Overview
OverviewWe are all different. No two groups of people have the same aims, thinking, attention span, decision process, fears or barriers to interaction. On-the-ball organisations are starting to realise a new approach and methodology is required in order to better manage visitors and to out-think their competitors.
The “one size-fits all” web that we see today has worked pretty well for the first 10 years of the web. It is, however, a rather poor fit for most business models with it’s rigid structure, resource intensive deployment and general-purpose operation.
Long gone are the days of simply creating a web assets and leaving them untouched, the drive for continual and relentless improvement now haunts most web and marketing departments. The current crop of 1990’s tools and old-world marketing thinking is proving to be a very expensive and flawed route for many organisations.
The role of web-site traffic in generating a successful site is starting to change, organisations now plan “multi-touch” campaigns across a wide range of complimentary media using a range of methodologies. Consolidating this understanding into a single, client-centric, view of traffic that is integrated into the heart of client systems and decision-making processes has become critical to success to competitive marketplaces. Say good-bye to collating reporting from page-based analytics, old-fashioned traffic and conversion reports : Say hello to integrated business intelligence. A new dawn? You betcha 🙂
A unified platform
The idea was to create a platform that allowed organisations to optimise their operational functions, brand messaging and information flow in such as way as to create a substantial competitive advantage. Whilst all of these features can be found in different platforms you quickly realise the benefit of integrating all of the key elements into a single, easy-to-use, platform.
This turned out to be a pretty big job, from a seed of an idea in 2002 the early prototypes released in 2004/5 showed promise but were hampered by relatively high deployment costs, limited performance and high R&D costs. In 2006 the the decision was made to re-write the platform from scratch using the learning from the previous years. A new roadmap was created and approximately £250k was invested in the development of V2.0 which turned out to be far easier to deploy, much higher performance and added crucial new features such as proper A/B testing and great API support.
Now on version 2.4 (released June 2009) Connected have re-defined the next generation; a flexible and powerful web platform available commercially to all. The platform provides a simple system to provide tailored, adaptive & personalised content; A/B and multivariate testing; platform independent inbound/outbound traffic management and integrated business inteliigence.
Key features & benefits
Personalised delivery : Right message, right time
Benefits: Visitors will stay longer, engage better, convert better, convert cheaper, convert faster and spend more money
Features: Break your visitors into groups of any size (1-1,000,000) and serve them their own version of the web-experience, now and every time they visit. Personalised calls-to-action (CTA), web 2.0 functions, layout, navigation, content and design. Automatically move your visitors from group to group using simple rules. Restrict what the groups see and can do. Communicate via email, ICQ, dmail & social networking according to the needs of their group.
A/B Testing : Continual experimentation and improvement
Benefits: Reverse falling conversion rates, reduce your traffic budget, be sure about successes, applied learning is cheaper next time round, beat your competitors, stay ahead of the game
Features: Simple, fast and accurate testing of the effectiveness of pages, functions, copy, Calls-to-Action, layout, design, brand messaging and profiles. Automated 2, 3 or 4-way testing with statistically correct reporting. Encourages the test, test and test again philosophy of continual improvement.
Whole of life visitor management : Business intelligence and simplified brand messaging
Benefits: Accurate information = good decisions, cut wastage, better customer communications, agility in messaging and brand communication.
Features: Supports over 50,000 landing pages with uniquely tracked codes for simple RoI reporting. Visitor value measured across single session, multiple session, multiple session/computer and whole of life. Full duplex API to back-end CRM systems allowing any piece of data or function to be synchronised online, near line or off-line in call-centres, fulfillment centres, logistics and customer services. Move data using XML, FTP, SQL and email. API to fire actions to third-party systems for data capture, processing enquiries and on-line booking systems.
Advertising RoI tracking : Simple management of traffic sources
Benefits: Race different agencies and media companies to get the best bang for your buck, simple overviews allow for quick and accurate decisions, no need to trust/question/review your media partners
Features: Fully featured APIs for Google, AOL/Advertising.com/Platform A, Yahoo!, Blue Lithium. End-to-end, click to sale reporting. Supports multi-network touch points, variable post-impression. Provides matching and synchronisation for real cost per acquisition and cost per sale. [find out more]
VITES is currently available under a license & support contract starting from £195 per month based on traffic volume and also as a complete turnkey service.
