Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Silverpop Becomes First in Industry to Offer Social Sign-In Capabilities -- ATLANTA, Aug. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ #socialmedia #strategicpartnership
Silverpop Becomes First in Industry to Offer Social Sign-In Capabilities
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Company's Social Connect Offerings Enhanced through Strategic Partnership with Janrain
ATLANTA, Aug. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Understanding that developing a trusted online relationship is the crucial first step in building customer loyalty and nurturing prospects, Silverpop™ today announced the launch of Social Sign-In, making this option available via email marketing and marketing automation platforms for the first time. Social Sign-In gives site visitors the opportunity to leverage their social identities during the sign-in process. An important option, since despite their desire to obtain helpful information online, three out of four people are too frustrated by online registration processes to create a user account(1).
Through a partnership with Janrain, the leading provider of social identity management solutions, Silverpop customers can now offer their site visitors a simple alternative to web form completion. By allowing them to register for online offers by signing in with their existing social network accounts, the process is simplified for registrants, increasing conversions. Janrain has found that companies can achieve a significant increase in registration conversion rates when they provide users with this option. And marketers are able to connect users to their social profiles, providing them with valuable information about their site visitors. Entering a one-year exclusive agreement, Janrain selected Silverpop as its premier marketing automation provider.
"Carefully integrating social media into a multichannel marketing strategy is crucial for success and Silverpop's Social Sign-In feature takes this integration to a whole new level," said Bryan Brown, director of product strategy for Silverpop. "We think of initial website interactions as similar to meeting someone for the first time. The interaction needs to be pleasant and simple and if you feel a connection, you want to be able to get back in touch. By offering Social Sign-In, our customers can collect rich user profile data and their site visitors are left feeling like the company is easy to do business with and are more likely to return."
Social Sign-In also allows marketers to gain a better understanding of their customers' interests and can then use this knowledge to provide incredibly relevant and targeted messaging. People registering via this option are also likely to be active social media users and can be segmented accordingly. Targeting these recipients with content designed to be shared on social networks can expose marketing messages to an exponentially larger audience, comprised of people who are likely to be more influenced by friends and family than by a direct advertising campaign.
"We are excited to enable Silverpop's customers to develop deeper relationships with their users through Social Sign-In," said Tore Steen, vice president of business development for Janrain. "Both Janrain and Silverpop understand how important it is to connect with users on their terms -- from the first interaction throughout the life of the relationship. Today that means not only making the sign-in process as simple as possible, but using the information you collect during initial interactions to inform all future communications."
Social Sign-In is the latest in Silverpop's Social Connect collection of products and features. The company launched Share-to-Social in 2008, becoming the first in the industry to give marketers the ability to quickly turn emails into socially-enabled viral messages. Since the launch of Share-to-Social, Silverpop has found that sharing email content via social networks such as Twitter and Facebook can increase reach by 24.3 percent(2).
About Silverpop
Silverpop is the only marketing technology provider that offers a powerful marketing automation solution built atop a scalable email marketing platform. The company has more than a decade of experience empowering marketers to deliver highly relevant communications that efficiently drive revenue while also building brand loyalty. Companies rely on the Silverpop Engage™ platform to create and manage sophisticated multichannel marketing campaigns that nurture customer and prospect relationships from interest to conversion and beyond. Silverpop's industry-leading thought capital, strategic counsel and customer service, combined with an extensive ecosystem of world class partners, allow its customers to quickly and cost-effectively automate even the most complex campaigns -- improving marketing results and increasing ROI. With a presence in the United States, Europe and Australia, Silverpop is trusted by leading brands around the globe. Visit us at silverpop.com.
About Janrain
Janrain helps organizations succeed on the social web with its user management platform -- a suite of products to improve user acquisition and build engagement. Janrain Engage provides social login and social sharing to enable a user to login with an existing account from over 20 different networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google, as well as share activities from the site to their social networks. Janrain Capture is a turnkey registration and social data storage solution. Janrain Federate provides single sign-on functionality to extend a brand's online ecosystem. Janrain customers include industry leaders such as Universal Music Group, MTV Networks, AMC Networks, Postmedia Network, Ning, Kodak, NPR, Sears and Citysearch. Founded in 2005, Janrain is based in Portland, Oregon. For more information, please call 1-888-563-3082, or visit www.janrain.com.
