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About
Advertising
and Promotion
August
31, 2010
From The
Wall Street Journal:
"Online
Coupons Get Smarter"
Practically
unknown a year ago, social coupons have boomed by offering consumers
another route to discounts while providing small-business owners guaranteed
revenue and a flood of new customers...
http://online.wsj.com
August
31, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"SEO
Copywriting: Five Secrets to Online Success"
Identify
target keywords and include them in the title of your content...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
August
30, 2010
From
Constant Contact:
"5
Tips for Writing Subject Lines that Will Get Your Emails Opened"
Putting
a number in your subject line makes what you're saying quantifiable.
This lets readers know exactly what they can expect and makes them more
willing to read the content...
http://blogs.constantcontact.com
August
30, 2010
From
E-Commerce Times:
"The
Secret of E-Commerce Success: Many
Channels, One Brand"
Seven
tips for making digital communications the cornerstone of your online
sales strategy...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
August
30, 2010
From DM
News:
"Getting
to Know You:
Digital
Body Language"
A
prospect's digital body language is how the prospect interacts with all of
your digital content - website visits, search activity, webcast or podcast
downloads - not only your e-mail...
http://www.dmnews.com
August
27, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"SEO
(Almost Always) First"
If
you do not cover your SEO bases, then your other marketing programs'
effectiveness will be compromised, your budgets ill-utilized, and future efforts
jeopardized...
http://www.clickz.com
August
27, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"15
Back to (E-mail) School Tips and Tricks"
Are
you signed up for your competition's e-mails? How about your
favorite brand's e-mail promotions? Do you have a folder of your
favorite e-mails or the elements you want to borrow from?
http://www.clickz.com
August
26, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Four
Ways to Improve Your Email Campaigns"
When
you make testing an everyday component of your email-marketing program,
you'll get the feedback you need for ongoing improvement - and ever-increasing
ROI...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
August
26, 2010
From
Marketing Charts:
"Marketers
Use Varying ROI for Social Media"
For
social media campaigns, 93% of marketers measure the number of
visitors/page views, while 85% measure the number of fans/followers generated.
79% measure the traffic generated to the corporate site from social
media...
http://www.marketingcharts.com
August
25, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"6
Reasons Why Retailers Must Adopt Mobile Marketing"
As
the utility and entertainment value of mobile media continues to expand,
the audience is following - and the new options represented by mobile are
fundamentally changing media consumption...
http://www.clickz.com
August
25, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"It's
Not About the Send"
The
next time you're rushing to meet a send deadline, step back and ask
yourself if the audience you're sending to is going to be moved to action
because of your e-mail...
http://www.clickz.com
August
25, 2010
From
Constant Contact:
"Don't
Forget: Bad Writing Reflects Poorly on Your Brand"
Include
too many mistakes in an email and your readers may dismiss your newsletter
- and your products and services - as not being worth their time...
http://blogs.constantcontact.com
August
24, 2010
From
E-Commerce Times:
"The
Paradigm of Cross-Channel Marketing"
Cross-channel
marketing uses different channels as a function of time and individual, or
the message it carries. It ensures enhanced ROI by optimizing the
channel usage, ensuring higher interaction among the channels at regular
intervals...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
August
21, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"E-mail:
Make It the Linchpin of Your Digital Holiday Planning"
Three
strategies that will help you achieve a stronger e-mail program going into
Q4...
http://www.clickz.com
August
20, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Three
Ways to Reach Subscribers Who'd Rather Be at the Beach"
Folks
relax a little - or wish they could - during the summer, so keep your
messages lighthearted and brief...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
August
19, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"Social
Marketing May Just Cure E-mail Marketers"
E-mail
messages win when they provide helpful, relevant, and interactive
content. The other stuff gets ignored...
http://www.clickz.com
August
19, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"10
Tips for Building a Revenue- Generating Mailing List for Email
Marketing"
Customers
may be squeezing in shopping trips between other activities and may not
have time to sign up for an email program on the spot. But if you
hand them a prepaid postcard they might fill it out and mail it
later. If you also offer them the option of signing up online
instead, you'll greatly increase your chances of capturing their email
addresses...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
August
19, 2010
From
MarketingVOX:
"5
Reminders about E-Mail Marketing Design"
If
a headline is brighter or in a larger font, it creates more visual
weight. Bullets are better than paragraph after paragraph. Be
clear about the call for action - be specific about what you want him or
her to do...
http://www.marketingvox.com
August
18, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"How
to Capitalize on the Business Opportunity of Social Media"
One
important aspect to consider when analyzing the business ROI of social
media is to understand the particular goal of each social campaign and
each piece of content paired with it...
