Author Archive
PPC Retargeting
Let’s face it; people rarely take action on their first visit. Now this certainly isn’t a new revelation and it certainly isn’t something that’s going to change anytime soon. To make matters worse, this is an even bigger challenge for smaller retailers and lesser know brands and businesses.
For pay-per-click advertisers, this is becoming a larger and larger problem. With the cost per click sky rocketing and competition getting more and more aggressive, the once slam dunk tactic of pay-per-click marketing is starting to loose some of it glory. (more…)
Running with the Bulls
As expected, this year provided no shortage of hype around “Black Friday” or what I’ve come to call “Running with the Bulls”. Although I personally didn’t take part in any of the madness, I did spend a lot of time staying tuned to various reports published throughout the extended weekend. I’ve done this for several years now – mostly out of curiosity. However, this year I noticed significantly more information flowing related to online sales and I think there are a couple of important things that should be pointed out. (more…)
A Milwaukee Classic Selects Lightburn
Milwaukee’s iconic Kopp’s Frozen Custard has selected Lightburn to design and build their new web site. The new site will feature an innovate Flavor of the Day calendar and allow customers to sign-up for email alerts so they never miss their favorites again. We’ll also be building a dedicated mobile version targeted at iPhone users.
In addition, the new Kopp’s website will feature a custom designed online ordering system allowing fans from across the country to purchase Kopp’s custard for home delivery. Recently featured as one of Oprah’s Favorite Things – Kopp’s has experienced tremendous demand from customers from across the country.
The new Kopp’s website will launch in time for the 2008 Holiday season. What’s your flavor?
How to Get a 100% E-mail Open Rate
I’ve been buying stuff online just about as far back as I can remember. Mostly from well known retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Office Depot. Recently though, I’ve been buying more and more from lesser known online retailers. I’ve also started to notice that many of them are using the UPS Quantum View notification emails to communicate back to me the tracking numbers. This is great, I place my orders, I get my tracking number and I’m a happy customer.
The thing that has been bothering me though is that these retailers are missing a great opportunity to get their brands, their products and their offers in front of me one more time. Think about it, how likely are you to open an email from a merchant when it contains the tracking number for an order that you’re eagerly awaiting? If you’re like me (and I think most people are) the odds are somewhere in the neighborhood of let’s say 95% to 100% of the time.
Now how many other emails can you say have that kind of open rate? Order confirmation emails? Nope… Not even close. Based on our research the open rate for an order confirmation email is in the range of 30-50%. Not bad, but it’s not 100%. Why is this? Think about it, you add items to your cart, you see an on screen confirmation of quantity and price and then you buy. Moments later you get the confirmation email, but as we’ve found many people simply file these emails away without even opening them. They already know what they’ve ordered.
So if you’re one of those retailers, why not ditch the UPS Quantum View email and replace it with your own branded and personalized shipment notification email? Use this unique opportunity where you have your customer’s undivided attention not only to provide the tracking information, but to get your brand and future offers in front of them.
We’ve taken this exact approach with our Cooper Safety website, and send all our customers a coupon towards a future purchase. We even use this email to promote new product lines from time to time and I can say that we’ve enjoyed a very healthy return on our efforts.
Give it a try. I think that you will be pleasantly surprised by the results. However, be careful not to over do it! After all, the customer still wants their tracking information.
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