Business Editors/High-Tech Writers
NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2004
Open e-marketing platform provides behavioral data, reporting and
analysis indicating customer interests and needs
Gaining marketing insight by understanding how customers interact with online content is an idea whose technology has come. IMN, Inc., the company that first introduced content-based customer preference analysis through its e-marketing and e-newsletter services, is now offering its content and subscriber reporting and analysis tools in an open platform. The standalone module can be plugged into third party programs and offerings. This enables major e-marketing service providers, ISP's, CRM firms, Internet marketing agencies and customers who have their own content management or email systems to offer or use IMN's behavioral analytics as a built-in feature of their own services.
"Through its innovative approach to tracking behavioral data, IMN now delivers more information about customer preferences regarding products and services, promotional offers, and brand messages than any other marketing firm. In fact, we have more than 150 million detailed behavioral and usage statistics for our 12 million subscribers. By making our analysis capabilities universally available, IMN is raising the bar for the entire e-marketing industry. Any marketer or firm using online marketing now has access to in-depth data that maps user activity to content in a way that improves customer understanding and responsiveness, and ultimately results in increased sales," said Kathleen Goodwin, president and CEO of IMN, Inc.
IMN's Open Dynamic Learning Engine(TM) and its associated reporting capabilities are now available and being deployed to major beta customers in several industries.
"There is a new best practice available to online marketers interested in immediate audience insight and input. The 'Dynamic Learning Engine' is a research 'must have'--no matter what the serving technology happens to be," said Tom Simons, Chairman of the IMN Board of Directors and President and Creative Director of PARTNERS+simons.
IMN is known for pioneering Informative Marketing(TM), which relies on ongoing behavioral measurement to continuously improve e-marketing results. For instance, using IMN's analytics, marketers can monitor what content recipients read first, longest, and consistently from mailing to mailing; what they pass along; and how presentation, timing and other factors influence these behaviors. Marketers then use that learning to refine and target subsequent content to deliver information readers want, value, and look forward to receiving. Companies large and small already use IMN's Web-based e-newsletter and e-marketing platform to assess current customer mindsets, float new product ideas, spot emerging trends among customer segments, compare their results to established benchmarks for their vertical industry, and ultimately improve branding, retention and sales. IMN's Informative Marketing customer learning capability, which was originally embedded in a templated e-newsletter format, can now be applied to Weblogs and RSS feeds, as well.
Uncoupling the subscriber content-interaction reporting from the front-end gives any email service provider, ISP, CRM company, Internet marketing firm or media agency the ability to include behavioral analysis and Informative Marketing as part of its standard offering. Moreover, it can be done according to each provider's own particular needs. An organization can buy the entire Informative Marketing solution which includes content templates, subscriber management and email campaign services. Another can now opt for just the Open Dynamic Learning Engine(TM) which interfaces directly with third-party mailers' distribution systems, templating and publishing tools, content management platforms and recipient databases to deliver content-based analytics with detailed subscriber profiles and segmentation tools. Corporate marketing managers can take advantage of the standalone analytics by either embedding them into their proprietary e-marketing programs or asking their third party e-marketing providers to do so.
Marketers who are concerned about keeping their subscribers' personal information private will also appreciate IMN's security advantages. In order to analyze content behavior, IMN can use an encoded identifier that replaces an email address or other personal information. This identifier allows subscriber activity to be tracked and matched back to internal corporate databases as report data is retrieved from the IMN system without having to share email addresses with any third party hosts. This protects the security and privacy of the data throughout the entire process.
"Our providing the back-end content viewing and tracking analytics as an open, standalone offering gives all kinds of marketing professionals and providers the ability to understand and respond to customers as they never could before. Many potential users have been eagerly watching from the sidelines, waiting for something like this to become practical for everyone. Now it is," said Ms. Goodwin.
About IMN
IMN, Inc. empowers organizations to develop and maintain profitable relationships with their customers and stakeholders through e-marketing programs. IMN has pioneered Informative Marketing(TM), an approach that is based on the continuous honing of content in response to customer behaviors. Companies rely on IMN's services to better engage their customers by serving content that they want, need and look forward to receiving. IMN's behavioral reporting allows instant measurement of individual responses to specific content--from what subscribers open first to the topics that engage them for the longest time. Founded in 1999 and funded by Brook Venture Fund, IMN offers its services to more than 800 customers globally. Its approach to dynamic customer learning has been embraced by Scudder Investments, O-Mail (for O, The Oprah Magazine), Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Shell Oil, Wachovia, Pharmaton and General Electric. The company's services include e-newsletters, e-marketing campaigns, and emailed blogs. More information can be found at www.imninc.com or by calling 866-964-NEWS.
Journalists who would like more information should contact Dawn Ringel, Warner Communications, at 781-449-8456 or dawn@warnerpr.com.
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