Last month, Optify revealed the secrets of digital marketing performers. Today, they’re announcing a new capability that presents the entire behavioral history and detailed information about a lead in one place. Talk about a secret performer.
With Optify Connect, marketers will be able to connect new contacts with their anonymous visit history, in an effort to create a 360-degree view of their leads. Built on its digital marketing platform, Optify Connect allows marketers to increase their response rate and evaluate leads better than ever before.
Like the marketing platforms we've seen from Demandbase, Optfy seems to be stepping up their ability to identify website visitors so that sales and marketing teams can not only identify better, more reliable leads, but they can also learn more about customer behaviors. This can help sales and marketing teams improve their targeted advertising strategies.
More Info = More Effective Followup
Optify Connect can be used to enhance the following Optify applications:
Email Manager: Marketers can view how many contacts opened, clicked or unsubscribed from each email, and receive detailed information on each individual for insight into future campaigns. Users can also compare email performance based on key metrics through in-depth marketing reports.
Contact Manager: Each record in contact manager can be seen, from source to website visits to personal and company information. This lets users assert more control over their customer relationship management strategy. By using customized fields in landing pages or emails, marketers can better segment, prioritize, filter and follow up with contacts based on their profile and behavioral data.
Landing Pages: Marketers can capture information without the use of traditional landing page forms. They can also use A/B testing on landing pages using Google experiments and integrate with any CMS system.
It’s clear that Optify is committed to helping marketers become more invested in the customer experience — by giving them the tools that make it easier to develop personas and identify relevant behaviors.
No politician in history has leveraged social media to the extent of President Obama. Here's how his administration stays ahead of the curve--and what you can learn about effective social brand-building from the Tweep-in-Chief.
President Barack Obama and his team have leveraged the political power of social media since the Illinois Senator announced his intention to run for the top job in the White House in 2007. According to techpresident.com, in 2008 Obama's online efforts included 13 million emails, four million digital donors, and two million members on My.BarackObama.com, a social network that inspired grassroots campaigning on a scale never seen before in the United States. And the momentum has carried through his term: during last night's Democratic National Convention, Obama's nomination-acceptance speech set a new record of 52,000 tweets a minute.
Rahaf Harfoush was one of the strategists on Obama's team during the 2008 campaign. As she explained to me in an email, "All initiatives were designed to get people off of their computer chairs and into the streets knocking on doors and raising money." Harfoush, author of Yes We Did: An Inside Look At How Social Media Built the Obama Brand, describes how social media was used in conjunction with traditional media to rally voters.
"Their strategic objective of converting online organizing into offline action showed their implicit understanding that the gap between online and offline would need to be bridged and translated into value added actions in the real world," says Harfoush.
Whatever your political views, it's hard to dispute Obama's continued success in the social media sphere. While other high-profile politicians are present across the top networking sites, the President and his team always seem to be one step ahead. As we watch anxiously for Obama's next digital move, there are many lessons to be learned about how to use social media to build your brand, whether you're a company or an individual.
1. There is no "i" in (the social media) team. While it might take a village to raise a child, it takes a social media army to raise your digital profile. Obama's technology team is just one part of the equation. The First Lady's speech Tuesday night led to 28,000 tweets per minute, twice as many Twitter messages as Romney's speech racked up last week at the RNC.
Michelle Obama is active on Twitter with almost 1.5 million followers, a great digital partner for the president, who is nearing 20 million followers on Twitter (demonstrating that his digital army is well intact). These communities weren't built overnight. Instead, they've been well-nurtured over the past few years, so Obama truly has a groundswell of support leading up to this year's election.
2. Reach out to influencers, including early adopters.
While presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been adding new initiatives to his digital strategy, such as buying a trending topic on Twitter, the Obama campaign has organically become a trending topic online thanks to bold new moves such as engaging in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything). The live chat, which took place at the end of August, led to record-breaking traffic on the popular news site. Not only did the President's Q&A on Reddit crash the company's site, there were more than 100,000 page views on Reddit during the active AMA.
In other words, while it's tempting to stick to the same ol' social media sites, it's a good idea now and again to break free of that routine and try your luck with new audiences and new platforms.
3. Fight back with class--and a cheeky photo helps, too. As you grow your online community, there is no way to escape criticism in the very public spotlight of the Internet. How you deal with that criticism will eventually define your continued success in the social media space. Soon after actor Clint Eastwood wrapped up his "Invisible Obama" speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention, where he criticized the President about broken promises, a memorable photo graced the top of Obama's Twitter news feed. With three simple words, "This seat's taken," the president's team posted a photo (pictured, top) taken from the back of his chair, sharing a very clear message about who is in charge. In 2012, visual social media is on the rise. According to an ROI Research study, "forty-four percent of respondents are more likely to engage with brands if they post pictures than any other media." So, if the community gets tough, it could be time for you to get snapping.
