Brandwidth Blog

Differentiating between browsing visitors and returning visitors of your site can lead to the right actions of building a great relationship with people who want to have a reason to return to your brand for their needs. What are these right actions? As discussed in a “How To” article on marketingsherpa.com, there are five simple steps to QUADRUPLE conversion from your repeating customers.

Sound good? As an example, the article used a company called DYMO which is a manufacturer of label printers and the insight of the company’s Director of Web Marketing and CRM, Michael Klazema. In preparation to taking steps, the company gathered any and all website data and user surveys and took the time to really sit down and analyze the data. “A very significant percentage of site visitors were owners [of DYMO products], not new visitors or people contemplating to buy a new label printer. Nine out of 10 cases, going through our customer support calls and our online support section, were all related to the printer that they own or use,” says Klazema.

Klazema and his team took this information and launched a special section of their site devoted to returning customers. From here the steps began, step #1 was to determine how to personalize pages, this led to step #2 which is to determine what data would be required in order for a profile to formulate. Step #3 requires your website to allow users to register products.

Let them tell you what they “also have”. Step #4 and 5 involved using timely information that directly related to proposing products that they may have ran out of or didn’t know that they needed in addition to other products, and doing so without forcing the customers to provide any information. No one likes to have to jump through hoops just to get what they want.

The My DYMO site allowed users the options as to what level of information they were willing to give and therefore giving them the information and ability to purchase products based on what information they were willing to give.

In the early 1990s, online display ads (banner ads) were all over internet web pages. The banner ad was a pioneer in the beginning of online advertising models. Sadly, these ads were eventually dropped due to their low cost-effectiveness and fell behind in the race to drive traffic to sites.

Not to fear, the comeback ad is here and is taking over web pages with a vengeance! Marketers are now looking for a lower-cost for brand advertising and the banner ad fits the bill. “Display ads accounted for 22% of all US Internet advertising revenue in 2006, a 2% increase over 2005, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.”, claims a November 2007 Press Release from MarketingSherpa.com.

Now you can expect more options from these types of ads than you ever could before. They are typically used to build a brand for a product or company rather than drive clicks and traffic to their site. Which would explain why their CTR rates are so low, and fortunately has enabled the price to drop significantly and allow variations of types of ads to emerge. This comeback ad has a spectrum of new types of ads in the mix, such as static display ads, animated ads, interactive display ads, video ads, and expanding ads. While sizes of these ads vary, the measurements of effectiveness have given display ads more of a reason to be re-used. You may not receive many conversions or a great ROI with these, but you have many tools at hand to find out more about the users who are clicking on your ads. You can follow them through the entire process of getting them to the purchase. Needless to say the online display ad of the early 90s was simply ahead of its time.

Or to be grammatically correct, Things For Which I’m Thankful. This time of year engenders and in fact demands this kind of reflection and, with the exception of just a really good excuse to gorge oneself into a tryptophan coma, is the actual reason for the holiday, believe it or not. So out of respect for Christopher Columbus (or whomever), Pocahontas (the historical figure not the really hot Disney character), my mother’s own looney notion that Plymouth Rock is a fake, John Smith, Chief Powhatan, funny hats and shoes and generations upon generations of dead turkeys, I offer the following things for which I’m thankful this thanksgiving:
1. My patient wife
2. The opposable thumb
3. Memories. All of them.
4. Ice Cream
5. Thongs
6. X-Box
7. Ibuprophen (especially where visiting clients from Seattle are concerned)
8. Malbec
9. The Steelers
10. Smart, engaged, innovative and daring client partners
11. Smart, engaged, innovative, daring and talented associates here at BW
12. The BMW 3 year/50,000 mile free service policy
13. Resphigi
14. Disinfectant wipes
15. Black Licorice
16. Bo, John and Chris finally getting The Bistro live. It’s a joy.
17. Our amazing resource partners (thanks Michelle, Jeff, Dan, Diane and David and everyone else)
18. The zipper
19. Guinness Stout (the real thing, not the Americanized draft version)
20. Paris
21. My beautiful and accomplished son
22. Zip ties
23. The gas stove
24. My grandfather’s notions of right and wrong
25. Blue Ray
26. The Klipsch company
27. Fire extinguishers
28. The Onion
29. My highly disfunctional, laughter filled, love filled family
30. Making it to the end of our first year relatively unscathed
31. Adam Aloicious Hayes
32. Lao Tsu
33. The internal combustion engine
34. Single use needles
35. Seedless watermelon
36. Cranberries
37. Friends old and new and far and wide.
38. Chuck Kinder
39. Kenneth Patchen
40. A good meerschaum pipe
41. The progression of the industry to true one-to-one marketing
42. Beethoven’s 6th Symphony
43. Match.com
44. Dimples
45. That I didn’t take the ACD job at Bozell in Dallas
46. That I did take the job at ASA
47. Kenya AA
48. Necco Wafers
49. Thongs
50. Black shirts

