Teleservices

TargusInfo, Telmetrics extend measurement partnership

Mary Elizabeth Hurn October 19, 2009

Consumer intelligence solutions provider TargusInfo has extended its partnership with Telmetrics to provide clients expanded data on telephone-based responses. The service can monitor TV, print, radio, direct mail and online ad campaigns.
 

New FTC regulations put limits on robocalls

Dianna Dilworth August 31, 2009

A new FTC rule goes into effect on September 1 prohibiting prerecorded commercial telemarketing calls to consumers, also known as robocalls, without written permission from the consumer.
 

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee dials up phone outreach

Lauren Bell August 25, 2009

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee (BCBST) has chosen Eliza Corp. to provide customer outreach call services as part of its new effort to be seen as a "health management" company. With Eliza, BCBST will enact various phone campaigns designed to encourage customer health and wellness. By engaging customers and informing them of BCBST's resources, the campaigns are expected to improve member retention.
 

E-mail, fastest growing direct marketing segment, expands double digits

Carol Krol August 04, 2009

E-mail marketing spending will continue to expand at double-digit rates — 18.5% per year — for the next five years, according to Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a private equity firm, in its annual Communications Industry Forecast published on August 3. VSS specializes in the information and media industries. VSS puts the total spend for e-mail at $11.9 billion in 2008 and, by 2013, it forecasts e-mail will be a $27.8 billion business.
 

Interactive marketing to hit $55B in five years

Carol Krol July 08, 2009

Interactive marketing spend will hit $55 billion and represent 21% of all marketing spending in 2014, as marketers continue to shift dollars from away from traditional media and toward search marketing, display advertising, e-mail marketing, social media and mobile marketing, according to Forrester Research.
 

Data quality is a customer service issue

Daniel Teachey, senior director of marketing, DataFlux June 10, 2009

Direct marketing relies upon reaching a targeted audience, based on customer data gleaned from point-of-sale, subscriptions and purchased lists. The potential for error when dealing with thousands or millions of customer records is indisputable and sometimes devastating. The horror stories are well-known: companies sending credit card offers to pets, children or even the deceased? These mistakes are inexcusable and easily avoided using basic data quality solutions.
 

Act prompty on leads for better conversions

Sergio Alvarez, COO and founder, Ai Media Group May 29, 2009

There has been a longstanding debate over whether to immediately act on leads or to nurture them before handing them off to sales. While it is understandable, there are, in practical terms, very few advantages to waiting before acting on a lead — especially in a down economy. I would like to share three quick reasons why calling leads immediately will better serve your company.
 

Judge issues restraining order in robocalls suit

Nancy Kearney May 15, 2009

A federal court judge today issued a temporary restraining order against telemarketing company Voice Touch Inc., of Florida, and its business partner, Illinois-based Network Foundations LLC, from making any further calls in violation of the National Do Not Call Registry and other provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) and the FTC Act.
 

FTC files suits to halt car warranty robocalls

Nancy Kearney May 14, 2009

The Federal Trade Commission today filed suit in federal court in Illinois against companies it said were responsible for millions of deceptive phone calls offering extended vehicle warranties. In two related complaints, the FTC said it took action against both the promoter of the warranties, as well as the telemarketing company it hired to carry out its deceptive campaign.
 

FTC ready to act on car warranty robocalls

Nancy Kearney May 12, 2009

The Federal Trade Commission is close to taking legal action against companies responsible for the thousands of computerized car warranty calls reaching consumers nationwide, according to a letter from the agency chairman to Sen. Charles Schumer.
 

Bravestorm releases click-to-call software for SMBs

Mary Elizabeth Hurn April 22, 2009

Web site communication tool provider Bravestorm has released BoldCall Express, the company's first standalone click-to-call lead generation software for online publishers. Aimed at small businesses, the tool allows business owners to customize if or when a user of their site sees a pop-up prompting them to click to have a sales representative contact them directly.
 

Vonage selects TBWA\Chiat\Day and PHD

Dianna Dilworth April 08, 2009

Telecommunications firm Vonage has selected Omnicom's TBWA\Chiat\Day New York as its advertising agency and sister agency PHD as its media agency. The two Omnicom agencies will be responsible for all Vonage advertising activities.
 

DMA takes stand against FCC claim in mobile porting

Dianna Dilworth April 03, 2009

The Direct Marketing Association has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission regarding the Petition for Expedited Clarification and Declaratory Ruling, filed by Paul D.S. Edwards, president/CEO, of the Consumer Information Center Inc. The DMA's comments address how the "porting" of a customer's telephone numbers from landlines to mobile affects the ability of marketers to contact those customers.
 

