Conducting research among your customers is also a brand-building opportunity. Customers gain further respect for those companies that ask their opinion. Here are direct quotes we received this week in a survey that we conducted on behalf of one of our clients:

• I respect companies that want feedback on their public opinion and how they are currently viewed.
• I have participated in these surveys in the past and feel that company xyz generally cares about customers. Thank you!
• I think it's a great idea to request comments from customers.
• Thanks for your support!
• I like to see a company retrieving information from its customers.
• I generally don't respond to these requests. However, company xyz's commitment to continuing education made me willing to participate. Thank you.
• Thank you for giving the opportunity.

Thus, our client has not only benefitted from the knowledge gained in the survey, the perception of their brand has been elevated among the survey participants.

A 15-month study by MarketLive Performance clearly points to the high value of loyal customers (those defined as having made three purchases or more).

Loyal customers:

• Convert at three times the rate of first time customers
• They possess an average order of 10% more than first time customers

However, according to Shop.org's State of Online Retailing Report for 2008, marketers are allocating 53% of their marketing budgets to customer acquisition and only 21% to customer retention.

While customer acquisition is critically important, we also know from the Pew Internet Study in 2007 that marketers ranked e-mail to their house lists as tops in performance when compared to all other tactics. Therefore, there appears to be an overall under-investment in marketing to the most loyal customers.

This is due to the low number of companies segmenting their house lists and then sending targeted e-mails to those customer groups (based on past behavior and/or purchasing). We've seen estimates that only about 25% of marketers have a targeted e-mail program in place. We know from our own work that a significant lift in ROI is the result of a targeted e-mail program.

Finally, another important conclusion is that marketers should be implementing programs designed to engage their customers with the purpose of turning one-time customers into two-time customers and subsequently, two-time customers into three-time customers (and more).

Many companies, when they first come onto the scene, grow exponentially because they have developed a better product, a better technological solution or an intellectual property no one else possesses. This is the time to invest heavily in branding efforts that deliver a memorable promise that customers can easily believe in and desire to be a part of. Why? Inevitably, a competitor will duplicate and perhaps even exceed the competitive advantage that the company owned early on. Don't kid yourself. It is very likely to happen.

By building the brand in strong compelling fashion from the start, a company will retain the leadership position in the market for many years to come. Xerox is the classic example in the business machines market. They held an advantage for years thanks to their early and aggressive branding efforts.

Picture this: A company receives two completed RFPs. One is from a top 100 B2B brand. One is from a little-known regional player. Both RFPs are similarly filled out. Both companies appear to be equally qualified to get the job. Which one does the client typically choose? The top brand, of course.

Some of the strongest brands in the world are in the B2B sector. For example, GE, Intel, Google and Oracle consistently rank in the top 50 in global brand rankings. Clients choose these brands over and over again because they provide them with a built-in assurance of excellence and value (the same reason consumers buy Coke, Toyota and Sony).

The best way to build your B2B branding is to delve into your customer database. Find some of your most loyal customers and ask them probing questions about what your essential point of differentiation is. Pick their brains. Learn why they return again and again. Balance that learning by talking with customers who have left you recently. Learn the dark side. There usually is one. Then find inspiring ways to communicate your brand's single point of differentiation.

Some B2B sites invite you to explore their site by self identifying whether you are a small, medium or large company. That's good, but everyone's view as to exactly what is small is, versus medium, versus large will differ. As result, some visitors will end up in an area of the site, scratching their heads because the content doesn't fit them. Therefore, in addition to offering business size as an entry point, sites should offer entry by category of business (e.g. healthcare, manufacturing, education, hospitality, government, etc.) Since, all business decision-makers can easily identify themselves within their own vertical market, this will increase the overall appeal of a given site, which naturally flows into increased sales.

I spend time everyday reviewing web sites, having recently focused on B2B sites. It's remarkable how many companies' sites are mired in the dark ages when it comes to ensuring that the user's experience is consistent from home page to last page. So many sites change their look and feel when moving from an informational area to an e-commerce section or from one product category to another. The look changes. The font morphs. The navigation leaps from spot to another. You wonder if you're still on the company's site or if you've been launched into some unknown corner of cyberspace. You know what? Every other visitor feels the same way. Currently, there's a significant opportunity for many companies to lift their brand's image (and ROI) through designing consistency into their site, eliminating the shifting look that only adds confusion and frustration, leading to site (and company) abandonment.

It's now estimated that there is over 7 million hours of video online. But the video boom is still building. The inevitable mushroom cloud of video permeating the online world still hasn't even exploded on the scene. What does this mean for marketers? Right now, many companies are getting away with video of the home grown variety, since video viewers' expectations of quality have been dampened due to two factors. One, the technology wasn't there in the past to stream high quality professional video. Two, the internet is currently inundated with grainy, shaky, quirky videos. (See YouTube, case closed.)

