ComputerGeeks.com
True story here… I’m handed the 2009 edition of the IR500 Guide and I randomly open it to page 240 - No. 181, ComputerGeeks.com.  How fitting, they are great clients of ours.  I begin to read their write up and I start to blush:  “The discount retailer of computer and consumer electronics tested a personalization system from Sitebrand Inc. in the summer of 2008 that increased sales 9% on average, or $540,000, in a two-month period.” Wow.  The ComputerGeeks.com team really gets selling online and eCommerce.  Great site and great people.  Big thanks to ComputerGeeks.com

CableOrganizer.com
Flipping to page 364, I see CableOrganizer.com’s write up hinting at personalization being the reason for ROI returns as high as “500% to 700%.” The IR500 Guide goes on to mention “The company also says it is 85% to 90% accurate on delivering content and offers at the right time, with many campaigns yielding a nearly 10% conversion rate.” Pretty impressive, right?  That’s Sitebrand’s impact.  Feel free to read the how’s and why’s here.

Danskin.com
Danskin’s Jessica Koster has always been great to us and ranks among our favorite clients to work with.  Koster and the Danskin team gave us a nice mention in their write up on page 348… “[Danskin] boosted online conversion rates by 56% using personalization technology to trigger customer web campaigns for visitors to the site.  Danskin.com used Sitebrand’s[Segment&Serve] to change the contents of a page based on the user’s geographic location.” Awww, thanks guys.

Many measure the success of a company by the results of their clients and in this case, I think the quotes speak for themselves.  We’re proud to have these success stories and want to sincerely thank you all for working with Sitebrand.

To all of our wonderful clients and new connections made last week, cheers and stay classy.

This past weekend, I was walking through our local big box hardware store; I needed furnace filters, excitement at its best.  I rounded the corner of the furnace aisle and was greeted by a salesman.  He very quickly realized my intention and prompted me with ‘What size filters are you looking for?”.  Nothing remarkable about that you say.  But ask yourself, how does that compare to the online experience?  The fact that I entered the store obviously meant I was a visitor and the fact that I walked down the furnace aisle meant I could be segmented.  But it was the combination of those facts along with a relevant message that made the experience truly personal, and that’s where I’m going.

Personalization isn’t just about segmenting users, and it isn’t about delivering a unique message to a visitor because you can.  It’s about optimizing the conversation you’re having with your visitor.  It’s about having a dialogue rather than a monologue. The ability to segment web traffic is no different in the online world than the ability to stand in the furnace aisle and whistle Dixie.  The key is combining a set of likely visitor expectations with the information you have, to deliver you guessed it: the right message to the right visitor, at the right time.  I wasn’t asked whether it was my first visit to the store, nor was I directed to the humidifiers section.

So what’s the takeaway here?  It’s simple, don’t get lost in the technology, or with the variety of methods and techniques to get in front of users.  Sure, we now have the ability to stand in that online furnace aisle, and that’s a great thing for Marketers, but that’s not the end of the story.  Success always comes down to relevant messaging, segmentation just places you in the aisle.

After I had the right furnace filter in my hand, the salesman kindly asked if he could help with anything else, “no” is what I said, so he pointed me in the direction of the checkout counter.

Visit Sitebrand at IRCE2009, booth 842

Again – 842 is the key here. You’ll need it soon… very soon. You may want to take a second to write it down or get it into your mobile phone. I’ll wait while you do that… … ready to keep reading?

Studies suggest it takes at least 3-5 times of seeing the same message before you start to memorize it. Hopefully the number 842 is beginning to solidify in your mind.

OK, let me take the time to explain the significance of 842. The number 842 is the booth number Sitebrand will occupy during the 2009 Internet Retail Conference & Exhibition next week in Boston, MA.

Was a build up like that necessary to announce an appearance at the IRCE? Absolutely. Sitebrand is the leader in web personalization and to not create a build up like this would only be a disservice to our experience, success and ongoing thought leadership.

But enough about us (but please feel free to ask us more in person next week, in booth 842)… here’s a few topics that directly impact you and Sitebrand solves on a regular basis.

