DMS ’11: Infogroup’s Clare Hart Shares Vision for SMBs

DMS '11

Infogroup’s president/CEO, Clare Hart, was the kick-off headliner at DMS ’11 and shared her vision of the SMB space as it relates to the rapid transformation in small businesses’ use of new tools and features in online commerce.

Hart argues that SMBs are leveraging technology to save time and do more, faster. Based on Infogroup research, it is clear that SMBs are dominated by tech-savvy millenials who use technology to run and market their businesses.

According to the Infogroup Small Business Marketing Outlook Survey:

  • Business climate: 10.7% of SMBs say the climate is “good” and 23.8% say it is “fair.”
  • 39.6% of SMBs think business will improve next 12 months.
  • More than 75% say their marketing budget is either the same as last year (51.0%) or larger (27.2%).

Hart went on to describe a new Infogroup product that will be launched in Q4, “Outlead.” This product is premised on the fact that SMBs want leads not lists. The business values 5,000 leads much more than a list of 50,000. By using a self-service format, SMBs can find the right customers fast using an online form with a “fill-in the blank” interface. Proprietary algorithms run behind the fill-in form to search the 220 million consumers and 20 million businesses InfoGroup tracks in the U.S. to pull out lead lists.

Hart closed by responding to a question about InfoGroup’s focus, indicating that it will remain the U.S. for the near term after exiting the U.K. She sees a lot of opportunity yet to realize.

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Rick Ducey

Rick Ducey is the managing director for BIA/Kelsey. He is an expert in digital media innovations, competitive strategies, new product development and new business models, including digital ecosystem collaboration strategies. Ducey oversees the firm's consulting, research and advisory services areas. He is also the program director for BIA/Kelsey's Video Local Media advisory service. This program provides coverage and analysis of how online, mobile and broadcast video technologies, competition, shifting consumer demographics and media usage trends are driving changes in the media ecosystem and SMBs and other advertisers can be successful in the new environment. Ducey assists clients with their business planning and revenue models, strategic research, market assessment, and designing and implementing digital strategies. He is also a cofounder of SpectraRep, one of BIA�s companies, which sells a patent-pending IP-based alerting system that he co-invented. Prior to joining BIA in 2000, Ducey was senior vice president of NAB's Research and Information Group. In this position, he was in charge of the association�s new technology assessment, audience and policy research, strategic planning and information systems, including all Internet operations, and he also developed publications and seminars. Before joining NAB in 1983, Ducey was a faculty member in the Department of Telecommunication at Michigan State University where he taught and did research in the areas of emerging telecommunication technologies and strategic market research. He also served on the graduate management faculties of George Mason University and George Washington University in telecommunications management and the University of Maryland, where he taught strategic market management and research methodologies. Ducey was selected as the Spring 2011 Shapiro Fellow at George Washington University where he teaches entrepreneurship in new media. He has published a number of research articles and papers in these areas and serves on editorial boards of leading scholarly journals in the communications field. He has also worked at radio stations WSOQ-AM/WEZG-FM and Upstate Cablevision in North Syracuse, New York. Ducey received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University, M.S. from Syracuse University and B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

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