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Why We Changed Our Name and What is the Significance of the Three Dots in our Logo

One of my favorite songs is “Man in Black” by Johnny Cash.  In that song…Cash answers the question he was asked most of all….”why do you wear black all the time? “ So he wrote his answer into one of his most iconic songs.

So ….Why did we change our name from Visit Intel….to MergedAnalytics?  And while we are at it….what is the significance of those three dots in our logo!!!

Glad you asked. 

First the name change…

Visit Intel was a great name for what our product was when we started our company.

We were focused solely on reporting the COMPANY NAMES of the people who click on your website pages.  That information is priceless.  We still provide that intelligence via our proprietary IP Address technology but we have also gone through a natural evolution. 

Visit Intel evolved into something more than just website visits.

We added the ability for our users to create Custom Trackable SHORT URLs.  These short urls made our product very powerful and separated us from our peers. 

Many of our customers believe the Short URLs are the key to the entire platform. I would agree!

Now when someone wants to post a link either to social media or in their emails…when those links are clicked….our users know the COMPANY NAMES of the people who CLICKED them and WHERE they clicked that link.  The addition of SHORT URLs was the deciding factor for the name change in terms of making our platform more powerful and more useful to a larger audience.  

A “CLICK” on a link is not always a “VISIT”.  There are times when our users post links that have no relation to their website.  An example could be a posted link of an article or a press release. 

So…we felt that the name “Visit Intel” narrowly implies….”VISITS “to a website but NOT “CLICKS” on a posted URL.

We wrestled with many names before we settled on MERGEDANALYTICS.  Some names were descriptive of what do and some had no meaning at all.

We finally decided on one name.   Say goodbye to “Visit Intel”….Long Live “MergedAnalytics LLC”.

How MergedAnalytics Connects the Dots?

Connecting the DOTS

People ask us all the time…what is the significance of the three DOTS.

Each of the 3 dots represent the three main sources of data that our users use to analyze and gain a clear picture as to how people from Companies interact with their brand online.

Each one of those dots represent intelligence that when merged together allows for analysis to be performed helping you understand how people are interacted with your digital brand .

Dot 1 represents the website visitor intelligence delivered when someone from a company visits your website. 

We tell you…

  • The COMPANY NAME(s) of the person who clicked through your website
  • How they found your site
  • The pages they visited
  • How many times they returned
  • And more

Dot 2 represents the intelligence delivered regarding the people who clicked on Custom Trackable SHORT URLs you posted separated by Campaign to various social media sites.

Let’s imagine you want to drive people to a specific landing page.  Could be anything….an article, Press Release, a page on your website etc.

You would create a SHORT URL for that landing page for each social media site where you think your audience engages with your digital brand.  

You create Short URLs for that landing page for each social media site where you plan to post it.  Ie. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram .   When people click that SHORT URL….the intelligence that is delivered will allow you to analyze not only the COMPANY NAMES of the people who clicked it but ….you will understand which social media sites those clicks came from. 

You will understand if LinkedIn is a better place for your marketing efforts vs. Instagram or Twitter as an example.

Dot 3 is related to Dot 2 except we are focusing on posting SHORT URLs to the emails you send out.  You could place a Short URL in the body of an email and/or in your signature block.  When the people you are emailing click on your SHORT URLs in your emails…you will understand from which email (and/or campaign) that click came from. 

Integration with ESPs( email service providers) and CRMs (Contact Relationship Management )  can be set up as well to get down to the actual CONTACT information of the person who clicked that SHORT URL in your emails.

The value comes from MERGING ALL of those dots (data points) together so ANALYSIS can be performed.   Meaning….a person clicks a link from either an email or a social media post and then from there….click through pages on your website.

Connecting the DOTS

MergedAnalytics captures that entire journey from that initial click.

So those three DOTS are the foundation of our company.

MergedAnalytics connects the DOTs and creates the elusive bridge between your marketing efforts and your sales team!

While we are at it….the YOGA WOMAN on our website represents the Zen feeling our sales and marketing users experience when they use MergedAnalytics!!!

