When it comes to the fourth quarter, Halloween isn’t the only thing spooking business owners and marketers. And if you ask us, this is especially applicable to those working on the demand generation side of a business.
Whether that’s making decisions on new partnerships, budgeting for upcoming conferences, adopting a new strategic approach to brand repositioning, choosing new technology, planning for the next year, and getting applaudable results in Q4 — the one constant thing is reflection.
That’s why we’ve gathered valuable feedback from some of the finest Phonexa team members about their key learnings in Q3 from observing customer habits, industry demands, and innovations that will follow.
Here’s what they shared following countless engagements with partners, clients, and prospects.
New LeadGen Demands and Strategies for UK’s e-Commerce Market
David Pickard, Chief Executive Officer (UK)
With e-Commerce annual revenue totalling over £110 billion, the industry accounts for about 38% of the total retail market in the United Kingdom. But running a successful e-Commerce storefront requires a steady flow of customers, which makes lead generation for e-Commerce businesses a must. And as Pickard notes, lead generation alone will solve only a small portion of the task.
“I’ve seen many more e-Commerce companies turn to Phonexa and similar all-in-one tech solutions to streamline and automate the end-to-end processes for the vast demands of their e-Commerce business expansion. For example, with LMS Sync, companies can manage their lead flows. They can engage prospects and customers with Call Logic and E-Delivery, track clicks on their affiliate links with Lynx, analyse user behaviours with HitMetrix, and automate their payouts and overall accounting with Books360. This omnichannel and all-in-one tech solution appeals to many e-Commerce companies as they leverage martech to minimise manual work and costs, all while bringing up their financial outcomes and ROI.”
Automation Technology Transforms Business Workflows, Disrupts Conventional Marketing
Oliver Koukoulis-Fribbens, Commercial Director
Similar to Pickard’s point, Koukoulis-Fribbens finds that the UK marketing technology scene is becoming subject to an upward trend of technological transformation, where companies adopt new solutions to enable large teams to scale by automating practises and taking out human error from the equation.
“One thing that’s really making an appearance in UK’s marketing technology scene in full force is the process of automating attribution and generating commissions and affiliate payouts for e-Commerce businesses, all through an integrated and singular tech solution. Before, e-Commerce marketers had to hunt for third-party solutions that would integrate with their CRM tools. With tools like Phonexa, they no longer have to do that because accounting automation is already factored in and built into their lead management system. So this way, accounting, and automated payouts are now a simple click away through a safeguarded transaction instance versus a multi-level, complicated, and manual payout calculation.”
Data Security & Validation Are Top of Mind for Lenders & Other Clients
Liana Tonoyan, Chief Information Officer
When handling high volumes of financial leads and consumer data, security is of the highest importance. The same concept of data safety can be applied when trying to avoid fraudulent lead transfers from publishers to advertisers through affiliate networks. This has driven many of Tonoyan’s encounters and conversations this quarter.
“During product development and demos with clients, one thing that’s always top of mind is ensuring that our technology and solutions cater to a wide range of companies with different business models and demands. In recent months, I’ve noticed a lot of conversations around the lack of secure technology available to those who depend on affiliate networks for their lead generation. I’ve also had a few meetings around technologies currently employed by lenders specifically, with features like data validation and verification. This is a positive trend, as technology is integral to lender and affiliate relationships. And I’m even happier to say that Phonexa is equipped with industry-leading security and compliance tools and certifications that ensure safe and secure financial lead transfers.”
Did you know? Phonexa is certified for the full implementation of STIR/SHAKEN protocols that validate caller IDs and improve the caller experience for Phonexa clients and their customers. Find out more here.
Dynamic Bidding Systems Are in High Demand
Eva Amar, Senior Onboarding Specialist
For Amar, Q3 has been all about helping clients address the growing need to improve their lead generation and bidding strategies by upgrading their lead management systems.
“I’ve connected with several industry leaders and other stakeholders in various companies and verticals, all saying the same thing — they need better bidding structures built-in with their technology. That alone tells me there’s a strong interest in exploring technologies and new practises to contribute continuous growth to their leadgen campaigns and overall efforts. We’ve been able to supply that demand with Phonexa product features like Ping Post Calls 2.0 to help users engage in a simple and streamlined real-time bidding structure and lead acquisition process that supports all five call lead flows.”
Publishers Are Racing to Sell Directly to Advertisers
Patrick Boyd, Director of Business Development
When it comes to call lead generation and distribution, urgency is always top of mind for publishers. Throughout his encounters with Phonexa users and industry representatives at trade shows like Contact.io, Boyd recognised a new approach and strategy that removes the “middlemen” or affiliate networks from the call lead distribution and transfers equation.
“A lot of publishers and networks generating and distributing leads are all racing to sell straight to direct advertisers. People are noticing the thin margins when selling leads to other networks. They realise that many people are buying and acquiring from the same networks, narrowing the competition. This new wave tells me that lead generators and publishers now understand how imperative it is to go direct to advertisers. This way, they can get more money for their calls and leads, getting them transferred quicker, whereas going the network route is becoming increasingly difficult because most of these networks have the same payouts with margins, all shrinking by the day.”
Tech Partnerships Are Paving the Way for New Business Development in the Insurance Market
Lilit Davtyan, Chief Executive Officer (US)
As the CEO of Phonexa, a martech automation solution with a large client base in the insurance vertical, Davtyan and the rest of the team attended InsureTech Connect in Las Vegas, securing a prominent presence as an exhibitor. While at the conference, Davtyan monitored the new and exciting ways in which tech companies are establishing and fostering collaborative relationships with direct insurance carriers.
“I met with several key decision-makers representing large insurance carriers and brokers, so it was easy to have quick conversations with follow-ups this year. This allowed me to focus on establishing new relationships and curating potential partnerships with direct carriers and consulting firms. All of this was happening while the rest of the Phonexa team focused on providing detailed demonstrations and use cases of the Phonexa platform to other stakeholders across different companies and business models. My overall experience and our team’s go-to-market strategy at ITC 2022 have convinced me that high-level partnerships are the new way to drive meaningful change in business development, revenue, and market presence.”
Omnichannel Marketing, Personalisation in Marketing Automation Are Trending Topics
Kristen Haines, Chief Events Officer
As the Chief Events Officer for Phonexa and Chief Executive Officer for MailCon — the world’s preeminent email and omnichannel marketing conference, owned and operated by Phonexa — Haines has observed the growth of volume in content at conferences and industry events.
“A lot of conference content nowadays — including workshops, sessions, presentations, and conversations — is centred around personalisation in marketing, zero-party data, and creating an omnichannel and personalised presence for customers. All of those had been trending topics for a couple of years now, but they’ve come full circle at more recent events.”
On the event operation side, Haines has identified that events in more intimate settings with plenty of networking and partnership opportunities tend to gain much more traction among conference-goers.
“Though many of our industry events provide networking and partnership opportunities, some attendees often express that at large events, they lack that ability to have personalised and more genuine conversations and that they prefer smaller, intimate events where they can make new connections in a less hectic, and more controlled and one-on-one setting. That’s why for MailCon Las Vegas 2023 on April 17, we’ve created plenty of networking opportunities that will allow our attendees to spend much-needed one-on-one time with the finest thought leaders in our industry, get to know the newest and brightest industry trends, and get to know what MailCon is really all about.”
Learn more about how MailCon is leading the change in the email and omnichannel marketing landscape with annual conferences, networking soirees, and a close-knit community.
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