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 eMarketing
Is this the end or just the beginning?
Over the last several years the amount of advertising on the Internet has skyrocketed. Last year, online advertising spending reached an all time high of $2.9 billion, according to Competitive Media Reporting
(www.cmr.com). This new medium provided advertisers with a new range of marketing opportunities, including interactive response with the customer, detailed reporting, immediate results and one to one communication. Suddenly, eMarketing has been a part of everyone’s marketing plan.
The outlook for 2001 is not nearly as good. The growth rate of online advertising is quickly dropping off, costs for online media space is plummeting, click-through rates on banner ads are under ½ of a percent, and privacy concerns are plaguing Internet marketers. According to a recent Morgan Stanley Dean Witter report, 55% - 70% of online advertising last year came from dot-com companies. With last years’ collapse, the dot-com companies are facing tough financial times and are not likely to maintain the levels of eMarketing they have in the past.
So is this the end of eMarketing? I don’t think so. Like much of the hype surrounding the dot-com industry, the rush to market online made for a lot of bad decisions and now it’s time for a shakeout. Over the next several years, marketers are going to get much smarter about the Internet and how an integrated eMarketing plan can truly take advantage of the benefits online marketing offers.
Rather than wait a few years for everyone else to catch up, here are some things you can do now to ensure success in your eMarketing efforts:
Generate a response
Too many of the early Internet marketing programs were designed to "build traffic" or "generate clicks." While traffic is an important factor in any business, you need to make sure visitors do more than just browse. Successful eMarketing programs encourage visitors to register, or better yet buy (and track results every step of the way).
Generate the right response
Before we go too far along the lines of getting everyone to register, make sure you custom tailor your marketing programs to attract your target audiences. For example, online sweepstakes is a great way to build a database of prospects, but at the same time it’s also a great way to build a list of people that want to win a prize, but never intend to do business with you.
Use eMail to keep in touch
For most people, the idea that visitors will come back to their web site daily, weekly or even monthly is unlikely. Does your site really provide a compelling reason to visit? Most sites don’t, nor should they. But at the same time, it’s important to keep your customers and prospects informed of what’s going on. eMail newsletters can be produced and distributed at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods and are a great way to keep your name in front of the customer. It’s like sending a salesman to visit each customer once a month.
Support Privacy Efforts
One of the main reasons behind the rapid acceptance of the Internet is the ability to remain anonymous (that’s probably why pornography sites are so successful). So if you are asking for personal information, make sure your visitors know how you are going to use the information. People need to feel their information is safe with you. In one instance last year, a failed web company tried to sell their list of users, but wasn’t allowed to because their policy stated that they would never sell the names. This reassurance has encouraged more people to register with sites that have clearly defined privacy policies.
Define your measurement criteria
Depending on your overall marketing objectives, getting the right measurements in place is critical. "Click Through" tracking (counting the number of times people click on a banner) is usually not enough. eMarketing programs that tie back to leads and actual sales are more likely to make your business successful.
Buy Smart
Average online banner costs have dropped from $50 per thousand impressions to under $5 per thousand impressions in the last several years. According to Nielson Net ratings the average industry response rate for banner ads is 0.35%. Therefore, if you run 1,000 banner ads, you should get 3.5 clicks. In the past it would have cost you about $14 per click and now the cost per click is only $1.40. Once you know your cost per click, make sure you take it to the next level. If your program geared toward getting people to fill out a form, factor in how many will leave without completing it. A 10% form completion rate raises that $1.40 per click to $14.00 per lead.
Track and react
The most important element to successful eMarketing is to make sure you keep close tabs on the results and take action as soon as possible. With eMail marketing programs you’ll see 90% of your results within 72 hours. So, make sure you run your program in flights. If you want to send to 20,000 people overall, you can run tests on small segments within a week. Then, when you send to the balance of the list, you can optimize your results with no additional costs or loss of time.
eMarketing really is just at the beginning. As marketers get better at planning, testing and tracking their programs we are going to see more and more of it. In the meantime, by following these tips, you can get a head start on the competition and implement online marketing programs that drive results.
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