Web Marketing Blog

Measuring Facebook: The Problem With Metric Changes

2012-09-17T05:27:00.000-07:00

Measuring Facebook: The Problem With Metric Changes | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Social › Social Media Measuring Facebook: The Problem With Metric Changes

Kate Kaye | March 15, 2012 | 0 comments

Brands have embraced Facebook Timeline, but with new, exciting marketing offerings on the platform come a new set of headaches for Facebook data crunchers. It's the double-edged sword of Facebook measurement: As the company refines and arguably improves metrics for marketers, it inevitably disrupts the way people track pages - and now Timelines. The lack of standards can be crippling.

In a sweeping change made to Facebook Insights for pages late last year, the company replaced some of its old metrics such as Active Users with Reach. Though the metric is similar, it makes it difficult for brands to have a crisp view of their Facebook marketing efforts over time.

Now that Timelines are available for brands, marketers and their social media agencies are bracing for a new round of Insights changes. Also on the horizon is the anticipated launch of real-time Insights, which should help alleviate a major obstacle for Facebook marketers who currently rely on Insights data that reflects user activity that can be several days old.

Marketers often have little or no warning that changes are coming. In the past, for example, Misi McClelland, metrics and media director at Ignite Social Media, discovered an Insights change only on the day it went into effect, like many others tracking brand pages. New metrics often replace or enhance old ones, meaning spreadsheets and databases must be altered on the fly.

Recently-introduced metrics such as "Reach" and "People Talking About This" essentially replaced "Active Users" and "Stream Views." The idea is to provide marketers with a more nuanced understanding of what's really happening on their pages and how people are responding to the content they publish there.

Many see the Reach metric as an improvement on the old active user metric, but challenges remain. Because it doesn't allow page marketers to de-duplicate unique people reached, it's difficult to measure reach of a post over multiple days. "I can't add [reach on two consecutive days] together to actually get the total number of people reached," said Matthew Wurst, director of brand strategy and emerging media at social agency 360i. The metric is "somewhat helpful, but it's not fully answering the questions or the challenges we have," he said.

The time lag in Insights data also continues to plague Facebook marketers. The Insights numbers available on Wednesday March 14 reflected interactions made through Sunday March 11. And sometimes the numbers are as much as a week old, meaning marketers are reliant on days-old data to optimize pages and related ad campaigns. On February 29, Facebook said it would make real-time Insights data available to brands "in the next few weeks."

Marketers may gripe about Facebook Insights and the company's approach to morphing metrics, but many believe Insights has improved overall. "It's a lot further along than it's been," said Wurst. At this stage, he said, the best approach to page measurement is the combination of Facebook Insights and analysts like him. "It's probably our best resource," he said.

"What Facebook is trying to do is very valuable," said Peter Heffring, CEO of Expion, a social media measurement firm serving clients including Applebees and H&R Block. Not only do the more refined metrics improve understanding of user interactions on Facebook, they could also be intended to help the company compete with other media.

"They're trying to show the value of their impressions as they compare to other media," suggested Heffring.

Although companies like Expion, Buddy Media and Vitrue help brands and agencies manage and track their Facebook pages and other social media, the ongoing evolution of Facebook Insights - and for that matter the products they measure - in some ways deters third party tech firms from developing their own standardized metrics and tools.

"I think Facebook measurement is continuing to evolve in a way that meet the growing demands of marketers, but as the Facebook platform evolves our questions will evolve," said Wurst. However, he added, "The onus shouldn't have to be on Facebook to solve all these questions for us."

Tags: Facebook

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Kate Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate Kaye is a Managing Editor at ClickZ News. As a daily reporter and editor for the original news source, she covers beats including digital political campaigns and government regulation of the online ad industry. Kate is the author of Campaign '08: A Turning Point for Digital Media, the only book focused on the paid digital media efforts of the 2008 presidential campaigns. Kate created ClickZ's Politics & Advocacy section, and is the primary contributor to the one-of-a-kind section. She began reporting on the interactive ad industry in 1999 and has spoken at several events and in interviews for television, radio, print, and digital media outlets. You can follow Kate on Twitter at @LowbrowKate.

RELATED READING Measuring Facebook: Some Users Have Real-Time Insights Now March 23, 2012 A Timeline Playbook and More Thoughts on Facebook Ads March 1, 2012 Facebook Page Insights Goes Real-Time February 29, 2012 Facebook Marketing Conference: What's On Tap? February 28, 2012 Measuring Facebook: Advertisers Lament Insights Data Lag February 27, 2012

ClickZ News delivers the day's news headlines right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

More newsletter options MOST READ 4 Ideas for Better Social Media MeasurementQR Code Scans Skyrocket in Q2 2012Sports Marketers Hope for Olympic Committee Reversal on Social MediaVivaKi Pairs with comScore to Push Viewability MetricFederated Media Blends Ads Into Content With SuiteCOMMENTS .echo-stream-container {width:260px;padding:18px 4px 4px 4px;font-size:1.1em;}.echo-stream-body {margin-top:-20px} .echo-item-container {border-bottom:1px dotted #a9a9a9;padding:8px 0 5px 0; } .echo-primaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#f5f5f5;margin-top:-26px;border:0 } .echo-secondaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#F4F4F4;} .echo-trinaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#eceff5;} .echo-item-wrapper {margin-top:-3px} .echo-secondaryColor {color:#aaaaaa;} .echo-stream-container a, .echo-linkColor {color:#0077cf;} .echo-linkColor {font-size:1.0em;color:#3a3a3a;font-weight:normal} .echo-item-re a {color:#0077cf;line-height:1.4em} .echo-linkFont, .echo-stream-container a, .echo-stream-container a:hover {text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a:hover {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-sourceIcon {display:none!important} .jsk-HeaderWrapper {display:none!important} .jsk-LinkFont, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a:hover {text-decoration:none!important;color:#0077cf!important}.jsk-SecondaryFontColor {color:#aaaaaa!important;}.discontinuationMessage { display: none; }UPCOMING EVENTS SES San Francisco

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

e-Learning CoursesOnline courses for marketers at every skill level: Online Marketing FoundationSEOPaid Search StrategiesEmail StrategySocial MediaWeb Analytics WHITE PAPERS Marketing Ad Agency Strategies

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Online Advertising in the Age of Agility

2012-09-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

Measuring Facebook: Advertisers Lament Insights Data Lag

2012-09-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

Measuring Facebook: Advertisers Lament Insights Data Lag | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

Kate Kaye | February 27, 2012 | 0 comments

Advertisers checking their Facebook Insights data today won't find information reflecting consumer interactions with their brand pages on Oscars night, or any time during the weekend for that matter. The most recent data available is for Friday, February 24. That time lag in Insights data - showing information such as how many people have viewed a brand's content - is actually an improvement. In the recent past, Facebook has been as much as a week off in brand page reporting.

"That's been…happening since I can remember, but recently it's a lot worse," said Misi McClelland, metrics and media director at Ignite Social Media, regarding the Insights information gap.

"Sometimes it's been a week" of data missing, she said. "And sometimes there have been glitches in the data."

A notice posted by Facebook in the Insights interface acknowledges the problem. "During the past few weeks you may have noticed delays to your insights data. We're sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused and want you to know that we're working to resolve these issues and make sure they don't happen in the future."

When asked about the delays, and a TechCrunch story reporting that Insights will reflect real-time or near real-time data in the future, Facebook said it had nothing to announce.

McClelland relies on Insights data to manage pages for large corporate brands. Advertisers spend money to develop contests and other custom page features to get consumers to visit their pages.

Many brands investing in Facebook pages buy ads on the site to help drive people to them. However, while brand pages are integral to Facebook paid advertising, the company provides only "limited support" for page managers using Insights, said McClelland. On the other hand, she said, the company devotes more resources to its advertising performance analytics service.

"If something is four days behind, that makes it very difficult for us to be flexible with decision making," said McClelland. "You're trying to build consistency and report out weekly or biweekly." If her agency aims to provide numbers to clients every Wednesday, for instance, the erratic Insights data can prevent a regularly scheduled client report.

Facebook Insights is a good gauge of trends, but "it's not something you can be actionable on," said Peter Heffring, CEO of Facebook analytics firm Expion.

When McClelland spoke with ClickZ Friday, Facebook Insights data was four days behind, or "like a month in marketing time," she added. That four-day lag was reflected on WhyIsFacebookInsightsNotWorking.com, a site built by Facebook analytics firm Page Lever. The goal of the site is to "give everyone a simple site to see how far behind you should be," states the site.

According to McClelland, there are no third party tools available to fill in the gaps in data for Insights metrics, which include Total Likes, Friends of Fans, and Weekly Total Reach.

Tags: Facebook

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Kate Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING Measuring Facebook: The Problem With Metric Changes March 15, 2012 A Timeline Playbook and More Thoughts on Facebook Ads March 1, 2012 Facebook Page Insights Goes Real-Time February 29, 2012 ClickZ's Game Day Coverage of the Super Bowl Ads February 5, 2012 Fact or Facebook? October 20, 2011

ClickZ News delivers the day's news headlines right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

More newsletter options MOST READ 4 Ideas for Better Social Media MeasurementSports Marketers Hope for Olympic Committee Reversal on Social MediaFederated Media Blends Ads Into Content With Suite5 Consumer Trends You Can't Afford to Ignore This Holiday SeasonThe Big Secret to Quality ScoreCOMMENTS .echo-stream-container {width:260px;padding:18px 4px 4px 4px;font-size:1.1em;}.echo-stream-body {margin-top:-20px} .echo-item-container {border-bottom:1px dotted #a9a9a9;padding:8px 0 5px 0; } .echo-primaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#f5f5f5;margin-top:-26px;border:0 } .echo-secondaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#F4F4F4;} .echo-trinaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#eceff5;} .echo-item-wrapper {margin-top:-3px} .echo-secondaryColor {color:#aaaaaa;} .echo-stream-container a, .echo-linkColor {color:#0077cf;} .echo-linkColor {font-size:1.0em;color:#3a3a3a;font-weight:normal} .echo-item-re a {color:#0077cf;line-height:1.4em} .echo-linkFont, .echo-stream-container a, .echo-stream-container a:hover {text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a:hover {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-sourceIcon {display:none!important} .jsk-HeaderWrapper {display:none!important} .jsk-LinkFont, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a:hover {text-decoration:none!important;color:#0077cf!important}.jsk-SecondaryFontColor {color:#aaaaaa!important;}.discontinuationMessage { display: none; }UPCOMING EVENTS SES San Francisco

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Facebook Stops Tracking Daily Likes and Comments

2012-09-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

Facebook Stops Tracking Daily Likes and Comments | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

Kate Kaye | March 15, 2012 | 0 comments

Facebook is no longer providing data on daily comments and likes in Insights. The company appears to have stopped showing the number of daily comments and likes made per page and per post sometime this month.

When brands and their agencies view Insights data online or export the data for viewing elsewhere, the information once provided to them showing the number of likes and comments per day on brand pages or specific posts is no longer available.

"Facebook is doing it to push people to look at 'People Talking About This,' " said Jeff Widman, co-founder of Facebook analytics company PageLever.

"I was absolutely shocked," he said.

It's yet another example of a Facebook metrics change that could be problematic for brand marketers and the people who run and track their pages. For agencies providing regular reports on pages to their clients, the lack of daily comments and likes data represents another gap in the information they once were able to track. The reports Widman has seen in the past from clients using PageLever's analytics system have "pretty much always" included daily likes and comments data, he said.

One concern: The people talking metric lumps together the number of people who have liked, commented or shared a brand's post or page, or engaged in some other way. But some advertisers place different values on various forms of interactions - for instance, attributing a higher value to a comment than a like.

"Personally I think that more advertisers will want to know how many [daily] comments and likes they got because comments have different value than likes," said Widman.