However, the expectations of purchasers viewing video will rise very quickly to the level where they will expect professionally produced videos that do not insult their intelligence. More importantly, it's an age old truth that promotional/communications materials regarding a product or service that don't match the level of quality of the product or service, only serve to lower the perception of quality in the audience's mind. Those marketers that create and provide quality, meaningful, compelling and professional videos will be the ones to cut through the mushroom cloud of video clutter.

"Below the line" isn't "below the line" anymore.

It wasn't too long ago that online initiatives were openly referred as "below the line." They were after-thoughts, bonus exposure, something fun to test. Now marketers fully realize that the brand experience online has become the center of the marketing universe for them. It is usually the starting point for their customers when they want to initiate contact with a company, whether it is to simply seek out information, buy a product or interact with that company through entertaining content. In fact on the B2B side, one study pegged the percentage of people making initial contact with a company through their web site at 90%.

Due to the difficulty in measuring results from some of the so called traditional media, it won't be long before they are dubbed as "below the line" and suffer further from spending cutbacks.

According to the eHoliday Survey, conducted this fall by BizRate Research, 72% plan of online retailers are planning special promotions for today, Cyber Monday. By contrast, only 43% featured similar offers just two years ago.

According to an article on the National Retail Federation's site, "Promotions will range from special email campaigns (32.0%) to specific deals (29.9%) to one-day sales (28.9%). Additionally, one-fourth of retailers (24.7%) will offer free shipping on all purchases."

This phenomenon parallels what has happened with the retailers' big day, Black Friday, where your Thanksgiving newspaper now weighs more than a watermelon due to all of the inserts it holds and the sale-start times have moved to the wee hours of the morning.

The fierce competition for the consumer holiday spending will reward the savviest of marketers who carefully and cleverly planned for Cyber Monday . . . and the smartest of customers, who will find the hard-to-beat deals online.

Click here for the article.

Today the Center for Media Research cited a report by The Conference Board with this insight, "73 million US households now have discretionary income, up from about 57 million in 2002. The proportion of the US population with discretionary income has increased to nearly 64%, up from 52% in 2002."

Digger deeper into the report, it's clear that if your product or service is desirable to the very affluent, you have a ready-made market carved out for you since the report goes onto say, "The top end of the affluent group (households with earnings of at least $200,000) accounts for only 3% of total households and 5% of households with discretionary income. This group, however, has 38% of total discretionary income with an average of $173,613 - more than seven times the national average."

The biggest challenge is how do you best communicate with them in a way that's welcomed by them and most effective for you? We've found the best way is with highly targeted one-to-one creative messaging. They appreciate the fact that you've done your homework to determine how your product or service can best fit into their lives, thus they respond favorably – with their wallet – and you realize a higher ROI.

Here's the link to the article.

I read with interest the article, "One Day in America," by Nancy Gibbs, in the November 26 issue of Time magazine. The message is clear. The days of targeting the masses is long gone, because the Average American doesn't exist. In order to sell your product or service you need to use targeted one-to-one creative messaging to targeted customer segments, which possess similar wants, needs, desires and emotions.

Here's what Ms. Gibbs wrote:

"Even finding the Average American is a challenge, since means and medians and majorities can hide as much as they reveal: pity the statistician whose job it is to flatten us into a trend. The average household has 2.6 members, but most families prefer their children whole. On average we are 36.6 years old, but in reality we are newborn and toddling, aged and wise. We exercise close to the recommended 20 minutes a day—but that's because 17% of us exercise for well over an hour, while the rest of us scarcely stir at all . . . But if the perfect average is a mirage, you can still learn something by comparing yourself to the crowd. Depending on how closely you cleave to the statistical norm, you prefer figure-skating to NASCAR, live in the state where you were born, spend more money in restaurants than grocery stores and are just as happy as you would be if you earned 20 times your salary. At some point today you will say a prayer, not floss, take a shower for 10 minutes but not sing in it, drive an eight-year-old car to work, spend 95% of the day indoors and 21/2 hours online, consume 20 teaspoons of added sugar and not save any money."

Here's the link to the article.

Are you incorporating these types of features on your web site to make it as user-friendly, entertaining and compelling as possible? If not, this checklist serves as a nice benchmarking guide for how you are doing.

• 360-degree spin
• Alternate view
• Blogs
• Color swatching/colorizing
• Interactive catalogs & circulars
• M-commerce (mobile)
• Microsites
• Personalized messaging throughout site
• Personalized stores
• Product tours & integrated views
• Quick looks & rollover views
• RSS
• Shop by outfit, room or collection
• User ratings, rankings, comments
• User-generated visual content (photos, videos, audio, graphics)
• Videos - Merchandising, advertising and demonstration
• Visual filtering & advanced search on product features
• Visual monogramming & engraving tools
• Visual product configurators (custom products)
• Wikis
• Zoom

We learned in our recent B2B email preferences survey that over 20% of B2B purchasers say a company’s guarantee is an important attribute they expect to find in a B2B e-mail. So, if you don’t promote a guarantee, you’re throwing up a barrier for 1/5 of your target market to do business with you. We also know from head-to-head testing, using a guarantee lifts ROI time after time. Unfortunately, in a review over 50 B2B e-mails, we only see about 5% of them incorporating a guarantee. Big opportunity.

