Eyeing the ongoing, phenomenal success of trailblazing social networking sites MySpace and Facebook, catalogers are creating their own online communities where they glean valuable feedback from customer posts. “It’s a good time to become a niche online community and do it right,” says Don Philabaum, CEO of Internet Strategies Group, an online consulting firm. “You have millions of people who’ve learned the value of being a part of an online community, and they’ll bring experience, enthusiasm, content — and their network — to your online community.” Blogs, discussion boards and other forms of interactive media are the most cost-effective customer feedback mechanisms around, according
Joe Dysart
Rather than the awe-inspiring equivalent of a moon landing as Microsoft had hoped, the rollout of Outlook 2007 instead has been greeted by the business community as a giant leap backward for e-marketing. That’s because Outlook 2007 regularly mangles most higher end image- and animation-dependent marketing e-mails, due to Microsoft’s decision to “dumb down” Outlook’s design and image-rendering capabilities. “Microsoft has taken e-mail design back five years,” says David Greiner, co-founder of Campaign Monitor, an e-mail tool provider. The problem’s been further compounded by the rollout of Vista, Microsoft’s new Windows operating system. It has forced consumers and businesses to adopt Outlook 2007 whether they want to
While the sophistication of high-end e-mail marketing tools can be a bit daunting, virtually any cataloger can find an e-mail marketing package that will increase sales without breaking the bank. “Although it is often taken for granted, the power of e-mail derives from its ubiquity,” says David Hallerman, a senior analyst at market research firm eMarketer and author of “E-Mail and Word-of-Mouth: Connecting With Your Best Customers.” He notes that about 90 percent of U.S. Internet users are regular e-mail users, “clearly an audience that has attained critical mass. Although spam makes it harder to reach customers’ inboxes, e-mail’s personal impact is unmatched
While fighting to get noticed on the Web is at least a full-time pursuit, there are a number of Web site promotion tools available that’ll give your company a tremendous edge in that battle -- and greatly automate the process. Following is a sampling of the latest advances in key Web site promotion strategies, and the tools that’ll help get you there. ¥ Leverage search engine submission software. Getting your company to a top position on search engines like Google and Yahoo can translate into substantially greater revenues, and search engine positioning software is one of the tools that can help. These tools automatically
Sometimes a little back porch advice can go a long way, according to officials at a number of e-commerce sites that have added “ask-the-expert” forums to their marketing mix. Based on the premise that friendly answers to Web cruisers’ questions can lead only to new business, some catalogers created online advice forums that add a human voice to their Web images, while also growing revenues. As you’ve probably surmised, ask-the-expert forums — Q&A pages where customers go to post questions and get answers from a company expert — are simple to set up. A Web designer posts a picture of a company expert
By Joe Dysart Seasoned etailers realize a Web site is more than just a "billboard in cyberspace." They know the best sites create inviting, easy-to-use environments. Indeed, they're interactive tools where prospects and customers can learn about a company and buy products. To be sure, a Web site is not a technological homage to yourself, your company or a Web designer. That said, however, showy, forever-to-download sites that are cool but little more than impediments to e-commerce are all too common on the Web. Indeed, the Webscape is littered with them. This article will explore how to avoid adding yours to the heap
Seasoned etailers realize a Web site is more than just a “billboard in cyberspace.” They know the best sites create inviting, easy-to-use environments. Indeed, they’re interactive tools where prospects and customers can learn about a company and buy products. To be sure, a Web site is not a technological homage to yourself, your company or a Web designer. That said, however, showy, forever-to-download sites that are cool but little more than impediments to e-commerce are all too common on the Web. Indeed, the Webscape is littered with them. This article will explore how to avoid adding yours to the heap of Web junk. Usability
Artfully designed and managed opt-in e-mailed newsletters offered by catalogers can create a strong emotional bond with customers. E-newsletters can be broadly defined and may include original, product-independent content (e.g., recipes, feature articles, letters to the editor) as well as news about a sender’s products (e.g., special promotions, new-merchandise previews). Numerous catalogers already offer e-newsletters, including Musician’s Friend, Healthy Roads, Femail Creations and Time Motion Tools. Jakob Nielsen, Ph.D., a principal with the Nielsen Norman Group (NNG), which published a study on recipients’ attitudes toward e-mailed newsletters from businesses, says, “The positive emotional aspect of e-newsletters is that they can create more
