Tuesday 25 September 2012

E-mail Marketing - Make it Topical


ACT! comes with an optional professional E-mail Marketing system powered by Swiftpage.

One of the challenges for any E-mail marketeer is how to tempt the recipients to open the message.

One company has found a way to do this big-time.

Machine Mart sell a range of power-tools and devices for the workshop and handyman.

The trick they use to great effect is to keep their offerings topical.

So when the summer temperature reaches record highs they will be offering air conditioners and fans.  When it's freezing cold they offer space heaters and radiators.

The E-mail that landed in my inbox today made me smile.

As the UK is lashed by fierce storms, and with record rainfall causing flooding, in popped the following:

Need a water pump? We've got all types and sizes, in-stock right now!



Inspired!

For more information about Swiftpage E-mail Marketing and ACT Training visit my website



Thursday 13 September 2012

Why the iPhone 5 is Important for Sage ACT! Software Users in the UK



So it's finally here.

Yesterday Apple launched the new iPhone 5. It's their largest, lightest, cleverest iPhone ever.

And it's not the new screen or the new mapping system that grabbed my attention, it was the mention, almost in passing, that it has LTE-band support.

And that means 4G data capability.

Now 4G data is something of a novelty here in the UK since it only officially began to roll out last week with a plan to have 16 UK cities connected by Christmas.

There is only one network operator at the moment, "EE" (= Orange and T-Mobile); Vodafone, O2 and the like won't be allowed to join the party until the middle of 2013 so it's likely to be twelve to eighteen months until being able to get a 4G connection is the norm rather than the exception.

The point about 4G is that it's fast. Very fast. I just watched a demonstration done in London where a 4G enabled phone downloaded a file at 33 Mbps. That's twice as fast as I can obtain on the copper ADSL connection in this office.

Now all of this matters to Sage ACT! Sage have decreed that the future is mobile. And to prove the point they now give you a free ACT Mobile interface when you install Sage ACT! Premium for Web.

The problem has been getting an internet connection when you are out and about. In reality, mobile WiFi in the UK just doesn't do it. It's patchy, often expensive, and usually requires a log in to get it at all. So your mobile connection to your ACT! database is unreliable. There's no guarantee you can get at your data when you need to.

4G will change all that. A phone connection is designed to work seamlessly as you move between cells. Unless you're in a cellar or on the top of a mountain you can usually get a phone signal.

With a market leading device like the iPhone ready to go, that change is only limited by the rate at which the 4G networks can make the service available across the country. When that's done mobile sales and marketing people will at last have the direct access to their central sales database when they are out of the office.

If you would like more information about ACT Mobile solutions please visit our web site www.bigbluemarketing.co.uk