Electronic Retailer’s January 2010 issue featuring Jeff Taylor (founder of Monster.com and CEO of Eons.com) is now available online. For more information on Jeff’s upcoming keynote address at the ERA Great Ideas Summit, click here.
Archive for the ‘e-commerce’ Category
January 2010 Issue Now Available Online!
Friday, January 15th, 2010
Search Advertising: A Look Back at 2009…And How to Prepare for 2010
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009It’s that time of year again when we start to see industry pundits and influencers thoughtfully reflect on the year in review. Overall, 2009 has been a tough and tumultuous year for the economy, and digital advertising, as a whole, has not been immune to that. A look back at the year in search, however, tells a slightly more promising story.
While some things continue to remain the same in search advertising—for example, the market dominance of Google, Microsoft and Yahoo—there were some major market shifts, which are going to impact the year ahead. From the introduction of Bing to the major search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo!, one thing is for certain: as we head in to 2010, these dynamic industry events have search marketers and advertisers on their toes.
There has been news to write home about, too. Just this past month, both Efficient Frontier and SearchIgnite issued reports based on search advertising industry data from the third quarter of 2009. Both reports indicate paid search spend was up during that time period, compared to Q2.
This latest industry data comes on the heels of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) release of the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report for the first half of 2009, which indicates that search revenues were up slightly from that same period in 2008, amounting to more than $5.1 billion for the first six months of 2009.
While all of this recent market data certainly alludes to an underlying sense of cautious optimism, given the ups and downs of the past year, it’s certainly understandable that many search marketers are still hesitant, and unsure of how to move forward in 2010. Our tip? Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. One important thing advertisers can do right now is to diversify their efforts by complementing campaigns on major search sites like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, with alternate sources of traffic with less-competitive CPCs.
What’s the bottom line for 2010? Innovate, diversify, and think outside the de facto search standards. Your ROI will thank you for it.
Gill Brown is vice president of advertising network sales for LookSmart.
ERA’s Tomi Turner on the FTC’s Revised Guides
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission released its revised Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. The Guides are more than 80 pages long, so we’re still analyzing the changes. However, there is no question that our extensive advocacy efforts have had an effect on the final iteration of the Guides. The commentary included with the changes explains that advertisements using consumer testimonials should be evaluated by the net impression of the advertisement. A footnote in the revised Guides also suggests that in some cases a disclaimer could be sufficient. A more comprehensive legal document will be circulated shortly, but it is clear from a preliminary review that our efforts have not been made in vain. The 35 advocacy meetings on the Hill, 40 constituent meetings at the Fly-In, the testimony before the Senate, two sets of detailed comments and our suggested language were all helpful in presenting our case to the FTC.
However, the new Guides certainly do present some challenges, both to traditional TV marketers and those in social media. ERA is already planning educational opportunities that will provide suggestions for compliance with these changes. We hope the FTC will seize the opportunity to improve the marketplace by presenting to these changes to ERA members at one of our conferences.
Members who attended the Fly-In, supported the Leadership Reception, participated in the Government Affairs Committee, helped to author and review our comments to the FTC, and of course, testified before the Senate, were all instrumental in mitigating some of the more harmful changes. We thank you.
Tomi Turner is ERA’s legislative manager.
To read ERA’s official statement, click here.
To read more about ERA’s government affairs efforts and what you can do to help, click here.
To read Electronic Retailer magazine’s June cover story on Endorsements & Testimonials, click here.
Net Neutrality Gains Momentum
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
It has been an exciting week in the world of net neutrality. This week, Julius Genachowski, the Chairman of the FCC, announced the Commission’s intention to enter into a formal rulemaking process to codify the four principles of net neutrality currently in use and to add two more principles. The additional principles include a statement that consumers must be able to access the lawful content of their choice, subject to reasonable network management. Essentially, ISPs cannot block traffic to say, NBC Video, just because they have a partnership with Hulu. However, they still may prioritize all video content over all file sharing in order to manage the use of the network. In addition, networks must be transparent about what they are doing to manage traffic. This would give small business and direct response marketers more information about how consumers are experiencing online offerings like video advertising. Specifically, if you are providing an application for wireless devices or making videos available on sites like YouTube, you will know if some of the network providers are slowing certain services during peak hours. You will then be able to adjust your content delivery accordingly.
