OvationBlog.com

E-mailing the house file generates a surprising number of new leads

JulieP@OvationMarketing.com (Julie Plath) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:23:00 CST

Ovation recently developed and executed a multichannel marketing campaign to launch a new product for one of our clients. The goals of the campaign were to create awareness for the new product and generate leads for the sales force. We used a number of tactics, such as paid search, trade advertising and e-mail to drive traffic to a microsite. Once a visitor came to the site, we tracked a number of actions – whether they downloaded a brochure, requested a sample or signed up to receive e-mail. As expected, nearly 100 percent of all leads coming to the site via paid search or trade advertising were new leads. In other words, they were not already in the client's database. Search generated the most visits to the site (49%) but the least number of sample requests (10%), whereas the trade advertising campaign generated approximately 29% of the site visits and 26% of the sample requests.

	Search	Trade Ads	E-mail
Site Visits	49%	29%	22%
Sample Requests	10%	26%	64%
Percent New Leads	99%	97%	45%

But the surprising thing we found was that by e-mailing their house file, we were able to achieve 45 percent more new leads. This shows the power of the e-mail list and how it is virally passed to colleagues within the company to generate new leads. We also tested various outside trade publication and association lists. Overall, e-mail was the most effective in producing sample requests. Twenty-two percent of the site visits and 64% of all samples requested were from people receiving an e-mail.

Slinging the Web workflow

JohnM@OvationMarketing.com (John Montét) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:04:00 CST

I love spiders. They are quiet and patient. They scare the hell out of some people. They are exceptionally comfortable on the web.

They remind me of myself - except for the quiet part.

Spiders teach us a lesson in good Web project management. The processes they follow when building their webs are (I imagine), much the same as a successful Web project. Here is what I mean.

There are essentially six (and arguably seven) steps to the basic Web development process. They are as follows.

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Analysis
Project Definition
Design & Development
Content Creation
Coding
Test & Launch
Promotion (the bastard child)

Analysis. The first step in Web slinging is to determine what we are going to catch. Sure, bugs (customers) is the obvious answer, but which ones. There is a remarkable difference between a web designed to catch flies, and a web designed to catch grasshoppers. Defining our audience is a crucial step.

Project Definition. During this phase, figure out what exactly we are going to build. Is it a Web that will require us to monitor it constantly? Is it one that will simply be a home? The idea is to outline what we are building and how it will function.

Design & Development. For the spider, instinct takes over at this point. They inherently know how their web will look. We, however, need to use some very basic tools. These are the sitemap, the creative (Photoshop) document, and the wireframe. It is an amateur mistake to start building immediately after figuring out the project definition.

Conversely, some developers put too much emphasis on creative, allowing it to eat up the budget until all that is left for the rest of the process is a dried out husk. Design is as much about planning as it is about how something will look.

Content Creation. This is where the real work happens. In my world, as in the spider's, the content creation goes hand-in-hand with the coding. A spider is putting together the threads and intersections as one process. In the human world, content can be created at the same time the coding is being completed. It allows the designers, writers, and coders (assuming they are different people), to work in tandem. Each role is boosted by the others', while none are entirely dependent on the others.

Testing & Launch. Spiders have it easy. All they have to do to test and launch their web site is to sit back and watch. However, their concerns are the same. If holes form, or it turns out they are in a different "market", they can make adjustments. As humans, we do this as well. It is just that our lunch is directly dependent upon a test's success.

Promotion. For most spiders, promotion is a bad thing. The last thing they want is for their site to be visible. As humans, however, it is vital. Dyersville is a myth. I've been there, and it wasn't because they built a baseball field. If you build a Web site, it isn't enough to let it sit. It is much more important to be sure it sparkles in the morning dew.

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The final note here is that this process is not linear. It is not a waterfall where one step happens before another. Instead, it is cyclical. You may design one piece of the site while still doing analysis on another part. As changes happen and new hurdles and opportunities present themselves, it helps to fall back on a previous step and reevaluate. Eventually, you will get that juicy catch upon which you can feed for a week.

