Click here to read Online Strategies magazine’s September issue!
Archive for the ‘Web Analytics’ Category
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.
ERA’s 2009 D2C Convention Education Tracks
Friday, July 31st, 2009Here’s a sneak peek at what attendees can expect from the education lineup at ERA’s upcoming D2C Convention September 13-15, in Las Vegas.Â
Track One: Direct Response Success
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Track Two: Digital Marketing IntelligenceÂ
Mobile Rules of the Road for E-Retailers
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Mobile devices like the iPhone and G1 are letting consumers take advantage of the growing number of high-speed networks, an opportunity that e-commerce retailers are recognizing as users are increasingly using websites for shopping from mobile devices. Some people are even using their mobile devices as their primary online browser.
Any retailer looking to the growing mobile audience for new revenue should deliver shopping sites that are mobile friendly. This means paring back content – or re-organizing it – so that users can access relevant items more easily.
While wireless devices have come a long way, their screen size limits what can be displayed and still be read by the average user. Features such as panning and zooming can only compensate so much for the smaller real estate available on handhelds.
Most websites are still using cascading stylesheets (CSS) optimized for personal computers. Designing and embedding CSS specifically for mobile users will help ensure that the user experience on handheld devices is high quality. The CSS Mobile Profile 2.0 developed by the W3C (the standard-setting World Wide Web Consortium) is now available, giving retailers a widely supported standard to follow.
Other common shopping features, such as large tables of product images and Flash animation, also need to be rethought. Just a decade ago, many websites were built successfully without these features. As screen resolutions and bandwidth grew, these were added to create richer online experiences. Handheld devices may not support all of these technologies, so the emphasis should be placed on simplicity, clarity and speed. And make sure that commonly accessed features, such as viewing the shopping cart are readily reachable.
While the technical aspects of mobile are important to consider, retailers must also focus on marketing fundamentals, such as understanding the needs of this changing audience. Research and analysis on what users want and how they want to interact with your site are critical. One quick tip: use the mobile device itself to gather research information, rather than relying solely on traditional research channels.
Retailers that can use messaging, web content, e-mail, and social networking in an integrated fashion, centered on the handheld device, let users engage with their brands. A basic practice: rather than just asking for e-mail addresses on your sites, permit users to give you addresses for text messages as well, and let them know about special mobile content.
One last piece of advice: do not let mobile marketing become a new outlet for spam. Mobile devices give unprecedented access to retail customers; respecting your customers’ time will lead to longer, two-way relationships.
David King is CEO of Fulcrum, a leader in advanced analytics, technology and multichannel program solutions for marketing.
Optimizing Video for Search
Thursday, July 9th, 2009
Using video on your website is a powerful way to reach you audience. A well-crafted video with a catchy title can quickly go viral and is an excellent way to bring links to your site. In turn, links will help give your site search engine authority and ultimately higher search rankings.
The problem with video is that you can have great content full of all the keywords you are targeting, but search engines are going to have no idea what that content is. Here are some tips to help optimize your video content:
• Transcribe your video. Transcribing your video is a great way to let the search engines know what your video content is. There are many affordable transcribing services that will do this for you.
• Keep it short and sweet. Internet users have a short attention span. Keep your videos under six minutes. If you have a longer video that you can’t edit down to a reasonable time, consider breaking the video into chapters.
• Use catchy titles. Using a catchy title will give you much higher click through rates on your videos. Even if your subject is dry, be creative in how you title your video.
• Understand 3rd Party Hosting. Posting your video on video sharing websites like YouTube, Meta Cafe and Vimeo is a great way to increase your video views, but understand that these sites will have very high authority and will likely out rank your site. If the video becomes popular, the links will point to the hosting site instead of your website. One way to combat this is optimizing the on page factors on your site using the desired keywords. If you decide to post the video on a sharing site, change the titles and tags as not to compete with your site. Also, be sure to include a watermark of your website name as part of the video being posted on hosting sites.
• Offer the option to embed your code. Offering the code so visitors can post the video on their blog or website will help to make your video viral. Be sure to require a link back to your site for people who use the code.
• Use a good thumbnail image. Using a compelling thumbnail will greatly increase the chances of your video being viewed.
Dean Wicklund is Tower Media’s digital media manager.
Internet TV: All You Want – For a Price
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009
Time Warner is planning to end access to free content online by making consumers of Internet TV prove they’ve already paid for it.
As the largest owner of cable networks, which include TNT, Cartoon Network, CNN and HBO, Time Warner has been closely watching broadcasters ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX work through the process of distributing TV online. Bewkes, Time Warner CEO, is planning to provide cable programming on the web in places like Hulu, MySpace, Yahoo TV and even YouTube.
The catch: To view the content for free, you have to be able to prove that you subscribe to pay TV through cable, satellite or Telco.
Free access for those already paying for service. Beweks told Advertising Age, “If you want to watch your favorite TV network or shows through broadband on any device – PCs or mobile – you can do it as long you subscribe to any multi-channel provider.” He goes on to say, “It’s a natural extension of the existing model.”
What’s the benefit? Some media experts are skeptical of Beweks’ plans, but there are also many who feel like a change is in order. After all, a year ago most doubted Hulu would be found appealing to online users. Some fear online programming distribution could soon replace cable TV and destroy the industry.
Time Warner’s cable CEO Glen Britt sees the phenomenon of viewers dropping cable for free content online as a significant growing problem.
What do you think?
Peter Koeppel is a Wharton MBA and president of Koeppel Direct, a full-service media buying agency based in Dallas.
