Daily Archives: October 21, 2009

StrongMail Systems, Inc., a leading provider of online marketing solutions for email and social media, and Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX), a global information solutions leader, today announced Equifax Social Influencer, a social media-powered customer acquisition solution, the first initiative of a newly formed strategic partnership between the two companies.
Unique to the industry, Equifax Social Influencer combines StrongMail’s Influencer viral marketing solution and strategic services with Equifax’s data services and analytics expertise to enable email marketers to expand their reach with highly targeted referral programs based on the recipient’s social influence, demographic profile, economic status and other relevant factors.
“We know how businesses can use data to identify and motivate their best customers to become brand advocates. StrongMail’s Influencer tool offers the best direct social marketing tool we have seen,” said Michael Hall, Senior Vice President and GM of Equifax Direct Marketing Services. “By combining StrongMail’s social media marketing technology with Equifax’s extensive customer information solutions, we are able to offer Equifax and Strong mail clients a truly unique and compelling marketing application for helping leverage a marketer’s retention efforts and expand them to highly valuable acquisition programs.
Leverage Strategy, Data and the Social Web to Expand Reach with the Right Audience
With Equifax Social Influencer, email marketers now have a comprehensive solution for leveraging their most influential and qualified customers to build their list exponentially with like-minded consumers. Each engagement is designed to address a company’s unique objectives with a customized referral program that motivates a targeted audience to share their network through direct integration via email, blogs and popular social networks like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.
Equifax Social Influencer is a multi-stage engagement consisting of the following components:
Strategy session to define program objectives and identify social motivators
Multiple creative treatments for testing and optimization
Target-creation based on social activity and Equifax demographic, financial, lifestyle and purchase behavior data
Advanced testing program to define the most effective creative treatment
Program deployment with real-time tracking and optimization
Analysis of program performance to determine key influencers for re-marketing purposes
Monthly summaries of campaign performance with optimization recommendations
“Equifax’s leadership in data and analytics made them a natural fit for the targeting components of Equifax Social Influencer,” said Sam Cece, CEO of StrongMail. “By using Equifax’s consumer data suites, we are able to not only identify potential influencers but to determine which of those influencers represent networks that are financially capable to convert based on a specific offer. No one else provides this level of insight.”
Proven Technology, Proven Results
StrongMail’s Influencer technology has already been proven as a highly effective customer acquisition tool, and the added targeting available with Equifax Social Influencer will only serve to make these referral programs more effective. Mint.com recently used StrongMail Influencer to socially enable an existing referral program, resulting in a 20 percent increase in program reach and 8,000 new members. Zecco, an online brokerage firm, has also reported that its Social Influencer referral program is performing 267 percent better than any other new customer acquisition channel.
Availability
The Equifax Social Influencer customer acquisition program can be purchased directly from Equifax or StrongMail.
About Equifax Inc.(www.equifax.com)
Equifax empowers businesses and consumers with information they can trust. A global leader in information solutions, we leverage one of the largest sources of consumer and commercial data, along with advanced analytics and proprietary technology, to create customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.
With a strong heritage of innovation and leadership, Equifax continuously delivers innovative solutions with the highest integrity and reliability. Businesses – large and small – rely on us for consumer and business credit intelligence, portfolio management, fraud detection, decisioning technology, marketing tools, and much more. We empower individual consumers to manage their personal credit information, protect their identity, and maximize their financial well-being.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax Inc. operates in the U.S. and 14 other countries throughout North America, Latin America and Europe. Equifax is a member of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500® Index. Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EFX.
About StrongMail Systems, Inc.
StrongMail’s online marketing solutions for email and social media enable businesses to reach, engage and influence their target audience using the most powerful channels available to marketers today. StrongMail gives email marketers the control and support they need to improve campaign performance, boost deliverability and lower costs, while also leveraging the power of social media to extend the reach of their campaigns and brand to new audiences. Combining an easy-to-use email marketing application, high-performance delivery system, viral-marketing tool, social media integration, and a wide range of deliverability, strategic and supporting services, StrongMail makes it possible for companies with all levels of resources and expertise to take advantage of its proven solutions. Headquartered in Redwood City, CA, StrongMail’s clients include global leaders across virtually every industry. To learn more about StrongMail, please visitwww.strongmail.comor follow us online atwww.twitter.com/StrongMailorwww.facebook.com/StrongMail.

