Silverpop Delivers Online Engagement Marketing Solutions to Germany

Silverpop, a leading provider of online marketing solutions, has further solidified its leadership position in the new age of engagement marketing by opening an office in Munich, Germany. The company’s expansion into Germany is based upon the country’s thriving marketing community and the fact that Germany is one of the three biggest economies in Europe.

Entré into the German market for Silverpop is assisted by the European Founders Fund (EFF), a top-tier venture capital firm, holding common stock directly from the privately-held company and introducing Silverpop to its strong network of business relationships throughout Europe.

Silverpop’s team in Munich will be led by three regional sales managers. Marc Hergenroether has joined Silverpop from online marketing solutions provider Enecto, where he served as general manager for Germany. Given his experience in B2B marketing technologies, Marc will lead the sales efforts for Silverpop’s Engage B2B platform, which was recently recognized by JupiterResearch as offering the highest overall business value and market suitability among marketing automation vendors.

“There is tremendous opportunity to help German companies further engage their customers and prospects to boost their sales success, and Silverpop is uniquely qualified to provide the necessary solutions,” Hergenroether said. “The company has already experienced immense success in the U.K. and now has a highly qualified team on the ground in Germany to demonstrate how implementing more strategic engagement campaigns can benefit both B2C and B2B marketers.”

Beate Metz and John Thomson will lead Silverpop’s sales efforts for Silverpop Engage platform used by marketers to create and manage multichannel marketing campaigns that reach millions of individuals — one at a time — enhancing lifetime customer value and brand loyalty. Metz brings more than 10 years of online marketing experience to Silverpop, having previously served as a sales manager for Epsilon. Thomson most recently focused on the email marketing space as a key account manager for Premiere Global Services.

Also joining Silverpop in Munich as a sales engineer is Jan Tecker Siegel, formerly with Voice.Trust AG, where he served as a marketing communications manager.

“Silverpop helps companies refocus their online marketing efforts toward engaging and creating relationships with their customers rather than simply distributing messages to them,” said Corey Williams, vice president of emerging markets for Silverpop. “While German marketers are already keenly aware of the effectiveness of online marketing, Silverpop will help them adapt to fundamental shifts in the marketplace, move their campaigns to the next level and deliver increased revenue for their organizations.”

About Silverpop

Silverpop's Engagement Marketing suite helps turn prospects into customers, and customers into fans. Silverpop's Web-based solutions enable companies worldwide to build relationships with customers and prospects through the creation, automation and delivery of relevant, online messaging.

Companies rely on the Silverpop Engage platform to create and manage multichannel marketing campaigns that reach millions of individuals — one at a time — enhancing lifetime customer value and brand loyalty. Silverpop's Engage B2B platform seamlessly scores sales leads, nurtures them through the pipeline and measures campaign return on investment. And Silverpop's strategic counsel, service and support helps clients with the precise level of training and advice needed to quickly improve campaign results and ROI. Silverpop makes it easy and affordable for marketers to create, automate and execute campaigns ... from first click to lifetime customer. With offices in the United States, England and Germany, Silverpop's engagement marketing technologies are used by industry-leading brands around the globe. Best practices and white papers are available at www.silverpop.com.

Organizations going to extreme lengths for online marketing

f there is any question about the importance of online marketing and social media today, one need only look at the dramatic lengths some organizations are going to in hopes of gaining visibility through tools like blogs and social networking sites.

Earlier this month the Australian tourism bureau announced that it had hired 34-year-old Ben Southall to be the "caretaker" of the country's Great Barrier Reef for six months and write a weekly blog about the experience. For the honor, Southall will be paid $110,000.

Going even further, one California winery is looking to hire a "social media whiz" for a six-month job to tell people about wine and Sonoma County through the use of various social media outlets.

In calling online marketing and social networking a "pretty good thing," the Murphy-Goode Winery says the person it hires - who will be given the title of "Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent" - should be well versed in Web 2.0.

"[W]e’re looking for someone (maybe you) who really knows how to use Web 2.0 and Facebook and blogs and social media and YouTube and all sorts of good stuff like that …," the winery says.

But increasing visibility isn't the only reason some are hiring these social media experts. Recently Pizza Hut announced it was looking to hire a "twintern" - an intern who will use Twitter - as part of its PR team.

The company's vice president of marketing communication told the New York Times that in addition to getting the news out about the chain, the twintern would scour the internet looking for negative press in an effort to keep it from getting out of hand.

