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Winning Internet Integration Strategies for Today's Retailer

 

 

e-RETAILING NEWS & OPINION ARCHIVES

May 2010

For the Archives Index, please click here

 

About Advertising

and Promotion

 

May 31, 2010

From adCenter Community:

"Ten Summer PPC Tips"

Make sure you reformat your landing pages to have a summer appeal.  A summer feel seems to improve conversion especially if you pitch it as summer offers and it feels like a limited time offer...

http://community.advertising.com

 

May 31, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"Social Media Ad Spend Trails"

The relatively small share of budget allocated to social media was a result of three factors...

http://www.marketingprofs.com

 

May 28, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"SEM Is Dead - Long Live Find and Influence Marketing"

As consumers engage in broader forms of online content consumption, expect to see a broader set of options emerge for advertisers, each of which is triggered by keywords in order to put our content and our brands in front of consumers within a relevant setting...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 27, 2010

From MarketingVOX:

"DIY Online Ads and Other Marketing Tips for SMBs on a Shoestring Budget"

Important for budget-conscious SMBs is the movement toward ad pricing based on cost-per-action rather than cost-per-click...

http://www.marketingvox.com

 

May 27, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"When Plain Is Good"

Under the right conditions, a plain-text message might be more powerful - and effective - than one rendered in HTML...

http://www.marketingprofs.com

 

May 26, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"The Four Pillars of Social Media Marketing"

By researching where, when, how, and why your audience and/or consumers are interacting the way that they do, your social media marketing efforts will be finely tuned and targeted for the right kind of engagement with them...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 25, 2010

From Social Media Today:

"11 Myths of Social Media Marketing"

Just because there isn't an established cookie-cutter approach to social media marketing success doesn't mean there are no rules.  Don't be excessively self-promotional, don't try to automate everything, be sincere, add value...

http://socialmediatoday.com

 

May 24, 2010

From InternetRetailer.com:

"Mobile Ads Are Hot, But Search Ads Show Biggest Long-Term Growth"

Mobile's projected spending this year is 1.3% of total projected online advertising spend of $31.5 billion...

http://www.internetretailer.com

 

May 24, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"5 Myths About Your Subject Line"

Your subject line can have a direct impact on your brand loyalty.  Use it wisely...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 21, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"7 Ways to Increase and Retain Newsletter Subscribers"

One newsletter rarely fits all.  Your visitors have different interests, different threshold requirements for taking action, and different moments in their buying process.  You must nurture relationships and provide key content and offers at the right times in the visitor life cycle...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 21, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"Social Media Users More Positive About Brands"

95% of consumers say they conduct some form of comparison shopping prior to purchases.  46% use direct price-comparison websites and 35% use blogs and other search related methods...

http://www.marketingprofs.com

 

May 20, 2010

From eMarketer:

"Small Biz Plans to Grow with Social"

Here are the marketing tactics and tools that small businesses consider important for marketing their business...

http://www.emarketer.com

 

May 20, 2010

From DM News:

"Benefits and Challenges to Implementing the Perfect Cross-Channel Campaign"

Most organizations do not have a clear goal, strategy or metrics for contacting customers and measuring performance across multiple vehicles...

http://www.dmnews.com

 

May 19, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"Blogging Boo-Boos"

Several marketing functions that can't be blogged, no matter how hard you try...

http://www.marketingprofs.com

 

May 19, 2010

From eMarketer:

"Stepping Up to ROI Measurement"

14 most important metrics for gaining actionable insight into online marketing campaigns...

http://www.emarketer.com

 

May 19, 2010

From Search Engine Watch:

"How to be a Social Media Medic"

What hasn't worked previously?  Ask for feedback and listen to what people have to say about your marketing - the Internet is filled with people who are all too willing to discuss where you went wrong...

http://searchenginewatch.com

 

May 18, 2010

From DM News:

"Better E-Mail Is Three Steps Away"

