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The Future of Location-Based Marketing

February 16, 2012

Foursquare location-based marketingBeyond the Check-In 

The number of people who own smartphones in the United States continues to rise. According to comScore, for the three-month period ending in December of 2012, 97.9 million people in the United States owned smartphones, up 12% from the preceding three month period.

 

With this in mind, it is becoming essential that businesses develop strategies to help consumers find information about their products and services when consumers reach for their mobile devices. Although it is not the only tool in a business’s mobile marketing toolbox, location-based marketing is going to become more important for businesses of all sizes in the very near future.

 

Location-Based Social Networking Sites

When you mention location-based marketing, many people immediately think of location-based apps similar to Foursquare, SCVNGR or maybe even Shopkick. Businesses that have this narrow view of location-based marketing may be reluctant to embrace it because relatively few consumers have started using these services. However, this could be a mistake.

 

A recent article on AdWeek.com points out some interesting insights from a Forrester study that was published in December of 2011. According to the study, only 6% of U.S. online adults had used geolocation apps in the past, up two percentage points from 2010. Furthermore, when the study was conducted, just 2% of U.S. online adults used geolocation apps once a week or more. However, as the Adweek article goes on to mention, the early adopters of geolocation apps tend to be influential and young. These early adopters are also more likely to share product information, promotional coupons or discount codes than average online U.S. adults.

 

It should also be noted that offering discounts on food or merchandise just for checking in to a business on any location-based social networking site can also help get consumers away from their computers and into the business’ brick and mortar locations—which can lead to increased sales.

 

Furthermore, as I blogged about last summer, some companies have used location-based social networking sites to interact with consumers in very creative ways, including offering dog owners the opportunity to instantly receive a free sample of dog food when they check in on Foursquare at a specially-designed billboard, or by offering free merchandise from a digital vending experience where the only payment required is a Foursquare check-in.

 

The Future of Location-Based Marketing

Earlier this year, Aaron Strout, Head of Location-Based Marketing at WCG and co-author of “Location-Based Marketing for Dummies,” posted a blog post that lists the 2012 predictions from several thought leaders in this area of marketing. In the post, Strout predicts that check-ins will become more passive. He clarifies his statement by saying that active checking in like people do on Foursquare won’t go away, but they will become less of a focus.

 

Several people mentioned in an article posted just a few days ago on AdWeek.com support Strout’s opinion. The AdWeek article mentions that Forrester Research analyst Melissa Parrish thinks it’s a mistake for marketers to equate location-based mobile marketing with a mere check-in campaign—especially considering that, despite its high profile, Foursquare is not all that big. The article points out that some companies are experimenting with location-informed ad content. Forrester’s Parrish points out that when users click certain Victoria’s Secret rich-media display ads, they expand to reveal the message: “The closest Victoria’s Secret to get this set of pajamas is 0.4 miles away. Click here for directions.” The article also examines the pros and cons of geofencing, including privacy concerns. In the process, it points out that some businesses require that consumers opt-in before marketers can target them with a local ad. I’d suggest reading the AdWeek article in its entirety, as it has some interesting insights.

 

Key Takeaways

  • As more people purchase smartphones, location-based marketing is going to become more important for businesses of all sizes.

 

  • Many consumers will welcome the opportunity to receive targeted communications and discounts if they are relevant and hopefully opt-in.

 

  • Now might be the time start experimenting to find out what works with your target demographic before you competition does.

 

Written by Guest Blogger: Chad Thiele. Read more from Chad at 1911mainstreet.com or follow him @sunbeltbadger

 

 

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How Google+ and Others Are Changing the SEO Rules

February 8, 2012

Search engine optimization (SEO) is starting to become more social. In the past year alone, social media has become increasingly more important when optimizing your site for Google and other search engines. Although it’s true that  social media is still a relatively small portion of how the search engines determine the overall rank of a site, I believe we are just beginning to see how social is going to be used to influence search results and ranking in the future.

