Marketing Automation Services, Demand Generation, and Lead Management | Allinio
Much has been written about QR (Quick Response) codes, but there still has been relatively little proliferation of this technology for everyday businesses. For now, it seems as though the most common applicaiton of QR codes is on display advertising. So what can you do with them?
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In early February, The Marketing Consigliere posted a blog about iPhone apps for B2B organizations and then reported about more later that month. Since then a few more iPhone apps for B2B companies have debuted, and The Marketing Consigliere advises you to be aware of them. [Read more...]
With more companies computing in “the cloud,” and more people going mobile, it will be important to stay connected to the constant marketing data streams that help make timely, critical decisions. Apple‘s popular iPhone, which was once thought of a shiny object with frivolous bells and whistles, is becoming a potential powerful tool for the B2B Marketing professional.
There are two very interesting net-centric marketing developments for in the B2C world that have made the trade press recently.
The Kraft iPhone Assistant is available through iTunes and allows users to view recipes (using Kraft products of course), save favorite recipes, watch a cooking video, create shopping lists, find stores, and even get offers or incentives from participating stores. All this while seeing ads for Kraft products. It is currently in the top 100 list of favorite downloaded apps for the Apple iPhone.
Launched last fall, Walmart’s Walmart Smart Network is an IPTV-based network already deployed in 300 stores and will expand to 2,700 stores by the end of next year, with a total of about 27,000 in-aisle screens. By utilizing response measurement and message optimization technologies, this network will be able to deliver timely, relevant content to shoppers and can be segmented by day of the week, by time of day, by store, and by screen,. Content about products in the store can be customized for a shopper at the shelf location so they can make a quick decision to purchase. Response measurement, learning, and message optimization technologies were developed by DS-IQ. [Read more...]
Two companies in the Washington, DC area are approaching a time honored business ritual – the exchange of business cards between two professionals – in slightly different ways.
DubMeNow of Vienna, Virginia has a smart phone based application that allows people to quickly text or email their contact data to another user with the application loaded on their smart phone. The data appends directly to device’s address book and whenever contact information changes, it is automatically updated. At the time of this blog, they are live for Google Android and the BlackBerry – next come Apple iPhone and Windows Mobile devices.
Mingle360 of Fairfax, Virginia has developed a USB based device they call the “MingleStick” which wirelessly communicates to another Minglestick when they are pointed toward each other and both users press a button. Along with a contact manager called “MingleManager,” a user can manage their identity by assigning “need to know” type privileges to contacts.
Both solutions intend to make obsolete the need to share, sort through, enter or amend printed data on those little analog rectangles. On one hand, the Marketing Consigliere still has a few boxes of business cards ordered from VistaPrint that he wants to hand out:
Look at them. They’re artistic (OK, they’re VistaPrint templates) and you can write extraneous notes on them, stick them in your pocket, and quickly type the data in in less than 30 seconds if you’re coordinated. Perhaps that’s a big if. While the Mingle360 may be useful at trade shows, there are a plethora of existing technologies that are being implemented, albeit at trade show rip-off prices.
Even if either of these products take off, once the novelty works off, where’s the impact known as “First Impression?“ A business card, with the right messaging (title, logo, tagline, etc.) , contributes to that along with the obvious human factors such as appearance, handshake, eye contact because it’s visual.
The Marketing Consigliere is old enough that he may “bitterly cling” to his business cards and conduct “old fashioned” social networking, but on the other hand, he does like gadgets. However, he doesn’t need another proprietary device if one gadget can already do the trick. And he’s not crazy about what amounts to be a proprietary CRM app. So he opts for the the DubMeNow capability. He just wishes they’d please release the Windows Mobile version. It’s been two weeks since their launch party when this photo was taken:
What helps make network centric marketing possible? Energy. So what about your remote sales force, your “road warriors?” Even if they don’t need to be directly online for their task at hand, they still need energy for “old fashioned” offline computing. So effectively we’re all electricity junkies, desperately looking to get a constant fix.
The Marketing Consigliere hates running out of juice on his smartphone, iPod Touch, and laptop, especially when he travels by air coast to coast or on an international basis. Without power outlets on planes, sometimes he can only work for part of the trip. And with less magazines or newspapers floating around the cabin, there’s less chance he can find the comforting diversion reading or doing a crossword puzzle or sudoku. And with two carryons, he doesn’t want to bother with those extra battery packs – more clutter is not needed.
However, with Solio, he doesn’t consider this extra techtoy as “clutter” – at least his small gadgets (not laptops at this time) can be recharged enroute – all he has to do is unfold the charger and stick it to his window facing outward. Very cool. So don’t wait until Earth Day to take advantage of Ol’ Sol.
If you don’t have a car adapter, aren’t near an outlet, and just have to be productive, go Solio. The top of the line Magnesium edition is under $200 and the “classic” version is under $100. It’s nifty design will tell the world that you are not just “green,” you’re leading the way.