This plan still faces major hurdles. Although President Obama and several influential members of Congress have come out with statements supporting the open Internet, it is early in the process and various obstacles remain. Several influential Senate Republicans have sponsored an amendment that would prevent the FCC from using its funding to create rules on net neutrality or to take enforcement actions relating to net neutrality. There is also major opposition from wireless service providers who are concerned that they will have to allow any device on to their network by ending exclusive deals that only allow some phones to connect to any given network.
For more information on ERA’s government affairs efforts, click here.
Tomi Turner is ERA’s legislative manager.
Online Strategies September Issue Now Available!
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
Click here to read Online Strategies magazine’s September issue!
Three Easy Pieces to Achieve Greater Customer Satisfaction
Friday, September 11th, 2009
In the first half of this year, I talked about retailers revamping their marketing mix in the wake of the 2008 holiday season. Now as we approach another holiday season, online retailers have the benefit of knowing more about how their customers react and respond in tough economic times. Now is the time to harness that awareness and strengthen your bonds with customers. Whether you are a marketer, or business owner who wears the marketer hat, you can introduce some new ways to deepen the customer connection.
Expand beyond the walls of your website: September signals a flurry of activity running the gamut from back-to-school functions to various business networking forums. So take this approach and apply it to the online world. For example, many retailers are developing portable widgets that link to their content and services and finding other “outposts” across the web to place the widgets. In addition, the concept of an app store, such as the Conduit Marketplace, is one venue that allows businesses such as eMusic, Cartoon Doll Emporium and Pretentious Pooch to distribute their content and services beyond the walls of their websites. Customer acquisition and overall satisfaction get a boost with this expanded online presence, as more and more customers laud the efforts of retailers who develop convenient applications to meet their needs.
Make information easy to access: Time and again, one popular method retailers use to try to keep consumers satisfied is discounts. Once you understand your customers’ needs and the factors driving their decisions, you need to alert them to the promotion without spending so much time and money doing so that it drains your coffers. Savvy online shoppers know to search for coupons and promotions on sites such as RetailMeNot and A Thrifty Mom. As a matter of fact, these sites have even created customized applications on which shoppers can receive updates via their browser. These sites go the extra mile to be on the same page as consumers by not only lending a virtual helping hand with coupons and discount codes, but also providing a simple conduit to the information their users covet.
Provide convenient forums for feedback and questions: Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter offer another means to gather feedback and answer questions about your company and products. Don’t be shy about utilizing these avenues, but you must plan to be diligent about updating and responding so that negative comments don’t go unanswered. If you decide to create a business Twitter persona, or already have one, decide whether the primary function will be to serve as help desk or a personality that provides color and commentary within your industry. Then make sure that you have a consistent voice as you disseminate messages and responses. Make sure you aggregate all of your social networking tools on your website and create a conduit to customers with a branded community toolbar. Pretentious Pooch, an upscale pet supply store based in Baltimore, is a great example of a small retailer that has been able to deploy social media, content, and e-commerce in a single location to drive loyalty and sales.
Adam Boyden is president of Conduit.
September ‘09 Issue Now Available Online!
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
Electronic Retailer’s September ‘09 issue featuring Montel Williams is now available online! For more information about Motel’s upcoming keynote presentation at the ERA D2C Convention on Monday, Sept. 14, click here.
Online Strategies August Issue Now Available!
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Click here to read Online Strategies magazine’s August issue!
YouTube: Your New Partner in Sales?
Friday, August 28th, 2009
When utilized correctly, YouTube is quite the sales force to be reckoned with. On a recent conference call with ERA’s Internet & Emerging Media Council, certain members discussed how some direct response products have found success simply from videos being uploaded to YouTube.
Creative YouTube videos are a great way to drive incremental sales, if even on accident. If you’re Chris Brown, a singer recently convicted for felony assault against ex-girlfriend Rihanna, how do you get a year-old single onto the top 10 most purchased songs on iTunes? Oh, by being an integral part of a wild fire-spread YouTube video. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen this “Forever” wedding video.