 

How Social Media Affects SEO Today

Using social media to promote content. This method has been used by search marketers since the early days of social media, and it continues to be a vital part of any online marketing plan. Social media can be used to promote your original content to a large audience. Using social media you can communicate your content to others who in turn help spread your message through their social circles. When done right, this creates brand awareness and “buzz” for you and your business. Using social media in this way also gives you a better chance of having others link to your content from their website(s). These links can improve where you rank in the search engines. Another benefit to promoting your content through social media is that it often leads to discovering new brand advocates, link building opportunities and bringing in people who will review/comment on your site.

 
Social signals affecting SEO. Last year Google and Bing admitted that they use actions such as tweets and Facebook “likes” to help define rankings. This means the major search engines are now using social data to help determine your authority and relevancy to search queries. It also means it’s more important than ever to begin producing social media content that attracts others to “like” it, tweet it, share it, and plus one it. Begin by creating content on your site that your target audience will find useful and want to interact with. Create status updates that will encourage conversation, ask your audience questions and get them to respond to your social media updates.

 
Google Search Plus Your World. This is by far the most obvious move towards the convergence of “social media search engine optimization.” Using Google+, Google is now including social media profiles as a part of  their standard search results. In the example below, Google shows both the standard search results (see the left side) and profiles of people found in Google+ who are relevant to the search query (see right side of results). Now wouldn’t you want to be the real estate agents who show up at the top of that search inquiry!

Google Plus in Search Results

Google is also using Google+ and +1’s to differentiate results when a user performs a search.  Using Google+ profiles, Google show content authors, as well Google+ users who you may be connected to directly in your results! Therefore, a user may see someone they know through Google+ in their search results, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will  click on that particular result. See example below. These new features from Google seem to indicate that a well optimized Google+ profile will lead to better rankings and potentially more business.

Google Circles in Search Results

 

 

Wrap Up

We are still at the beginning of the convergence of social media and SEO. A smart business owner, you should be aware of these changes and begin to formulate your plan and how you will make adjustment based on these changes. Additionally, it is never too early to start testing to see first hand how to best take advantage of these changes and other changes yet to come.

 

Written by: Dustin Thompson, Konnected

 

 

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Journey to a WordPress Web Site Design

February 1, 2012

Strategy E-ssentials WebsiteIf you have a blog or you’ve seriously considered starting one, you’ve probably heard the familiar refrain, “WordPress is the best!” Fans have believed this to be true about blogs for years. When I started working with blogs, the first thing my programmer friends said to me was, “You’re using WordPress, right?” At the time WordPress seemed a little daunting. Sure you could pick up a free blog template and start writing, but what if you didn’t like the templates offered (which I did not). Spending several thousands of dollars for a beautiful custom designed blog didn’t sound like the best business decision. No, I wasn’t ready to jump in just yet.

 

So I started with Blogger, then Posterous and finally ended up on WordPress. I struggled with a free blog template that was “okay” for my needs. I liked the functionality and ability to add Plug-ins. Think of a Plug-in as an “app” for the behind the scenes WordPress tool that you use to update your blog. About a year after starting the WordPress blog, my site was due for a major overhaul. When friends started suggesting WordPress as the platform for my whole web site and not just my blog, I decided to look into the possibilities. At first my plan was to keep it simple and use the “okay” WordPress template I had been using for my blog. I would just ask a programmer to make some adjustments to it so it could become a “web site” rather than just a blog. BUT, not being a WordPress programmer myself, I wasn’t sure  if my idea would work.

 

I started my journey by searching for WordPress experts and asking lots of questions. I was disappointed that I couldn’t get any straight answers! What I wanted to know is if I could use the WordPress template I had for my blog, and make my adjustments so it would become a full web site. Around in circles I went with programmers, designers, “WordPress specialists.” Finally, during a moment of pure frustration, I mentioned my issue to Alex Meystelman of Red Elixir Business Solutions.  He looked at my current blog template and requirements and informed me that it would be better to create a whole new site from scratch than to try to fit the requirements around the existing template. Just the answer I needed to move forward! (Thank you Alex!)

