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November 30, 2007 |
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Marketing Methods and Alternative Options for 2008 Part II:
Print Media & Press Releases and Newsletters
by Chip Arndt
 Miami, FL (November 30, 2007)—Octover's edition covered marketing methods using traditional Comparison Shopping Engines, Marketplaces, and Affiliate Sites for small to mid-sized merchants to reach consumers (Click here to view last edition). For this month, we explore some "alternative" online marketing methods that deviate from the traditional methods and continue into 2008 with even more marketing options.
MerchantAdvantage is excited to see the proliferation of methods and strategies to bring people together online. This means that more and more people everyday use the internet and mobile, wireless technologies to communicate and shop, which equates to more avenues for small to mid-sized businesses to reach potential customers.
For MerchantAdvantage, this means ensuring that we are at the cutting edge of new methods to make it easier for online shoppers, online service providers, software companies, marketing companies and small to mid-sized online merchants to communicate with each other in a seamless mode of communication.
We have found that using and mastering traditional marketing methods is mandatory to help "spread the word" about your company and that complimenting these methods with new marketing initiatives drives sales and brand awareness.
If you missed the prior newsletter in this series, and prefer to read that first, please refer to www.eTaildTail.com and click on Newsletters. All newsletters are archived and free to read.
So let's continue from our last newsletter commentary.
Overview of Marketing Options
Options, options, and more options!
It is an overwhelming task to cover the full landscape of marketing options and by no means do we claim to cover them all, but we try. In addition to the several marketing options covered in the last newsletter, online merchants should consider complimenting traditional methods of marketing such as print media, press releases, newsletters, snail mail, and e-mails with new methods such as blogs, search engine marketing and optimization, video e-mail, gift cards, coupons, sweepstakes and other ideas to drive quality traffic to your storefront and turn this traffic into paying customers.
The goal of effective marketing is simple: drive customers to your online storefront.
This can be achieved in numerous ways and some methods work better than others. Some traditional, seemingly outdated methods, such as direct mail and print media, are STILL very effective. And when traditional methods are complimented with new marketing methods, we have found that more traffic is driven to an online merchant's storefront and that this traffic is "stickier" and easier to turn into customers.
MerchantAdvantage believes that regardless of which marketing method(s) you choose, each marketing method compliments and works in concert with the other. For instance, if you send out a direct mail during the holidays, ensure that you highlight specials mentioned in these direct e-mails on your website, provide coupon codes that only can be redeemed online by the person receiving the snail mail (which helps you track whether the mailing worked), highlight a "special offer" that a customer can only receive online, remind them of monthly online specials, create easy access to membership and gift card programs, and create a blog (if you have the time) to educate customers on the value-add of your products and remind them of special offers on your storefront.
Another example is when you execute an online email campaign, ensure that you provide "hyper-links" in this e-mail to landing pages within your site that speak to the "special offer" you are referring to or the membership program you are trying to build. These are just some examples.
The main point is that consumers are so savvy that using marketing methods to just drive them to your online storefront is NOT enough. Once you make a connection with a potential customer about a special offer or program, ensure that, when they reach your sight, they come to the "special message" directly and can act on it quickly.
Okay…onto what you may already know…or maybe not.
Print Media
Definition:
Anywhere you place an advertisement in tabloids, local "rags", white/yellow pages, and trade magazines.
While definitely a "traditional" marketing method, it is imperative that you bring consumers directly to your website through your ads and not just market your products or bring them into a brick and mortar store. Why?
- If you can sell to a consumer on your website, you capture a greater margin of the sale.
- You can educate the merchant about your product very well online and keep them interested.
- You can interact with the consumer on their time and in ways that you cannot off line.
- You potentially have a customer to market to into the future once you capture their email addresses.
Mission to Working with Print Media:
Let's keep this simple. Here are three main reasons to use Print Media:
- Reach
A. Depending on where you place an advertisement, print media can reach people fast
B. Quarterly periodicals have a longer shelf life on someone's desk and people might see you more often than in weekly periodicals or one-off marketing
- Popular Medium
A. People still read magazines and if your ad is "eye-catching" they will see it
- Choice,
A. Most likely there are many options to place an ad…don't forget trade magazines where readership is more focused.
Here are three main issues when working with Print Media:
- Longevity
A. If you run an ad in a weekly magazine you might lose your reach – many folks don't look at each week's periodical so to guarantee that they see your ad, you may have to run it for 8 weeks in a row.