Without Facebook-reported daily likes and comments, marketers and agencies will need to track them manually. For those tracking larger pages with multiple posts, that could get tedious. Companies like PageLever could benefit from the change.

Noted Widman, "I expect that we will see a fair number of companies come in and say can you help us with this?"

Facebook did not respond to an interview request regarding the change.

Tags: Facebook

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Kate Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING SXSW Meets Latino Marketing April 11, 2012 When Good Customers Turn Against You February 1, 2012 ClickZ Holiday Social Showdown: Round One Winners December 8, 2011 Facebook Bolsters Page Insights, Unveils New Ad Unit October 2, 2011 Social Media Marketing at Dell: An Interview With Rishi Dave August 30, 2011

ClickZ News delivers the day's news headlines right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

The Marketing/IT Tug-of-War

2012-09-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

The Marketing/IT Tug-of-War | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing The Marketing/IT Tug-of-War

Bryan Eisenberg | August 10, 2012 | 0 comments

Last week we were visited by our client Randy Albert, a change management expert from Level Up System who focuses on helping companies that are no longer in survival mode, not yet in prosperity mode, and still have untapped growth potential. Over lunch he was recalling the story of a former client and the challenge of getting an IT group to respond to business needs. Of course, this doesn't feel like anything new, but it was interesting when he shared that the then president of Boeing Computer Services, Mike Hallman, who asked his 4,000-person organization how long it would take to implement all-electronic airplane design, the answer was 10 years…but it would take them 10 additional years before they could get to it because of the backlog of projects already on the books - so 20 years total.

We frequently hear stories of marketers being told a project will take 300 hours to implement by the BPUs (business prevention units/CIO/CTO) when all it should be is a fairly straightforward tag or application programming interface (API) integration. The office of the chief marketing officer (CMO) and chief information officer/chief technology officer (CIO/CTO) can no longer afford not to be aligned even though their roles and skill sets are different.

Boeing ultimately got it done in one year after the chief financial officer (CFO) shared that the company was only making about 2 percent return on sales, which at the time meant it would have been making more by putting its money in a passbook savings account instead of building airplanes. That worked because it followed a key change management framework that Randy likes to teach:

Dissatisfaction x Vision x First Steps > the Resistance to Change

Given the nature of the equation, if dissatisfaction, vision, or first steps do not exist or barely exist in the group's or individual's perception, their product will be zero or near zero, and resistance to change will not be overcome. Focusing on the left side of the equation (dissatisfaction, vision, and first steps) is more effective than focusing on the right side of the equation (resistance).

Even where there is agreement on a project like an e-commerce re-platforming, the average delay for it is a staggering 3.9 months according to a recent Forrester study commissioned by Monetate. New platforms and site redesigns are often planned to launch just before the holiday season or perhaps a major brand-marketing event. A four-month project delay means that any customer experience, feature, or business case benefits will not only come after these planned events, but also that the risk associated with launching the new platform may be significantly amplified.

It's important to understand the thinking process of most CTOs. It is certainly true that the CTO at most companies isn't the final decision-maker, especially when it comes to working with any marketing technology. In fact, it's often the case that the business decision to go with a marketing technology has already been made by the time a CTO becomes involved. Yet, this is also the key juncture where deals that seemed "done" often get bogged down and stall out.

It's vital, then, to understand the sorts of objections a CTO will make to marketing technologies, and how to address these concerns. By meeting these objections when (or even before) the objection is raised, we stand a substantially better shot at deftly moving the process forward and being seen as a solution that is easy to work with.

As my former CTO John Quarto-vonTivadar explains:

"First things first: A CTO is near the top of the local technology food chain. These are intelligent people, although they may not always display deep business savvy. But by and large, they are smart and aware of being smart. Often their self-value is tied to an evaluation of their smarts, especially vis-a-vis other technology people. Further, they have become used to meeting a wide variety of business people, some of whom are smart and some of whom are more challenged in that regard, at least perceived by the CTO. From the tech perspective, the 'standard deviation' of smarts on the business side of the equation is far wider than it is on the tech side.

Second, they are often in a position of managing multiple projects concurrently, all of which have 'priority #1' tagged on them from business types who don't seem to see anything inconsistent with an entire list of projects all having the 'highest' priority for completion. CTOs are very used to being pulled into conversations with executives about exciting ideas, who rarely have an appreciation for the efforts involved in going from 'talk' to 'done.' CTOs don't mind a good argument - it'll often be used to test whether your prospective vendor knows their stuff - and their objective should be to portray themselves as understanding the demands the CTO is under. If they ever get into a situation where the CTO perceives us as too 'marketing fluff' on one end of the spectrum or the other end's 'we're so much smarter than you, you cannot argue with us,' we run the risk of being tuned out. A tuned out CTO can drag out any project he wants to drag for a sufficiently long enough time to kill most deals. The role he plays is one of risk management; given things like scope creep, etc. he has to promise the least he thinks you will accept in the most amount of time that you can stand."

If the function of his job is to reduce risk, your job is to go to them with the smallest possible projects that have the greatest possible impact. Because a small scoped project that gets completed quickly is a success, and nothing breeds success like past successes. This plays into the "first steps" part of the change management framework Randy shared. We need to clearly articulate the goals and KPIs so we can express the vision for improvement, and then be clear about the opportunity costs and resources consumed by not moving further quickly.

Business people stretching rope image on home page via Shutterstock.

Tags: Optimization

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Bryan Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bryan Eisenberg is coauthor of the Wall Street Journal, Amazon, BusinessWeek, and New York Times bestselling books "Call to Action," "Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?," and "Always Be Testing." Bryan is a professional marketing speaker and has keynoted conferences globally such as SES, Shop.org, Direct Marketing Association, MarketingSherpa, Econsultancy, Webcom, SEM Konferansen Norway, the Canadian Marketing Association, and others. In 2010, Bryan was named a winner of the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation's Rising Stars Awards, which recognizes the most talented professionals 40 years of age or younger in the field of direct/interactive marketing. He is also cofounder and chairman emeritus of the Web Analytics Association. Bryan serves as an advisory board member of SES Conference & Expo, the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit, and several venture capital backed companies. He works with his coauthor and brother Jeffrey Eisenberg. You can find them at BryanEisenberg.com.

RELATED READING Braving the Rough Waters of Online Marketing August 15, 2012 Is Advertising Killing the Internet? August 10, 2012 Cross-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining August 2, 2012 When Data Becomes a Verb July 19, 2012 Consilience - The Intrinsic Value of Big Data July 5, 2012

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

8 Steps to Designing a Reactivation Campaign

2012-09-13T04:15:00.000-07:00

8 Steps to Designing a Reactivation Campaign | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing 8 Steps to Designing a Reactivation Campaign

Jack Aaronson | July 6, 2012 | 0 comments

While there are many ways to run a reactivation campaign, the following steps will set you on a pretty good path should you decide to launch one.

Who is your target? Are these people who stopped buying from you six months ago? Three months? Twelve months? If you run a subscription service, are they people who canceled one month ago? Two weeks ago? Two years ago?

Decide first who you want to try and reactivate. If someone bought from you four years ago and you're just now getting around to sending them an e-mail, it's probably too late. It's OK to run a few different variations of the campaign if you want to target several different groups from above.What's your goal? I'll take a wild stab and say your goal is to either have these consumers buy from you again, resubscribe to your services, or otherwise reengage with your company. But, are there more specific goals than that? Maybe you want to introduce a new product line, introduce a new account manager, or upsell them on something they already own (or a service they already use)?Why did these consumers leave? Unlike a normal marketing campaign, you need to understand why your consumers left. Did they not like your products? Were you too expensive? Did you not have enough content in their particular field to keep them interested? Knowing the reasons they probably left will enable you to craft a message that addresses those issues specifically.What segmentation or persona data do you have? If you can segment these consumers either by persona or by purchase habits, you can make your reactivation campaign that much more effective. The rules here are the same as for any direct marketing: don't just send a mass "We want you back" e-mail. Instead, use whatever knowledge you have of the consumer in order to create a more relevant message.Split test offers. It's fine to offer a reactivation discount code to these consumers. They were effectively "dead" anyhow, so you aren't really losing a full-price purchase by offering them a discount. However, showing consumers that you understand them and have new offerings that meet their needs might just be enough. So, do a split test and create discounts for some percentage of the group, not all of them. See how they do compared to the group with no offer.Focus on your content. Instead of just saying, "We want you back, here is 15% off," really make an effort. Show your consumers you understand them. If they used to buy video games, talk about all the new things that have happened in video games since they last checked your site out. If you run a content subscription-based site (like a Forrester, for instance), highlight the new content you've added to your site since they last were members. Put the relevant content first. Consumers can get a discount anywhere if they try. It's your content and products (if they are relevant) that will be more interesting to them.Make it easy for them to come back. If it has been a while, there's a good chance your consumers don't remember their usernames or passwords. Either send them this information (or at least their username) in the e-mail, or make it really easy for them to find it. If their account has "expired," make it easy for them to renew without reentering all their information again. If you offered a discount code, make it very clear where they enter it.Reach out via different channels. Are these consumers on Twitter (and do they follow you)? If so, send them a direct message, not an e-mail. E-mail marketing is great, but try other channels if you have access to them.

Finally, realize the difference between a reactivation campaign and a regular campaign. While the above steps could be the recipe for any old marketing campaign, there is one important difference. Reactivation marketing needs to understand how long people have been gone, why they possibly left, what is different in your offerings now that would make them come back, and what (if any) incentive they might need to come back.

If you can't answer, "What is different in our offerings that would make them come back," then skip the reactivation campaign and focus on answering that question!

Thoughts, comments? Leave a note below!

Until next time...

Jack

This column was originally published on February 19, 2010.

Tags: Optimization

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Jack Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jack Aaronson, CEO of The Aaronson Group and corporate lecturer, is a sought-after expert on enhanced user experiences, customer conversion, retention, and loyalty. If only a small percentage of people who arrive at your home page transact with your company (and even fewer return to transact again), Jack and his company can help. He also publishes a newsletter about multichannel marketing, personalization, user experience, and other related issues. He has keynoted most major marketing conferences around the world and regularly speaks at Shop.org and other major industry shows. You can learn more about Jack through his LinkedIn profile.

RELATED READING 4 Enterprise SEO Trends to Watch in 2012 February 15, 2012 3 Reasons to Integrate Your Digital Marketing Tactics February 14, 2012 When Good Customers Turn Against You February 1, 2012 4 Ways to Engage Email Non-Responders December 29, 2011 SEO Techniques for Large Sites December 21, 2011

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

More newsletter options MOST READ 4 Ideas for Better Social Media MeasurementQR Code Scans Skyrocket in Q2 2012Sports Marketers Hope for Olympic Committee Reversal on Social MediaFederated Media Blends Ads Into Content With Suite5 Consumer Trends You Can't Afford to Ignore This Holiday SeasonCOMMENTS .echo-stream-container {width:260px;padding:18px 4px 4px 4px;font-size:1.1em;}.echo-stream-body {margin-top:-20px} .echo-item-container {border-bottom:1px dotted #a9a9a9;padding:8px 0 5px 0; } .echo-primaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#f5f5f5;margin-top:-26px;border:0 } .echo-secondaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#F4F4F4;} .echo-trinaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#eceff5;} .echo-item-wrapper {margin-top:-3px} .echo-secondaryColor {color:#aaaaaa;} .echo-stream-container a, .echo-linkColor {color:#0077cf;} .echo-linkColor {font-size:1.0em;color:#3a3a3a;font-weight:normal} .echo-item-re a {color:#0077cf;line-height:1.4em} .echo-linkFont, .echo-stream-container a, .echo-stream-container a:hover {text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a:hover {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-sourceIcon {display:none!important} .jsk-HeaderWrapper {display:none!important} .jsk-LinkFont, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a:hover {text-decoration:none!important;color:#0077cf!important}.jsk-SecondaryFontColor {color:#aaaaaa!important;}.discontinuationMessage { display: none; }UPCOMING EVENTS SES San Francisco

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Oh Goody, It's Free

2012-09-12T03:48:00.000-07:00

Oh Goody, It's Free | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

Bryan Eisenberg | March 23, 2012 | 0 comments

On my way to writing about pricing tables, Jeffrey (my brother and business partner) shared with a client his thoughts on the use of "free." I insisted that before discussing pricing in this column he should help me cover the phenomenon of free. After all, shouldn't we discuss price before we discuss value?

