The Digital Inclination

Last call for Promo 888

2011-05-26T02:42:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

InterECM special offer of RM888 for 88888 email credits is valid for new customers until 31 May 2011.

Hurry and grab this opportunity to experience this promotional rate. On top of that, if you would like to know more about our Promo 888, please visit our website at;
www.interecm.com

We have Moved to a New Adventure - Moving to a New Office

2011-05-26T02:28:00.000-07:00

We have recently moved to a new office location at Uptown Damansara, Selangor. Our new address is;

No. 19C, Jalan SS 21/60,
Damansara Utama,
47400 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Furthermore, we would like to thank you for your kind support towards our products and services. Please do not hesitate to email us at; sales.solution@netinfinium.com if you have any further inquiries.

Thank you.

PR Is Dead

2011-05-05T23:08:00.001-07:00

PR, in the traditional sense, is dead. This kind of statement makes many people, especially practitioners, very nervous. It shouldn’t. Most people who have been keeping up with the trends over the last few years already “sort of” knew this, but let’s put it out there in concrete terms. It’s time to mourn the passing and celebrate the future.

The future is a still-being-defined conglomeration of public relations, digital strategy, media relations, marketing and what we will call “direct engagement,” which includes everything from formal conferences to working sessions to webinars. My colleagues and I have been working hard on how to conceptualize this new trend – we call it Connected CommunicationsSM

Think about how you are reading this right now. Most are likely viewing on a computer screen while a growing number of people are reading on a mobile or tablet device. A few others may print out this article and share it. It’s a form of media consumption that was experimental a few years ago and non-existent when my firm, Stern + Associates, opened its doors 25 years ago.

We’ve all heard the song-and-dance about new media, so I’m not going to dive into it here. Catch phrases like “the world is changing” are already overused. The truth is that most of these changes have merely impacted the syndication of a good message and the different audiences it can reach. When it comes to your company, the actual message is still king.

So – if the message is king, then why am I claiming that PR is dead? Isn’t that the point of PR? In most instances, yes, but it’s only a small sliver of a company’s external messaging. Because of this new world of information sharing and audience fragmentation, it is important that the messaging in advertising, media (in a PR domain), product packaging, internal and external memos, etc. be consistent. Many corporations are still siloed, with marketing, media relations and packaging executives rarely talking to one another, especially when it comes to coordinating and collaborating. All of these different areas are now indeed connected. The message must be consistent from end to end.

Let’s take a peek at how your message might be consumed: An advertising message can prompt someone to do a Google search, which finds your product because your site was properly SEO-optimized and press releases helped you get – and sustain – that ranking. That person signs up for a webinar using the same language found in the ad but to a greater depth, and then shares the findings with a colleague. At the end of the day, a discussion breaks out in the boardroom and someone says, “I remember hearing about this problem in company X’s webinar. Maybe we should give them a call.” This is how today’s world of media consumption works. It doesn’t always happen in this order; in fact, every interaction is unique, like a snowflake among snowflakes. Any one of these people could have seen your CEO on the “Today” show first, or found you on the web. They could have read an article that reviews your company in Forbes or met one of your executives on a train. All of these scenarios are possible, and that is why it is important that the messaging language you use is consistent among everyone and every channel. Everything and everyone is connected, which is why we found the need to create Connected CommunicationsSM, an approach that fuses the best of traditional media, direct engagement, marketing and digital strategies into measurable payoffs for your business goals.

Source from;
http://blogs.forbes.com/jimnichols/2011/05/05/pr-is-dead/

InterECM Promo extended until 31st May 2011

2011-04-21T02:22:00.000-07:00

Due to popular demand, we are proud to announce that we are extending our InterECM promo 888 until 31st May 2011.

For more information, please visit our InterECM website at: www.interecm.com

or drop us an email to request for free trial;
sales.solution@netinfinium.com

InterECM Promotion 888 for 88888 email credits.

2011-03-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

Netinfinium Corporation Sdn Bhd has recently celebrated Chinese New Year ushering the year of the rabbit with one of our prominent finance industry Client at Legend Hotel and also with fellow associates with a steamboat dinner at Sunway.

From all of us, we would like to wish you and your loved ones a prosperous Year of the Rabbit.

On top of that, we have recently announced our InterECM promotion 888 in which we are offering 888,880 email credits for only just RM888 for our first time customers and also, for those who have tired our trial pack who wished to sign up for this.

Hurry and grab this promotion before the end of March 2011. For more information of this offer, do drop us an email at sales.solution@netinfinium.com or visit, www.interecm.com to try out our interecm software.

Understanding Connectivity (Where are we really going with this?)

2010-08-24T05:22:00.000-07:00

If you have noticed, many websites are now inter-connecting their user login interface - if you have not, they are (trust me on this). Email providers with video sites, video sites with social networks, social networks with blog sites and evidently the list seems to go on and on.

So where exactly is this all leading to? And more appropriately, with what purpose?

"

As civilization grows more complex, it is simultaneously becoming increasingly interrelated. We are converging upon ourselves, and this is forcing us to relate.