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10 Reasons You Do Not Need MergedAnalytics

B2B Businesses large and small are using various Digital Marketing tools to understand the behaviors of the people at companies interacting with their brand online.  The online interaction between a person from a company with your company could originate from various places including…

  • Visiting your website following a live conversation
  • Clicking links posted on Social media
  • Clicking links posted in emails
  • Online keyword searches
  • Clicking on online ads

The interaction does not always end with just one click.  People will often click through multiple pages on your website and of course….return to your website various times after that initial visit.  98 percent of all website visitors click through websites anonymously never letting you know they were ever there.

MergedAnalytics delivers the COMPANY NAMES of the people who click on your posted links to social media and/or in your emails as well as the website pages clicked on your website. We then MERGE this information into one location for analysis so that you can understand the entire journey of the people at companies interested in your company.  You can also understand what their specific interests were while on your site.

For many companies, the information we provide is a game changer….however we recognize this tool may not be useful for all B2B companies.

Below are 10 reasons why a B2B company would NOT want to use MergedAnalytics….

  1.  Your business does not need new leads – If your business produces too many leads and you do not need anymore…Please stop reading now and take the rest of the day off.  The intelligence MergedAnalytics delivers is another resource you may have never had before that helps you not only understand the specific needs and interests of the people interacting with your company….but also the Company Names of those people clicking on your website and posted links. If your business does NOT need new leads….take the rest of the week off and your company does NOT need MergedAnalytics.
  2. Your business does not care if your existing customers are on your website – Do I really have to tell you that your existing customers are your best prospects?   By knowing the behavior of your existing customers who are clicking through your website pages will not only allow for you to provide better support but you will also put yourself in a better position to up-sell them as well. If you do not want to support and up-sell your existing customers… MergedAnalytics is not for you.
  3. Your business does not care to understand if the person you met at a networking event took the time to check out your website after you met them – You are at a networking event and had a great conversation with someone you met there.  You exchange cards and walk away from each other.  You are feeling good because that person seemed very interested in what your company has to offer.  You think you found a new prospect.  Wouldn’t it be nice to see if that person visited your website after that interaction? If not… MergedAnalytics is not for you.
  4. Your business does not have a social media presence – Understanding the entire journey of the people who interact with your brand from initial point of contact on to their final destination is no longer a nice to have.  Is your audience interacting with your company on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter?  By using Visit Intel Short URLs for the links you post to social media that is exactly the intelligence you will have.  You can also shrink and customize links you post to increase the chances of them getting clicked and shared.  If you have no social media presence…MergedAnalytics is not for you. Learn more about MergedAnalytics Short URLs …https://mergedanalytics.com/vzit-co
  5. Your business does not care if the company you are in the process of  closing a deal with is on your website looking at specific information that could help you close that deal – You present to a prospect and send them a proposal.  Then….silence.   Nothing. No communication for days.  You have no idea what their thoughts or concerns are about moving forward.  BUT…since you have MergedAnalytics, you start receiving MergedAnalytics Alerts via email showing you that the company is in fact still interested.  You can tell from the reports that they are focused on a specific service you provide on a specific page on your website.  This information allows you to proactively check in with them via email and send along reinforcing information about the topic they were spending time while on your website.   The intelligence delivered by MergedAnalytics will put you in a better position to win deals and shorten your sales cycle.  If understanding prospects concerns that could ultimately help you close a deal is not important….MergedAnalytics is not for you.
  6. Your business does not want to use tools that the big companies use to win more business – The big companies are ALL using tools that identify the Companies interacting with their brands and spend millions of dollars annually doing so.  MergedAnalytics levels the playing field for the smaller company that does not have the type of budgets like their bigger counterparts.  That is why MergedAnalytics is so compelling….for a small monthly fee of $59 paid annually , you are getting the same intelligence (in some cases better) than the big companies. If using tools that they big companies use is not important…MergedAnalytics is not for you.
  7. Your business does not care about the content being viewed on your website – Are you making sure the content your audience is reading on your website is still relevant?  By understanding where your audience is spending time on your website you will make sure the content they are reading is still relevant and up to date.  There may be pages on your website your audience is clicking on that may not have been updated or should be taken down altogether. If having a tool that will remind you to update or even remove information from you website is not important…MergedAnalytics is not for you.
  8. Your business does not care if your marketing and advertising dollars are being spent wisely – You may think the money spent on specific advertising and marketing campaigns are producing results as you  predicted they would.  MergedAnalytics reports what is actually going on….not what you think or want to happen.  We tell you where your traffic is coming from and how they got there.  You may think your ads on LinkedIn will drive the most social media traffic but Visit Intel may tell you it is Twitter or your Email campaigns producing the best results.  Understanding the effectiveness and success of your ad campaigns is just good money management. If you do not care to really understand where your money is best spent in terms of your ad and marketing strategies then MergedAnalytics is not for you.
  9. You believe Google Analytics (GA) gives you ALL the intelligence you need – GA does NOT give you the COMPANY NAMES of the people who click on your website.  GA also does NOT filter out the bots, crawlers and server clicks which jack up the total numbers of clicks you think you are getting.  What good is only having the number of clicks without knowing which COMPANY NAMES are doing the clicking….MergedAnalytics DOES filter out clicks from bots, crawlers and servers and we provide the COMPANY NAMES of the people doing the clicking.  If not knowing the COMPANY NAMES of the people who clicked through your website and if unfiltered click counts are not important to you…then you do not need MergedAnalytics.
  10. Your business does not want to bid on projects earlier than they normally would – If a company has a need and is doing their due diligence by clicking through your website…MergedAnalytics provides you with the ability to contact that company earlier than you normal would.   This early contact gives you an advantage over your competition.  This early information MergedAnalytics provides will also speed up your sales cycle and the cost of  that sale.  If bidding on projects earlier than normal is not important….MergedAnalytics is not for you.
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MergedAnalytics + Cupcakes = Revenue