While perusing iTunes when this video hit viral fame a few weeks back, I noticed that Chris Brown’s “Forever” was listed in the top 10 purchased singles. A web hit featuring one of his songs couldn’t have come at a better time for this artist whose image is tarnished in the press. I too, drank the Kool-Aid. I watched the video and loved it, logged onto iTunes and purchased.
Consequently, aside from user-generated content, YouTube also plays host to professional content, sometimes to the chagrin of the content creators. Monty Python’s producers found their content all over the web illegally, however they decided to be proactive and take control of their content in these channels, which turned out to be a very good idea. According to a recent release:
The Pythons created a YouTube channel in November 2008 just to stop their content from being released illegally on the Internet. “We felt the time had come to deal with the ‘YouTube problem.’ On the one hand, we were surprised at the number of clips that had been uploaded to YouTube in clear infringement of our copyright, and while we didn’t want to be spoilsports, it was getting pretty much out of control and we could see no real benefit. So I arranged a trip to meet the YouTube guys on the Google campus in San Jose and discovered that they had a program that would enable us to have our own Monty Python channel on YouTube where we could put up clips from the movies and TV shows of far greater quality and order that might also encourage viewers to want to see whole movies or TV episodes via links to Amazon and iTunes and expand our Monty Python fan base,” says Monty Python producer John Goldstone.
When Goldstone launched Monty Python’s Channel on November 14, 2008, he took advantage of YouTube’s click-to-buy program. The Python’s DVDs quickly climbed to No. 2 on Amazon’s Movies & TV bestsellers list and DVD sales increased 23,000 percent. “The click-to-buy ability was exactly what we were looking for to make the link from video to the right Amazon page much more effective than the URL by the side of the video description. We are only now beginning to address premium advertising, which is only possible when you can show the size, composition, and consistency of your viewers,” he says.
I guess the moral of the story would be that while YouTube may be struggling to support itself with a successful advertising platform, it currently sits as a lucrative marketing channel for the opportunistic, inventive marketer.
Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia editor.
Enticing Shoppers to Buy More - 8 AOV Boosting Tips
Friday, August 28th, 2009
In this world where “flat is the new up,” it is critical to make each visit of every shopper count. With fewer shoppers coming to your site, you have to be instantly engaging, catering to your shopper, making your site a destination. And, you have to get your shoppers to put as much as possible into their cart and then actually check out.
The question is - how can you take the flat or even decreased traffic and turn it into profit? Here are eight tips to help you entice your shoppers to buy more.
1. Shipping Offers - Lets start with getting people to your site. Shipping is something that shoppers are always concerned with. Free shipping, if you can afford it, always moves people to buy more. If your model does not support free, shoppers are also happy with flat fee shipping or even shipping with a minimum purchase (they will buy just one more product to qualify).
2. Incentives and Bundles - So, you got them to your site with a shipping offer, next, motivate them to buy more with incentives. Who doesn’t like getting a gift with a purchase or a special bundle of products for an extra discount? The shopper feels like they’re getting a bargain while you get to move more products.
3. Rebates - If you can’t offer discounts, another tactic to entice shoppers is to offer rebates. People get wide-eyed about rebates and will buy more to get them. Even if they do not actually redeem the rebate, they will be more loyal to your site for the service.
4. Personalized Product Recommendations - Next, lets turn to the customer experience. Today’s savvy shopper expects merchants to know them. Serving personalized product recommendations helps customers find what they’re looking for (and sometimes things they did not even know they wanted). The product detail page is the most logical location, but place recommendations throughout your site and most importantly in the shopping cart - it is a good place to put those impulse purchases - just like candy at the store check out.
5. Video - Another way to enhance the customer experience is to tantalize and engage your shopper with video. This medium can be used to demonstrate how a product works, show how apparel fits, or even do a virtual wine tasting. Video can answer questions shoppers have so that they buy even more than expected.
