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		<title>Survey Findings Point To Distributed Marketing Platform</title>
		<link>http://distributedmarketing.org/2013/01/14/survey-findings-point-to-distributed-marketing-platform/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=survey-findings-point-to-distributed-marketing-platform</link>
		<comments>http://distributedmarketing.org/2013/01/14/survey-findings-point-to-distributed-marketing-platform/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:17:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Distributed Marketing</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://distributedmarketing.org/?p=3343</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The CMO Council recently released its findings from a survey it had conducted after gathering insight from over 550 marketing executives as to their plans for 2013.  Many of the findings were inline with expectations but a few were surprising.  One thing is clear, a multi-channel distributed marketing platform with permission management capabilities appears to align nicely with marketers needs in 2013. A summary of those findings are below: Marketers feel there is still misalignment and somewhat of an adversarial relationship between marketing and sales but that improvement was made last year. However, marketers feel that the relationship between marketing  <a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2013/01/14/survey-findings-point-to-distributed-marketing-platform/">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3359" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 302px"><a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2013.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-3359" title="Distributed Marketing in 2013" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2013.png" alt="Distributed Marketing in 2013" width="292" height="195" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Survey Findings Point To Distributed Marketing Platform</p></div>
<p>The <a title="CMO Council Survey" href="http://www.cmocouncil.org/" target="_blank">CMO Council</a> recently released its findings from a survey it had conducted after gathering insight from over 550 marketing executives as to their plans for 2013.  Many of the findings were inline with expectations but a few were surprising.  One thing is clear, a multi-channel <a title="Distributed Marketing" href="http://www.distribion.com/explore-our-solutions/" target="_blank">distributed marketing platform</a> with permission management capabilities appears to align nicely with marketers needs in 2013.</p>
<p>A summary of those findings are below:</p>
<ul>
<li>Marketers feel there is still misalignment and somewhat of an adversarial relationship between marketing and sales but that improvement was made last year. However, marketers feel that the relationship between marketing and IT has emerged as a bigger problem. The rising tension between marketing and IT should come as no surprise as marketers are becoming more technologically savvy, reliant and demanding as to their marketing technology needs.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3002" title="small_white_spacer" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/small_white_spacer.png" alt="" width="32" height="10" /></p>
<ul>
<li>One in two marketers are planning to conduct a complete digital marketing makeover in the year to come. The report suggests that marketers are justified in their reasoning and desire but lack the budgets and skill sets to accomplish this objective.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3002" title="small_white_spacer" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/small_white_spacer.png" alt="" width="32" height="10" /></p>
<ul>
<li>Marketing budgets are expected to rise as 54% of respondents cite increases going into 2013.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3002" title="small_white_spacer" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/small_white_spacer.png" alt="" width="32" height="10" /></p>
<ul>
<li>Digital spend overtakes traditional spend with digital channels like social, mobile and search being 27% compared to 23% being set aside for traditional channels like television, radio and print.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3002" title="small_white_spacer" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/small_white_spacer.png" alt="" width="32" height="10" /></p>
<ul>
<li>Big spending increases are expected in SEO with 39% of respondents planning to increase spending by up to 5%.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3002" title="small_white_spacer" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/small_white_spacer.png" alt="" width="32" height="10" /></p>
<ul>
<li>Marketing teams are expected to grow next year with an emphasis being placed on personnel specializing in the areas of data, analytics and advanced digital media skills.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3002" title="small_white_spacer" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/small_white_spacer.png" alt="" width="32" height="10" /></p>
<ul>
<li>Improvements in customer segmentation and targeting will be a big focus in 2013 with SoLoMo (social-local-mobile) becoming a key ingredient. In fact, 39% of marketers intend to increase localization strategies and content to increase relevance and resonance with local markets.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3002" title="small_white_spacer" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/small_white_spacer.png" alt="" width="32" height="10" /></p>
<ul>
<li>48% of marketers cite a goal and mandate to improve alignment and integration with sales and channel groups with 21% looking to expand field marketing operations and sales support roles.</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3002" title="small_white_spacer" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/small_white_spacer.png" alt="" width="32" height="10" /></p>
<ul>
<li>79% of marketers are looking to implement social media marketing platforms</li>
</ul>
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3002" title="small_white_spacer" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/small_white_spacer.png" alt="" width="32" height="10" /></p>
<ul>
<li>E-mail marketing continues to be deemed a critical marketing channel as 41% of marketers are looking to invest in new e-mail marketing platforms.</li>
</ul>
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		<title>Anatomy of a Distributed Marketing Platform</title>
		<link>http://distributedmarketing.org/2013/01/07/anatomy-of-a-distributed-marketing-platform/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=anatomy-of-a-distributed-marketing-platform</link>
		<comments>http://distributedmarketing.org/2013/01/07/anatomy-of-a-distributed-marketing-platform/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:25:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Distributed Marketing</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://distributedmarketing.org/?p=3290</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Distributed marketing technologies were primarily introduced five years ago to address the challenges distributed organizations face when selling and marketing their products and services through local channels (independent agents, franchisee, resellers, etc.). However, many of the same challenges faced by distributed marketing organizations now apply to almost all organizations. Today, just about all organizations face the same challenges associated with managing, optimizing and distributing content across channels and throughout various layers of the organization (sales, partners, regional offices, etc.).  (Of note, &#8220;The Rise of Distributed Marketing&#8221; is a great video that explains this in more detail). As multi-channel distributed marketing  <a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2013/01/07/anatomy-of-a-distributed-marketing-platform/">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3297" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 302px"><a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/distributed_marketing_platform_anatomy_large2.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-3297  " title="Anatomy of a Distributed Marketing Platform" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/distributed_marketing_platform_anatomy.png" alt="Anatomy of a Distributed Marketing Platform" width="292" height="195" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">&#8211;  <a title="Distributed Marketing White Paper" href="http://www.distribion.com/access-resources/white-papers/" target="_blank">Anatomy of a Distributed Marketing Platform</a>  -            </p></div>