I often speak/write about why Commercial Construction Companies in particular have found a strong love for MergedAnalytics.

The reason for their love is simple… they are winning more business using MergedAnalytics.

Having the ability to see which companies are clicking through their website pages and what those company’s specific construction needs are is everything to them.  MergedAnalytics provides a Commercial Construction Company who is using MergedAnalytics the opportunity to proactively bid earlier on projects than they normally would historically.  Normally before they were able to bid on projects….they would have to wait and learn about opportunities through referral networks and/or be contacted directly by companies in need of their services.

Bidding early or in many cases first on projects is everything for Commercial Construction Companies.  Statistically…The proposals sent earlier than the competition more often than not….have an advantage and win more often.

MergedAnalytics sends actionable alerts via email to the right people in an organization detailing the Company Names of the people clicking on their website, how they found their website, how long they spent on those site pages, what specific pages were clicked and more.

Today I had a discussion with the V.P of Sales from a Commercial Construction Company who has been using MergedAnalytics for a few months now.

He told me….They have recognized a significant uptick in deals won recently and point their success to the information MergedAnalytics is providing them.  Look for a testimonial on our website in the next couple of weeks from this company.  www.visitintel.us

The MergedAnalytics alerts give them the ability to recognize when there is a real opportunity early on while that company with a need is still in the research stage as from which companies they will select and request a proposal.

Here is what the V.P of Sales told me they do when they discover a “hot” lead…

They send that interested company a Big Box of Cupcakes.  In that box along with the cupcakes there is an informational marketing packet geared to their specific needs.  They  include  contact information, testimonials from customers that had similar needs, similar past projects they have completed , awards they have won etc….All having to do with what those specific needs were based on the information gleaned and analyzed from the MergedAnalytics site alerts received only days earlier.

  • They are getting warm actionable leads
  • They are making contact earlier than the competition
  • They are able to bid proactively rather than reactively
  • They understand the exact need(s) and seriousness of a prospect before making initial contact

Or it could simply be the cupcakes.

For more on how MergedAnalytics is used differently in various industries check out this post written earlier this year… https://vzit.co/7companies_from7industries_usevisitintel7ways

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More on MergedAnalytics Short URLs…vzit.co

 1. Ability to Track Performance

Aside from making URL Links shorter….Most URL shorteners provide analytical data about the people who have clicked those links. The same is true for vzit.co URL links (which is the URL shortening tool that comes with MergedAnalytics) only we take it a few steps further.  By tracking the success of posted URL links, a business can understand how their audience engages with their company.  The data allows your business to adjust your marketing strategies accordingly.  You can measure things like….Are you getting more clicks on your posted URLs in your email blasts vs LinkedIn postings vs Twitter postings?  The data may surprise you!

