VennBlog Archives · Page 2 of 5 · Venntive.com- Complete Customer Lifecycle Platform

Pinterest for Business?

August 5, 2013 by

Pinterest featue in Metro – 27th February 2012 (Photo credit: Great British Chefs)

Every time another social application launches, it’s usually fairly easy to understand how consumers can use it to communicate, share, comment and B-to-C companies quickly adopt and adapt. But, it’s not always obvious how a B-to-B business can leverage these new avenues for creating awareness and attracting new clients and customers.

One of the newer and less obvious is Pinterest. It immediately makes sense for individuals who want to share and B-to-C companies. But, what about us B-to-B companies? Well, believe it or not, Pinterest is driving more referral traffic than LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube combined.

Seriously, those consumers are frequently decision-makers in their companies, right!?

So, what can you do with Pinterest? You can build your Brand Authority. Drive traffic to your site. And, expand your reach. Social Media Examiner brings all the “how to’s” together in their newest article – 3 Unique Ways to Use Pinterest for Business.

Filed Under: VennBlog Tagged With: Business-to-business, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube

Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends for 2013

July 11, 2013 by

Every year, we wait with bated breath for Mary Meeker to release her Annual

Image representing Mary Meeker as depicted in ...

Image via CrunchBaseInternet Trends report.

Internet Trends report.

It’s been long enough ago, I think, that most people have forgotten about her possibly less than unbiased reviews of Web 1.0 companies. Her analyses now are highly regarded and eerily right on the money.

There is so much information in this admittedly long PowerPoint, it’s almost impossible to summarize. And, after reading other people’s summaries, it seems everyone interprets the data from his or her own unique perspective.

You can speed through and get a very high-level read or take your time to read and ponder at length, and zero in on what’s important to you and your business.

KPCB Internet Trends 2013 from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

Filed Under: VennBlog

Why Everyone Thought Alec Baldwin’s Wife Tweeted at a Funeral

July 1, 2013 by

Have you heard about all the fallout from a journalist accusing Hilaria Baldwin of tweeting during James Gandolfini‘s funeral? – Why Everyone Thought Alec Baldwin’s Wife Tweeted at a Funeral

Forget that Alex Baldwin again went postal.

What has not been mentioned is the possibility (probability?) that someone else, an assistant or publicist, *was* managing her Twitter account. Another possibility is that some or all of her tweets had been scheduled in advance to go out at those times.

Both scenarios offer great lessons in social media campaign management.

1. Even when you’ve got everything on auto-pilot and you’ve got tweets and posts scheduled for the next several weeks or more, it is still critical to consider time zone differences.

2. You want to review at least one or two times every week to ensure against any current event faux pas.

3. Are those scheduled tweets still relevant? What has changed in your business, your products, in the world that may make your tweets redundant or irrelevant?

4. Again, are your scheduled tweets still relevant…to your audience or are they repetitive? Regularly scheduled tweets that basically send the same message over and over signal “no one’s home.” I know that isn’t the message you want to send!

Just sayin’!

Filed Under: VennBlog Tagged With: AlecBaldwin, Daily Mail, Funeral, Hilaria Baldwin, James Gandolfini, New York City, Online Communities, scheduled, Social media, Twitter

More Isn’t Always More

June 29, 2013 by

Seth Godin, in his blogpost today, Less for Less posits that you have to make a choice – either settle for

less and pay a little less or if you believe you need more, resign yourself to paying more.

Here, at Venntive, we don’t accept those as the only choices. We have taken a contrarian approach to Sales-Marketing solutions and deliver More for Less. It goes much farther than pricing alone and that’s why you should finally set up a free trial account!

Filed Under: VennBlog

What “Agile” Means for Venntive Users

May 13, 2013 by

Agile is a philosophy and a discipline that brings together various customer, management, and in some cases, engineering practices and principles in a way that helps guide teams through the process of rapidly planning and delivering working, tested software. It had its official beginnings in 2001, the same year we started, and has been a part of our approach to working to deliver the features and tools that our users have requested. (See the Agile Manifesto at the bottom of this article.)

What this means for our users is that we actively solicit suggestions for features that will enhance the way you work. If it makes sense, it gets added to the To Do List.

The following is a list of some of our projects completed and launched just since December 29, 2012 (what holidays!?). This is all managed using the Projects App in our platform. Note the breadth of applications that are all part and parcel of our deeply integrated, comprehensive, holistic business solution.

If you have questions about Venntive, its feature set, or would like to schedule a demo, please call 415.324.5825 or email Sales@Venntive.com. We’d love to talk about how you can integrate Agile into your business.