"

Anodea Judith

The quote above is an idea on this progression, though I prefer to lean on an eventual commercialisation gambit (for now anyway).

Let's take Google and Facebook for instance. Each are in some ways competing for the same resource (human interaction) yet each approach it differently but over the course of time some forms of convergence is already evident (remember the email to video bit, above).

Google mail connects to Youtube and Youtube connects to myriad social channels, that again inter-relate to one another.

So while (maybe) Google and Facebook seem to be at odds with each other, could it be that possibly, agreed connectivity becomes an example of haute couture that has yet to surface since Microsoft took over (or began) the computing world?

Faux pas? Possibly organizations, SMEs and individuals embroiled in monetization systems on the current flow of online mechanics.

After all, the more people that are already hooked on it only means that a significant alteration to this system while invoking resentment and a lot of shouting will after all, achieve the same results.

Friedman said most economic fallacies are derived from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at the expense of another.

Rightly, what the world sees as two emerging giants going head on, could very well become yet another conglomerate merger and the beginning of internet domination.

After all, it will only be a matter of time before the next bright spark thinks of something impressively revolutionary which eclipses search marketing, social networking, Google & Facebook forever.

So how does inter-connectivity make it stick? Through repetition.
As more and more people all across the world (all at the same time, mind you) happen to learn, understand and eventually become comfortable with inter-connected websites, networks and every other chime-a-dime portal, the ones that try their best to, how do I say this, "shelter" their communities from this vast not-so-gaping network of relevance, will invariably fall short of the finish line, lose their legitimacy in the online world, community and...(what was their name again?). You get the drift.

After all, who are we kidding here? Closed groups? Small minority-like forums which rely on donations to keep the web-hosting companies at bay. The ideas that run through these discreet groups could be easily resuscitated on larger networks.

The longer the stick, the greater the growth and therein lies the ultimate gambit. Two competing forces, seemingly at odds, each with larger than life followings. Every other smaller network dies off or is assimilated by one or the other and in the end, when all the dust has settled. The two towers ( :P ) combine and the birth of the largest borderless marketplace is born. Consumers, groups and everyone in between who were part of smaller networks are themselves assimilated by this marriage - each bringing with them credit cards and a desire to shop in absolute comfort.

The drawback I suppose is that the World Wide Web will be void of any form of privacy. For a majority of users; young, old and the n00b, the web will become the single largest market place in the known universe ( I mean social place).

In the end the World Wide Web will become the single largest market for any business. It already is, but inter-connectivity will be like semantic for the semantic web.

And then we will also see absolute hardcore digital advertising competition. We will really see brands and advertisers spending in virtual spaces and agencies creating amazing ads (hopefully).

And that's what I think.

On a more serious note, I've set up an alternate purchase page for InterECM's bulk email marketing software. Yes, I know we already have www.interecm.com and the don; www.netinfinium.com but I'm looking at creating localised search based offerings via Malaysia's very own bulk email marketing space @ www.emailmarketingmalaysia.weebly.com.

Check it out if you have some time to spare.

Email Marketing in Malaysia - InterECM has a brand new purchase page

2010-08-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

InterECM's bulk email marketing software now has a direct information-purchase page set up. It's using weebly's blog network so more users will be able to access and essentially 'find it'.

Find out more about bulk email marketing in Malaysia with InterECM here: www.emailmarketingmalaysia.weebly.com

Use the contact form for best results or call NetInfinium Corporation (the company) directly.

Email: Innovating Economic Viability

2010-08-09T20:28:00.001-07:00

Email: Innovating Economic Viability

Kuala Lumpur, 24 June 2010 – The adoption of electronic mail (email) as an alternative to traditional methods of communication continue to gain momentum across the globe. Economic viability, environmental initiatives and the need to communicate in a timely and efficient manner are concerns organizations need to immediately address to ensure that they remain competitive for many years to come.

Email is already seeing exponential growth with various reports on the subject validating the platform manifesto. A 2009 global report on email usage statistics by technology market research firm Radicati Group, Inc revealed that 247 billion emails were sent each day at a rate of one email every 0.00000035 seconds with this number expecting to double to 507 billion emails per day by 2013. The Radicati Group also projected an increase in email subscriptions from 1.4 billion in 2009 to almost 1.9 billion by 2013.

Locally, the Government’s plan to increase broadband subscription rates under the National Broadband Initiative (NBI) to 50 percent nationwide from the current 31.4 percent will play a crucial role in ICT competitiveness and overall Internet-technology adoption specifically in large scale email based information dissemination.

The onset of increased Internet usage is expected to provide sectors like Finance and Banking with alternative technology strategies to reduce traditional Advertising, Communication and Promotion costs and improve interactive consumer relations initiatives will become increasingly practical.

Options like the utilization of statement delivery via secure email in delivering bills, payments and invoices to customers will be among the remedial changes for cost efficient efficiency that can be implemented within these industries in the near future.