 

After making the decision to do a full redesign, not just an “adjustment” to the blog template, I went back to my search for the right resources. Miraculously, I found Anne from Evasites.com! Anne had been looking at my original request, and unlike so many others before her, responded to my request by taking a look outside the box. She too suggested that I redesign the site rather than fitting a square peg in a round hole, only she had another idea on how to do it. She recommended I take a look at the Genesis Framework  by StudioPress. One look at how Genesis broke free from the design confines commonly found in WordPress templates and I was hooked!

 

Strategy E-ssentials Web Site AfterWorking with Anne was a wonderful experience. I have been working with programmers/developers for nearly two decades and Anne goes in my golden book of greats. What makes Anne of Evasites.com a joy to work with?

  • Speaks in terms any business owner can understand.
  • Versatile - she did the programming for me, but she does design too!
  • Always professional.
  • Speedy!
  • Very affordable for a small business.
  • Great attitude – which is really helpful on those stressful days!

You can check out the results for yourself at StrategyEssentials.com.

 

Through this experience I have a whole new perspective on WordPress and what it means to have a WordPress web site. If your site is ready for a redesign, I would encourage you to think about using WordPress in combination with Genesis as a solution. I’m happy to take your questions or comments on this subject. Simply comment on the post, or contact me direct through the web site at: http://www.strategyessentials.com/contact/.

 

 

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Social Media Marketing 3 Years of Predictions

January 19, 2012

So far in our three-part series on 3 predictions over 3 years we’ve looked at Mobile Marketing and Video Marketing, but what about Social Marketing. Is this “hot trend” cooling down? Is reality sinking in? Have we tired of starting every article with how fast Facebook has grown or how many people tweet each day? Are we ready to move to a new chapter of Social Media Marketing? Is it possible to see a bigger trend by examining the comments, ideas and predictions from industry specialists over the past three years? Let’s take a look…

 

Social Media Marketing

The Predictions

In 2009 Ravit Lichtenberg, wrote on ReadWriteWeb.com, “2010 will be about integration and a single, cohesive experience across platforms as well as across products and devices — Web, mobile, TV, and video — will become near-inseparable experiences.” Well we didn’t quite get there in 2010, but if you look at the headlines in January 2012, “2012 the year of the Must-Tweet TV” and “Social Media Has Gone Mainstream, Experts Say,” you’ll realize that it hasn’t taken us too long to get there. Lucas Shaw, writing for The Wrap, cites three examples to prove his point that social has indeed gone mainstream in 2012:

  • Monday, Fox News used Twitter to measure viewer reaction to its GOP debate and encourage online interaction based on the candidates’ answers.
  • NBC partnered with Facebook for its “Meet the Press” debate Jan. 8 [2012].
  • VH1 offered a four-hour live stream of analysis during its Critics’ Choice Movie Awards broadcast last week.

Another 2009 blog post that caught my attention was David Armano’s post, 6 Social Media Trends for 2010. He declared in 2010, “social media [will] begin[s] to look less social.” He went on to say, “…it’s likely that user behavior such as ‘hiding’ the hyperactive updaters that appear in your Facebook news feed may become more common. Perhaps it’s not actually less social, but it might seem that way as we all come to terms with getting value out of our networks — while filtering out the clutter.” His prediction came true, just like filtering emails or screening phone calls, social media users today find themselves filtering out the noise just to keep their sanity. I see this trend continuing as we all look to find meaning and value in our social networks.

Moving from 2010 into 2011 you can see the predictions and ideas start to sound like the same record. This record repeats the same verse…measurement, metrics, accountability, measurement, metrics, accountability. We hear this in Don Bartholomew’s 2011 blog post, Social Media Measurement 2011: Five Things to Forget and Five Things to Learn. Bartholomew writes, “So, perhaps 2011 will be the year that social media measurement matures and comes of age.”