http://www.clickz.com
August
18, 2010
From
MarketingVOX:
"3
Surprising Customer Touch Points for E-Tailers"
Welcome
messages have the highest open rates of all e-mail campaigns. Using
a series instead of a single message creates opportunities to nurture the relationship,
including turning one-time buyers into long-term customers and brand
advocates...
http://www.marketingvox.com
August
17, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"Maximizing
Your Paid Search Asset"
A
mature paid search campaign is literally an asset, in the sense that it is
a complex, diversified portfolio of laser-targeted advertising touch
points that each come with its own expected return and the flexibility to
bid higher or lower...
http://www.clickz.com
August
14, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"Sometimes
a Secret Isn't a Secret"
Make
your value proposition or campaign proposition strong, simple, quick, and
clear immediately, when prospects first hit your site...
http://www.clickz.com
August
12, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"What
Can E-mail Marketers Learn From Lebron's Decision Fiasco?"
Remember
how and why the subscribers ended up on your list. If they signed up
for a monthly missive from the CEO and your brilliant campaign involves a series
of promotional offers, then you likely will and should fail...
http://www.clickz.com
August
11, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"What
Your Website Doesn't Know"
A
huge chunk of your interactions with customers occur away from your
website and across multiple channels. The proportion might be more
or less for you, but in terms of digital marketing, are you fishing where the fish
are?
http://www.clickz.com
August
9, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"Small
Business and Search:
Where's
the Return?"
As
a general rule of thumb, the better the match between a particular niche
and search marketing, the more competitive the niche is likely to be...
http://searchenginewatch.com
August
6, 2010
From
Retailer Daily:
"Women
Dominate Online Coupon Sites"
Savings
generated from digital coupons doubled between June 2009 and June 2010...
http://www.retailerdaily.com
August
6, 2010
From eMarketer:
"Social
Sites Get People Talking, But Marketers Must Earn Trust"
Only
8% of internet users feel social media site advertisers were reputable, compared
with a 21% average for content sites...
http://www.emarketer.com
August
2, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"To
Segment or Not to Segment"
Send
messages that are targeted with products for lookalike-buyers and keep the
offering to a minimum. Allow recipients to provide feedback through
a preference center, which will give them the control to manage their relationship with
you and make the most out of it...
http://www.clickz.com
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About
Customer
Service
August
31, 2010
From Get
Elastic:
"Does
Your Log- In Make Them Drop Off?"
The
worst practice is to tell the user their login information is
invalid. Equally bad is to say the login didn't work. Sounds
like a system problem rather than an input error...
http://www.getelastic.com
August
24, 2010
From
Practical eCommerce:
"Conversion:
Pros and Cons of Four Checkout Methods"
While
shipping-cost shock is still the major reason for people jumping ship
mid-order, what we don't hear a great deal about are shoppers who feel
forced to leave a store because they cannot figure out what to do next...
http://www.practicalecommerce.com
August
24, 2010
From
E-Commerce Times:
"Supercharging
the Next Generation of E-Commerce"
Shoppers
come to browse and shop for products, and not to simply admire fancy
navigation systems. A site needs to reflect shopper demand and
better showcase the items they're interested in buying...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
August
24, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Shoppers
Key in on a Retail Site's Search Box"
More
shoppers use the search box than browse through the initial landing
page...
http://www.internetretailer.com
August
20, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"Don't
Hurt Their Feelings"
If
one person is completely bent out of shape by your landing page, it's a
data point. If 20 percent of the people who answer your survey are
upset by your landing page, you have a real problem...
http://www.clickz.com
August
20, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"How
to Make a Mobile Site Seem to Load Fast - Even if It Doesn't"
Design
pages so that the most crucial information, such as prices and product
details, load first. Don't put the most important information in
some complex graphic or table that will take several seconds to display...
http://www.internetretailer.com
August
19, 2010
From
Practical eCommerce:
"Pop-up
Shopping Carts Drive Higher Order Amounts"
Once
items have been added, the pop-up disappears after a few seconds, taking
the customers right back to their shopping selections...
http://www.practicalecommerce.com
August
17, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"Redefining
Search-Engine Friendly Website Design"
Think
of search-engine friendly design as designing a website for people who use
search engines. And SEO as optimizing a website for people who use search
engines...
