More Campaign Integration from MindFireInc: This Time with Google - Interview with Dave Rosendahl
MindFireInc’s Dave Rosendahl Speaks Out
By: Cary Sherburne
July 15th, 2008 -- Following my recent discussion of Kodak’s Insite Campaign Manager, MindFireInc, known for its ability to generate personalized URLs and web microsites for use with integrated marketing campaigns, reached out to WhatTheyThink to let us know about the evolution of their business strategy and the integration with Google Website Optimizer that is currently being tested with customers.
You would have to have been living in a cave for the last few years to not know that Google has great tools for optimizing the effectiveness of web sites, which it leverages with its advertisers to garner all those web advertising dollars (and high stock prices!). But how does this work relative to the printed components of a marketing campaign, and how can print service providers leverage this tool—and its integration with MindFireInc—to their advantage?
One of my key takeaways from drupa 2008—aside from the much ballyhoo’d dominance of inkjet—was the availability of all kinds of great, easy-to-use tools for print buyers that could end up forcing print service providers into full commodity mode. There were many shown in the drupa innovation parc; I mentioned BISON in my “cool stuff” drupa article, and I still owe our readers a review of the product—coming soon, I promise! Developers of many of these solutions told me they saw a market opportunity because print service providers were not stepping up to the plate fast enough in terms of adopting web-to-print and other types of tools that help print buyers be more effective. So they wanted to offer tools to print buyers directly, which ultimately could have the effect of cutting the print service provider out of the value-added loop—back to 1984 and desktop publishing all over again!
Recent InfoTrends research reflects that adoption rates for web-to-print and related online services are climbing. In 2000, according to the firm, only 5% of print service providers were using web-to-print (excluding e-mail and FTP). By 2008, the firm’s research reflects that nearly half of print service providers surveyed are offering these services, with another third declaring intent to offer them within the next 24 months. That is a stunning growth rate, but keep in mind that only about 14% of volume is entering firms in this way. Print buyers expect that volume to grow to 45% by 2010. That’s only two years from now. The expectations are high and the opportunities are huge…if we quickly step up to the plate.
With that in mind, I was interested to learn what MindFireInc is doing with Google to help put more sophisticated tools in the hands of print service providers to help them make this transition to a more integrated approach to meeting their clients’ marketing needs. I invite other suppliers to contact me as well to discuss innovative initiatives they may have underway. As Graph Expo approaches, I would like to highlight as many of these as possible so that attendees can make the best use of their time at the show as they look for solutions that best meet their needs—and those of their customers.
Here is what MindFireInc’s co-founder and EVP of Operations and Client Services, Dave Rosendahl, had to say.
WTT: Dave, I believe most of our readers are familiar with MindFireInc, but perhaps we could start with a brief background on the company’s strategy.
DR: Sure. We started by helping companies track their marketing efforts. We realized that marketers often had difficulty quantifying responses to ensure that they generated a positive ROI with their marketing dollars. We noticed that responses that come in via the web were—and still are—difficult to track, capture and respond to intelligently. Our first goal was to enable capturing and tracking responses that come in via the web through the use of landing pages and microsites. Over the past 24 months, we have done this well; and the market has responded, with over 400 clients in 12 countries using Look Who’s Clicking, and an expectation that we will have more than 600 companies using the solution by the end of the year. This was Phase One of our strategy.
WTT: So that indicates that you must have a Phase Two in mind or underway.
DR: It does. And Phase Two is underway. We see our calling as enabling the tracking of all marketing communications, whether they are direct mail, TV, radio, paper, billboards, or whatever, by capturing responses to those touches that come in through the electronic realm. We are well known for personalized URLs used in conjunction with direct mail. Phase Two expands that to other media as customers ask us to help them track such things as SMS, barcodes and other marketing mechanisms. So we are widening our service platform to track a wider variety of marketing campaign types and response mechanisms. At the same time, we are adding marketing intelligence capability so campaigns can be improved.
WTT: In what way would campaigns be improved and how does Google fit in?
DR: The goal is to deliver very specific recommendations from the software about what to change to increase conversions, sales, leads or other metrics marketers are shooting for. That is where Google fits in to Phase Two. As you mentioned in your article, many solutions rely on external data mining applications, and that is what we are doing with Google. But our long-term strategy is to build this type of marketing intelligence directly into the application as a core component. We are using Google as a jumping off point.