There is no doubt we want to be able to measure every action a user takes during their social experience with our brand. By the same token, there is no doubt that we need to measure, but will it happen this year? According to Mike Lewis in his article 2012 Key Social Technology Predictions from Top Business and Marketing Strategists, “2012 will see marketing empowered by sophisticated analytics – with companies, their marketing analytics teams and their social technology vendors coming together to turn the deluge of social data into actionable, measurable insights.”

Will everyone actually “come together to turn the deluge of social data into actionable, measurable insights” in 2012? Hopefully. Will it happen on a wide scale? My prediction? Not likely. Many business are still grappling with the metrics they already have available to them for their website, email or online marketing campaigns. If they are not regularly turning the deluge of data into actionable, measurable insights on today’s metrics, what is the likelihood they will be up to the task to tackle more metrics even if/when they can produce them?

In summary, our conversations on social media marketing over the past three years have all had many similar themes – social TV, total media integration, locking down our social space for sanity, social media measurement. We may see similar predictions for 2013, but just by making the predictions, throwing the thoughts out there and starting the conversation, we are getting that much closer to what we envision the future to be.

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Cool Video Marketing & Failed Predictions

January 11, 2012

Video Marketing as a viable marketing tool for business has been “almost there” for years. It seems every year we read about video taking over the world of Internet marketing as we know it. As part of this three part series devoted to looking at 3 trends over 3 years, I looked at some of the comments, predictions and assumptions made over the past three years about online video. During this research I discovered some cool video marketing trends, tools and ideas that you may have missed.

Online Video Predictions

 Video Marketing

2010 predictions…

While researching 2010 predictions, I came across a really fun source, vidiSEO.com that posts a yearly prediction list on their blog and then follows it up at the end of the year with a cleverly created video to show how those predictions panned out. You can see it for yourself here. Be sure to go to the bottom to see the recap video.

The predictions made by vidiSEO.com in 2009 for 2010 include:

YouTube will allow brands to sell directly on YouTube. vidiSEO demonstrated that this prediction was proved correct with their French Connection example. In the fall of 2010 the French Connection made an arrangement with YouTube to start using out-linking annotations in video to lay the foundation for a more effective way to use YouTube for e-commerce.

Subscription Based Video Services will Explode. I have to say vidiSEO overstretched a bit on this one. From their comments in 2009, it looks to me like they were referring to the subscription based business services such as lynda.com, not entertainment sources such as Netflix and HuluPlus. Yet when they went back and reviewed they felt they “nailed” the prediction because of the explosion of Netflix and Hulu. My thoughts are we are not there yet in terms of video subscription based services for business “exploding”. You be the judge.

Say Goodbye to View Counts. As vidiSEO points out in the 2010 recap, this didn’t happen. I agree the idea of giving an important part of the real estate up for view counts seems silly. We’ve learned the number of  fans or followers you have can have very little meaning, views are a similar deceptive stat. This deserves its own blog post at a later date.

2011 predictions…

In 2010 I didn’t come across a “great” list of predictions for the new year (2011). Instead I saw the same theme repeated in multiple blog sites, articles, videos and comments. Most people quoted facts such as these:

  • Americans watch more videos per month on YouTube than they conduct searches on Google. (Greg Jarboe at SES 2010)
  • A video is 50 times more likely to get a first-page ranking on Google than a text page. (Greg Jarboe at SES 2010)
  • Pew Internet Research conducted a study recently showing that 7 in 10 adult Internet users (69%) have used the Internet to watch or download video (52% of all adults in the United States). (Full article.)

Going back in time, my argument would be this is great news if you have fun and funny video. After all, the Pew Internet Research shows comedy and humorous videos are the number one type of video on the rise. This means campaigns like The Old Spice Guy have a future, but we can only take so many Old Spice copycats!

For your everyday business the question still remains, will video drive more traffic or attract more customers than standard text and graphics online? Are we there yet?