We just asked this very question in our recent B2B email preferences survey. This is what we found:

• 38% indicate they would be very likely or somewhat likely to read an e-mail personalized to them (Dear John, Dear Mary, etc.)
• 48% were neutral
• 14% said they would be less likely to open it

Mostly upside. Little downside. The data is there in your database. Use it.

I received an offer from NetFlix, offering a $20 gift card toward Dale and Thomas gourmet popcorn if I signed up for a free trial. Maybe I'm not up on my popcorn brands but I've never heard of Dale and Thomas popcorn. I polled several other people and none of them had heard of it either. Unfortunately, trying Dale and Thomas popcorn is not high on my list of priorities. The point here is that by choosing an obscure brand to partner with, means Netflix's offer will not be relevant to a portion (possibly a significant portion) of their audience, likely producing a lower response than other offers they may be testing. On the other side of the coin, I do applaud Netflix for the aggressive offer testing they apparently conduct in the marketplace. It's an old adage, but the best way to improve response is to test-test-test.

Best Buy has what appears to be a rather successful customer loyalty program in their Reward Zone as it has been in existence for several years now. However, their latest promotion falls down on two key fundamentals, and they are big ones.

Fundamental breakdown number one: The oversized postcard mailing I received (offering me 100 bonus points) directed me to go to MyRewardZone.com so that's what I entered in my browser window. What I came to was a set of Google search results, not even a web page. The first search result (paid listing) was indeed a site named MyRewardZone.com. Upon clicking to it, I discovered it had nothing to do with Best Buy or its Reward Zone. In fact, each time you clicked to it, you were delivered a different offer from a different marketer. Frustration sets in for Joe or Josephine consumer. Why take your customer to search results?

Fundamental breakdown number two: I began clicking to the next several links, which were Best Buy links. The first two did not contain references to the Reward Zone offer on my postcard. The third finally did but it was the size of an oversized postage stamp. The fourth listing, unfortunately, was a web site containing customer complaints about Reward Zone. AAARGH!

I say, "Where's the targeted landing page, Einstein?" That solves everything!

We think so – based on our recent B2B nationwide email study. We found, on average, B2B purchasers say they:

• subscribe to 5 e-newsletters, and
• read 30% of them on a regular basis

That's not bad, since in the same study, only 15% considered business e-mails to be of value that they receive from companies promoting their products or services to them. Doubling your readership by providing an enewsletter sounds like a good proposition to us.

Here's more insight from our nationwide survey about B2B buyers' perceptions of e-mail marketing.

We asked:

"How do you most often view your e-mails in your inbox?"

The answers:

• 48% Using "just the basics" (e.g. From, Subject, Date Received, etc.)
• 19% Using a Preview Pane (where you see a good portion of the e-mail)
• 33% Using Auto Preview (where you see the first few lines of the message in addition to the basics)

Almost 50% of B2B buyers base their decision on whether to open your e-mail solely on the "From" and "Subject" line. As a result, subject line testing should be a top priority for any B2B marketer. You can lift a program's ROI significantly with ongoing, carefully planned subject line testing. Yet, it doesn't require a significant investment. Subject line testing shouldn't take away from the creative testing of e-mail content either. (Creative testing is still important since one in three online B2B buyers are making their judgment to open based on what they view in the Preview Pane.)

There's a link below to a blog post by Jeff Beringer on nextfiftyyears.com. In it he describes how a marketing consultant botched furthering a client's cause on Facebook because, in his words, "Instead of focusing on reaching the *right* eyeballs he was focused on reaching *many* eyeballs."

He ends up citing five bullet points that he sees as the mantra for effectively using Facebook. We see them as the prefect blueprint for all one-to-one marketing communications, regardless of the medium. We couldn't have written them better.

• Pay attention to the individual
• Try to understand his or her personal interests
• Examine group affiliations and participation
• Read and watch what he or she has said about this topic in the past
• Only communicate if your content is reasonably relevant, timely, and potentially valuable

Link to Jeff's blog: How to Lose a Facebook Friend

Here's more insight from our nationwide survey about B2B buyers' perceptions of e-mail marketing. Below are three statements. We asked the respondents to tell us how strongly they agreed or disagreed with them.

• 82% agreed: I prefer to be able to sign up for a company's e-mails right on their Web site's home page
• 73% agreed: I prefer to only provide my name and e-mail address to sign up for a company's e-mails
• 19% agreed: I don't mind providing other information (e.g. address, phone) in order to sign up for a company's e-mails

It's pretty clear to us that B2B decision makers want to be able to sign up for e-mails right on your home page. They don't even want to dig one level deeper. They want it simple, meaning they want to only provide their name and e-mail address. Asking them for additional information will only depress response. Smart marketers will gather that information down the road.