4. Treat your social media training like a marathon, not a sprint. "The last election cycle set the precedent and we have only seen an increase in activity by politicians using the web to reach out and connect with voters," says Harfoush. "The challenge will be in rising above all this noise and creating something that will get people talking." One way to get people talking is to keep engaging in conversation. When comparing the Romney campaign versus the Obama campaign, and their social media efforts, one thing is clear - the Obama campaign rarely takes a breath. A Pew Research study analyzed social media activity between the two campaigns between June 4 and June 17, 2012. During this period, the Romney campaign tweeted on average once a day while the Obama campaign tweeted on average 29 times. According to the study, Obama produced twice as many blog posts and YouTube videos as Romney.
With so much noise in the digital space, it's critical to treat your engagement like a marathon--train efficiently and pace yourself so you're ready for the big run.
5. Think mobile--not just apps, but your website too. It's only been four years since the last election, but on the mobile front a lot has changed (it seems like eons ago, but the first iPad was just released in 2010). While having a clear social media strategy is a must, in today's economy that strategy must take into account the growing population of mobile users. Just recently, the White House updated both its Apple and Android apps in time for President Obama's convention speech (they also made the source code available to developers). This app allows users to live stream presidential events (and get alerts when these events are happening), view blog posts, and check out high quality images with, for example, the iPad's Retina display.
The WhiteHouse.gov site was also updated so it's more friendly to smartphone and tablet users (over the past two years the number of mobile visits to the site tripled).
In short, no mobile voter will be left behind. "I think the digital part of the campaigns have become essential, whereas in 2008 they were seen as a nice-to-have," says Harfoush.
Will social media help President Barack Obama win another term? It's tough to say, but no matter what happens in November, his tech term has already won.
No politician in history has leveraged social media to the extent of President Obama. Here's how his administration stays ahead of the curve--and what you can learn about effective social brand-building from the Tweep-in-Chief.
President Barack Obama and his team have leveraged the political power of social media since the Illinois Senator announced his intention to run for the top job in the White House in 2007. According to techpresident.com, in 2008 Obama's online efforts included 13 million emails, four million digital donors, and two million members on My.BarackObama.com, a social network that inspired grassroots campaigning on a scale never seen before in the United States.
Rahaf Harfoush was one of the strategists on Obama's team during the 2008 campaign. As she explained to me in an email, "All initiatives were designed to get people off of their computer chairs and into the streets knocking on doors and raising money." Harfoush, author of Yes We Did: An Inside Look At How Social Media Built the Obama Brand, describes how social media was used in conjunction with traditional media to rally voters.
"Their strategic objective of converting online organizing into offline action showed their implicit understanding that the gap between online and offline would need to be bridged and translated into value added actions in the real world," says Harfoush.
Whatever your political views, it's hard to dispute Obama's continued success in the social media sphere. While other high-profile politicians are present across the top networking sites, the President and his team always seem to be one step ahead. As we watch anxiously for Obama's next digital move, there are many lessons to be learned about how to use social media to build your brand, whether you're a company or an individual.
1. There is no "i" in (the social media) team. While it might take a village to raise a child, it takes a social media army to raise your digital profile. Obama's technology team is just one part of the equation. The First Lady's speech Tuesday night led to 28,000 tweets per minute (twice as many Twitter messages as Romney's speech racked up last week at the RNC).
Michelle Obama is active on Twitter with almost 1.5 million followers, a great digital partner for the president, who is nearing 20 million followers on Twitter (demonstrating that his digital army is well intact). These communities weren't built overnight. Instead, they've been well-nurtured over the past few years, so Obama truly has a groundswell of support leading up to this year's election.
2. Reach out to influencers, including early adopters.
While presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been adding new initiatives to his digital strategy, such as buying a trending topic on Twitter, the Obama campaign has organically become a trending topic online thanks to bold new moves such as engaging in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything). The live chat, which took place at the end of August, led to record-breaking traffic on the popular news site. Not only did the President's Q&A on Reddit crash the company's site, there were more than 100,000 page views on Reddit during the active AMA.
In other words, while it's tempting to stick to the same ol' social media sites, it's a good idea now and again to break free of that routine and try your luck with new audiences and new platforms.
3. Fight back with class--and a cheeky photo helps too. As you grow your online community, there is no way to escape criticism in the very public spotlight of the Internet. How you deal with that criticism will eventually define your continued success in the social media space. Soon after actor Clint Eastwood wrapped up his "Invisible Obama" speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention, where he criticized the President about broken promises, a memorable photo graced the top of Obama's Twitter news feed. With three simple words, "This seat's taken," the president's team posted a photo (pictured, top) taken from the back of his chair, sharing a very clear message about who is in charge. In 2012, visual social media is on the rise. According to an ROI Research study, "forty-four percent of respondents are more likely to engage with brands if they post pictures than any other media." So, if the community gets tough, it could be time for you to get snapping.
