Our UK Managing Director, Fiona Robson, was presenting yesterday at the Hotelympia exhibition on how email can drive sales. We’ll be sharing the presentation shortly, but in the meantime check out this meme on email marketing that she put together for the presentation – and see what you think. If you like it, please share.

Download the Email Marketing meme here (pdf)

They say the customer is always right, but few can claim to be so ‘right’ that they convinced a well known supermarket to change the name of one of its most popular products. Well, 3 1/2 year old Lilly Robinson can. After Lily wrote to Sainsbury’s asking “Why is it called Tiger bread? It should be called Giraffe bread?” she not only received a personalised letter responding to her question, but the supermarket actually went ahead and renamed the bread. How often do you come across such a glowing example of customer care? In this age of digitalisation, personalised communication from business to consumer seems to be getting rarer and rarer. So what has happened to the ‘customer relationship’?

When did you last get an email thanking you for flying First Class around the world? Ok, you don’t fly First Class? Well, when did you receive a thank you from a hotel or restaurant? Businesses of all shapes and sizes take our money and often never say thank you for our business. Why not? There may be lots of reasons, including bad manners but it’s unlikely to be because they’ve lost your address.

Airlines, for example, know a vast amount about their customers – name, address, email, phone and credit card details to list a few. Virgin Atlantic charge around £1200 to fly Premium Economy to the Caribbean, but do they ask you how your flight was? No. Could they? Or more importantly, should they? Absolutely! All they have to do is to send a personal email to ask you. They don’t need to do very much to those who give a good rating, but suppose it was poor or average? Wouldn’t a phone call to find out more make a lastingly positive impression?

Personal, 1:1 email is the most underused marketing tool in businesses’ marketing departments. Bulk mail or newsletters blasts, Tweets and Facebook posts all have their role but there’s no medium with greater impact for customer care than the humble hand-typed email.

At Rocketseed, we care as much about personal communications as Chris King, the Customer Manager at Sainsbury’s. We work with our customers to enhance their personal communications to deliver long term results. I bet Lilly Robinson will be the number one advocate for Sainsbury’s for the rest of her life! Good old 1-to-1 personalised communication. Look after customers – they pay the wages!

Let us know what you think…

The Specialist Distribution Group (SDG) is part of Europe’s largest independently owned IT group. With annual turnover in excess of $2.34b and international coverage in 47 territories, SDG is the EMEA Specialist Technology Distributor.

The group offers a complementary range of channel-enabled services that provide reseller partners with both the capacity and the capability to meet the demands of their customers in the most agile and economic way.

“Rocketseed Mail is a proven marketing channel for SDG. It delivers quantifiable results and provides our sales teams with a constant flow of new business leads – it just works!” Andrew Clarke, Head of Marketing

Download the complete case study here (pdf)

Why growing your database should be top of your list in 2012.

It’s January, the traditionally introspective time when individuals look to self-improvement and businesses look to…well, self-improvement. With lists of resolutions piling up and actions needed, here at Rocketseed we think “CRM” and “Customer Database” should be at the top of every list, as a key way for businesses to improve in 2012.

As a business, your database could be one of your most valuable assets, allowing you to engage with customers, build relationships and most importantly, generate new business. But how valuable is your own database and what can you do to improve it?

A recent Channel 4 documentary aired in the UK investigated the various tools companies are using to collect data about their consumers. The documentary featured a demo of the ‘What am I worth’ app which allows consumers to calculate how much they are worth to businesses based on their online behaviour and consumer preferences.

It’s a fun idea, but actually the basic idea that a single ‘consumer’ can be given this type of potential value is critical, and every business should focus on being able to attribute a specific value for their business in adding a customer to their database. According to the app I am “worth” £525 (around $750, or 6,000 Rand) . How much is one customer on your database worth to you?

It is only when you know this that you can set targets for database growth and measure return on your efforts/spend to grow it.