How to appeal to Gen X shoppers in a down economy

KathleenH@OvationMarketing.com (Kathleen Hanson) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:07:00 CST

Is your product or service something that the Gen X consumer wants or needs? Are you NOT a big, well-known brand? Are you priced competitively? Congratulations! Today’s economy could mean more Gen X shoppers are seeking you out.

Many Gen Xers (people born between 1965 and 1981) are saddled with college and credit card debt, and the high housing costs associated with subprime mortgages are even more bad news for their financial situations, so they’re on the lookout for bargains whenever they buy. A study by Reach Advisors says Gen Xers love to brag about bargains and they don’t have any problem shopping discount stores. Target’s “cheap chic” brand was built for these bargain-hunting, but style-conscious shoppers.

Some of the well-known characteristics of this demographic group, such as distrust of corporate America and being tech-savvy, make them very scrutinizing shoppers. Their online comfort level means they’ll research a purchase to find the best deal and they look for the usually better-priced lesser-know brands.

This is good news for you. Advertising messages that acknowledge and compliment these shoppers on their desire to find value will be right on target. Demonstrate how your product or service delivers quality at a good price, and these shoppers won’t care that you aren’t a big brand. In fact, they love to “discover” a brand — be the first among their circle to find it. Especially in today’s economic environment, they don’t believe that big is always better.

Case Study: How NOT to execute an online promotion

KimZ@OvationMarketing.com (Kim Zinda) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:25:00 CST

I recently saw a :30 TV commercial for a new skincare product from Oil of Olay. The ad directs you online to a landing page where you are then offered a coupon for $5 off your purchase of the particular product. In order to receive my $5 off coupon, I was required to fill out a form with personal information (name, address, phone, etc.) which I of course expected, and then take a short survey regarding my buying habits and purchase preferences. I thought the whole process was easy, well-done and worth my two minutes to fill out.

Once the form was completed, the screen informed me that my coupon would be in the mail within 6-8 weeks (really? that long!?). This was completely out of sync with my expectations. In the online world of on-the-spot promotional opportunities, I expected to be linked to their e-commerce store to purchase (and given the $5 off right there in my shopping cart) or at the very least, be given immediate access to a downloadable coupon to be printed off and used to purchase the product in-store. The initial TV spot was compelling enough for me to get on my computer and find the promotion, but my expectations with the promotion "deliverable" was not even close to being met.

There were a number of missed opportunities:

No link to the online store to purchase
No downloadable coupon for in-store purchase
No follow-up "thank you" e-mail for participating in the promotion and assurance the coupon is on its way
No onboarding program to continue brand engagement

As companies combine traditional advertising with the online world, they need to first understand how and why consumers have flocked to the Internet for information and for buying. It's not with the anticipation of receiving a coupon in the mail 6-8 weeks later.

E-mail delivers cost-effective ROI

SaraB@OvationMarketing.com (Sara Derksen) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:11:00 CST

BtoB Online offered an interesting Webcast in October on how to market in a down economy. The jist of the message was that customers want advice and insight—not a hard sell. In these economic times, it makes sense to develop e-mail into the cost-effective hub of your marketing program.

A couple of topline takeaways:

- Be mobile and social friendly in your e-mails with text rendering, format preferences, and sharing links.

- Avoid e-mail fatigue—increase content value and relevancy. Don't increase e-mail frequency.

- Develop pre-sale and post-sale contact plans to enhance repurchase and build loyalty.

- Integrate data from your entire organization to better manage the customer relationship (CRM).

BtoB’s e-mail marketing insights dovetail perfectly with Ovation’s strategic marketing approach. We help our clients achieve results and deliver value to customers through marketing messages that:

1. Reinforce the messages and relationships through multiple channel connections.

2. Deliver targeted, relevant content that are personalized and customized to the individual's interests.

3. Provide authentic, interesting content—no exaggerated advertising claims.

Review more of BtoB Webcasts and get ideas for lead generation, e-marketing, and more.

Try Ovation Marketing's ROI Calculator to measure your marketing ROI.