Organizations will then be empowered to take advantage of the superior economics of email, web portal, SMS and fax broadcasting features, while having a platform to build customer trust and ensure messages are delivered, viewed and acted on.

The increase in broadband penetration rates is expected to also contribute to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Through the implementation of the NBI, 135,000 new high value jobs are expected to be created within the ICT sector with additional spin offs in other sectors such as engineering, local content development and broadcasting.

Email as a communications platform between individuals and organizations is also expected to gain in popularity and function because of its targeted and data driven relationship.

The 2010 Annual Marketing & Media Survey by media specialists Datran Media offered a online introspect with 39.4% of 5,000 marketing executives from Fortune 500 brands, top publishers and leading advertising and media agencies indicating that email was their strongest performing advertising channel.

To a larger extent, the continuous involvement of the government and private sectors through proposed capacity building initiatives in line with the NBI announcement will promote greater focus on online content and the advocacy of e-Government, e-Education and e-Commerce components.

The expansion will give email greater penetration and benefit local online entrepreneurs interested in reducing large scale organizational marketing, billing and promotional expenditures. It will also provide a wider network of consumers for marketing and e-billing solutions and supplement the development of new technology divisions in order to expand reach in local and regional markets whilst improving productivity, enhancing CRM initiatives and alleviating environmental concerns.

To date, there are approximately 16 million internet users in Malaysia and a total of 2.6 million broadband subscriptions. Synergistic broadband penetration, implementation and support by both government and private sectors will lead to the formation of a knowledge-based economy vital to Malaysia’s presence as an emerging leader in the ICT sector and ultimately provide a faster, cheaper and more efficient way of communicating.

###
- End –
About NetInfinium Corporation

Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, NetInfinium Corporation Sdn Bhd is an MSC status involved in Statement delivery and bill payment solutions, Email/SMS/Fax campaign, broadcast & tracking solution, Integrated marketing (SMS/ Fax /Email) & campaign coordination, Web Portal and Intranet Design and Development, Web Based Application Design and Development and Interactive Marketing Consultancy.
The organization was awarded the prestigious MGS R&D Grant by the MDC for its continuous effort to propel Malaysia to the forefront of Information Technology with the development of breakthrough & high tech solution developments.

NetInfinium Corporation is listed on Deloitte’s Asia Pacific Top 500 Fastest Growing IT Companies and Red Herring Asia Top 100 Technology Company. NetInfinium Corporation was also awarded the AWSJ Asia Innovations Award, MC² Creative Award, Asia Interactive Award, ZDNet Asia Top 10 Asian TechnoVisionaries and Malaysia Business Ethics Excellence Award

Our Products
DirectSecure®
Statement delivery via secure email is the latest trend in delivering bills, payments and invoices to customers. With DirectSecure®, organizations are empowered to take advantage of the superior economics of email, web portal, SMS and fax broadcasting features, while having a platform to build customer trust and ensure messages are delivered, viewed and acted on.

InterECM

Plan, manage and execute real-time or scheduled email marketing campaigns with InterECM. Fully integrated with your legacy CRM/database, InterECM helps you up-sell and cross-sell new and existing customers in a cost-efficient manner while increasing brand awareness and bottom line profitability.

Through InterECM, you can develop email/SMS/Fax campaigns using personalized and targeted marketing options; trigger based email alerts with multi-lingual support and multi-content channel emails.

For media enquiries please contact:

NetInfinium Corporation Sdn Bhd
Tel: +603 7880 7793
Fax: +603 7880 0753
Email: sales.solution@netinfinium.com

Email Marketing in Malaysia – The Social Conundrum

2010-08-09T19:55:00.000-07:00

Kuala Lumpur, 17 May 2010 – The adoption of electronic mail as an alternative to traditional methods of communication continues to gain momentum across the globe. Economic viability, environmental initiatives and the need to communicate in a timely and efficient manner are practical forecasts organizations today make to ensure that they remain competitive for many years to come.

Locally, the Government’s plan to increase broadband subscription rates under the National Broadband Initiative (NBI) to 50 percent nationwide from the current 31.4 percent will play a crucial role in ICT competitiveness and overall Internet-technology adoption specifically in large scale email based information dissemination.

The increase in broadband penetration rates is expected to also contribute to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Through the implementation of the NBI, 135,000 new high value jobs are expected to be created within the ICT sector with additional spin offs in other sectors such as engineering, local content development and broadcasting.

To a larger extent, the continuous involvement of the government and private sectors through proposed capacity building initiatives in line with the NBI announcement will promote greater focus on online content and the advocacy of e-Government, e-Education and e-Commerce components.

The shift will benefit local online entrepreneurs and cap large scale organizational expenditures on top of reaching a wider network of consumers. This will give organizations interested in new technologies the ability to expand their reach in local and regional markets whilst improving productivity, enhancing CRM initiatives and reducing environmental impacts.

A 2009 global report on email usage statistics by technology market research firm Radicati Group, Inc revealed that 247 billion emails were sent each day at a rate of one email every 0.00000035 seconds with this number expecting to double to 507 billion emails per day by 2013. The Radicati Group also projected an increase in email subscriptions from 1.4 billion in 2009 to almost 1.9 billion by 2013.