We are bombarded with invitations to download white papers, attend web casts and visit blogs. Yet, are they being embraced by the B2B purchaser? Do they find them valuable?

We just completed our B2B purchasing preferences survey. We asked the respondents how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the following statements:

• I find blogs to generally be of value – 24% Agreed
• I find Web casts to generally be of value – 29% Agreed
• I find white papers to generally be of value – 35% Agreed

These are low marks. Why would you continue to use programs that only a quarter to a third of your customers/prospects find valuable?

We believe these results are a loud plea from B2B buyers, begging for these types of programs to be relevant, compelling, focused and yes, even entertaining. Currently, too many of them drone on in text-laden fashion filled with "shoptalk," when instead they could be simplified and brought to life visually.

Beyond sales . . . what else do catalogs accomplish?

In our recent joint survey with Catalog Success magazine, we asked:

What business objectives does your catalog fulfill? (Please check all that apply.)

Clearly, and to no surprise, the ultimate goal of a company's catalog is to generate sales in both the traditional sense but also online. In fact, generating online sales for consumer catalogers is in a virtual tie for being the most important business objective. For B2B catalogers, it's a close second.

What also is clear in these results is the importance of a catalog in:

• Building the brand
• Building the relationship with the customer
• Creating awareness

In our recent joint survey with Catalog Success magazine, we asked:

"Compared to last year, how will your total catalog page count change?"

We clearly heard that page counts are trending larger. This is simply more evidence that catalogers are not backing down in the face of increasing mailing and production costs. They are adding real estate, not taking it away, thereby investing in the creative presentation of their products.

Our recommendation is to look for ways to improve your creative presentation, particularly investing in space to drive customers online.

We recently completed the first of four surveys regarding multi-channel marketing that we are conducting in conjunction with Catalog Success magazine.

We asked the respondents if their company was planning on increasing or decreasing the following when they compared the current year to last year.

• Overall circulation
• Base catalogs (primarily all-new books)
• Mail drops (actual mailings)

What really jumps out is that the clear majority are increasing their circulation. Also, a significantly larger portion of them are planning on increasing base catalogs and drops rather than decreasing them.

We believe this is proof that companies understand that their print vehicles remain the number one driver of their online sales. Those who erroneously feel they need to cut back on circulation and mailings because of rising postage or production costs, or simply believe they’ll “get the sale anyway online” will put themselves at a disadvantage.

Here's more insight from our nationwide survey about consumer perceptions of e-mail marketing. Below are three statements. We asked the respondents to tell us how strongly they agreed or disagreed with them.

• 80% agreed: I prefer to be able to sign up for a company's e-mails right on their Web site's home page
• 68% agreed: I prefer to only provide my name and e-mail address to sign up for a company's e-mails
• 16% agreed: I don't mind providing other information (e.g. address, phone) in order to sign up for a company's e-mails

It's pretty clear to us that consumers want to be able to sign up for e-mails right on your home page. They don't even want to dig one level deeper. They want it simple, meaning they want to only provide their name and e-mail address. Asking them for additional information will only depress response. Savvy marketers will gather that information down the road.

Here's another finding from our nationwide survey about consumer perceptions of e-mail marketing. We found it a little surprising. 38% of the respondents strongly agreed or agreed with this statement, "I often refer to e-mails I have received for customer service contact information." So, nearly 4 in 10 people will turn to an e-mail for information on how to contact customer service. Ask yourself if you have that information clearly displayed in your e-mails. If not, it's likely a good addition, giving the customer what they want, thus building a long term relationship with them.

In our recent nationwide survey that we conducted on consumer perceptions of e-mail we asked, "What would be the preferred frequency that you would like to receive e-mails from a company, promoting their products or services that you have agreed to get e-mails from?"

Using math terms from Statistics class, the mean, the mode and the median all point to once a weekat the most preferred frequency. We also found it interesting that despite people seemingly always complaining about their bulging e-mail boxes, a full 31% indicated they would prefer a frequency greater that weekly.

Likely, many marketers aren't fully taking advantage of how often they can be e-mailing their customers. As long as the message is relevant, meaningful and not a waste of their time . . . More is better.

In our recent nationwide survey regarding consumer perceptions about e-mail, we asked, "Which of these attributes are most important to you in e-mails? Please select all that apply."

The answers provide a clear checklist as to what to prioritize in your e-mail design and creation.

In our recent nationwide survey regarding consumer perceptions about e-mail, we asked, "Do you have your e-mail program set to automatically download pictures in the e-mails you receive?"