There is true magic in free - you can see it everywhere. It's hard to discuss free without referencing Dan Ariely and Chris Anderson. Most of the discussions online are about whether free is dangerous. Those discussions are fascinating but they mislead many marketers.

There is an intuitive sense among marketers that free is the perfect price, if only they can find a way to monetize it. The major variations on this theme are free with advertising, free but not fully functional, and free with premiums. Free is so pervasive that an acquaintance of ours whose liquid net worth is comfortably in the seven-digit range recently told us, with a straight face, that he preferred an iPhone app that clearly isn't as good because it was free. Free or $4.99, that was the choice. He wasn't scared about losing $5. That is what sent Jeffrey into an exploration of free and what free is all about.

There are two classic uses of free:

First is the free sample. We sell ice cream, chocolate, or some other addictive substance, so we offer a taste. That taste is the entire experience. With that taste, you know everything you need to know about the value. The next question is simply - should I exchange $5 for a pleasure I know? It sells! It's magic! Let's do that again!Second is the puppy dog close. We are selling puppies, so we offer to let you keep an adorable little pup for a week while you and the kids fall in love with him. Living with that lovable little furball is the entire experience. You know the value since you are arguably having the entire experience. The next question is - how did you ever live without this little guy? Free strikes again; you'll rearrange your life around this puppy.

Value is how we decide what we're willing to pay. Value is the relative worth of something. Value is more important than price. Ten thousand dollars might be a lot of money for a watch but how about for open heart surgery? There is a book in us about value. Let's not get distracted, we're here today to discuss free.

The price of free is perceived in direct proportion to the value experienced. I'm calling that Jeffrey Eisenberg's "Rule of Free for Marketers." It's not the offer of free that counts, it's the experience that determines whether or not it is worth more or less than zero. If you sell ice cream, then you don't need to give this a lot of thought. However, if you sell anything complex enough to require a change of habit, routine, business process, or relationships, then Jeffrey's rule deserves careful consideration.

Let's examine the three major variations of free:

Free with advertising. Google Search is a perfect ice cream example since you don't pay anything but experience lots of value. Facebook is a little trickier since without a social network, a free profile isn't worth much at all. Facebook made this model work by facilitating the creation of the network effect for every user.Caution. If you can't deliver on experience, then advertising won't work for you.Free but not fully functional. Skype is a good example since you can call anybody else who has Skype on their computer for free but you can't call them on a phone unless you pay. The free experience is good enough that you might be able to understand what you will be paying for if you upgrade but it isn't as compelling as a puppy dog.Caution. This is the most difficult free model to execute. A disabled sample doesn't usually provide a compelling enough experience, especially in the context of a business.Free with premiums. Evernote is a perfect puppy dog example of a service worth paying for that is free. A software program like Evernote is too difficult to sample if it's crippled. The value of a note program is evident only over time. That's why Evernote is fully functional and free. The functional equivalent of tasting the ice cream is long-term usage. Most people who try an application (if they bother to try it at all after downloading it) abandon it pretty quickly. Evernote users increase over time; even people who stop using it come back because they miss it, and then they upgrade to premium services.Caution. The "freemium" is a model often emulated by marketers who don't truly appreciate the lesson implicit to its success. Unless you have a way of letting the customer experience the full delicious experience for free, there is no way that they will pay a premium.

As more and more products and services become free, the attention-getting magic of free is declining as rapidly as cynicism is increasing. So please remember that free has a price. Free is not a substitute for creating value in your product or service.

I think Jeffrey is channeling our Abuela's "I'm too poor to buy cheap." It's still good advice, so don't forget Jeffrey Eisenberg's Rule of Free for Marketers - "The price of free is perceived in direct proportion to the value experienced."

Tags: Optimization

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Bryan Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING Retargeting: 3 Ways to Avoid Frustrating Your Potential Customers August 15, 2012 Designing Effective Pricing Tables April 6, 2012 Political Scrapbooking and Etch A Sketching on Pinterest March 23, 2012 Geo-Personalization: Your Opportunity January 27, 2012 What Makes People Buy? 20 Reasons Why October 21, 2011

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Online Advertising in the Age of Agility

2012-09-11T03:13:00.000-07:00

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is not at all like a Ronco Grill! If you just set it and forget it you can also kiss your money goodbye. We have been telling clients this for the last several years. So I was fascinated by the research my friend Larry Kim, founder of WordStream, shared with me from the data his free AdWords Performance Grader had accumulated.

The key findings that WordStream is seeing through thousands of accounts grading profiles are very low account activity levels in terms of actually trying out new things in the accounts. For example:

Very low number of keywords or negative keywords added in the last 90 days.Very low number of ad groups and ad text added/edited or deleted in the last 90 days.Very low number of campaigns added/edited or deleted in the last 90 days.

Most advertisers aren't really taking advantage of even the most basic AdWords account optimization tools, like conversion tracking, geo-targeting, or ad extensions.

Furthermore:

More than 50 percent of them don't even check their accounts once per month.Almost 25 percent haven't done anything to their account in the last 90 days.More than 20 percent of them have yet to use a negative keyword and less than 50 percent have used at least one negative keyword in the last 90 days.

You may think this only applies to small advertisers, not enterprise-sized ones, yet shockingly, the large accounts, including those managed by agencies, do almost as bad. And agencies and advertisers appear to be equally guilty. We have seen similar results in accounts where we have performed PPC audits. These audits were performed for clients whose spend was at least $15,000 a month, but at least one was well over $1 million a month. Although, in the bigger accounts we have certainly seen a lot more automated bid management occurring.

David Greenbaum, CEO of BoostCTR, shared: "Ad copy optimization is one of the most straightforward paths to increasing conversions and reducing cost-per-acquisition (CPA). However, this is often an afterthought for advertisers. Typically, we see that clients are optimizing only 1 percent of their active ad groups representing 5 percent of their spend. As an extreme example, I have seen an account that spends upwards of $2 million per month and who hasn't written a single new piece of ad copy in 3 years."

There are many reasons to be testing your ads, adding negative keywords, and doing overall account maintenance. I won't go through all the benefits here but my big question is: why do so many people neglect their accounts? Why do they give Google, MSN, and others their money every month and yet don't regularly optimize their account?

So many advertisers we speak with tell us that it takes more and more effort just to keep their accounts producing the same level of results quarter after quarter. No effort at all must be producing negative results. Is it lack of knowledge, lack of motivation, too much complexity, the fact that it is truly hard to scale it, or do they just not prioritize the resources to do it?

It Isn't Just PPC Ads

ReTargeter posted an interesting analysis on "The Importance of Rotating Creatives" on retargeted ads, which showed how keeping the same ad creative led to declining click-through rates (CTRs) over time; we've seen this similar research for PPC ads.

With "The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs" from Andrew Chen, he states you can keep extending the lifecycle of your campaigns by tweaking them but ultimately you need to keep finding new untapped marketing channels to take advantage of it, and this also makes your existing ones suffer from neglect in most cases.

Social media grabbed everyone's time and attention and of course marketers followed. Yet many marketers find this channel even more difficult to achieve the kind of results that are necessary. It may be because Facebook advertising is even more difficult to do well than PPC ads, that social media isn't like normal media, and of course ads have higher fatigue levels.

Marketers Must Become Agile

Our job as marketers is to find the next new shiny object, but we often become overly fascinated with it at the expense of optimizing what we have. We're always looking for the next great idea as opposed to tweaking our message and campaign propositions to make them more effective.

When our campaigns aren't pruned and tweaked they become bloated, accumulate a bunch of bloated campaigns, and they affect your whole account based on how Google's and Bing's quality score components work.

Oftentimes it's our organizations' poor corporate metabolisms that are to blame for not reaching the optimum potential of our marketing efforts.

In order for marketers to ensure future success they must get better at prioritizing and using resources for execution and they must realize that agility is a critical skill for marketing teams.

We are happy to share with you the secret behind successful PPC advertising, but it's up to you to get good at testing and tweaking your account. It's no wonder why so many people aren't testing their landing pages when it is still almost impossible for most of them to test the 95 characters that make up a PPC ad. The only way to ultimately become successful in online advertising is to continuously test and tweak!

Bryan is off today. This column was originally published on April 20, 2012.

E-Commerce Moneyball: Chasing the Market Leader

2012-09-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

E-Commerce Moneyball: Chasing the Market Leader | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing E-Commerce Moneyball: Chasing the Market Leader

Bryan Eisenberg | May 18, 2012 | 0 comments

A couple of weeks ago, I had the honor to speak at the exclusive Acceller Summit in Miami. Some readers may remember Acceller from the case study I wrote about it and its CEO Steve McKean in my book "Always Be Testing." Steve explained:

"A culture of testing and optimization cannot happen in a vacuum, nor can it be mandated. You need a team that understands and believes in the principles. You need to communicate a strategic execution plan, and you need to create an atmosphere that encourages and enables the ongoing changes dictated by applying this strategy."

There were several amazing speakers at the conference, but I wanted to share what Matt Vinnola, director of baseball operations for the Texas Rangers, illuminated in his insider's view presentation on "Moneyball" and how this applies to online marketing. "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" is the popular book/movie about Oakland A's manager Billy Beane and how he took a new look at the data in front of him and created new analytics and the processes to create a winning baseball organization even when the financial situation of the team was in crisis.

The Texas Rangers have also created an amazing baseball organization recently, even appearing in the World Series the last couple of years. The Rangers have done it by developing their own metrics, that are simple for the whole organization to use and have gone beyond the simple sabermetrics first explained in "Moneyball." They needed to find a way to compete with the likes of the New York Yankees with the largest payroll in baseball when they were losing their home-developed talents because they couldn't pay the salaries that a team like the Yankees could.

This won't be a column about baseball though, and I can't share all the details he shared during this exclusive summit. However, let me show you how this was done in front of your eyes in the online marketing space and continues to happen on a regular basis.

The company went live with its website in 1995. Throughout the dot-com bubble of the late '90s, the company struggled to make a profit. By 2001, it generated a small profit, proving its business model, and has never looked back. The company managed to pile up $3 billion in losses between 1995 and 2003. Of course, I am talking about Amazon.com. What right did this small, struggling business have to dominate e-commerce today when it had to battle retail behemoths such as Walmart and Barnes and Noble in its early days? How did Amazon apply "Moneyball" principles to win this unfair game?

Amazon built a true data-driven organization served by great execution and innovation. It optimized for everything but not at the expense of customer experience. It optimized its supply chain, making sure the products customers demanded were available and were shipped as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Amazon was the first to leverage social commerce with reviews but it continuously optimized how they were gathered, displayed, and used, where others just had reviews lying around as a site feature. Amazon optimized the site experience endlessly, having around 200 tests going on at any given time. It even optimized how it delivered customer service, and that is one reason people love Amazon. All these efficiencies helped the company offer the lowest price on products while optimizing for margin as well. Amazon is the master of leveraging its big data and enhancing and personalizing the customer experience. The company didn't start off that way, but it built it into its organization. It had to build and learn how to use all these tools itself.

Today, you don't have that challenge. Many of the tools that Amazon built for its personal use have been developed by others; many leverage big data and use advanced algorithms so that you don't have to figure it out yourself. In the near future I'll deconstruct the Amazon experience and show you how to catch up and compete with Amazon.com with some of the tools that are available today.

