The Magnificent U.K. Seven: Part 3

Moving along in my series, this week I feature the views of a sales and marketing manager, Antony Dyson. Although he may not develop email marketing campaigns, he gets around the cyber globe with his impressive client base.

Dyson is the sales and marketing manager for Metis Training & Development Ltd. His firm designs, authors, and publishes e-learning content for clients, including SkillSoft, and provides a range of traditional interventions, from consultancy and training solutions to business-skills development.

Metis is part of a group of companies that provide a complete range of human resources services. Their recruitment divisions work for major global players, such as GlaxoSmithKline, i2 Technologies, Avon, Kellogg, and Siemens.

Writing course materials and designing visuals from concept to production are just a small part of Metis’s business. “We balance creative content and design with solid instructional design theory,” said Dyson. Additionally Metis helps clients improve their competitive positions and viability in the marketplace. When working with its clients, Metis focuses on being analytical, challenging, pragmatic, creative, and empathetic.

Email Marketing Made Easy

Dyson has firsthand experience with Xpedite’s email messaging system. I asked him what was so great about it, and he said, “In simple terms, it allows you to send mail with lots of links embedded and to track which of the recipients have read which bits of information and to tailor future mails to particular needs. It is quick, user friendly, valuable, and effective.” He added, “We will use their system later this year to stay in touch with all past delegates from our training courses.”

A detailed report that tells you who has opened your mail and which parts have been read is a powerful marketing tool.

Eyes on the U.K. Market

Dyson is somewhat undecided on the state of the U.K. market. “It seems to vary day by day,” he observed.

He had no uncertainty, however, on his company’s position in the marketplace. “We target all sectors and all sizes but primarily companies that are growing or undergoing major changes. We like to claim that we support a cradle-to-grave and top-to-bottom approach once we’re in with a company,” said Dyson.

As for what’s hot, Dyson declared, “Finance houses and major clearing banks are hot, and smaller companies trying to do email marketing campaigns on their own using Outlook and the like are not.”

Overall it’s clear that the U.K. market is in the early stages of development, with room for additional growth. “Email marketing is definitely replacing fax broadcasting but will be highly regulated,” Dyson offered.

Calling All Big Guns Back Into the Corral

I’d like to lasso in our Magnificent U.K. Seven (just to make sure they’re following this thread) to get the scoop from them on a company that could be a serious player in the email marketing arena — MediaCo (uk). Help me answer this question: What is this company about? It looks pretty sound to me. Here’s what its home page says:

• IT’S MORE A MATTER OF TRUST

PERMISSION

• marketing — a.k.a. opt-in email — is considered to be the “killer application” in the online marketing arena.

 

• But the fact someone at some point has voluntarily provided their email address is not a carte blanche to subsequently bombard them with irrelevant marketing mush!

 

• Replace the word “permission” with “trust” and the relationship is better understood.

 

• People opt-into receiving email because they trust the mailing list owner to send them content “as described on the packet” at the time of registration.

 

If you stick to those ingredients, you have the recipe for great success.

If a big gun has a comment, send me an email. I’ll incorporate your remarks in the next installment of our series. And while you’re kicking back wondering what is going to happen next, take a peek at Mailtrack, Europe’s premier provider of email marketing and electronic customer relationship management (eCRM) solutions. The big guns are going to have to give us the skinny on that company, too. We will leave no stone unturned on email marketing in the U.K!