At the Eloqua Experience conference last month I briefly met an interesting new Eloqua technology partner, Advanced Image Direct, based in Fullerton, CA and their Cloud2You solution for automated Eloqua direct mail programs.
Simply put, you can use their solution to trigger individualized, personalized mailers to contacts as they are added to a Program Builder step. While automated variable data printing has been attempted before by Eloqua with lukewarm results (remember PrintMail?), this time around end-users can better control the process through AppCloud and the familiar Program Builder interface.
The combined solution opens up some promising new capabilities for multi-channel campaigns. But what impressed me the most about this vendor was not what they sell, but HOW they sell. I have to hand it to these guys, their mix of follow-up tactics for leads from the conference is a shining example of B2B multi-channel done right.
Returning from a consulting gig in Boston this week, I found several items waiting for me:
Courier package. An oversize Fedex package was sticking out of my mailbox. Inside was a thank-you letter and four-color 8×11 foldout glossy brochure. In an world that can’t seem to get enough of online marketing, nothing stands out like well-crafted oversize direct mail. And for Advanced Image Direct, the medium is the message, so it’s encouraging to see them eating their own dog food.
Introductory email with availability for demos. A no-frills, text email coming directly from the sales rep. Rather than being a re-hash of the information I saw in the glossy package, this was a list of open times in the next 3 weeks when they could demonstrate their solution and upcoming projects.
Thoughtful voicemail. I received a nice recap of their own experience at the conference and drawing some quick comparisons between Eloqua Experience and another conference that competes for my attention, DreamForce. I won’t gush over a voicemail but let me say that it was a carefully worded story and told in an interesting enough way for me to listen to it in full.
Each medium was used to deliver a different message but provide an impactful and mutually reinforcing approach that probably only cost a few dollars per new lead. Nice work!
BRIM Consulting 