SendTec Earns Microsoft Gold Certification
Thursday, 26 October 2006
In an unprecedented development in the direct marketing space, and a sign of changes in the marketing industry, SendTec, Inc. has become the only publicly listed full-service advertising agency in the US to earn the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status that Microsoft states “represents the highest level of competence and expertise with Microsoft technologies and (is awarded to companies with) the closest working relationship with Microsoft.” The Gold status is an earned accreditation that all companies registered in the Microsoft partnership program can work toward.
Eric Obeck, President of SendTec says, “SendTec, Inc. represents a new breed of marketing agencies that are as much advertising agencies as they are technology companies. To accomplish the best delivery, tracking and optimization in today’s multi-channel marketing world, we focused on building tremendous technological prowess and integrated that with our expertise in traditional ad agency services. The Microsoft Gold Certification is a milestone for SendTec that will further help us directly impact our clients’ bottom-lines.”
While this is a welcome recognition of SendTec’s capability, what is more significant is that this certification includes exclusive access to superior Microsoft tools and resources that will allow SendTec to service their clients at an even higher level of technical expertise. This also gives SendTec the option to pass on any cost benefits they receive from Microsoft to their clients – a huge competitive advantage.
For SendTec to earn this accreditation, Microsoft evaluated SendTec’s competence with Microsoft technologies, its business intelligence and the quality of its performance, based on in-depth feedback and testimonials from SendTec clients. Obeck notes, “We tremendously value every single client who provided Microsoft with their evaluation of our services and in turn supported our efforts to earn this certification.”
SEM Growth
It is not surprising that SendTec’s fastest area of growth in recent years has resulted from search engine marketing, an area that demands a high degree of competence in web-driven technologies as well as a sophisticated direct marketing approach. The recent launch of the latest version of their search engine marketing tool, SearchFactz 3.0, combines future-focused technologies with human direct marketing intelligence. To illustrate, a SearchFactz deployment with a client, Extra Space Storage, the 2nd largest storage facilities operator in the U.S., reduced its cost to acquire a new customer by 72% in just 90 days.
SendTec has differentiated itself in the search engine marketing industry as not just a search expert but also a pioneer in direct marketing, especially in DRTV. “Our proven expertise across the direct marketing landscape combined with our technological prowess, gives our clients the tools to execute multi-channel marketing strategies that optimally impact bottom lines,” states Obeck.
Katie Holler, Director of E-Commerce for Biotherm (a division of L’Oreal) states, “Biotherm-usa.com is very pleased to have found SendTec, a company that could provide search engine marketing expertise backed by solid business intelligence. Since we have gone live with SendTec we have begun to see firsthand the benefit of working with their team and technology. We look forward to building our search business with SendTec and congratulate them on their new status as a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.”
Resource Center
SendTec offers a resource center stocked with white papers, executive briefs and articles written by senior SendTec executives. Find these as well as additional details on SendTec and its service offerings at www.SendTec.com.