(1) "Consumer Perceptions of Online Registration and Social Sign-In", Janrain, 2011
(2) "Emails Gone Viral: Measuring 'Share-to-Social' Performance", Silverpop, 2009Media Contacts:
Stacy Kirk
Manager of Corporate Communications - Silverpop
skirk@silverpop.com
770-661-0633Jenny Davis
Dotted Line Communications - for Janrain
jenny@dottedlinecomm.com
925-935-2558SOURCE Silverpop
Back to topRELATED LINKS
http://www.silverpop.com
6 Questions on Social Media with Todd Nilson | Business 2 Community #socialmedia #B2C
Todd Nilson specializes in social media strategy focused on employment branding, the hiring process, and candidate experience. He began his career in 1996 as an IT recruiter and spent time as a lead game designer for an online game company. Currently, Todd is the managing director for Social Syntax, leveraging technology resources to help businesses radically strengthen their sales, brand awareness, employee & customer retention and satisfaction through social media channels. He is also the founder of GoIndigo, LLC, a Milwaukee-based creative career events management company responsible for volunteer-driven events like Milwaukee JobCamp, Resume Slam, and Interview Improv.
1. How did you get your start in the industry?
I’ve always been an adopter of new technologies. I just can’t seem to resist the allure of the shiny object. But where I’ve been luckier than others is that I’ve developed a behavior—I can’t take credit for doing it consciously—of discarding those new technologies almost as quickly if I do not see its value. Because of this tendency to always be trying the newest tech, I got a reputation for giving an unvarnished opinion and started getting invited to talk about social media trends at work and with groups to which I’ve belonged.
As for specific things I’ve done to move into social media consulting, I came at it differently from a lot of people. I’m not a marketing guy. My first experiences with social media technologies were in the context of being a hobbyist gamer. I started as a player of online games and quickly became staff and then a creator of multi-player online games. These online communities are filled with people who are passionate about the subject matter, so I gained a strong appreciation for the ways that people can share (and misbehave) in an online setting.
Because I was also recruiting technology professionals as part of my work with SPR Companies, I started applying the lessons about online communication and community engagement to my hiring activities. For me, the questions about the ROI of social media have always been in mind, because from a recruiting perspective I was always asking and trying to track the source of my hires. Knowing whether you hired someone via one social media channel or another is about as direct as you can get with showing ROI.
2. What is the biggest challenge facing your industry?
The professional services industry for information technology is being crushed for talent. While unemployment remains problematic in other professions, the IT world has it only half as bad. Talented software developers, for example, are highly sought after and often receive multiple offers. Social networks like LinkedIn have made it that much easier to move into a new job, so companies, in my view, have miles to go in order to put together meaningful employer messages that not only attract top talent but have a substantial and stimulating work culture backing up those brand assertions.
3. What is the secret to your social media success?
Being successful with social media work has everything to do with planning. Companies simply cannot take an ad hoc approach to a social media presence. They need to think harder about who they’d like to reach, how they’re going to reach out, and what mechanism they’re going to use to measure the results and improve. A majority of companies are still fobbing off “the social media” thing to interns, which shows that they simply don’t understand the crucial importance of these new channels. I’m very much in favor or hiring interns but you simply do not entrust your social media world to someone who has not even learned a modicum of business etiquette, no matter how digitally savvy they may seem to be. The digital space is the first place where most people go to learn about your company. If your social media efforts are a hodge-podge of abandoned blogs, Twitter accounts and Facebook pages, you’re in trouble.
4. What do you think is the future of social media?
Social media will be increasingly combined with local, mobile applications to the extent that it will be difficult to release a new SM technology successfully that does not have a mobile component. Along the same lines, expect to see more developments in the areas of augmented reality (AR) and virtual worlds. We’ve seen only some early experiments with these technologies to date, but someone is going to get it right and make it ridiculously easy for the world to participate. Expect another Facebook phenom to emerge out of one of these spaces.
5. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out?
To someone just entering the workplace and wants a career in social media, I have two suggestions. First, never lose your sense of play. It’s the willingness to experiment and play (I use the term in a very serious sense) that will keep your skills current and viable in a highly volatile space. Second, you must absolutely find ways to specialize. As the social media consulting space continues to mature, there will be no place for the generalist. Social media is not an end in itself and nobody ever made a living by being a telephone consultant. Social media is an appliance used to accomplish other goals. Consider your strengths and experience and choose an application of these attributes to establish and build on them.
6. Where can we find you on the web/on Twitter/Facebook/etc.?
You can find me on Twitter as @talentline411 where I talk about talent and hiring or as @socialsyntax where I talk about social media technologies and strategy. I blog at talentline411.com and socialsyntax.net along the same lines. I also keep up-to-date profiles on Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.
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Thursday, August 18, 2011
What do you find overwhelming about #socialmedia and your business? #SoulcialMe #frustrations
Many people feel they need to use it, but they're not quite sure how to use it or exactly why they need to. If you are one of these people, you are not alone. Or perhaps you already have a Facebook fan/group page, a twitter or LinkedIn account but they're just sitting there doing NOTHING!!