You are what you buy. Nowadays this is self-evident. People are consistently identifying who they are by the very brands that they buy. And I’m sure that for the older generations this seems unreal. The common practice of the past was to rebel and not be tied down to anything created by corporate America.

For example, think about any connotation when you read the following car brands: Mercedes-benz, Saab, Audi, BMW, Infinity,
Dodge, Jeep, Cadillac, etc… We are conditioned to develop our own stereotypes and biases to the products and brands that we buy. For the market today, most people think of brands in their minds as a hierarchy. And what you buy says more about who you are than you could possibly tell someone in a conversation. A new level of non-verbal communication has emerged.

Most of the auto brands listed above come from Europe or the U.S., but what happens when you see the brands Honda, Hundai, Kia, or Subaru. It changes your entire perception of that person driving those cars simply based upon what that identity that brand has been labeled. So considering how to brand your product should be at the very top of your list and a detailed change can create a massive effect. Changing the color from blue to red creates a feel of confidence versus the very calm and cool nature of the color blue. It outlines and defines what a customer or client can expect within the first few seconds of landing on your website or any other form of media for that matter, before they ever speak to you.

Obviously this is not to be taken lightly. You really want to visually show the client what is to be expected from your company before telling them in words. Generally speaking, in media, people prefer visual communication to auditory or kinesthetic learning. So why not adhere and make the most out of the identity of your brand?

Keys open the door and they lock the door. They can let people in and they can keep people out. It is up to the keeper of the keys to decide who to let in and who to keep out.

Online marketing and communication are just the same. PPC advertising can allow your business to reach those who you want to let in the door, and keep those who you want out. By choosing keywords and adding negative keywords, you can eliminate the chance of an intruder into your domain.

By allowing a certain group such as geographical targeting, you can filter your customers down to a simple area of the country that you want to be available to purchase your product. You won’t be spending as much money as you would if attempt a much broader approach and just allow anyone to buy or see your ad online. Not to mention the ROI will be much more rewarding if you capitalize with a focus.

Decide who should and shouldn’t be allowed in and market your product based on the expectations of the revenue you would like to gain. Trying to advertise to people who are not interested will only make you spend way more money than needed. Find out who your target audience is and advertise to them your superior product. Unlock the door to mass revenue while simultaneously straining out the disinterested customers.

I respect Tony and his take on the state of the music industry mainly because he has been involved in that industry for some time. However, his problem is that he’s been involved in that industry for a long time.

It seems that the music industry, being ingrained in its ways for the last 60 years, is a product of its own stubbornness. Up until the mid 90’s, the industry was a well oiled machine. You would have a band… a starving band… playing little gigs until you were “discovered”. Then, you’d sign a big deal, get cash advances, go touring, spend all of your money, owe the label your soul, and fall into stark destitution while the label continued to profit off of your brief but violently shining career since you never owned your own material. They had total control of the product from start to finish and it was this cycle that kept sustaining itself indefinitely… until the dreaded Internet.

All of a sudden people could have access to music, instantly. All kinds of music was available. People would download tracks just for the novelty at first, then they did it because they could. Suddenly you had the ability to listen to an entire CD before deciding to buy it. I can’t count the times that I heard a good song on the radio and promptly went out to buy the CD just to discover that the song on the radio was the ONLY good track on the disk. Alas, just another cog of the well oiled machine… Bait and switch if you ask me.