Tags: E-commerceAmazon.com

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Bryan Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING VivaKi Pairs with comScore to Push Viewability Metric August 8, 2012 How to Catch Up to and Compete With Amazon.com [Video] July 27, 2012 The Must-Have Big Data Tools June 29, 2012 Claiming Your Unfair Advantage June 15, 2012 Yahoo Introduces Data-Driven Genome Targeting Network May 14, 2012

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

More newsletter options MOST READ 4 Ideas for Better Social Media MeasurementQR Code Scans Skyrocket in Q2 2012Sports Marketers Hope for Olympic Committee Reversal on Social MediaFederated Media Blends Ads Into Content With Suite5 Consumer Trends You Can't Afford to Ignore This Holiday SeasonCOMMENTS .echo-stream-container {width:260px;padding:18px 4px 4px 4px;font-size:1.1em;}.echo-stream-body {margin-top:-20px} .echo-item-container {border-bottom:1px dotted #a9a9a9;padding:8px 0 5px 0; } .echo-primaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#f5f5f5;margin-top:-26px;border:0 } .echo-secondaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#F4F4F4;} .echo-trinaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#eceff5;} .echo-item-wrapper {margin-top:-3px} .echo-secondaryColor {color:#aaaaaa;} .echo-stream-container a, .echo-linkColor {color:#0077cf;} .echo-linkColor {font-size:1.0em;color:#3a3a3a;font-weight:normal} .echo-item-re a {color:#0077cf;line-height:1.4em} .echo-linkFont, .echo-stream-container a, .echo-stream-container a:hover {text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a:hover {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-sourceIcon {display:none!important} .jsk-HeaderWrapper {display:none!important} .jsk-LinkFont, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a:hover {text-decoration:none!important;color:#0077cf!important}.jsk-SecondaryFontColor {color:#aaaaaa!important;}.discontinuationMessage { display: none; }UPCOMING EVENTS SES San Francisco

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Customer Service and 4 Year Olds

2012-09-09T10:25:00.000-07:00

I am on a family vacation with my in-laws. Along for the ride is a 4-year-old girl (I'll call her Cyndi) who calls me "Uncle Jack." Like any child at that age, she wears her emotions on her sleeve and can go from laughing to crying (and back) in a total of two seconds. When she is in a good mood, she is very sweet. When she decides everyone must focus on her, she's a nightmare. Dealing with her mood swings, and trying to get her to do what we want, has not been easy.

Simultaneously, I am helping one of our clients implement a new customer service strategy. As part of this work, I am reading (and responding to) customer service complaints in an effort to really understand their business.

It dawned on me that dealing with customer service is much like dealing with the 4 year old, and much of how my in-laws are teaching me to deal with the youngest member of their family is also helping me deal with customers contacting my clients' customer service center. If you are a parent, you are probably innately better at this than I am, and I am sure there are a few more rules you can add here.

Here are some of the basics that have helped me so far:

Have Empathy

Any of my in-laws will tell you this is my biggest problem. I simply lack the empathy, energy, and patience to deal with the needs of a 4 year old. While this is my own character flaw, I've learned a valuable lesson: try to see the world through their eyes and understand what is motivating them. Cyndi needs to feel validated, needs affection, and often doesn't understand the world around her. Certainly, she doesn't understand that her needs aren't the most important ones to everyone else.

Customers, especially when something bad has happened to them, are the same way. When people get angry, their emotional sides tend to take over and their logical sides retreat. The first thing we need to do is show empathy: What if this happened to you? How would you feel?

While you understand how your company works internally, your customer doesn't. Like Cyndi, your customer is unaware of the world of your company outside of her needs, or how she perceives you are treating her. It is your job to make sure the customer knows exactly how her complaint will be handled, what will be going on internally, and when she should expect a resolution.

Understand the Importance of Immediate Feedback

Patience is not something Cyndi has. She will yell for her mom repeatedly until her mom gives her the full attention she desires. (Her mom, by the way, deserves a medal in my book.)

There is nothing more frustrating than writing to customer service and not hearing back for days. An ISP we work with has amazing customer service. Within minutes of sending in a trouble ticket, they will write back with, "We are looking into this and will be in touch soon." Even though the issue might take a long time to resolve, there is peace of mind knowing that someone has received the trouble ticket and help is on the way. So many customer service centers wait to contact the user until they have something to report. Don't do that. Contact them immediately and tell them you are working on it. It doesn't matter that you have nothing to report yet. Just letting them know that you are on the case is enough to start calming them down.

Praise Them

Watching the way the family treats Cyndi has been a really good experience for me, because sometimes I forget the value of positive feedback, especially in the cases of those who are emotionally vulnerable. Customers upset over something are as emotionally vulnerable as the 4 year old is, and need similar coddling.

For example, thanking someone for being patient (even if they aren't being patient) will go a long way to make them actually be a little more patient with you. Telling them you greatly appreciate them helping you understand the problem so it doesn't happen again to other people makes them feel like they are part of a larger solution. In effect, they are helping set an example for future cases.

Listen

Listen to your customers. Let them tell their stories. Make it very clear that you are interested in the details they want to offer. Engage them on a friendly basis. These are all ways to establish a respectful dialogue with your customer, which will result in a more positive customer experience for them, and better brand loyalty in the future.

One final note: I am not saying to talk down to your customers, as this is also not something you should do with a 4 year old. The tips I've presented here assume you are not "treating them like a child" in a belittling or didactic way.

These basic tips will go a long way to helping convert your customers from being angry (and emotional) to calm and logical. If we involve them in the process, respect their emotional needs, and generally treat them with respect, they will appreciate it.

Thoughts, comments? Leave them below.

Until next time...
Jack

Email As a Mobile Call to Action

2012-09-08T10:55:00.000-07:00

Email As a Mobile Call to Action | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing Email As a Mobile Call to Action

Jack Aaronson | June 8, 2012 | 0 comments

With so many more interesting ways to communicate with customers, I honestly never thought I'd be excited to write a column about email. Sorry to email lovers out there, but it's true. However, as we've been designing user experiences centered around mobile devices, email has reared its aging head and has become a viable, and extremely interesting call to action. To be clear, I'm not talking about outbound email from your company, but inbound email from users.

To set the stage, let's identify the problem we were trying to solve. On a desktop or laptop, it's a trivial idea to see a link on a website or in a PDF, click it, and put the resulting browser window or tab in the background so you can look at it later. It's also very easy to fill out forms on the PC because of the existence of a keyboard.

On mobile devices, however, typing is always a pain, and there's no simple way of saving a URL for later reading. On the iPhone and iPad (sorry Android folks, you'll have to write in and let me know how things work in your world), once you click on a link, you're escorted to a new tab in Safari. This is a disruptive user experience, especially if your intent is to keep the user doing whatever they were doing before clicking the link. If the link was on a web page, it's fairly easy for the user to return to the original site because they're already in the web browser and can just switch tabs. But if the link was in an iBook, a PDF, an application, or anywhere else, the user is whisked away, out of that program and into the web browser, with no simple way to get back.

Enter email. Last time I wrote about using iBooks in your business. Each link in an iBook, however, takes the user out of the iBook and into Safari. But we can use a part of the native iOS user experience to help us here.

Remember, computers know how to respond to an anchor tag that is a "mailto" instead of an "http" URL.

On a computer, if a link launches a mail message (instead of a URL), the system will open up your default mail program (Outlook, Mail, etc.) and open up a new message. If there's no default mail program (for instance, you only use Gmail via a web browser), the behavior is undefined (it will probably try to open up Outlook and ask you to set it up).

But on mobile devices, there's always a default mail program. When you click on a "mailto" link in iOS, a new email message "slides" over whatever you're currently doing. Once you press "Send," the message slides out and you're left wherever you were when you clicked the link. This user experience is "continuous," as it doesn't break the user away from where she was.

Now, the interesting part. The mailto protocol allows you to prepopulate the To, Subject, and Body fields of an email. Imagine I'm reading your whitepaper. It's a PDF and I'm reading it on a mobile device (though reading it on the PC would have a similar effect). There's a link that says "Like this whitepaper? Subscribe to our mailing list today." If the good folks at ClickZ have correctly created the link in the previous sentence, you should be able to click "Subscribe." Go ahead and try it. Better yet, try it on a mobile device.

This test could easily be sent to your newsletter system, which would automatically subscribe the user. Her email is verified, so there's no more verification needed before she can simply be added to the database. It doesn't stop there, however. We've worked with one of our clients to create an email reader that will parse out parts of the email in order to let the user:

Subscribe to a mailing testGet a coupon code emailed to her for productsEnter a sweepstakesSend to a colleague (from within an iBook or PDF)Respond to a surveyGet a free trial account created for her (she is emailed a temporary password and her email address is her username)

By using inbound email as a call to action, we accomplish two important things. First, we don't remove the user from her existing user experience, as the email message pops up and then goes away, leaving her exactly where she is. Second, this is a "one-click" sign-up because we aren't making users enter in their email addresses, enter it a second time for validation, etc. They are emailing us, so we can grab their name and validated email address from the email they are sending us.

In a world of new technologies, it's interesting to rediscover new uses for an old technology. While users on a PC can easily multi-task and type things quickly, using pre-filled emails on mobile devices is a very interesting way to create easier "one-click" calls to action without disturbing the user.

Thoughts, comments? Please leave them below.

Until next time…
Jack

Jack is off today. This column was originally published on March 2, 2012.

Tags: Optimization

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Jack Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING The Other Ecosystem - Life on the Kindle Fire February 28, 2012 3 AdWords Foibles That Are (Still) Costing You Money February 28, 2012 Rediscover Your Company's Narrative With iBooks February 17, 2012 It's Like a Big iPad! Look for 2012 to Be the Year of the TV App December 7, 2011 Marketing to the Distracted Consumer October 24, 2011

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

You Can't Cure Stupid: When It's OK to Lose Customers

2012-09-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

You Can't Cure Stupid: When It's OK to Lose Customers | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing You Can't Cure Stupid: When It's OK to Lose Customers

Jack Aaronson | March 30, 2012 | 0 comments

Last time, I talked about customer service and how it relates to my dealings with a 4-year-old niece-in-law. My main conceit of the column was that customers complaining about problems tend to let their emotional sides take over and let their logical sides take a back seat. Dealing with them is much like dealing with a 4-year-old. Empathy, immediacy, patience, praise, and listening are all crucial to having a successful customer service experience.

Sadly, this is not a sure-fire way to win over customers who have problems with your company. The reality is that some customers are better off not being your customers. While the old adage is "the customer is always right," and something along the lines of "make every customer happy," it's just not always true. It's a smart business that knows what customers it wants to keep and what customers it should get rid of. Today we'll talk about customers you should get rid of.

Here's another adage that marketers like to introduce at conferences as if they invented it: KISS ("keep it simple, stupid"). It's the idea that the most effective route is usually the simplest, and not to overcomplicate processes. It's a great idea and one proven by Apple and any other user-experience company. Well, the flip side of this is the sad reality that you can't cure stupid. Some people are just plain old dumb. Yes, I said it. And sadly, no matter how simple you keep things, they will still not understand them. And because these people are stupid, they will also jump to conclusions or give reason to events that have nothing to do with reality. Here's an example. I mentioned last week that one of my company's clients is having us look at their customer service systems and protocols to make them more user-friendly, efficient, and effective. This client has a recurring subscription option, much like the "endless bowl of dog food" you can order from a pet supply company: every month they send you X amount of dog food that you have pre-approved so you never run out.

