Recently, I wrote an article about why automating within desktop publishing environments can be a bad idea. When I talk about desktop publishing environments, I’m referring to programs like InDesign, PowerPoint, or Quark for content automation. If you’re looking for a way to effectively scale your literature production, you simply must say goodbye to your desktop defaults. And, I’ll tell you why.

This topic is front-of-mind for me today, following a meeting with a prospective client last week.  This client described their frustration with their current automation solution. They told me a story about how their automation provider is currently supporting their suite of about 50 documents using about 50 InDesign templates.  Even the client recognizes that this is a problem and knows that if the templates were being shared properly as shared entities then there should be, at most, eight of them for this catalog of documents. Fewer templates allow changes to be made centrally, without needing to apply a change 50 different times.

I smiled in sympathy as they told me about this problem. This is precisely the issue with automation solutions that are based on desktop publishing applications.  This client articulated the issue even more simply and perfectly than I have in my past musings on the topic.

If a Microsoft or Adobe desktop publishing application is being used as the foundation of the automation solution, that system is then dependent on that desktop publishing tool, as well as the people who use the tool.  It’s easy to overlook or dismiss this reality. People really love these programs, and understandably so. They are familiar, intuitive and your collateral is probably already designed in one of these formats. But, the hard truth is that almost always leads to bad long-term results in a commercial document production environment. This is due to what we call the “Save As Phenomenon”.Read More

You probably see the term “account-based marketing” (ABM) pretty frequently of late. The hype has grown over the past 12 months, with hundreds of articles, blogs, webinars, podcasts, videos and events devoted to the topic. At least a few dozen new vendors have sprung up with solutions focused on ABM, adding to the noise.

Even with all that noise, most organizations are unclear about whether and how to implement these strategies. So this post will give you a high-level sense of what ABM is all about, give you concrete criteria on whether you should consider it for your organization, help you decide what type of ABM would be appropriate, and give you a couple of practical steps to get started.

By Candyce Edelen

This post originally appeared on the Propel Growth blog.

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By John Toepfer, CEO and Co-Founder

Synthesis named to this year’s Inc 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America.

A couple weeks ago, it was announced that we made this year’s Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in America. It is a great feeling to see Synthesis Technology listed among the many successful companies across the U.S.

We experienced tremendous growth (98%) from 2011-2014, which qualified us for this elite award. It is very humbling to receive an honor like this and it is a testament to the hard work and dedication of not only our employees, but our clients as well. Day in and day out, we work together to make investment management companies more efficient and productive with their marketing efforts, while minimizing their business risks.

Over the past few days, I took some time to reflect on how we got here. What key factors lead to high-growth? How does being a privately-held organization impact growth? How can we sustain our growth as we look to the future? I wanted to share some of my thoughts and lessons learned as well as thank those that have helped us along the way.Read More

By Emilie Totten

While many financial services firms were reluctant to use social media in the past, more companies are realizing that embracing social is the first step to increasing brand trust and loyalty. While the regulatory environment was previously prohibitive, the doors are opening for asset managers to get on social networks.

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