2012 predictions…

This brings us to January 2012. In the past month there have been numerous stories about the future of online video for marketing. In her post for the Social Times, Megan O’Neill, wrote:

“Brands and businesses have learned that consumers expect them to have a presence on Facebook and Twitter and have begun to embrace these networks for everything from customer service to customer acquisition and more.  However, a lot of brands and businesses have yet to embrace YouTube.

In the coming year, I think that YouTube will become the third network in the ultimate social media ‘trifecta’ as brands and businesses realize that video is a much more effective way to interest and engage consumers.”

I think Megan may be right. We may finally be ready for the explosion into business video that we’ve been hearing about for so many years. Okay, maybe not an “explosion,” but hopefully something notable before the end of 2012.

As a final note on video marketing for 2012, I recently met a with a business owner who sent me an email with a video image embedded inside. I was taken back to find the video was the business owner talking to me. He thanked me for our meeting time and discussed next steps. WOW was my response. A pretty novel way to communicate. He tells me it’s easy to create these types of videos (he uses Talk Fusion). If this is the case, I could see this being the next wave for video marketing and communication.

What are your thoughts? What will 2012 bring for marketing online with video?

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3 Trends. 3 Years. What Can We Learn? Today’s Trend: Mobile Marketing

January 4, 2012

Mobile Marketing

Every year around this time there are thousands of articles written “predicting” the new year’s events and trends. We rarely go back and look at the past year’s predictions to see how meaningful these predictions really are. Are we getting just the same story in a different set of clothing from one year to the next?

I decided to look at 3 popular trends (Mobile Marketing, Video Marketing and Social Media) and compare notes on the comments, predictions and ideas that various professionals have had over the past 3 years. I’ll be interested to see if we can actually learn more when we look through this wider lens.

Today’s  trend: Mobile Marketing

2010 predictions…

Source: Mobile Marketer, “What will be the major trends in mobile marketing in 2010?” By Giselle Tsirulnik

  • The U.S. mobile Web will reach nearly 100 million unique users per month in 2010, according to Millennial Media.
  • Advertisers, who previously relied on more traditional advertising channels, will increasingly allocate portions of their media spend to mobile in 2010, according to Millennial Media.
  • [Phone carriers will open up location information.] This will enable marketers to deliver location-triggered programs to consumers who have asked to receive them.
  • As price sensitivity begins to wane and consumers look for more meaningful ways to interact with the brands that they care about, 2010 will bring a reinvention of the coupon specific to interests of consumers as retailers promote PC-Web and mobile Web destinations where consumers can opt-in for specials and coupons.
  • Mobile-driven retail activity and commerce will continue to increase with retailers leveraging new mobile-specific technologies to convert browsers into buyers.
  • Mobile search will become a high driver of in-store traffic, according to Moxie Interactive.

2011 predictions…

Source: Hubspot Blog. “8 Key Mobile Marketing Trends”

  • Mobile Marketing spend is on the rise.
  • Smartphones are beginning to dominate the mobile world (estimated to reach 60.2 million by end of 2010 – 50% increase over 2009).
  • Demand for the tablet is increasing
  • Mobile optimization is a reality. The user experience is becoming more engaging and simple.
  • Mobile goes social. Neilsen reported social networking as the fastest growing category among apps and mobile browsers, growing 240 and 90 percent respectively. The author went on to add this was an area of “tremendous opportunity”.
  • Location-based mobile marketing will become a necessity. Consumers will begin to expect and rely on mobile sites and apps to respond according to their geographic location.
  • Debate between mobile applications vs. mobile website continues.
  • Consumers want accessibility. Consumers want and expect speed and ease of use.

2012 predictions…

The 2012 predictions are still streaming in, but here are some of the more interesting  ideas for 2012 and beyond:

Source: Master The New Net. Three Major Mobile Marketing Predictions for 2012

  • Mobile E-commerce will reach a tipping point. In 2010, e-commerce sales from mobile devices on Black Friday was 3.2%; in 2011, this number jumped to 9.8%. This year will be the tipping point for the e-commerce portion of the mobile mega-trend.
  • Apps will see a decline. App development is expensive and time consuming and usually has no advantages over mobile sites. They have to be downloaded and installed: This isn’t my preferred way to access things, is it yours? Plus, apps can’t be linked to easily, so they’re harder to promote. In 2012, marketers will begin to realize that mobile sites can do virtually everything an app can do, easier, faster and cheaper.
  • Inbound Marketing will enter the world of mobile.  Companies will find that inbound marketing (a/k/a content marketing) takes time, but the out-of-pocket expenses are low.

