JitterJam – Integrated Social Marketing Software for Business

This Idea Spark blog post is the result of the discussion during our Friday morning Creativity Coffee. If you’d like to join us (in person or via web/phone conference), please sign up here. There’s no charge or obligation. We just love ideas and open discussion!

Last Friday’s Creativity Coffee topic centered around email and social marketing. Is it complementary? Does one size fit all?

Ben & Jerry’s recently announced that it would be discontinuing email newsletters in favor of updates and offers on social media. eMarketer just reported findings by Crossview that of consumers surveyed, 37% preferred to get promotions via email, 18% via mobile, and only 9% via social media. Is Ben & Jerry’s leaving many loyal customers without a valued way to connect? Should they have considered balancing email and social media? How do email and social marketing play together? What are their points of intersection and points of departure?

Here are some ideas and discussion points from the conversation.

1. Email and social are complementary marketing channels
• Email lists can drive people to engage in direct communications via social channels.
• Social channels can drive people to accept permission-based email marketing newsletters and updates.
• But how are these channels different? Should the same rules apply? Are the methods converging?
2. Email and Social Media differ as marketing systems.

	Email		Social Media
Frequency	Daily, weekly and/or monthly		Depends on intent—from constant (customer service) to hourly or daily
Usage	Message-based. Composed messages with specific targeted messaging & promotions, content and calls to action.		Conversational. 1-to-1 dialogue, content to share, direct and broadcast messaging, promotions & calls to action.
Opt-In	Yes. People who opt-in expect (and welcome) promotional messages.		No. People may Follow/Like your social accounts, but it is NOT an explicit opt-in to receive promotional messages.
Sticky?	Yes. Your messages are stored in the recipient’s inbox and accessed at their leisure.		Some. Your public messages are fleeting and are seen if your “audience” is watching. Your directed messages (@, DM, FB msg) are accessed at a recipient’s leisure.
State	Passive. People see email as a passive medium. They get to it when they have time/if it interests them.		Active. People see social as an active medium. “Being part of the conversation” where a conversation is live, now, real time.

3. Different channel, different message? Sometimes.
• Some people desire to publish different content on different channels—using unique content for each channel. This works in some chases, but is hard to manage and maintain.
• Other people publish the same content across all channels (e.g. blog post via email, link to blog post and topical info via social media). This ensures that all contacts get the same broadcast message.
• It’s hard to say what’s right or wrong; it depends upon the overall marketing goals and strategy and how each channel plays into that strategy.
• Personalization is key—you don’t want to bombard the same person multiple times with the same message across multiple channels unless that’s what they’ve asked for.
• It also helps to identify the types of messaging/communications you send out, and then determine the right channel for each. Create a matrix to help you define a standard way of communicating your messages. Once you do this, people will come to rely on your particular style of messaging.

Msg Type		Email		Blog		Facebook		Twitter
Type 1		X		X		X		X
Type 2		X		X
Type 3		X
Type 4						X		X

• Example: CopyBlogger. Copyblogger is a valuable and insightful blog on marketing and copywriting for online marketers. They update their content daily, and they blast the same messaging across all channels. But people rely on that style and know that they can “catch up” with the content in a variety of ways.
• Example: Chris Brogan. Chris blogs often and is very social. His blog is useful and valuable and frequent. But his email newsletter is fairly infrequent. People know that when they receive an email newsletter from Chris, it will be very informative and is worth opening and reading. Thus, his open rates for email will be high because his content and channel strategy has helped set a level of trust and expectation that people can rely upon.
4. Robots are not social.
• Automated messages via email are desirable (e.g. auto responder upon subscribe).
• Automated messages via social channels are NOT desirable. Social media is conversational. An automated message tells a contact that you’re not interested in engaging in a conversation with them.
5. The permission-based (opt-in) marketing rules that apply to email MUST also be applied to social marketing.
• If someone Follows you on Twitter or Likes your page on Facebook, they are opening up the possibility of being exposed to your content and to engage with you in a conversation.
• This first step of engagement does NOT equal permission to market to those contacts!
• You MUST get explicit permission to send marketing messages over social channels. Otherwise, you are sending SPAM.
• People perceive a higher level of intimacy via social and mobile channels. Your use of those channels without explicit permission will break down any rust you’ve built with your contacts AND may get your marked as a SPAMMER with Twitter, Facebook and mobile operators. Your accounts can (and will) be shut down.
6. Email and social marketing “lists” are currently in separate silos (JitterJam note: Not when you’re using JitterJam!)
• Merging those silos is imperative if you’re going to have an effective and productive multi-channel marketing capability.
• As stated above, getting permission to market is very personal; you must get permission for each channel.

