BtoB Online, an Internet magazine aimed at online marketing professionals, published a story today outlining a study that finds that “transactional e-mail” — standard, non-sales-oriented messages to customers like order confirmations and service-related messages — are an often overlooked opportunity to get your customers to expand their relationship with your business. (more…)
You know what SEO is, and you know what an affiliate program is (at least, you should!) … but do you know what the word choreography means, in eCommerce terms? How about orchestration? Do you know what a long tail is, and how it can help you perfect your marketing strategies?
Google has just announced exciting improvements in store for one of its signature offerings, Google AdSense, an ad revenue service that runs ads specially suited to a website’s target audience.
AdSense ads (which include text, image, and video) generate revenue on standard “per-click” or “per-impression” basis. But they also usually provide higher-than-normal revenue because they use Google’s trademark search engine technology to provide ads customized around specific data such as website content and geographical area. The end result is ads that are much more smoothly integrated into your site than traditional banner ads — meaning that website users will be less bothered by them and more inclined to click on them. Of course, keeping all your site’s content relevant to your visitors often amounts to increased traffic, in addition to greater ad revenue. In short, AdSense has proven to be an effective, and relatively easy, method of monetizing your website.
So, it’s exciting news that Google is now working on a plan to integrate AdSense into its trademark Web Analytics services. “By integrating your AdSense account with a new or existing Analytics account,” writes the company on its AdSense Blog page, “you’ll have access to in-depth reports about user activity on your site. In addition to … metrics already available in Analytics such as unique visitors and visitor language, you’ll now have access to granular reports that break down AdSense performance both by page and by referring site. Armed with this new data about user behavior, you’ll be able to make more informed decisions on how to improve the user experience on your site and optimize your AdSense units to increase your revenue potential.”
We wouldn’t be sharing this news if it didn’t represent a pretty big leap forward in making your website effective and profitable. Although this development is still in an early stage — in other words, not yet widely available — it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on. Remember, Aplus.net is proud to offer Google AdSense as part of our arsenal of high-powered online marketing tools. And with Google actively working on making huge improvements like this, there’s no better time than right now to start taking advantage of this unique revenue-generating resource.
Whether you’re a seasoned business owner on your second decade of selling or a newbie who’s just launched your first website, you’ve probably spend a fair amount of time trying to figure out how to catch the attention of busy consumers.
Ah, marketing. It’s both an essential component to any business and a phenomenal source of frustration. It’s easy to get caught up spending more and more of your budget on ways to find those elusive online shoppers; or, alternatively, spending too much time trying to figure out how to win over those customers without spending much money at all.
Making matters even more difficult is the constant blare of voices telling us that everything today must be online: Your advertising and PR dollars are wasted on traditional media, we’re told.
And while there’s no denying the essential truth behind that thought, we mustn’t forget that most marketing experts today will tell you that your money is best spend using a creative method of offline and online marketing. Online should be your focus, of course, but don’t forget that more traditional methods can offer powerful support to your online marketing efforts. The bottom line is that the idea of how to win customers should come first; how to implement those ideas, whether online or offline, should follow.
To this end, Entrepreneur.com’s “Marketing coach” (and successful author in her own right) Kim Gordon recently weighed in with her advice on how to do just that, in an article entitled “The Hottest Marketing Trends for 2008.”
From the article:
Here are four ways to increase sales and your advertising ROI by capitalizing on the hottest trends for 2008.
1. Engage the customer. The move toward alternative advertising versus some of the more traditional methods coincides with the emergence of technologies that enable a one-on-one dialogue with customers. For example, follow the trend of social media by posting your products on sites that encourage customer or peer reviews. Social media add an element of impartiality and are increasingly looked to as reliable sources of information.
2. Integrate your off-line and online campaigns. Look for ways to use off-line media to drive traffic to a website with specialized landing pages that tell a deeper story. Use print and TV ads to start the customer education process and direct potential buyers online to learn more and take the next steps in the purchase process. And direct an e-mail campaign to your current customer database to offset the cost of direct mail. Simply alternate e-mail and postal mail for a cost-effective one-two punch.
3. Move some off-line dollars online. Online advertising now offers a strong alternative to some traditional media, such as print yellow pages. Consider moving some of your traditional directory advertising dollars into online directories and search engines. The vast majority of Americans research their products online before making purchases, so a paid search campaign is an ideal way to make sure you turn up at the top of search results.
4. Follow your customer. Alternative out-of-home advertising opportunities let you place your message wherever your customers go. You can put your name and company logo on the umbrellas used by urban street vendors, or name hiking trails in wilderness areas. The key to using these new opportunities effectively is to place your message where it will appear in the proper context and reach your potential customers when they are in the right frame of mind.
This is basic advice on the surface, but within each point lies the seeds for determining just how marketing can best be applied to your company. For example, are you really placing your company name where customers can find it? Have you really thought about where your potential customers are? Are you trying to win over people who are already looking for what you’re offering? Just who are your customers — and where?
Hopefully the above tips will help get you started on the road to marketing success. Remember, Aplus.Net offers a wide array of marketing and eCommerce tools to back up whatever strategy you may decide upon.
Good luck!
(Click here to read the original article at Entrepreneur.com.)
Dan Greenfield, tech and new media blogger extraordinaire and proprietor of the always-enlightening Bernaise Source blog, recently wrote about the power of letting customers do your branding for you — not via online social networking websites (or “crowdsourcing, as we at Aplus.Net have written about before), but via actual physical word-of-mouth marketing
The Bernaise Source blog entry gives some pointers as to just how this sort of buzz is harnessed:
On the marketing side, organizations like the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and companies like BzzAgent have emerged to help businesses find these pitchmen and pitchwomen. These volunteers are tapped to promote new products through their network of family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. They are upfront about their affiliation, honest about their opinions and devoted to their products. Companies get loyal customers and genuine advocates, and customers get a sense of accomplishment.
The same spirit that drives individuals to spread the word also motivates others to contribute to company sponsored social networks. … The results are more unpredictable and thanks to the Internet permanently searchable. But the payoff is loyal customers who may identify solutions that those inside the company had not considered.
Like word of mouth marketing, company forums tap an existing social networks [sic]. But customer support forums generally don’t recruit participants. They operate online where face-to-face contact is rare. Word of mouth marketing on the other hand generally operates in person with an established social network.
It strikes me that building and sustaining online forums are more difficult than enlisting citizen marketers. Companies using forums must set up and tend to underlying infrastructure and monitor content for accuracy, tone and appropriateness.
Regardless of the degree of difficulty, however, having individuals pitch products and help others is an exciting new way to deepen a company’s relationship with its customers. While it is always nice to rely on the kindness of strangers, companies have the added responsibility of nurturing this trust. They must avoid the temptation to take advantage of those who are willing to make such a personal commitment.
The best part of all this? Customers are both touting your brand and speaking their mind. They’re not being persuaded or bribed to market your product — they’re doing it because they want to, because they like your product.
This sort of inherent customer satisfaction with any given product has always existed, but because of previous limitations, has been largely untapped. But with modern technology being what it is, the online business world now has an opportunity to make use of this kind of buzz in a much more proactive way only dreamt of by previous generations of entrepreneurs.
Here’s a link to Dan’s original blog post, “Tapping Customer Advocates“. As always, feel free to discuss in the comments section.