• 49% percent said YES
• 35% said NO
• 16% answered UNSURE

So . . . Somewhere above 35% percent of the people glancing at/checking out/ viewing/reading your e-mails are making an initial determination about the value of the e-mail to them without the images that you've so carefully placed. Do you take the time to view your e-mails without the images loaded before you send them out, in order to see how over a third of your recipients are seeing them? Is the key message still coming through? It should be.

In our recent nationwide survey about consumer perceptions about e-mail, we asked, "How do you most often view your e-mails in your inbox?"

The answers:

Almost 70% of consumers base their decision on whether to open your e-mail solely on the "From" and "Subject" line. As a result, Subject line testing should be a top priority. Our belief is that you can lift a program's ROI significantly with ongoing, carefully planned subject line testing. Yet, it doesn't require a significant investment. Subject line testing shouldn't take away from the creative testing of e-mail content either. (Creative testing is still important since one in five online consumers is making their judgment to open based on what they view in the preview pane.)

Here's another key finding from our own nationwide online survey to our consumer panel about their perceptions about e-mail. We asked, "Overall, what percentage of e-mails that you receive from companies promoting their products or services would you consider of value to you?" The results speak volumes. 61.7% said 10% or less of the e-mails they receive are of value to them. Marketers need wake up. The tools are all there to create e-mails that are compelling, relevant and that speak to the recipient in one-to-one fashion, making them of much greater value. (For example, personalization, offers tied to past account activity, e-newsletter offers tied to their specific interests, interactive features that create entertainment value, links to helpful how-to videos, etc.) The list goes on, yet so few marketers use them. Now is the time.

People tap into their e-mailbox at a frequency that may surprise even some marketers. We just completed nationwide online survey to our own consumer panel about their e-mail habits. In it we asked, "Which answer best describes how often you check your inbox (personal - not related to your job)?"

80.5% of the respondents say they check their mailbox three times per day or more. Perhaps even more telltale is the fact that 24.4 % are checking their inbox at least hourly. We are a nation hooked on email. A marketer's dream.

The results:

We just conducted a nationwide online survey to our own consumer panel. In it we asked “Which statement best describes how you read your e-mails that you receive from companies promoting their products or services?”

The answers:

We turned around and asked those 80% who answered, “I open them whenever,”  the following question, “Even though you open your e-mails at many times of the day, are there any time periods that you find yourself usually opening these e-mails?

The answers:

We also asked the 20% who answered that there was a certain time when they open e-mails, what time they opened them.

The answers:

Based on this study, it’s pretty clear that morning is indeed the best time to mail. Even though the evening is fairly strong, once you hit the overnight, the response dies and we know from other studies we’ve done that most e-mails only have a 24 hour life. One could also make the case that you should segment your list geographically and mail each time zone separately, hitting the early morning sweet spot, rather than conducting a one-size-fits-all launch which will hit time zones hours apart.

Product videos increase sales. It's been proven in tests and it's simply intuitive that a compelling, informative video demonstration is superior to still picture. Then why do web sites containing product videos make the mistake of making you play a war game version of hide and seek to find them. I recently visited several sites where I was told videos existed. Yet, there wasn't any mention of videos on the home pages. That's a huge swing and a miss. There should be a prominent link on the home page to a section containing all those products with videos. Furthermore, upon finally stumbling into some products on these sites that contained videos, the links to the videos were buried in a sea of text, other links, specs and pricing. The link to the video should be one of the most prominent items on the product page. A significant investment has been made in producing them. Why hide them?

76% of US online population (age 15+), viewed a video stream in April 2007. The average US streaming video user viewed 65 streams in April 2007, an average of at least two per day. Likely, the reach percentage will begin to flatten out as it moves closer to the maximum 100%, while the streams per visitor will begin to grow exponentially over the next couple of years as video becomes the predominant way to access content on the Internet. We've said it before in our blogs . . . ramp up your video capabilities now . . . or fall way behind the pack.

Source: comScore

On Friday, June 29^th the iPhone will be on-sale through AT&T Wireless. AT&T is expecting a huge amount of traffic to their stores due to their new product. Industry analysts and executives are unsure how much AT&T will benefit from the iPhone and the affects it will have on their competition with Verizon, Sprint Nextel and other wireless carriers. The new iPhone will change consumers' expectations of what type of mobile phones should be offered through wireless companies.

Too often we see qualitative and quantitative research erroneously positioned by companies as, "we need to do one or the other, which one should it be?" The right answer should always be, "We need to incorporate both." They both serve very different functions, yet complement each other perfectly. Use the qualitative portion of the work, up front, to unearth new insights from your customers or prospects. Then take the most compelling learning and validate it with the much more statistically valid quantitative research.

I chuckle at some industry surveys that try to pinpoint what are the key drivers of ecommerce sales. They typically ask a question such as, “What typically triggers your visit to a web site where you end up making a purchase?” Then they offer up a bevy of choices such as email, internet search, general internet surfing, e-coupons, gift cards, referral from a friend, already a customer, etc. I’ve only seen one survey besides our own that offers catalog as one of the answers. Yet, in every survey we conduct, the influence of catalogs on ecommerce sales is unmistakable.