- Cost and ROI
A. It may sound sexy to have an ad in a major tabloid but the costs can be prohibitive compared to other creative "guerilla" online marketing tactics.
- 3. Standing out in the Crowd – Boring!
A. YOU must be creative and catch a reader's attention in a second.
Recommendations to Working with Print Media:
- Make sure you have budgeted four to eight ads consecutively, as you may not reach the entire audience you are trying to reach by just running one or even three ads.
- Try and associate an ad with a story/editorial about a company you are working with, which is already being written about in a tabloid. Yes, this is “piggy backing” on the editorial but you can guarantee that when someone likes what they read they will want to work with the companies associated with the company you are helping and an ad 1/4 inch away helps.
- Make your artwork and message generic enough to attract customers even when they see your add a few months later, unless of course you are planning to advertise each week or month for 6-12 months. In that case, tailor your message for the given season or campaign.
- All artwork and associated messaging should be fun and capture the reader’s attention. Flip through tabloids and see what you don’t like and what seems boring to you then do the opposite! = Don’t waste your money on placing ads if you don’t have the skills to make them poignant!
- Never pay the rate card = negotiate, negotiate, and negotiate!
- Think about creating an ad and then NOT placing it in a tabloid but rather paying a “street team” to distribute flyers in your home town or at a local fair! Think “guerilla” marketing – while not as sexy as an ad in a tabloid, at least you are touching people physically and it may help you build your data base.
Press Releases and Newsletters
Definition:
If you are unfamiliar with press releases, please look at the front of www.MerchantAdvantage.com and see what I mean by a press release and a newsletter (what you are reading right now).
Mission to Working with Press Releases and Newsletters:
Here are three main reasons to work with Press Releases and Newsletters:
- Information Dissemination:
A. It is important that people know what is going on with your company. Everyone is so busy that press releases act as "quick hits" to let people know what you are up to and newsletters are an opportunity to interact with your reader in a more intimate manner.
- Keeping Your Brand Name Top of Mind
A. You spent months, if not years, to create a product or service and you forgot that you have to remind people how "wonderful" you are. Shame on you. Don't look at press releases and newsletters as annoying to people but rather as essential business tools to put your great product in front of them.
B. Your customers are busy and you need to remind them, now and again, with useful things you are doing and helpful advice.
C. The same is true for other third parties, who may not be customers = you never know who might be interested to work with you and help your business grow.
- Communicate Intelligently
A. If you have a great product, service, or advice, why wouldn't someone want to know about it?
Here are three main issues when working with Press Releases and Newsletters:
- Ensure that content and presentation are "worthy" of sending out each month
A. If you don't have the time to be thoughtful, consistent, and timely in sending out press releases and newsletters, then don't do it; you will only hurt your brand and fail at what you are trying to accomplish.
B. Make sure you format everything so it is worthy of your brand
- Technical Requirements
A. Use an email service, if you don't have in-house capabilities to do this professionally. You spent a lot of time writing, now make sure they are sent and received professionally.
- 3. Consistency
A.Enough said!
Recommendations to Working with Press Releases and Newsletters:
- Always include an “opt-out” option to any newsletter or press release.
- Look to use a service to send out your press releases, so that it gets a wider reach.
- Try and find a couple of companies you like to work with and market them in your newsletter in the form of a free ad.
A. This might have to be free, at first, but as the newsletter readership grows you may be able to get them to pay you.
B. This gives your credibility. If other companies are working with you why shouldn’t I?
- Only send out newsletters to your data base.
- Always create “sign-up for this newsletter” options and links back to your website for special offers within any newsletter to drive traffic and build your data base.
- Always include customers and new customers into your data base.
A. When someone e-mails, ask them if they want to receive your newsletter and add them to your database.
- Work your data base intelligently.