<p>Distributed marketing technologies were primarily introduced five years ago to address the challenges distributed organizations face when selling and marketing their products and services through local channels (independent agents, franchisee, resellers, etc.). However, many of the same challenges faced by distributed marketing organizations now apply to almost all organizations. Today, just about all organizations face the same challenges associated with managing, optimizing and distributing content across channels and throughout various layers of the organization (sales, partners, regional offices, etc.).  (Of note, &#8220;<a title="Rise of Distributed Marketing" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhh1Lo5PXwc" target="_blank">The Rise of Distributed Marketing</a>&#8221; is a great video that explains this in more detail).</p>
<p>As multi-channel distributed marketing automation software platforms continue to rise in popularity we thought it was important to clearly define the anatomy of a top performing <a title="Distributed Marketing Platform" href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/multi-channel-distributed-marketing-automation-leader-distribion-offers-compelling-research-highlighting-the-need-for-distributed-marketing-technology-for-marketing-organizations-170198476.html" target="_blank">distributed marketing platform</a>.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Access &amp; Permission Management:</strong></span> The ability to manage system users, groups, access rights and permissions. Permission management is a core fundamental building block that controls the entire user experience including content access and customization options, interface and navigational elements, approval flows, channel options, spend management, vendor selection and more. Single-Sign-On capabilities allow for seamless integration with existing internal permission management applications to prevent unnecessary data duplication efforts.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Profile Management:</strong></span> The ability for system users to manage their user profile. System administrators have the ability to create and designate content fields that system users are required to fill out in order to utilize the platform. Contact information, bios, photos, logos, etc. are all examples of information users can provide to personalize their profile. This profile information will be used to automatically personalize content and assets throughout the system.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Multi-Channel Campaign Management &amp; Execution:</span></strong> The ability for corporate and local marketers to initiate campaigns across one or more channels. Examples include, e-mail, social, direct mail, landing pages and more. Multi-channel distributed marketing automation software often times replaces preexisting single channel applications (e.g., e-mail marketing software, etc.) thus providing additional cost savings for the organization.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Dynamic Templates:</strong></span> The ability to create campaign or collateral templates where certain areas of content can be locked by corporate marketing to maintain brand and regulatory compliance. In addition, content can be automatically personalized with the profile information of the system user as well as that of the recipient (see Contact Management).</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>On-Behalf-Of Marketing Automation:</strong> </span>The ability for local representatives to opt-in to campaigns, upload or select contact lists and then rely on the corporate office to execute campaigns on their behalf. As campaigns are executed, the local representative will receive an e-mail confirmation that the campaign was sent along with a campaign report link that provides real-time campaign performance statistics.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Contact Management:</strong></span> The ability to manage contact lists and contact ownership within the system as well as track and control message frequency. System administrators have the ability to create and manage contact data fields as well as incorporate field names into marketing materials for dynamic mail merge personalization. A Distributed Marketing Software Platform allows for numerous contact ownership models and the ability to integrate with customer relationship management (CRM) systems such as Salesforce.com.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Preference Management:</strong></span> The ability to centralize and manage communication preferences such as opt-in, opt-out, interests and channel preferences.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Marketing Asset Management:</strong> </span>The ability to centralize marketing assets for use within marketing communications. Distributed marketing platforms have sophisticated digital asset management (DAM) features that should easily replace preexisting DAM applications thus resulting in a cost savings for the organization.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Approval Management:</strong></span> The ability to control, manage and route customized content, collateral and campaigns through designated approval workflows to ensure brand and regulatory compliance. Detailed reporting and archiving capabilities are also often times necessity for organizations operating within regulated environments (e.g., financial services, insurance, healthcare, etc.)</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Spend Management:</strong></span> The ability to manage and control marketing spend throughout the organization. Co-Op spend management capabilities are also often times a necessity for organizations that rely on independent agents.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Vendor Management &amp; Inventory:</strong></span> The ability to manage and control vendors and fulfillment options. In addition, system administrators have the ability to establish rules that can route orders to the appropriate vendor based upon product, location, cost and/or quantity. Automated inventory notifications, direct CXML vendor data feeds, and detailed reporting capabilities round out this feature.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Measurement &amp; Analytics:</strong> </span>The ability to track and monitor performance across all campaigns and channels. In addition to its own reporting features, a distributed marketing platform should also have the ability to integrate with leading third party analytics applications such as Omniture and Google Analytics in order to provide true closed loop reporting as well as insight beyond just direct campaign interactions.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Robust API Capabilities:</strong></span> Extensive API capabilities ensure data can easily flow in and out to additional legacy infrastructure applications as needed. In addition, the ability for other third party systems to trigger campaign messages to be sent out of the platform automatically is also a big plus.</p>
<p>To learn more about how a multi-channel distributed marketing software platform can benefit your organization we invite you to download the Gleanster Research white paper: &#8220;<a title="Distributed Marketing White Paper" href="http://www.distribion.com/access-resources/white-papers/white-papers-detail?id=105" target="_blank">How Top Performing Distributed Marketers Power Multi-Channel Marketing</a>&#8220;.</p>
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		<title>Top Distributed Marketing Articles For 2012 (1-5)</title>