Understand how your customers buy and where the inflection or hesitation points exist.  Plan your e-mail nurturing to anticipate these points.  Leverage timing, parse information, or make specific offers to proactively drive the process forward...

http://www.dmnews.com

 

May 17, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"Social, Mobile, Video Marketing ROI Tough to Measure"

Marketers cite conversion and the number of referrals as the top two metrics that would give them the most actionable insight into social media campaigns, followed by revenue, brand monitoring, visits per visitor, and competitor brand monitoring...

http://www.marketingprofs.com

 

May 17, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"5 Ways to Extend Social Media's Reach"

Leverage your marketing and corporate communications to promote offline social media efforts.  Use your website, current social media efforts (such as blogs), in-store signage and flyers, and packages to promote meetings, gather photographs, collect stories, receive comments, and get questions...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 15, 2010

From comScore:

"1 Trillion Display Ads in Q1 2010"

U.S. Internet users received a record 1.1 trillion display ads during the first quarter, marking a 15-percent increase versus year ago.  Total display ad spending in Q1 reached an estimated $2.7 billion, with the average cost per thousand impressions equal to $2.48...

http://www.comscore.com

 

May 14, 2010

From eMarketer:

"Women May Welcome Targeting"

More than one-half of women say they form relationships with brands and Websites, indicating that a pre-existing level of trust may be important for ad targeting...

http://www.emarketer.com

 

May 14, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"Where Does Your Blog Hurt?"

Decisions regarding blog content, not to mention blog promotion strategies and everything else, will become a lot simpler if you can with confidence answer the question:  Why does my company have a blog?

http://www.mpdailyfix.com

 

May 13, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"Email Unsubscribe Benchmarks:  Marketers Offer More Control"

Presenting multiple email management options in every email can be an effective tactic for reducing unsubscribes...

http://www.marketingprofs.com

 

May 13, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"Dwell Rate of Ad Engagement Impacts Conversion"

Marketing campaigns that actively engage consumers online for longer periods of time - by enticing them to dwell - are three times more effective at driving brand-related Web searches...

http://www.marketingprofs.com

 

May 12, 2010

From MarketingVOX:

"Five Steps to Online Marketing Success"

Using destination or downstream traffic tools, marketers can easily see where their users go when they leave the site.  Are they going directly to a competitor, a search engine, or back to their favorite social network?

http://www.marketingvox.com

 

May 11, 2010

From eMarketer:

"Is the Click Still King?"

60% of US marketers report they measure performance in click-throughs.  Fewer than two-fifths measure overall online marketing return on investment...

http://www.emarketer.com

 

May 10, 2010

From MarketingVOX:

"A Day-By-Day Email Marketing Guide"

Deciding on what day and what time of day to hit the send button on an email marketing campaign is as important as actually crafting the message and selecting which segmented group of customers will receive it...

http://www.marketingvox.com

 

May 7, 2010

From eMarketer:

"Boosting Conversion with More Engaging Ads"

High-dwell campaigns lead to a 39% increase in brand-related keyword searches on the part of exposed users...

http://www.emarketer.com

 

May 7, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"8 Things I Wish Everyone Knew About E-Mail Marketing"

E-mail creative is very different in almost every element than any other marketing creative, including other digital mediums...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 6, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Cross-Promotions:

Do's and Don'ts"

Don't start sending other newsletters to your primary audience and then require them to opt out if they don't want to receive them...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 6, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Looking For the Look-Alikes"

While retargeting focuses on revisiting consumers who have already had meaningful contact with an advertiser's brand, look-alike targeting acts more as a direct response tool to get a message in front of the best candidate consumers with the expectation that they will be more likely to take action immediately...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 5, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Change the Message for the Medium"

With hundreds of ways to get your message in front of prospective customers, which ones work best for you?