Maximizing search efforts: Alright, you have landing pages for your keywords, but as we all know, those keywords aren’t the only things driving web traffic. What about organic search terms which make up a healthy dose of your steady traffic? How do you speak to visitors who land on your site with natural search? Sitebrand can target those visitors.

Shortening your sales cycles: Bigger ticket items can sometimes incur longer sales cycles before conversions. Chalk it up to researching, comparing, decision making – wouldn’t it be great to properly address those specific needs of your visitors? And if you could, it would probably shorten the average sales cycle. Sitebrand can and has done that.

See any patterns here? Yeah – Sitebrand targets all kinds of visitors. Where other eCommerce solutions may only apply to specific segments or features, web personalization and Sitebrand appeal to everyone.

Booth #842 – Monday June 15th through Wednesday June 17th. See you there!

Stay classy, IRCE 2009

There are four basic points Chris plans to discuss

Maximizing existing traffic’s conversions
Emphasis and focus is always placed on driving traffic to websites.  Conversion rates average anywhere from 1-5% depending on industry and variables, but little attention is ever placed on reinvesting in the traffic that’s already visiting your site.  The reality is, you’ve put time, money and effort into your existing traffic base and only a low percentage of them are converting.  And that’s where Sitebrand enters the equation, helping maximize your traffic investments.

Testing messaging with your audience
Chris’ background in web analytics and measurement becomes very apparent when talking about testing and rightfully so.  Testing is a big component to Sitebrand personalization and subsequent success.  Identifying the need for personalization is one thing, but evaluating messages, understanding what works and what doesn’t is highly critical towards ongoing success.  Chris has some great ideas about testing – this will be a great piece for listeners to hear.

Personalization’s universal appeal
The e-Commerce world offers an incredible number of solutions that work towards improvements, efficiencies and increased revenue.  But unlike personalization, many of these solutions appeal to certain audiences and have limited uses.  The beauty of personalization is its universal use – personalized messages and content appeals to any and every visitor.  It has a tremendous impact on revenue and bottom line and as well on customer experience.

Bringing marketing back to marketers
As the internet continues to grow, so does it’s sophistication and technical requirements.  Marketer’s still have great ideas and ways to improve, but these plans are usually met with technical concerns and questions like “Can we do that?” and “Do we have the resources for this?”  Sitebrand’s intuitive interface makes even the most complicated segmentation rule easy to execute in minutes.  This might be one of Chris’ favorite aspect’s of Sitebrand’s Segment&Serve.

Again – don’t forget to lookout for Chris’ Sitebrand radio debut next Wednesday at 6pm EST.  Click here for more information about the show (note: click the upper left hand image for the live radio feed).

Let us know if you want to add anything to Chris’ discussion list – see you then!

Stay classy, online marketing.

Hmm, ok. Well I suppose that’s interesting, but it’s not the sort of Avinash inspired metric that I’d want to tweet about.

The following day I asked our services team, “what is the main value that Sitebrand (personalization) brings to our online luxury customers today?”

It comes down to this: luxury companies typically have a multi-visit shopping cycle, and they look to us to help influence and shorten that cycle.

Depending on which stage of the cycle a visitor is at, we can target personalized messaging to persuade them to the next stage of the cycle. This shortens the process and reduces the chance that they fall out of the cycle.

Why do they have a multi-visit shopping cycle?

If I’m buying a ring, or any high-end product in any vertical, typically I want to research the product, I want to be an informed buyer – I’m not spending $50 here, we’re talking hundreds or thousands of $$$. In some cases it’s a once in a lifetime decision – like how many times in your life will you be buying a wedding ring (once hopefully)?

What can you measure?

So if you’re an online luxury e-tailor, and your visitor opts into your newsletter, it’s a measure of their commitment to you, you’re one of the contenders. So a newsletter is simply one more checkbox to fill along the multiple visit sales cycle. There are many other customer indicators that indicate commitment, willingness, and interest. Have a look, correlations between purchasers and other high-value tasks exist - your analytics will tell you these.

How does personalization help influence and shorten this cycle?

So now you know the business objective and you have the measurements in place.

“So what… so what do you do about it” (Sorry, another Avinash quote)

Some would argue that you can shorten the sales cycle by discounting the product or offering up deals earlier on in the process. I suppose, but isn’t this trying to fit a square peg in a round hole? For one thing, you’re leaving money on the table, and secondly, you’re trying to force something onto a customer that he or she is not ready for. This could result in lower margins on sales and potentially returned sales.