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com
August
13, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Eight
Ways to Improve Your Site Search and Capture More Conversions"
Visitors
to retail sites who use those sites' search box are 2 to 3 times more
likely to convert than those who don't...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
August
13, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Cross-Channel
Shopping Will Gain Steam this Holiday Season"
Only
54% of the retailers allow inventory allocated for one channel to be used
for another channel's fulfillment. Although that's up from 43% a
year ago, it still leaves a huge opportunity for improvement...
http://www.internetretailer.com
August
12, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Three
Crucial Ways to Serve Today's Wired Shoppers"
Location-based
social networks, which essentially ask users to share their retail
patterns with friends, are offering vital new ways for brands to link to
communities...
http://www.marketingprofs.coms
August
12, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Poor
Site Performance Could Cost Retailers a Sale"
Every
retailer should have a backup plan so that its site is always available...
http://www.internetretailer.com
August
9, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Canadian
Shoppers Want Free Return Shipping for Online Purchases"
89%
of Canadian online shoppers say they are less likely to make an online purchase
if they have to pay return shipping costs...
http://www.internetretailer.com
August
5, 2010
From
Practical eCommerce:
"10
Holiday Ecommerce Pitfalls"
Shipping
speed and reliability is a critical decision point for holiday
shoppers. So why is your shipping information inaccessible?
Have links visible throughout the site. Don't force your shoppers to
get well into the checkout process before they can figure out your shipping options...
http://www.practicalecommerce.com
August
3, 2010
From
Yankee Group:
"Social
Media Is Changing the Face of Customer Service"
70
percent of consumers are interested in the ability to chat in real time
with company experts in technical support, billing, etc., from within
their social networks. It is very important that contact centers
gain not only visibility of the customer interactions within social
networks, but also the tools to engage and interact...
http://www.yankeegroup.com
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About
Webstore
Management
August
31, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"Limitations
of Personas in Landing Page Testing"
The
proper basis for constructing personas are usability tests, contextual
interviews, focus groups, and surveys. Personas should always be representative
of key audience classes and grounded in experiences with real people...
http://www.clickz.com
August
29, 2010
From
ClickZ.com:
"Is
Your Corporate Metabolism Killing You?"
If
the ability to gather information before buying products online made
customers harder to sell, what do you think having that information at
their fingertips while in your store will do?
http://www.clickz.com
August
27, 2010
From
Practical eCommerce:
"Comparison
Shopping Engines:
Strategies
for Smaller Merchants"
There
are over 120 comparison shopping engines - how to decide which of them to
use and whether to use them at all...
http://www.practicalecommerce.com
August
27, 2010
From
Practical eCommerce:
"APIs:
What Online Merchants Need to Know"
Online
merchants can use application programming interfaces to improve their
store's features, add site content, or communicate more readily with customers
and partners...
http://www.practicalecommerce.com
August
26, 2010
From
eMarketer.com:
"Grocery
Shoppers Hungry for Mobile Info"
Close
to a quarter of food shoppers use their phones in store to learn more
about a product, whether on a brand's website or through online reviews...
http://www.emarketer.com
August
26, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"Why
You Shouldn't Pursue the Long Tail"
Search
engines have a bit of a wait-and-see attitude to determine whether they
can trust your site...
http://searchenginewatch.com
August
25, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Five
Fatal Social Media Errors
(And How to Avoid Them)"
Your
target audiences almost certainly don't want more communication.
What they surely do want is more effective communication, which is to say communication
that delivers the information they want or need, at the time they need it
and in the formats they prefer...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
August
23, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Why
Retailers Should Incorporate Social Media Content into Site Search"
Social
media content serves two purposes - it provides information that can help
consumers in their purchasing decisions, as well as engages consumers with
the retailer's brand...
http://www.internetretailer.com
August
23, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"Interactions
With Transactions:
Understanding
Social CRM"
The
key difference between CRM and social CRM is that the customer is now
involved and that empowering advocates and improving the customer
experience is a key focal point...
http://searchenginewatch.com
August
23, 2010
From
MarketingVOX:
"5
Reminders When Optimizing a Site for Mobile"
Ask
yourself what kind of information your users are looking for on a mobile
device. For example, they may want to access the thought leadership
pieces posted on your site that they never have time to read except when
traveling...
http://www.marketingvox.com
August
20, 2010
From
Practical eCommerce:
"Databases:
What Online Merchants Need to Know"
When
you are selecting a shopping cart or a payment gateway solution, you
should ask how you gain access to your data and how you take your data
with you should you decide to change vendors...
http://www.practicalecommerce.com
August
18, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"E-Commerce
Sales Grow 14% in Q2"
Seasonally
adjusted e-commerce sales totaled $39.7 billion during the second quarter,
an improvement of 2.6% from the first quarter of 2010...
http://www.internetretailer.com
August
18, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Four
Social Media Tips for Small Businesses"
Daily
interaction with others on social networks and on microblogs will help
keep the pulse of your business going strong...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
August
17, 2010
From
eMarketer:
"Holiday
Shopping Gets Another Early Start"
35%
of US internet users have already begun their holiday shopping and
research as of August...
http://www.emarketer.com
August
17, 2010
From
E-Commerce Times:
"Friend
and Foe? Combating E-Commerce Friendly Fraud"
Defined
as a situation in which a customer disputes a legitimate credit card
transaction, falsely claiming fraud or non-delivery of goods, friendly
fraud is extremely hard for retailers to identify and nearly as costly to their
business as criminal fraud...
http://www.ecommercetimes.coml
August
16, 2010
From
eMarketer:
"Email
Dominates Mobile Web Time"
Email
remains one of the most popular mobile internet activities not just by
time spent but also by penetration...
http://www.emarketer.com
August
16, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Social-Media
SEO:
Five Key Tips"
Include
portable content at your site such as PDFs, video, and audio files.