In a survey we conducted on behalf of one of our clients we asked, “When placing an order on the web site, how often does the catalog typically influence your order? The answers:

• All of the time  38%
• Most of the time  46%
• Some of the time  10%
• Occasionally  4%
• Rarely  2%
• Never  0%

You decide for yourself. What is the number one driver of ecommerce sales?

We see companies contemplating or planning to scale back their direct mail programs due to rising production and mailing costs as well as questions about its effectiveness relative to email. A recent survey by International Communications Research clearly demonstrates how direct mail holds some key advantages over email.

For example, according to the survey:

• 73 percent of consumers prefer mail for receiving new product announcements or offers from companies they do business with, as compared to 18 percent for email
• 31 percent of consumers are less likely to discard unopened mail, including new product brochures, catalogs or other advertising materials, while 53.2 percent are likely to discard unsolicited e-mails about new products

This isn’t to say email isn’t a critical marketing tool, it’s simply more evidence that any effective marketing strategy needs to incorporate multiple points of contact, and for most companies, direct mail and email should be considered pillars of the foundation.

In yesterday’s post, I talked about the value of offering your customers a short online survey to take immediately after placing their order. One of the questions we use on a routine basis is an open-ended question asking, “What one or two web sites would you say you spend the most time visiting?”

In the most recent review of results from one of our client’s post purchase surveys, three web sites skyrocketed right to the top. These three sites were offered up by the respondents over twice as much when compared to the “fourth place site.” In the case of the most visited site, the response was quadruple the fourth place site. Where do you think we suggested to this particular client that they should advertise?

By the way, we usually find that he customer is always right.

We always recommend that companies provide a short online survey for their customers to take immediately following their click to place their order. The benefit? Feedback from the customer while the ordering experience is still fresh in their mind. The result? A multitude of suggestions on how to improve the web site. Call it free web usability testing.

Actually, the benefits are endless. In the past two months, one of the post purchase surveys we created for one of our clients produced 144 product suggestions. After combing through them, eliminating duplicates and ones that simply weren’t possible, we narrowed it down to 19 top shelf quality merchandise suggestions. Some of them are likely of the can’t-miss variety. This is more evidence that the customer knows best. The online survey simply gives them the opportunity to speak and be heard.

We regularly see firsthand the value of a inviting customers who have just completed an online purchase to take a survey while the entire experience is fresh, and therefore crystal clear, in their minds.

For example, we just pulled the open-ended answers on one of our clients post-purchase online surveys, asking how they would suggest improving the company's web site. There were twenty four actionable ideas for specific improvements on the web site. While many of them could be considered “tweaks,” all will improve the online experience for the customer, naturally leading to increased sales and return visits to the site.

Savvy marketers have been using personalization for years; for example, through inkjetting custom messages or using variable data in direct mail letters. But there was often a significant cost due to press stops, plate changes and meticulous coordination, etc. In the online world, personalization is - in a word - EASY. Most importantly, nearly every time, of the numerous times we've tested personalization in an e-mail, landing page or online survey, it's lifted response . . . significantly. And now, courtesy of ChoiceStream's recently completed Personalization Survey, we have further insight into what the consumer has to say about personalization. Here are findings taken directly from their study:

• The 2006 survey finds 79% of consumers interested in receiving personalized content; which is consistent with last year’s response of 80%.
• More than a third of all respondents said they would be more willing to pay attention to advertising if it was personalized based on personal tastes and interests.
• A large majority of consumers are interested in personalized advertising distributed through their television or online, but fewer want personalized ads via their cell phones.

So, if you ask yourself, "Is there any reason not to personalize?" the answer would clearly be, "No!"

We recent conducted an online survey among outdoorsmen to learn how they are using the Internet to research and buy gear for hunting and fishing. The results show that this consumer segment is far more connected than some marketers may have imagined.

• 40% of the hunters and 28% of the fishermen indicate they go online to research their purchases for hunting and fishing gear
• 20% of the hunters and 15% of the fishermen cite the Internet as the most influential advertising medium for hunting and fishing gear
• 13% of the hunters have purchased hunting gear online and 10% of the fishermen have purchased gear online
• 36% say their online purchasing of hunting and fishing gear has increased in the past year
• 82% say they’ve used search engines to find hunting and fishing gear online
• 40% say they currently receive e-mails regarding hunting and fishing gear
• 36% say they want to receive more e-mails regarding hunting and fishing gear

While retail remains the number one choice for making purchases, clearly outdoorsmen are heavily using the Internet to research and buy their equipment, supplies and apparel for hunting and fishing. The last point above citing that 36% want to receive more e-mails is compelling evidence that marketers can really step up their efforts in communicating one-on-one with sportsmen online.