A. Maybe some folks should not receive every update, as you might annoy, them, and others should.
- AND ALWAYS make either press releases or newsletters worthy of being read.
A. Press Release: ergo…do we really care that you hired 10 more employees? If these new hires lead to new product introductions, upgrades in service etc…then that is the point of the press release not the new hires.
B. Newsletters: ergo…people want to learn, be informed, and have access to value-add information to help their business or make their life easier, not just listen to your ramblings.
MerchantAdvantage Wrap Up:
There are many ways to market online and wirelessly. No method is perfect and online merchants should manage each marketing campaign carefully, understanding how each campaign can, and should, tie into the other. This approach ensures that you are sending a consistent message to the marketplace and that any leads that come to your storefront from these efforts are managed properly, albeit a special offer via a marketing channel is reflected back on your site when that potential customer comes to your site. There are also limitations to what an online merchant can afford, and most online merchants don’t have the money or internal resources to manage too many marketing initiatives effectively. So choose two or three marketing strategies, manage them efficiently, and when you see that you have mastered them, introduce another method and make sure that it ties into your existing marketing efforts.
Stay Tooned for December's PART III of this Newsletter Series on Marketing Methods and Alternative Options For 2008 it will covers E-Mail and Blogs. |
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M-Commerce in 30 Minutes...I like that!
by Chip Arndt
 Miami, FL (November 30, 2007)— M-Commerce in 30 Minutes...I like that! Well I am certainly no psychic, but it is fun to write about something that I believe in so much and then see that there is a company actually executing what I think is the next great trend in e-commerce shopping, namely m-commerce ("mobile commerce").
I know little of the company and will be calling them next week to find out more, but they are called MPoria and they have launched GoMobile.
This service basically allows any merchant to send their product catalog to them and then MPoria will format it correctly, so that it fits on the small hand-held device screens. Moreover, their service is inexpensive at $39.99 a month with a one time set up fee of $69.99. I am unsure if they charge a percent of revenues so check back here later next week and I will find out for you.
The best part about this service is that MPoria already has relationships with Verizon, Sprint and ATT-Cingular so you can be assured that you get distribution. The only question I have remaining, outside of any hidden ongoing fees, is how easy is it to make a purchase once you are on a site. It seems that they have this resolved by having a "unique" button on an merchant's site to click for m-commerce functionality. Once you click this button the consumer enters their billing information once and then when they come back in the future they don't have to hassle with re-entering this data. Oh, and of course, all of the data is highly secure. We hope. |
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Merchant of the Month:
Kellyco Metal Detectors
 Three months ago Kellyco Metal Detectors (kellycodetectors.com) thought life was good. Having been in the business for over 50 years, Kellyco was the leading metal detector retailer in the world. Owner Stuart Auerbach began the company in 1953 after being trained by the United States Military to use metal detectors to find land mines. Fifty-four years later, and thanks to the Internet and eBay, Kellyco delivers metal detectors to anyone who aspires to be a treasure hunter in any corner of the world.
But that was three months ago. Today the 30,000 sq. ft. warehouse that is home to Kellyco is busier than ever. A new phone system was recently installed and new customer service representatives and sales staff have been hired to handle a 30% increase in sales. And the shipping department upholds their "Same Day Shipping" policy, but has jokingly asked the E-Commerce Department to let up just a little. This is almost exclusively due to Kellyco's new visibility on search engines and shopping comparison websites, accessible via Merchant Advantage's Channel Management program.
Today any search for metal detectors yields a link to Kellyco's main site, or at the very least, a multitude of Kellyco's products. Every site, from Shopzilla.com to PriceGrabber.com, links to Kellyco. Kellyco is even organically ranked 1st on Yahoo! for any search of the words "metal detector." Thanks to Merchant Advantage's Channel Management, Kellyco went from being accessible only on eBay to being key players on Become.com, Froogle.com, Pricefish.com, Pronto.com, Shopping.com, Smarter.com and Amazon.com.
Three months ago Kellyco Metal Detectors thought life was good. Today Kellyco thinks life is great and it just keeps getting better and better. With Merchant Advantage, Kellyco has detected a winning combination.