Of course, the value of your database is also directly related to the quality of the data it contains. Old, out of date contact details will not help you build relationships or generate business if the email addresses no longer exist or the subscriber has lost interest in your product. Equally, if you are purchasing lists through a 3rd party, the likelihood is that you’ll have quantity without the quality. Here are some of our suggestions on other ways that you can grow your database:

• Don’t waste easy opportunities!
Your employees each send out around 15,000 emails a year to customers and potential customers in the course of their normal work. Adding a newsletter sign-up button to your email signatures will encourage the clients interacting with you to subscribe to your database. (With Rocketseed Mail you can also track the sign-ups that your emails deliver, as well as your conversion rate from clicks to sign-up.)

• Use your social media communities
You’ve probably already got sign-up forms on your website, but have you integrated your newsletter sign-up with your Facebook page? Are you promoting your sign-ups on Twitter? Think about an integrated approach across all your channels.

• Incentivise new sign ups
Run a campaign on your everyday email to encourage new subscribers, providing them with a reason or incentive for joining the list. You can see an example case study for All Star Lanes, where we got a 40% conversion rate from clicks to sign-up.

• Use organic data to prevent database churn
According to Lyris, the average list churn for a business averages 20% -30% per year. With Rocketseed Mail you can use the ‘Receivers List Builder’ report to pull off a ready-made list of all email recipients that your business has contacted within a particular date range. These are current, engaged customers that your business has started interacting with. Invite these users to ‘Opt in’ and you’ll have a great way to keep your list continually topped up.

It was also interesting to see, at the end of last year, that Google started testing a new form of Google Adwords with Honda. The new format included a direct email subscription option, which allows companies to capture an email address opt-in via search, without the person subscribing even visiting the corporate website (and, by the way, the sign-up is pre-populated for logged in gmail users). This type of ‘search and sign-up’ technique will ultimately allow companies to grow ‘targeted’ quality databases through their paid for adverts.

I wonder how much value Google will attribute to these ads vs. normal adwords after the testing period is over? What is key however, is the undisputed need to focus on database growth, and it is clear that businesses do need to embrace new tools for gathering data, and establish an ROI for the mechanisms that drive results for their business.

So whether it’s through Google Search, Rocketseed Mail or Facebook integration, our advice for 2012 is to ensure you are adding ‘quality’ new sign ups to your database, not just re-using old data, or scatter-bombing large purchased lists. Make growing your database your New Year’s resolution this year as it could be your most valuable asset by next Christmas.

As we tidy our desks, file our 2011 emails and start to scan the 2012 calendar here at Rocketseed, we are delighted to share with you some key highlights of 2011 as well as a number of exciting prospects and projections for the year ahead…

2011

2011 has seen new Managing Directors, Robyn Woods-Child (Australia) and Fiona Robson (UK) enjoy equally successful first years at Rocketseed. Both sets of feet are firmly under the desk, high-heels are at the ready and new business is rolling in on both sides of the world.

The roll-out of the upgraded Rocketseed platform is now near completion, providing Rocketseed customers across the globe with an improved user interface, additional functionality and greater opportunity for targeted results.

Rocketseed has also pioneered the launch of Email 2.0 next generation technology… Not sure what this is yet? Click here to find out more.

2012

In 2012, we predict a dramatic increase in demand for smarter more cost effective marketing solutions like Rocketseed. We will be focusing on helping our clients achieve higher ROIs and finalising the roll-out of our smarter platform to ensure that all customers are equipped with the tools to target customers and prospects wherever they may be.

We also expect to see further integration of Rocketseed with other digital platforms, such as CRM systems, in 2012 and the continuing integration of email and social will be a key driver for Rocketseed as we leverage our platform’s unique direct response capabilities (think more friends, more followers, more accountability) by reaching busy executives on the go.

And finally, we’re rather proud of our Rocketseed logo already but as with all kinds of seed, we’re expecting it to grow! In 2012 we will be developing our brand identity and looking forward to the launch of a brand new website. Watch this space!

As Rocketseed continues to operate globally, we’re pleased to provide a local update on 2011 news and events, as well as wishing you a Happy New Year from all 4 corners of the world:

Highlights from South Africa

Tess Sulaman

Managing Director
Rocketseed, South Africa (effective January 1 – Congratulations!)

