Visibility

When it comes to competing for new and repeat customers in today’s highly-competitive digital marketplace, creating brand advocates is a more important marketing objective than creating brand awareness.

Let’s face it. The business of getting and keeping customers is hard work. And it requires more than one channel or tactic to do it well. Why? Because we’re all different.

We buy products for different reasons. And we are influenced by different channels and sources of information including brand advertising, product reviews on websites, case studies, and research studies. But the most important influence on our purchase decision is another consumer.

Consumers have always been powerful marketers, but their capability to influence buyers has been significantly expanded and the new digital tools at their fingertips have dramatically expanded their power of voice. When it comes to marketing, the balance of power has shifted – and consumers are the new marketers. And they freely share their opinions and recommendations 24/7 in blogs, in social networks, and other digital forums.

This paradigm shift in marketing presents tremendous opportunities for marketers to have a direct real-time conversation with the consumer. Dave Morgan, founder and chairman of Tacoda (recently acquired by AOL) -- the world’s largest behavioral targeting advertising network – validated this observation is saying, “Marketing will be about leveraging and activating consumer groups – turning consumers into prosumers.” Quite simply, organizations that are “digitally-savvy” in creating brand evangelists have a huge advantage over those that are not.


The Convergence of Media and Technology
Today, the line between advertising and direct marketing has blurred, as new forms of communication combine the one-to-one messaging power of direct marketing with the brand awareness power of traditional advertising.  At the core of this movement to engage consumers in relevant, real-time conversations is customer insight – actionable data about a consumer’s product needs and interests – that can be leveraged to deliver personalized offers and information that aid the decision-making process.

The convergence of media and technology -- combined with the ability to personalize messages and offers to the unique profile and interests of the consumer – provides tremendous opportunities for marketers. Now marketers can engage in real-time interaction with customers and deliver relevant information that invites trial and ignites conversation. Moreover, marketers can now identify “brand fans” who – if satisfied with their product purchase and usage experience – are only too happy to share their thoughts, opinions, and recommendations with friends, family members, and work colleagues. By leveraging this network of influencers and brand advocates, marketers can make enormous gains in building and expanding their customer community.


Email: The Backbone of Modern Direct Marketing
Regardless of whether you are a small privately held company or a large multi-national corporation; Regardless of whether you are a B-to-B, B-to-C, or a Non Profit organization, email has emerged as the backbone of successful direct marketing strategies for attracting and retaining customers.

Successful online marketers know that marketing is not about selling stuff, but about giving people a “reason” to buy. And that’s why email works so well. Email has emerged as the single most effective tool for aiding the decision-making process of the customer by providing information that guides the prospect through the consideration and evaluation stages . . . all the way to purchase. That’s why a June 2009 survey of US marketing directors by Forrester Research ranks email as the #1 tactic for interactive marketing.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Email is no longer an option for marketers. It has become the backbone of one-to-one marketing and is the most universally adopted, accepted and used tactic for direct marketing.  It’s no surprise that 40% of U.S. marketers increased email marketing spending in 2009, according to a recent survey conducted by the research firm, Round2, for eMarketer.


To Maximize ROI, Think “EMAIL PLUS”
As effective as email is for driving response and aiding the buying process, it is not enough. High performance email marketing in the modern era is about “coupling” email with other tactics and technologies

The solution for marketers is to mix tried and true with bold and new.  To create something greater than the sum of its parts.  To make it easy for consumers to interact directly with the brand and convey their needs, interests, and preferences. And to enable marketers to act on this insight by providing information and offers that are personal, relevant and timely.

What we now know about email is that it can make other communication efforts that much more powerful and much more productive.  EMAIL PLUS represents the current evolution of email marketing and several innovative companies are leading the charge to use EMAIL PLUS to optimize online marketing ROI.

Case Studies - Email Plus Analytics

Johnston & Murphy
When you hear the name, Johnston & Murphy, you may think this is an old company with products, with strategy and tactics to match. And you would be very, very wrong. With close to 200 stores, a catalog, and an e-commerce site, Johnston & Murphy is taking advantage of marketing tools and technology – anchored by email marketing and web analytics -- to convert shoppers into buyers and create relationships that keep customers connected to the J&M brand. 