There is a theory among some marketers of hunting and fishing gear that hunters and fishermen  just aren’t “connected” to the internet compared to other groups of consumers. We know from immersing ourselves in this market, getting out in the field and talking one-on-one with hunters and fishermen that nothing could be further from the truth.

One tournament bass fisherman told us, “It’s the communications highway for the tournament fishermen. They use web sites to their fullest advantage. They talk to each other – about tournaments and that’s where they learn about what products are out there.”

An avid hunter told us, “It’s infinite. There’s just so much there. You can read for a lifetime and still not be done. You always look for those things that just give you a little leg up.”

We also heard how hunters and fishermen are gravitating to those sites that feature videos of hunting and fishing gear. We heard a phrase over and over when we asked if they view videos online and that was, “There’s not enough!"

As a result of some marketers misunderstanding the connectivity of the hunting and fishing market, they tend to gravitate towards the traditional media of magazines and television to reach this audience.

We believe the right approach to reach this market, as is true with most consumer targets markets today,  is to fully integrate one-to-one opportunities such as content-rich web sites, web advertising, e-mail marketing and search engine marketing into the overall plan.

Be honest when you answer this question. How many web ads and e-mails are truly customized to the viewer or reader based on information the advertiser knows about the customer? (In other words, ads or e-mails targeted to them in one-to-one fashion.)

I’d say less than 20%.

Yet, everywhere you turn, someone or some company is touting the latest and greatest in the ability to use the latest technology to improve the relevance or customization of ads and e-mails. Furthermore, take a realistic look at the jungle of web ads and e-mails out there. They flash. They gyrate. They scream. There are too many clustered in one spot. The marketing messages are lost in this advertising light show, reminiscent of an 80’s disco revival.

We believe the time is now to fix past wrongdoings and provide the online audience with relevant advertising that speaks to them one-to-one fashion. It’s simply providing the customer with what they want and need in order to make a purchase or conduct business. After all, this is what the customer wants. While a little old, the 2005 Roper Media Comparison Study showed how Internet advertising compared to other media in terms of the percentage of adults finding the various mediums authoritative, influential, persuasive and exciting.

Clearly, the current state of affairs is detracting from their online experience not adding to it.

The technology, the systems and the creative power are all in place to give the customer what they deserve. Let’s do it.

A properly constructed and maintained database will yield a wealth of information on your customers. For example:

• Products they’ve purchased
• How often they purchase
• How much they typically buy
• The last time they purchased
• How long they’ve been a customer or prospect
• Preferred contact method
• Channel(s) they’ve purchased through
• Whether or not they purchase gifts
• Interests (hobbies, leisure time interests, etc.)
• Presence of children
• Demographics (age, gender, income, etc.)

Naturally there will be other valuable information to capture based on your company, product and/or service.

Armed with a robust database, you will find segments within it that you can target with specific one-to-one messages that will both lift revenues and build the brand. For example:

• Thank you messages to those who just purchased inviting them back soon with incentives
• Gift-giving messages to those who give gifts – leading up to the holiday season and prior to holidays like Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day
• If they haven’t purchased in a while, a message saying that you’ve missed them, accompanied by an offer encouraging them to make a purchase
• A targeted offer of kids’ items to those customers with children in the home
• A message suggesting that it maybe time to reorder a product they order on a repeat basis

Other one-to-one strategies come into play. Those customers who buy the most, and most often, will typically be receptive to more contacts from you. Inquirers who haven’t purchased yet, typically, should be contacted less often.

Finally, remember that from a multi-channel perspective, it’s important to fully coordinate all points of contact that you may be using (e-mail, direct mail, web site. Point-of-sale, etc.).

Most companies do not possess a 360-degree view of their customer because they juggle multiple databases. (For example: customer service center files, warranty card registrations, online inquiries and an e-mail database.) To ensure the most effective multi-channel experience, all customer data should be unified into a single, central database.

The benefits of a central database are clear.

In any interaction with a customer, a complete record of that customer’s history can be pulled up. This ensures that you’re able to maximize the value of each and every interaction with them, for both parties. This ability to do so is based on having the all-important full view to your customer’s relationship and history with you. The customer appreciates this because any issue or transaction can be handled with one simple contact. The customer isn’t bounced around the system due to incomplete information and conflicting databases.

Marketing messages can be accurately crafted and targeted based on past behavior. The goal should be to deliver focused messaging directly to customers, based on individual needs, when and where it’s most relevant. And after all, this is the definition of one-to-one marketing. The conclusion then, is that the highest level of one-to-one marketing cannot be achieved without a centralized database.

Want to increase revenue now as well as maximize repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals? Look at these results taken directly from the Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index study conducted by Foresee Results. They clearly show that including including product review functionality on a web site will increase sales and customer satisfaction.