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 4, 2010

From Hubspot:

"Inbound Marketing Channels Deliver Lower Cost Per Lead"

Businesses spending 50% or more of their marketing budget on inbound marketing activities spend 60% less per lead than businesses spending more than 50% of their marketing budget on outbound activities...

http://www.hubspot.com

 

May 3, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Disabled Images in E-mail Disable Interest"

Small, inexpensive changes to the way your e-mail messages are designed and coded can have a huge impact on your results when images are blocked...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 1, 2010

For MarketingProfs.com:

"The Future of Email Marketing"

Email marketing generated an ROI of $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009.  The expected figure for 2010 is $42.08...

http://www.mpdailyfix.com

 

About Customer

Service

 

May 25, 2010

From InternetRetailer.com:

"Consumers Who First Shop Stores Less Satisfied After Buying Online"

Common problems for store-to-web shoppers included consumers' inability to find the same product at the same price on retail web sites after visiting a store...

http://www.internetretailer.com

 

May 24, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Usability Basics for Landing Page Design"

Do visitors know what their options are by visually inspecting the page?  Is your navigation prominent enough, consistent, and placed in a conventional location?

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 21, 2010

From Practical eCommerce:

"Four Tips For Language Translation, Optimization"

While there is often overlap in popular search terms between languages, the direct dictionary translation may not be a key search term in your target country or language, and using the wrong keywords will  wreak havoc on your search engine rankings...

http://www.practicalecommerce.com

 

May 19, 2010

From Practical eCommerce:

"Website Terms and Conditions"

Requiring some affirmative action to agree to your terms and conditions is the best way to make sure your customers have proper notice of your website's terms and conditions...

http://www.practicalecommerce.com

 

May 18, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Why Negative Reviews Are a Gift"

With a mix of both positive and negative reviews, customers are better informed about the features of your products or services - and informed customers make more purchases...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 13, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Don't Get in the Way of Your Customer Online"

Stop asking what your customer can do for your online marketing efforts and start asking what you can do for your customer online...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 12, 2010

From Search Engine Watch:

"Managing Your Inventory Isn't Just for Overnight Stock Boys"

With an out of stock item, it's better not to redirect it from the normal product page...

http://searchenginewatch.com

 

May 11, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Want More Actions?  Leverage the Point of Action"

Point-of-action assurances allow you to handle the possible objections or concerns your visitors have just as they are ready to complete an action and without them having to go anywhere else on your website to look for the answer...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 7, 2010

From CNET:

"Online Shopper Satisfaction Rises"

Compared to unhappy consumers, a happy online shopper is 73 percent more likely to purchase an item via the Net, 72 percent more likely to recommend it, and 47 percent more likely to buy it offline...

http://news.cnet.com

 

May 4, 2010

From Practical eCommerce:

"Ten Great Ecommerce Ideas"

Include your telephone number in the main title tag of your home page.  This way, someone can call you without visiting your home page, because the phone number will also appear, in bold-face, in search results...

http://www.practicalecommerce.com

 

May 3, 2010

From E-Commerce Times:

"Harnessing the Power of Community for E-Commerce Success"

The content customers generate around your brand experience is as valuable as the official content that you are publishing; consumers are more likely to trust their peers over advertisements...

http://www.ecommercetimes.com

About Webstore

Management

 

May 28, 2010

From InternetRetailer.com:

"Low and High-Income Consumers Drive e-Sales Growth"

The top and bottom income categories accounted for 90% of the Q1 2010 growth in online sales...

http://www.internetretailer.com

 

May 27, 2010

From Practical eCommerce:

"Too Much Social Media?"

Product niches and categories that have to do with people's hobbies and passions are naturals for social media.  Other products may be important, and merchants might sell a great product line, but they do not generate the same kind of community enthusiasm...

http://www.practicalecommerce.com

 

May 27, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Link Building for SEO"

If you are just getting started with link building, or perhaps you've just launched a website, a good foundation is to begin with some of the quality directories that exist...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 26, 2010

From Retailer Daily:

"E-Commerce Sales Performance Analysis Differs"

Online retailers projected they would lose 1.2% of their online revenue to fraud this year, compared to a rate of 1.4% reported from 2006-2008.  This is the lowest percentage revenue loss in history...

http://www.retailerdaily.com

 

May 26, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"Show 'Em That SEO Sparkle!"