		<link>http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/12/17/top-distributed-marketing-articles-for-2012-1-5/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=top-distributed-marketing-articles-for-2012-1-5</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Dec 2012 12:25:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Distributed Marketing</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://distributedmarketing.org/?p=3266</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As a continuation from our last blog, we are now ready to list the top 5 distributed marketing articles of 2012.  Numerous topics such as multi-channel marketing, marketing automation, social media marketing and big data certainly grabbed the lion share of marketing strategy headlines in 2012.  Take those juggernaut headline topics and combine them with a rising marketing strategy such as distributed marketing and now you&#8217;ve really got everyone&#8217;s attention! Given this, it comes as no surprise to the content writers at DistributedMarketing.org that the following articles were among our top five. (Drumroll please……) The top articles of 2012 are (as calculated by  <a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/12/17/top-distributed-marketing-articles-for-2012-1-5/">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3269" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 302px"><a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/top-5-distributed-marketing-articles.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-3269" title="Top Five Distributed Marketing Articles" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/top-5-distributed-marketing-articles.png" alt="Top Five Distributed Marketing Articles" width="292" height="195" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">&#8211; Top Five Distributed Marketing Articles From 2012 -</p></div>
<p>As a <a title="Top Distributed Marketing Articles For 2012 (Countdown)" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/12/07/top-10-distributed-marketing-articles-for-2012/">continuation from our last blog</a>, we are now ready to list the top 5 distributed marketing articles of 2012.  Numerous topics such as multi-channel marketing, marketing automation, social media marketing and big data certainly grabbed the lion share of marketing strategy headlines in 2012.  Take those juggernaut headline topics and combine them with a rising marketing strategy such as <span style="text-decoration: underline;">distributed marketing</span> and now you&#8217;ve really got everyone&#8217;s attention!</p>
<p>Given this, it comes as no surprise to the content writers at DistributedMarketing.org that the following articles were among our top five.</p>
<p>(Drumroll please……) The top articles of 2012 are (as calculated by views and distributed marketing topic relevancy) …</p>
<p>5.) <a title="Number 5 Distributed Marketing Article" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/09/25/best-content-distribution-strategies-what-is-distributed-marketing/" target="_blank">What is Distributed Marketing?</a></p>
<p>4.) <a title="Number 4 Distributed Marketing Article" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2011/08/17/new-multi-channel-marketing-priorities/ " target="_blank">New Multi-Channel Marketing Priorities</a></p>
<p>3.) <a title="Number 3 Distributed Marketing Article" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/05/22/social-marketing-or-marketing-on-social-networks/ " target="_blank">Social Marketing or Marketing on Social Networks?</a></p>
<p>2.) <a title="Number 2 Distributed Marketing Article" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/01/25/what-is-distributed-marketing-automation/ " target="_blank">What is distributed marketing automation?</a></p>
<p>1.) <a title="Number 1 Distributed Marketing Article" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/08/17/big-datas-key-ingredient-a-multi-channel-distributed-marketing-platform/ " target="_blank">Big Data’s Key Ingredient: A Multi-Channel Distributed Marketing Platform</a></p>
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		<title>Top Distributed Marketing Articles For 2012 (6-10)</title>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:53:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Distributed Marketing</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://distributedmarketing.org/?p=3246</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We analyze and provide insights for lots of industry research at DistributedMarketing.org, and based upon everything we are reading, 2013 will be a very exciting year. Marketing budgets are expected to rise with a substantial increase in spending directed towards digital marketing and other marketing technology software investments. There certainly will be plenty to write about in the upcoming year as many marketers look to adopt new technology platforms to better connect their organizations with their customers and prospects. But before we begin looking forward and planning for next year, let’s reflect on all the great content generated and shared  <a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/12/07/top-10-distributed-marketing-articles-for-2012/">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3248" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 302px"><a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/top-10-list.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-3248" title="Top 10 Distributed Marketing Articles From 2012" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/top-10-list.png" alt="Top 10 Distributed Marketing Articles From 2012" width="292" height="195" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">&#8211; Top 10 Distributed Marketing Articles From 2012 -</p></div>
<p>We analyze and provide insights for lots of industry research at DistributedMarketing.org, and based upon everything we are reading, 2013 will be a very exciting year. Marketing budgets are expected to rise with a substantial increase in spending directed towards digital marketing and other marketing technology software investments. There certainly will be plenty to write about in the upcoming year as many marketers look to adopt new technology platforms to better connect their organizations with their customers and prospects.</p>
<p>But before we begin looking forward and planning for next year, let’s reflect on all the great content generated and shared by all of our contributors.</p>
<p>(Drumroll please&#8230;&#8230;) The top articles (as calculated by views and distributed marketing topic relevancy) of 2012 are &#8230;</p>
<p>10.) <a title="Distributed Marketing Blog Number 10 Most Viewed Article" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/08/26/distributed-marketing-management-a-big-focus-among-top-performers/" target="_blank">Distributed Marketing Management: A Big Focus Among Top Performers</a></p>
<p>9.) <a title="Distributed Marketing Q &amp; A Article" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/09/25/best-content-distribution-strategies-what-is-distributed-marketing/" target="_blank">What is Distributed Marketing? CEO of Distribion Offers Insight into Best Content Distribution Strategies and Answers the Heated Question (Q &amp; A)</a></p>
<p>8.) <a title="High Cost Of Distributed Marketing" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/08/21/the-high-cost-of-distributed-marketing-finra-fines-up-15/" target="_blank">The High Cost Of Distributed Marketing: FINRA Fines Up 15%</a></p>
<p>7.) <a title="Distributed Marketing Platforms Important For Success" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/08/10/distributed-marketing-platform-organization-now-at-a-huge-disadvantage-without-one/" target="_blank">Distributed Marketing Platform: Organizations Now At A Huge Disadvantage Without One</a></p>
<p>6.) <a title="Rise Of Distributed Marketing Infographic" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/09/17/the-rise-of-distributed-marketing-infographic/" target="_blank">The Rise of Distributed Marketing Infographic</a></p>
<p>5.) <a title="Distributed Marketing Digital Asset Management" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/01/11/dam-it-all-automating-content-marketing/" target="_blank">DAM It All: Automating Content Marketing</a></p>
<p>Remember to visit us again next week as we reveal the Top 5 articles of 2012.</p>
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		<title>Distributed Marketing On Behalf Of Local Agents</title>