The 2010 Annual Marketing & Media Survey by media specialists Datran Media offered a similar online introspect with 39.4% of 5,000 marketing executives from Fortune 500 brands, top publishers and leading advertising and media agencies indicating that email was their strongest performing advertising channel.

To date, there are approximately 16 million internet users in Malaysia and a total of 2.6 million broadband subscriptions. Synergistic broadband penetration, implementation and support by both government and private sectors will lead to the creation of a internet-rich economy vital to Malaysia’s presence as an emerging leader in the ICT sector and ultimately provide a quicker, cheaper and more efficient way of communicating.

About NetInfinium Corporation

Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, NetInfinium Corporation Sdn Bhd is an MSC status involved in Statement delivery and bill payment solutions, Email/SMS/Fax campaign, broadcast & tracking solution, Integrated marketing (SMS/ Fax /Email) & campaign coordination, Web Portal and Intranet Design and Development, Web Based Application Design and Development and Interactive Marketing Consultancy.

The organization was awarded the prestigious MGS R&D Grant by the MDC for its continuous effort to propel Malaysia to the forefront of Information Technology with the development of breakthrough & high tech solution developments.

NetInfinium Corporation is listed on Deloitte’s Asia Pacific Top 500 Fastest Growing IT Companies and Red Herring Asia Top 100 Technology Company. NetInfinium Corporation was also awarded the AWSJ Asia Innovations Award, MC² Creative Award, Asia Interactive Award, ZDNet Asia Top 10 Asian TechnoVisionaries and Malaysia Business Ethics Excellence Award.

Our Products

DirectSecure®

Statement delivery via secure email is the latest trend in delivering bills, payments and invoices to customers. With DirectSecure®, organizations are empowered to take advantage of the superior economics of email, web portal, SMS and fax broadcasting features, while having a platform to build customer trust and ensure messages are delivered, viewed and acted on.

InterECM

Plan, manage and execute real-time or scheduled email marketing campaigns with InterECM. Fully integrated with your legacy CRM/database, InterECM helps you up-sell and cross-sell new and existing customers in a cost-efficient manner while increasing brand awareness and bottom line profitability. Through InterECM, you can develop email/SMS/Fax campaigns using personalized and targeted marketing options; trigger based email alerts with multi-lingual support and multi-content channel emails.

For media enquiries please contact:

NetInfinium Corporation Sdn Bhd
Tel: +603 7880 7793
Fax: +603 7880 0753
Email: sales.solution@netinfinium.com

Let’s Talk Semantic (Web)

2010-07-29T00:10:00.000-07:00

The Semantic Web is a web of data. There is lots of data we all use every day, and it is not part of the web. I can see my bank statements on the web, and my photographs, and I can see my appointments in a calendar. But can I see my photos in a calendar to see what I was doing when I took them? Can I see bank statement lines in a calendar?

Why not?

Because we don't have a web of data. Because data is controlled by applications, and each application keeps it to itself.

The Semantic Web is about two things. It is about common formats for integration and combination of data drawn from diverse sources, where on the original Web mainly concentrated on the interchange of documents. It is also about language for recording how the data relates to real world objects. That allows a person, or a machine, to start off in one database, and then move through an unending set of databases which are connected not by wires but by being about the same thing.
Source

The notion isn’t something far fetched nor is it impossible to realise as the functional aspect of semantic web does already exist on many levels albeit much smaller scales. The purpose here is a ‘global vision’. Yes, it’s very utopian, and probably shares the same loft with fair minded people that want nothing more than to get rid of the 7 sins of man (biblical it’s not). The complexities however are way too huge to even consider as of yet, having much ado because of factors like consumerism, commercialism and industrialization.

So I suppose unless we revert to a free trade system or pin a conglomerate superstructure to control society, economy, nation-states and every other aspect of everydaylife (EDL), the feasibility of semantic web should (probably) encompass a large network of organizations that will need to share information in order for it to work.

But that’s only a credited concern for our economic powerhouses. The real power of semantic web comes from the ability of computers to actually be able to ‘read’ information and present it to users. The piece de resistance will be the total absence of human intervention. Nifty, right? Just a click of a button and your life journal comes gushing out in a neat package. The fear? Information hacks, something no one can really prevent, regardless of code.

Are you really ready to receive (give) your information(away)?

Are you in need of a great bulk email marketing software? Click here :)

Mobile Mobility – Are we moving too quickly?

2010-07-13T03:24:00.001-07:00

If you’re the naughty sort and had in mind, during a moment of weakness (of course), a palatable play of words to make your IT Manager cringe – what would it be?

Three words come to my mind really – stability, security, and risk. It baffles the mind how in tune and involved IT personnel are with their dearest technology and how swiftly they would make an enemy out of you for merely suggesting some…”improvements”.

Similarly, the digital age has seen immense transformation. No longer do you ask anyone if they have email, but rather “what’s your email add?” Yet the less in tune would be shocked. Then again, how many of us are really “less in tune”?