Send links to them to your list, and offer them to sites related to your
niche...
http://www.marketingprofs.com
August
16, 2010
From
eMarketer:
"Strategies
to Help Retailers Prep for Holiday Success"
Mobile
comparison shopping engines are all UPC-code-based. So UPC codes are
becoming more important and most retailers haven't focused on them...
http://www.emarketer.com
August
13, 2010
From
MarketingProfs.com:
"Analyze
This: Outcome Metrics vs. KPIs"
If
you're not using web analytics to track information on your site, you are
losing out on a proven way to help with making key decisions for your
business...
http://www.mpdailyfix.com
August
13, 2010
From
Practical eCommerce:
"The
Future of Your Conversion Funnel"
There's
a lot you can learn from direct and indirect competitors, for free.
If they're running a promotion more than once, it probably worked.
What are consumers saying about your competitor's brand and its product or
services? What are consumers complaining about when they talk about your
competitors?
http://www.practicalecommerce.com
August
12, 2010
From
eMarketer:
"Women
Account for Bulk of Online Buying"
Men
tend to make fewer purchases of bigger-ticket items, while women are more
frequent buyers with a lower average order value...
http://www.emarketer.com
August
11, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"Retail
E-Commerce Spending Rebounds"
E-commerce
spending in the second quarter reached $32.9 billion, up 8.9% from the
same period last year...
http://www.internetretailer.com
August
11, 2010
From
E-Commerce Times:
"Cracking
the Tough Online Payment Nut"
A
good online payment system should bring you added value through improved
localization, tools to increase average order value, optimization tools
and services, and business intelligence...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
August
10, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"More
Sales Sans Discounts Boost Health of E-Commerce"
Online
sales of full-priced items were up 11% in July compared with July 2009,
and sales of discounted items accounted for an average of 15% of total orders,
down from 24% the previous July...
http://www.internetretailer.com
August
10, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"More
Than Half of Canadians Buy from U.S. E-Retailers"
Online
Canadians spend an average of $454 per year shopping on the web and 62%
of them are buying from U.S. e-retailers...
http://www.internetretailer.com
August
10, 2010
From
Practical eCommerce:
"Ten
Ways To Reduce Your Shipping Costs"
If
you are shipping in volume, a rate shopping system can quickly pay for
itself by searching all the available carriers and kinds of delivery
options for the best combination of cost and delivery. If you don't
ship in volume, develop a set of your own shipping rules that will help
your warehouse staff avoid the most common package processing errors...
http://www.practicalecommerce.com
August
9, 2010
From
Retailer Daily:
"Women
Lead Online Group Buying, Flash Sales"
Attracted
by a varied mix of offerings and price points, the number of visitors to
flash sale sites is increasing exponentially, and more than two-thirds
of visitors are women...
http://www.retailerdaily.com
August
7, 2010
From
MarketingVOX:
"Is
Social Optimization the New SEM?"
U.S.
consumers devote close to a quarter of their online time on social networks.
It is little wonder firms are seeking to optimize these networks...
http://www.marketingvox.com
August
5, 2010
From
InternetRetailer.com:
"80%
of Midsized Merchants Deem E-Commerce Growth Top Priority"
To
improve web sales performance and customer service, 53% plan to try out emerging
sales channels including mobile and social commerce, 42% plan to invest in
add-on web site features such as widgets and 33% plan to replace their
existing e-commerce platforms...
http://www.internetretailer.com
August
4, 2010
From
eMarketer:
"How
Affluents Use Mobile for Shopping and Buying"
Affluent
mobile users have unique multichannel shopping habits and concerns, and
could point the way to the future of mobile commerce...
http://www.emarketer.com
August
3, 2010
From
eMarketer:
"The
New Normal in Consumer Shopping Behavior"
Comparing
prices online and researching purchases to get the best deal will remain
important to consumers who still don't see easy economic times ahead...
http://www.emarketer.com
August
2, 2010
From
Search Engine Watch:
"Don't
Let Your Web Site Design Become a Nightmare"
Four
things that distinguish a web designer from a print designer, and what
your designer should know before you hire them - no matter if you're a
small business or large corporation...
http://searchenginewatch.com
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