IMN (iMakeNews, Inc.) Releases New White Paper to Help Large Companies and their Channel Partners Use E-Newsletters More Effectively

WALTHAM, Mass.--April 26, 2006--

Next Paper in Series Will Help Smaller Businesses Improve E-Communications Using E-Newsletters

IMN (iMakeNews, Inc.), a leading provider of e-communications services, today released the first in a series of white papers to help companies use e-communications more efficiently and effectively, and avoid common missteps with 1to1 e-mail marketing. The first white paper addresses a mistake that large and midsize organizations often make--over-communication, or sending out too many confusing, redundant and conflicting messages--and provides best practices to avoid this blunder. The next white paper will offer guidance for smaller companies with a different business challenge--limited time and resources--who want to focus on the most impactful e-communications strategies and eliminate time-wasters. IMN announced the white paper series during the interactive marketing conference, ad:tech, April 26-28 in San Francisco.

Discussing the first white paper for larger companies, David A. Fish, CEO of IMN, noted, "Most larger companies have multiple layers of communications: they have to speak to and through their channels to potential and existing buyers. Some of these larger organizations are simply ramming their channels and their end customers with data from multiple groups. Others are sending constant e-mails that include different offers and calls to action with no coherent messaging, thereby jeopardizing investments in relationships they have built over time. With no feedback loop except opt-outs, these businesses have no idea what is working, what is failing, what is just plain useless effort, and what messages are being drowned out despite their good intentions."

Case Studies Illustrate Successful Strategies

The IMN white paper for these larger organizations provides an alternative to "chaotic noise"--Informative Marketing(TM), an approach that integrates multiple communications into a coherent, enterprise-wide means of expression. Informative Marketing depends on the use of informational and "soft-sell" content to keep companies top-of-mind with channel partners, prospects, and customers, and continual honing of that content based on readership responses. The IMN paper identifies e-newsletters as the most natural format for this kind of strategy. Through case studies, the paper shows how three organizations are using e-newsletters for Informative Marketing, including:

-- A global manufacturer whose partners were receiving 3-5 e-mails a day from the company, with over 1,000 employees initiating often contradictory messages.

-- An automotive group that wanted to help its dealerships stay "top of mind" with local customers and prospects while ensuring coherent messaging across locations.

-- A major technology player that serves over 40,000 companies in 30 countries, whose resellers were being buried with content for their customers, and were finding it hard to sort, prioritize and use the information.

With these cases as a backdrop, the white paper describes how to leverage content and calls to action to keep readers engaged from issue to issue; how to develop and execute a coherent communications strategy to and through the sales channel; how to form an integrated, enterprise-wide content management strategy; and how to use analytics on readership responses for continuous improvement.

Small Business E-Communications Subject of Next White Paper

The next IMN white paper will provide best practices for smaller companies who want to benefit from e-communications despite limited manpower and multiple demands on their time. The white paper advises these businesses to offer regular, recurring e-newsletters using the Informative Marketing approach--rather than several e-marketing tactics--to increase efficiency and effectiveness. The paper covers:

-- How to layer content and measurement--i.e., how to lead from strong editorial that retains and engages readers, to soft-sells around specific products, and then to strong calls to action which deliver "hot leads."

-- How to use e-metrics to identify individuals moving to the point of sale, and to hone content from e-newsletter issue to issue based on readership analytics.

For a copy of the first white paper, or to reserve the next paper when available, please contact IMN at 1-866-964-NEWS.

About IMN

IMN (iMakeNews, Inc.) of Waltham, MA is a leading e-communications service provider. Originally focused on e-newsletters, IMN now delivers e-communications solutions that boost business performance and span e-newsletters, e-mail, mini-sites, weblogs, and robust tracking and analytics. IMN products are sold worldwide directly and through reseller organizations. IMN has pioneered Informative Marketing, a strategy for improving the return on e-communications program investments. Founded in 1999 and funded by Brook Venture Funds, IMN services over 1,300 accounts globally. The company's approach to e-communications has been embraced by major corporations such as Shell Oil, Wachovia, CitiStreet, and ING. IMN is located at 200 Fifth Avenue, Waltham, MA 02451. Additional information is available at www.imninc.com

Journalists who would like to talk with IMN executives should contact Dawn Ringel, Warner Communications, at 781-449-8456 or dawn@warnerpr.com