Have you got the balance right?

Companies. Customers. There is a fine line between delivering what suits the company and what customers actually want from a product or service.

After speaking with various marketers, editor of Marketing Week, Mark Choueke, reports on how to ensure customers remain loyal in a competitive market. He concludes that businesses need to re-think what they say to customers and what they can provide to make life easier for them; the more effort asked of customers, the less likely they are to remain loyal. Marketing needs to feel beneficial to the customer without appearing too promotional.

To create the balance between getting your message across while offering worthy information to current customers and prospects, a subtle approach with the help of marketing automation software could be the answer.

The latest solution from Profunnel can assist marketers with their entire marketing activity from a single platform. By capturing data from website visitors and feeding this back to your team in real-time, marketers can approach prospects with information suited to their interests. This can be conducted by way of targeted email marketing created by the various email templates offered by the solution. Therefore news on your company is being delivered while customers receive personalised, relevant messages – keeping the balance just right.

Visit Profunnel for more information on marketing automation.

Tension Over Customer Data Reclaim

The new government scheme to be introduced at the beginning of 2012 will allow customers to access their personal information held by companies.

Midata is proposing to generate new services and to help customers make informed decisions, creating a two-way trust for businesses and their customers, with the hope of leading to growth in the economy.

As reported in Marketing Week, there could be doubt in this scheme from businesses as many companies find that data is a fundamental aspect in making their business successful and gives them an advantage over their competitors. Many businesses use the information as a marketing strategy – targeting products and services relevantly to customer interest. This is a useful and successful way to build trust with customers.

Profunnel’s B2B lead generation solution allows marketers to identify customer interest by monitoring their website activity. The technology will track which pages known and anonymous customers visit, how long for and how often. As real-time alerts are fed to sales and marketing, online lead generation is increased as the warmest leads are being highlighted. With email marketing solutions, sales people can send targeted messages containing information relevant to the prospects’ interests. The personalisation can increase engagement and trust with the recipient, leading to more sales and a clearer ROI.

Visit Profunnel for more information on lead generation

Growing Concerns Over Personal Data Security

UK consumers are increasingly worried about data protection, according to new research.

A survey conducted by OnePoll reveals 80 per cent of respondents have reservations over organisations protecting their information. When compared to a similar survey produced last year, there has been a 17% increase in consumer worries in 2011.

Data security is a major issue for organisations and their sales and marketing teams. If they are to retain customer loyalty, while building trust with prospects, businesses must be certain that the data they use to target customers is from a bonafide source while also ensuring they are contacting people who would be interested in their services.

Profunnel’s marketing solutions provide businesses with a means to engage with customers and to build that all-important trust needed to ultimately secure a sale. The demand generation platform assists sales and marketing people with their online and email marketing. Through intelligent web forensics visitors to your site can be monitored and tracked while the lead scoring system alerts sales and marketing of warm leads, improving B2B lead generation. Having such information means companies can be confident they are focussing on relevant customers and in turn these customers are more willing to engage with the brand.

Visit Profunnel for more information on demand generation

Marketing Budgets Increase for Q3 of 2011

For the first time since the second quarter of 2007, there has been a rise in marketing budgets across all sectors, according to the latest IPA Bellwether Report.

Although overall business optimism is at a low, the latest predictions for the third quarter of 2011 for marketing spending have ended a three-quarter episode of decline. 21% of the companies surveyed have reported an upward revision of their marketing budgets.

The largest increase at 16.6% has been accounted for online spending while sales promotion has also seen a rise – the first time in nearly four years.

The results show that businesses are attempting to override the negative financial period and realise that those companies who exert the greatest spend on their marketing, will be in a much stronger position than their competitors.

An investment in B2B lead generation and marketing automation can provide the winning formula for staying ahead in your industry - Profunnel offers a solution to strengthen marketing and sales productivity. The technology can track and monitor visitors on your website and focuses sales people on the warmest leads through real-time alerts, with the data integrated into the CRM. With the alerts regarding prospects’ interests, conversion rates and sales improve as sales people can react quickly to the information and approach prospects or current clients about their last website visit. Overall, the lead generation software streamlines marketing and sales activity and allows you to clearly identify your marketing ROI.

Visit Profunnel for more information on lead generation

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

Trusting Customers On The Rise

As reported on The Drum, this year’s Email Tracking Study by the Direct Marketing Association has revealed the level of customer trust in brands has increased, as a result of improved email marketing.

The DMA research recognises two key reasons for this rise – better email segmentation and improved targeted content. From 1,800 UK respondents, the study found more than half of consumers said the emails they have received in the last year have been of interest to them. Last year just 1 in 10 participants said this was the case, while the figure this year has jumped to 30%.

The results of this study bring positive news for brands that have focussed their email marketing campaigns to provide more tailored information to customers and prospects. For those businesses still looking to better their customer engagement, improving email marketing through integrated solutions could be the answer.

The latest email marketing solutions from Profunnel enable marketers to tailor their messages through various templates, ensuring customers receive information relevant to their interests. To find out such interests, Profunnel’s B2B lead generation software can track and monitor website visitor activity, capturing data such as which website pages are visited and how often. The intelligent lead scoring system alerts marketers of the hottest leads, allowing them to target these prospects with relevant information, which is proven to be successful in retaining interest in a company.

Visit Profunnel for more information on targeted email marketing.

Number of Marketing Jobs Higher Now than Pre-Recession

As reported on Marketing Week there has been a 20% increase in the number of marketing jobs created even when compared to before the recession hit in 2008.

A study complied by marketing recruiter EMR in conjunction with data from the Office of National Statistics, illustrates that 94,000 new marketing positions have been generated since 2007, signifying the 20% increase.

EMR suggests the report’s findings are a result of popularity in digital marketing, with 1 in 3 marketing roles now being digital-based compared to 1 in 6 in 2009. Social media is a key-contributing factor to the increase in the demand for digital marketers.

Businesses evidently see the potential of digital marketing but the extra marketing channels can make viewing a ROI more difficult. In addition, with more avenues for customers to connect with the company, more effort is required to engage with the customers.

Profunnel provides demand generation solutions that allow your company to adapt and grow in the digital marketing arena. Our social media software enables you to track inbound traffic from a multitude of social media applications while also giving the option of creating your blog within the system. This means you can closely analyse the impact of website traffic, so engagement with customers is more immediate and effective. From the same solution, the Multichannel Marketing Module facilitates the management of your campaigns, from the first click through to the final purchase, creating a clearer understanding of your ROI.

Visit Profunnel for more information on demand generation