Source: Small Business Trends. “5 Internet Marketing Predictions for 2012“ By Susan Payton

  • Mobile coupons picked up the pace this year, as Computer Business Review reports, and it was the first time for me (out in California) that when I handed my phone to a cashier I didn’t get a blank stare. There’s hope yet. I think we’ll see wider adoption of mobile coupons and more effective apps in 2012.

Source: SEO and SEM News. “SEO Apocalypse 2012: Mobile Marketing Trends and Search”

  • There will be reduced dependency on text for search and logins in 2012, particularly on mobile devices.

Thoughts

Out of all these trends, predictions and thoughts I felt the last one about search was a red flag. Think about it, search via voice will change everything. There’s a lot of buzz about the Siri phone, and Andorid has been using voice actions for a while. What will happen when computers start taking voice commands as the norm? Perhaps this is the prediction. Maybe we need to get ready to ditch the old keyboard because it won’t be long before we are telling our computer and our mobile phones what to do!

Be sure to watch for the next segment on Video Marketing predictions over the past 3 years and today.

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What Savvy Social Businesses Are Doing

December 21, 2011

Social Business Tips

At this fall’s Social Media Success Stories, moderated by Strategy E-ssentials, guest speakers Kris Newcomer from Gold Nugget Tavern & Grille, Rachael Eide from Lakewinds Natural Foods and Abbey Tosic representing St. Paul Classic Cookie Company told a room full of business owners what’s working for their business when it comes to social media.

6 Tips from Savvy Social Businesses

1. Measurement is vital. One of Kris Newcomer’s keys to success is measurement. She carefully tracks each visit to the website and Facebook page to determine where to spend her time and money. For example, a visitor coming to the website from Yelp or Urban Spoon is “free.” If these “free” visits outnumber her paid adverting visits, Kris knows time to rethink the strategy. This may result in a cut in ad spend. If you’re not carefully monitoring your traffic, you could be throwing money out the door!

2. Brand consistency is key. All three businesses emphasized the importance of brand recognition. You only have a matter of seconds to be recognized, be sure your target audience can recognize your logo, colors and style without a second thought.

3. Participate. Be a part of the conversation, respond to comments, enter contests, join events. Both product and service organizations have opportunities in these areas. Companies that master the art of listening, conversing and gaining the right exposure through fun and appropriate means, will rise to the top.

4. Simplify social management. For businesses of all sizes social management can be simplified with free and inexpensive tools like Tweetdeck, SocialOomph and HootSuite. Tools alone won’t make your life easier. Be sure you couple the tools with a comprehensive plan. Know your objectives before you jump on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc. and plan out your message.

5. Google Docs for Gathering Input. Rachael shared a wonderful system she used with all the managers to gather information on what’s happening in their department each week so she can easily communicate it out via social media. By using a simple Google survey and dropping the information into a spreadsheet, she saves herself countless hours and gathers valuable information to share with Lakewinds’ followers each week. Whether your company is product or service based, this system would be a terrific way to gather, store and disseminate information on a regular basis.

6. Integrate social media on your website. Abbey showed how St. Paul Classic Cookie Company’s new website will be integrating their social presence by using a “speaking balloon” to show off their recent tweets and posts. By integrating your social presence on your website, you bring everything full circle – Facebook, Twitter, reviews, etc. Your social presence is really just another part of your overall online presence. By connecting the dots you make a seamless experience for your customer to get the full picture of who you are and what you can do for them.