Realcomp and Point2 Technologies Complete Internet Marketing Services Rollout

Realcomp, one of Michigan’s largest real estate MLSs and Point2 Technologies have announced the successful implementation and delivery of the industry’s most advanced listing syndication and online marketing technology services program, to Realcomp’s 11,000 members.

The program enables Realcomp members - brokers and agents to conveniently tap Point2’s industry leading suite of online marketing tools including automated syndication and Web marketing analytics and reports.

“Realcomp is proud to be one of the first MLSs in the United States to bring to its members the power and added value of the largest real estate online listing distribution network to help them capitalize on their listing assets,” said Karen Kage, Realcomp chief executive officer. “With the Michigan market being one of the most attractive for buyers right now, and interest rates at their lowest in decades, our member listings are now well positioned where buyers can find them online.”

Saul Klein, Point2’s Chief Executive Officer said: “Realcomp has demonstrated great foresight and leadership in recognizing and enabling its membership to harness the power of the Internet to market listings. Our close association with Realcomp and, the technical complexity of this initiative further reinforces Point2’s superior technology and commitment to delivering the best syndication and revenue generating solutions for MLSs and their members, across the country.”

Glasses Supplier Announces Move of Online Glasses Marketing and Manufacturing

Rapid growth in the sales and supply of glasses online required Spex4Less to find bigger facilities in order to react to customer demand. Purchasing glasses online has quickly gained acceptance as a realistic way of buying quality spectacles for significantly less than the high street. Where glasses bought online started as cheap single vision lenses in a limited range of frames, it has now developed into more complex prescriptions and frames including fashion rimless glasses and varifocal spectacles.Spex4Less has been a pioneer in developing the way glasses are bought online since 2004 and is now one of the largest suppliers in Europe.

Mark Bowden started www.Spex4Less.com above his opticians shop in Bolton five years ago.

"It started really just as a way to share my experience as an optician with a wider audience" said Mark, "But it quickly became clear that there was a huge segment of the glasses wearing population that was dissatisfied with the cost and selection of spectacles available on the high street".

The enquiry and order level started the day we opened the site for business, and has never looked back. It became clear that we needed to acquire specialist facilities and staff just to service the demand for online glasses, and to separate it completely from our high street operation. We felt that we had to be cautious in the rate at which we expanded and any new facilities that we moved to had to be ready in parallel as customer service and manufacturing cycle time could not be allowed to suffer. Our new building has the latest equipment to meet the most rigorous demands from our customers, and still has room to grow.

People buying their glasses online today still only accounts for about 5% of all spectacles bought in Europe, but as a segment it continues to grow rapidly. We anticipate that our new facilities are sufficient for our next stage of growth, but in the online world that can change quickly.

John Styles, who is managing the Wirral operation, commented "We are very happy with the way the transition preceded. We had a lot of work in progress that we successfully moved from Bolton to the Wirral without significantly impacting customers."

We now have all of our equipment up and running at full capability and while we have successfully attracted staff to join our team on the Wirral, one of our biggest challenges remains finding people from the optical industry who comprehend the potential and are comfortable working in such a vibrant and dynamic business. Supplying glasses online is a lot different to selling on the high street, and it takes someone special to grasp the opportunity going forward.

For additional information about Spex4Less or to discuss opportunities with us, contact Kevin Styles or visit www.Spex4Less.com. 

About www.Spex4Less.com :

Spex4Less is one of Europe's leading suppliers of fashion and designer prescription eyewear online.

Contact:

