We are launching a new series of articles on EmailExpert “People in Email Profiles” and have been very happy with the response we have had from the industry and companies putting people forward for profiling on the site. There were many people we hear from allot and of course we will take great pleasure in interviewing some of the major characters on the email scene over time.
However we felt this was also a good opportunity to profile some people in the industry with real talent, experience and thoughts to share who may not be so well known. So we were pleased when Melanie Attia agreed to answer a few questions for us, talking to us about her significant background in email, Melanie says ” I’ve been using email marketing since 1998″
Melanie works at Protus, the developers of Campaigner email systems. Campaigner is a Software as a Service (SaaS) business communications service, other offerings from Protus include MyFax® an Internet fax service and my1voice™ a virtual phone service. In December last year Protus was acquired by the global communications company j2 Global Communications, Inc. for $213 million. Evidently they are getting something right over there.
In this article we hope to get an insight into one of the key members of the team at Campaigner and where the see the future of communications and messaging going.
Telephones and computers have merged into a single technology, and like many experts Melanie thinks existing technologies and applications will eventually merge into a single, highly customizable tool set saying “I think a consolidation of channels is underway. But like traditional mail which was called to die many times in the past, I believe email – in whatever form it may evolve – will remain as a trusted, performing communication channel”.
That is not to say that she discounts the value of traditional marketing, going on to say “I think traditional marketing campaigns are still important. In fact, I’m a big proponent of an integrated marketing communications approach, where all marketing methods are extensions of each other and sing in harmony, so to speak. Some of my more successful customers still use television ads, and use emails as extensions of those campaigns.”
So why email and why Protus we wondered “As email has always been a key revenue driver and strategic marketing component for every organization I’ve worked for. I was excited to join the Campaigner team in March 2007, because it allowed me to work directly with a product I loved and influence its future. Overall, my past experiences have really confirmed that email marketing is something everyone should be doing if they value their success and want to control their marketing costs.”
We read on ‘Imreportcard’ “Their customer service and delivery are the best of the best” about Campaigner. We wondered which management, communication or design features enabled Protus to achieve that kind of feedback, Melanie said “We are obsessed with our customers’ satisfaction. We take the time to talk to our customers. When I travel, I make it a point to meet with customers wherever I can. This face time allows me to bring ideas and important feedback back to our team and we build on that. I also make it a priority to call customers on a regular basis to see how they are doing and what we can do to get them to the next level”.
It is a tough world out there for ESP’s and Campaigner has opted for an integrated service approach offering a fairly comprehensive solution, that does not however make them unique.
Asking Melanie about what sets Campaigner apart from other service providers in this crowded field she explains “Campaigner’s number one point of difference is that we scale with our customers over time. We give our customers the right amount of functionality to get started without feeling overwhelmed. As they start to use the product more consistently, we help them grow from basic email marketing campaigns to emails that focus on interactive customer relationship management.”
We would like to take the opportunity to wish the team at Protus every success with their new relationship with their current owners, and thank Melanie Attia specifically for taking the time to answer our questions. Find out more about the company at Campaigner.com
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