Up in a down economy

March 23, 2009

Jane Giles, director of business development for Cambey and West and president of the National Trade Circulation Foundation Inc. (NTCFI) contributed the tips below from the NTCFI's "Up in a Down Economy" luncheon series. In a panel discussion on March 12, Brian Snider, president and chief creative officer of GRI Marketing Group, and Jim Katz, VP sales and business development for RealMagnet, discussed ways for circulators to keep their heads above water in this challenging economy. Philip Scarano of Triad Services moderated.
 

Getting to Know: Rob Weisberg, VP of multimedia marketing, Domino's Pizza

Kevin McKeefery February 27, 2009

The pizza power-player discusses his transition from agency exec to client marketer and the best parts of the job -- besides free toppings
 

House defeats bid to delay digital TV switch

Bryan Yurcan January 28, 2009

The House of Representatives today defeated a bill that would have delayed the proposed switch from analog to digital television broadcasts to June.
 

Reach doctors with value

Sharon Goldman January 19, 2009

Marketing to healthcare providers is no longer about piles of freebies. Now, creative strategies are necessary to stand out.
 

Pharma distributor transitions to Salesforce CRM

Lauren Bell December 17, 2008

AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group, a distributor of specialty pharmaceuticals, has turned to Cast Iron Systems to help deploy its new Salesforce CRM system.
 

AT&T restructures ad business unit

Dianna Dilworth November 24, 2008

AT&T Inc., owner of Yellowpages.com, has realigned its advertising sales and product responsibilities under two new business units in a move to help streamline its advertising opportunities across its various channels.
 

Marketing medical devices

Nathan Golia November 24, 2008

Successful marketing of medical devices — large and small — means getting doctors on board before targeting consumers.
 

Will direct mail remain a top channel?

November 24, 2008

With postal and production costs rising and more consumers looking to online, some say that direct mail may be nearing its end as an effective marketing tool — but others disagree.
 

Obama: Technology and customer service

Bruce Dresser, CMO, Echopass November 12, 2008

In advance of Obama's election victory, it was clear that the US and global economies would be in trouble for a while. Whoever would become President-elect, one lingering consequence would be the need for companies in most, if not all, sectors of the economy to reduce capital expenditures. That didn't mean customer service should have to suffer or that technology expense would cease, but that enterprises would need to find alternative solutions to meet both ends of the customer care requirements: keeping their technology current and meeting customer service goals.
 

Using call centers for sales, how to approach loyalty and more

November 05, 2008

Experts address how to use service centers to improve sales, designing a direct mail ad and mesauring customer loyalty.
 

Problem Solver: How can online retailers increase conversion rates for the holiday season...and beyond?

October 27, 2008

The issue on the mind of most retailers today is, "How can I grab hold of higher sales and consumer satisfaction during this holiday season?" The malls are becoming less crowded, disposable incomes are dwindling, and most frighteningly, people are losing their jobs at an alarming rate.
 

Unilever tapping voice of the customer in call centers

Lauren Bell September 24, 2008

In an effort to improve the consumer experience and gather better customer information, Unilever has started using Astute Solutions' RealDialog tools in its call centers. RealDialog uses a linguistics engine to analyze customers' questions in their own words and then provide contact center agents with conversational responses.
 

Mobile legal issues still nascent: ERA

Bryan Yurcan September 23, 2008

Mobile marketing, specifically text message marketing, is so new that it does not have many laws or statutes governing it. But if marketers stick to privacy and opt-in rules that already exist for other mediums, they should be able to avoid legal pratfalls, said Roger Colaizzi, an attorney with Venable LLP.
 

The danger in hostage marketing

Ernan Roman, president, Ernan Roman Direct Marketing Services September 01, 2008

The customer service experience is get­ting worse. Results from our Huffing­ton Post study indicate serious problems. Only 32% report that their customer service call center experience was positive.
 

Boosting call-center efficiency

Chris Conway, SVP, Inbound & Interactive Services, DialAmerica August 25, 2008

Designing and delivering an effective customer care teleservices program is a balancing act. First, you must estab­lish the level of service to be offered. That takes the hours of operation and the speed with which calls will be answered into con­sideration. Then there is the cost of people and technology to deliver the service.
 

FTC amends Telemarketing Sales Rule

Mary Elizabeth Hurn August 19, 2008

The Federal Trade Commission today issued its final Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) amendments regarding prerecorded calls. Two TSR amendments were passed - one will ban calls that deliver prerecorded messages unless the consumer has first agreed, with written consent, to receive calls.
 

Infinite Media debuts cell phone text list

Bryan Yurcan June 19, 2008

Hoping to entice marketers and advertisers with a better-than-average response rate, Infinite Media of White Plains, NY, is using a recently acquired cell phone text messaging database for prospecting."The response rates from text messaging are some of the best response rates," said Richard Johnson, VP of sales for Infinite Media.
 

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