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Should Dayparting be a part of your day?

May 6th, 2008 by Jim Cain

Looking at online sales cycles is a Pandora’s box. Once you decide to look into your analytics to truly understand what steps a visitor needs to go through in order to convert, you always end up with more questions than answers. There are a number of ways you can look at what it takes for a visitor to become a customer. You can go the:

Engagement route: Understanding how and why a visitor moves through your site in a given session towards conversion.

Recency and frequency route: Understanding separate sessions and time between sessions as steps towards conversion.

Micro and macro conversions route: Looking at how pre-transactional conversions like newsletters, wishlists and downloads move a visitor towards a conversion.

I could go on for a while with other options, but the purpose of this post was to make things even more confusing by injecting a new term into the mix: Dayparting. (place maniacal cackle here).

Dayparting is a fairly established term in the offline marketing space, used for managing media buys in radio and television. An example of this is selling radio ads against the morning daypart so that you can have the largest audience (people in cars).

Dayparting is now making it’s way into online media buys, and there are some great articles and whitepapers on the web about how to optimize your search spend based on time of day. It makes pretty good sense. Look at your conversion rate based on the hour of the day (one click in Google Analytics by the way), or even the day of the week. Look at where conversion is higher. Plan keyword spend accordingly.

Using this concept for in-site marketing makes for a very compelling case. We have a few customers at Sitebrand who run personalization campaigns based on the day of the week, but imagine if you tweaked your website so that:

in the mornings you ran your normal site messaging, as people are looking at you as they drink their morning coffee and aren’t buying
during lunch hours and early afternoon your site pushes your wishlist instead of a sale, because people are looking for products on your site that they will buy later at home.
From 5-10 pm you ran aggressive sales messages, knowing that people are on the home computer and much more likely to convert.
From 10pm to 7am you run more discounts and promos, because you might get some ‘midnight special’ bumps to conversion.

Especially if run against a control group, this would make for a very interesting look at conversion from a dayparting perspective. That is, until another way to look at online sales cycles catches my eye….

Cheers,

Jim

PS. Note that I didn’t even TRY to bring time zones into this. Neo, there is no spoon.

Posted in Jim Cain, Conversion, Social Media, Web Analytics, Personalization, eCommerce, Search Marketing | No Comments »

Customer experiences, social media and your corporate reputation

May 2nd, 2008 by Carolyn Gardner

I had an interview earlier this week for Contact Magazine and the topic was corporate reputation management…especially in an age where consumer voices can really SCREAM thanks to social media and Web 2.0 realities.

Create a bad customer experience for someone today and you can almost bet that person will end of blogging, emailing, online chatting or youtubing about it. Never mind the just talking about it! And just as quickly they post and forward those emails, you can bet there will be a trail of media waiting to pounce.

But if you play your cards right and keep your head above the sand, you can use the good and the bad comments to your benefit. After all - it’s not just what you know, it’s what you do with what you know. It’s kind of like web analytics. It’s not just what the data reports, it’s what you do in terms of actioning the data.

To help tackle the beast and better manage corporate reputation, ClickZ just reported that Neilsen Online is about to launch a new services group to help marketers manage their reputations online. Part of the management process includes how to appropriately engage with social media. They’re not the first to step up, but the fact they’re doing it speaks to the significance of paying attention to what’s being said about your brand online.

Taking a step backwards this means really managing customer expectations - with exceptional service, quality, etc. And this applies to both online and offline. Do a good job here and you’ll minimize the bad comments while maximizing the good comments.

After all is said and done, you need to think about taking that step forward. And by this I mean, it’s impossible to please everyone all the time. So be ready for the bad comments. Anticipate them and have a plan. Be proactive vs reactive. Turn negatives into positives.

One of my favourite stories is told in a post I did on the return-o-meter over at shoeline.com. It’s easy to think that lots of returns are a bad thing…but not in this case. Take a read and you’ll see the power of turning negatives into positives.