2.   SHORT URLs are….Shorter

Actually size DOES matter….with URLs.  When it comes to social media posts especially, saving every possible character is critical. Less is always more when it comes to this stuff.  Additionally …your custom short url can contain information about the article or landing page you want them to visit.  Short URLs can also contain information about your brand.  Here is an example of a vzit.co short url that contains  information about what you can expect if you decide to click on the url …. https://vzit.co/What-are-Short-URLs.  The subject of the article is in the URL link….”what are short urls”.

3.  Shorter URLs Promote Sharing

You want as many people to click on your posted url as possible.  If that was not true…why post it in the first place.

Which URL looks easier/safer to share?

https://www.livechatinc.com/url-shortener/8-reasons-why-to-use-url-shorteners/?partner=quora.com&utm_source=quora.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=post352346

Or

https://vzit.co/What-are-Short-URLs

Shorter links make sharing significantly easier, which promotes sharing as a whole. Branded Short URLs increases trust.  Short urls get clicked more than their longer counterparts.

4. Company Names

MergedAnalytics Short URLs provide a layer of analytics that even Google Analytics does not give you.  Aside from being able to tell you where that person clicked that short url link in the first place ie Facebook vs Linkedin….you will also know THE COMPANY NAME of the people clicking your short urls.

5. Higher Click through Rate

Using shortened url links will drastically increase your click through rate. Many of the reasons why were covered above.  In short…they appear more trustworthy.

An unshortened URL sticks out like a sore thumb and some readers might even consider it unprofessional.

Final Thoughts

All URL Links contain valuable data that can and should be leveraged.

Using a “SHORT URL Generator” like the one that comes with Visit Intel will not only increase your click through rate but will provide actionable intelligence that will help your business.

Additionally….If the MergedAnalytics Pixel is placed on your website pages your organization will understand the entire journey from the initial click on a short url to the other pages visited on your website or otherwise known as a sales and marketing person’s nirvana.

Create a vzit.co short url in minutes at no charge and see for yourself…. https://vzit.co/try_it_for_yourself

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What is website visitor intelligence? 5 things you should know

When someone clicks on your website or a posted URL link…there is data about that visitor that you simply wouldn’t know unless you had a website Visitor Intelligence tool.

In general the typical B2B website only captures 2-3% of website visitors with tools like contact forms and email opt-ins, but because a website intelligence tool shows who visited you can easily see 40% of all visitors no matter what action they took on your site. That’s a substantial increase in web leads.

The following list contains 5 things you should know about website visitor intelligence tools:

1: Google Analytics is not great for B2B lead generation.  Aside from the fact they use Tracking Cookies …they do NOT provide the Company Names of your website visitors.  They also do NOT provide any type of lead scoring.  But the biggest issue with GA is they do NOT filter out bot, crawler and other server clicks.  There are times when there are clicks that are not done by humans.  MergedAnalytics filters that useless information out of our reporting.

2: Website Visitor intelligence is a great source for B2B leads.  You can really get a feel for what the visitor is interested in by their click behavior and knowing how much time was spent on specific page(s) on your website and how many times they return to your website. They also DO provide the Company Names of the visitors.

3: Trackable Short URLs – This is a major key to website visitor intelligence.  MergedAnalytics is the only tool I know of that includes Short URLs in the basic Website Visitor intelligence offering.  Knowing which site referred your visitors ie. Facebook, LinkedIn Twitter and then being able to see that visitor’s entire journey from that initial click to other pages on your website… can provide the intelligence need to really understand that visitor’s interest.

4: Better Support for Existing Customers–   In many cases your best prospects are your existing customers. Knowing the specific interests/needs of your customers based on the content they navigate to on your website…will increase all facets of the level of support your organization provides them ultimately resulting in new sales.

5: Warm Leads – we all hear that cold calling is dead.   Although that may be true depending on what you are selling…the WARM LEAD is very much alive.  If you know that a company has visited your website various times and is spending time on the same pages and content…you know there is interest and more importantly what that interest is.  Calling into a company and knowing they have a specific need/interest in your company warms up a frigid cold call.

www.MergedAnalytics.com