Dan , Kellyco Metal Detectors
Get Your Channel Management Fee Waived Plus Receive a Complimentary Companion Airline Ticket!
We're thrilled and inspired by all the Channel Management success stories you share with us. Now we want to turn the spotlight on you! Send us your best Channel Management success story and you could be selected as our Merchant of the Month.
If chosen, your company will be exclusively showcased in an edition of our monthly newsletter, eTail dTail.
Best of all, your monthly MerchantAdvantage fee will be waived in the month you are selected and you will receive a complimentary Companion Airline Ticket. Submit your Channel Management success story today to stories@merchantadvantage.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
(Note: MerchantAdvantage reserves the right to use any or all of your story, whether or not your article is selected as the winning entry.) |
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About MerchantAdvantage
MerchantAdvantage (www.MerchantaAdvantage.com) is an ecommerce software solutions company committed to championing and helping the small to midsized online ecommerce Merchant address complicated mobile and online e-commerce issues and take a systematic, controlled and proactive approach to online product marketing. MerchantAdvantage provides long-term, cost effective software tools that enable an online business to grow by reaching the widest audience possible via online, broadband, and wireless devices. MerchantAdvantage's applications are designed to thoroughly connect the online retailer to their marketplace partners in a seamless motion of communication allowing Merchants to take control of their ecommerce channels, marketing strategies, and IT solutions. These software tools specifically help ecommerce retailers bridge the gap created by non-standardized data feeds to various online market places, shopping comparison sites, and other online shopping destination sites.
MerchantAdvantage is changing the macrocosm of ecommerce by staying ahead of the curve in providing business solutions to the growing online retail marketplace: We're here because America's commerce future is online.
MerchantAdvantage, the premier software for on-line retailers looking for an efficient and cost-effective method to online product marketing introduces Channel Management with Chanalytics(sm) Professional and Lite. Channel Management products help online retailers save time and money while maximizing their return on investment and marketing budgets by allowing them to easily connect to shopping comparison sites an assess their performance. MerchantAdvantage is for online retailers wishing to better manage online marketing efforts and increase sales volume.
MerchantAdvantage – Take Control of Your Marketing Channels! |
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Is your current site search doing a good job of helping your site visitors find the products they're looking for? If you're not sure, or if you think your site search could be improved, SLI Systems, a MerchantAdvantage Partner, has just what you need. SLI Systems provides a hosted site search solution that drives more traffic to your site and delivers more relevant results once they get there - helping you to gain new customers and increase sales. For more information, or to contact SLI Systems for a free, 30-day trial, visit www.sli-systems.com, or email sales@sli-systems.com.
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Do you have any issues, concerns or interests you would like to share?
Email us at:
tip@etaildtail.com
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• Black Friday Online Shopping Visits Rise Compared To Last Year
by informationweek.com
Web sites with Black Friday shopping ads drew 52% more traffic last week compared to the same time last year, while overall visits to retail sites increased by 7% in one week, according to the latest figures from Hitwise.
The online intelligence company reported Thursday that searches for the term "Black Friday" rose 91% compared to last year. In 2006, searches for the same term rose 452% from 2005.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States. Its name derives from the fact that most retailers turn the corner to profitability on that day.
"Consumers are becoming increasingly more knowledgeable about the availability of Black Friday promotions online and are actively seeking out the Web sites which offer the advertisements before public release," Heather Dougherty, director of research at Hitwise, said in a statement. "Much to the chagrin of some retailers, shoppers are well-aware of the leaked promotions and are able to plan their Black Friday purchases before Thanksgiving arrives. While some retailers resist having their sales announced prematurely, others are embracing these sites as a customer acquisition opportunity."
Wal-Mart attracted the most traffic from Black Friday advertising Web sites for the week ending Nov. 10, 2007 among Hitwise's selection of brick and mortars. Sears and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) ranked second and third for most U.S. traffic. Last year, Best Buy, Circuit City, and Sears topped the list of Black Friday Web sites.
The Hitwise U.S. Retail 100 Index drew 7% more traffic during the week ending Nov. 10, 2007 compared to the previous week.