6. Ratings and Reviews - Lets face it, shoppers are social creatures, and love to talk and get advice from one another. Rating and reviews helps people get feedback from each other. Some shoppers can’t resist the temptation; they have to buy top rated items and will fill their cart.
7. Customer Service - Speaking of people talking , another thing that really helps is something just so simple - offer stellar customer service, and you will not believe how far that will get you. People talk and when they have a great experience, they will tell everyone they know. I do all the time!
8. Alternative Payment Methods - Okay, you have used tips 1-7 on your site and the shopper has stuffed their cart - this is when you are at risk for the dreaded cart abandonment. There are many things you should do to motivate your shoppers to click submit, maybe that is for a dedicated article. Suffice it to say, make it easy to check out. Alternative payment methods make it easier for anyone to check out - so make sure you offer them.
The bottom line is that you need to employ many different tactics to boost your average order value; it is the only way to take flat traffic and turn it up!
Lisa Joy Rosner is MyBuys‘ vice president of marketing.
All Aboard! Your Upcoming ERA Travel Itinerary
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
In addition to its upcoming D2C Convention in Las Vegas Sept. 13-15, ERA has also announced an October 19th networking reception in San Diego!
Before booking your travel to Las Vegas or San Diego, you may first want to get a few tips from “Saturday Night Live” travel expert Judy Grimes.
Did you miss out on the recent networking receptions in NYC and L.A.? Click here to view pictures from various events at Electronic Retailer’s Buzz page!
Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia Editor.
Bing One and Bing Two: Double Takes on Microsoft’s New Search Engine
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Microsoft’s new search engine has garnered a lot of media attention as it seeks to directly compete with Google, especially in a time when it seems no one in their right mind seeks to compete with Google.
The giant of the search-engine industry has its fingers in every possible pie, and it’s very rare that it doesn’t come out ahead. So what are Bing’s advantages and disadvantages?
Here’s two ways of gauging its chances of survival:
1. The Product Advantage
Bing is supposed to yield more relevant search results, which may actually sway consumers over to its side. The advantage to advertisers in that relevance is more precise, target marketing, which could change their game plan as well - if, that is, Bing’s searching is in fact superior to Google’s.
The content-driven approach helps sell that relevancy claim, as the system also adds consumer comments and reviews on the search results, e.g. getting customer reviews on a restaurant from services like Yelp.com.
2. The Marketing Advantage
Google has rarely spent money on advertising its own products. Consumers are ready to jump on just about anything that Google puts out, which means that the usual big spenders in a marketing budget are moot - television ads, for example. Microsoft’s Bing may have an advantage here, as the company seems to be willing to pour a near-endless stream of funds into promoting its new product.
It’s not a bad strategy, especially since nothing short of full media saturation is likely to sway loyal Google enthusiasts. Since they have no competition in many of their outlets, it might just give Bing a chance to play with the big boy.
Peter Koeppel is a Wharton MBA and president of Koeppel Direct, a full-service media buying agency based in Dallas.
Net Neutrality Bill Introduced in the House
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
Late last week Representatives Markey (D-MA) and Eshoo (D-CA) introduced a bill that would keep the Internet open by preventing Internet service providers (ISPs) from imposing “a charge on any Internet content, service, or application provider to enable any lawful Internet content, application, or service to be offered, provided, or used. In other words, they cannot charge you (as a content provider) more than the cost of service for your lawful content and any lawful applications you make available.
The bill also prevents ISPs from providing or selling any content, application, or service provider any offering that prioritizes traffic over that of other such providers. This addresses concerns that ISPs will sell premium access to some companies, which would have the end result of degrading everyone’s content. This is important to any company that is using video online, but is not interested in paying more than they currently do to ensure the quality of the video is not reduced. It’s not easy to be moved by advertising when the video is pixilated or freezes every three seconds.
Similar bills were introduced in the last two Congresses. However, the larger Democratic majority and President Obama’s stated priority of keeping the Internet open may mean there will be some movement on this bill. However, the House will be in a District Work Period (aka recess) until after Labor Day.
In the meantime, you can watch this video.
For more information on ERA’s government affairs efforts, click here.
Tomi Turner is ERA’s legislative manager.
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