As you can see, we have pretty lively discussions early on a Friday morning!

How are you using email and social marketing? Are you applying the same rules for permission-based marketing to social as you have with email? How are the response and activity rates changing with the inclusion of social in the marketing mix? Was Ben & Jerry’s right to ditch email for social? Let us know what you think!

And don’t forget, you’re welcome to join the conversation!

Brings Social Media Marketing, Mobile Marketing, and an Intelligent Contact Database to iContact Users

Durham, NC (Vocus/PRWEB ) May 18, 2010 — iContact, an industry leader in email marketing services for small and mid-sized businesses, and JitterJam, a pioneering social marketing software provider, today announced a partnership to help businesses build trusted relationships with their current and potential customers.

This collaboration combines iContact’s feature-rich email marketing solutions with JitterJam’s unique social media, email, and mobile engagement platform and intelligent contact database. Businesses now have the ability to easily create multi-channel campaigns on a single platform using their existing iContact email lists and templates along with the contacts they’ve cultivated across other social and mobile channels.

“We were looking for an email marketing partner that provides powerful features and capabilities for our customers and a world-class API for deep integration with our platform,” said Ric Pratte, President and CEO of JitterJam. “iContact provides JitterJam customers with all the tools they need to easily create impactful email marketing campaigns along with their social media and mobile outreach, and the integration makes it easy for current iContact customers to expand their marketing outreach to the real-time web seamlessly and without having yet another silo of customer data.”

JitterJam is a comprehensive web-based integrated social marketing platform for multi-channel engagement and marketing. Its rich feature set includes social monitoring and engagement through Twitter, Facebook, email and FriendFeed; email marketing integration with iContact; mobile marketing through a native text messaging campaign tool; multi-channel message and campaign creation, scheduling and measurement; the Make Me Happy™ permission marketing system; and much more. JitterJam’s capabilities enable businesses to develop trusted relationships with their current and potential customers, and to communicate with them through the channels they most prefer.

“We are pleased to partner with JitterJam to provide our customers with the ability to integrate iContact functionality with social media and mobile marketing. JitterJam’s unique capabilities will help businesses develop deeper and more trusted relationships with their contacts,” said Jeff Taylor, Director of Business Development for iContact. “Email continues to be a cornerstone for businesses to drive consumer engagement and adoption, and we’re proud that JitterJam selected iContact for deep integration into their revolutionary platform.”

The iContact integration has been completed and is commercially available for use within the JitterJam platform.

About JitterJam
Founded in 2008, JitterJam empowers consumer-facing businesses to leverage social marketing and have it perform in concert with their other marketing initiatives. JitterJam is a comprehensive platform that integrates social media, e-mail, and mobile engagement with an intelligent contact database and the tools needed to turn social interaction into new opportunities for revenue growth. JitterJam is headquartered in Bedford, NH. For more information on JitterJam and to sign-up for a free trial, visit www.jitterjam.com.

For media inquiries, contact Margaret Donnelly, VP of Marketing & Business Development, Margaret.donnelly(at)jitterjam(dot)com or 603.782.4909.

Connect with us via Twitter @jittergram, via the JitterJam LinkedIn Group and our Facebook Fan Page.

About iContact
With more than 63,000 customers, iContact provides email marketing for SMBs and non-profits. iContact allows for easy creation of email newsletters, surveys, and autoresponders. Market leaders like Intuit, Vonage, Symantec, International Paper, LG Electronics and ReMax, use iContact to build stronger relationships with their customers and prospects at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing methods.

iContact, designed for the Small Business market is available at www.iContact.com; iContactPlus, a suite of custom and managed services designed for mid-sized organizations, is available at www.iContactPlus.com.

For media inquiries, contact Chuck Hester, APR, Communications Director,
Chuck(at)iContact(dot)com or 919.459.1451.

Visit us on Twitter @iContactCorp, iContact Linkedin Group, and our Facebook Fan Page.

Adds Social Marketing Platform to the Google Apps Marketplace, Integrates with Google Apps

Bedford, NH (PRWEB) April 28, 2010 — JitterJam™ is pleased to announce it has added its social marketing platform to the Google Apps Marketplace™, Google’s online storefront for Google Apps™ products and services. JitterJam is an integrated, multi-channel social marketing platform focused on developing and deepening customer relationships from light touch social connections into qualified prospects all the way into committed customers and lifelong advocates. The platform combines social media, e-mail and mobile marketing tools on top of an intelligent contact database.