WTT: How did you get Google interested in participating in this?
DR: Actually, they contacted us in the midst of thinking about the tactics we need to execute Phase Two. They saw a synergy in terms of the landing pages and microsites we enable our customers to build by adding the ability to help them see what works, what doesn’t, and to make changes in real time.
WTT: How does this work?
DR: We have been rolling it out with a select group of customers. At present, it requires a fair amount of handholding due to the integration points with Google. We will be improving that interface prior to launch. Code snippets from Google are inserted into client landing pages via our editing interface. This allows real-time interaction with Google’s Web Optimizer to enable the Optimizer to make intelligent suggestions. An example is shown in the screen shot below.
With this tool, as folks respond to landing pages, clients can now test whether a headline, page, image or piece of text has an impact on conversions and make modifications accordingly.
WTT: All right, so I send out a postcard with a personalized URL, people respond and I collect the data using the MindFire interface. Then we can analyze the data using this Google capability. Now I want to execute another mailing. How do I do that? Are there any automated links between the two processes?
DR: At this point, no. You analyze the results with MindFire and Google, and then you can make updates to the landing page in real time that will lead to maximum conversion rates—use this headline, use this image, etc., to gain the greatest number of leads or sales. Those can then be applied to the next campaign.
WTT: Do you have any initial feedback or results from your test clients?
DR: They are just starting to come in. One thing we are hearing from our beta clients is that this concept is very new to many print service providers. Many haven’t really delved into the ability to test components of landing pages and don’t realize that testing can make a difference in the overall results of the campaign. Many decisions are made from the gut rather than being based on data. The results that can be achieved from being able to measure these metrics can be mind-blowing and begins to add the science component into the mix. The feedback has been very interesting. Many are saying, “Wow, I never considered that this would make a difference.”
WTT: Can you give us an example?
DR: I just spoke to a client in the education industry. They target folks who are considering trade school or continuing education. Their normal response rates are traditionally a half a percent or less. They see the marketing intelligence we’ve been discussing as providing them with the ability to dramatically increase the number of qualified leads, which could have a dramatic effect on their business. In another case, we are meeting with a print service provider, a leading digital printer, who is interested in starting by using this capability to perfect their own marketing campaigns, and then using those results to roll out the capability more effectively to their clients. We don’t have direct feedback yet, but the possibilities that exist are very exciting.
WTT: When will this capability be available for general release?
DR: We expect to round out the beta testing in July, with the capability available for general release sometime in August.
WTT: With the potential this integration has, there must be a hefty price tag.
DR: Actually, it is free. As you know, Google’s primary financial model depends on ad revenues, and they are investigating ways they can add value to this core business to make their clients more successful. If a client of theirs is using Ad Words to take folks to a landing page, they want to do what they can to ensure that the campaign is successful. So they see this as a tool in their toolbox toward this end. MindFire is a Google client, and we use Ad Words quite extensively in our marketing efforts. Google currently yields a 7:1 return on investment for us. By integrating MindFire and Google, our clients could gain those types of returns as well. So our pricing model remains the same: An initial investment of about $10,000, and clients pay based on usage, starting at our standard rate of 4.75 cents per personalized URL, and it comes down from there based on usage.
WTT: Dave, thanks for sharing this information. We will look forward to seeing quantifiable results as they become available.
Cary Sherburne is available for speaking engagements and consulting projects. To get more information contact us here.
Please offer your feedback to Cary. She can be reached at cary@whattheythink.com.
Prior to launching her consulting practice, Ms. Cary Sherburne was the Vice President of Marketing Communications and Outsourcing Solutions at IKON Office Solutions. In that capacity, she developed and implemented a branding campaign to build brand awareness for IKON in the marketplace as well as enhance employee pride in the organization, and was responsible for all internal and external communications, including trade shows and events, corporate newsletters, and industry and press relations. In the outsourcing role, she set strategic objectives and priorities for IKON's product and services portfolio in its Outsourcing businesses, including development of programs and sales support materials for that environment.
Sherburne was a Director at CAP Ventures, an internationally known firm specializing in market research and strategic consulting for the digital document and print on demand industry, before joining IKON, where she launched and managed the company's Document Outsourcing Consulting Service.
Her tenure in the printing and publishing industry has also included sales and marketing positions at Xerox Corporation, Indigo America and Bitstream. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and a recognized author.
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