U.S. retail traffic is up 13% compared to the same week last year. Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN).com held the top spot for Web site visits within the Index last week, receiving 11% of visits, while Wal-Mart drew 6%, ranking second in the retail category. Overstock.com experienced the largest percentage gain in traffic with visits up 18% compared to the previous week.
The search terms "iPods" and "Uggs" sent more traffic to shopping and classifieds Web sites for the week ending Nov. 10, 2007. iPod was the most popular product search term overall, while Wii beat out Uggs for second place.
• Online Holiday Sales To Reach $39 Billion
by webpronews.com
U.S. online holiday retail sales will reach over $39 billion in 2007, an increase of 20 percent over last year's holiday season, according to a JupiterResearch report "U.S. Online Retail Holiday Forecast, 2007."
A record 126 million users, a 6 percent increase over last year, will make online purchases this holiday season. Retailers will increase their efforts to grab customers attention using a number of tactics with an emphasis on search marketing.
"Over half of online retailers say they will increase efforts with search engines, despite rising costs and some reports of declining ROI. Shoppers can also expect to take advantage of more free shipping offers this year," said Patti Freeman Evans, JupiterResearch Senior Analyst and lead author of the report.
"This enticement will also translate to online retailers with brick-and-mortar stores who will likely to beef up their use of percent-off discounts." Heavy use of percent-off discounts is expected from computer and consumer electronic sellers. The report points out that only using percent off discounts may not be enough to drive consumer traffic, specifically among those that do not usually shop online during the rest of the year.
"Online retailers have an opportunity to gain market this year because of the resilience of online shoppers, in spite of a relatively soft off-line holiday season," said David Schatsky, President of JupiterResearch. "Aggressive use of cross channel messaging and promotions will be key to capturing undecided customers."
• PriceGrabber.com Sees Blockbuster Growth of 56 Percent in Traffic to Merchants on Cyber Monday
by prnewswire.com
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- PriceGrabber.com(R), a part of Experian, today announced that the shopping comparison site saw a 56 percent increase in traffic it sent to merchants year over year with more than 1 million referrals to merchants on Cyber Monday. Overall holiday weekend statistics from Black Friday through Cyber Monday were up 46 percent year over year on PriceGrabber.com.
For November 26, PriceGrabber.com's statistics show the peak hour of traffic during the day was at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and was consistently high throughout the busy work day, and continued into the evening hours on the west coast.
"Cyber Monday was the biggest traffic day yet this holiday season," said Ron LaPierre, president of PriceGrabber.com. "We expect the peak for online shopping still to come, with a strong surge in consumer visits and merchant referrals on the first two Mondays in December."
Holiday shopping wasn't confined to the malls, as consumers went online to make many purchases. Sales for November 26 -- dubbed Cyber Monday, when retailers offer online deals to attract consumers shopping from work -- jumped to $700 million, a 15 percent increase and a record, according to comScore.
According to a recent survey from PriceGrabber.com of 1,959 shoppers, 61 percent of online shoppers expect to shop and buy more online this year than last year.
Top Selling Products on Cyber Monday 1. Nintendo Wii Console
2. Microsoft Zune 30GB Media Player -- Brown
3. TomTom ONE 3rd Edition GPS
4. Women's Ugg Australia Classic Ugg Boots
5. Logitech VX Revolution Wireless Laser Mouse for Notebooks
6. Apple iPod nano 3rd Generation 4GB MP3 Player -- Silver
7. Activision Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock Bundle (Wii)
8. Canon PowerShot SD1000 Silver Digital Camera
9. Garmin nuvi 350 GPS
10. Canon EOS Rebel XTi Black SLR Digital Camera
Top Selling Categories on PriceGrabber.com
1. Electronics
2. Computers
3. Cameras
4. Video Games
5. Apparel
6. Toys
To search and compare information on millions of unique products and services from thousands of retailers and sellers, please visit http://www.PriceGrabber.com.
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"Technology should exist to aid us in our endeavors; We are here because you are online.sm"
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Michael Lambert, CEO |
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For information on how MerchantAdvantage may help your business grow, please contact us:
Chip Arndt
Executive Vice President
Business Development and Strategy
305.895.9466 x113
partnerships@merchantadvantage.com
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