commissioned the research, said: “Our results also show that we are working longer hours than ever before but this has not dented our enjoyment of the job.”

Happiness at work for marketers, whether consumer or B2B, is vital for good results. A happy marketer makes for a good marketer.

The combination of dedication and job satisfaction is good news for business owners but the productivity of B2B marketing can be increased with the support of marketing automation software. Marketers can optimise their entire online strategy through integrated, targeted email marketing. The increased level of communication by automated emails builds a rapport with prospects and enhances lead generation - creating more qualified leads and appointments, and highlighting a clearer ROI.

Visit Profunnel for more information on email marketing

It’s all in the Measure

The latest survey by the Content Marketing Institute has highlighted prominent trends for the year ahead.

As reported on thenextweb.com, 60% of respondents have said they plan to increase their spend on content marketing over the next 12 months. The report also indicates that more than a quarter of B2B marketers are planning to dedicate their total budgets to content marketing activities. These results show how B2B marketers are realising the potential of content marketing to benefit lead generation.

When incorporating content marketing into a strategy, it is essential to measure its level of success in order to invest more resources in the channels which are most productive.

Profunnel offers a marketing automation platform which encompasses content marketing products and tools to measure success. The software offers a range of templates to allow you to create targeted email marketing. Producing more relevant emails for prospects and existing customers allows web conversion rates to increase as warm visitors are directed back to your site. By tagging and tracking these visitors, the lead generation software will only alert sales with warm leads to approach, meaning businesses can clearly identify their ROI.

Visit Profunnel for more information on marketing automation.

2012 – The Year to Get Ahead in Marketing

As the clock struck 12 on New Year’s Eve, reports of a struggling economy for the year ahead were ready and waiting to fill the newspapers.

According to the founding editor of B2B Marketing, Joel Harrison, marketers need to adopt new ways of working in order to stay ahead in their industry and the economy. With the technological revolution, marketers have been increasingly pressured with more demands and less time to deliver results for their clients and their company. Harrison suggests an interest in new tools and methods is essential as marketing continues to change. Marketers must be in tune with technology – analytics, automation and social media monitoring. Not only are these tools necessary for today’s marketing processes but they also assist marketers with their work.

Email marketing software such as Profunnel’s can offer a personalised and flexible solution to your email marketing campaigns. In contrast to the known ineffectiveness of “email blasting”, the platform allows prospects to receive highly relevant emails based on their activity on your site. This level of automation means campaigns can be executed more efficiently, with less time spent but greater results.

Visit Profunnel for more information on targeted email marketing.

Keeping the Customers Happy in 2012

As 2011 draws to a close businesses are reflecting on the year’s achievements and downfalls to plan for a fruitful year ahead. To be successful a business primarily requires growth in some form of sales. But in conjunction with sales it is also crucial to retain current customers and their loyalty to the business.

As reported by MyCustomer.com, businesses find that engaging and retaining customers is one of their greatest challenges.  Loyalty 360, the US Loyalty Marketing Association, has outlined top loyalty trends to be aware of and act on in 2012, which the added support of lead generation software from Profunnel can help to accomplish.

Customer engagement is paramount to marketing and sales and a deeper level of engagement is needed to maintain customer loyalty into the next competitive year. Businesses should ensure they deliver a quality customer experience from an initial website visit right through to the final purchase and this is often achieved through a personal approach. Profunnel can track and monitor visitor activity to find interests in your business. This information provides marketers with a valuable insight to easily engage with a prospect. Current customers can receive targeted email marketing messages with new information about products or services they have previously purchased.

With the relevant data and preliminary contact established via email campaigns, sales teams have the tools and information to confidently approach a prospect while maintaining a high level of engagement with current customers.

Visit Profunnel for more information on lead generation and other online marketing solutions.

Information Is Just As Important As The Technology

Business leaders need to receive more information about technology in order to understand the benefits for their company, according to the Financial Times.

A spokesperson for Gartner believes leaders need to ensure they are aware of how technology can be implemented in their business. Awareness of technological influences within the industry is important for businesses to stay ahead, Gartner says.

Although technology is an integral part of any business in the modern world, information on how technology can be useful and why, clearly remains an issue.

In sales and marketing, demand generation technology is proven to provide real advantages to businesses. Profunnel’s solution provides intelligent forensics for your website, tagging visitors and monitoring their activity. The system creates real-time alerts for marketers, illustrating the most interested prospects, developing your B2B lead generation. The platform also allows you to create targeted email marketing messages, tailored to the prospects’ interests. Receiving relevant information is more likely to increase their interest rather then a generic email. While the prospect builds a relationship with the brand and businesses are able to view the main appeal of their services, sale opportunities improve.

Visit Profunnel for more information on demand generation

Get in Shape for the New B2B Season

It’s never too early to start planning for the turn of the year. Organisations need to consider all their options in order to optimise the time and effort spent on generating new business.

Many companies are aware that their website is the best source for new leads. However there are key areas where improvements through integrated marketing solutions can create major success for the new business process.

The latest white paper from Profunnel offers practical advice on preparing for the new selling season, which includes:

• Website Content – ensuring your website contains the right keywords to increase SEO and drive traffic to your site
• CRM Database – an up-to-date CRM is essential for the start of the sales process and a large amount of data is required to maximise the results of emails and e-shots sent out
• Awareness of Digital Conversation – digital conversations will already be taking place between prospects and your services. By implementing social media tools you can tag and track online conversations, allowing you to view and understand positive and negative conversions
• Targeted Email Marketing– segmented email campaigns for different sectors and audiences are more beneficial for gaining interest and achieving positive responses than generic ‘email blasting’
• Marketing Automation System – the engine can provide email templates to assist with the design of your targeted campaigns while the system will check and test emails to assure you that they won’t be received as spam

Download the full version of the white paper here

Visit Profunnel for more information on the products and services available.