2011

• “Rocketseed has been bumped up from a level 2 to level 1 BEE contributor.”
• “We started to develop our new, improved customer service team.”
• “Our Technical experts have developed an email archiving and compliance tool through alliance with Symantec and IS.”
• “We’ve demerged our SME business into Clikit Media, to improve focus for Enterprise customers.”
• “And finally, our Business Development Director has tied the knot- Congratulations Wade and Bianca.”

2012

• “We’re looking forward to settling into our new Rocketseed Johannesburg office, which will be the hub for our South African and Sub-Saharan business.”

Highlights from the UK

Fiona Robson

Managing Director
Rocketseed UK

2011

• “Rocketseed has expanded its UK client base into Ireland.”
• “Rocketseed UK became a certified member of the DMA.”
• “Rocketseed was featured on the front cover of the Irish Times business section, with the tagline, ‘Email beats Facebook.’ (Fiona Robson 1. Mark Zuckerberg 0).”

2012

• “We’re looking forward to speaking at Hotelympia technology hub (Feb 26-March 1), and International Hotel Technology Forum – May 2011 and hope to see you there!
• “We are also working on developing strong partnerships with Rocketseed Application Service providers”.

Highlights from Australia

Robyn Woods-Child

Managing Director
Rocketseed Australia

2011

• “Rocketseed has signed new Enterprise customers like Melbourne IT.”
• “Rocketseed has expanded its Australian client base into New Zealand.”
• “The Rocketseed Reseller group has grown rapidly along with addition of the first Systems Integrator now on board.”

2012

• “No babies or weddings down this end of the globe in 2011, we will try harder in 2012!”

Highlights from the US

Scott Ellis

Director
Rocketseed US

2011

• “Rocketseed has signed new Enterprise customer Choice Hotels International and is finalizing an agreement with one of the world’s leading technology solutions organizations after a successful pilot.”
• “Rocketseed has seen the birth of the first Ellis baby!”

2012

• “The US business continues to see a steady stream of Google Apps users coming on board; Rocketseed Gmail and Google Analytics integrations are proving a real hit.”

Many of our clients have used Rocketseed mail to launch their Christmas campaigns, boost seasonal bookings and pass on good wishes to their customers. We love some of these festive touches so have picked a shortlist of what we think are the best Christmas banners. We want you to vote for your favourite, and the client’s banner with the most votes will win a Rocketseed voucher in the New Year.

Here are the entries in no particular order:

1 – Carton House promote their Christmas breaks special with strong call to action.

2 – vitra. showcase their Christmas Market from 5 – 22 December 2011, including trading hours.

3 – Cannizaro House promote their party and lunch packages with a funky design and strong call to action.

4 – tab use their Rocketseed Mail banner to wish their customers all the best over the Festive Season.

5 – Beach Blanket Babylon wish their customers a Merry Christmas and provide a subtle call to action to their special offerings page.

6 – comutanet use Rocketseed Mail to wish their customers a blessed Festive Season and also highlight their office hours during their Christmas break.

7 – City of Joburg provide a critical public service announcement by reminding everyone to buckle up and drive safely during the Festive Season.

8 – The Hempel promote their Christmas party packages on their Rocketseed Mail banner and provide a call to action to make a booking.

9 – Plascon smartly use the premise of colour to wish their customers a happy holiday season. They also provide a click through to more promotions.

Please vote for your favourite banner by selecting the corresponding number from the poll below. The client’s banner with the most votes on January 6, 2012 will be declared the winner.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Our team of professionals are on standby to assist you over the festive season. If you require Rocketseed customer support services during this time, please contact the team in your local area as follows:

United Kingdom

The Rocketseed Office will operate normal business hours until 1pm on Friday 23rd December 2011 and will resume on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.

While our offices are closed:
For urgent queries please call: 0845 881 2290
For non-urgent queries please email: supportuk@rocketseed.com

South Africa

The Rocketseed Offices will operate normal business hours up to 5pm on Thursday 22nd December 2011 and will resume normal business hours again on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.

While our offices are closed:
For urgent queries please call: +27 861 102 491
For non-urgent queries please email: smesupport@rocketseed.com

United States

The Rocketseed Office will remain open as usual throughout the Christmas and New Year period.

