Online Marketing

They say that the devil is in the details, but they are wrong. Opportunity is in the details.

Taking care of the details is hard work, that is why so few do it right. Apple usability experts who painstakingly decide what sound the faux-keys should make when you press them, or the engineers at Google trying to shave off another tenth of a second before the results of your query pop up, are examples of people focused on the details.

Two caveats though: the first one, the details should support a strategy. Addressing random details here and there is not going to work. And second, taking care of just a few details is not enough. An outstanding customer experience is the result of taking care of hundreds of small details, all working together and supporting the strategy.

Every time we have to make a decision we face the temptation of trying to find a “happy medium”.  Settling for a happy medium is tempting (and dangerous) because it makes it look as if we made a decision when we really haven’t. 

Another problem with the “happy medium” is that it is seldom happy: we’re just creating a situation where, more often than not, nobody is completely satisfied and everybody is just somewhat OK. 

The happy medium is especially dangerous when trying to build a brand or develop a new product. Accept that you’re going to delight some people (your customers) and alienate others (not your customers) and just go ahead.  That’s how great brands, amazing products and powerful movements are made.

It’s been awhile since my last blog post, and that’s not due to my lack of inspiration but more due to the fact that it’s been quite busy over here at Sitebrand.  With new customers coming on board weekly, the support team and myself have been swamped getting customers live and ready to conquer the world of personalization!  Working with new customers is always rewarding because it allows us to tackle new problems and trigger segments that we don’t normally deal with on a day-to-day basis.  Definitely one of my favorite parts of the job……

Email has traditionally been one of the largest marketing initiatives with any online retailer, and there is nothing wrong with that.  In fact, it’s encouraging to see retailers reaching out to their shoppers with upcoming promotions and seasonal sales.  I’m definitely guilty of subscribing to over a 100 different email newsletters, and this isn’t just because their our clients!  I do enjoy getting the latest deals, but I also like to see how retailers are approaching their shoppers and what type of message they’re trying to portray.  Only recently I received a large number of ‘Mother’s Day’ inspired email newsletters from a number of different retailers, which reminded me that it’s about that time of the year.  I enjoyed reading through all the witty one-liners and clicking on the different promotions that were being offered, but when I clicked through the newsletter I was sadly disappointed in the post-click marketing efforts these sites were making. 

When I get a ‘Mother’s Day’ email newsletter promoting a 10% of coupon, it gets me interested and entices me to click through to the site but once I get there……where did my promotion go?  Retailers are making the cardinal mistake of leaving the promotion or message in the email and not following through bringing the consumer to the actual site. 

With Sitebrand’s Segment&Serve, retailers are able to use our URL Parameter rule to target and recognize email newsletter readers and help create the same message from the email newsletter to the site.  By using a Sitebrand content space with the same message that was being displayed in the email newsletter, Sitebrand empowers retailers to create a seamless transition from the inbox to the site.  By having this piece of content locked in for the duration of that email readers visit, Sitebrand is able to help reinforce the urgency of the email promotion and remind the shopper of the coupon code once they enter the cart process.  This type of continuity will help the shopper forget that they even left their inbox to chase that ‘Mother’s Day’ promotion, and ultimately help convert yet another shopper. 

We have a growing number of clients using this new method of post-click marketing personalization with astounding success. This Sitebrand functionality is definitely one that online retailers will want to consider for today’s ever changing marketplace.  

A perfect example of how to target your shoppers once they click through from an email newsletter.

Alok Ahuja
‘The Road Less Travelled’