After being named in 2019 to the Inc. 5000 list for the sixth time, Futuri Media wanted to up its marketing game and project a stronger brand and professional image. The company sends out millions of emails each year to prospects and customers. Futuri did not have a system to standardize and easily update email signature creative assets companywide. “We had people going rogue and putting their own elements in signatures,” says Zena Burns, SVP, Strategic Marketing at Futuri. Without a management platform, marketing could not leverage the email signature channel as a free messaging and media channel. “We send large volumes of emails to partners and prospects. We wanted to subtly and organically share key messages and campaigns in an effective way,” says Burns.

Aside from signatures and marketing, Burns wanted to provide her sales team with granular insights into who was opening emails, reading sales attachments and watching linked videos, and when this was happening. Futuri’s typical sales process is complex with multiple people on the prospect account involved. Says Burns, “Sales needed to understand when a prospect was engaged with our emails and the content we sent them because that’s the best signal for knowing when to follow up, and with whom.

Burns researched email signature solutions and found Opensense.

Opensense offered centralized signature management and creative brand control. Burns also liked the ability to use the platform to manage email signature banner campaigns; this would solve the need for subtle, organic promotion and buzz creation. For sales, Opensense was the only product that tracks the who opens multi-recipient emails, and when - on any platform. Futuri had employees on both Gmail and Outlook so a signature solution would need to transparently support both types of email.

Futuri worked with Opensense to quickly onboard and apply proper brand assets to every outbound email. Customers and employees both noticed the more polished look. Burns also deployed Opensense email signature banners, launching campaigns to highlight Futuri wins and initiatives. To target banners, Burns grouped by department including HR, sales and marketing.

For Futuri, the signatures and banners created a valuable new media channel. Says Burns, “These are communications we send anyway - not paid inventory. The audience is more precisely targeted. For sales, Opensense generated real value by triggering real-time engagement alerts. This helped Futuri close deals faster. “Getting an email alerts when a stalled account is reading a PDF, watching a video or opening an email helps our sales teams know when to reengage,” says Burns. “Opensense has opened our eyes and given us new ways to sell and market.