Narrow profit margins are a reality for most online merchants…add to that a recession and it’s easy to understand why there’s increasing interest and demand for discounting alternatives. Marketing teams are also increasingly lean (I can speak from this personally), so it’s no surprise we’re also seeing more interest in marketing sophistication and automation. So what it really comes down to is finding a solution that is both appealing to consumers who are feeling the pain of the recession and profitable to merchants (and their marketing teams) who are also feeling the pain of the recession.

With Segment&Serve™, Sitebrand’s personalization platform and our team of pros who make it their passion to help clients be successful, I’m proud to say we’re able to tackle these above-noted requirements. While many best practice campaigns do involve hard incentives like discounts and free shipping, we’re really pushing for web personalization campaigns that leverage softer incentives that tie into service, social marketing and Web 2.0. And overarching everything is the added benefit of measurable results and return on investment. After all, if you can prove ROI, what’s the point?

So just today, Sitebrand issued a news release re: several client success stories (e-commerce case studies) that reference the use of non-traditional “soft incentives” or “comfort-style campaigns” if you will.  Essentially we’re talking about personalized web campaigns that offer helpful product suggestions (like you would get in-store), links to customer testimonials or product reviews (“word of web”), and wish list/gift card reminders (‘Tis the season now more than ever). These “soft incentives” truly counter the classic ”hard incentives” mentioned earlier – things like urgent discounts and free shipping. So what’s the result? Well, we’re helping many clients like ElectricShopping.com and Discount Dance see incredible results (that don’t compromise their narrow margins)…

John Miller, IT Director at Discount Dance says, “Depending on the type of visitor, and the campaign we’re triggering, we are seeing between a 5% and 20% lift on revenue.” Commenting on the measured statistics for multiple soft-incentive campaigns over a 30 day period, Miller adds: “On average, we’ve experienced a 5% conversion lift. Plus, our average order value has gone up about 2%.”

Gift Card Promo

For ElectricShopping.com, Rob Levy, Managing Director, attributes a 17% conversion lift to web personalization campaigns primarily comprised of “soft incentives” that promote the service (caring) side of their business. “I would attribute at least a 5-fold return on our Sitebrand investment, at least that,” says Levy on the ROI generated by Sitebrand. Messaging a concern for the environment is also proving successful.

We care about the environment...

With the help of Sitebrand’s comprehensive web personalization solution, innovative online merchants like ElectricShopping.com and Discount Dance are helping to reset the definition of what constitutes a sufficient incentive to motivate visitors – especially soft incentives that don’t involve any financial reward to the buyer or financial loss to the merchant.

What are you doing to be part of this recession marketing shift?

For more inspiration, you should check out these case two case studies and more in Sitebrand’s Resource Center at: http://www.sitebrand.com/resources/case-studies

No first blog is complete without some kind of introduction – but this is no ordinary blog, my fellow readers. As a Sitebrand blogger, I have but one mandate: write rich and compelling stories worthy of your time and subsequent follow up dialog. That’s a hint for any welcome comments below… you know you want to.

Allow me to be the first to say I am new to the world of e-Commerce and internet marketing. I appreciate the experience of those around me and often feed off their wisdom and knowledge, but with all due respect, I’m going to think outside the box here, so don’t act like you aren’t impressed.

Perhaps it’s the youth in me talking, but I’d love to know why marketers aren’t marketing to reflect the times we currently live in? The economy, social media/web browsing, multi-level branding, targeted content to stand out from the clutter of other, general ads… I smell foreshadowing here, mmmKay?

The opportunity for marketers to drill down into audiences via personalization and segmentation is becoming easier and increasingly more available, yet remains as popular as the last X-Files movie (approximately). I see the relationship between analytics and Sitebrand very much in the same vein as the Smoking man – source of information and Mulder – the action and reason behind the data. Bad analogy? Maybe, but I digress.

We rely more and more on analytical data to better understand web traffic and underlying trends, our day to day priorities have us running in multiple directions, yet personalization/optimization never nears the top of that list. Is there a risk we as marketers don’t want to take? Is it a fear of the unknown? Are we still waiting for that TPS report?

Here’s how I look at it: you’ve spent money, time and effort driving web traffic, increasing site awareness and engaging shoppers. You’ve succeeded in building baseline interest from tens of thousands of e-shoppers, so why not speak to those shoppers directly, peaking additional interest based off consumer behaviors and actions? You are 90% of the way towards the sale, yet the remaining 10% means showing the customer the right solution, of the thousands of products and SKUs available on your site. There’s only so much a static message can say to shoppers who are seeking relevant and targeted information. They may not even know it, but you do. Having a web site that dynamically speaks to customers, driving the right content at the right time, all in real time is the key here. With today’s economy struggling more than the latest release of ICQ (seriously, who knew they are up to version 6.0?), why not retain your initial investments and efforts? Driving new traffic to your website may increase your sales, but won’t help conversion rates or other e-Commerce challenges.

“But Kev, dude, these aren’t the droids I’m looking for, what should I get from this blog?” Glad you asked; I have a challenge for anyone doubting my message: Request a Sitebrand consult and we’ll show you the power of behavioral marketing and segment specific marketing strategies.

A quick recap: if Personalization isn’t on your laser guided radar, maybe it should be – start looking at it as a viable way to reinforce your investments and initiatives with slants of pop culture thrown at you (via my blogs, so in the famous words of Apu, please come again). If that doesn’t put a smile on your face like an office Hawaiian shirt day, nothing will.