Search-engine optimization provides several return-on-investment measures with a greater potential impact on a company's bottom line than many traditional tactics...

http://www.marketingprofs.com

 

May 26, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Online Media Tracking Methodology for Social Media"

Reliable, meaningful social media metrics fall into three broad categories...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 25, 2010

From MarketingVOX:

"Local Search Attracts Fraud Too"

Businesses should claim their business listings at multiple local listing websites, then regularly maintain and manage these local listings...

http://www.marketingvox.com

 

May 25, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Analytics Basics:  Unique Visitors, New vs. Returning Visitors"

Some Web analytics systems are better than others at producing correct unique visitor counts for different time periods, so it's worth finding out how yours works...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 24, 2010

From eMarketer:

"Building Trust with Empowered Consumers"

The top three sources that influenced purchase decisions for Internet users are friends and family sought out for their opinion, friends and family who offered their opinion, and online research...

http://www.emarketer.com

 

May 21, 2010

From eMarketer:

"Driving Online Sales with Video"

For retailers planning a site redesign, adding video is the second-highest priority, well behind social media tools but ahead of other popular Website enhancements including customer reviews and personalized recommendations...

http://www.emarketer.com

 

May 20, 2010

From InternetRetailer.com:

"E-Retail Puts Together Back-to-Back Double-Digit Growth Quarters"

7.95% of Q1 retail sales took place online, not counting purchases of groceries, automobiles, fuel oil and restaurant meals...

http://www.internetretailer.com

 

May 20, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"A Word About Content"

A content strategy should inform the site-build itself, which means it has to come before the architecture is developed.  The nomenclature used for navigational elements, the priority, emphasis, and order of included content, the rate of change built into site maintenance plans, and the source of new content should be built on audience research that is a key part of a content strategy...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 18, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"A Rose by Any Other Name"

To achieve smooth-and-easy SEO, you need to spell out who you are, plain and simple, for the search engines - even if it means inserting a keyword in your primary domain name...

http://www.marketingprofs.com

 

May 18, 2010

From MarketingVOX:

"Research Focuses on Unseen Online Ties"

Mass influencers make up just 16 percent of all online Americans, but are responsible for 80 percent of the brand impressions in online social settings...

http://www.marketingvox.com

 

May 17, 2010

From Search Engine Watch:

"Estimating Word-of-Mouth Activity from Search Query Data"

When adding search-enabled WOM insights to the other creative priorities surrounding new content development, the net result is an airtight method for populating an editorial calendar and positioning its content for maximum visibility in search engines...

http://searchenginewatch.com

 

May 14, 2010

From Search Engine Watch:

"The Small Business SEM Survival Guide"

Getting long tail traffic to your site is easy - and don't let any search marketer tell you otherwise.  Just keep adding quality content to your site on a regular basis...

http://searchenginewatch.com

 

May 14, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Notes on the Convergence"

Now that media platforms, media owners, and media consumers are in the same space, we can let them interact, grow, and create...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 13, 2010

From DM News:

"Microsites:  The Next Big Thing"

That bottom corner on your existing site with the header NEWS! doesn't exactly scream excitement, regardless of how many exclamation points you use.  However, a microsite geared entirely toward your new product says we're confident in the value of this offering, and we're putting our resources behind it...

http://www.dmnews.com

 

May 12, 2010

From RIS News:

"10 Best Tips to Jump Start Your Social Media Program"

Start with a clear, written social media mission.  Position your company as a thought leader.  Set strict branding guidelines...

http://www.risnews.com

 

May 12, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"Are We There Yet?"