		<link>http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/11/26/distributed-marketing-on-behalf-of-local-agents/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=distributed-marketing-on-behalf-of-local-agents</link>
		<comments>http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/11/26/distributed-marketing-on-behalf-of-local-agents/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:45:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Distributed Marketing</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://distributedmarketing.org/?p=3230</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gleanster recently surveyed over 135 distributed marketing organizations and found that over 93% indicated their largest challenge was balancing the conflicting needs of local marketers and corporate marketing.  Top performing companies surveyed were 7x more likely to have implemented a distributed marketing software platform to overcome this challenge and better connect corporate and local marketing initiatives.  In a similar study, the Aberdeen Group found that over 22% of top performing distributed marketing organizations leveraged distributed marketing software platforms to execute &#8220;On Behalf Of Marketing&#8221; tactics. So, what is On Behalf Of Marketing and how can it benefit your organization?  Tim Storer,  <a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/11/26/distributed-marketing-on-behalf-of-local-agents/">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3231" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 302px"><a title="Distributed Marketing Top Performers" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/08/26/distributed-marketing-management-a-big-focus-among-top-performers/" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-3231  " title="Distributed Marketing On Behalf Of Local Agents" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/distributed-marketing-on-behalf-of-local-agents.png" alt="Distributed Marketing On Behalf Of Local Agents" width="292" height="195" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text"><a title="Distributed Marketing On Behalf Of Marketing Results" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/08/26/distributed-marketing-management-a-big-focus-among-top-performers/" target="_blank">22% of Top Performers use On Behalf Of Marketing tactics</a></p></div>
<p><a title="Distributed Marketing White Paper by Gleaster Research" href="http://www.distribion.com/access-resources/white-papers/" target="_blank">Gleanster recently surveyed over 135 distributed marketing organizations</a> and found that over 93% indicated their largest challenge was balancing the conflicting needs of local marketers and corporate marketing.  Top performing companies surveyed were 7x more likely to have implemented a <a title="Distributed Marketing Software" href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/multi-channel-distributed-marketing-automation-leader-distribion-offers-compelling-research-highlighting-the-need-for-distributed-marketing-technology-for-marketing-organizations-170198476.html" target="_blank">distributed marketing software platform</a> to overcome this challenge and better connect corporate and local marketing initiatives.  In a similar study, the Aberdeen Group found that over 22% of top performing distributed marketing organizations leveraged distributed marketing software platforms to execute &#8220;On Behalf Of Marketing&#8221; tactics.</p>
<p>So, what is On Behalf Of Marketing and how can it benefit your organization?  Tim Storer, President &amp; CEO of <a title="Distribion Distributed Marketing Software" href="http://www.distribion.com" target="_blank">Distribion</a>, a leading provider of multi-channel distributed marketing software solutions, weighs in and provides his thoughts.</p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/11/26/distributed-marketing-on-behalf-of-local-agents/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/tuOlMzuXDhU/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p>Transcript:</p>
<p>[Tim Storer] <em>The Aberdeen Group recently completed a study where they stated that 22% of top performers in the area of lead management leverage On Behalf Of Marketing or OBO Marketing for short.</em></p>
<p><em>I feel that Distribion really helped coin that phrase as we have been a pioneer and leader in OBO Marketing Automation for awhile now.</em></p>
<p><em>To clarify, OBO Marketing is when the central corporate marketing organization is responsible for conducting campaign efforts on behalf of their local offices in a manner that makes it appear as if the local office is the one actually sending the campaign.</em></p>
<p><em>OBO Marketing is often necessary when organizations struggle to get local offices, partners or franchisees to conduct campaigns on their own or within established corporate, regulatory or brand standards.</em></p>
<p><em>The way it typically works is that Local representatives simply opt-in to campaigns, upload or select contact lists and then rely on the corporate office to execute campaigns on their behalf.</em></p>
<p><em>As campaigns are executed, the local representative will receive an e-mail confirmation that the campaign was sent along with a campaign report link that provides real-time campaign performance statistics.</em></p>
<p><em>More sophisticated platforms such as the one we provide at Distribion can also highlight campaign recipients that the local representative should contact based upon automated lead scoring calculations that take into consideration campaign activity and contact attributes.</em></p>
<p><em>Automating social media efforts on the local representatives behalf is also a hot new opportunity within the area of OBO marketing automation. Many agents, franchisees and other local representatives express interest in leveraging social media as a sales and marketing channel but have yet to fully adopt social media due to four primary factors:</em></p>
<p><em>The first is the time commitment that is necessary to effectively utilize and monitor the social media channel.</em></p>
<p><em>The second is training – there are still a large number of users that don’t understand how to truly build and engage an audience.</em></p>
<p><em>Third is the inability for users to find or produce relevant content worth socializing about.</em></p>
<p><em>And the fourth factor has to do with corporate and regulatory compliance concerns that have resulted in companies either limiting or not utilizing social media at all.</em></p>
<p><em>A big opportunity to drive social media adoption can be realized by organizations that can help their local representatives overcome these challenges.</em></p>
<p><em>That’s why we recently released a new distributed social media marketing module that allows corporate marketers to publish social media campaigns so that local representatives can opt-in and have content posted on their behalf out to their social networks just as if they posted the content themselves.</em></p>
<p><em>In short, OBO Marketing Automation can provide significant time savings for local representatives and provide a steady stream of highly qualified leads.</em></p>
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		<title>Why A Distributed Marketing Platform Is Critical For Big Data Vision</title>
		<link>http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/11/13/why-a-distributed-marketing-platform-is-critical-for-big-data-vision/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=why-a-distributed-marketing-platform-is-critical-for-big-data-vision</link>