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5 Rules to Sell More Online

December 14, 2011

Sell More Online - 5 Rules

Selling online? Want to make more sales? Take notes and talk to your design and development team about implementing these 5 things as soon as possible.

 

1. Shipping: If at all possible use a flat shipping rate. If this isn’t possible try for a range. The worst thing you can do is wait to tell customers the shipping price. Don’t hide it, don’t ignore it, don’t pretend it doesn’t matter. We care. We want to know the full price of what we are buying, including the shipping price. Add a link to shipping information in your navigation (bottom or top).

 

2. Search: If you have more than a few items on your site, invest in a good search tool. What’s the point in selling something online if the customer can’t find it? Be sure you can track what people are searching for. This information is valuable to help you improve sales, marketing, service and selection. While it is true that a well-organized site has less need for a site search, you shouldn’t disqualify search. There are many busy (and lazy) shoppers out there who would gladly buy from you if they can just enter what they are looking for in the search field.

 

3.  Selection: Especially during gift giving times it’s important to introduce customers to a wide selection of recommended or “what others bought” products. When buying the tea kettle, they will likely pick up the fancy tea and tea cups if you recommend them on the same page.

 

4. Stop Sending Customers Away: Many e-commerce sites are still sending customers straight into the cart after they click buy or add to cart. This is a mistake. Don’t assume they have completed their shopping. This would be like leading a store shopper up to the cash register right after they pick something out and then asking them, “Did you want to go back in the store to look some more?” By that time they may not want to take the extra effort.

 

5. Scarce Inventory: This is a big one. You will lose trust with your customer if they waste their time searching for the right product only to find out at the very end of the process that it is sold out or unavailable. Stores that are still on my black list after doing this to me several times in the past include: the Disney Store, The Company Store (I think they have since fixed their issue) and even Amazon.

One thing to note about inventory issues, you can win the customer back, but you need to have something compelling that helps them overlook the negative experience. In Amazon’s case their free 2-day shipping (as a Prime member), large selection and great prices helped me to overlook the occasional inventory issue.

 

One last note…
Track your sales and online activity before you make these changes, and then again over time after the changes have been made. By tracking your changes you will not only learn what works for you, but you’ll see what needs to be tweaked and have a good idea of exactly what changes produce the best ROI.

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Smart Marketing: Save Time, Money & Customers

December 7, 2011

Marketing dollars

Is it just me or are there more companies trying out what I would call “phone spam” this season? This in addition to the hundreds of untargeted emails and slew of direct mail pieces filling up my mailbox daily, are making companies look pretty desperate.

Just yesterday, I received a recorded promotional message from Slumberland on my work mobile phone while I was waiting for an important call. Needless to say, I was not amused, nor was I interested. I couldn’t remember ever shopping at Slumberland, so I decided to take the time to call the store they referred to in the message and find out how they got my number. Apparently someone from my household purchased from Slumberland back in 2005. That was 6 years ago (almost 7)!  That one measly purchase gives them the right to call me on my work cell phone. I asked to get my name and number pulled from the database. The manager told me politely that he would, “let the corporate office know of my request.”

My advice? Don’t waste time, money and effort on ridiculous marketing that doesn’t yield results and angers your customers. Target your marketing where your customers are LOOKING for your products and services. When I was waiting for my call, I was not looking for a mattress, bedroom furniture, or anything Slumberland could possibly offer me. However, if I search online for “mattress” or “bedroom furniture,” I AM looking for your products and DO want to see your “fabulous” offer. So why is it then that in a Google search for these terms not a single link appears for Slumberland on the first page? If I were Slumberland, I would invest in search engine marketing before spending time and money on random phone calls to dead leads.

Market smart! Invest your marketing dollars where people who want to learn about and buy your products can find you. Don’t spend money on tactics that simply make no sense. You’ll not only get better results, but keep happy customers.

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Why Holiday Shoppers Don’t Buy From You & What You Can Do About It

November 21, 2011

Don't Make Me Wait

Written by: Chad Thiele and Karin Khuhro

The holiday shopping season is now upon us.