Anyhow, some artists saw what was going on and decided to put an end to this. Metallica, for example, actively sought out traders (THEIR FANS) and sued them into oblivion. These people were still going to shows and buying merchandise…. but the sheer fact that the boat was rocked and the machine upset was enough to cause widespread panic (*cough* Y2K anyone?). The overall result? It has been nearly 10 years since and I haven’t heard about anything from Metallica for a LONG time…

And so begins the DRM. That cursed three letter word that makes life for the average person a living hell. However, how else to charge $.99 for a 15 second MIDI ringtone of a song you already own on CD, and probably cassette TAPE for some of you. DRM is man made. Anything made by man can be broken by man. If someone IS NOT going to buy a CD, they are simply not going to buy it. No matter how much or how little DRM is on a product, people that have no intention of buying music simply will not. However, the industry still thinks it can control the gas leak in their machine by applying more DRM to products. LET IT GO… just simply let it go.

The easier you make your product to use by the consumer, the more you will sell. Period. Why do you think MACs are still a presence in the computing world dominated by the PC? They are EASY to use (coming from a PC fanboy nonetheless). The main problem with the industry is its sheer unwillingness to conform to the public demand. Simply offer low priced DRM free digital downloads, and watch your profits go back up — even if you’re selling cookie cutter crap like Brittney Spears, 50cent, or any band trying to follow some actual original ideas and throwing the word “MUD” in their name for credibility.

I see the music industry at a very precarious crossroads similar to the photography industry…only I think they may have driven a few miles the wrong direction. Take Kodak for example. Their bread and butter has been film for many decades. When their old analog format started to die off in the place of digital photography, Kodak saw the changing tide and adapted. They didn’t try to sue anyone using a Digital SLR camera out of existence just to try to sell a FEW more rolls of film before people realized that film was obsolete. They didn’t try 1920’s “protection money” style heavy handed tactics to force consumers to “settle” with them or be sued. Kodak adapted its business model and is thriving.

I’m not very sympathetic to artists complaining about the market these days. I, being a musician myself, can appreciate musical quality. Most of what I hear in the “mainstream” today compared to music of just 10-15 years ago is just not that good. Musically, almost everything is in the same key (or in the same derivative family), use the same chord progressions, use simple time signatures, and can easily be interchanged aside from the singers and sound the same as everything else.

Perhaps the slowdown in CD sales is that the product is just uninteresting crap? After all, there are only so many teenage girls to buy the next boy band cd or gangsta wannabes to buy something with lyrics that wouldn’t pass 3rd grade English standards. Perhaps it is the simple fact that the industry seems to be targeting 10-18 year olds who’s population numbers are shrinking compared to 40-30 years ago. No, that can’t be…. that would mean the big machine is grinding to a halt — that would NEVER happen.

The Music Industry is changing and no one really knows how it’s all going to play out. This is not new news but considering that CD sales are down again for seemingly every major record label in the industry, it is still news. The music industry is paralyzed motionless still scratching it’s head (BAU). Record companies are recording losses to the tune of 3 Million a quarter. All the record labels are downsizing and trying to reduce operating expenses to maintain positive cash flow. Record labels are offering different kinds of deals to bands now trying make money by getting a larger peice of publishing, touring, and merchandise sales. These deals are being referred to as 360 or partial 360 deals. By offering these kinds of contracts the record labels hope they can still make a profit. Labels have to make a profit to continue to upfront national acts enough cash to get an album recorded, released, and tour on it. Getting a peice of all the action means the label still makes money. The labels hope. Bottom line for the unsigned band is, they will not see many Million dollar record contracts being thrown at them anymore.

Let’s don’t just pick on the labels though. Radio is struggling also. Radio is consolidating, and spreading out buying music venues and leveraging their websites as a resource to minimize their back sliding audience. They are trying convince advertisers there is a valuable audience that is still listening to Radio out there. For certain demographics or age groups I believe there still is a valuable audience. Not in the 12-30 years old market anymore. Consumers 30 and up seem to listen to the radio still. It hard to teach an old dog new tricks. However, young people in America have thrown out their radio’s and Jam Boxes and replaced them with I Pods and Cell Phones. Music file sharing in conjunction with Internet sites like Myspace and FaceBook have replaced radio all together. Most of the young people I have questioned say they never listen to the radio anymore. NEVER. The demographic is shrinking for young people in America and that is a fact.

Prince and Radio Head are giving away CD’s to promote live concerts and other merchandise sales. Big Bands can make more money on the shows and the merchandise without having to give any money to the Labels. Using the Web as the only form of distribution reduces cost dramatically and the whole world can buy your album on-line for a fee or for free. This seems to be the answer for big already established bands that have Name-Brand recognition.