		<comments>http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/11/13/why-a-distributed-marketing-platform-is-critical-for-big-data-vision/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Nov 2012 16:57:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Distributed Marketing</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://distributedmarketing.org/?p=3216</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If your like most marketers your currently being inundated with messages, publications and advertisements about Big Data and how it&#8217;s going to transform the way you do business.  With the amount of data a business collects expecting to increase over 650% during the next five years the one thing that just about everyone agrees on is that there is certainly no shortage of data.  Having access to data is one thing, but being able to get meaningful insight in order to put that data to use is often something entirely different. So, what is Big Data and what does your  <a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/11/13/why-a-distributed-marketing-platform-is-critical-for-big-data-vision/">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3219" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 302px"><a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/distributed-marketing-big-data.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-3219" title="Distributed Marketing Platform Big Data" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/distributed-marketing-big-data.png" alt="Distributed Marketing Platform Big Data" width="292" height="195" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">-<a title="Distributed Marketing" href="http://www.distribion.com/explore-our-solutions/" target="_blank">Distributed Marketing Platform Needed For Big Data Vision</a>-</p></div>
<p>If your like most marketers your currently being inundated with messages, publications and advertisements about Big Data and how it&#8217;s going to transform the way you do business.  With the amount of data a business collects expecting to increase over <a title="Distributed Marketing For Big Data" href="http://visual.ly/rise-distributed-marketing" target="_blank">650% during the next five years</a> the one thing that just about everyone agrees on is that there is certainly no shortage of data.  Having access to data is one thing, but being able to get meaningful insight in order to put that data to use is often something entirely different.</p>
<p>So, what is Big Data and what does your organization need to be ready?  Tim Storer, President &amp; CEO of Distribion, a leading provider of multi-channel distributed marketing software solutions, weighs in and provides his thoughts.</p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/11/13/why-a-distributed-marketing-platform-is-critical-for-big-data-vision/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/bMHQD1LxiyA/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p>Transcript:</p>
<p>[Tim Storer] <em>Big Data is certainly a buzz word that all marketers are hearing more and more often. As with many buzz words, the definition of Big Data depends upon who you ask.</em></p>
<p><em>Some choose to define it in quantifiable terms such as a certain data size limit and others use relative terms such as any time an organizations data becomes too complex to manage or moves too fast to interpret through conventional means.</em></p>
<p><em>To me, I like to think of Big Data in more transformational terms. To me, Big Data is when an organization shifts from managing and observing “data transactions” to also managing and observing “data interactions”.</em></p>
<p><em>Today, marketing organizations have data pouring in from all types of channels (e-mail, social media, mobile, the web, etc.).</em></p>
<p><em>Advancements in processing power, data storage and analytics now allow organizations to gain meaningful insight into behavioral patterns by collecting and connecting the plethora of data dots that now exists on their prospects and customers.</em></p>
<p><em>Even further, should an organization need even more data to connect the dots they can leverage third party APIs that many large data providers have made available in order to intelligently append this additional data.</em></p>
<p><em>We are still in the very early stages of the Big Data transformational process but in my opinion we are about to witness one of the largest marketing technology booms we have ever seen. In fact, I just read how Gartner is predicting that in the very near future the CMO will be responsible for more technology related spend than the CIO.</em></p>
<p><em>I feel this excitement and shift really boils down to the fact that should a CMO be able to connect the data dots then they no longer will be scrutinized by CEO’s and CFO’s because the data will paint a black and white ROI picture that everyone can easily understand.</em></p>
<p><em>In essence, the formula becomes very simple: Bigger, Richer Data Sets combined with Personalized Multi-Channel Messaging and Real Time Analytics equals a Higher ROI.</em></p>
<p><em>A key ingredient for organizations to realize the <a title="Distributed Marketing Software Needed For Big Data Vision" href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Big-Data-Marketing-Offers-Critical-Insight-But-a-Distributed-Marketing-Technology-Is-Key-to-Success&amp;id=7317025" target="_blank">Big Data vision</a> and acquire the “interaction data” is a <a title="Multi-Channel Distributed Marketing" href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/multi-channel-distributed-marketing-automation-leader-distribion-offers-compelling-research-highlighting-the-need-for-distributed-marketing-technology-for-marketing-organizations-170198476.html" target="_blank">Multi-Channel Distributed Marketing Platform</a> that can provide centralized control over campaign content, personalization options, campaign distribution and automated response triggers.</em></p>
<p><em>Having a Distributed Marketing Platform is even more important for organizations that rely on quasi-independent agents or localized marketing teams because the “data interactions” are even more scattered and harder to capture.</em></p>
<p><em>In my opinion, Organizations that don’t implement some type of Multi-Channel Distributed Marketing Platform will really struggle to collect the data points necessary to achieve the Big Data vision and will quickly be at a big competitive disadvantage in the very near future.</em></p>
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		<title>Distributed Marketing Software Platform Solves Social Media Challenges</title>
		<link>http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/11/06/distributed-marketing-software-platform-resolves-social-media-challenges/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=distributed-marketing-software-platform-resolves-social-media-challenges</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:25:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Distributed Marketing</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://distributedmarketing.org/?p=3181</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just about all marketers now agree that social media can no longer be ignored.  In fact, over the last few months the social media statistics we recently published are already grossly outdated (in that time, Facebook went from 900 million users to now over one billion).  Growth like this makes it easy to understand why over 65% of marketers are planning to integrate social media into their marketing mix in 2013.  However, for organizations that leverage a distributed marketing and local sales model (e.g., financial services, insurance, franchise, hospitality, healthcare, telecom, etc.) the percentage of marketers planning to integrate social  <a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/11/06/distributed-marketing-software-platform-resolves-social-media-challenges/">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3204" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 302px"><img class="size-full wp-image-3204 " title="Distributed Marketing Social Media Adoption" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/distributed-marketing-social-media-adoption1.png" alt="Distributed Marketing Social Media Adoption" width="292" height="195" /><p class="wp-caption-text"><a title="Distributed Marketing Research by Gleanster" href="http://www.gleanster.com/reports/reports/how-top-performing-distributed-marketers-power-multi-channel-marketing" target="_blank">Distributed Marketing Organizations Integrating Social Media</a></p></div>