4. Treat your social media training like a marathon, not a sprint. "The last election cycle set the precedent and we have only seen an increase in activity by politicians using the web to reach out and connect with voters," says Harfoush. "The challenge will be in rising above all this noise and creating something that will get people talking." One way to get people talking is to keep engaging in conversation. When comparing the Romney campaign versus the Obama campaign, and their social media efforts, one thing is clear - the Obama campaign rarely takes a breath. A Pew Research study analyzed social media activity between the two campaigns between June 4 and June 17, 2012. During this period, the Romney campaign tweeted on average once a day while the Obama campaign tweeted on average 29 times. According to the study, Obama produced twice as many blog posts and YouTube videos as Romney.
With so much noise in the digital space, it's critical to treat your engagement like a marathon--train efficiently and pace yourself so you're ready for the big run.
5. Think mobile--not just apps, but your website too. It's only been four years since the last election, but on the mobile front a lot has changed (it seems like eons ago, but the first iPad was just released in 2010). While having a clear social media strategy is a must, in today's economy that strategy must take into account the growing population of mobile users. Just recently, the White House updated both its Apple and Android apps in time for President Obama's convention speech (they also made the source code available to developers). This app allows users to live stream presidential events (and get alerts when these events are happening), view blog posts, and check out high quality images with, for example, the iPad's Retina display.
The WhiteHouse.gov site was also updated so it's more friendly to smartphone and tablet users (over the past two years the number of mobile visits to the site tripled).
In short, no mobile voter will be left behind. "I think the digital part of the campaigns have become essential, whereas in 2008 they were seen as a nice-to-have," says Harfoush.
Will social media help President Barack Obama win another term? It's tough to say, but no matter what happens in November, his tech term has already won.
Sometimes Microsoft gets a good idea and then doesn’t follow through on it. This is the case with SharePoint and support for education. There’s a long history here and Microsoft appeared to drop a major opportunity. But SharePoint 2013 and Office 365 may just change that.
Virtual Learning Environments
Or VLEs, as they are known, are virtual classrooms that enable students and teachers to communicate. There are class schedules, assignments, reading material, email, instant messaging, even online quizzes and tests. Some VLEs also offer videos and other online training options.
It’s rare that you go into a school today and don’t find at least one classroom using a VLE, and it’s an option that many students and parents like. However, there is often a lack of standards within a single school on the VLE platform used.
While school administrators put pressure on teachers to meet state technology standards, often via VLEs, they do not require a particular VLE to be used. As a result many teachers, even in the same school, use different platforms and it can be very confusing to both the student and parent to keep track of which VLE is used for which class.
The need for a uniform professional VLE is schools is critical for the success of both the student and the VLE. SharePoint could be that standard VLE. Did you know that a large number of education institutions in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States use SharePoint as their VLE? For them it is a richer, more cost effective platform that can support not only VLE requirements, but also business processes and more. It’s the perfect market for a platform like SharePoint. But it hasn’t been easy. As many schools know, Microsoft didn’t fully understand the market in the beginning.
A History of SharePoint for Education
Long ago, in SharePoint 2003, there was the Class Server Project — a VLE. Class Server was a tool that you could use as a teacher to do an assignment or quiz to send to a class of students, who would then do the work and send it back. A leading expert, Dave Coleman, who owns a consultancy in the UK that specializes in the Education market and is a SharePoint MVP, told me that Class Server was excellent. Unfortunately, Microsoft dropped it when SharePoint 2007 came out.
At that point, Microsoft shifted the Class Server project over to Codeplex and renamed it the SharePoint Learning Kit. It’s not a project that Coleman uses for his clients and it has received much criticism in the education market. In the Codeplex documentation, the SharePoint Learning Kit is a Windows Services 3.0 solution that will also work on SharePoint 2007. It supports SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 and Class Server content, managed within document libraries.
In his business, Dave says he does not see many schools using it partly because it’s open source (the same issue that Moodle tends to come up against). To use it (or Moodle) you have to rely heavily on forums and the internet to resolve issues, there’s no formal support structure. Add to that a lack of resources available and it’s easy to see why it’s not a popular option for education institutions.
With the introduction of SharePoint 2010, Microsoft still chose not to offer education specific services, but it did promote it as a great platform for education. Considering the great strides Microsoft is making in the education market with its Office 365 for Education hosted solution, it seems strange that Microsoft hasn’t offered some out-of-the-box capabilities for its premise-based SharePoint. More surprising, is that few SharePoint partners offer education services.
Sometimes Microsoft gets a good idea and then doesn’t follow through on it. This is the case with SharePoint and support for education. There’s a long history here and Microsoft appeared to drop a major opportunity. But