While many retailers are struggling in today’s challenging economy, J&M is proving that you can build and retain your best customers if you know how to leverage customer insight and digital marketing technology.

Using email marketing software powered by ExactTarget and analytics technology from Omniture, J&M executes automated email campaigns that deliver personalized offers to current and prospective customers. To do this, J&M uses predictive modeling to divide customers into eight uniquely defined segments according to gender, age, life-cycle stage and purchase behavior.  Then, campaign programs are designed for Lead Nurturing (to build brand preference and drive first purchase), Re-Purchase (to drive purchase of products the most likely to appeal based on previous purchase), and Re-Activation (to drive purchase from customers who have not purchased in 90 days or more).

In the past 24 months, sales generated from email are up 33% and new customers are up 29%.

Pet Place.com
Petplace.com launched its ecommerce effort in 2008 to offer its more than 1 million monthly visitors a single Website for “veterinarian-approved” pet products ranging from healthcare items to toys in addition to the company’s core offering of more than 10,000 veterinarian-approved pet health articles.

Petplace.com uses email plus analytics to deliver highly targeted messages and offers based on customer preferences and activities. The Florida-based company has grown its top-line revenue by 50 percent and launched a new ecommerce business that went from zero to $1 million in less than 12 months.
 
Petplace.com sends more than 10 million emails every month to subscribers featuring veterinarian commentary, product offerings, pet videos and interactive surveys.  Using data from its Web analytics provider Google Analytics coupled with email marketing software from ExactTarget, Petplace.com selects the best content and product offers to send to customers based on the type pet owned, their activity on the site, recent clicks in emails and identified interests. 

In addition to its recurring veterinarian and product emails, the company sends a series of welcome emails featuring exclusive content and offers during the first 30-days a customer has subscribed to their newsletters.

Cable Shopping Network
Cable Shopping Network (CSN) is an online retailer of coins and other limited edition collectables. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based company relies on Email and Analytics to power its direct marketing operation. In 2008, Cable Chopping Network’s email marketing strategy accounted for 17% of total online revenue, which was up from 8% for 2007.

One of the keys to success for this $50M marketer of collectables is their automated system for remarketing emails. The automated system – which uses ExactTarget and Omniture – sends customized emails to online shoppers who have placed an item in their shopping cart, but have not completed the purchase. The emails ask the shopper if they encountered difficulties in the checkout process and offer a discount for completing the purchase.

According Steve Harris, VP Marketing for Cable Chopping Network, CSN’s email remarketing strategy accounts for more than $250,000 in “recaptured” sales annually.


Case Studies: Email Plus Social

Carmex
I’ve been a long-time user of Carmex, but it wasn’t until a “Carmex Kiss” arrived in my inbox from my niece that I realized how this 71 year old maker of lip balm has become an innovator for the way it uses technology – Email plus Social Media – to attract new customers and build its email subscriber base.

If you’ve sent a Carmex Kiss to a friend, you know what I’m talking about. The site (www.mycarmex.com) enables visitors to upload a photo of their face, choose the type of “kiss” they want to send, and send it to one friend – using email or SMS – or to a group of friends via social network like Facebook.   And each time someone sends a kiss, Carmex invites that person to become an email subscriber so they can receive special offers and information about new Carmex products.

Carmex is a great example of how a small business – with a small marketing budget – can attract new customers and add new email subscribers. And Carmex is using email to introduce these subscribers to new Carmex products, like Carmex Moisture Plus, an “ultra hydrating lip balm in a sleek slant tip applicator.” 

Since it launched its Carmex Kiss campaign in November 2008, thousands of Carmex Kisses have been sent. More important, Carmex has grown its email subscriber base from 3,000 to more than 50,000!  


Powell’s Books
Powell’s Books is the county’s #1 independent retailer of books. The company operates six retail stores and has an e-commerce site. Powell’s uses and integrated multi-channel marketing strategy anchored by Email and Social Media. Email newsletters, sent to the customer recommending books on subjects the customer told the Powell’s they enjoyed, produce a 70% open rate.

The Portland, Oregon-based company allows consumers to choose from 10 e-newsletters on various topics, such as romance or literature, and then sends the applicable newsletter via e-mail. “The subject-specific newsletters are proof positive that the more focused the content, the more likely customers are to interact,” says Sam Whitmore, online marketing developer.