Posted in Customer Experience, Carolyn Gardner, Social Media, Viral Marketing | No Comments »

Home Depot Digs Earth Day

April 22nd, 2008 by Carolyn Gardner

I’m impressed by all the buzz about Earth Day - TV, radio, newspaper, Google. And it made me wonder how eTailers are responding…

Turns out the Home Depot is all over it. Smack dab on their home page is this:

Earth Day

Then when you click-through, they’ve got plenty of ways we can shop (online or in-store) and feel good about doing our part for the environment. Apparently Home Depot has over 3,300 products to help you save money and energy while reducing environmental stress at the same time. That’s damn impressive. And if you visit the Home Depot today, you can participate in the free tote giveaway, which will reduce 136,411,024 pounds of CO2 per year. That’s equal to taking 13,451 cars off the road permanently! Of course, to do this right, you need to walk or bike to the Home Depot nearest you. Otherwise - gasp - you are not respecting the environment.

It will be interesting to find out the revenue / traffic impact of this Earth Day blitz at Home Depot. I really see all this environmental awareness being such a positive thing for eTailers large and small. On top of fears around a recession and sky-rocketing gas prices, the appeal of shopping online continues to grow. It simply makes a ton of sense.

BTW - thanks to a recent co-presentation I did with Simon Rodrigue at the eMetrics Summit in Toronto, I should be able to track down some numbers for you. Simon just happens to be Senior Manager of eCommerce, Interactive Marketing, at Home Depot (Canada). Stay tuned!

Posted in Optimization, Customer Experience, Conversion, Carolyn Gardner, eCommerce, Social Media, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Where’s the personalization survival guide?

March 12th, 2008 by Carolyn Gardner

5 Survival Guides

For anyone craving more information on many popular terms associated with online marketing, Oneupweb offers five free guides:

SEO Survival Guide - More than 100 terms related to natural search.
Paid Search Survival Guide - Essential information for successful PPC advertisers.
Social Media Survival Guide - Conquer the world of consumer-generated content.
Blogging Survival Guide - Discover online empowerment through corporate blogging.
Eye Tracking Survival Guide - Improve your online presence; see what your market sees.

Sadly, there’s no mention of a web personalization survival guide. But I’m not surprised because the whole concept of web personalization remains underused and misunderstood…at least for now. With any luck, e-commerce marketers will soon look for life beyond the predictable tactics of search, email, etc. And by “beyond life”, I really mean stepping up and trying new things - that’s what living is, right?

It’s not about finding new budgets either. It’s about spending existing budgets differently. For the converted (pardon the pun), the measurable impact of web personalization is significant in terms of lifts to conversion and revenue.

My moral of this post - just because everyone else keeps sinking more and more money into search and email doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. Just look at your analytics and you’ll see reports that highlight the continual failures with this type of follower mentality.

Instead you should take “the norm” as a cue to be different. Consumers are being wooed in every direction. Think beyond the “woo” factor (aka acquiring new customers with a wam-bam approach - I got you here and now your mine!!! This rarely succeeds for the long term).

Now don’t get me wrong. Acquisition is important. But real customer value is earned when you factor in the “wow factor” (aka converting and retaining with a personalized approach that thinks beyond the landing page…an approach that is customer-centric, vs corporate-centric).

Who’s up for the challenge?

Posted in Carolyn Gardner, Conversion, Customer Experience, Social Media, Web Analytics, Search Marketing, Personalization, eCommerce, Email marketing | No Comments »

Get Inspired - How retailers are using social media

March 6th, 2008 by Kelly Rusk

Chapters-Indigo’s Online Community

Chapters-Indigo has made the bold move of starting its own community for “booklovers” (apparently it’s one word to Chapters). Closely tied to its online store the community is a ‘meeting’ place for book lovers to connect and share.

What it does: Allows you to connect with other book lovers. You can post content (like a blog), rate and review books, join groups and find ‘friends’.