Email Marketing is Evolving

The results from the annual Marketing Week ‘Email Attitudes Research’ survey indicate that email marketing remains a favoured method of communication for businesses. 70% of respondents said they sent more emails over the last 12 months than the previous year and 45% have seen greater click-through rates.

Consumers surveyed in 2010 found one of the biggest issues with email to be ‘information overload’, whereas this year consumers are more willing to receive email messages due to better targeting. Although for many marketers ‘targeting’ is still considered a big challenge, finding difficulties in obtaining data.

Email appears to be retaining its status as a preferred form of marketing as businesses begin to see the potential of integrating email with other marketing channels. 45% indicate they have seen traffic from other channels increase when integrated with email campaigns. However there is still concern from marketers over data capture, which would allow them to create more tailored emails.

As the results highlight, targeted email marketing is the underlying success factor for marketers and consumers. Profunnel provides integrated email marketing solutions to strengthen tailored campaigns for better results. Through web forensics, website visitor behaviour is captured and warm leads are selected and sent through to marketers, developing B2B lead generation. With this information, email messages can be composed with relevant content for individual prospects. Recipients are more likely to open these messages which will consequently create greater opportunity to generate new business.

Please visit Profunnel for more information on email marketing

Solutions Required for Better Knowledge of Information

A recent Q&A conducted by Marketing Week with national and global brands, including Telefonica/o2, AXA Insurance and Toyota, shows how organisations are getting closer to their customers but marketers are still facing issues when obtaining information.

The heads of research and marketing discuss innovative research techniques which have impressed them, the majority of which are often related to online and digital methods.

These specialists are also concerned with hold-ups in the information retrieval process and how this is frustrating in terms of being able to deliver results. Issues for a number of the brands include targeting the right people and problems with measuring research and the data obtained. The problems highlighted here are apparent for both the B2C and B2B industries.

Profunnel’s marketing software can be integrated to assist marketers with numerous processes, overall contributing to better results. From the demand generation platform, marketers are able to track and monitor website visitors and their activity via web forensics. B2B lead generation is improved as automated personalised emails, created from valuable information, are sent relating to visitor interest. Such targeted email marketing will allow the sales team to build their engagement with prospects and increase interest in the company. Both these factors are crucial for turning prospects into customers.

Visit Profunnel for more information on demand generation

Businesses Focus More on the Customer Journey

As reported in Marketing Week, major businesses have discussed their drive to focus on the path customers take from initial research of a product through to the final purchase.

Global brands such as Kraft and O2 have implemented new marketing strategies to understand their customer buying process and their interaction with products. This allows the organisations to analyse the most effective point to develop investment. Making this a business focal point is hugely beneficial to companies wherever there is a product or service to market – whether in B2C or B2B.

Investing in a customer journey tool will radically improve awareness of website activity and ensure businesses optimise their resources for the most interested prospects. Profunnel offers demand generation marketing software which can track and continually monitor visitor activity on a website – providing information on the trails they take and the products they’re interested in. The technology also combines a lead scoring system, ranking the most frequent visitors and sending this information to the sales and marketing team – increasing online lead generation.

With the relevant data and warmest leads to hand, sales representatives can create targeted email marketing messages to approach customers with significant information regarding their interests – allowing companies to build their client body and increase their ROI.

Visit Profunnel for more information on demand generation

Boost to Direct Marketing Spending

According to the latest Bellwether report, direct marketing budgets have grown. In keeping with Profunnel’s beliefs, it’s refreshing to see companies investing more in their marketing strategies.

As reported in Marketing Week, the second quarterly report from Bellwether shows that companies have increased their investment in direct marketing, including email marketing, which is one of only three channels to see a rise in spending. From April to the end of June, budgets have jumped by 2.5 per cent, compared with 1.8 per cent in the first quarter.

Mel Cruickshank, chairman of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising’s direct marketing group, says companies are “turning to direct marketing to provide return on investment against marketing spend”.

In order to be a good investment, successful direct marketing depends greatly on forward planning, accurate targeting and up-to-date data. Integrating intelligent marketing technology can ensure companies receive this good return on investment, which Profunnel has proven time and time again.

The latest email marketing solutions from Profunnel, allow sales and marketing professionals to tailor their messages – offering a personal approach to engage their visitors – making them more attractive to potential customers. Profunnel’s targeted email marketing software incorporates a level of personalisation and flexibility derived from the results of lead scoring, which are generated by visitor activity. Based on these findings messages will be sent containing relevant information to prospects, which improves email lead generation, directing warm leads into a company’s sales inbox.

Visit Profunnel for more information on email marketing.

Email Marketing – Lost in Cyber-Space?

A recent study by GI Insight has revealed how over half of the UK public believe the emails they receive from companies are irrelevant.

Although having previously been customers to the companies and signing up to their email lists, 53% of the 2,000 consumers surveyed declared that the missives they now receive are unrelated to their interests. This new information highlights how email marketing is not necessarily being used to its greatest potential – indicating that some companies are still not devoting enough resources to ‘personalisation’ within their marketing strategy.

Email marketing holds great value for companies in terms of communication with customers and it is crucial to use email marketing correctly in order to produce maximum lead generation.

Profunnel provides a system which tailors your company’s needs offering a flexible and personalised approach to your email marketing solutions. The software enables you to easily track customers’ activity on your site, which can be adapted to create more precise, directed emails, ultimately delivering greater results.

Why not find out more about the importance of tailored email marketing and how the technology can help grow your business by downloading our latest white paper - Email Marketing is Dead... Unless it's Intelligent.