The Direct Marketing Association represents companies involved in database marketing and provides the quality standards, compliance and best-practise across all aspects of data and direct marketing.  It is also the Governments enforcement arm, and has powers to impose large fines on companies who breach regulations.

Membership of the DMA requires a gruelling application and assessment process of quality standards, procedures, customer satisfaction and financial standing, followed by a regular audit process and compliance with the DMA codes of practise.

The DMA awarded Insight Data membership a year ago, and our data analyst, David Lewis was appointed compliance officer.  David has done a great job in the last year, we are delighted to announce the DMA has just renewed our membership for another year.

Andrew Buffrey from the DMA said “Membership of the Direct Marketing Association is only available to those companies who demonstrate the highest professional standards. Insight Data has continued to drive forward with its commitment to raise standards and we are delighted to award DMA membership for another year.”  Andrew Buffrey, DMA.

While other data providers churn out PR puff and miss-truths, Insight has continued to invest in people, resources and systems to improve every aspect of our business and the databases we supply, to ensure our customers really do have the best data available. David commented “Insight is the only database company in the building industry to be awarded membership of the DMA, joining companies such as Yellow Pages, Sainsburys, HSBC Bank and BT and I am delighted they have appointed us full members after our probationary first year.”

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In his second article on InsightLive, Neil Roberts, Account Director for Purplex Marketing discusses the influence PR has on the window industry.

Mention the term Public Relations or PR to companies in the window industry and you are likely to get a mixed a response. While some individuals love seeing their face plastered all over the trade press and online E-zines, others would rather keep a much lower profile and prefer to shy away from the limelight.

But while everyone has their own opinion on the merits of seeing their company splashed all over the media, done correctly PR really works.

What do the companies you see regularly promoting themselves in the trade press have in common? Aside from being the most easily recognised, invariably they are the most successful.

Without naming names, the reason some companies significantly out perform their rivals is not because their products or services are much better, it’s because they have built a good reputation through the media.

Imagine two fabricators based on the same industrial estate. For arguments sake let’s call them Company A and Company B. Both are of a similar size, use the same profile and offer similar products, yet Company A starts winning orders over the Company B. Why? 

The difference is PR. Company A has been busy getting exposure all over the trade press and online E-zines and as a result, installers would now rather buy their frames from Company A. Tales like these are happening all throughout the supply chain, with the most successful systems companies, fabricators and sealed unit manufacturers all using PR to their advantage and stealing ground from their competitors.

So how can you go about getting your press releases published in the media? In fact it is not as difficult as you might think. There are some excellent print and online magazines operating in the window industry and the editors are eager to receive your news items.

A good example is Fenestration News http://www.fenestrationnews.com/news/news.aspx Fenestration News a well established online portal that contains press releases from all the major players in the industry. If you have written a story, you can email the editor at news@fenestrationNews.com and if approved will be uploaded for free onto the relevant news section within a day or two. Every Thursday, the week’s news is emailed out to over 20,000 industry contacts, making it very likely your press release will be viewed by your prospective customers. The site is updated daily and it allows people in the industry to catch up with the latest information as and when it happens, making this site ideal for keeping up with the fast paced window industry.

There are several other online E-zines including;

The Gl@zine (http://www.the-glazine.com/ )

Bullseye http://www.ggpmag.com/index.asp

Glasswire (http://www.best-show.co.uk/page.cfm/link=95/)

Some of the best print magazines include

Glass and Glazing Products (http://www.unity-media.com/ggp.asp)

Windows Active (http://www.windowsactive.co.uk/)

Glass Times (http://www.glasstimes.co.uk/)

 Window Industries (www.turretgroup.co.uk)

….which are widely circulated among the industry and will consider running news-worthy press releases for a small printing fee.

So what happens if you haven’t got the time to write your own press release in a way editors will be interested in running them?  The simple answer is leave it to the experts and appoint a PR agency.

Purplex has a dynamic and hugely experienced team of writers that will stream powerful PR and make your prospective customers sit up and take notice. The Purplex team knows the window and building industries inside out and will immediately begin to position your company as the one of the leading players in your specific field and make a real difference to your bottom line.

In conclusion, while you may not think PR is for you, ask as yourself why all the major players in the industry invest in it year-on-year. While it may seem like an ego trip for some, the novelty of appearing in the news would quickly ware off if it didn’t get results and improve profits.

Purplex can help you unlock the power of PR and use this weapon to your advantage and if you would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

To find out more about the PR services offered by Purplex please call Neil on 01934 808 132 or visit www.purplexmarketing.co.uk

Brands looking to improve their search engine optimisation (SEO) performance should try using blogs as they generate a lot of interest, according to an expert.

Nick Baggott, founder of Navigate Consulting, said that blog content tends to get more comments and be linked to by other sites as it is less sales focused than other types of online marketing.

“Blogs are about creating content that other people are going to link to and because they tend to be about your opinions they generate more links and can become link bait for other sites, so they work very well in search engines,” he added.

Mr Baggott also said that from a search point of view, businesses which have not got a huge budget can often get their blog higher up the rankings than their website.

These findings are backed up by Helen Costeloe-Hughes, Commercial Director of Insight Data, who notes that blogging is a great way for companies in the window industry to engage with new and existing customers. “Blogs generate interest as they are less about sales and more about informing or sharing thoughts and ideas with the reader” Helen comments.

“This means you can build more meaningful relationships with customers and they wont feel like you are pressuring them into a sale. Also, companies in the industry are increasingly turning to the web to research potential suppliers or to place orders. Blogs will push your website higher up the Google rankings and drive more potential customers to your site.”

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If you would like to discussing blogging or any other aspect of your marketing with Helen or another member of the Insight Data team, please call 01934 808 293 or visit www.insightdata.co.uk