May, 2013

Contacts > CRM tab now only hides the Save/Reset buttons instead of completely hiding the button row (finished 8 May 2013)
Website > Store > Purchase Checkout Options – can now set custom thank you page URL (finished 8 May 2013)

April, 2013

Contacts > Hot now lets the user set a minimum demographic score to better filter results. New “Add to Group” button makes it easy to add these contacts to a group (finished 24 Apr 2013)
All Editor instances (build email, build personal email, webpages, blogs, wiki) now support drag and drop of images from the desktop (finished 23 Apr 2013)
Website > Store – fixed bug that showed wrong paypal ID if you had a group-level Paypal ID defined and an account level Paypal ID defined (finished 22 Apr 2013)
Website > Signup Forms – new field type called “Hidden” that automatically will assign the specified value to everyone who completes the form (finished 21 Apr 2013)
Website > Store – item categories now have a checkbox in the configuration of that category that allows a purchaser to instantly select every item in that category (finished 21 Apr 2013)
Website > Store – items can now have a maximum allowed in cart (to limit quantity of items purchased), and items can have up to 3 recommended items that show up in the shopping cart when a particular item is chosen (finished 19 Apr 2013)
5 new email templates – Lace, Retro, Paperclip, Vintage, Notebook (installed 19 Apr 2013)
Communicate > SMS TXT – Contacts can now use the new SMS opt-in function by texting in a keyword to be automatically added to a group. The person who sent the opt-in SMS message will receive a confirmation reply that the account owner specifies. If no email address is found for that contact, we will ask the contact to provide us with one. (finished 17 Apri 2013)
Event check-ins can assign workflows to the attendees checked in (finished 17 Apr 2013)
Contacts > Workflows – can now copy workflows from existing workflows or use one of several predefined templates (finished 17 Apr 2013)
Email/Website > Article – 4 new standard articles with images that represent sample content to be added to anything the user is creating (finished 16 Apr 2013)
Contacts > Lead Scoring now includes scoring for Opportunities (finished 14 Apr 2013)
Group Setup > Drip Campaigns can now have a filter set for the drip, so only group members that meet a criterion (demographic or read/not read/click/not click) will get the drip (finished 10 Apr 2013)
Contacts > Hot – new scatter plot showing demographic/activity data (finished 10 Apr 2013) and extended time frame to 1 year (finished 13 Apr 2013)
Contacts > Lead Scoring – new half-life chart showing activity score decay over time (finished 10 Apr 2013)
Contacts > Lead Scoring – new area allows for customizing action and demographic lead scoring points, including points for reads/clicks/forwards/surveys. CRM details for someone has been updated to include demographic scoring. CRM > Hot Contacts now combines both demographic and activity scoring. Email Tracking > Hot Prospects also accounts for custom read/click/forward/survey points (finished 7 Apr 2013)
Social posting can accept images, either by upload or from existing images in Media Library (finished 9 Apr 2013)
New Liana Pro website template (finished 7 Apr 2013)
Invoice line items can now be up to $99,999.99, up from $9,999.99 (finished 7 Apr 2013)
Ticketing forms can now have a user-specified font, with arial being default (finished 7 Apr 2013)
Event editing has been fixed so that you don’t have to be using the selected group/calendar range for the event to be editable. Also fixes a bug on the dashboard calendar with editing events from there from different groups (finished 7 Apr 2013)
Website – new widget – Fading Panels Slider shows images from Media Library fading in/out in sequence (finished 3 Apr 2013)
CRM – new Lead Score at the top shows total points acquired for emails, website visits, conversions, inbound calls, etc (finished 2 Apr 2013)
Contacts > Hot – now includes inbound calls (7 points per call) and tickets (5 points per ticket) (finished 2 Apr 2013)
Events – moved Notes to separate tab, cleaned up UI, added ability to change group/calendar (finished 1 Apr 2013)

