MailPacks Email Marketing Service Launches Private Beta

MailPacksMailPacks, a new online service that enables companies and organizations to manage and send their email marketing campaigns, has just gone live with its private beta.

MailPacks promises low prices for sending email campaigns and a free tracking and follow-up system to measure the effectiveness of sent campaigns and set up follow up messages.

Using the service, email marketers can create and manage unlimited lists of email addresses, for example having lists for multiple tasks and/or lists for different sites.
When sending they can also choose to send to selected segments and target specific subscribers according to their countries, age, and/or sex.

They also have full control over the design side, as they can fully customize all landing pages with their text and design, and use an integrated HTML editor to create and design their HTML email messages as well as their custom pages. (MailPacks provides unlimited image hosting space.)
A set of pre-designed and tested templates are also made available.

Once done with the design of the message, the spam score for it can be checked, so that the message can be optimized in order to get higher deliverability.

After the email campaign is sent, marketers can keep track of the campaign’s results (opens, clicks, bounces …etc.), and set up unlimited follow up messages at the intervals of their choice.

To be sent an invitation code for MailPacks, you need to send a message to the MailPacks twitter account (@MailPacks) with a small request.

MailPacks was founded by Mamod Mehyar from Jordan, who is also behind Feedoor, that was previously reviewed here.

Cyber Gear Launches DIYads For Self Serve Advertising

diyadsonline.com

Cyber Gear, a UAE based web design and online marketing firm, has just launched DIYadsonline.com, a new “do it yourself” online ad creation, placement and performance analysis service for the Middle East.

The service is targeted at advertisers who are on a budget, and need to cheaply put together an online display ad, and get it out there as quickly and easily as possible. At DIYadsonline.com prices start at US$ 99/month for up to 5,000 banner impressions.

Currently, online campaigns created through the service can be run on DubaiCityGuide.com, another service by Cyber Gear, with the company aiming to add new sites to the DIYads publishers network in the coming weeks.

Sharad Agarwal, CEO of Cyber Gear, said in the company’s press release that “Self serve display ads are the ‘killer app’ of Web advertising. We have developed a proprietary real time ad customization tool and intuitive web-based interface that deploys XML Feed to create more engaging display ads using Flash technology. The new tool will enable advertisers select from a number of ad targeting factors such as geographic, demographic and various user interest categories.” 

diyadsonline.com

The new service comes at a time when many companies are cutting down their advertising budgets, and many people are expecting a bigger push towards online advertising; so it should be interesting to see how well it does.

I wouldn’t expect the system to create some really awesome or ultra creative banner ads, but it still could be enough for someone making an entrance to online advertising, with a limited budget, and wanting to test the waters.

Middle East Businesses Missing Out On Online Marketing Power

Yousef TuqanMiddle East businesses could be taking far greater advantage of the marketing power of the Internet.

That was the message presented by Flip Media CEO, Yousef Tuqan, as he discussed the best ways for Qatar companies to build their web presence at this week’s QSTP TECHtalk.

Tuqan said: ‘Online advertising has been growing at more than 50% a year since 2004. Despite this frenetic increase the total last year came to just $35m, or less than 1% of what Middle East companies spend offline.’

On the plus side, he said, this low demand translates to low prices for online ads, an opportunity that Qatar companies can take advantage of. For example a life-insurance company in the US might pay $30 or more if someone clicks on their advertisement. In the Middle East, a company in the same industry may only have to pay a dollar or two.

Tuqan was presenting at a TECHtalk seminar hosted by Qatar Science & Technology Park. The bi-monthly seminars focus on the intersection between technology and business, and are open to the public.

Joining Tuqan in a panel discussion were ictQatar QCERT Center Director & Manager, Khalid Sadiq Al-Hashmi and Fuego General Manager, Karl Gretton. They agreed that although Qatar has one of the highest rates of Internet usage in the region, with 26% of the population now online, local businesses are not yet making the most of the web.

Tuqan said: ‘The most effective regional online advertising strategies take advantage of the latest technologies in relation to making users active participants instead of passive viewers, but within the social and cultural contexts of the region.’

He gave a case study of a Dubai property developer who set up a website where people could make good wishes for Ramadan. It attracted almost 40,000 participants in less than one month.

Yousef’s PowerPoint presentation is available here (PDF).

Experts Discuss Regions Growth Potential For Internet Marketing Strategies

Dubai Media CityThe latest advances in measuring and optimizing online marketing and the advantages of implementing such strategies in a competitive marketplace were discussed at a seminar on Search Engine Marketing hosted by Dubai Media City, a member of TECOM Investments.

The two-hour interactive workshop was organised in association with WSI Internet Consulting, a leading provider of internet solutions to businesses worldwide. The event witnessed the participation of 95 regional marketing professionals, representing advertising and PR agencies, media buyers and other professional organizations, keen to optimize the online presence of their companies and clients.

Mohamed Almulla, Executive Director, Dubai Media City, said: “The seminar is in line with our objective to offer a suitable platform for corporate leaders based in the UAE and the wider GCC market to benefit from latest technological trends. We are confident this event will further reinforce Dubai Media City’s mission of launching initiatives that are geared towards nurturing the region’s knowledge economy.”

Husam Jandal, Internet Business Consultant, WSI Internet Consulting, said: “With the highest growth rate of Internet users in the world, the Middle East represents a vast opportunity for the business community to promote their products and services online.

“With more than 90 per cent of all traffic generated on the Internet coming from search engines, it is important for the local business community to identify various ways of utilizing these Internet tools to achieve the desired visibility for their businesses.”

He added a majority of the regional companies are yet to realize the immense benefits that could accrue through the use of the Internet, which can be tapped for generating fruitful business leads and for building brand recognition.

He added: “There is a huge gap between demand for information and the supply of relevant content in the business arena. There are people who are desperately looking for certain products and services but unable to find relevant links because business offerings are not available online, or at least not visible on search engines. As an essential marketing tool for businesses, search engine marketing has become one of the world’s most preferred marketing strategies due to its flexibility, accessibility, accuracy, and cost effectiveness.”

Focusing on the details of regional internet usage, experts who led the seminar found Yahoo, Google and MSN as the most preferred search engines, a trend akin to the Western world. However, recently launched language specific search engines such as ‘Araby’ have become increasingly popular among Internet users in the Arab world, the seminar highlighted.

The workshop also underlined the findings of market studies that the Internet is the best vehicle for addressing the youth segment as a key target audience with more than 65 per cent preferring the Internet as their main source of information, according to a recent study by Maktoob Research, another regional internet market research company.