<p>Just about all marketers now agree that social media can no longer be ignored.  In fact, over the last few months the <a title="Distributed Social Media Marketing" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/09/12/distributed-social-media-marketing/" target="_blank">social media statistics</a> we recently published are already grossly outdated (in that time, Facebook went from 900 million users to now over one billion).  Growth like this makes it easy to understand why over 65% of marketers are planning to integrate social media into their marketing mix in 2013.  However, for organizations that leverage a distributed marketing and local sales model (e.g., financial services, insurance, franchise, hospitality, healthcare, telecom, etc.) the percentage of marketers planning to integrate social media is a paltry 16% (Gleanster Research).</p>
<p>Tim Storer, President &amp; CEO of Distribion, a leading provider of multi-channel <a title="Distributed Marketing Software Platform" href="http://www.distribion.com/explore-our-solutions/" target="_blank">distributed marketing software</a> solutions, recently provided his thoughts as to why there is such a huge disparity in social media adoption by these distributed marketing organizations and what can be done to fix it.</p>
<p><span style="text-align:center; display: block;"><a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2012/11/06/distributed-marketing-software-platform-resolves-social-media-challenges/"><img src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/f_GpZ_V9pZo/2.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></p>
<p>Transcript:</p>
<p><em>[Tim Storer]  The numbers highlighting the growth of social media users is unprecedented. Just about every organization today understands that they need to be incorporating social media into their marketing mix.</em></p>
<p><em>However, there are still many organizations that are late adopters of social media and I feel this has to do with four primary factors:</em></p>
<p><em>The first is the time commitment that is necessary to effectively utilize and monitor the social media channel.</em></p>
<p><em>The second is training – there are still a large number of users that don’t understand how to truly build and engage an audience.</em></p>
<p><em>Third is the inability for users to find or produce relevant content worth socializing about.</em></p>
<p><em>And the fourth factor has to do with corporate and regulatory compliance concerns that have resulted in companies either limiting or not utilizing social media at all.</em></p>
<p><em>Now, take these same challenges and apply them to organizations that leverage quasi-independent agents, brokers, franchisees or partners that the organization doesn’t have direct control over and these challenges become much more significant.</em></p>
<p><em>To help organizations overcome these challenges we’ve introduced a new concept called Distributed Social Media Marketing.</em></p>
<p><em>Using the Distribion Distributed Marketing Platform, Corporate marketers can now publish pre-approved social media campaigns that consist of numerous content posts with links out to rich media and other supporting collateral.</em></p>
<p><em>Once published, employees and marketing partners simply opt-in to a campaign and the specialized software posts the content to the selected sites at the designated time intervals on their behalf, thus automating the entire social media process.</em></p>
<p><em>Although campaign posts can be entirely locked down, corporate marketers also can set permissions where posts can be customized, and if necessary, routed through a corporate approval process prior to being published.</em></p>
<p><em>Now, what makes Distribion’s platform even more unique is that corporate marketers can take this concept a step further and actual publish multi-channel bundled campaigns that consist of integrated e-mail, direct mail and social media campaigns that can all run simultaneously together.</em></p>
<p><em>Leveraging this type of strategy not only helps overcome the challenges I alluded to earlier but also provides the added benefit of centralizing all campaign data allowing the organization to gain better insight and identify trends that can influence future marketing efforts.</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Social Media Is NOT Free</title>
		<link>http://distributedmarketing.org/2011/10/10/social-media-is-not-free/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=social-media-is-not-free</link>
		<comments>http://distributedmarketing.org/2011/10/10/social-media-is-not-free/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Oct 2011 11:00:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Distributed Marketing</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://distributedmarketing.org/?p=1029</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ever been in a meeting with a senior executive who says, “So why is your budget this big? I thought we were relying on Twitter and Facebook and all that social media stuff more. And that’s free.” There’s a widespread myth out there that social media is free. It isn’t. For a social media marketing campaign you need people, time, and technology – all limited, non-renewable resources in most marketing departments. In fact, maybe the executive who poses a question about social media being free doesn’t understand that there is a near 100% overlap between the items that go into the marketing budget and the resources that  <a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2011/10/10/social-media-is-not-free/">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/geek-poke-roi-cartoon.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1031" title="Geek &amp; Poke ROI cartoon" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/geek-poke-roi-cartoon.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="680" /></a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Ever been in a meeting with a senior executive who says, “So why is your budget this big? I thought we were relying on Twitter and Facebook and all that social media stuff more. And that’s free.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">There’s a widespread myth out there that social media is free. It isn’t. For a social media marketing campaign you need people, time, and technology – all limited, non-renewable resources in most marketing departments.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">In fact, maybe the executive who poses a question about social media being free doesn’t understand that there is a near 100% overlap between the items that go into the marketing budget and the resources that generate nearly all of the company’s revenue. Think about it:</span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Head count</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Digital/online marketing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Advertising</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Call center(s)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">IT (software, hardware, bandwidth, support)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Marketing (collateral, email, creative)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Sales</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">PR</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Events (webinars, trade shows, conferences))</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Accounting/Compliance/Legal</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Aren’t those the major marketing cost silos in your company? And the silos that generate new business and new revenue for the company? So, given that, why wouldn’t a business invest in social media and other marketing tools? The question becomes, “Where is the money to fund my social media plan for 2012 going to come from?”  (It’s almost a given that it isn’t going to magically appear  &#8212; to fund new initiatives, chances are you’ll have to spend less somewhere else.)  </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">When making the case for the return on your social media investment, you’ll want to look at two primary areas: cost reduction and revenue generation. Where can social media help to cut costs? For many companies, it’s in customer service and business intelligence or market research. (Solving customer service issues through online interaction, especially by local managers and agents, brokers or channel partners, is the #1 area where companies are finding savings, although a <a title="Defining Measurable Value for Multi-Channel Marketing Automation" href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2011/08/22/defining-measurable-value-for-multi-channel-marketing-automation/">good multi-channel distributed marketing automation</a> system may be the best place to cut costs in large marketing organizations.) </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">On the revenue side, top managers want to know whether new spending will result in more transactions, more new customers, increased customer loyalty, and higher revenue. Unfortunately, that’s where many social media experts run into a brick wall. They understand how to measure the non-financial impact of social media (website visitors, click-throughs, impressions, delivered emails, Facebook friends, Twitter followers, social mentions, etc.).    </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">But traditional marketing managers and social media mavens alike seem to have trouble with the financial impact of social media. And the truth is that business executives don’t care about website visitors, Google Analytics, Twitter followers, and the number of Facebook or Google+ friends a campaign generates.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Management needs to spend money where the company can make money.  So simply measuring and reporting on social media in social media terms isn’t good enough to build a business case for social media spending.  </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">To do that, we have to go back to Business 101, and look at changes in company revenue that can be attributed to social media. For instance, if the company was growing at 10% year over year (YoY) before the social media campaign started, and it is now growing at 20% now, then social media increased growth by 10%, right? Wrong. Why? Because spending also increased – and there are other factors that have to be measured.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Looking only at YoY growth before and after social media marketing started shows only that something happened to change the baseline, not what changed it. For that, you have to create activity timelines, and match them exactly to sales revenue, week by week, and day by day. How many transactions took place?  How do the transactions align on the calendar with marketing efforts? How many new customers have been added – and how does the new customer timing track against marketing?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">The mathematics geniuses behind marketing metrics call it transactional precursors – what happened, when did it happen, and exactly how did it affect revenue. Michael John Baker, author of <em>Marketing: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management </em>wrote that the search for patterns requires overlaying at least five (and often more) different timelines to see how activities, social data, Web data, transactions and loyalty metrics compare. “You must gather the data and build the equation that proves the relationships between them, and eliminate the doubt by isolating the patterns and looking at the real costs (including any savings) and revenue gains are,” Baker wrote.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Luckily, there are a number of tools that have the metrics to prove social media’s ROI – marketers don’t have to morph from mad men to math men just to get their budget approved. What social media ROI tools do you use? Let us know!</span></p>
<h6><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Cartoon credit: The amazing <a href="http://geekandpoke.typepad.com/" target="_blank">Geek &amp; Poke blog</a> is filled with cartoons sure to have anyone interested in technology laughing out loud.  The cartoon above is used under a Creative Commons license.  </span></h6>
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		<title>6 Ways to Improve Email ROI</title>
		<link>http://distributedmarketing.org/2011/10/07/six-ways-to-improve-email-marketing/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=six-ways-to-improve-email-marketing</link>
		<comments>http://distributedmarketing.org/2011/10/07/six-ways-to-improve-email-marketing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Oct 2011 06:00:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Distributed Marketing</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Electronic mailing list]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[email]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[email best practices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[email marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FlipTop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gryphon Networks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://distributedmarketing.org/?p=1018</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Got a great email marketing solution?  Got a solid opt-in and scrubbed contact list?  That’s half the battle to a great return on your email marketing investment.  Here are six simple tips you can use to improve almost any email marketing effort. 1.    Remember why it’s called a “message”.  If you think of your email campaign as an ongoing dialogue with each prospect, it will change your strategy.  For instance, in a dialogue, you have to keep the conversation going – and that means listening to the people you’re talking about.  (How are they responding?  What actions are they taking?)   <a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2011/10/07/six-ways-to-improve-email-marketing/">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/black-and-white-target-with-darts.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1021 alignright" title="Black and white target with darts" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/black-and-white-target-with-darts.jpg?w=273" alt="" width="273" height="300" /></a>Got a great email marketing solution?  Got a solid opt-in and scrubbed contact list?  That’s half the battle to a great return on your email marketing investment.  Here are six simple tips you can use to improve almost any email marketing effort.</p>
<p><strong>1.    </strong><strong>Remember why it’s called a “message”.  </strong></p>
<p>If you think of your email campaign as an ongoing dialogue with each prospect, it will change your strategy.  For instance, in a dialogue, you have to keep the conversation going – and that means listening to the people you’re talking about.  (How are they responding?  What actions are they taking?)  It also means staying relevant.  (If they visited your blog after your last email, but have never been to the products page after several messages, stop sending them messages that try to drive them to the products page – offer them an incentive to take some other action instead.)</p>
<p><strong>2.    </strong><strong>Automate the process so you can focus on strategy and great creative.</strong></p>
<p>In the post-recession economy, is there any marketing team that’s operating at full strength, with all the help they need?  A marketing automation solution can become the extra marketing resource you don’t have – use it to set up automated campaigns based on event and behavioral triggers. </p>
<p><strong>3.    </strong><strong>Test, don’t guess. </strong></p>
<p>Testing is fast and easy – and it makes a huge difference in return.  All you need is two subject lines, two versions of an image, a piece of copy, or a promotion, and you’re on your way.  If you don’t test, you’re guessing – and you can’t be sure what will work at a particular time with even a well-scrubbed list.</p>
<p><strong>4.    </strong><strong>Add periodic “check in” emails (with or without surveys) to improve your relationship with prospects and get feedback continuously.</strong></p>
<p>Recently, an experienced marketer was overheard telling someone that he was reluctant to send an email asking customers for feedback for fear of a high unsubscribe rate.  What a sad commentary on his knowledge of his customer base (and the quality of his email list).  Most prospects and customers will appreciate a “check-in” email every once in a while.  Ask them what you’re doing right – what they’d like to see more or less of – and how their interest levels in your company and product vary over time.  Yes, some will unsubscribe – most will do nothing – and a valuable few will respond with important information you can’t get anywhere else.</p>