March, 2013

Build Email > Surveys now shows the sequence of survey questions to be asked in the dialog box (finished 29 Mar 2013)
Added Merge button to website builder, so it’s easy to build personalized webpages and landing pages (finished 28 Mar 2013)
Added some “empty states” graphics to the system, so if nothing has been entered, a special graphic encourages users to use a function (finished 28 Mar 2013)
Upgraded WYSIWYG editor to CKEditor 4.1, used new icons and fixed a couple plug-ins for it (finished 25 Mar 2013)
Wizards on dashboard can be customized (finished 25 Mar 2013)
When building an email, it’s easier now to select a footer language (finished 22 Mar 2013)
Websites now automatically generate a sitemap.xml page for better SEO (finished 22 Mar 2013)
Contacts > Reports – new Last Modified report shows contacts that have been modified or added in the last 30 days, broken out by the day they were modified (finished 21 Mar 2013)
Surveys – responders can be automatically added to a group or assigned a workflow (finished 20 Mar 2013)
Apps > Ticketing – Custom message or thank-you URL for new tickets (finished 19 Mar 2013)
New website template – Fashionable Pro (finished 19 Mar 2013)
Ticketing – can now change the text that used to say “Details” next to the main ticket content entry box (finished 18 Mar 2013)
Website > Options > Head Elements – store HTML for the HEAD element for every page on a website (finished 18 Mar 2013)
Website > Options > Tracking Scripts – store scripts to be placed on all pages of a website for tracking (finished 14 Mar 2013)
Website > Store – items can now add a contact to a group and activate a workflow when purchased (finished 12 Mar 2013)
Group Setup > Drip Campaigns – allow users to advance or backstep a contact one message in the drip sequence (finished 12 Mar 2013)
CRM – adjusted layout to be a little more eye-friendly (finished 11 Mar 2013)
Invoices – now can track shipping name/address info, also invoice shows drop shadow in web UI (finished 11 Mar 2013)
Group Setup – new one-week-prior-to-birthday email can be set, also added view buttons next to default emails in same area (finished 10 Mar 2013)
Website – allow for favicon to be specified, in Manage Website > General > options (finished 10 Mar 2013)
Upgraded to latest version of Editor (4.0.2) and added Wordcount to website builder and blog builder (finished 8 Mar 2013)
New, more user-friendly dashboard design (finished 8 Mar 2013), added new Your Team section (finished 13 Mar 2013)
Website builder > Layouts allows you to show just Pro templates or all templates (finished 6 Mar 2013)

February, 2013

CRM Activities and Workflows can now include Personal Emails to the contact (finished 24 Feb 2013)
Send Personal Email can now be delayed and viewed or cancelled from within the contact’s CRM (finished 24 Feb 2013)
Added templates to Contacts > CRM Activities > Workflows when adding a new workflow, 3 sample templates available (finished 23 Feb 2013)
Upgraded App > Performance area to new spreadsheet version (finished 22 Feb 2013)
Portals can now set a CSS file for all accounts in the Portal Manager, in View Portal Settings (finished 21 Feb 2013)
Upgraded spreadsheet on Wiki to new version (finished 21 Feb 2013)
Increased max time in Contacts > Hot from 2 days to 7 days (finished 20 Feb 2013), also allow choosing to show Hot Contacts for all groups if the account owner
CRM Workflows (sequences of CRM activities) can now be automatically assigned to contacts who are added to groups via website signup form (finished 17 Feb 2013). Coming soon will be automatically assigning a workflow to a contact when manually adding that contact to a group.
Added 3 new help videos to Quick Videos section, Accounting, SMS, and Signup Forms (finished 16 Feb 2013)
When repeat events are created in the calendar, in the event details, you can see the event sequence. In Calendar Setup, you can remove all future events in a sequence. (finished 13 Feb 2013)
Main calendar when logged in shows pink background on time if CRM activity is overdue (finished 12 Feb 2013)
New option in My Account > Settings to change dashboard badges from medals to flowers (finished 7 Feb 2013)
Ability to add text to a website signup form, move it around, and display it with conditional logic (finished 6 Feb 2013)
Filters include < and > and LastModified date (finished 2 Feb 2013)

January, 2013

New email template – Tree Branch (finished 31 Jan 2013)
XML API reports bounces (finished 31 Jan 2013)
Dashboard shows achievement badges based on the account’s use of the system (finished 28 Jan 2013)
Events/CRM – private webcal link includes CRM events (finished 27 Jan 2013)
New website template – Executive Pro (finished 25 Jan 2013)
Dashboard – calendar shows a red border around dates with overdue CRM activities (finished 24 Jan 2013)
Help – new cheat sheets for CRM and Email (finished 24 Jan 2013)
Website – Tracking – measure bounce rate (percentage of contacts that only have 1 page view) (finished 23 Jan 2013)
Signup Forms – new custom field ordering and conditional logic, custom action button size and color (finished 21 Jan 2013)
New website template – Visionary Pro (finished 16 Jan 2013)
New accounts can watch 3 special intro videos (CRM, email marketing, websites) (finished 14 Jan 2013)
Events – export attendees as Excel file (finished 12 Jan 2013)
New email template “Love” (finished 11 Jan 2013)
New website template “Slate Pro” (finished 10 Jan 2013)
New filters/search on Contacts page (launched 9 Jan 2013)