Chapters Online Community Usability: Love the div overlays — no page re-loading so it works fast. However I wasn’t too impressed with the site search - when I was adding books I read, I couldn’t remember the spelling of a well-known author. It couldn’t help me; I had to consult my good friend Google. Generally I found the navigation a little awkward. I didn’t give it much of a chance though, so it could be more intuitive once you poke around a bit. Social bonus points for integrating RSS, send to a friend and del.icio.us bookmarking.

Community: I found it hard to find others like me. If I knew a lot of people already on the site, perhaps it would be easier. Also I wish they promoted the ratings and reviews better, that’s what would really draw me in as a user, and the most value I would get out of this social site vs. others.

What it’s great for: Finding new books to read. It’s a risky move to go into the book store and buy a book you haven’t heard of. Here you can read others’ reviews and ratings and find people like you. And obviously a great idea for Chapters-Indigo, since they sell books!

What it’s lacking: A distinct site apart from chapters.indigo.com. I suppose the point is to keep it closely tied with the online store, but it feels like I’m in a store, not a community siteWhen I go to a store, I go to shop, not to meet and hang out with other people. It’s no different on the web. I think it could have been designed differently but still tied into the store as much as possible with functionality.

Success potential: High. I didn’t spend a lot of time searching, but I don’t see much competition. People love to talk books, so creating an online community around is a brilliant idea and it seems it’s being promoted very well on the site. Also Chapters-Indigo has made it very easy to buy books you find interesting from the site, which allows it tie a dollar amount to the success of the community.

Big thanks to Mel Gallant of Women 2.0 who tipped me off to this site, via Twitter.

Posted in Customer Experience, Kelly Rusk, Social Media, eCommerce | 4 Comments »

Customer Engagement via Email, LiveChat…and Twitter?

March 5th, 2008 by Carolyn Gardner

When I think of LiveChat technology, I think of LivePerson which has been around since back in the 1900’s (since 1995 / 13 years to be precise). And since I’m all about monitoring the online customer experience, I absolutely love what LivePerson stands for. Here’s a blurb straight from their “about” page:

“Founded in 1995, LivePerson is a provider of online engagement solutions that facilitate real-time assistance and trusted expert advice. Connecting businesses and experts with consumers seeking help on the Web, our hosted software platform creates more relevant, compelling and personalized online experiences. ”

Allow me to pull some powerful statements as they relate to customer experience:

* online engagement solutions
* facilitate real-time assistance and trusted expert advice
* connecting businesses and experts with consumers seeking help on the Web
* creates more relevant, compelling and personalized online experiences

Taking it a step further, I’ve always liked sites that serve the LiveChat option. For me, the most meaninful invitations for LiveChat come after I’ve been on a site for that “oops, she’s probably lost and needs some help” amount of time. But regardless of how it’s presented as a service option, I’ve never seen LiveChat offered outside the web…until today that is.

This morning I received an email from Kiyonna Clothing - a Sitebrand customer that designs stylish plus-size women’s apparel in sizes 10-32. And this email was different!

Yes, this morning’s email personally invited me to have a LiveChat with Kim, a style expert and personal shopper. With just one click, I could chat live with an expert and have all my fashion questions answered…just like I would expect if I walked into the store itself! To me, this is a great way to get personal in the inbox. It’s a great example of thinking differently and I love it. The email also pointed me in to the web site, but this LiveChat invite was such a refreshingly nice way of putting customers first since it truly says “Carolyn, it’s Kim and I’m here IN PERSON to help you get PERSONAL answers to your PERSONAL questions” It wasn’t an intrusive invitation and it wasn’t hard-sell. Plus, to cover all the bases, Kiyonna offered 3 ways I could connect with Kim - LiveChat, email or a toll-free phone call. Sheer brilliance I say! Scroll down to see the email in all its glory AND a startlingly different perspective on LiveChat…one that speaks to Twitter, the new kid on the block…

What do other people thing? I always find it interesting to get other people’s perspectives and for that reason, I flipped this email to a few respected colleagues. Most thought the LiveChat invite in the email was very cool, but one who happens to be very GenY said this: “It’s interesting, but I’m not really big on LiveChat. It actually seems archaic to me because it’s what I used to do online when I was 12.” She went on to say how she prefers Twitter…

While Twitter sounds interesting, I’m not sure how it could be used in a business sense? And I don’t think I’m alone! According to the Twitter value proposition:

“Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”

Since Twitter itself doesn’t even position itself to be a business tool, can anyone tell me how it could be used to help customers the way LiveChat helps customers? Please share your comments as this is spicy stuff!

