Nine signs that you need a new digital communications partner

By Sheryl-Lynn Collins for Striata
Johannesburg, 27 Mar 2015

Sheryl-Lynn Collins, Customer Experience Manager at Striata

Whether you are currently doing your communications in-house or have multiple vendors fulfilling different requirements - consider consolidating your digital communications with a partner that can address your exact pain points.

Says Customer Experience Manager at Striata, Sheryl-Lynn Collins: "Your digital communications partner shouldn't just deliver e-mail; they should deliver convenience, holidays, special prices, opportunities, personalised offerings, latest news, warm welcomes, birthday wishes, anonymous Valentine's secrets; vital information to your customers; and awesome results to you."

If any of the following statements sound like you - then it's time to consider a new digital communications partner:

1. I need to reduce my communication costs
If your internal costs (technical, human resources, management) are too high, or you feel you are paying too much to a digital communications agency, then look for a partner who will work alongside you to reduce your communication costs, while still enhancing your customer experience.

2. My internal systems cannot achieve what I need
Don't feel hamstrung by your technology or obliged to use your internal systems for purposes other than what they are built for (like using Outlook to send bulk marketing e-mails). Find a partner that has the right solution and can take the load off your internal systems.

3. I can't find or retain the internal skills to plan or execute communications
It's hard to attract and retain true digital talent when this is not your core business. While many organisations tend to want to do everything in-house, the reality is a specialist partner will provide higher quality work, better turnaround times, and the human resource management is not your problem.

4. I don't have e-mail addresses or permission to communicate electronically
This is a common excuse for not starting or improving a digital communications strategy. You do not have to leap this hurdle alone. Find a digital communications partner that will assist you in obtaining both addresses and the required permissions.

5. I have to improve the security of my documents/data/processes
Some organisations are good at generating documents, but aren't able to protect those documents adequately. This means falling foul of consumer expectations, security legislation and industry best practice. Your digital communications partner needs to be able to do both the straight marketing/transactional messages and the security required for confidential documents.

6. I am not getting the results I need from my campaigns
Each communication you send should have a measurable result. If you are not achieving your goal - be that click-throughs, engagement, sales or feedback - look for a partner that will work with you to achieve your short- and long-term goals.

7. I want to leverage my data to deliver personalised experiences
Customers expect a level of personalisation, not only to show that the sender knows the recipient, but more importantly, they expect the information in the communication to be relevant to them. Using data to personalise your offering is a great way to drive better engagement. Find a partner that can cater for database segmentation and complex business rules.

8. I am battling to manage multiple vendors in terms of standards/costs/process
Do you sometimes wish you had one vendor that could handle all your digital communication? Removing the need to manage, mediate and measure multiple vendors? Such a partner does exist, so you can consolidate all your digital communications under one roof.

9. I need access to new ideas and innovation in the communications space
If digital communications is not your core business, then it's difficult to stay in touch with new developments and innovations. Look for a partner that lives and breathes digital communications - one that will bring you new ideas, critical thinking and strategic suggestions.

"Are you happy with your current digital communications? Remember, a digital communications partner shouldn't just deliver e-mail, they must also deliver results... Make the right choice!" concludes Collins.

Striata

Striata unlocks the power of e-mail and mobile messaging.

Our electronic delivery solutions dramatically increase customer adoption of paperless bills, statements, policies, marketing and other high volume system-generated documents.

The world's largest financial services, utility, insurance, retail and telecommunications companies achieve unrivalled results by replacing print and mail with Striata's interactive electronic documents and transactional messages.

Striata's enterprise platform, strategy and support services:
* Drive significant paper suppression;
* Deliver ongoing cost savings;
* Accelerate payments;
* Enhance the customer experience; and
* Enable regulatory compliance.

Striata's comprehensive solutions expand the digital dialogue through personalised customer life cycle messaging, retail receipts, notifications and alerts.

A global paperless communications specialist with over a decade of experience, Striata has operations in New York, London, Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Sydney and partners in North and Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Sheryl-Lynn Collins, Customer Experience Manager, Striata SA

Sheryl-Lynn Collins is passionate about bridging the gap between physical and digital. Aware that as marketers in a digital world, where the consumer is constantly connected, she looks for opportunities to deliver a rich digital experience from any physical channel.

As the eMarketing Customer Experience Manager, Collins is fanatical about achieving both results and a good end-user experience.

Based on her intimate understanding of e-marketing best practice, she firmly advocates that insight from constant measurement, data and testing should inform these standards. She believes in relevant communication that creatively emphasises the message and not the channel.

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Nine signs that you need a new digital communications partner

A digital communications partner shouldn't just deliver e-mail, it must also deliver results, says Sheryl-Lynn Collins, customer experience manager at Striata.