December 29-31, 2012

Inbound links to a website can be tagged with cmp=xxxx (where xxxx is the user’s chosen CampaignID) which allows filtering of all website tracking data (Manage Website > Tracking). Also added 3 reports to Contacts > Reports to show number of contacts and conversions by Campaign ID. Contact details also show any clicks that came from Campaign IDs. (finished 31 Dec 2012)
Website Manager > Tracking – date range is now a datepicker (instead of a bunch of <select>s) (finished 31 Dec 2012)
Added QR Code generator to website builder (finished 31 Dec 2012)
Updated Fusion Charts to latest version, now all widgets work except Gantt chart on Projects (finished 31 Dec 2012)
Notification of recent email clicks, website visits, and website conversions in subnavigation bar (finished 29 Dec 2012)

___________________________________________________________________________

The Agile Manifesto is based on twelve principles:

Customer satisfaction by rapid delivery of useful software
Welcome changing requirements, even late in development
Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months)
Working software is the principal measure of progress
Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace
Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers
Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (co-location)
Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted
Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential
Self-organizing teams
Regular adaptation to changing circumstances

Filed Under: VennBlog Tagged With: Accounting, Agile software development, Calendar, Clients, Contacts, CRM, Dog, Ecommerce, Email Marketing, Email Templates, Event Editing, Events, Facebook, Firefox, Invoice, May 2013, Mobile Marketing, Personalization, Project Management, Projects, Proposals, Rabbit, Search engine optimization, SEO, Slider, SMS, Social Marketing, Social posting, Website, WYSIWYG

You Waste A Lot Of Time At Work

May 8, 2013 by

Did you know that juggling tasks to constantly field incoming email will lower your IQ by 10 points?

Atlassian commissioned a great infographic that shows exactly what the costs are of email, unnecessary meetings, and other interruptions. Lack of time is the most frequent reason given for procrastinating in implementing and/or maintaining a coherent social marketing strategy. But, if we just understand the cost of work distractions, we suddenly find not just a few minutes, but a few hours every day.

But, enough of my preaching! Click through to enjoy the great graphics and important data in You Waste A Lot Of Time At Work.

It can be a life changer!

Filed Under: VennBlog

You Really Don’t Have To Be Everywhere.

April 30, 2013 by

I’ve “officially” been an email-marketing consultant since January 1, 2001. Even before that, from 1995 I was helping clients build their online communities.

One goal that has remained constant is capturing valid email addresses and building a list of people who might want to stay up-to-date on what you’re doing, selling, thinking, whatever.

Whenever anyone asked for advice about successful email marketing strategies, I would inevitably start talking about website design. This was met with everything from impatience to boredom to real confusion. After all, we’re talking about email marketing, aren’t we?

Well, yes, but…I’ll circle back around in a moment….

Today, we are confronted with myriad social media outlets. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, Reddit, Tumblr,

English: The Conversation Prism 2.0 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo, Slideshare, Vine, MySpace, HuffPost and tons of other blogs large and small where we can comment. Yes, attributed comments are part of the social media universe. And, of course, email marketing is still the 800-pound gorilla of social marketing. In case you haven’t seen it, Brian Solis’s The Conversation Prism is a great graphic illustration of our choices – http://www.briansolis.com/2012/07/please-help-us-update-the-conversation-prism-v4-0/

Pure overwhelm is a natural response. How do we integrate yet more into already over-committed work schedules? Easy.

What are the goals for your marketing? What is your business? Who is your audience? Where do they hang out? What do you want them to do when you reach them?

Not every business has to be everywhere to reach its audience. It just has to be where the audience is. Twitter may not be a good investment of time and effort, but Pinterest and Facebook are. If yours is a B-to-B venture, then LinkedIn is a must. If you’re B-to-C, you need to be visible and vocal where your consumers are.

Ultimately, the goal is to drive people to your website, get them to give you their email address, download something, buy something, subscribe to something.

See, I told you we’d come back to your website! Good design, intuitive navigation, quality content, and strong calls-to-action will deliver results for all the hard work you invest in your strategic marketing and a website that delivers.

So, take some time to reflect on your audience really is and then, go engage in a conversation with them. Entice them to visit your website, get that email address. Then, respect that with an informative and entertaining email strategy.

You really don’t have to be everywhere; you just have to be where your audience is!