One customer emailed last week saying they no longer trusted the company because they saw two other orders for different amounts on their credit card a few days after the normal recurring charge occurred. The recurring amounts, however, didn't match with any of my clients' price points, so they knew that something was amiss. When they asked what merchant descriptor was on the credit card statement, it was clear that these charges weren't from my client at all. They politely explained that to the customer. Even though there was proof that my client didn't overcharge or double-bill them, and they took the time to explain to him who did charge him that money, he still said he didn't trust my client after this. Of course, this makes no sense. A rational, thinking adult would end up being appreciative and more loyal as an outcome. In reviewing the customer's account, we discovered he had also called in two weeks earlier because he lost his password and didn't know how to retrieve it (yes, there is a "lost password?" functionality widely-used on the site), and he called in a separate time because he forgot his username. All of these calls (along with the credit card issue) were within the first month of service.

So the reality is that this guy is simply stupid. How he survives on a daily basis mystifies me. But you can't cure stupid, and no matter how you help this guy, there will be another problem stemming from him next week. I say, let him go. We don't want someone like him as a customer. I would be more than happy for a competitor to lose money dealing with the fact that this guy is simply an idiot.

This is only the tip of the iceberg of people you should simply let go. Couponers are another class of people like this. These are the ones who were attracted to your company because of some amazing offer, and now feel entitled to get everything at some kind of discount. And, the moment a competitor offers a discount, they will flock like lemmings to them. These are not loyal people, nor will they ever spend real money with you (when they aren't discounting). The next time you run a good promotion they will come back, but at some point you need to section off those who you simply can't get to convert to being a better customer. Loyal customers are loyal because of your customer service (unless they are just stupid; see above), your expertise, your selection, your convenience, and your user experience. Those that are only price-sensitive will rarely be profitable for you, unless your business model is specifically geared toward those people.

It's OK to lose customers, especially those who are costing you more money than they are worth. I sit in a lot of strategy meetings in which the fundamental questions include "what customers do we want to attract?" I rarely sit in on meetings where the question "what customers do we want to avoid" is asked, or more pointedly, "what current customers do we want to let go?" These questions are just as crucial to your bottom line. The flip side of attracting the right customers is repelling the wrong ones.

Thoughts, comments? Leave me a note below!

Until next time…
Jack

Tags: Optimization

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Jack Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING What Brought on the Demise of 'The WELL'? August 1, 2012 Customer Service and 4 Year Olds March 16, 2012 3 AdWords Foibles That Are (Still) Costing You Money February 28, 2012 It's the End of SEO as We Know It (and I Feel Fine) February 24, 2012 The Brilliance of Steve Jobs: A Tribute October 7, 2011

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Facebook Stops Tracking Daily Likes and Comments

2012-09-07T01:53:00.000-07:00

Facebook Stops Tracking Daily Likes and Comments | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

Kate Kaye | March 15, 2012 | 0 comments

"Facebook is doing it to push people to look at 'People Talking About This,' " said Jeff Widman, co-founder of Facebook analytics company PageLever.

"I was absolutely shocked," he said.

"Personally I think that more advertisers will want to know how many [daily] comments and likes they got because comments have different value than likes," said Widman.

Noted Widman, "I expect that we will see a fair number of companies come in and say can you help us with this?"

Facebook did not respond to an interview request regarding the change.

Tags: Facebook

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Kate Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ClickZ News delivers the day's news headlines right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Measuring Facebook: The Problem With Metric Changes

2012-09-06T04:05:00.000-07:00

Measuring Facebook: The Problem With Metric Changes | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

Kate Kaye | March 15, 2012 | 0 comments

"They're trying to show the value of their impressions as they compare to other media," suggested Heffring.

Tags: Facebook

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Kate Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ClickZ News delivers the day's news headlines right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

A Decade in Review: Trends and Insights

2012-09-05T05:07:00.000-07:00

A Decade in Review: Trends and Insights | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing A Decade in Review: Trends and Insights

Jack Aaronson | January 6, 2012 | 0 comments

I started writing for ClickZ.com exactly 10 years ago. I've lost count, but I believe this column is my 285th or so. A lot has changed over the last 10 years, and I thought it would be a good idea to take a look back at what the major trends have been, and look toward the future.

I started writing the Personalization column. From the beginning, I wanted to drive home the point that any customer-centric design, and any real study in usability had to include personalization, even at a basic level. To me, personalization wasn't about technology, but instead a way to take a user-centric approach to design. Even a static site could be "personalized" if its user experience was based on the types of people who would be using the site.

To me, a multi-channel user experience was at the top of a personalized brand experience: the ability to interact with a brand over any channel I wanted, not just one prescribed channel. This simple idea took on a lot of power over the last 10 years and moved well beyond where it started. Multi-channel marketing and user experience (at least in most people's views), in most diagrams you saw back then, was still an idea centered around a specific hub. For retail, it was either the physical store or the website. For banks, it was the branch. All the other channels then supported that "main" channel. But multi-channel user experience was not going to be constrained like that, and the last third of the decade has shown us an evolved model: one in which there ceases to be a clear hub from which multi-channel spokes emanate.

No one can argue that the pieces finally came together in the correct way via the smartphone and tablets. While the seeds were planted long before these devices, it took the iPhone (and later iPad) to bring all these ideas together into viable consumer devices. But even before these devices, a lot of headway was being made to de-centralize channels just on the computer. In 2007 we saw the decentralization of e-commerce start with a way to sell your own MP3 files via a service that allowed you to place a "buy" button (and entire checkout process) with a widget on any site (especially a social network). Much later, companies like Pinterest would take their entire user experience and overlay it on top of other sites completely. These ideas showed that even within one channel (the web), both user experience and commerce could be moved off a company's website and placed where users were instead. Facebook proved this point in a different way when movie studios started launching pages for their new movies on the platform, because that's where people were (instead of launching the pages within their own domains). Subtly, this was the same idea.

While the evolution of these spokes of the user-centric, multi-channel, and personalized lifestyle all began to crop up in ways people like me had envisioned, the convergence of all the ideas certainly brought us to a place that was larger than the sum of its parts. Personalization was always going to be important. But placing a personal device in the palm of a user's hand, and then providing a personalized user experience on it went far beyond creating a better "if you like this product, you'll like that product" feature on a website. The idea that personalizing the user experience wasn't just about fancy technology, but about the medium itself, finally hit home later in the decade.

The decade of evolution was not without its naysayers. I remember writing a column in 2009 about how smartphone apps could have a whole other life if used in-store, and receiving a lot of critical comments about the idea. In 2011, Apple would create an in-store app for seeing more product detail and buying products that were in front of you. Price-checking apps also became abundant, as did the use of QR codes to augment physical channels and even turning mass marketing into a point of sale.

Something I didn't see coming was the idea that the traditional multi-channel marketing diagram could evolve in a way that included no hub at all. While the hub was traditionally the website before, now that's not always true. There are stores and services that exist entirely on smartphones and people who bank exclusively via personal devices or ATMs (leaving the website or branch out of the picture entirely). In a sense, multi-channel marketing has gotten much more decentralized than we thought it would a decade ago. Even social networking, a major trend I've not really discussed, became more decentralized when comments, "likes," ads, and recommendations from "your friends" became everyday parts of other sites. The social network's core functionality was no longer confined to the social network's own website.

A trend I'll save for a future column (simply because there is too much to talk about to do the topic justice) is thin vs. fat clients - most notably a browser-based user experience vs. an app-based user experience. Suffice it to say that we're still finding our ground in that area.

Back in 2002 I held that personalization, user-centric design, and multi-channel user experience were the most important ideas to us creating customer loyalty. Ten years later, those major ideas are still as important, and have combined in ways I certainly didn't see back then. The most interesting innovations right now are generally not happening on the web, or on the desktop. People aren't building a "better shopping cart" anymore, and are instead building apps that read barcodes in stores and tell you what prices you can get online. This was the pipe-dream stuff we talked about a decade ago, but the basic building blocks of the next decade.

In the next decade, we'll see this trend continue. We'll also begin to see more erosion of the ideas of geography. Geography is an antiquated idea at this point. From receiving physical mail (and dealing with what to do if you're traveling and can't get an important bill or letter), regional pricing, to legal jurisdiction (such as where to try a court case involving 400 illegal pirates whose IP addresses are all over the country), geographic concerns stymie innovation in a digital world in which physical boundaries no longer matter. User behavior, criminal activity, and user knowledge have surpassed the constraints of geography, and businesses (and legal systems) are now playing catch-up.

I'd like to thank my original editors, Rebecca Lieb and Pamela Parker. At the end of 2001 they asked me if I was sure I had enough to talk about to warrant my own column that would start in 2002. Thanks to Eric Norlin, who had been writing the Personalization column up to that point, and asked me if I wanted to take it over. Thanks to the current editors of ClickZ for still feeling like I have something interesting to say after 10 years. Finally, thanks to everyone who has read my column over the last decade. I hope you'll continue to read and interact with me as I begin my second decade of writing.

Until next time…
Jack

Tags: Optimization

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Jack Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING The Facebook Marketer's Moment of Truth May 29, 2012 The Future of Digital Messaging January 27, 2012 7 Ways That Retailers Can Combat 'Scan and Scram' January 24, 2012 Spotify Audio Ads Gain Reach Via Facebook September 27, 2011 Spotify Hires Former AOL Exec to Build U.S. Ad Sales Team September 16, 2011

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

More newsletter options MOST READ 4 Ideas for Better Social Media MeasurementQR Code Scans Skyrocket in Q2 2012Sports Marketers Hope for Olympic Committee Reversal on Social MediaFederated Media Blends Ads Into Content With Suite5 Consumer Trends You Can't Afford to Ignore This Holiday SeasonCOMMENTS .echo-stream-container {width:260px;padding:18px 4px 4px 4px;font-size:1.1em;}.echo-stream-body {margin-top:-20px} .echo-item-container {border-bottom:1px dotted #a9a9a9;padding:8px 0 5px 0; } .echo-primaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#f5f5f5;margin-top:-26px;border:0 } .echo-secondaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#F4F4F4;} .echo-trinaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#eceff5;} .echo-item-wrapper {margin-top:-3px} .echo-secondaryColor {color:#aaaaaa;} .echo-stream-container a, .echo-linkColor {color:#0077cf;} .echo-linkColor {font-size:1.0em;color:#3a3a3a;font-weight:normal} .echo-item-re a {color:#0077cf;line-height:1.4em} .echo-linkFont, .echo-stream-container a, .echo-stream-container a:hover {text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a:hover {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-sourceIcon {display:none!important} .jsk-HeaderWrapper {display:none!important} .jsk-LinkFont, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a:hover {text-decoration:none!important;color:#0077cf!important}.jsk-SecondaryFontColor {color:#aaaaaa!important;}.discontinuationMessage { display: none; }UPCOMING EVENTS SES San Francisco

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

The Hidden Downside of a Great User Experience

2012-09-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

The Hidden Downside of a Great User Experience | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing The Hidden Downside of a Great User Experience

Jack Aaronson | May 25, 2012 | 0 comments

It constantly surprises me when entire industries fail to adapt to change or don't see that their current technologies are ancient. Worse, some of the same measures these companies are taking (by venturing into secondary platforms/channels) only point out the geriatric primary platforms on which the companies mainly exist. Today we'll talk about how a multi-channel user experience needs to excel in all channels, and look at a couple of bad examples.

Let's talk about the good things first, and focus on our primary case study: cable companies. Cable companies have pretty much all embraced the web and, more importantly, tablets like the iPad. In fact, the best way to find what's on TV and change channels at this point is arguably via an iPad. There have been many times when we've been at home trying to find out what station a certain program is on. The solution is often to use the iPad application (on Comcast, for instance) to find the program, select the channel, and program the DVR. This is a much simpler thing to do than sifting through the arcane menuing systems from the cable box.