Children today walk school hallways exchanging BB pins (Black Berry ID’s) and may also read from e-readers instead of books and have their syllabi located on a school server. That’s the reality of change that happens every day.

The exciting changes that continue to shape online worlds however have begun to create some stir in mobile circles.

The myriad mobile operating systems surfacing in Microsoft ® only lands coupled with robust developer communities across the world is shaping synergistic value to the term digital and more prominently how mobile devices are now shaping up to be – the only thing you need.

Are we moving too quickly?

Are you in need of a great bulk email marketing software? Click here :)

HTML5 and the return of Video Email Marketing

2010-07-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

The idea of video email marketing has been around for some time – but it wasn’t really giving off the kind of panache you’d hope for, until now. HTML 5’s video asset has given new freedom to web developers and now seems set on twirling some excitement for email marketers too.

However, it should be mentioned at this point that HTML 5 video as a component of email only works with the iPad, iPhone and Apple Mail 4 – all of which fall under resident extraordinaire Apple.

Many other mail service providers are still hesitant but one would easily associate that with the maintenance costs involved with downloading and streaming large bandwidth video files – and with HD strolling in, it would get even more...complicated?

Security and compliancy issues could be another avenue of contention, as many major email providers (Hotmail, Yahoo, Lotus) also provide accounts for corporate use – web mail included. So, implementing an idea like video via email would impact each businesses service structure as well.

So where’s this going?

Well, we do know that Apple’s gearing up for in-video email, we do know that most email providers aren’t really getting along with the idea – but the inlays to the future do scream for some kind of changes to this. After all, the emergence of in-video email (while taking a toll on bandwidth) will move the entire personalization, branding and consumer relations theory to superbly greener pastures (or so says the dream).

Need an email marketing service? Look here.

Dereliction of Duty : Is Search enabled really enabling?

2010-06-29T01:40:00.000-07:00

Digital strategist Kelvin Lim of Fleishman-Hillard is in the opinion that search rankings have a rather over hyped case. In his article, Big-Game Ranking, and the Tactics of its Hunters, he touches on the possibility of invalid metrics in search engine reconnaissance (web analytics) and ranking factors. He says, “Whoever said that the internet offers absolute an accurate tracking was possibly inebriated, as tracking is generally about as definitive as word-of-mouth testimony”.

The truth? There is none, as Kelvin points out on how search engine data is tabulated and produced is still something of an ‘industry secret’. So what becomes of search engine methodologies and the continued 'improvements' that search engines continue to make. Google for one says that they produce approximately 400 updates a year…how many of which are visibly known to the everyday surfer is anyone’s guess. Every other search engine would ultimately need to play catch-up to this idea, but the significance is apparent.

The methodologies however, signify a growth strategy. A resolution to an otherwise impoverished industry that now has the ability to stand alone, indifferent to vexes and the idealism of any other search stable. Within the search industry, these changes are fine, in fact they are somewhat expected given the rise of search engine credibility but to organizations in need of such services, these changes mean nothing less that an expenditure that is without any consolidation feature.

Monetization by way of search, analytic and rankings means in retrospect, the demise of smaller and less performing engines. It is a means to an end for giants like Google who continue to take over vast market shares as it plays surrogate to younger search engines.

The future in my opinion, is the creation of search engine variations, much like how departmental stores are categorised (and much like what Google is already doing).

What will this mean to independent search engineers in the coming years (and your wads of cash)?

Read more about Big-Game Ranking, and the Tactics of its Hunters in your March 2010 issue of advertising+marketing.

Existentialism by Social Media

2010-06-08T23:43:00.000-07:00

Digital media platforms show us the distinct advantage it holds when compared with traditional media platforms.

Television, radio and a subset of publications inform audiences through a one way communicative model and while some form of measure does exist, it is intertwined with corporate agendas and industry competition.

Generally, the media has by all accounts, become leaders of persuasion and agenda setting principles – each competing for ratings and subscriptions between one another while continuing to portray impartiality and accuracy – but really, how far will this go before it collides?

We are told what to think, how to think it and more impressively, how we can easily be taken in by suave marketing styles that capture and relate to the raptures of an individual’s emotive underlining in tone rich relation-based narration.

The argument of digital media platforms – social networking to be exact - is based on the economical portion of information delivery and the newfound height of interaction that can now be achieved amid growing ROI justifications.

Going in at a rate of one tenth the cost of traditional media, new technologies have the discerning capability of targeting, for all sense and purpose, “the right kind of consumer”.

It brings with it the challenges that many pre-social platforms had already brought to the socio-network table such as consumer participation levels and the ability to ensure long term sustainability, but it does have one immense difference – it is a constantly evolving sphere of technologically induced ideas that marry with general marketing concepts.

The gem we should all pay tribute to (most already do) is Facebook not because of its ingenuity or ability to outrank existing social networks but because of its sheer participation numbers and business benefits.

It has crystallised as the single most unique opportunity available to mankind and breathed new life to the scale of accessible function against ROI. Recent analytics suggest Facebook has close to 500 million subscribers and that number increases daily.