Search is a meritocracy.  The more you can do to show search engines that your site is a valuable resource, the faster they will share that with their users...

http://www.marketingprofs.com

 

May 11, 2010

From Search Engine Watch:

"8 Things Website Owners Can Learn From Gordon Ramsay"

Too much varied content won't help your site, so start cleaning up your menu.  Focus on the really important areas for your potential visitors and create landing pages for these areas...

http://searchenginewatch.com

 

May 11, 2010

From InternetRetailer.com:

"E-Commerce Sites Moving to Hosted Payment Pages"

To lower their direct responsibility for meeting payment security guidelines, more e-commerce site operators are letting outside companies capture and store consumers' card data and order information...

http://www.internetretailer.com

 

May 10, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"Social Networks Influential,

Not Always Trusted"

Nearly one-half of US consumers consider a brand message on a social network most trustworthy when it's in the form of a discussion or recommendation from friends, family, or contacts within a social networking site...

http://www.marketingprofs.com

 

May 10, 2010

From Practical eCommerce:

"Six Causes for Disappearing Ecommerce Sales"

A defined review process - particularly after making site changes - can go a long way toward avoiding situations that will hurt your business.  Site testing and statistics review should give you the insights you need to rebuild sales...

http://www.practicalecommerce.com

 

May 8, 2010

From DM News:

"Bridging Your Website with Social Networks"

Traffic to your website from a social media platform is, by its very nature, more valuable than traffic from other sources...

http://www.dmnews.com

 

May 7, 2010

From InternetRetailer.com:

"E-Retail Grows by Double Digits as Average Ticket Rises"

E-commerce grew 15.6% in April, the sector's ninth consecutive month of double-digit growth...

http://www.internetretailer.com

 

May 6, 2010

From eMarketer:

"Dealing with Negative Online Word-of-Mouth"

Retailers should have a plan in place and respond according to whether the problem is an isolated event or situation, a systemic problem or a personal issue, such as with a disgruntled customer who has a need for attention or a desire to bait the retailer...

http://www.emarketer.com

 

May 6, 2010

From Practical eCommerce:

"Should You De-Index Outdated Web Pages?"

When you ask if you should remove obsolete, highly-ranked content, the answer is almost certainly no.  Instead, update the content by revising it and annotating it so that it continues to be useful and usable...

http://www.practicalecommerce.com

 

May 5, 2010

From E-Commerce Times:

"Navigating the Turbulent Waters of International E-Commerce"

To serve customers well and tap into the growth in international e-commerce, organizations must communicate accurate information at the point of sale and then deliver on their promises...

http://www.ecommercetimes.com

 

May 5, 2010

From Search Engine Watch:

"Search Doesn't Only Happen on Search Engines"

The purchase decision takes place before and after a keyword search.  As we interact online more than ever, this is becoming ever clearer and more measurable...

http://searchenginewatch.com

 

May 5, 2010

From MarketingProfs.com:

"Pageviews Down, Viewers Up!"

A good SEO program can reduce pageviews.  If search engines can better find the most relevant content on your site and forward folks to it, this will mean fewer pageviews, but happier visitors...

http://www.marketingprofs.com

 

May 4, 2010

From ClickZ.com:

"Digitalization of Retail"

As technologies like digital signage, mobile, and touch- and gesture-based interfaces bring new experiences to life, e-commerce has grown up.  It's more than electronic commerce; it's everywhere commerce...

http://www.clickz.com

 

May 4, 2010

From eMarketer:

"Online Retailers Socialize Shopping"

Customer reviews have become a critical piece of the marketing puzzle, based not only on consumer demand but also on the sales they deliver...

http://www.emarketer.com

 

May 3, 2010

From InternetRetailer.com:

"Looking Ahead to the Holidays"

The more online retailers do to attract and engage throngs of holiday shoppers, the more they need to ensure their infrastructure can handle the heavier traffic...

http://www.internetretailer.com

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