How to grow your e-mail list

JulieP@OvationMarketing.com (Julie Plath) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:31:00 CST

According to Marketing Sherpa's 2009 Email Marketing Benchmark Guide, companies are responding to the sluggish business economy by decreasing their brand budgets and investing more in measurable, direct marketing initiatives. According to the study, of highest priority is:

Growing email lists (63% rated it a high priority)
Integrating email traditional marketing campaigns (48% rated it a high priority)
Improving deliverability (48%)
Improving list quality (45%)
Explore the relationship between email and Web 2.0/social marketing (19%)
Explore the opportunities of mobile marketing and email (14%)

We're seeing more and more companies, especially B2B prospects, coming to us for help in growing their email lists. In our work with clients, tactics that we've used successfully in the past include:

Webinars and other knowledge sharing offers (newsletters)
Free sample requests/downloads (white papers, independent reports, etc.)
New product announcements
Trade events
Email append (leveraging external list sources)
Opt-in requests by sales and service representatives
Contests (although these tend to be lower performing leads)

To get your copy of the 2009 Email Marketing Benchmark Guide, click here.

If you’re in sales, you should be LinkedIn

KimZ@OvationMarketing.com (Kim Zinda) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:44:00 CST

A new report from Forrester Research finds that B-to-B marketers are continuing to invest in traditional digital tactics (e-newsletters; Webinars) rather than venture into new digital applications such as social networking, blogs and online communities.

While I can see the hesitation in some companies moving marketing dollars into these tactics due to potential issues with tracking/ROI, they should at least be encouraging their sales forces to participate in online social networking.

One of the social networks that have quickly become "a must" for sales people is LinkedIn. With 30 million members (and growing), there is incredible networking power for any sales person who works (and sells) within a specific professional industry.

For example, if you are selling IT/IP services, LinkedIn has many features to help you find contacts and increase your business. You can join groups such as the CIO Forum, Telecom Professional and It Specialists (the groups list goes on and on), where IT professionals go to network, learn and refer sources to each other. These groups consist of like-minded people who count on each other to help make vital new business contacts. These groups offer forums for topics to be discussed and solutions to be discovered.

Other cool LinkedIn tools for sales people:

Identify sales leads by browsing through companies that are in your network
Find companies by industry and tap into their network of associates
Recommend news to your co-workers, prospects and clients to position yourself as a thought-leader in your industry
Become a part of your university alumni group – reach out to past acquaintances who can help you network
Publicize your company's Web site to enhance search engine results
And, if you are really ambitious, you can create your own group and deliver your own connections and forums

Social networking isn't just for kids and college students anymore; it's becoming a mainstream way of building business relationships.

Controlling your brand in an online world

ErinW@OvationMarketing.com (Erin Wyman) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:18:00 CST

So you’ve heard the pros and cons of social media but you’re still not sure how to make social media and the online world work for you instead of against you. Here are a few tips to get started.

Start by using a variety of Web 2.0 tools and practice defensive branding techniques to help control the message your brand sends to the consumer. The top 3 tools today are: 1. Facebook pages 2. Wikipedia 3. Corporate Twitter. These tools will become the face of your brand online. And, like you feared, negative content and brand bashing is bound to happen but you can control it, or better yet prevent it, with defensive branding techniques. Marketing Sherpa has recently published six tips to help you control your brand in an online world.

Trust
Authenticity
Transparency – don’t hide anything (control the message or the critics will)
Listening – make is easy to contact the company so consumers complain to you instead of YouTube
Responsiveness – speed, truthful, customer service, listen and be prepared for those high-volume times
Affirmation – make sure Google/Wikipedia searches are aligned with your values and goals.

Growing business during a recession

BarryS@OvationMarketing.com (Barry Stahl) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:48:00 CST

With the economic turmoil we see today, it makes us step back and question our business choices, especially when it comes to advertising and marketing. I came across a paper from Rodney Polasky, a retired historian and archeologist. He was asked what companies did well during the depression of 1929 and what distinguished those companies from others. He shares how companies like Kellogg’s, Chevy and Procter & Gamble not only survived the great depression, they did well and grew. According to Polasky, “Those companies… continued to act as though there was nothing wrong and that the public had money to spend. In other words, they advertised.” The successful companies remained in the consumer’s eye while others dropped out of site. Consumers and investors put their trust and money with brands that they saw as having “staying power.”