Posted in Customer Experience, Carolyn Gardner, Social Media, eCommerce, Email marketing | 15 Comments »

eCommerce Marketers: How does your social media measure up?

February 28th, 2008 by Kelly Rusk

The internet is ablaze with the latest ‘here’s what’ and ‘how-to’ articles on social media. The whole concept is glamorous–A new way to communicate with people on the online. Everyone’s on Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, MySpace, [Insert social network of the day here]. They are all talking through blogs, Twitter, social apps, etc., and you (your brand) could be missing out!

And since eCommerce marketers really, truly WANT people to interact with their sites, it seems like a natural fit–in many ways it is–but before getting caught up in the excitement, you need to consider two different ways to launch a social media program:

The wrong way
Jump right in. Hire an expensive consultant/agency to take care of everything(Update: here’s why…). Don’t let employees get involved. Back out once at the first sight of criticism or negative feedback. I won’t name names, but sadly there are already a few good case studies of social media gone horribly wrong…

The right way
Understand your audience. Build goals and objectives. Take the time to understand the medium and the two-way dialogue social media creates. Understand that you may get negative feedback and learn how to deal with it appropriately (hint: Jeremiah Owyang has some great advice for this) Build a sense of community for your customers and get employees involved too.

Sure this may seem obvious, but good brands & marketers have been blinded by the hype…

Measurement is key
Engaging a social media strategy may be a lot cheaper than a television commercial or outdoor advertising campaign. But if it’s not producing meaningful results, it’s just a waste of money and/or resources. Social media is far from tried and trued, but for eCommerce marketers, assuming you have the right audience (which I’m sure you would know) there’s a few techniques you can test run before diving into a whole strategy.

User Generated Reviews- you may already have some sort of testimonials on your site, but the user-generated review is even more powerful. (PowerReviews is a leader in this space)
Share/Bookmarking widgets–I’m sure we all agree Word of mouth marketing is the most coveted and valuable form of marketing–and fortunately social media makes it easy for your customers to share products they are interested in with their friends. (AddThis is a cool one which covers many popular bookmarking tools)

These are low risk tactics to explore before working on a greater strategy, so testing and measurement are key. For reviews, you can split test so that some users see them, while others do not, and compare to measure effectiveness. For sharing and bookmarking widgets, you can see how much traffic those tools are generating, and how much of that traffic converts. Once you see success with these tactics, it’s time to start thinking bigger picture…

Posted in Kelly Rusk, Social Media, eCommerce | 1 Comment »

New Year’s Resolution #4: User-Generate in ‘08

December 21st, 2007 by Carolyn Gardner

User-generated content (UGC), aka stuff that’s posted by an online user or consumer vs a traditional content provider, has surfaced to be a major trend in online media.

For e-commerce retailers, UGC is especially important since it serves as a means to attract and appeal to targeted customers. For credibility, consumers are taking charge and smart e-commerce marketers are embracing it.

Sure it’s risky inviting customers to do a product review but according to a great report by Omniture and Jupiter Research (Web 2.0 Retail Technologies: Disruption or Innovation for the Retail Industry?), more people will write a product review about a product they like vs a product they don’t like - we’re talking 9% vs. 4%. I would have thought otherwise since I’ve always heard that people are more likely to tell people about bad experiences vs. good ones. Fortunately online experiences seem to be different.

But just how much clout do these review have? Almost 50% (48% to be exact) of online shoppers find these reviews helpful. So with that in mind plus the fact that the majority of reviews will be positive, what are e-commerce retailers waiting for?