Still, the larger than life buy in of Facebook creates parallel Internet dependability.

With more people getting online with the intent of accessing Facebook amid everyday routines like checking email, users will begin to facilitate their need for longer online time by shifting their media consumption patterns from traditional options to the online sphere.

This is the foundation of existentialism by social media.

As users shift to cater for longer time on networks, there will be an incline in information delivery demand to supplement information absorption needs. This propensity to change will also create an online advertising and promotions throttle.

The difference here however, is that consumers are engaging A&P syndications and not the other way around.

While the contention of a similar rhetoric existing on traditional advertising flares, people need to remember that there is an underlying sociological impact on consumers because of empowerment processes that have already been provided by Facebook, in this instance.

The ability to deny friend requests, remove friends, add new friends, create groups, advocate agendas, create topics of conversation, ban, block and engage in over the top privacy needs have put in place a notion that we have the power and the ability to simply ignore.

We now dismiss banners or skip a page or video ad, and this places greater importance on consumers as judge, jury and executioner of advertising collateral. Will the same genius that swirled in creative spaces be truly effective on online advertising platforms?

Will the art of copy writing be able to attract attention, spark interest, create desire and advocate participation? Can amazing design make consumers wonder? Would the mesh of the two offer a substantial approach to the A.I.D.A. strategy?

Advocating a yes or no answer is somewhat haphazard, because of the unique experience each user has every time he or she logs on to the Internet.

This same idea will defunct the idea of digital marketing as the greater good save for its targeting aspect, but it is still an important point to consider as we realise interaction, marketing and advertising on the online sphere.

We have seen in recent times, the changing face of marketing and how marketing laws that were once considered immutable now require some modifications to be truly effective on online-scapes.

The introduction of a new wave of thought and a new, more ‘communicative’ model of marketing which extends to include various digital technology options and still be able to make sense to the consumer is the next phase in advertising and promotions and to a greater extent, how we will come to understand the Internet.

How to Write a Google & SEO Friendly Page Titles

2010-06-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

How to Write a Google & SEO Friendly Page Titles

It's always good to re-read information. Here's a friendly tip on how to best word your Title pages.

The Sociable Consumer

2010-06-02T01:37:00.000-07:00

Commercial engagement practices on Social Networks

Social networks are nothing new to the average Internet-dependant teenager or corporate executive. For some time now, myriad options continue to emerge and disband, collaborate and unite in the hopes of creating a social realm that takes Jürgen Habermas’ public sphere theory to untold heights. While his notion is more formally fuelled on how perception is shaped through mass media, the idea of a global public sphere, willed only by the notions of individuals and groups and lacking a master-perennial figure disseminating information is an interesting structure to new mass media theories and sociology.

The Social Network has in fact, become a marketplace, filled with businesses and interests, each providing services and products to tens of millions of consumers. The consumers on the other hand, act within the notion of traversing digital spaces, converging on similar ideologies and moving towards interests, pre-defined and based on recommendations and needs. Their engagement practices will initially be limited to usage pre-dispositions and their own user experiences but in time will retain mastery of a social network’s functions and features in order to better sustain individual online needs.

It is within this shift of individual-titling to ownership that challenges the consumer to simplify their own daily routine and evoke a need to place greater importance on the social networking dialectic and consequently on how they navigate through their daily lives.

This realization bolstered by pre-existing brand engagement practices will define the new consumer - the Sociable Consumer.

Women Eager to Receive Mobile Coupons : MarketingProfs

2010-05-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

Women Eager to Receive Mobile Coupons : MarketingProfs

The Name of the Game is “Cadence”

2010-05-18T00:02:00.000-07:00

Marketing is an activity which serves revenue. There are no two ways about it. Yet, it is the way marketing activities are positioned and even how the “what” of marketing activities are carried out that evidently, matters most.

I was reading an article on mediapost.com by Ryan Deutsch entitled ‘It's the Customer Experience, Stupid!’ and have to note that his entire 'on the ground' experience with ABT Electronics conveniently conveyed the right kind of metrics to truly understand what consumer experiences are all about and how it relates to a marketing activity, especially online.

It wasn’t the succinct visualization he managed to capture when he spoke of how mild mannered and conforming ABT employees were while he was there, or even how the CFO took the time to assist with his purchase, it was the impression he felt as he walked out of that store and what he said after, which goes something like this “In addition to my loyalty, thanks to the wonder of the social web, I took the time to write this blog talking about my experience at their store.”

Email marketing has a knack for creating repeat business. This is very true, especially if you are trying to compare a variety of advertising channels, but, this must always be supplemented by the reality of the frame you try to convey to others.

Many, if not most, small sized email marketing campaigns fail because of this. You have an excellent marketing strategy, everything works great and people are clicking. Click-thru rates turn into actual sales and everyone is pretty darned pleased with themselves.

This is precisely where the pin drops.

A good campaign, regardless of what tools you use, needs to have the fundamentals in place.

