e-Marketing Beats Expectations for Enterasys Networks

<p>Melbourne, 10 May 2004 A specialist Information and Communications Technology (ICT) marketing agency is predicting that e-marketing will rise significantly during 2004 despite recent anti-spam legislation, as long as it delivers qualified business opportunities for sales and channel teams.</p>
<p>Green Hat Marketing recently conducted a survey of Australian ICT marketing managers and found that 68% were either satisfied or very satisfied with e-marketing results to date. Some 64% of respondents intended to increase their spend on e-marketing during 2004 by an average of 36%. Whilst e-newsletters are the most popular form of e-marketing today, marketers will be focussing their efforts on online white paper services and webinars during 2004 ahead of other e-marketing options.</p>
<p>(These findings were generally in line with a March 2004 Jupiter Research study which projected expenditure on email marketing was set to almost triple from US$2.1b in 2003 to US$6.1b by 2008 – although this was not confined to just the ICT sector.)</p>
<p>But the research identified a serious gap, according to Green Hat Marketing Managing Director Andrew Haussegger.</p>
<p>“Only 19% of respondents cited increased sales leads as an existing benefit of e-marketing, whilst 68% rated the need to identify new leads as a ‘must have’,” Haussegger said. “The lead generation potential of automating your marketing would seem to be under-realised by many Australian ICT firms.”</p>
<p>Green Hat client Enterasys Networks Australia has made extensive use of automated marketing processes to communicate with networking and security professionals, as well as the Australian channel. But its main focus is lead identification and qualification.</p>
<p>“We use e-marketing to reduce the costs and extend the reach of our communications,” said Managing Director Gary Mitchell. “But the key measurement of success for us is the number of qualified, actionable leads identified during the process. That goes beyond just getting out emails.”</p>
<p>Enterasys has been aggressively marketing its highly-acclaimed Secure Networks technology over the last six months.</p>
<p>“We had over a thousand potential customers and resellers attend our functions, but what really matters at the end of the day are the several hundred leads we can hand to our sales team and channel partners for follow-up.”</p>
<p>“By running an automated e-survey to gauge feedback after the events, we established that 86% preferred the Secure Networks approach over their existing network, and 68% specifically requested a demonstration of the technology,” Mitchell said.</p>
<p>Mitchell said the number of qualified leads has been overwhelming. “We are currently expanding our reseller base to capitalise on strong end-user interest in the Secure Networks approach,” he said.</p>
<p>Haussegger advises ICT marketers that they must be able to measure the results of their e marketing efforts. “When we asked respondents to indicate response rates to various kinds of e-marketing, their answers were based more on gut feel than actual data,” he said.</p>
<p>“Marketers are under pressure from the CEO to deliver quality leads for sales pursuit. It’s garbage in, garbage out; sales people complain about poorly qualified leads generated by marketing, and that’s when the finger-pointing starts. If marketers want increased funds for marketing, they will need to automate their processes to better qualify leads, improve lead quality and accurately measure their success in doing so,” Haussegger said.</p>
<p>The research report is available at www.green-hat.com.au/resources or by calling Green Hat on 03 9818 4911.</p>
<p>About Green Hat Marketing
Green Hat Marketing specialises in marketing services for the Information and Communication Technology industry. It assists ICT organisations in determining marketing strategy, market segmentation and positioning and in the execution of continuous marketing programs. Green Hat clients include industry heavyweights such as SingTel Optus, Deloitte Consulting and Enterasys Networks as well as nimble local start-ups.
www.green-hat.com.au</p>
<p>Contact:
Andrew Haussegger, Managing Director, Green Hat Marketing
+61 3 9818 4911 or 0419 569 122
andrewh@green-hat.com.au</p>

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