So I say - Focus on the customer!

Make them feel comfortable. Build confidence. Build a relationship. An opt-in newsletter is only one method to build that trust. Customer testimonials through text, imagery, voice and video; product reviews from both vendors and customers; customer support, email and live chat are but a few examples that do this.

If you’re ‘number of visits to purchase’ rate is 4.5, then spend the first 4 visits building that confidence and trust. This is the time to build brand, loyalty, trust, it is the time to focus on the customer and not on the sell. In visits 4, 5 and 6, offer them the incentive, persuade them towards the cart.

With Sitebrand, promoting that newsletter in a timely and effective manner is just one small example of how we can influence and shorten that sales cycle. Remember, not all of your visitors are at the same point in the purchasing cycle, so make sure you speak to each differently and gently help persuade each visitor segment to that next stage and subsequent purchase.

Rely on your analytics to determine your rates and correlations.

However, don’t rely on measurement alone. Rely on optimization and personalization to continuously improve the right message in front of the right person at the right time.

Chapters preference email

A couple of weeks ago, I received this email from Chapters asking me to update my preferences so that they could send me personal product recommendations, special offers and updates that I care about the most. I like the wording they used in the email, it made me feel like they really care about me and don’t just want to send me whatever offer they are sending to everyone else on their list.

Preference centers are good for both you and your recipients, you are basically letting the recipient control the relationship, and that way they won’t feel like you are pushing stuff at them, they are only receiving what they want to receive. This helps you because it means that the email relevance will go way up and in turn, your open, click-through and conversion rates will do the same.

Another bonus that the preference center offers is that you will be able to catch a customer before they opt out of your emails and put an end to your relationship. You can give them the opportunity to lower the frequency or change the type of emails that they receive instead of opting out completely.

Just one last note…we should remember that preference centers are not for everyone. If you are only selling one type of product or don’t have the resources to manage multiple sends, then don’t worry so much about a preference centre but try to take your customer feedback into account by using customer feedback forms and reading your customer reviews.

Sadly, there isn’t one single combination to guarantee results and certainly that’s no revolutionary thought.  Everyone’s trying to figure out what technologies are needed and what’s not.  My needs don’t match your needs, so the bad news is you still have to keep on top of new tools and technology that solve your challenges.  It’s almost a job in itself.  I guess that’s the true challenge for marketers and vendors in any space, especially in the online marketing world.

Think about it.  You probably have a number of the following tools/solutions running in conjunction with your site right now: in-site search, recommendations, live chat/customer support, customer/product reviews, multivariate or A/B testing, affiliate marketing, email marketing, CMS and of course, web personalization.  I know you all have web personalization integrated into your web strategies.

All these technologies plugged into your website no doubt have the ability to raise your conversion rates and enhance the visitor experience.  I’m sure they all do, but when you have 3 or 4 of the above solutions running at once, are they all working in unison or like 3 or 4 separate products?  You probably don’t have the time or bandwidth to properly setup, run, modify and analyze each solution on a weekly basis and I’m guessing the solutions don’t naturally play well together.  Software is great like that, right?

Is it fair to expect a 1-3% conversion lift from each of the solutions listed above; or at least most of them?  Sounds reasonable if used properly and to the maximum capability.  So, if you are running 3 or 4 of these solutions, why isn’t your conversion rate nearing double digits or higher?  Are these different solutions converting the same visitors?  And would your conversion rate suffer without these solutions?

I’m really asking what the impact of these solutions are.  Are they worth the money you pay when they contribute to a conversion rate that’s less than ideal?  You’ve outsourced a good chunk of your website for tools and solutions that do something better than you can, but do the results justify having the solutions?  Especially if they are converting the same visitors.

For example, a visitor goes through an in-site search to a product that’s been delivered via a recommendation engine.  Score one point for both the search and the recommendation tool, but it’s not like your conversion rates show’s it; nor does the ROI.  Would the conversion happen with only one of the solutions?  Or perhaps without either solution?  How do each of these tools show individual value over another?  My boss will probably say I’m arguing a war of attribution, but let’s see what you guys have to say!

