Nearly 500 reporters and analysts working and covering the hi-tech industry will receive a direct mail piece from Portera, Campbell, CA, this week offering the services of a free online administrator for an entire week.
Portera conducted its first major marketing initiative earlier this month. This will be the first campaign for a particular service, an online project assistant called On-call Administration Services. It can perform such tasks as research, copy editing, arranging interviews, keeping a daily calendar, assembling and completing expense reports and producing graphics and power point presentations.
“We believe that we will get a much stronger appreciation for our services and more press coverage by targeting this group of people first and showing them what type of services we offer and just what Portera is capable of,” said Gary Steele, CEO of Portera. “We’re still a fairly new company and it’s important for the people covering us and working with us, like reporters and analysts, to get a deeper understanding of what we do.”
As of yesterday, those receiving the mail piece will have the opportunity to utilize the service for one week.
The mail piece is in the form of a personalized wedding invitation complete with script writing on the outside of the envelope. The outside of the piece states that “Portera cordially invites you to….the marriage of extreme outsourcing online and your project needs.”
It then briefly describes the offer and what services it will provide and when it will be available. Those interested are asked to RSVP by calling a representative, who will assist them in setting up the service.
Once they are set up, users will be asked to give anyone they will be working with that week a toll-free number which will direct all calls to the Portera center operating the service. The center will be operated out of Memphis, TN. Operators there will set up appointment times and continually update the user’s online planner, which can be accessed through their personalized Web site.
According to Steele, Portera will eventually run a campaign targeting its primary audience for this service down the road.
“We will eventually market all of our services and products to businesses and consumers,” Steele said. “But the first time out we wanted to go after those who have covered us and worked with us in the past, as well as those who have shown interest in working with us but haven’t done so yet, and those we want to cover us.”
The design and distribution of the piece are all being handled in-house.