Credibility builds trust.
Trust builds relationships.
Relationships build loyalty.
Loyalty builds sales.

BTW, this report I mentioned above also gets into a nice section on how “Social Networks and Community Sites Are Beginning to Extend the Reach of Online Branding and Loyalty”.

PS - I may do another post before the end of 07, but then again I’m kind of outa here for the holidays. So…don’t hold your breath but do indulge this holiday season! I think I’ll be doing the same.

Posted in Carolyn Gardner, Social Media, eCommerce | 1 Comment »

New Year’s Resolution #3: Ameliorate in ‘08

December 19th, 2007 by Jim Cain

I have been challenged by my fellow Sitebrand bloggers to include a post on the end of year theme, which is entitled “-ate in ‘08”.

Like I think most people would, I opened up a dictionary in one window and Wikipedia in the other, on a quest to find the coolest word that ends in -ate.

That word is defenestrate. A bit of a stretch from a thematic perspective. (Throw your ideas about personalization out the window…..yikes)

I then limited my search to words that apply to the specific slant of my current blog postings, ideally one that would set the stage for the tone of next years posts. Three red bulls later the right word was found.

a·mel·io·rate [uh-meel-yuh-reyt] - to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve; meliorate.

There’s a winner. The purpose of my posts over the last few months, to be continued over the course of ‘08, is to share our take on the emerging discipline of eCommerce. As a firm that has a positive, but disruptive (in a good way) business impact on the companies we work with, Sitebrand plays a key role in changing the way marketers approach their websites.

My new years blogging resolution is to ensure that each post references a new (read low adoption), accessible (meaning any marketer can do it), and profitable (kind of a given) concept that can be used to increase visitor engagement and grow conversions on any web property.

Hopefully next year we will see an ongoing amelioration in marketer owned website initiatives.

Final New Year’s Resolution: Celebrate in ‘08

Posted in Social Media, Web Analytics, eCommerce, Personalization, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Leverage ad technology for good instead of evil

December 18th, 2007 by Jim Cain

I like to read my news on the Internet (never at work of course). Rather than reading yesterday’s events today in a paper edition, I have become accustomed to reading news as it happens. This value however is greatly diminished by how totally obnoxious ad-serving technology is. If I want to read about my favorite hockey team, or the new Radiohead album, I would prefer to not have to close a dancing Bacardi bottle floating on my screen, or read around a div layer requesting that I do a survey.

I have never, ever, clicked on a disruptive piece of advertising.

Conversely, I am a big fan of the old Microsoft Office Paperclip character. For all the knowledge I have about leveraging technology, I often need some gentle nudging when it comes to learning how to use it. Many of the things I do now as part of my day came from that Paperclip popping up on my screen saying “Are you trying to…?”, or “Did you know…?”

Don’t get me wrong, after a certain point the Paperclip drove me up the wall and I turned it off. But during that initial period it added a ton of value. In fact, if there was a Paperclip module to help me to get my Blackberry to integrate properly into my email, I would pull out the credit card.

So attention eMarketers: You are currently sitting on a great deal of ad-serving technology that could be used for good (read - visitor value and message relevance) instead of evil (read – disruptive, bounce rate inducing annoyance).

I have a new customer whose online brand identity is tied into a cartoon character, who currently exists primarily in their logo. They are going to be using that character to manage visitor behavior, and leveraging adserving media technologies to do so. First time visitors to the site will see a floating representation of this character, welcoming them to the store and explaining their value proposition. Lost shoppers will see rich media with the character informing them of specials and customer service options. An online catalog becomes an interactive visitor experience, using technologies that are normally used for garish billboarding.

The ability to serve creative outside of the traditional webpage real estate presents some very neat opportunities for visitor interaction. Take a look at how your favorite media properties are launching advanced but disruptive advertising, and re purpose them to add real value to your visitors.

Posted in Social Media, Web Analytics, eCommerce, Personalization, Uncategorized | No Comments »

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