Empowering businesses with insightful intelligence for growth and success
Understanding the experience your customers have leading up to moving forward with a purchase is priceless.
Many times a prospect has already made up their minds before they even speak to a person in your company.
CXM or Customer Experience Management is everything. In this segment of “Take a Breath” Thom and I discus what CXM is and how the intelligence MergedAnalytics delivers helps in this area.
In this segment of “Take a Breath”….Thom and Joe discuss more about CXM or Customer Experience Management.
Thom asks the question…”is the experience your customers/prospects are having with you brand online the one you want them to have?”
Learn how the intelligence MergedAnalytics delivers can help you control the digital experience people have with your company.
In this segment of the “Take a Breath” podcast Thom Stallings the CRO of MergedAnalytics discusses two unique use cases from two companies in two different industries…
1. A Marketing Company we work with uses the intelligence received from MergedAnalytics to inject positive energy into their corporate culture by confirming their marketing efforts are indeed working! When highly sought after prospects spend time on their website….the CEO calls an “All hands on Deck” meeting with this news.
2. A Design Firm we work with uses the intelligence delivered by MergedAnalytics to carefully craft their prospect presentations to put themselves in a position to win business. This firm usually gets only ONE shot to present to their prospects. The intelligence received from MergedAnalytics is critical. They view MergedAnalytics as their secret competitive advantage.
MergedAnalytics is proud to support SMPS Central PA both financially as a gold sponsor and through active employee involvement in the chapter.
MergedAnalytics is also proud to be in the coveted “SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT” in this month’s SMPS Summer Newsletter.
Here is the link ….https://smpscentralpa.org/Sponsor_Spotlight
For the past 20 years I begin my day having what usually turns into a deep conversation with my business partner Thom Stallings.
Our conversations cover everything from business ideas, trends , concerns , spirituality, meditation , what we do for leisure , motivation techniques, what is going on with our families and how we try to stay in the best physical as well as mental shape possible.
Our first episode of “Take a Breath with Thom and Joe” is centered around how the Covid-19 has affected our lives both at home and professionally.
What are some of the ways you have “taken a breath” during this time?
I understand that this NOT the time to sell anyone on how great a product/service is for your sales and marketing efforts.
If I was selling ventilators and masks…I would be donating them right now however that is not the business I am in. My contribution at the moment is keeping my family and myself home.
I would also argue that even in good times….your sales approach should never comprise of an in your face aggressive proposition. I dislike it when I am referred to as a “sales guy”. I also hate the feeling of being a victim of a “hard sell”no matter what it is…even if I need whatever was being sold to me.
To me when someone is referred to as a “sales guy” I automatically think of someone who I would never want to buy anything from whatever it is they sell.
The best sales people allow their customer to feel like you discovered for yourself that you need whatever it is they are selling. Forgive me for the cliche…but it needs to be a “win/win” for both parties. Everyone should feel they won.
If you are in sales and marketing as I am ….I understand we are in a stressful existential crisis. We are trying to push through this time any way possible and continue to do our jobs which is to still produce albeit from home.
PRE Crisis….if you were NOT yet understanding the Company Names and in some cases Email Addresses of the people who click the links you post to social media and place in your emails as well as the pages they clicked on your website…now really may be the time to think about setting this up.
Additionally…if you are getting that type of intelligence but you are paying thousands of dollars per month for it…now could be the time to explore less expensive but equally effective options.
I was proactively contacted by a resort yesterday who voluntarily shut their doors because of the corona virus. They are already looking into the future for when they reopen.
During this down time….they have begun to market their resort to businesses in hopes companies will become aware of their resort when they start to book conferences once again.
In taking the long term approach…I have provided consulting at no charge as well as an extension for our free trial version so they can use MergedAnalytics at no charge for the time being until they are back on their feet.
It is always darkest before the dawn. Even at the lowest of the low points….there is always hope and the sun will rise once again.
In 1918 the Spanish Flu was a devastating pandemic that also presented an existential crisis.
At some point the sun rose and gave birth to the roaring 20’s.
Use this time to prepare yourself so that when we do return to normalcy…you hit the ground running.
I would be happy to provide multiple free consultations about how you can make the most of your website and the urls you post to social media sites and place in your emails.
So you need to conduct web meetings using something like Zoom or Gotomeeting.
I have been relying on using this type of screensharing technology for 20 years to run my business.
We use webmeetings for almost everything from sales presentations, training session to our internal management meetings. Everyone in my company works virtually so webmeeting software is essential to our existance.
