Posted February 25th, 2009, by Stephen Cobb
As you probably know, Search Marketing Expo (SMX) is a series of search marketing conferences and expos backed by Search Engine Land. In other words, it’s all about search, about getting people who are searching for something to click on a link to your web site. For most e-commerce sites, search plays a central role in traffic generation, bringing visitors to the web site.
But what happens when those visitors arrive? How does the web site hold their interest and convert visitors into customers after that click? That is the world of post-click marketing. So, it was pretty interesting to me that Gordon Hotchkiss, the CEO of Enquiro, one of North America’s leading search marketing vendors, reportedly had this to say at SMX West in Santa Clara this month:
“post-click marketing moves the needle for our clients more than any other aspect of search marketing.”
This observation, delivered as Mr. Hotchkiss was moderating a panel on Advanced Landing Page Strategies, is interesting for several reasons. First of all, one could argue that post-click marketing is not really search marketing at all. Sure, you can link search-derived traffic to post-click campaigns, but you can also run successful post-click campaigns that are entirely independent of your search marketing campaigns. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted February 23rd, 2009, by Stephen Cobb
Each month the top 10 online retailers, as measured by conversion rate, are reported on FutureNow’s GrokDotCom Marketing Optimization Blog. These are some pretty impressive numbers and industry leaders like Amazon.com and OfficeDepot.com usually make the list with conversion rates in the high teens and low twenties.
Of course, the industry average for conversion is a lot lower, around 3 percent, but I tend think of that as good news. Why? It means that most online retailers have plenty of room for improvement. In this post I’d like to flesh out that assertion with some numbers.
From Coremetrics, cited in that FutureNow article, we know that the average online order value is $132.57. Suppose your ‘average’ site is getting 100,000 visitors a month. That translates to $387,000 in revenue at an average conversion rate of 3% (based on 3,000 customers buying an average of $132.57 each). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted February 6th, 2009, by Stephen Cobb
Personalization pays. Whether it’s display ads, landing pages, or customized site content, shoppers like that personal touch. The fact is, when visitors to a retail site see personalized content they are more apt to buy. How much more? We’ve seen triple digit jumps in conversion from personalization and increases in revenue greater than 4X.
And now we’ve seen a data point that points to an explanation. According to a survey cited today by MediaPost 58% of consumers who shop online at least several times a month are more likely to click on an ad if it is personalized. This compares to 39% of consumers overall. In other words, serious shoppers take personalization seriously.
While the survey focuses on how personalization affects the decision to click, we can confirm that the “personalization effect” persists in the post-click experience. Here’s one example. A retailer who has no bricks and mortar stores added geo-contextual messaging that tied the retailer to the visitor’s local metropolitan area. The result? A 25% increase in revenue.
Bear in mind that we’re talking about simple personalized messaging, not giveaways, discounts, or promotions. In other words, that 25% increase in revenue comes with zero transactional cost. Not a bad return on making the effort to make visitors feel welcome, especially now we know visitors who appreciate personalization tend to be big spenders. It’s one more reason for e-commerce sites to be singing from the post-click song book: Hey Big Spender, let me personalize that page for you!
David Brussin
Stephen Cobb
Blair Lyon
Tom Ellis