“JitterJam is committed to easy to implement, easy to use, easy to succeed, web-based solutions that businesses and marketing agencies can utilize anytime, anywhere. So, integrating with Google Apps was a logical choice for us,” says Ric Pratte, President and CEO. “We’ve made it extremely easy for Google Apps customers to get a powerful, web-based multi-channel marketing application that works seamlessly with their Google messaging and collaboration applications.”

JitterJam is a comprehensive integrated social marketing platform for multi-channel engagement and marketing. Its rich feature set includes social monitoring and engagement through Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeed; e-mail marketing integration with Constant Contact and MailChimp; mobile marketing through a native text messaging campaign tool; tracking of campaigns on a per-message basis; multi-channel message creation and scheduling; targeted campaign creation and management; a multi-channel opt-in system; and much more.

“We are very excited to have JitterJam in the Google Apps Marketplace,” says Scott McMullan, Google Apps Partner Lead for Google Enterprise. “Software vendors like JitterJam are helping us build a rich ecosystem of integrated applications that work seamlessly with our platform, allowing IT administrators to leverage the benefits of cloud computing and extend Google Apps to meet more of their business needs.”

The product’s integration with Google Apps allows users to sign on to JitterJam with a Google account or Google Apps e-mail address; to connect to Google Calendar to record all scheduled and delivered JitterJam outbound communications and promotions; and to flow e-mails received through a Gmail inbox with JitterJam’s powerful database and communications tools. JitterJam is part of the Sales & Marketing solutions in the Google Apps Marketplace.

The Google Apps Marketplace makes it easy for more than 2 million Google Apps customers to discover, purchase and deploy integrated business applications and related professional services. By integrating with user account and application data stored in Google Apps, these cloud applications provide a simpler user experience, increase business efficiency, and reduce administrative overhead. To learn more, visit google.com/appsmarketplace.

About JitterJam – Founded in 2008, JitterJam empowers consumer-facing businesses to leverage social marketing and have it perform in concert with their other marketing initiatives. JitterJam is a comprehensive platform that integrates social media, e-mail, and mobile engagement with an intelligent contact database and the tools needed to turn social interaction into new opportunities for revenue growth. JitterJam is headquartered in Bedford, NH. For more information on JitterJam and to sign-up for a free trial, visit www.jitterjam.com.

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JitterJam, JitterGram and Turning Conversations Into Customers are registered trademarks or trademarks of JitterJam.

Google, Google Apps Marketplace, Google Apps, Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sites, and Google Video are trademarks of Google Inc.

Creating a compelling, reusable email template should be a high priority on every marketing department’s social media To Do List. After all, in the words of eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson, “[social media and email] can help each other, offering the opportunity for marketers to create deeper connections.” So, here are a few tips on what a good template should include.

Social Links. Wherever you put them—the header, the footer, or the sidebar—make sure to include links to your Facebook and Twitter pages. For the JitterJam email template I’ve been setting up over the past week, I’ve also included a link to our Make Me Happy contact preferences page, where contacts can tell us through which channel they prefer to be contacted (as well as how often they wish to be contacted). Give your readers every opportunity to extend the conversation beyond their inboxes.

Plenty of White Space. Don’t cram your profile full of extra content. Do make sure to include social links and a logo, but don’t over-embellish. In my experience, a busy, headache-inducing email is an email swiftly deleted. Leave room for the content to speak for itself. And be sure to use a big enough font! Don’t make your readers strain their eyes to see your message.

A Compelling Plain-Text Alternative. Not every email client is capable of displaying HTML emails, and not every user is interested in reading HTML emails even if their client is capable of it. So, be sure to take some time to craft a compelling plain-text alternative to your message (assuming the email broadcasting platform you’re using is capable of including one).

Once you’ve crafted your template, don’t forget to test, test, test, and then test again. Test different desktop clients on different operating systems, plus every Webmail client you can get your hands on. Make sure that your message is going to look beautiful and be intelligible when it reaches your readers.

Launches Integrated Multi-Channel Marketing Platform, Changes Company Name

Bedford, NH (PRWEB) March 22, 2010 — JitterJam™ today announced the public availability of its revolutionary new multi-channel marketing platform that integrates social media, e-mail, and mobile engagement with an intelligent contact database. JitterJam’s groundbreaking combination of social listening and engagement, automated contact database development, multi-channel marketing tools and analytics brings true ROI to social engagement by enabling companies to develop the deep one-to-one customer relationships that consumers expect in today’s marketplace.