But, this terrific new user experience channel (the tablet) does as much to point out the cable box's own flaws as it does to make our lives easier. For 12 years I've stuck to the mantra that your brand is the sum of the user experiences across all channels. This point is really laid bare when it comes to the cable boxes. While no one has ever liked the user experience of their cable box, that's all we had. But now that we see what a better user experience could be, we are left collectively staring at the cable box and wondering what morons and red tape are in place that prevent that user experience from getting better. Add to that the new boxes like Apple TV, Roku, and even Google TV, and the wonderment deepens.

This is an epidemic today. User experience has improved so much in some sectors of our lives that when we see an archaic one, we are bewildered at how it could happen. I'm convinced, for example, that PC manufacturers are somehow unable to design a beautiful laptop, unless they are aping the MacBook Air. Cars are finally starting to embrace better design as well. But these are separate industries with single channels. It's more noticeable when the same company has fluctuating levels of user experiences under one roof, such as the cable example.

As a parting final example, I love that ATMs across the major banks no longer require envelopes or deposit slips. Why, then, does the bank teller still require you to fill out a deposit slip? Sadly, she does not have access to the same technologies available in the ATM. Once again, we have a singular brand (the bank of your choice) that has spent a lot of money upgrading the technologies in its ATMs and its remote-access software (Chase's iPhone app can deposit a scanned check for you), but it has left its oldest channel (the teller) alone to wither and die from lack of attention.

The lesson is that your brand is the sum of the user experiences across all your channels. It's awesome you are building an amazing tablet experience. But that experience will serve to point out the bad user experience in your store, on your website, or within your cable box.

Thoughts, comments? Leave them below.

Until next time…
Jack

Tags: TabletsiPad

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Jack Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING 'Kony 2012': Blueprint for a Social Media Revolution March 12, 2012 What Will 2012 Bring to TV? The Over The Top Upstarts January 26, 2012 A Decade in Review: Trends and Insights January 6, 2012 It's Like a Big iPad! Look for 2012 to Be the Year of the TV App December 7, 2011 The Brilliance of Steve Jobs: A Tribute October 7, 2011

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Distracting Users From Buying

2012-09-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

Distracting Users From Buying | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing Distracting Users From Buying

Jack Aaronson | April 13, 2012 | 0 comments

I'm at war with myself internally over this one. On the one hand, we want to provide users with extremely rich and branded experiences online. You know: learn about the brand, take a virtual tour, try the clothes on in the virtual dressing room, see behind-the-scenes information about how your products were made. On the other hand, we simply want people to buy our products when they get to the website and not be distracted from making the purchase.

Over the last 10 years or so, there has been a concerted effort to combine the "e-commerce experience" with the "brand experience." There is good reason for this: typically these two independent sites are built with absolutely no knowledge of each other. This leads to a horrible user experience. Products are called different things on each site, the navigational paradigms are completely separate, and the e-commerce side often pales in comparison to the brand site because it is from an off-the-shelf e-commerce product and not designed by a fancy agency, the way the brand site was.

It is natural, then, to want to combine these two, and I am a big proponent of creating one user experience instead of two, as this will make your customer more loyal and have a better feeling about your brand as a whole. Having said that, how much functionality is too much functionality? Over the years, we've built some very large sites for some very large brands, and built in a lot of nifty features. They are all geared toward helping the user choose the correct product and increasing the user's desire for that product.

But there are features that don't do this. Those features are generally the ones that marketing wants to put in the site: the features that "suck the user into our brand." Lately I've been wondering how many of these features assist in the user buying the product, and how many just fuel peoples' ADD instead of keeping them on the purchasing track.

What it boils down to is the age-old concept of "browsers vs. buyers." There are people who are coming to your site to buy a specific product. There are others who want to learn more about your company, see what's new, and "experience" your latest ad campaigns.

In an ideal world, you would know which type of person a user is, and then give her the experience appropriate to her. If she is just looking to buy a specific product, streamline the path to checkout as much as possible and don't show the million other things she could do on the site. If she is there for more of a brand experience, show her all the brand features, while trying to convince her it's the right time to buy something.

This is possible with modern technology. It is fairly straightforward to know within the first two to three pages someone visits which camp they fall into. Once you've determined that, optimize the user experience to that person's primary goals.

Most importantly, build your system so you can turn features on and off in order to test. See how your conversion rates are affected by the features you are offering on your site. A lean and mean site may lead to higher conversions, or one with the tools to turn a one-product purchase into a multi-product purchase might prevail.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Please share them below!

Until next time…

Jack

This column was originally published on Feb. 3, 2012 on ClickZ.

Tags: OptimizationE-commerce

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Jack Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING The Tablet Experience: A Must-Have for Retailers May 18, 2012 The Merging of Digital and 'Real Life' March 26, 2012 When Good Customers Turn Against You February 1, 2012 What Will 2012 Bring to TV? The Over The Top Upstarts January 26, 2012 Aesthetics vs. Usability: When Simple Is Confusing October 14, 2011

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Integrating Social Networking Into Your Purchase Path

2012-09-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

Integrating Social Networking Into Your Purchase Path | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing Integrating Social Networking Into Your Purchase Path

Jack Aaronson | June 22, 2012 | 0 comments

Today we'll look at two companies that have integrated social networking into their buying process. Previously we looked at how Booking.com increases the sense of urgency by saying things like "3 people are looking at this hotel." This technique uses the company's own statistics to great effect. But today's companies bring things a little closer to home via their Facebook integration.

Ticketmaster

Ticketmaster recently changed how its seating charts work. While the user experience is now a little confusing, there is at least one feature I find very interesting. In addition to showing you the seating plan of the venue in question, it now highlights seats that have been purchased by your Facebook connections. What are the odds that your friends are seeing the same show you are going to see? It depends, I suppose. In my case I am usually buying Broadway tickets and most of my friends are theater people. There tends to always be someone at a Broadway show that I recognize in the audience, and it is a very interesting idea to me that this can now be formalized. Certainly, there have been many times when I tell a friend, "We are going to see X tonight, you should get a ticket and come." Now that friend can try and get tickets near me. Looking at it the other way, I could imagine looking up who is going to the event and seeing if they are friends of friends and then arranging to meet up with them.

This idea is more interesting on a site like Ticketmaster.com because events are social events by definition. This idea isn't interesting to the same degree as seeing which of your friends also bought the same shirt, for instance. But because events are all about going with people, this makes tons of sense. I am curious to know if Ticketmaster tracks any statistics about this feature, and what it is learning from it.

Airbnb.com

Airbnb is a site that allows you to post your house/apartment for short-term rentals. We've used it to sublet our apartment, and to actively look to see what's listed when we travel. The company has recently added a new feature that tells you (when you log in via Facebook) if the owner of the property is a friend of your friends. More specifically, a notice that says "Your friend X knows the owner of this property." I believe it also tells you if your friends have ever rented the place you are viewing. Again, this makes a lot of sense because a good recommendation from your friend is worth a lot more than a "random" (and possibly fake) recommendation from someone you don't know.

The concept of recommendations from friends is certainly not a new one, but it is great to see it catching because of the open APIs that social networks are now providing. Certainly, it would make it easier to choose a camera if you could ask a friend of yours who bought the same camera what she thinks about it. This kind of functionality lets you know that your friend bought the camera (assuming you don't poll all of your friends yourself when you are buying things).

Are you planning on integrating this level of social networking within your sites? Are you integrating social networking in a unique way we haven't seen before? Leave a note and URL below if you think your integration is a good case study!

Until next time,
Jack

Tags: Optimization

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Jack Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING Shopping Is Inherently Social! July 31, 2012 Booking.com Adds Urgency to Purchases With Real-Time Shopping Data April 27, 2012 Groupon Ticket Holders Can Now Bypass Will Call April 11, 2012 Don't Drink This 'Failure Cocktail' in 2012 January 10, 2012 How Facebook's Location Sharing Will Promote Commerce August 30, 2011

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Online Form Optimization: 3 Simple Form Problems to Fix

2012-09-02T00:45:00.000-07:00

Online Form Optimization: 3 Simple Form Problems to Fix | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing Online Form Optimization: 3 Simple Form Problems to Fix

Bryan Eisenberg | February 10, 2012 | 0 comments

I've spent almost 15 years of my life helping companies to get their visitors to fill out and submit forms online. Forms to request information, to attend events, to sign up for a service, to complete an order, all sorts of forms.

Web forms are a transaction. You need to look at them as an exchange of information for something of value you promise in your offer. When you don't look at it as an exchange, you fail.

Despite all the innovation we have seen online, there's been very little innovation with forms. No one likes filling out forms online or offline. Filling out forms online sucks! And on mobile devices it sucks even more. Even worse, if your online forms look like a form from the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) you are creating even more suckiness.

This week, while I read the "Illustrated History of Web Forms" and then "6 Captcha Alternatives to Improve Conversion," I realized that online form optimization begins with diagnosing the three most common problems:

Forms that fail to reduce fearForms that fail to build trust and credibilityForms that fail to reinforce benefits

How to Identify Your Form Issues

How forms fail to reduce fear:

Do you ask for more information than required?Do you ask for sensitive information before your visitor is comfortable?Does your form look intimidating? Does it look like it will take too long to complete? Do they know how many steps it will take to complete?Do you create doubts and uncertainties by not closing the loop of questions your visitor has? For example, when a visitor sees a form field for a coupon code and does not have one, they fear they are not getting the best deal possible. If they fill in a lead form or a form to sign up for a service, do they know what will happen next? Do you handle errors and field validation graciously?

How web forms fail to build trust and credibility:

Do you establish that you are a credible and trustworthy business?Is it obvious that that they are in a secure browser environment? Have you checked it in a mobile browser?Do you leverage your trust messages at the point of action?If you're collecting information for a lead-generation program, let visitors know what you're going to do with that information. Remind them at the point of action that their privacy is valued, and let them know when and how you'll respond to the lead. Studies have shown that leads lose their effectiveness by six times in the first hour of not being responded to.

How forms fail to reinforce benefits:

Web forms often don't include benefits or make them explicit if they're there. This is critical. Remind your visitors what value they will get in exchange for the information in the form. E-commerce sites should display cart details throughout checkout but not get in the way of each step.If they responded from any particular advertising offer, do you reinforce that message throughout the form completion process?Do you give your visitors options on how to convert? Can they complete a form online, call, or use any other methods?Do your forms show you care about the visitor experience by looking friendly? Does it show how simple it is to do business with you? Have you shown that you care about the little details? Do you make form filling auto-complete seamless?

Once you have identified the problems, you can start testing ways to improve your forms' condition. Start by working through the seven form factors that increase conversions:

SizeFieldsLabelsBenefitsProminenceCall to actionConfidence building

Need to see some great forms to inspire you and your team? First download a copy of the form design crib sheet. Then check out some of these forms online:

For e-commerce checkout, I would certainly look at CafePress.com (example, below). We helped Maheesh Jain and his team redesign their checkout in 2004 and in eight years it has barely changed since it had only a 15 percent abandonment rate.

For a service website, one of my all time favorites is BaseCamp from 37 Signals. See how it shows it cares about the little details, reinforces benefits, and addresses fears and uncertainties. GotoMeeting is another great site to be inspired from (example below).

For lead generation, here are a few that caught my attention recently:

Monetate Rad-Direct BoostCTR

Best of luck with testing your own online forms and optimizing them for improved customer experiences and conversions. Please let me know how it turns out.