If email marketing works because of the below:

It allows targeting
It is data driven
It drives direct sales
It builds relationships, loyalty and trust
It supports sales through other channels

On the ground sales and support must and I mean MUST have the same agenda in place.If one part fails the other will too, and if one part succeeds and the other does not, the same results will appear.

The alienation of departments, a pretty relevant norm, becomes a singular inaction that has an impact on any other initiative. If you enter a store, you expect to be treated with respect and dignity, and unless you know everything about the product in mind, you expect to be clued in on all aspects before making a purchase. What happens when the sales rep is an absolute horror? You never return.

Same thing goes for emails. Email marketing is bent on giving consumers value. Emails are shaped to be personal. Combining the both is supposed to offer a pristine example of what “we are like” before you actually come to any of our stores or call any of our call centres.

Here’s the difference between email marketing by BIG organizations as opposed to small organizations. Big organizations usually treat every stage of the consumer engagement cycle with care, often, segmenting stages and outsourcing to multiple agencies. Small companies on the other hand, curl up at the idea of reduced marketing expenditures but that can sometimes leave them vulnerable to exhaustive process cycles in the long run. And what happens to the consumer?

That’s the rhetorical email marketing play that many overlook sometimes.

If you do it right, and employ some cadence along the way, the chances of your email marketing messages changing from a consumer's view as simple bulk marketing or worse off, spam to personalised email messages rises.

On another note, I’ve been trying my hand at InterECM. It’s a handy all rounder type of email marketing software that can be utilized for a variety of campaigns. It has all the necessary scheduling features and even provides graphical in-depth reports of your campaign.

Don’t take my word for it. Try it online for free and blast out messages to your loved ones or mates, even if its just to tell them about next Sunday’s ball game.

Making sense of interconnectivity

2010-05-06T23:35:00.000-07:00

If SEO has taught us anything, it's that nothing is truly definitive. Everyday, more and more experts discuss, analyse and debunk strategies or ideas that relate to an overall conceptualization of SEO.

If you were to ask Google, they'll tell you to follow their steps and presto! What's left is to pay for your keywords and viola, you're on your way to greater presence and market connectivity.

Then there are the host of blog sites and email newsletters that elaborate on, produce substantial evidence and continue to market the idealism of SEO.

What goes on however, is something else. We see guidelines. We see experts and softwares changing the way the guidelines are used and impressively, how easy it is to manipulate it.

The entourage? A new set of guidelines, changes, preferences, social bookmarking, consumer behaviour search analysis pattern presentations - giving consumers an idea of what they should search for instead.

So where does this leave everyone else that isn't on the billion dollar bandwagon, raking in profits, creating huge click-thru rates and providing massive amounts of content driven information that drives the SEO popularity contest?

I say popularity contest simply because, there can be only one (page). If you're 2nd, 3rd and so forth, the relegation doesn't mean anything. After all, being indexed on the first page of Google is everything.

And what's the most-sought after SEO technique? Nothing really. The guys on the last page of any Google rank are either asleep or waiting to be re-indexed. And what do the guys on the last page do to have better standings? Copy everything the guy on the first page did and "do it better". However, the "do it better" part is really, well the grey-est of areas. Everyone's got a different habit. Softwares tell you to do this and that, but at some level, it should have more to do with reducing keyword saturation, at least for some years to come.

Big business making a buck, utilize keyword indexing and refining processes. Rehashing variables and re-introducing a methodological process that produce enviable results.

Google is now introducing a new idea however. Starred searches. 'Starred' because user experiences and preferences now become a new accountability to steer SEO away from the grip of infinite funding. But will the long tail whip out something truly useful?

As we move towards new technologically induced globalspheres, will we really see a truly altruistic approach to SEO?

My thoughts on this? Based on the user experience/preference dialectic and IP related redirection to local sites, what we might see in return is regional or continent based preferential matchups. It could be one way to go. It could spell a slew of statistical algorithms to advocate SEO based business consumerism and it could quite possibly limit the influence generated by infinite capital.

How to: Email Marketing Practices

2010-05-03T00:36:00.000-07:00

Email Marketing Best Practices

It's true that there are a host of different approaches to email marketing and the rise of multiple best practice packages. While many are similar, it is good to take note of the differences that can either make or break your email marketing campaign.
The Horror that awaits most Email Marketers.

Spam or not ~~Spam~~?
Spam is the #1 cause of all email marketing related diseases. Now, while a majority of legitimate emailing services have already implemented the do's and don'ts of email marketing, the sad truth is that many spam related campaigns have done the same.

Due to the contextual balance between image and text, the typical email from a sender that is not in your safe sender list, will inadvertently be relegated to your SPAM box.

Yet, while this is only one part design and creation, it also has much to do with the reputation of your IP. If you don't already know, an email IP reputation is a determination of the current level of spam your IP address is associated with. The higher the score, the worse off your campaigns.

