Agora Publishing is a major international publisher and marketer of financial and
health-related content. Agora has been in business for more than 30 years,.
CASE STUDY
AGORA PUBLISHING Agora Publishing is a major international publisher and marketer of financial and healthrelated content. Agora has been in business for more than 30 years, produces in excess
‘‘ We interviewed a
number of solution providers in search of a partner that would not only improve our
of 160 publications, and maintains offices on six continents. THE PROBLEM
Agora had successfully shifted much of its publishing business from print to digital delivery in the early 2000s, yet: •
expectations for rapid response to new subscriptions and inquiries. •
operations, but provide us with the best intelligence on
The company was frustrated by an inability to meet customers’ increasing
There was increasing pressure to grow revenues through cross-selling and up-selling, but their systems and databases could not work together seamlessly.
•
Rapid growth had caused Agora to exceed the capabilities and capacity of the previously installed solution, and every vendor failed to address these business
how to deliver our messages
challenges. The team was desperate to find a partner that would take the time
quickly and effectively. In
existing operations and did not impose a rigid process.
Message Systems we found a world class messaging
to learn its business and deliver a flexible, scalable solution that worked within
•
Agora wanted to solve these problems without having to build a customized, unsupported infrastructure to knit together multiple databases and systems.
THE SOLUTION
solution and a partner that
After evaluating more than 50 vendors, Agora met with Message Systems in late 2005.
we rely on for expertise in the
kind of vendor: a true business partner led by professionals who had a clear understanding
messaging space.
’’
DARYL BERVER VP OF OPERATIONS, AGORA PUBLISHING SERVICES
Just one meeting was enough for Agora to recognize Message Systems was a different of Agora’s unique business challenges and could offer a comprehensive solution to the company’s problems. The initial system went live in 2006 and, through a series of subsequent releases, Agora not only solved its problems, but also enjoyed new insights and capabilities that generated revenue and increased profits. As a result, Agora was able to: •
Repeatedly test, track, measure and refine its marketing and customer communications logic for optimal response and customer satisfaction. The company now frequently adapts its messages mid-stream based on early campaign results. It may run two or more versions of a message early in the send process, quickly determine the open/click rates and purchases, and send the remainder in the format that worked best. This was previously impossible due to delays in aggregating the data.
INDUSTRY: Publishing
Agora Publishing is a major international publisher and marketer of financial and health-related content. Agora has been in business for more than 30 years, produces in excess of 160 publications, and maintains offices on six continents.
•
Instantly determine the relationship between demographics, message cadence and transaction results, and see how they work together to optimally drive sales. This includes the messages and offers that were sent, which ones customers signed up for (and from which sites), their genders and countries, frequency of engagement with the publication, campaign response rates (and how they’re impacted by cadence and time), revenues, lifetime value of the customer and more. (continued next page)
•
Continue building marketing data as the company’s core asset by capturing rich data on campaign performance, then integrating it with internal and external data
KEY BENEFITS FOR AGORA
•
sources to create repeatable revenue generation strategies.
Ability to maintain
•
ownership of data,
Launch and support new divisions and product groups quickly and easily, then incorporate them into the messaging platform and operational processes.
previously impossible
Because Agora can now leverage a single, multi-tenant solution without building
with outsourced
out a separate infrastructure for each new group, this reduced the assimilation
solution •
time of acquisitions and drove down operational costs.
Peace of mind in
•
knowing all sensitive
Maintain the existing Agora ERP system as its core data repository for customer information because Message Systems both pulls and updates data. Had
customer information
Agora lacked its own data repository, the Message Systems platform could have
and business data
performed that function too.
remain private •
•
Enabling all
Position itself for multi-channel delivery (mobile email, SMS, etc.) and send messages based on customer preferences to ensure accurate, timely delivery and
communications to
determine whether or not messages were received.
be data-driven ( also •
impossible for the
Synchronize inbound communications and transactions directly with financial
outsourced portion of
systems. For example, a customer payment now triggers an automatic addition
campaigns )
to the mailing list while an expiration triggers removal from the list and initiates reacquisition marketing processes. •
Keep their core communications data, software and processes in-house.
MEASURABLE SUCCESS
P With Message Systems, Agora has more than doubled the recipients of their
most popular e-Newsletter
P Annual business growth has spiked in excess of 15% P Due to the power, scale and simplified management of the Message Systems
About Message Systems Founded in 1997, Message Systems is a worldwide provider of message management solutions and services for organizations ranging from e-commerce companies to the Global 2000. Through a combination of technology, partnerships and intellectual capital, Message Systems offers a family of software solutions and services that address a wide range of email infrastructure and deliverability needs. With the most powerful message management platform on the market, Message Systems gets billions of unique messages to the right place at the right time every day. Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, Message Systems has representatives and channel partners in North America, Europe and Asia.
solution, Agora recognized a 40% decrease in operation expenses, including
data center resources, operational expense and staffing
P Message Systems’ unique platform afforded the continuity and control that
enabled Agora to preserve millions of dollars of near-jeopardized revenue
P Conversion rates from unpaid to paid customers increased over the past 3
years – despite a tumultuous economy
P Retention rates for existing customers spiked P Simplified operations and increasingly targeted, effective emails increased
overall sending volume without adding any administrative resources
Get an email solution that really delivers. Call Message Systems today toll-free at 877-887-3031 or learn more at www.messagesystems.com
message systems, inc. 7070 samuel morse drive suite 150 columbia maryland 21046 tel +1 410-872-4910 toll free usa 877-887-3031 © 2010 CS_Agora_06/10
