Symantec Corporation [http://www.symantec.com] is a provider of utility software for business and personal computing (they make the popular Norton AntiVirus programs).
A portion of Symantec’s Web site is devoted to small businesses. Originally, the site was static, but Symantec added new content and relaunched the site. Symantec wanted to increase requests for the company’s trialware CDs and downloads. The company also wanted to deepen and strengthen its relationship with existing and prospective customers. So they turned to NetMarquee, an Internet direct marketing agency. NetMarquee devised an e-mail campaign to generate traffic to the Symantec Web site and allow Symantec to build lasting relationships with its customers.
Symantec’s original e-mail target list consisted of small business owners who already owned Symantec software. Symantec sent these existing customers a sporadic e-mail known as an “Infoblast.” The e-mail informed recipients of new content on the Symantec Web site. Eventually, Infoblast evolved into a newsletter that provided information for small business owners as well as hyperlinks to the small business portion of the Symantec Web site.
Anyone who requests a Symantec trialware CD or downloads sample software automatically receives the newsletter. Visitors to the Web site can also subscribe to the newsletter by entering their name, e-mail and company name.
Symantec’s e-mail campaign paid off in the first three months. The company saw a 54 percent response rate to the e-mail (i.e., 54 percent of recipients used the hyperlinks in the newsletter). Of people who requested a Symantec trialware CD, 32 percent went on to buy one or more of the six software products Symantec offers.