For all Queries please call: +1 609 843 0522
or email: supportusa@rocketseed.com

Australia

The Rocketseed Office will operate normal business hours until 5.30pm Thursday 22nd December 2011 and resume normal business hours again on Monday 9 January 2012.

While our offices are closed:
Urgent queries please call: +61 422 295 196
Non-urgent queries please email: supportau@rocketseed.com

So it’s official, tablets are gadgets that don’t leave the home too often, or so says Google. Well that’s true to a point but they do help the long sunset hours while you’re on holiday and admiring the view and let you see what’s going on back in the real world. It looks like most people use their tablets for checking email but do so while they are either eating or watching TV.

That’s multitasking par excellence in these busy times. The secondary survey discovered that the secondary location for these nefarious activities was either on the couch or in bed. I thought both were for sleeping or…..

The point is that email is still the main method of communication these days and wherever we are, we like to be in touch and this of course means that we need smart, easy-to-use tools to view them. Some of us turn our smart phones off at home fearing that he, or she, who must be obeyed will be chasing us morning, noon and night. At least with a tablet you can connect and see what’s happening, and respond at your own convenience.

The next thing is of course that the email has to look good and act smart if it’s going to catch your attention over and above the TV or whatever else is going on in your life or on your couch. Boring text only emails just don’t cut the mustard any more.

Senders smarten up and get yourself noticed in the In Box by looking good and getting my attention.

In a bid to streamline business operations, Rocketseed, a global leader in Email 2.0 marketing technology has announced its decision to demerge its small business unit. With effect from 3 January 2012, the master distribution partner for Rocketseed will launch under the brand name of Clikit Media. Based in Paarl, South Africa, Clikit Media will focus on re-selling solutions direct to both clients and distribution partners in the sub-Saharan region targeting SME’s.

Clikit Media – the new digital marketing product and services provider boasts a wealth of industry knowledge. Led by Henry Jonker, the team mainly consists of previous Rocketseed employees, their market knowledge and experience alone will ensure a smooth transitional period.

Henry Jonker, Clikit Media’s Managing Director, said: “Our clients and sales partners can expect a personalised and improved service concentrating on individual client needs without any disruption to the quality of our products or service delivery. We have partnered with some of the leading agencies in the country and our clients will instantly experience the benefits. The team will concentrate on strengthening customer relationships, significantly reduce customer service turnaround time and also extend our service offering to include complementary solutions.”

It’s 2011, and your brand (the perception clients, prospects and consumers have of your business) is more important now than it has ever been. The ability to customize, integrate and share is top of mind with marketers, and while it’s always a good idea innovate, adopt new technologies and move along with marketing trends, it’s also imperative to keep your fundamentals in check. Without a foundation, a platform to build a strong brand framework from, these trendy new age tactics will dissolve into thin air.

Building brand is something that is achieved over time. Delivering on the business’ mission and vision, and more importantly, building a healthy rapport with clients is a constant process, one that requires hard work and ongoing attention.

Reaching masses of people have been reserved for channels which we’ve perceived as a collective sales and brand building system…prime time television, bulk email (newsletter) marketing, mobile marketing even. These days, social media is probably another channel where businesses see an opportunity to “mass influence” communities as a whole.

We mistakenly assume that when we address masses of people at once, flooding them with our products, services or value propositions, we’ll be building our brand shares. That is simply not true. Without a foundation of core brand values deeply rooted within the heart of your business, no amount of promotion would make your business any more sustainable.

Fortunately, there are marketing tools that help businesses achieve that. Unknowingly perhaps, people fail to realize just how much of the ground work they’re already doing. They devise strategies around building brand, and unknowingly perhaps, neglect to look within to see if there’s anything they can leverage off. Take email for example. With the average employee sending 15,000 emails per annum, the email channel provides the best opportunity for building brand over time, better than perhaps any other communications channel in history.

Together with Rocketseed Mail Email 2.0 solution and proper brand building modules such as Rocketseed Signature Manager and List Builder, we take email, something we do on a daily basis to correspond with existing clients, prospects, suppliers and distributors, to build a strong, reputable brand.