I can honestly say I have made every mistake you can possibly make throughout the last 20 years with webmeetings.
Here are some things to consider before conducting a screensharing webmeeting…
Dial in early – There will be always issues with your PC that you cannot plan for that happen often. Recommend all attendees dial in a minimum of 10 minutes earlier preferably 15 minutes.
Reboot your PC– For optimal performance it is best to reboot your PC before an important webmeeting. If things are slow on your PC….your audience could think it is your software slowing up the PC….do not let this happen.
Prepare your presentation materials ahead ….have your Powerpoint, Word, Excel, files, software tool and/or Website…. whatever it is you will be presenting…have it launched ahead of time. You do not want to launch a large file while you are in a webmeeting. The 10 seconds it takes to open may not seem long….but when you have 20 eyeballs staring at your screen…even 10 seconds can feel like an eternity.
Resist moving your mouse all over the screen – when you are nervous we tend to do things subconsciously. Moving your mouse and/or clicking a lot during a presentation can be distracting for your audience.
Software Demos – If you are demonstrating how software works….test the features ahead of time as well. Make sure what you want to present works as expected.
Talking over people – Be mindful of talking over people – Especially when there are many on a speaker phone and depending on what kind of phone is being used….it is very easy to innocently talk over people. Learn to talk slower, take small pauses to make sure someone is not trying to say something.
Have a plan and stick to it – If someone has a question…if you can not answer immediately without diverting from your plan …table it for later or a subsequent conversation.
Record you session – If possible it is a best practice to record your session . It is nice to be able to send the recorded session to the attendees of your meeting. You can point out specific times to listen etc. It is also useful in case it was a requirement gathering session.
BONUS – OIL YOUR CHAIR – you do not want everyone to hear your squeaky chair every time you adjust your seat.
Go forth and prosper.
One of my favorite songs is “Man in Black” by Johnny Cash. In that song…Cash answers the question he was asked most of all….”why do you wear black all the time? “ So he wrote his answer into one of his most iconic songs.
So ….Why did we change our name from Visit Intel….to MergedAnalytics? And while we are at it….what is the significance of those three dots in our logo!!!
Glad you asked.
First the name change…
Visit Intel was a great name for what our product was when we started our company.
We were focused solely on reporting the COMPANY NAMES of the people who click on your website pages. That information is priceless. We still provide that intelligence via our proprietary IP Address technology but we have also gone through a natural evolution.
Visit Intel evolved into something more than just website visits.
We added the ability for our users to create Custom Trackable SHORT URLs. These short urls made our product very powerful and separated us from our peers.
Many of our customers believe the Short URLs are the key to the entire platform. I would agree!
Now when someone wants to post a link either to social media or in their emails…when those links are clicked….our users know the COMPANY NAMES of the people who CLICKED them and WHERE they clicked that link. The addition of SHORT URLs was the deciding factor for the name change in terms of making our platform more powerful and more useful to a larger audience.
A “CLICK” on a link is not always a “VISIT”. There are times when our users post links that have no relation to their website. An example could be a posted link of an article or a press release.
So…we felt that the name “Visit Intel” narrowly implies….”VISITS “to a website but NOT “CLICKS” on a posted URL.
We wrestled with many names before we settled on MERGEDANALYTICS. Some names were descriptive of what do and some had no meaning at all.
We finally decided on one name. Say goodbye to “Visit Intel”….Long Live “MergedAnalytics LLC”.
How MergedAnalytics Connects the Dots?
People ask us all the time…what is the significance of the three DOTS.
Each of the 3 dots represent the three main sources of data that our users use to analyze and gain a clear picture as to how people from Companies interact with their brand online.
Each one of those dots represent intelligence that when merged together allows for analysis to be performed helping you understand how people are interacted with your digital brand .
Dot 1 represents the website visitor intelligence delivered when someone from a company visits your website.
We tell you…
Dot 2 represents the intelligence delivered regarding the people who clicked on Custom Trackable SHORT URLs you posted separated by Campaign to various social media sites.
Let’s imagine you want to drive people to a specific landing page. Could be anything….an article, Press Release, a page on your website etc.
You would create a SHORT URL for that landing page for each social media site where you think your audience engages with your digital brand.
You create Short URLs for that landing page for each social media site where you plan to post it. Ie. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram . When people click that SHORT URL….the intelligence that is delivered will allow you to analyze not only the COMPANY NAMES of the people who clicked it but ….you will understand which social media sites those clicks came from.