There are multiple ways to combat this, but again, if you are using an email engine service or sending mass emails from a corporate address, it's best to check and see if your IP is blacklisted or not. But you should know, it actually does take some time for any one specific mail server to be validated - about 3 months of constant blasts - and you should use every technology available to legitimize your mail server (find out more from your ISP).

What else to watch out for?
2 things are somewhere outside your control really.

Your IP Reputation and your Senderscore.

Briefly, your sender score tells your ISP the volume of emails you normally send and your reputation based on that. So the score is basically how people rate or value your email information. The more people marking your messages as spam, the lower your score and the quicker it is for your messages to get into the SPAM folder instead of INBOX. Bounce rates are another thing to consider, as this is commonly construed as 'dirty lists' with invalid or closed accounts. The more mails sent to these addresses, the greater the chance of receiving ISP's blacklisting your mail server.

There are also multiple ways you can get blocked without even lifting a finger. This has to do with public and private IP blocks, and what your neighbours on a shared hosting package are doing. Co-locating can be a nightmare if you're not careful. And there isn't much you can do really if you've been blacklisted, unless you're the person spamming or determine who is. It gets worse however.

If you've been blacklisted, and there doesn't seem to be anything you can do about it, you'll have to start fresh. New IP, new sender score, new everything. What that means is, you won't get the same kind of treatment you used too, using your old IP address (saying this means that you've actually gotten a really good sender score and everything else, before blacklisting) and you will have to effectively re-do the entire reputation process once more.

More to come.

Branding Yesterday

2010-04-14T02:00:00.000-07:00

Branding Yesterday

“There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits.”

Branding Today

“There is nothing wrong with your DVD player. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling your DVD player. We already control the horizontal and the vertical. We now control the digital. We can change the focus from a soft blur to crystal clarity. Sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits. ”

excerpt from The Outer Limits (1963 TV series) - Opening Narration - The Control Voice

The End of an Era…

2010-03-31T01:53:00.000-07:00

Are we at the end of the email era? Many seem to agree as they check their social networking site accounts for the latest goss.

Email Marketing in 2010 is at a pivotal stage, where calm reflection is needed on the types of services that can be further enhanced, and a stand be mounted on over-exaggerating corporate buffs who try to strike regiment guised in rudimentary control.

It’s no fault of large corporations *fame* who ultimately need to strategise brand and service convergence, but where does this leave organizations whose very pursuit stands solely on email marketing?

More so, as more and more individuals subscribe to open source software and inherently become victims of commercial conquests.

Will email marketing be streamlined to suit corporate agendas? Will email marketers keel over in coming years?

Let’s watch without anticipation.

Complementing Coverage

2010-03-19T00:26:00.000-07:00

Why Email Works for Us

Many opt to see email marketing as a stagnating marketing option making a living under the marketing umbrella. Poor utilization, inconsistent strategies and undefined marketing plans are alienating factors that give email marketing its poor credentials. Let's not forget spam.

I am, as much as I feel the shock of watching my own head nod, a firm believer in email marketing. Here’s why:

•    It's easy to develop
•    It saves a lot of time and money
•    Fewer campaign mechanisms
•    Direct and personalized approach
•    It uses one of the most basic online communication methods
•    Better consumer pattern engagements
•    You can do it over and over…and over again

Most would say that these reasons aren't close enough to justify an adequate ROI corporations need to work out in order to execute and sustain any venture but most and I mean most, fail to view the results email marketing provide communication programmes with and the ease it provides consumers with too. To be honest, a successful email marketing campaign targeting the right consumers with the right products only spells consumer delight and there’s no middle person fees involved.

Still, the typical problems with digital crossovers usually relate to long term ties to existing traditional marketing collaborations, but as more non-digital marketing teams move over themselves, organizations begin to see the value and potential revenue it can gain from new media branding techniques.

But, as much as I or anyone else would like to argue, email marketing is hugely dependant on subscription lists, or the database. Yes, you can get a ton of email lists and solicit even more from external parties, but the only thing you'll be successful at is telling a huge number of people that don't know you to avoid you. You may get a hit or two but the penetration into one’s personal space is usually too much for many.

So if you really want to succeed with email marketing, you get practical, get direct and target the right consumers. You start up teaser campaigns, get a feel for the market, join like minded groups and then take it off with the right consumers in mind or on your excel sheet.

Find out more about how you can excite your marketing options with InterECM. InterECM is a fully functional stand alone and web based email campaign management software that utilizes advanced tracking and reporting features for absolute marketing satisfaction.

There’s a global pool out there. Jump in with InterECM.

Marketing at 1 cent or less

2010-03-18T23:04:00.001-07:00

New media technologies like email, mirror traditional face to face meetings.
You start just like you would at any face to face meeting. First name introductions, a brief flash back of what was before your great offer and you close with an offer that make your consumers grin from ear to ear, card in hand of course.

But instead of sweating and travelling (groan), you click! You're not uncomfortable, the prospect isn’t thinking of his or her next meeting and to be absolutely frank, you’re spending 1 cent or less with every encounter.

Now that’s ROI.

Find out more about how you can start creating lush digital marketing campaigns with InterECM's bulk email software today!.