To read his article in its entirety, click here. Rodney Polasky goes by the on-line user ID, digsalot.

Truth in Advertising: Where political marketing fails

AnneH@OvationMarketing.com (Anne Hendrickson) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:46:00 CST

You'd have to be living in a cave not to have been deluged with the political messages that have been filling the airwaves and cyberspace over the past several months. Regardless of which side of the political fence you sit, or whether you straddle both, it appears that the frustration level of viewers and listeners is growing by leaps and bounds as messaging gets further and further dragged into the murky waters that make it hard to discern the truths, half truths, and flat out deceptive messaging.

The Federal Trade Commission Act clearly spells out its truth-in-advertising ruling to small businesses. FTC Truth in Advertising
Under the Federal Trade Commission Act:

* Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive;

* Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims; and

* Advertisements cannot be unfair.

The act goes on to address deceptive advertising in its Deception Policy Statement. According to the statement, an ad is deceptive if it contains a statement - or omits information - that:

* Is likely to mislead consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances; and

* Is "material" - that is, important to a consumer's decision to buy or use the product.

Commercial industry is bound by these and other rules by the FTC. And though political ads may not be selling a "product" per se, it could be argued that the impact of a questionable political ad can cause more damage than a face cream's claim to make you look younger.

Political ads are protected under the First Amendment as "political speech." Politicians can make false claims about their own records, distort the facts about opponents, and those statements are protected. Broadcasters are obligated by the FCC to run those ads unless they're willing to pull all political ads. They can't pick and choose.

Some states have tried to curtail the deceptive messaging in political ads. A 1984 Washington State law made it illegal to sponsor commercials that "knowingly made false statement of material fact." After 14 years, the law was struck down by that state's Supreme Court. Time online, September 2008.

A recent Time magazine article discussed the impact of false ads on viewers. "You hear people say, 'the ads must have some truth to them, or they wouldn't let them on television,' " says Brooks Jackson of Factcheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania." Truth in advertising lulls us into a false sense of security." And overtly misleading ads can give the entire industry a black eye, leaving audiences doubting the content in most ads.

So the beat goes on. The claims continue. Organizations such as factcheck.org and politifact.com seek to help shed light on what's true, partially true or blatantly untrue. Viewers and listeners are left with the challenge to sort it out for themselves and to do their own homework. Or, as more elevator conversations suggest, they may simply turn it all off until November 5, when it'll magically go away until the next election.

One-to-one print is on the rise

BryanK@OvationMarketing.com (Bryan Knueppel) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:43:00 CST

Remember the days when personalized printing meant ink jetting an address onto a postcard? Well, like everything else these days, technological advances and demand for ROI have created a whole new playing field for getting a personalized piece in the hands of the consumer.

I recently received a piece in the mail that had my name on a button and a picture of my Sales Rep. with a message addressing me, on the front cover. As I read an article inside, there was another picture with my name spelled out on balloons and my name was mentioned in the article a couple of times. It is clear that print marketing is moving in the direction of customized, 1:1 personalization.

A high-tech tool available to marketers is VDP (variable data printing or variable digital printing). This can be done as ink jet on a mail piece, output from a laser printer, or from a four-color digital press. Drawing information from a database, VDP allows you to change the look of each printed piece without stopping or slowing down the printing process.

A big key to all of this is creating something that is relevant to the recipient. If it is, it translates to higher response rates and increased ROI through personalized marketing campaigns.

For more on the latest in personalized print in marketing, you may want to read this article in Printing News.

Social media scores with consumers

AnneH@OvationMarketing.com (Anne Hendrickson) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:57:00 CST

A recent study revealed that incorporating social media as part of brand communications is not only a big hit with online Americans – it's an expectation. The 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study noted that 60 percent of Americans interact with companies using social media, and a quarter do so more than once per week. A full 93 percent of those surveyed said that companies should have social media presence.