For some, this means buying special gifts for the people who matter the most.

To others, it means purchasing some very cool stuff at discounted prices.

However, for many of us, when we think of the holiday shopping season, we get a sense of dread because all we can think about is increased traffic around shopping malls and huge lines at the register.

This is particularly annoying when all you want to do is buy some of your everyday necessities. As a result, a shopping trip that would usually take a few minutes of your time takes much, much longer.

Your Customers’ Time Is Valuable

In his book “Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping—Updated and Revised for the Internet, the Global Consumer, and Beyond,” Paco Underhill points out that it’s not good for business if your customers are made to wait in line at the register for too long.

As Underhill points out, “In study after study, we’ve seen that the single most important factor in determining a shopper’s opinion of the service he or she receives is waiting time. If they think the wait wasn’t too bad, they feel as though they were treated capably and well. If the wait went on too long, they feel as though the service was poor and inept. Quite simply, a short wait enhances the entire shopping experience and a long one poisons it.”

It’s also important to point out that if customers see huge lines at the registers when they peer into a store, there is a chance that they will decide to walk away before even looking for whatever it was they intended to buy in the first place.

Additionally, Underhill points out, wait time is not just a problem at the register. If customers have a hard time finding the product that they are looking for, or if they have a question about the product and it takes too long to find a clerk or sales associate to help answer their question, there is chance that they will leave the store and purchase the item elsewhere.

What Can You Do?

In the book, Underhill gives some suggestions that retailers can use to help remedy some of these problems.

When customers are required to wait in line at the cash register, he suggests that retailers take certain steps to “bend” their customers’ waiting time (i.e., alter the way that they perceive it and possibly turn a negative experience into a positive one.)

For example, he suggests using diversion as a way to make your customers’ waiting time more tolerable.

This includes positioning racks of impulse items so that they can be shopped at the cash register or offering free food samples for your customers to try while they wait, both of which are good ways to introduce new products to your customers.

Underhill’s book is filled with other examples of how store design, merchandising and customer service can improve your customers’ shopping experience and reduce their discomfort when they are forced to wait for service. I recommend picking up a copy for more ideas that will help you keep more customers.

 

Wait Time Is Important Online, Too

Nowadays, we have the benefit of avoiding lines altogether by shopping over the Internet.

However, even retailers that offer their customers an option to shop online should not forget that their customers’ time is valuable.

In fact, in the online world, wait time might be even more important.

For example, if a consumer goes to a website and the page takes too long to load, there is a good chance that they will give up.

A 2009 survey of U.S. online consumers conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Akamai Technologies, Inc. found that 47% of respondents said that they expect that a website loads within two seconds. Additionally, 40% of respondents said that they would wait only three seconds for the page to load before abandoning the site.

In some cases, they might choose to go to a competitor’s site.

Poor site performance can also reflect badly on the brand, in general.

Furthermore, if a page takes too long to load, it can have a negative effect on where it ranks in a Google Search Engine Results Page.

What Can You Do?

There are many reasons for a slow website. One common issue is images – too many, too large, not optimized, etc. Downloading improperly optimized images during peak times can cause a site to grind to a halt. One suggestion is to test and then optimize your images using free tools such as Pingdom Tools or  iwebtool.

Efficient coding also makes a big impact on site download times. If you’re struggling to get your pages to load within a reasonable amount of time, you should consider having a trained developer do a code audit and specifically look for ways to clean up the code in order to speed up the site.

Finally, if you’ve done everything to optimize your site, but you simply have too much traffic, you need to look at more servers and/or more servers in more places. Services such as Akamai can help you find the right solution to fit your needs.

Key Takeaways

Plan for how you will handle busy or peak times before they happen. Map out strategies to minimize your customers’ wait time. Sometimes waiting cannot be avoided, in such cases, have a plan in place to minimize their discomfort. Never forget, whether bricks or clicks, a competitor is only a step away. By demonstrating that you value your customer’s time, you move your company, your brand and your product(s) one step up in the mind of your customer.

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