A new role for me...very exciting

Monday, October 19, 2009 by Jeff Chamberlain
The Candy StoreWell, change is in the air.  I've just moved to a new role at Aprimo and I am extremely energized.  I started my life in Product Marketing and now find myself getting the opportunity to head back there.  After a three year stint learning the ropes in traditional corporate marketing and marketing operations, I now get the opportunity to run Product Marketing for an exciting new on-demand version of our product that is optimized for online marketing - Aprimo Marketing Studio.  I'm like a kid in a candy store!!

It's really almost too good.  I've been driving our move to online marketing internally (with the help of some really great and experienced people, of course).  Honestly, three years ago I didn't know about Search Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Click or Campaign Workflow to any level of detail.  Now I've been through it and it has really opened my eyes.  With this recent economic challenge, the move to Online Marketing has accelerated and it's clear there is no looking back. So, the tune of my blogs will change moving forward.  I'll be sharing our thoughts about product direction and the challenges I'm hearing from our customers and prospects.  I would love to hear from you.  What are your challenges with online marketing?  Are you using social media and getting value from it?  Is your email marketing generating the response and return you expect?  Are you able to build a profile of your prospects, customers and partners so you can communicate the way you want?


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My life as a Marketing 'Cover Girl'....

Thursday, September 24, 2009 by Barbara Kovacs

...yes it's true. 'Cover Girl' not as in a model, but as one who is constantly running for cover! I work for Aprimo, an online marketing powerhouse, as the Manager of Lead Generation.  I can tell you that more times then not, we have been bombarded through our Live Chat.  Someone comes on our Web site, probably through the assistance of our Search Engine Marketing tools and by using my web analytics tools, I can see them.  I can then initiate a conversation or wait for them to reach out to me. 

One day, this person initiates a live chat acting as the CEO of one of our competitors, (like we wouldn't know his name) and then proceeds to ask for a cheeseburger.  This technology is great, but it does release some crazies!  I wish our Marketing Software could detect the fool hearty as they hit our site so we can dispense them quickly. Now, wouldn't that be cool?  

The ability to have something instantaneous, like an answer, is something our Interactive Marketing is trying to foster.  I think we need to create a whole new lead nurturing cycle for these 'Chats'.  Yes, that is what I will work on today.  Developing my leads through multi-directional campaigns using Multichannel Marketing. Since my Interactive Marketing software tells me where my chat is coming from, all I would need from that point is their name because email configurations are usually quite easy to find.  Then, I could actually create a campaign workflow around these inbound marketing opportunities and really focus on lead nurturing and account development. 

Believe you me, it sounds a lot more complicated then it is.  Marketing Automation, you gotta love it.   How do you handle those people who hit your site to chat?  Or do you even chat?
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Nothing But Net (& Marketing)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 by Caryn Gray
For me, the mark of fall transcends cooler weather and shorter days to include a return to school for my kids and the switch to other sports, including travel basketball for my older son.  This year I did the unthinkable (at least in my book).  I organized a new travel team and secured a place for it in a local league.  This was no small task, and I had many parents commenting on my ability to do it without dropping any one of the proverbial balls in the air.  (Is that a pun? I'd like to think so.)  I owe my ability to "get in the weeds" while attending to the "big picture" to both my career and my hobby, database marketing (i.e., 1:1 or CRM) and drawing, respectively.

If you've ever been responsible for managing a multichannel marketing campaign then you know, first hand, the need to focus on the littlest of details, or they, independently or in combination, could be your campaign's un-doing.  Today, Marketers use an array of marketing automation platforms that include specific tools for specific needs like campaign management for data query and selection or campaign workflow to help sequence, assign and manage tasks and resources, or reporting and analysis to measure campaign performance.  So...unlike those days when I wrote detailed specs for programmers, analysts, printers, and online creatives, today's marketers can use software to "sweat the details."

In addition, today's marketers have greater control over campaign measurement, which goes beyond simply having access to campaign data via reporting tools.  Today's marketer can actually set the rules for what is and what is not a campaign response -- i.e., response attribution.  This is a huge plus for us, as we no longer have to rely on hard-coded promotion code capture with an inferred response code rule as a back-up.  Marketers use campaign management software to set the parameters "in their data" to define and track responses.  What's great about it is we can easily isolate intended behavior from those that are more incidental or ancillary, which leads to actionable insights.  Nothin' but net, baby! 

Back to basketball... I may have the natural tendency or skill to successfully manage all the "moving parts" for a boys travel basketball team like I used to do for marketing campaigns, but not everyone can blend tactical and strategic tasks well.  But more importantly, no one can do it efficiently without the right tools.  (Even me!) I am certain that I could have been faster, better, and more productive if I had the marketing automation solutions that make our lives so much easier today.  And, this means less tactical work and more strategic contributions for everyone!  I LOVE that!

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And You Thought Campaign Season Was Over!!

Monday, September 21, 2009 by J. Dreesen
I was working on an email campaign last week, and didn't realize until it was over how many different parts and pieces there are to a simple email blast........
So, I decided to try to write down all the steps of the campaign, or, I guess you would call it the "campaign workflow" (can you tell I've worked in technology companies the past 9 years!!).
The thinking was, if I capture all the parts and pieces of a typical, successful campaign, I wouldn't have to reinvent it next time, right?

So, I started the list:
- Determine campaign objectives/ROI
- Determine target audience (subset of my database, or external list)
- Determine message and # of waves
- Write content (or direct agency to write content)
- Route content for approvals
- Edit content, based on comments
- Route final content for approval
- Design template (direct agency)
- Route design for approval
- Edit design, based on comments
- Route final design for approval
- Send wave 1
- Send wave 2
- Review metrics
And, on and on and on it goes.......

It's really amazing how many steps there are in a little email campaign.  Now, multiply this by all the little campaigns you do throughout the year, and the scope can be pretty daunting.

What if you could find a tool to document that workflow, and automate the process?  What if you could actually automate that workflow, rather than keeping track with spreadsheets and Outlook reminders?  Imagine what a wonderful world this would be!!!
Oh, imagine if you could also pull up a response history to past campaigns, so that you can build upon the success (or failure) of the last effort????
Well, this stuff is out there, all you have to do it go look for it!!


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