People were talking about your company last month on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Digg, Technorati, and the list goes on. Social media is here to stay. Make a plan, or better yet âEUR” work with someone who can help you with this plan, and put it into action. DonâEUR t be a laggard -your customers are expecting a social media presence from you.

1) Use It! Top companies such as Starbucks, Dell and Ford use social media to connect, communicate and market to their customers. Creating stellar content for your marketing materials is great. But great content doesnâEUR t distribute itself. It needs vehicles for people to pass it along, discuss it, blog it and tweet it, which is where social media comes in.
2) Locate the exact people you want to talk to: Companies can select specifics âEUR” moms of teenage children, young professionals, people looking to buy a new car. Learn how to search for people based on their age, location and preferences. For example, a wedding planner could look up everyone in the area that is recently engaged!
3) Foster the Trust: You know your customers have choices when it comes to where they do business. You also know customers buy from people they like and trust. Social media marketing is the way to connect and build relationships.
4) People are taking about your brand and your company. Be a part of the conversation. You can keep a close eye on the ongoing online conversations about your dealership âEUR” blogs, posts, tweets and more. ItâEUR s important to then enter the conversation to listen and participate. You make your customers feel connected to you and your dealership.
5) Blog Like Crazy: Blog about your new employee. Blog about next monthâEUR s special. Even blog about the companyâEUR s history. Lots of business owners think that they cannot blog, but they are wrong. Existing blogger sites âEUR” Blogger.com, GoingOn.com or WordPress.com âEUR” offer customized templates, to get you started.
6) Make it Easier: Use programs like Tweet Deck to set up Twitter messages in advance, just one time a month. Use PingFM to distribute a message that you only have to type in once. Use WordPress to create a customized blog with the same design as your website.
7) Let Them See You: Photos, videos and podcasts. They are free to create and upload; they only cost you time. What is better for a future customer to see than a current customersâEUR happy, smiling testimonial on your website? Set yourself apart from the competition by making your pages active and engaging; include MP3s of your top employees talking about their favorite parts of the company.
8 Know When ItâEUR s Happening: Set a Google Alert for a search engine. It will send you an email every time something gets indexed with your name. You need to know what people are saying about you so that you can participate. Listen first. Then, add thoughtful comments.
9) Do It Often: The social media pages and profiles that come up highest on the search engines are the ones who are most active. Spend time 3 times a week sending updates, making creative posts and sharing news. DonâEUR t have the time? Hire a social media firm!
10) Know the benefits: Social media is cost-effective marketing! You can use LinkedIn to send the message that you are hiring new employees and use Twitter to send out quick messages about short specials. By staying involved in social media, you show your customers that you are transparent, authentic, up-to-date and most of all, you are a real person!
Social media and social networking arenâEUR t going away any time soon. The major players and the types of social sites may change, but this is a new medium that professional marketers are trained how to adjust to. DonâEUR t be left behind.

About Virtual Assist USA

Virtual Assist USA is the fastest growing virtual assistant firm in the country. Busy business owners outsource tasks to us such as marketing, phone/email management, social media, search engine optimization, bookkeeping and web design. We add value to companies by saving them up to 30% on the cost of an employee and bringing our technical and creative expertise. http://www.pittsburghvirtualassistant.com

Facebook and The Nielsen Company have formed a strategic alliance designed to leverage Facebook’s global consumer base and Nielsen’s marketing research capabilities. Their first venture is called Nielsen BrandLift and it provides Facebook users with the option to join in on polls which measure their attitudes and purchasing intentions from the display advertising that appears within Facebook. Nielsen Brandlift will be firstly launched in the US and then roll out around the world. This new joint venture is Facebook’s second major attempt at leveraging its consumer base for marketing purposes after ceasing using its contentious advertising platform called Beacon.