<p><strong>5.    </strong><strong>Deliver consistent quality – but mix up the style &amp; content to maintain interest.</strong></p>
<p>We all know how important it is to deliver messages from a real person (or a corporate persona like Betty Crocker who seems real to customers).  But did you know that experimenting with a variety of email campaign types can make your audience more receptive and engaged?  Vary your HTML messages with Outlook emails, marketing messages with messages from sales or customer service, and use your metrics (click-through, open, and online activity) to identify new ways to interact with your audience. (And don&#8217;t forget other ways to communicate with customers.  Sending a hand-written thank-you card, especially after a large sale, is always a good idea.)</p>
<p><strong>6.    </strong><strong>Go beyond “standard” segmentation approaches to improve data quality.  </strong></p>
<p>Chances are you know whether your prospect is a current customer or not &#8212; and if they are a customer, you know what they&#8217;ve purchased in the past, and what kinds of contact they&#8217;ve had with your company.  But what else do you know?  Do you know if they&#8217;re male or female?  Married or single?  Living with kids or in a child-free home?  Home owners or happy renters?  What about their interests &#8212; sports, hobbies, pets, movies, music &#8212; and their social media usage?  It&#8217;s true that the more you know about your audience, the better  your messages and interactions with them can be.  It can be as simple as the kind of illustrations you use for your marketing materials, or the color scheme on a landing page &#8212; or it can be as specific as segmenting your list by age, lifestyle, or specific interest.  One of the most important factors is understanding how your customer prefers to be contacted.  A preference engine like the one from <a href="http://www.gryphonnetworks.com/" target="_blank">Gryphon Networks</a> or a social media profile from a company like <a href="http://www.fliptop.com/" target="_blank">FlipTop</a> can help you segment your target audience in ways that can dramatically improve your results. </p>
<p>What other tactics do you use to improve your email marketing results?  Share them with us &#8212; in the comments section, or as a guest blogger for The Distributed Marketing Blog.  <a href="mailto:debh@distribion.com" target="_blank">Contact us</a> if you&#8217;d like to share your marketing tips with our readers!</p>
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		<title>CRM + Marketing Automation</title>
		<link>http://distributedmarketing.org/2011/10/05/fusing-crm-and-marketing-automation/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=fusing-crm-and-marketing-automation</link>
		<comments>http://distributedmarketing.org/2011/10/05/fusing-crm-and-marketing-automation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:00:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Distributed Marketing</dc:creator>
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		<category><![CDATA[Edgar Rodriguez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Rate of return]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://distributedmarketing.org/?p=1008</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Few organizations today could thrive if they relied solely on Rolodexes, paper lead sheets, or Outlook address books.   Whether they use a SaaS solution like Zoho or Salesforce.com, or a robust customized CRM solution, most organizations are convinced that they&#8217;re getting an excellent result from their CRM investment. The question is, could they be getting more if they added a robust distributed marketing platform to their CRM solution?  According to Edgar  Rodriguez, Distribion&#8217;s EVP and a 20-year-veteran of the industry, the answer is yes. In the example below, a local insurance agent uses a system that seamlessly links corporate marketing&#8217;s distributed  <a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/2011/10/05/fusing-crm-and-marketing-automation/">Read More</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Few organizations today could thrive if they relied solely on Rolodexes, paper lead sheets, or Outlook address books.   Whether they use a SaaS solution like Zoho or Salesforce.com, or a robust customized CRM solution, most organizations are convinced that they&#8217;re getting an excellent result from their CRM investment.</p>
<p>The question is, could they be getting more if they added a robust distributed marketing platform to their CRM solution?  According to Edgar  Rodriguez, Distribion&#8217;s EVP and a 20-year-veteran of the industry, the answer is yes.</p>
<p>In the example below, a local insurance agent uses a system that seamlessly links corporate marketing&#8217;s distributed marketing platform with his own local contact list and the corporate lead management system to streamline and automate the day-to-day sales process &#8212; with real-time reporting, activity notices, and metrics available at the local and corporate level.</p>
<p><a href="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/local-producer.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1012" title="Local Producer" src="http://distributedmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/local-producer.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="341" /></a></p>
<p>&#8220;The fusion of CRM and a comprehensive marketing automation solution will increase the ROI of your sales and marketing organization, improve your close rate, and deliver more revenue,&#8221; he says. </p>
<p>How?  A distributed marketing platform helps:</p>
<ul>
<li>Automate marketing and sales support campaigns, saving time and money, and allowing you to do more with less.  &#8220;It&#8217;s a question of ability,&#8221; Rodriguez says. </li>
<li>Convert and nurture leads.  &#8220;The more automated the process, the easier it is for local and field sales people to follow up on all the leads that marketing generates &#8212; whether they are initially &#8216;BANT&#8217; qualified or not,&#8221; Rodriguez says.  (BANT = Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline &#8212; the traditional sales qualification process developed by IBM.)</li>
<li>Prioritize leads and contacts, by centralizing reporting.  &#8220;A distributed marketing platform gives corporate marketing and local marketing far more information about each contact, because information is shared and consolidated,&#8221; Rodriguez explains.  &#8220;And with real-time tracking of every interaction, you can do things that just aren&#8217;t possible any other way.  For instance, if you get an instant notice when someone downloads a white paper from the corporate website, it&#8217;s a pretty good indicator that it&#8217;s a great time to call them because you know they&#8217;re at their desk and you know that your company and brand are top of mind.&#8221;</li>
<li>Consolidate and improve CRM data quality.  By integrating CRM and marketing automation to avoid multiple data silos, it&#8217;s easier to avoid duplicate data and to keep data up to date.  &#8220;In marketing and sales, it&#8217;s all about the accuracy and timeliness of the data.&#8221;</li>
<li>Validate and prove marketing strategy and execution.  With sales and marketing metrics in one place, it&#8217;s easy to identify and correct problems, predict revenue, and see precisely how marketing and sales activities contribute to the bottom line.</li>
</ul>
<p>&#8220;CRM is great, and I couldn&#8217;t live without it.  But CRM by itself isn&#8217;t enough in the highly competitive world that I work in &#8212; and it isn&#8217;t enough for our customers, either.  It&#8217;s important to remember that CRM systems are designed to deal with individual leads &#8212; while marketing always works with segmented groups of leads,&#8221; Rodriguez adds. </p>
<p>&#8220;By integrating a comprehensive distributed marketing platform with your existing CRM system, you optimize the entire process for maximum return.&#8221;</p>
<h6>Graphic credit:  The graphic used to illustrate this blog was provided by Distribion corporate PR, and is used with permission.</h6>
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