Though there's no doubt that social media is a growing force, most research focuses on active users who are typically on the lower end of the age demographic. Young people still dominate the social media space. That being said, there's a great deal of opportunity to reach out to all ages to support communications through social media. The Cone research showed, of those surveyed:

43% believed companies should use social networks to solve problems
41% believed companies should solicit feedback on products and services

The study also noted that men were twice as likely as women to interact frequently (1 or more times/week) with companies via social media (33%, versus 17%).
Interestingly, the study showed that younger users, ages 18-34, and those with household incomes of $75,000+, were more likely to react positively to social media marketing messages. This trend will likely grow to become an essential communication tool with younger online users, but it's not yet a given for all.
Choosing the right social tool is critical. A growing influence on consumer behavior via social media is the "customer care" or product feedback function that many sites employ. It's a less intrusive way to get your feet wet in the social world. Another study by the Society for New Communications Research, found that among 300 active online users, 74% of respondents choose companies/brands based on others' experiences shared online. Word of mouth—or of keypad—works.
Social media provides a great opportunity to create two-way conversations with those who are most interested in your brands. But before plunging headlong into developing a MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn page, make sure it's the right type of social media for your audience.

Taking advantage of text communication

KathleenH@OvationMarketing.com (Kathleen Hanson) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:30:00 CST

Last week I blogged about Texting and mentioned that there are over 82 million texters. Today eMarketer reported some Nielsen numbers that demonstrate just how widely this form of communication is being used. Not surprisingly at all, the heaviest users by far are in the 13- to 24-year-old age group, but even the age group of 25-44 is using text more often than voice calls (see chart below).

While texting is close to having a conversation, it isn’t exactly the same. Much more information is usually exchanged in one voice call than in one text message, so a text “conversation” can need several messages to accomplish the same end. And to complicate matters further, e-mail is yet another form of connection. E-mails sit in an inbox until the person checks it (asynchronous); voice calls are in instant connection with the person (synchronous); and text messages sit in the middle ground.

This means the two forms of communication aren’t directly comparable, so the numbers above don’t show the complete story. What we CAN take from this information is the fact that texting (or mobile data use, to be technical) is rising.

And of course, there’s an opportunity for marketers! John du Pre Gaunnt, senior analyst at eMarketer suggests embedding links to pop text sessions into other media such as click-to-map, click-to-call or click-to-video. He cautions marketers to be sure not to confuse texting with the 35-and-older group as the same as e-mail OR the same as voice. It all comes down to mastering the art of text conversation.

Where will future buying decisions be made?

BarryS@OvationMarketing.com (Barry Stahl) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:02:00 CST

On The Move.

As we become a mobile computing society, our buying decisions will be done less and less in a store, from a catalog or even in front of the computer. A survey released earlier this year by the Pew Internet and American Life Project revealed that 62 percent of Americans access mobile data either through a phone or laptop.

Mobile commerce got a boost yesterday when Visa and Google teamed up to provide mobile payment services over one’s cell phone. The initial service will be limited to those who use the TMobile G1 phone and are JPMorgan Chase credit card holders. Plans are under way to expand the user base to other phone services including Nokia and the Apple iPhone. For more details go to the recent story in Business Week.

What does this mean for us in our marketing and advertising efforts? Well, consumers in the near future will be making purchases while commuting on the bus to work or school, while taking a walk during the lunch hour or while sitting in an airline terminal, all on their phone. The cellular marketing channel is going to grow. We should be ready to capture that market by providing content easily viewed over a cellular device, and by collecting customers’ cell numbers just like we collect their e-mail addresses to send regular specials and promotions.

Consumers are doing less and less of their buying in typical brick and mortar stores. The future market is mobile.

Texting translations for communicating online

KathleenH@OvationMarketing.com (Kathleen Hanson) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:45:00 CST

About two years age when I gave our 16-year-old son his first cell phone, I told him its purpose was for us to be able to contact him whenever we needed and so that if he was in trouble in any way, he could reach us immediately. I bought a basic plan and texting was limited. I just couldn't imagine that he would need to text anyone when he could place a call whenever he wanted! Obviously, I was the clueless AITR (Adult In The Room).

The first time I got a bill for an exorbitant amount of text messages, I tried to understand WHY someone would text rather than call. My son explained that there are times that he doesn’t want to carry on a conversation. He just wants a simple answer. It’s also a good way to multi-task—“talk” to someone when you’re in a situation where you can’t talk out loud (passing paper notes in class is SO outdated!)