• Nearly half (42%) of first-time buyers on sites with customer product reviews cited the review as the primary factor influencing the buying decision.
• Customers on sites with reviews are 5% more satisfied with the retailer as a whole (not only the web experience) and their image of the retailer is 5% higher than customers on sites without customer product reviews.
• Customer product reviews have a viral effect, leading to positive word of - mouth recommendations. Shoppers that visited sites with customer product reviews are 6% more likely to recommend the site than shoppers that went to sites without this feature.
  Customer product reviews impact the bottom line.
• Shoppers on sites with customer product reviews were 5% more likely to buy online, 5% more likely to buy from the retailer next holiday season and 4% more likely to purchase from the retailer the next time they are in the market for similar merchandise.

This is compelling evidence. Period. What is also important to realize that acting now is critical as it is only a matter of time before product reviews become a regular expectation of the online consumer. Thus, the competitive advantage that exists now for sites with product reviews will likely decline over time.

You've done your homework. You have a winning e-mail offer that you mail to your file of 100,000 customers. Assumming a cost of $5,000, a bottom line conversion rate of 1% and $15 of revenue per order, your return on investment works out to 300%. Pretty darn good, eh? Not so fast. What about the 99,000 that didn't respond?

Every e-mail is still a critical point of communication with non-responders. It can do one of two things:

1) Positively engage your valuable customer in your brand, increasing the likelihood that they will conduct business with you again, sooner rather than later.
2) Negatively impact your valuable customer, decreasing the likelihood that they will conduct business with you again.

Think more about the second scenario. What if your valuable customer perceives an e-mail that is not relevant to them and rejects it as spam? A portion of these customers will unsubscribe. Others will just sit dormant viewing future e-mails as a bothersome intrusion into their mailbox. You will lose more revenue over time than the front-end response brings in, actually making the e-mail an online black hole, draining money not making money.

So how can you find out what your customers really feel about your e-mails. In your next e-mail campaign, invite them to take a short online survey that asks both non-responders (and responders) what they really like and what rubs them the wrong way. The result? You'll be able to craft e-mails that speak to them in a one-to-one fashion, designed to not only sell but to build and nurture your brand in their eyes, increasing future revenues.

Much has been has been researched and written about when is the best day and time to send out e-mails. Well, please beware, it is much ado about nothing. Why?

The timing that is right for one offer (for example, an e-mail from a men's apparel site) will likely be completely different than a B2B e-mail targeting C-level execs with a new healthcare insurance offering for employees. Yet they both may be received by the very same person. He may prefer apparel related e-mails later in the week so he can peruse them leisurely over the weekend. He may prefer the healthcare insurance e-mail early in the week so he can involve his vice president of human resources involved right away with nearly a full week to react to it.

So what timing is best for your product, service or offer?

Ask your customers in an online survey that you invite them to take in your next e-mail campaign. Once you delve into it, you will likely also find that different customer segments prefer e-mails at different times of the week. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be able to really leverage one-to-one marketing by delivering e-mails to these different segments when they want to receive them, thereby increasing your return on investment. 

Do what your customers want not what other companies' customers want.

Back in the late 80’s and in the 90’s when companies were looking at offering a direct channel, the only real option was a catalog. E-commerce had not come of age yet. The rule of thumb that we told our clients was, “You’ll reap financial rewards if you do, BUT you must be prepared to not make a profit for three to five years while you invest in building a house file of loyal customers.” It required a high upfront investment due to all of the creative, prepress, printing, list rentals and, most importantly, the mailing costs. For many, this was too big of a pill to swallow.

Today, those upfront costs are much, much smaller. You still have the creative investment and perhaps some e-mail list rentals if you haven’t built a sufficient database of names, as of yet. You will not have prepress, printing and postage (the latter two being the largest expenditures for a cataloger).

The new math, made possible by the introduction of the internet, makes it much easier to succeed fast in opening a new channel for your customers.

Every research study conducted about today’s hectic lifestyle tells us that we are all strapped for time and are juggling way too many balls. It’s true. Think of all the different job descriptions parents have on their “resume.” The short list follows below.

What does this mean for marketers? It means that you will be successful if you can easily demonstrate how your product or service will help your customers avoid the pain associated with the stress of having simply too much on their plate.

(. . . and still have time to be a Mom or Dad . . .)

Well not quite.

Online videos are for kids, teens and twenty-somethings, right? Wrong.

Consider:

BIGresearch just calculated the average age of online video viewers in the U.S. at 39 going on 40. And based on compiled information from Nielsen/NetRatings, comScore and Quantcast, it is people, ages 35 to 64 that comprise between 48% to 65% of YouTube's audience.

More importantly video moves people to action. The Online Publishers Association reported earlier this year that video ads prompted a full 31% of online users to visit the company's web site, while 14% vested a store. Another 14% requested more information.

Most importantly video sells. In another recent study among internet users conducted by Frank Magid Associates, 8% of the respondents said they have made a purchase as a r