Kevin Styles

Spex4Less

0151 632 6611

http://www.spex4less.com

Over Half Of Online marketing for Retailers Decreasing Search Spend

The weak economy is driving online retailers to shift their marketing budgets and cut back on search marketing, according to a study by Forrester Research on behalf of Shop.org. The study surveyed 117 online retailers in the throes of a relatively abysmal first quarter about how they planned to allocate their online marketing budget. While a third will be spending less over all, over half of them (56%) said they would be scaling back search marketing specifically, indicating a plan to reallocate funds toward other venues like email and social media. Email seems an especially popular option, with 88 percent listing email as a high priority, the majority of them focusing on segmented emails to customers based on stated preferences or purchase data. Others will be highlighting new products and featuring online promotions via email. That indicates customer retention as the primary goal and not so much gaining new customers. "Online retailers are trying to weather this economic storm by doing more with less, making smart spending decisions, and leveraging effective, affordable tactics like email to grow their businesses." said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org.However, the idea that recession is the best time increase the marketing budget isn’t a foreign one—when there’s less money to go around, it makes sense to be more aggressive, not less. The other (slightly less than) half of that group have no plans to cut back original budgets and will be forging ahead as planned. A quarter of them will take advantage of others’ decreased search spending by increasing their own budget for search and across the board. Of that minority, 80 percent will increase search, 65 percent will increase email, and 60 percent will increase social marketing. The increase in social media spending is interesting. For many this arena will be a testing ground, and for others it will be a strategy in lieu of the rising cost of search marketing. However, the numbers to support such a drastic switch aren’t quite there yet, according to Hitwise. Search still drives over 30 percent of traffic to retail sites; shopping and classifieds drives 25 percent; and email drives over 10 percent

OddBodd tries to make online marketing, networking easier for small firms to manage

Nolan Collins' idea for OddBodd.com, a one-stop video Web directory and online marketing hub that serves consumers and local businesses, emerged from his experience as a small-business owner.Collins, who headed two other companies, understands the growing importance of online marketing and social media, but he also knows small-business owners don't have time to manage five or six Web sites each day for leads. OddBodd.com, inspired by Collins' boyhood nickname, pulls together a suite of online marketing services, including videos, job ads, event listings, blogs, announcements, promotional offers, maps and mini Web sites called "boddsites." For a fee, currently $5 a month, OddBodd uses a content-management system that's simple enough for small-business owners to learn in a few minutes, Collins said. It takes just four steps: click, drop, edit and save.
What's more, OddBodd has a social networking component that makes it easy for its 1,000 business members to recommend one another to their networks. "Businesses can connect with each other but still have customers come there to look for them," he said.The concept is intended to help small businesses accomplish multiple tasks without being overwhelmed by the myriad social networking offerings, from YouTube and Twitter to Plaxo and LinkedIn. Collins spent about two years researching what businesses were looking for in online marketing, then worked with an IT company in India to develop the multifaceted technology, designed to save businesses time and money.Small-business owners often sign up for more marketing endeavors than they have time to manage, said Melissa Giovagnoli, founder of Networlding.com and a LinkedIn coach."I think it's foolish to be on all of them ... because a small business has real trouble handling that," she said. "If you do more than one, there is constant management required."Still, online networking can open up a new line of customers, Giovagnoli said. "You want to use your social media tools wisely and get to a point where you can effectively do one-to-one quality communication."Giovagnoli said 40 percent of her business comes from LinkedIn, where she has joined multiple groups and established herself as a leader. She said being an early adopter of social media has its benefits: "There is a veil over it still. That's what is creating the window of opportunity." KeyLime Cove Water Resort in Gurnee said response to its OddBodd presence has been growing as it adds keywords. OddBodd gives business members up to 500 keywords to help users find their company as they search the site. But the resort also is picking up referral business, thanks to recommendations from other companies using OddBodd.The networking aspect has impressed Dwight Houchins, president of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, where about 25 percent of its more than 400 members are using OddBodd, he said. "People buy from people they know and like," Houchins said. "Relationship marketing is really, really hot." By developing relationships online, businesses can create large networks of people who will support one another. OddBodd makes it easy to expand your online network. "It's taking relationship marketing to a whole new level," Houchins said.The registration fee is $99 and includes a video shot by OddBodd. Companies that provide their own videos pay $60 to register, then $5 a month, though Collins plans to increase monthly fees after OddBodd.com moves out of beta testing. By providing customer support, OddBodd is setting itself apart from better-known competitors, Houchins said.Still, will OddBodd work in the long term? Its strategy of trying a test version in the local market before rolling it out to new ones makes sense, said Steven Rogers, professor of entrepreneurship at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "You want to prove the concept locally and keep your costs under control, then replicate whatever success you have to other regions of the country. It's a great strategy," Rogers said.OddBodd's success depends partly on whether it is financially sustainable. Collins said he has raised $150,000 from individuals to develop the beta version, and the company is close to the break-even point. The company has gotten the attention of local investors."I'm not a social media person, but I thought it was a great twist to online directories. Nobody else is providing this detailed information on events, offers, directions and networks in one place," said investor Greg Worcester.The video component that is front and center on OddBodd.com is "the wave of future," Worcester said.