When a local TV news show aired a spot on texting translations to help parents of teenagers learn how to communicate more easily with their children, they pointed out that if you want to talk with your child, he will respond much more promptly to a text message than to a phone call. Fortunately for me, all three of my teenage and 20-something sons know they'd better pick up when I call, but there are situations where I know a text message is more expedient. I am haltingly learning the language that will keep my thumbs from falling off from overuse, but I can't always translate what they send back to me. The TV show listed only a few of the most basic acronyms, which had my son shaking his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe that EVERYBODY doesn't already know that! Figures show that over 82 million people text regularly, so it is hard to believe that so many of us aren’t text-literate.

I don’t see myself ever becoming truly proficient, but I love to impress my kids when I can use something they aren’t familiar with! When planning any kind of marketing using cell phones, Web sites, games, newsgroup postings, chat rooms and blogs, you really need to know the language. There are some very good sources online to help you learn the lingo and to keep handy for translations. These are some of my favorites:

http://www.netlingo.com/emailsh.cfm
http://blackberryforums.pinstack.com/showthread.php?t=609
http://www.shanemcdonald.com/laughs/l-SMS-Chat_Internet-Acronyms.html

9 GTGB :-)
Translation: A parent is watching, Got To Go, Bye, I'm Smiling)

How to keep FREE SHIPPING from costing you more

KathleenH@OvationMarketing.com (Kathleen Hanson) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:59:00 CST

Shipping discounts this year are going to cost retailers far more than they did during last year's holiday season when FREE SHIPPING was the runaway best performing offer. Transportation costs are up, with diesel fuel dramatically higher than last year and UPS and FedEx fuel surcharges at 10.5% for ground (more than double last year) and 34.5% for air delivery.

Retailers have turned online buyers into Free Shipping addicts. A Shop.org study found that consumers preferred this offer to coupons, BOGO, free gifts, gift cards or early-bird specials. The study also reported that 35% of consumers would buy more online with Free Shipping, while 13% said they'd spend less if shipping charges were too high. So taking Free Shipping out of your holiday promotions mix could make your online sales plummet, especially if a competitor is still offering it. Few retailers are going to want to incur the entire increased expenses this year, however it will be almost impossible to take that perk away. Consumers expect it.

Google and ComScore report that online searches for free shipping have been at peak levels all year, and are already at levels not usually seen until closer to the holiday season. Consumers are saving the cost of high gas prices by turning to the Web to shop and taking advantage of free shipping. Many retailers will still be offering Free Shipping, but with strings attached. They will be giving a new spin to shipping offers to avoid hurting their margins. The big question is how well those re-worked offers will perform.

I took a look at the retail offers I received in my inbox in the past 2 days to see if anyone is still doing a flat free offer before we head into the big holiday season. This was the breakout of 13 e-mails:
– 2 offered flat Free Shipping
– 9 offered Free Shipping with strings
– 2 offered % off order total, shipping costs still apply

The various tweaked FREE SHIPPING offers (shown above) included:
1. Dollar hurdles: “Free Shipping on Orders of ($) or more”
- JJILL, EASTBAY, URBAN OUTFITTERS, NORDSTROM

2. Limited time: “Free Shipping expires (mm/dd)”
- NATURALIZER

3. Limited items: “Free shipping on select essentials and new favorites”
- TARGET

4. Limited delivery option AND dollar hurdle: “Free GROUND Shipping on orders of ($) or more”
- FRANKLINCOVEY

5. Limited items AND limited time: “Free Shipping on ALMOST everything, One Day Only”
- KMART

6. Dollar hurdle AND limited items: “Free Shipping with $150 luxury bed & bath purchase”
- MACY’S

Run the numbers to determine what your shipping costs will be compared to last year and then start testing "tweaks" to see what will keep the orders coming in.