What is or has been your frustration with marketing on the various social media platforms? What questions might you have about how to monetize (to utilize something of value as a source of profit) social media for your products and services?
Let's have a discussion, Go to the Soulcial Media Evolutions, fill out the form and receive a FREE 30 minute consultation https://www.facebook.com/SMEvolutions
Or you can post your questions or concerns right here in my blog post.
Soulcially yours,
Ja'
Monday, August 8, 2011
Create a Legacy For Your Business: How to Attract Life Time Customers | Learn.DryerBuzz.com : DryerBuzz News, Podcast and NetTV
Create a Legacy For Your Business: How to Attract Life Time Customers | Learn.DryerBuzz.com
When attending events with vendors, I like to visit each booth to support and get a sense of how we are doing business. At one such event, I came upon a product pretty common for today, attracted by its display. The vendor was offering homemade soaps. Gorgeous product and packaging, etc. I could not stop at first glance but I embed the location in my mind to come back.
Before I could get back to the table, I could hear the buzz about the vendor and it wasn’t good. I heard… (this is usually how buzz spreads). I heard the price was too high and she didn’t accept cards. As I observed the booth from a far, I saw people walking away. As others approached the booth, they were not greeted nor coached into purchasing by the vendor. But I wanted some new soap. So I still planned to stop by.
Knowing she did not take cards, I hit the ATM mumbling about the ATM fee under my breath. When I approached the booth, no greeting whatsoever. She was engaged in conversation with a non-customer and not about the product where I could listen in to help my buying experience. So I continued browsing. I guess since I didn’t leave, she decided to stop the conversation to see if I had a question. I inquired about the price. Now I understood. The pricing gave question. Clearly she didn’t feel like explaining the ingredients or learning anything about the customer that could have become the lifetime customer. Despite what I had heard, I still tried to shop.
When I arrived back in the office with my money in my hand and no soap, everybody had more experiences like this to share. Clearly this particular vendor had the best product of the day, especially in an office building full of women.
The chief complaint was affordable price and lack of samples which is commonly expected in a vendor/festival/expo situation. Second was her non-existent greeting and not interacting with the customers. Her desire to make a one time sell and not establish an on-going relationship also hurt her business. It was obvious she was not into life time customers.
What could she had done differently?
This vendor had an opportunity to create a legacy that day. Here’s how:
- In an environment full of women, she could have offered soap samples. There was enough time for the women to retreat to their office, try the sample (as women do), create buzz and then return to make a larger purchase before the day was over.
- With a product such has hers, the selling point could have been a membership or discount club especially at her price point. She could have advanced the sells by attracting with samples and offering gift packs for new members aka lifetime customers. This would have earned revenue month after month.
- Most people who buy this product often buy for someone else. A gift option might have sold better.
- Even where customers did not purchase, she could have offered literature with an invitation to her website.
- She could have requested information to add to her mailing list. When we don’t take the time to learn something about the customer, we miss out on opportunity. She didn’t ask me anything about me. Therefore I didn’t mention I live in a house full of women or work in an office full of women who might have loved her product. Nor did she take the time to learn that I have an award winning website that engages women everyday.
- She could have held a drawing at certain times to bring customers back throughout the day
- She could have offered her product or business as an opportunity. How many people are looking for additional streams of income or additional savings as preferred customers? Again she didn’t inquire about her customers. Perhaps she missed a wholesale opportunity or chance to include her product in a wonderful store or catalog.
You never know unless you cover your bases. Advance your business from one time sells to creating relationships with your customers to create your legacy. Interacting with this particular vendor was a learning experience for me. We have all experienced a short coming here or there or had an after thought after the event. The biggest shorting coming of all is to learn better and not do better.
Let’s grow our businesses even further with lifetime customers by building better relationships. Better relationships leads to better businesses which leads to legacies.
Two decades engaging niche audiences and helping entrepreneurs create buzz for their business, Yalanda P Lattimore, Editor of DryerBuzz.com answers FAQ’s in the perfect accessory for entrepreneurs, Create Buzz When Starting a Business: 27 Answers to FAQs About Social Media and Networking is available via ebook and Amazon Kindle.
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Awesome article! Yalanda has communicated some of the frustrations with vendors NOT vending. I don't feel that this is just isolated to events that have vendors but also to businesses in general. I have visited numerous eating establishments, retailers and grocery stores where the employees acted as if you were irritating or interrupting them, you are there to do them a favor, or they at as if they just absolutely hate their jobs.
Customer service goes a long way and builds return and lifetime customers. Bottom line is as business owners we need to be prepared to meet and greet our customer(s), capture their information, have some information/samples to offer them, and always leave them with a wonderful customer experience so they refer you to friends and family and come back for more.