You will understand if LinkedIn is a better place for your marketing efforts vs. Instagram or Twitter as an example.
Dot 3 is related to Dot 2 except we are focusing on posting SHORT URLs to the emails you send out. You could place a Short URL in the body of an email and/or in your signature block. When the people you are emailing click on your SHORT URLs in your emails…you will understand from which email (and/or campaign) that click came from.
Integration with ESPs( email service providers) and CRMs (Contact Relationship Management ) can be set up as well to get down to the actual CONTACT information of the person who clicked that SHORT URL in your emails.
The value comes from MERGING ALL of those dots (data points) together so ANALYSIS can be performed. Meaning….a person clicks a link from either an email or a social media post and then from there….click through pages on your website.
MergedAnalytics captures that entire journey from that initial click.
So those three DOTS are the foundation of our company.
MergedAnalytics connects the DOTs and creates the elusive bridge between your marketing efforts and your sales team!
While we are at it….the YOGA WOMAN on our website represents the Zen feeling our sales and marketing users experience when they use MergedAnalytics!!!
B2B Businesses large and small are using various Digital Marketing tools to understand the behaviors of the people at companies interacting with their brand online. The online interaction between a person from a company with your company could originate from various places including…
The interaction does not always end with just one click. People will often click through multiple pages on your website and of course….return to your website various times after that initial visit. 98 percent of all website visitors click through websites anonymously never letting you know they were ever there.
MergedAnalytics delivers the COMPANY NAMES of the people who click on your posted links to social media and/or in your emails as well as the website pages clicked on your website. We then MERGE this information into one location for analysis so that you can understand the entire journey of the people at companies interested in your company. You can also understand what their specific interests were while on your site.
For many companies, the information we provide is a game changer….however we recognize this tool may not be useful for all B2B companies.
Below are 10 reasons why a B2B company would NOT want to use MergedAnalytics….
1. Ability to Track Performance
Aside from making URL Links shorter….Most URL shorteners provide analytical data about the people who have clicked those links. The same is true for vzit.co URL links (which is the URL shortening tool that comes with MergedAnalytics) only we take it a few steps further. By tracking the success of posted URL links, a business can understand how their audience engages with their company. The data allows your business to adjust your marketing strategies accordingly. You can measure things like….Are you getting more clicks on your posted URLs in your email blasts vs LinkedIn postings vs Twitter postings? The data may surprise you!
2. SHORT URLs are….Shorter
Actually size DOES matter….with URLs. When it comes to social media posts especially, saving every possible character is critical. Less is always more when it comes to this stuff. Additionally …your custom short url can contain information about the article or landing page you want them to visit. Short URLs can also contain information about your brand. Here is an example of a vzit.co short url that contains information about what you can expect if you decide to click on the url …. https://vzit.co/What-are-Short-URLs. The subject of the article is in the URL link….”what are short urls”.
3. Shorter URLs Promote Sharing
You want as many people to click on your posted url as possible. If that was not true…why post it in the first place.
Which URL looks easier/safer to share?
https://www.livechatinc.com/url-shortener/8-reasons-why-to-use-url-shorteners/?partner=quora.com&utm_source=quora.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=post352346
Or
https://vzit.co/What-are-Short-URLs
Shorter links make sharing significantly easier, which promotes sharing as a whole. Branded Short URLs increases trust. Short urls get clicked more than their longer counterparts.
4. Company Names
MergedAnalytics Short URLs provide a layer of analytics that even Google Analytics does not give you. Aside from being able to tell you where that person clicked that short url link in the first place ie Facebook vs Linkedin….you will also know THE COMPANY NAME of the people clicking your short urls.
5. Higher Click through Rate
Using shortened url links will drastically increase your click through rate. Many of the reasons why were covered above. In short…they appear more trustworthy.
An unshortened URL sticks out like a sore thumb and some readers might even consider it unprofessional.
Final Thoughts
All URL Links contain valuable data that can and should be leveraged.
Using a “SHORT URL Generator” like the one that comes with Visit Intel will not only increase your click through rate but will provide actionable intelligence that will help your business.
Additionally….If the MergedAnalytics Pixel is placed on your website pages your organization will understand the entire journey from the initial click on a short url to the other pages visited on your website or otherwise known as a sales and marketing person’s nirvana.
Create a vzit.co short url in minutes at no charge and see for yourself…. https://vzit.co/try_it_for_yourself