Examples:

CafePress.com:

GoToMeeting:

Tags: Optimization

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Bryan Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING The Marketing/IT Tug-of-War August 10, 2012 The Metrics Don't Match the Media July 18, 2012 3 Ways to Approach Website Optimization for Tablet Visitors July 3, 2012 27 LinkedIn Social Media Marketing Tactics April 24, 2012 Designing Effective Pricing Tables April 6, 2012

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Geo-Personalization: Your Opportunity

2012-09-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

Geo-Personalization: Your Opportunity | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing Geo-Personalization: Your Opportunity

Bryan Eisenberg | January 27, 2012 | 0 comments

It was in the mid-1990s when I had my first taste of actionable web analytics. I was working for a telecommunications company that offered a Voice over IP solution (VoIP) and I was part of the team that tracked banner placements on websites like Excite, Yahoo, and AltaVista. I will never forget the cartoonish banner that consistently beat out every other banner ever produced. It was counterintuitive, but that alone isn't what excited me. Here we were in the mid-90s and this company's web team was able to tell you exactly how many minutes of phone calls were made to Guatemala as a result of banners placed on a particular keyword. They were even able to predict how many people would call Russia after they downloaded the VoIP software from the sports pages on Yahoo. These were the metrics that drove the media buys and placement decisions week after week. This was my web analytics reality and so it set my expectations.

After that, I started working with a startup, a specialty retailer. When I began working with them, I was shocked at how little people were tracking. Not that they didn't have metrics but they weren't the type of metrics you could make decisions and take action on. This is still, sadly, the reality for far too many companies today. While today so many companies have sophisticated analytics installed to measure web activity, the organization and planning of their measurement is still poor and the ability to take action on that data is still minimal.

I would like to share just some of what a handful of companies are doing with their insights today in the hope it will inspire you to analytics greatness.

One of the companies I know, a multi-channel retailer, provides regular reports to their physical store managers of the browsing history from visitors who are geographically located near the store. The reports are not so impressive; it's the action they drive that impresses me. These store managers often rearrange in-store displays to promote the items visitors are viewing the most online.

You can do a similar thing even if you are an online-only retailer. You could easily change home page, search results, and category promotions based on geo-location data and visitor browsing history. Imagine you are a home goods and hardware retailer and you begin to see an increase in searches for shovels and snow blowers from the Boston area because the weather forecast shows a winter storm coming. If you were a multi-channel retailer, your Boston store would put shovels, melting salt, and snow blowers on prominent display, while your Miami store might still be showing garden hoses prominently. Online you can use segmentation and personalization tools like BTBuckets (which is free) to swap out your promotions for geo-targeted traffic from Boston to see your winter storm promotion. Enterprise tools like Monetate can even leverage built-in capabilities to target geo-location traffic based on local weather or weather forecasts.

Another similar multi-channel retailer collects and analyzes in-store scans of their product shelf tags by cellphones and uses that data to change end-cap displays based on scanning popularity. They can also take that same scanning data and change website promotions to mirror the popular products in those locations for website visitors.

I know several other companies that are monitoring product reviews and changing their local inventory based on how positive and negative reviews are. Again, you can use business rules to change your website behavior and target visitors based on all of these fantastic data points.

Another simple geo-personalization tactic you can use is custom messaging international visitors. It can be as simple as displaying the fact that you ship to the visitors' countries to changing tag lines or promotions to be localized. Monetate has found that across its significant client base when it personalized experiences based on international visitors' geo-location, it improved conversion rates by as much as 100 percent.

Are you already using geo-location data to your advantage? If you are, please share how you are using the data with our readers. If not, then can you afford not to take advantage of the geo-personalization opportunity?

Tags: Geo-targeting

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Bryan Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING Forget Do Not Track, I Want Targeted Ads and So Do You June 20, 2012 Facebook Deepens Local-Mobile March May 7, 2012 Digital Mad Man: Razorfish Co-founder Jeffery Dachis April 23, 2012 Think Beyond the Desktop - Social Is Going Mobile November 23, 2011 The Brilliance of Steve Jobs: A Tribute October 7, 2011

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Booking.com Adds Urgency to Purchases With Real-Time Shopping Data

2012-08-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

Booking.com Adds Urgency to Purchases With Real-Time Shopping Data | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing Booking.com Adds Urgency to Purchases With Real-Time Shopping Data

Jack Aaronson | April 27, 2012 | 0 comments

I'm in the middle of a three-week work vacation to Europe. I usually use Travelocity for booking airfare and hotels, but I found that a lot of boutique hotels in Europe were on Booking.com (which is in the Priceline.com family) and not Travelocity. A few "social" features of Booking.com really caught my attention. I am not sure if they are on Priceline, its parent company, or not. But they are on Booking, and used to great effect.

I'll start by saying that over the last six to 10 years, everyone has tried to figure out how social networking could be harnessed for e-commerce. Generally, this has led to unimpressive "group shopping" functionality, or mundane "tell a friend" features. Booking.com takes an entirely different approach. Instead of trying to connect you with other people while you are shopping, the system simply lets you know what other people are doing in regards to the hotels you are viewing.

For example, take a look at this screen capture. On the top right of the screen, while I was viewing this hotel in Barcelona, a little notification popped up that the most recent booking for this hotel was made at 16:07 by someone in France.

Is that the most interesting thing in the world? Maybe not, but it does show me that this hotel is at least popular enough to have received a booking recently from this website. Over the course of my session, many other messages might pop up. If you look in the "My Viewed Hotels" area, you will see a note under the Bellagio: "There are 23 people looking at this hotel." Other messages I've seen say things like "There is only one room left in this hotel," or "Someone just reserved a room in this hotel and there are only 2 left." These messages get your heart pumping and make you realize that if you don't act now you might not be able to stay in the hotel of your choice.

While "People who bought this also bought that" technology has been around for a long time (I worked for a company that created some of this technology way back in 1997, and brought it to BarnesandNoble.com in 1999), Booking.com has taken this basic idea and turned it up a few notches. The standard "People who bought…" is informative and a great way to introduce new products to users. But it was never intended to turn a regular purchase into an "impulse buy." I'm not sure an "impulse buy" is really the right term for what is happening here, but these features of Booking.com turn up the heat and the urgency to make a purchase quickly. The features are non-intrusive, interesting, and highly effective.

Looking at your company, how could you harness similar knowledge and display it to your users? Can you increase the urgency of a purchase the way Booking.com has, and get people to buy more quickly?

With a little creativity, you too can use the knowledge you already have about what people are doing on your site and create real-time notices to users that gently encourage them to add some urgency to their shopping process.

Questions, thoughts? Leave them below!

Until next time…
Jack

Tags: E-commerce

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Jack Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING Windows Phone 7: When Will Consumers Decide It's Time? April 26, 2012 Highlight App Could Creep Out Consumers, Marketers Say March 9, 2012 LivingSocial Challenges Digital Travel Establishment November 17, 2011 The Brilliance of Steve Jobs: A Tribute October 7, 2011 Microsoft Loses Global Ad Sales Boss Darren Huston September 26, 2011

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

More newsletter options MOST READ 4 Ideas for Better Social Media MeasurementQR Code Scans Skyrocket in Q2 2012Sports Marketers Hope for Olympic Committee Reversal on Social MediaFederated Media Blends Ads Into Content With Suite5 Consumer Trends You Can't Afford to Ignore This Holiday SeasonCOMMENTS .echo-stream-container {width:260px;padding:18px 4px 4px 4px;font-size:1.1em;}.echo-stream-body {margin-top:-20px} .echo-item-container {border-bottom:1px dotted #a9a9a9;padding:8px 0 5px 0; } .echo-primaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#f5f5f5;margin-top:-26px;border:0 } .echo-secondaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#F4F4F4;} .echo-trinaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#eceff5;} .echo-item-wrapper {margin-top:-3px} .echo-secondaryColor {color:#aaaaaa;} .echo-stream-container a, .echo-linkColor {color:#0077cf;} .echo-linkColor {font-size:1.0em;color:#3a3a3a;font-weight:normal} .echo-item-re a {color:#0077cf;line-height:1.4em} .echo-linkFont, .echo-stream-container a, .echo-stream-container a:hover {text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a:hover {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-sourceIcon {display:none!important} .jsk-HeaderWrapper {display:none!important} .jsk-LinkFont, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a:hover {text-decoration:none!important;color:#0077cf!important}.jsk-SecondaryFontColor {color:#aaaaaa!important;}.discontinuationMessage { display: none; }UPCOMING EVENTS SES San Francisco

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

How to Catch Up to and Compete With Amazon.com [Video]

2012-08-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

How to Catch Up to and Compete With Amazon.com [Video] | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Analytics › ROI Marketing How to Catch Up to and Compete With Amazon.com [Video]

Bryan Eisenberg | July 27, 2012 | 0 comments

This week I conclude the series about big data and what it means for marketers with a seven-minute video. I promised at the end of "E-Commerce Moneyball" that I would show you the tools that Amazon developed internally and leveraged to become the dominant e-commerce market leader. In the video I deconstruct Amazon.com's category (landing page) and product pages to identify the features that online retailers can duplicate with some of the big data tools that have come to the market recently.

Loading the player ...

These are the tools that allow Amazon to be so agile in today's online marketing environment. They are tools that are mostly data-driven automation and adaptive learning and optimization tools that will allow any retailer to claim their unfair advantage. By the end of this video you will see that some of these tools are must-have tools for your retail arsenal.

(Disclosure: I am an advisor to Bazaarvoice, Monetate, and Runa.)

Tags: Amazon.comE-commerceLanding page

SEO Survey - Win an iPad!

Complete this quick 16-question survey about SEO in your organization and be automatically entered to win an iPad! Limit one entry per person.

Print Email a friend Contact Bryan Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RELATED READING 3 Must-Have Investments: Social Media, Content Marketing, and Mobile July 9, 2012 The Must-Have Big Data Tools June 29, 2012 Claiming Your Unfair Advantage June 15, 2012 E-Commerce Moneyball: Chasing the Market Leader May 18, 2012 Is Your Traffic Mix Efficient? May 4, 2012

Get ClickZ Analytics newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

The Social Marketing Success Formula For Brands

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Facebook Casebook: A Free Facebook Case Study Resource

2012-08-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

Facebook Casebook: A Free Facebook Case Study Resource | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Marketing › Strategies Facebook Casebook: A Free Facebook Case Study Resource

ClickZ News Staff | July 30, 2012 | 0 comments

Facebook is under constant pressure to prove it can monetize its platform enough to satisfy investors, and the bulk of that monetization will come by way of advertising. Last week, Facebook reported that 84 percent of its overall revenues come from advertising. As the social media giant strives to develop relevant products for advertisers, large and small brands are exploring new ways to use Facebook to engage consumers, generate leads, and boost sales.

In Facebook Casebook, a free downloadable resource, ClickZ compiled a collection of case studies that exemplify what's worked for marketers - from a sprawling global brand like Domino's to a bootstrapped indie film.

What's Inside ClickZ's Facebook Casebook:

Nutella's Facebook Ads Outperformed TVFacebook Pans Out Worldwide for Domino'sNew Action Buttons Trump Likes For PayvmentSocial Ads Can Bolster Lead-Gen, Says HubSpotHow a $28 Facebook Ad Buy Transformed OrabrushTaco Bell Turns Lawsuit Into LikesApplebee's: Facebook Bested Other Digital AdsHow Indie Film "Certifiably Jonathan" Used Facebook Ads for High CTRsHow Amway Took Facebook GlobalCNET's Smart Tactics Produce Social ExplosionSponsored Case Studies from Marin Software

Download Facebook Casebook for free today!

Tags: Facebook

Register for SES San Francisco by August 13! Learn and connect with industry experts on current challenges, best practices, and what to expect in 2013. Confirmed brands include Facebook and LinkedIn. New agenda additions include SES Talkback and Meet the Experts. Save up to $200 now through August 13. BOOK NOW

Print Email a friend Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Articles written by ClickZ's news staff.

