Analytics based sales – brilliant or creepy?
Has analytics-based sales taken a step too far?
I got the following contact through Linked-In:
The reason why I contacted you is that our marketing analytic tools indicated that somebody at (name of my client – ThatDanny) spent a considerate amount of time on our website informing himself about our products and services. I would like to take this opportunity to help answer any questions you might have concerning our products and services. Can we schedule a call to discuss this or would you be able to point me in the right direction to who would be the most appropriate person to reach out to?
Earlier that day I had gone onto the company’s site, to look at some of their products. I was on site at a client’s office, and they noticed my visit, and found through Linked-In that I consult to that client and then made contact with me.
I am not quite sure whether to be creeped out or impressed by the way this company uses analytics. They work with a tool called Leadlander from a company based in San Francisco. According to its own literature “Leadlander provides invaluable information for your sales people to determine which companies are actively interested in your product offerings, how they reached your web site, and what aspects of your product offerings they’re most interested in researching. “
As I am interested in the use of technology, I wasn’t that taken aback by this approach, but given the sensitivity to user behaviour tracking, I think companies should take extra care that this sort of use does not backfire – which, knowing how many senior executives would react, it most certainly could.
European Bank (EBRD) ventures into blogging
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has launched a blog which is described by the bank’s Communications Director Reijo Kemppinen as an opportunity “to build dialogue, share knowledge and exchange lessons learnt in an informal forum.”
The first article, by Chief economist Erik Berglöf, describes how the global financial crisis has changed the bank’s operations, and sets the tone for analysis and future articles to come. Four bloggers are currently signed-up to contribute to the blog, and others are planned to follow, to ensure a constant flow of articles.
The blog was created for the bank by digital consultancy Blogminster Media, which is also advising EBRD on its digital strategy. Danny Dagan, Director at Blogminster Media said: “to succeed, a corporate blog not only has to look good and work well, it also needs to have something interesting to say. The illuminating point about the European Bank launching a blog now is that it obviously sees a need to communicate more openly with its stakeholders at a time when financial markets and their players have such high visibility.”