Including newsletters, special promotions, and alerts, Powell’s sends more than 27 million e-mails each year to its list of more than 500,000 subscribers.

Powell’s, which has a presence on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, is using those social sites to drive e-mail subscriptions. Recently, it added more than 400 new subscribers during a six-day promotion on Facebook. For the promotion, Powell’s posted a note on its Facebook page with an offer of $5 off the next online purchase for new subscribers who signed up for its Specials newsletter, which features discounts, rebates and other deals. The Powell’s Facebook page now has more than 22,700 fans, says Whitmore.

Dreamfield’s Pasta
Dreamfields Pasta is a marketer of 100% organic pasta products. The company is a textbook example of a consumer packaged goods marketer that has moved away from a traditional marketing strategy, in which they rely on print advertising to reach customers, to a multi-channel digital marketing strategy that relies on Email and Social Media to drive retail sales and create “brand fans.”

Dreamfields uses SEO, PPC and Word of Mouth to attract consumers to www.trydreamfields.com.  Once on the site, consumers are invited to register for Dreamfields’ email newsletter and receive a $1 coupon as a “Thank You.”  In less than two years, Dreamfields has built an opt-in database of 290,000+ email subscribers.

Dreamfields uses email, powered by ExactTarget to deliver offers, recipes, and coupons to subscribers; invites them to visit the Dreamfields page on Facebook where they can exchange their recipes and experiences with other consumers.

Recently, Dreamfilelds has begun using ExactTarget’s Social Forward capability to invite subscribers to forward their Dreamfields email to friends in their social networks. This tactic has had an enormous impact on email subscriber database growth and product sales.

In addition to its consumer strategy, Dreamfields has also embarked on a related email marketing strategy to develop relationships with healthcare professionals who endorse and recommend Dreamfields Pasta products to their patients. More than 1,500 professionals are now brand advocates.

As of August 20, 2009, Dreamfields sales are up 13% year to date.

How to Become a Digitally-Savvy Organization
With eight of 10 Americans now online, digital marketing – anchored by email -- has become a vital necessity for driving online marketing performance. And as the previous case studies demonstrate, organizations that are digitally-savvy have a huge advantage over those that are not.

Ready to hit the digital marketing highway? Here are five things you can do to make your road-trip a success:

•    Re-tool your website. Like your mother told you, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Design your website for engagement. Give customers a reason to stay once they have arrives. Make content rich, useful and easy to access. Provide internal search capability. And provide numerous opportunities throughout the site for visitors to subscribe to your email offerings so they can receive “exclusive offers” and information.

•    Get good at SEO/SEM. One of the best customer acquisition investments you can make is in paid and organic search. A good SEO/SEM strategy is well worth the time and money you will spend to identify the keywords and phrases that your prospective customers are using to when they search for websites that have information about products in which they are interested. Make sure these keywords and phrases are effectively embedded in website content so it’s easy for the search engines to find and rank you.

•    Obtain customer insight. The smartest and most successful online marketers are also the best at acquiring and leveraging customer insight. When you invite a customer to subscribe to your company’s email newsletters and product alerts, invite them to share their specific needs and interests. Then use this information to deliver information and offers that aid the decision-making process and optimize the product usage experience.

•    Use predictive modeling. Like Johnston & Murphy and PetPlace.com, use predictive modeling technology to tailor and time product offers to the browsing profile and purchase behavior of the customer.  This is one of the best things you can do to leverage customer insight and improve campaign response. But don’t go it alone. Partner with digital marketing agencies that have the experience and technology you will need to use predictive modeling effectively.

•    Integrate, Automate, and Optimize. The future if online marketing will be marked by three distinct trends: 1. EMAIL PLUS - The integration of email with other one-to-one marketing tactics and technologies to ignite conversation and drive real-time interaction. 2. Execution of automated email communications triggered by purchase, cart abandonment or browsing behavior. 3. Usage of analytics to optimize targeting and timing of messages and offers.

These recommendations, combined with the creation of a culture that encourages and rewards digital marketing innovation, will enable your organization to bring digital out of the back room and into the front room of online and interactive marketing. Once you see the results of turning everyday customers into brand evangelists, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start sooner.