Filed Under: VennBlog Tagged With: Conversation Prism

Pitchy-Pitching and Selly-Selling

February 26, 2013 by

How many times have you subscribed to a new newsletter only to find that every email is a thinly disguised pitch to buy an online course to get the really valuable information? If you’re like me, you unsubscribe very quickly.

Are you using that technique you’ve been told is one of “the secrets” to online success? How’s that working for you?

We all strive to be recognized as a reliable resource, to build mailing lists of people who want to hear from us and trust us…for a long time.

I’m a sales professional and proud to say so. Sales makes the world go ’round. I love Chris’s definition of selling and I love his “secrets.” They’re the ones that really do work.

Chris Brogan says it so well in Why I Love to Say Selly Sell and Other Human Business Works Secrets

Filed Under: VennBlog Tagged With: Business, Chris Brogan, Direct Marketing, Mailing list, Marketing and Advertising, Reputation, Retention, Selling, Trust

No One Is Searching For Your Business on Social Media

January 28, 2013 by

The article How Online Word of Mouth Marketing Is Changing – Reputation Capital: Content Marketing Strategy, Copywriting, Inbound Marketing. doesn’t mince words. In fact, it’s like getting a bucket of cold water thrown on you as a wake-up call.

Joe Cassara summarizes all the reasons why social media doesn’t work to bring in new business. But, that doesn’t mean he’s throwing the baby out with the bath water! With a lot of hard work, focus, and cleverness, there are many companies of all sizes that are harnessing the power of social media to change who does business with them.

How are you taking advantage of social media’s power to change who does business with YOU?

Filed Under: VennBlog

5 Simple Tips for Growing Your Business Via Email Marketing

December 17, 2012 by

It’s true. Email has been around for what seems like forever. But, it’s also true that email still delivers the biggest bang for the buck, still more than $40 for every $1 invested. Unlike other social media, you can track exactly from where leads, new customers, and revenue come. If you use an integrated platform like Venntive, you can track every click, whether it’s a broadcast or a one-off email. When every dollar counts, it’s smart to focus your efforts on a proven quantity.

There are tons of articles with tips about how to effectively use email to build your business, your brand, your reputation, your customer service, and your bottom line. Even as email marketing features become more sophisticated, allowing you to target your subscribers, the basics of smart email marketing and communications that keep people coming back for more and telling their colleagues never go out of style.

1. Be visionary.

Look beyond just “blasting” out a monthly “one size fits all” newsletter. That’s so last millennium! Your clients and customers, not to mention your bottom line will appreciate the extra effort from customization, personalization, or the unexpected geo-specific information that’s possible with many of today’s email marketing applications.

2. Be easy.

Make it easy for people to subscribe to your updates and offers. Make it easy for them to get downloads. Make it easy for them to sign up for trials or samples. Building a relationship with people new to your site and emails is like building a new friendship. Make it easy by just asking for a little information, e.g. email address and name, before you start asking about their family history!

3. Be consistent.

It is easier for everyone when you set up an editorial calendar. This easily extends beyond email marketing to include any other social media that is part of your overall marketing strategy. Oh, don’t have one of those? Get one for the new year! Having a schedule to follow makes it easier to write content. Really!

Set up reminders on the calendar app you use for deadlines to create as well as send. Email twice monthly? Budget an hour for that. Posts to social media? Budget 10-20 minutes once or twice a day.

Keep a notepad and pen nearby to capture ideas. I also use PinIt, ReadLater, PressThis, and BlogThis to capture articles of interest and create quick drafts of blog posts and email article ideas, as well as Venntive for writing and scheduling posts.

4. Be relevant. Be real.

People give you their contact information with the expectation that you’re going to deliver content that is aligned with what you do, what you write about, what you’re about. So, deliver that! But, don’t be hesitant to surprise people…in a good way with bonus content that goes off on a tangent a bit. For example, if you’ve discovered a great restaurant or had an extraordinary vacation, share it! Yes, this works for business. It’s part of being real to your readers.

5. Be available and prompt.

This kind of fits under the Easy category. Provide clear directions on how to best communicate with you and when and how they can expect a response. And, then, keep your commitment.

For more ideas, tips, and updates, subscribe to our newsletter, the in.Venntive Edge.

Filed Under: VennBlog

Pinterest for Business?

Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends for 2013

More Isn’t Always More

You Waste A Lot Of Time At Work

You Really Don’t Have To Be Everywhere.

Pitchy-Pitching and Selly-Selling

No One Is Searching For Your Business on Social Media

5 Simple Tips for Growing Your Business Via Email Marketing

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