RELATED READING A Timeline of Recent Facebook Ad Changes July 24, 2012 3 Deadly Sins of Social Media Marketing: Facebook, Groupon, and Pinterest May 24, 2012 Facebook Commerce Player: 'Want' And 'Own' Buttons Increase Sales January 23, 2012 How Orabrush's $28 Facebook Ad Buy Won Over Walmart September 20, 2011 Few Facebook Users Share Brand Experiences September 12, 2011

ClickZ News delivers the day's news headlines right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

More newsletter options MOST READ Photographs: Social Media's Hot Content Marketing AssetQR Code Scans Skyrocket in Q2 20124 Ideas for Better Social Media MeasurementSocial Media ROI Is Common SenseSports Marketers Hope for Olympic Committee Reversal on Social MediaCOMMENTS .echo-stream-container {width:260px;padding:18px 4px 4px 4px;font-size:1.1em;}.echo-stream-body {margin-top:-20px} .echo-item-container {border-bottom:1px dotted #a9a9a9;padding:8px 0 5px 0; } .echo-primaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#f5f5f5;margin-top:-26px;border:0 } .echo-secondaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#F4F4F4;} .echo-trinaryBackgroundColor {background-color:#eceff5;} .echo-item-wrapper {margin-top:-3px} .echo-secondaryColor {color:#aaaaaa;} .echo-stream-container a, .echo-linkColor {color:#0077cf;} .echo-linkColor {font-size:1.0em;color:#3a3a3a;font-weight:normal} .echo-item-re a {color:#0077cf;line-height:1.4em} .echo-linkFont, .echo-stream-container a, .echo-stream-container a:hover {text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-from a:hover {color:#767676;text-decoration:none;} .echo-item-sourceIcon {display:none!important} .jsk-HeaderWrapper {display:none!important} .jsk-LinkFont, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a, .jsk-ThreadWrapper a:hover {text-decoration:none!important;color:#0077cf!important}.jsk-SecondaryFontColor {color:#aaaaaa!important;}.discontinuationMessage { display: none; }UPCOMING EVENTS SES San Francisco

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Making Privacy a Brand Asset

August 28, 2012

2:00pm ET / 11:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Online Ad Spend Up 12% Globally in Q1

2012-08-29T02:56:00.000-07:00

Online Ad Spend Up 12% Globally in Q1 | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

ClickZ AwardsClickZ.asiaClickZ AcademySearch Engine WatchSES Events TopicsStats & ToolsTraining & EducationJobsWhite Papers Subscribe to Newsletters iPhone App Marketing StrategiesData-Driven MarketingMarketing AutomationMarketing to LatinosConference CallLocalRetailSports & EntertainmentPolitics & AdvocacyAutomotiveCPGFinancial ServicesHealthcare & PharmaAgency Spotlight Email B2C Email MarketingEmail Marketing Best PracticesEmail Marketing OptimizationAdvanced Email MarketingEmail Marketing Analytics Actionable AnalysisAnalyzing Customer DataConversion & ROIROI MarketingVerifying Business Value Search SEOPaid SearchSearch Marketing Media Media PlanningMedia BuyingPublishingDisplay AdvertisingVideoMobile Social Social MediaCommunity ManagementSocial CommerceSocial IntegrationSocial Media Smarts More Categories Tags Tools CPM CalculatorCPA CalculatorWebsite Optimization ROI Calculator Ad Industry Metrics Ad Spend Audience/Traffic Live Events WebinarsConferences & Expos In-House e-Learning Home › Stats › Ad Industry Metrics › Ad Spend Online Ad Spend Up 12% Globally in Q1

Melanie White | July 10, 2012 | 0 comments

Online ad spending continued to grow in the first quarter of 2012, with significant rises across all parts of the globe, according to Nielsen's quarterly global AdView Pulse report. In particular, the Middle East and Africa enjoyed 35.2 percent growth, while Latin America saw a 31.8 percent rise compared to the previous year. Europe has also grown by 12.1 percent.

The report also found that although TV continues to attract a large proportion of advertising dollars, Internet advertising has seen the biggest increase with advertisers spending 12.1 percent more in the first quarter of 2012, than they did in Q1 2011.

Radio has also seen an increase in ad spending globally, including a 2.6 percent increase in North America and 2.8 percent in Europe. In emerging markets such as Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa, there was a substantial rise with 18 percent, and 21.1 percent growth respectively.

Conversely, print ad spending in magazines declined since the previous comparable year, specifically in the US. Newspapers however have seen growth with a 3.1 percent increase.

Tags: Nielsen

Print Email a friend Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR RELATED READING British Airways Turns Olympics Tweets into Digital Symphony August 2, 2012 Paid Search Spend Increased 15.5% in Q2 July 13, 2012 Product Detail Page - Live Review of BuyHappier.com July 10, 2012 Can Location-Based Social Networks Reach the Masses? March 9, 2012 10 Social Media 2011 Highlights (Data Included) December 27, 2011

ClickZ News delivers the day's news headlines right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Making Privacy a Brand Asset

August 28, 2012

2:00pm ET / 11:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }

Now You're Talking

2012-08-28T03:20:00.000-07:00

Now You're Talking | ClickZ .content_width_fix { padding-bottom: 0px; }

Marketing News & Expert Advice

McNeal Maddox | August 2, 2012 | 0 comments

Years ago, at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Design, I met two futurists who inspired me with their visions for design and branding. One innovation in particular captured my imagination - digital packaging that could change its appearance based on a consumer's broadcast signal. This idea set my mind racing with all the possibilities for creating personalized packaging based on individuals' tastes and preferences.

In 2002, millions of moviegoers experienced a similar awe-inspiring feeling while watching the sci-fi thriller "Minority Report." In a scene where John Anderton (played by Tom Cruise) activates scanners in a futuristic retail store, multiple displays offer personalized wardrobe recommendations as he moves through the store. Watching the scene rekindled the excitement that I felt as a student at CMU, discussing the potential of technologically enhanced, immersive environments.

The advancements needed to make these futuristic visions reality seemed like distant possibilities only a few years ago, but now seem inevitable in our always-on, device-enhanced world. Technologies that enable specialized brand experiences in immersive environments are becoming more sophisticated every day. The question marketers should be asking is: How do we create a personalized user experience across multiple display formats while maintaining a brand's integrity?

A good place to start is with three technologies that could feasibly deliver these types of experiences: Bluetooth, near-field communication (NFC), and e-paper.

Every day, tech pundits evangelize devices that will "speak" to each other and handle complex tasks at the push of a button. More than likely, the "language" these devices use to communicate will rely on short-range communications protocols like Bluetooth and NFC that are based on low-power radio frequencies and require simple authentication between devices. There's hardly a smartphone in existence that doesn't have Bluetooth already installed. The consortium that sets standards for Bluetooth technology estimates 2 billion compatible devices will be shipped this year. With an effective range of up to 328 feet for some Bluetooth devices, any fixed installation, vending machine, or showroom piece can become a vocal brand advocate. That's where a familiar brand voice and compelling messaging becomes so important.

Using Bluetooth, brands will have the capability to start conversations with interested consumers, attracting the attention of passersby with a familiar jingle or vibration pattern from their mobile device. Once a consumer decides to engage with a chatty vending machine or seductive showpiece, delivering brand messaging that is fresh, timely, and coordinated with other brand touch points is crucial. Devices using the latest Bluetooth technology can even connect to multiple devices at the same time. This could create opportunities for differentiated messaging delivered to several consumers within range, enabling a one-to-one experience with anyone interested in what the evangelizing object has to say. Once people come into close proximity with a vocal branded object, NFC technology can trigger even richer interactions.

Although Bluetooth has been widely adopted, NFC technology is still struggling to gain awareness in the market. However, NFC's ability to enable more personalized interactions based on user preferences shouldn't be overlooked. Consumers can launch applications, activate specific tasks (such as mobile payments), and even send data between NFC-enabled devices. Companies like Tagstand and Flomio have created "tags" - specially designed decals that can be applied to the surface - to trigger pre-programmed actions in mobile devices, such as uploading content to social networks or changing the settings on the devices themselves. Since the tags can be designed with a brand's identity and graphic motif, they can be applied to products to make them instantly interactive and capable of sharing information with curious consumers. With two-way communication based on consumer preferences, it's possible the interactive tag could trigger an entire display to change right in front of a consumer's eyes.

E-paper - a thin, flat sheet of plastic that uses low-voltage electricity to control the display of pigments embedded within its layer - has the potential to make surfaces that change based on the viewer's likes and preferences as common as billboards are today. Currently, e-paper technologies are being used in e-readers like the Kindle and even for digital watch faces, like the Pebble, which I wrote about in June. It could eventually enable the athletes on Wheaties cereal boxes to come to life or enhance the experience of opening a present from Tiffany's with an animated video message on the inside of a gift box.

In a world of enhanced surfaces that respond to viewers' tastes, brands focused on delivering a cohesive and compelling experience will consider every detail of how, when, and where they engage with consumers. Every element of a brand's identity, especially its voice and messaging, will play a role in attracting consumers and creating differentiated appeals based on what information people are willing to make public and accessible through their mobile devices. The next few years will be an exciting time for brands as they explore new ways of transferring their identities and extending their messaging to previously inanimate objects, creating experiences that make real life look more like the stuff of science fiction.

Tags: Optimization

Print Email a friend Contact McNeal Contact Editors Subscribe COMMENTSCommenting policy 0 Reactions ABOUT THE AUTHOR

McNeal Maddox is a senior strategist, brand development, Digital, at Siegel+Gale, based in Los Angeles. His first experience with brand development came in junior high, when, not content to remain mere consumers of comic books, he and his brother formed their own comic book company. The brand name, logo, and signature style they created were so strong that one of their books is a permanent part of the Lynn R. Hansen Underground Comics Collection of Washington State University Library's special collections archive - and they even sold a few.

Since joining Siegel+Gale, McNeal has worked for several clients including Microsoft, Dow AgroSciences, McAfee, Genworth Financial, Yahoo, United Talent Agency, Activision, and PayPal. McNeal previously served as a project manager at FoxSports.com, where he managed the design, development, and implementation of customized promotional campaigns for major advertisers. He also worked as a web developer at ING Advisors Network.

McNeal graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a BFA in graphic design, and received his MBA from the University of Southern California.

RELATED READING Augmented Reality: A Primer July 2, 2012 Digital Wallets Beyond the Money April 19, 2012 SingTel to Buy Ad Network Amobee March 5, 2012 P&G to Push Mobile Coupons With Mobeam December 19, 2011 IAB Proposes Standard for In-App Ads September 8, 2011

Get ClickZ Marketing newsletters delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe today!

August 13-17, 2012

SES Hong Kong

September 10-12, 2012

SES Berlin

October 11, 2012

SES Chicago

November 12-16, 2012

SES Singapore

November 26-28, 2012

WEBINARS Make the Holiday Season Profitable!

August 21, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Step It Up: Drive More Foot Traffic with Local Search

August 23, 2012

1:00pm ET / 10:00am PT

Making Privacy a Brand Asset

August 28, 2012

2:00pm ET / 11:00am PT

Data-Driven Marketing

Marketing Automation

Marketing to Latinos

Conference Call

Local

Retail

Sports & Entertainment

Politics & Advocacy

Automotive

CPG

Financial Services

Healthcare & Pharma

Agency Spotlight

EmailB2C Email Marketing

Email Marketing Optimization

Advanced Email Marketing

Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Marketing

AnalyticsActionable Analysis

Analyzing Customer Data

Conversion & ROI

ROI Marketing

Verifying Business Value

MediaMedia Planning

Media Buying

Publishing

Display Advertising

Video

Mobile

SearchSEO

Paid Search

Search Marketing

SocialSocial Media

Community Management

Social Commerce

Social Integration

Social Media Smarts

About usContact usFAQWrite for usAdvertiseReport a bugNewsletter problems?Site Map

55 Broad Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10004 | Copyright and Licensing | Privacy Policy

0 function JSKitCommentsCountFilter(count){ if (count > 0) { $('.js_comment_count,.js_exclude_comment_count').show(); return count; } else { return '0'; } }