Advertising made easy on MySpace

JulieP@OvationMarketing.com (Julie Plath) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:57:00 CST

"Lemonade for sale. Come and get your lemonade!" I'll never forget my daughter's first marketing lesson as she attempted to sell lemonade on a quiet cul-de-sac one Sunday afternoon about 8 years ago. "Location, location, location." Now in high school, she's taking a marketing class and must attempt to sell a product or service for her semester project. We reminisced back to that Sunday afternoon and joked that she probably should steer clear of a lemonade stand. She's thinking of selling custom-designed T-shirts via MySpace instead.

With MySpace's Do It Yourself ad service, anyone can become a marketer. This new service involves three easy-to-follow steps:

Upload an ad or design your own using one of their templates. The pre-designed templates are rather limited and the design tool is pretty simplistic, but very easy to use. And of course, you can embed links to your Web site as well.
Select your target audience – by age, gender, location, interests, etc. This allows you to micro-target your market based on their MySpace profile and easily and affordably test your ad.
Set your budget – how much you're willing to spend for the entire campaign and per click enabling you to minimize your risk.

Once you've reviewed your ad and forked over your credit card, you're in business (so to speak).

Facebook offers a similar service and both are modeled after Google AdWords.

As a typical teen, spending most of her free time communing with friends on MySpace and Facebook, my daughter is bound to get more traffic for her T-shirt business on MySpace than on our quiet cul-de-sac. Good luck, kiddo!

Use video to engage your site visitors

JackF@OvationMarketing.com (Jack Felsheim) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:18:00 CST

Online video viewing continues to increase, as do the number of Internet video providers. comScore.com reported that Americans watched 558 million hours of online video during the month of July 2008. YouTube.com, receiving 5 billion video views during the month of July 2008, has quickly become the destination Web site where video content providers will first publish their videos. And by using the provided Embed code, that content can be quickly linked to related sites. Born shoe manufacturer is doing an excellent job getting their video content distributed using this model.

Born will publish topical-based content such as looking behind the scenes of their photo shoots, or product announcements to name a few. An example of how this content gets linked can be seen by looking at shoeline.com brand's landing page http://www.shoeline.com/brand/born.asp. This effectively allows the manufacturer to control the content and brand message while making it easy to communicate their message on the retail site selling their merchandise by using the video streaming power of YouTube.

As video publishing and distribution becomes quicker and easier, people will have greater access to quality content, and brands will have more ways to tell their stories.

Fine-tune your data to find new customers

KimZ@OvationMarketing.com (Kim Zinda) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:59:00 CST

An important factor to remember when using your database for acquiring new customers is to fine-tune your data. Data gathered from a leading trade publication stated that 30% of B-to-B contacts change each year, while 66% change job functions annually. Therefore, it is important to make sure your list is accurate even if it means calling companies to verify. Spending the time and effort to fine-tune your data pays off in the long run as it will increase customer acquisition rates by eliminating wasted effort with non-responsive contacts/customers.

One way to assure you have the most accurate and reliable data available is to review and merge all databases (any list or lists of contacts) that you have within the company into one central marketing database. Examples of databases include Outlook contacts, sales force automation applications like ACT! or SFA^®, product literature request names, sample request names, and customer service/tech support inquiries. These ancillary sources of names can help tip the scales in your favor by adding more names into your database than you are losing through attrition.

Another opportunity is by profiling your customer data against an outside resource to fill in any customer contact gaps. For example, if your customer file is lacking contacts within a certain industry, using an outside service can profile current customers and then find "like" customers (e.g. customers with similar buying profiles). Purchasing their e-mail addresses will provide you with additional opportunity to improve your program.

Don't let your customer walk away from a sale

ShannonR@OvationMarketing.com (Shannon Riley) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:57:00 CST

Abandonment rates continue to be on the rise. In some cases, industry reports that as many as 58% of online shoppers put an item in their cart and then leave without fulfilling the order. A number of reasons could exist as to why this happens. However, there is something you can do to reduce this rate with your business. Behavioral targeting.

By attaching metrics to your browsing and e-mail programs, you can help identify those customers that may have left or had an interruption to complete the order. You are then able to send a personalized e-mail to your customer allowing them to pick up from where they left off and complete their order.

By doing this simple follow-up approach, you can expect a higher open rate and higher click-through rate.