I’m looking forward to all different thoughts, insight and opinions on this subject.

Stay classy, internet marketing tools.

Topic: ”Pay Per Defect Model”.

The concept is simple.  You have a new ready to go-to-market version of your software, but not enough bandwidth to test this software for defects, application crashes, runtime errors, etc…

There’s probably a team running tests using an in-house developed testing solution.  The more defects they find, the better the software gets, the more money they make.  No defect’s found, congratulations, you have the perfect team and don’t need to pay anything.

Win-win situation for everyone.

So, why am I blogging about this concept here, right now?

Think about it: this is a perfect concept for online testing & optimization.  We use our in-house testing solution to test parts of your site. We start with pages that we think could have the most “defects” or improvable sections.  Area after area of your site would be tested this way and a report with improvements would be send to the site owner.

This way the site owner would get their own marketing optimization team that would only be paid based on performance.

You’d get a team that focuess strictly on determining under-performing areas of your website and/or website usability issues.  The findings would be implemented by a testing team.

In this model, we all could focus on critical parts of your website that cause severe conversion loss.

Simple and straight forward, no overheads incurred.

If this service interests you, or you have an different opinion please let me know.

Figure 1 - email with no images

Lately a lot of e-marketers have been using the email pre-header space to add a call-to-action and some brand recognition to their emails. This is especially important when you are sending emails that are all images with very little or no text, because a lot of people are viewing your email with images off by default.

Take this email from Forever21.com for example (see figure 1), this is how it looked when it landed in my inbox. Images are turned off by default, I can’t tell who it is from or what the offer is.

When I downloaded the images, I could see a really nice photo with an offer for party dresses starting at $13.50 (see figure 2). Wouldn’t it have been nice if the pre-header said something like “Forever21.com: Party Dresses from $13.50!” or “View online to get party dress from Forever21.com starting from $13.50″? At least I would have been able to tell who the email was from and what the offer was right away without having to download the images.

Figure 2 - after downloading images

On top of not having a pre-header, there is a smaller image below the big one saying “free standard shipping with orders of $75 or more”. If that was written in text, I could see it without having to download images and it might entice me to click through to the site. Who doesn’t love free shipping?

I’m not saying that every email needs a preheader but it is definitely a good idea to use that space to your advantage.

Happy emailing,
Alison

I love this philosophy, but how does that apply in the organization and who is responsible for each piece. To bring it into sharper focus, let’s meld two concepts together: Zhivago’s “marketing VP” with a conversion funnel.  The conversion funnel is different than a lead or opportunity funnel as it extends the traditional sales funnel to include all of marketing activities right up to the earliest touch point.  To keep things simple, I am only going to divide the funnel into three parts:

1. At the top of the funnel is purely marketing activities that includes both inbound, [webinars, blogs, social media] and more traditional outbound lead generation techniques [tradeshows, e-mail newsletters, direct mail, etc. ] that drive acquisition.
2. The bottom of the funnel is where conversion happens as salespeople engage in conversations with prospects to provide information, over come objections and build trust through stories and shared experiences.
3. And my favorite part: everything in between or as I like to call it,  No man’s land.  This is the arena of persuasion and traditionally where sales and marketing  point the fingers.  Typically this portion of the funnel is punctuated with questions like “Where are the warm leads?” from sales, “Why wasn’t that lead follow-up?” from marketing or disagreements over what was qualified.



With the kind permission of Jim Sterne, one of the more interesting ways I have seen funnel shapes visually expressed is as bar glassware.  The highest conversion rate starts with driving targeted visitors, further dividing them into segments, persuading them with the right message and converting them with the right sales or shopping cart process.

So how do you over come the problems with finger pointing and poor execution that is normally associated with the middle part of the funnel and drive the right kind of conversion shape?

There is no silver bullet that is going to solve all the problems but an organization focused on conversion and driven by a single individual compensated accordingly is a strong start.  The keys to success are strategies and tools that smooth the transitions between job functions and IT systems.

Having set the stage and quickly running out of room in this post, in future entries I will look at the role of a CCO starting at the top of the conversion funnel and explore strategies, tools and hand offs as they apply to each stage.