“Tools today focus on the conversation,” said Ric Pratte, President and CEO at JitterJam. “The JitterJam platform goes way beyond by enabling companies to focus on people. At its core is a sophisticated consumer database that automatically collects contact information and personal interests and measures a contact’s degree of engagement. Businesses now have the power to capture and use this data to pinpoint the most receptive audiences.”

JitterJam has just emerged from beta testing, where a host of clients were able to take advantage of this unique product while providing priceless feedback on how to improve it.

”JitterJam has taught us the value of social engagement,” said Perry Dowst, President of Jetboil. “In three months of using JitterJam, we doubled our number of Facebook fans and launched our Twitter presence. Our customers have opted-in to receive information and promotions through e-mail, text messages, Twitter and Facebook. We have far greater reach than we ever had before!”

“While few companies question the need for some sort of effective community engagement strategy, measuring that effectiveness (ROI) remains elusive,” said Rich Price, New Media Specialist at Select Design. “JitterJam provides clear data that can help shape a deliberate approach to social media and community building, as well as measure which marketing initiatives are sparking conversation.”

“Our summer season is coming up, and JitterJam is an essential part of our overall marketing strategy,” said Chris Lockwood, Director of Marketing for Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion. “We love the versatility of the platform and the ability to more deeply engage our customers!”

JitterJam is a comprehensive integrated marketing platform for multi-channel engagement and marketing. Its rich feature set includes social engagement through Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeed; e-mail marketing integration with Constant Contact and MailChimp; mobile marketing through a native text messaging campaign tool; tracking of campaigns on a per-message basis; multi-channel message creation and scheduling; targeted campaign creation and management; a multi-channel opt-in system; and much more.

Pricing for JitterJam starts at $290 (US) per month for up to 7,500 social contact points. To sign up for a trial, please visit www.jitterjam.com.

In conjunction with the new product launch, JitterJam changed its company name from JitterGram® to JitterJam. This name change reflects the company’s evolution from a mobile marketing tool to a comprehensive multi-channel integrated marketing platform.

About JitterJam
Founded in 2008 as JitterGram, Inc., JitterJam empowers consumer-facing companies in the mid- to small-business market by putting the sophistication and power of multi-channel integrated marketing within their reach. JitterJam, the company’s revolutionary new product, is a comprehensive tool that integrates social media, e-mail, and mobile engagement with an intelligent contact database and the tools needed to turn social interaction into new opportunities for revenue growth.

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JitterJam, JitterGram and Turning Conversations Into Customers are registered trademarks or trademarks of JitterJam.

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook and Twitter. Today, I’d like to wrap up my argument in favor of different content for different channels with some thoughts on email and mobile marketing.

Email: If Twitter is an enormous open-invite party, email is the one-on-one pitch you get to give someone in a quiet room next door. So, while there are no technical limits on how long your message can be, it’s important to keep in mind that you are interrupting your contact every time you send them an email. Your email messages should be relevant (and/or entertaining), should include at least one actionable item, and should allow the reader to get back to the party (or the office) in short order.

Also, keep in mind that, while email can be a useful tool for hammering home a point you’ve made elsewhere, email shouldn’t be a simple exercise in repetition. If all the customer hears are the same bullet points they’ve heard elsewhere, it doesn’t take much effort for them to unsubscribe from your mailing list. Make it worthwhile for them. They’ve taken time out of their day to give you their attention: give them something substantial and new in return.

Key Takeaways: Email can and should be used as part of a fully integrated multi-channel marketing effort, but it shouldn’t simply be a compilation of your best content from other sources. You need to include fresh, valuable material with every message, or else the effort is wasted, and the customer might just be lost.

Mobile: Text messaging has become one of the most active conversation streams in the digital age. Like email, it’s a one-to-one pitch. But it’s a one-to-one pitch that happens just as the elevator is reaching your customer’s floor: you’ve got thirty seconds, and then they’re gone.

When you market by text message, your call to action has to be relevant and timely. Text messaging is all about immediacy. Our phones buzz and blurt out alert sounds, and we pick up right away, because we never know if an emergency meeting has been called, or if the kids have locked themselves out of the house. So, your message better be worth that kind of instantaneous attention.

Key Takeaways: Marketing via text message must be relevant, brief, and actionable. Mobile marketing is more disruptive than marketing through any other channel, and must be handled with extreme care. It’s not about conversations—at least not for marketers—it’s about alerts.  Craft your content accordingly.

Do you differentiate your content across channels? Or, do you see benefits in keeping the message the same across all platforms? Let us know.