Automating Leads to Sales

BOSTON, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- April 5, 2007 -- A recent survey conducted by Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS) determined that over two-thirds of companies that have implemented a marketing solution within the last two years have seen a 10 percent improvement in the lead-to-sales conversion rate. Companies that have implemented marketing automation solutions are seeing improvements in key performance indicators.

Marketing departments are looking at marketing automation solutions as a means to improve the return-on-investment (ROI) of marketing campaigns. Currently 53 percent of companies are using Marketing Automation solutions for lead management, with 83 percent planning on implementing a marketing automation solution within the next 24 months. As accountability for marketing departments continues to increase and the pressure to demonstrate a positive ROI on campaigns mounts, these solutions provide the automation and analytics marketers need. Marketers have realized the impact of these solutions and over one-third of survey respondents are increasing their budget for marketing automation solutions by more than 10 percent.

"In order for companies to drive a larger number of high quality leads through the pipeline, lead management solutions must be used not only to filter out the high quality leads, but also nurture those leads that currently cannot be acted upon," says Alan Hubbard Senior Vice President of the Sales and Marketing practice, Aberdeen. Forty-three percent of respondents indicated that lead scoring and lead prioritization is one of the strategic actions they are considering when implementing a marketing automation solution for lead management. Additionally, 51 percent plan on using the workflow automation features of marketing automation solutions. Automation and quality are critical to the end-user.

The research, underwritten by Aprimo, Eloqua, Entellium, FrontRange and Market2Lead provides readers with those factors, which contribute to the success of automated lead management solutions. It also provides the results that companies have seen across key metrics, after implementing a marketing automation solution for lead management, and compares these companies against those who have not persued a similar strategy. To download a complimentary copy of this report please visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=3956

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to AberdeenTM for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Alan Hubbard Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5301 Alan.hubbard@aberdeen.com