Unknown regional acts struggle in this model. To give away CD’s and only profit from merchandise and touring will weed out the weak. Most unsigned bands are lucky to make $250 to $1000 per night playing live and a couple hundred in merchandise sales. Split that 4,5,6 ways and there is not much left. Try to save money while touring on this budget is difficult. An unsigned band still needs to record an album, pay for reproduction, and with any luck hire a producer. Let’s don’t forget the attorney, manager, business manager, PR company, and booking agent, web developer and graphic design.

The masters of the Internet and the Masters Internet Marketing are the one’s that will come out on top in this game. Bands being sponsored by more large corporations and utilizing cross marketing opportunities to get the most “bang for band or buck” will be another solution. I would not be surprised to see more companies like Starbucks forming their own labels and selling or giving away CD’s on-line or through existing retail chains to add a revenue stream, value to the franchise, and increase cross-marketing abilities. These sure are crazy times. I guess we will have to wait and see how it all unfolds.

Every good web page needs to have an error handler. It is essential. It is leaned upon to display pretty little messages when something goes boom on the server that may or may not have been caused by the user. However, what happens when your error handler throws an error? Well, it’s caught by the error handler…. that throws an error… and is caught again by the error handler….

This fun little conundrum is what I ran into earlier this week in diagnosing a page that just seemed to sit there doing nothing for about a minute before displaying error text that should have been handled by the error handler. Thankfully, Coldfusion is smart enough to only chug on a infinite loop like that for only so long before it gives up. Otherwise, something like this could have brought the server to it’s knees — and we would have been none the wiser.

Some symptoms to look for if this happens to you:

1. You have an error handler that doesn’t seem to be working
2. Your page displays cryptic error messages that don’t really make sense
3. Your page takes an exorbitantly long time to run before resulting in above behavior

I’m not sure exactly why, maybe it was because I was tired at the end of the day, but I found this particular problem rather amusing. Well, you’re also talking to a guy who managed to create a memory leak in a scripting language… (and I’m proud of that in a sick sort of way), but that’s another story for a different day….

Today, I really wanted to talk about the differences and the requirements for a good functioning website or any media really of sorts, where the purpose is for consumer use. I’m sure I could sit here all day and talk in industry terms and you would probably nod your head until your mind shut off between the first few seconds of my soapbox lecture here. But, the point is that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that something just doesn’t make sense when you are surfing the web for example.
There are a million websites out there that just give me a headache. Trying to find exactly what you are looking for is more trouble than it’s worth sometimes. It comes down to the appropriateness of what you are searching for and what you actually find within the first few listings of Google, because lets face it, if you are like me you Google nearly everything and sometimes for no real reason at all other than to just see what comes up.
A website should be pleasing to the eye, but for some reason, many companies out there get so excited about having so much to offer on the website that they ignore logic. Crowding your pages with loads of offers makes it feel like a dreaded pop-up or even worse, spam. It should be an easy read. The ability to locate exactly what you came to the site for should be there within the first few clicks. Searching should be left back at the search engine.
One thing that has helped tremendously with today’s websites has been the tab structure. It’s simple, easy to understand, and you don’t get lost. You have to design based around your content and your users.
Be nice to your consumers, and they’ll feel at ease with you. Throwing graphics into the site can be great with the correct balance of information. No one really wants to read page after page of copy. Besides, isn’t the whole goal of information today to send and receive it at lightning speed? This will not work if you are loading copy onto your site that you have to keep scrolling down to read.

The goal of a document recently released by the IAB was “to standardize the transfer and receipt of data between advertisers and lead generation service providers in order to safeguard consumer data and improve operational efficiency for the $1.3 billion lead generation category.” This document also posed two considerations, the first being security and the second being a common format and setup. The IAB wanted in an encrypted format, the receipt as well as the transfer of lead generation files in a common format.
Now, if you ask me, I am all about standardizing and making technology safer and easier to use for the public, especially in a world where identity theft and computer hackers are prevalent. Although, the very same reasons that I feel that standardizing is necessary are actually the reason I feel that it may not be a good idea. It could possibly make it easier for an intruder to bypass the system if all data is handled the same way.

The IAB has already had several Lead Generation Committee Member Companies endorse this document and as time will tell, I am sure that many more are to follow. One point that is definitely going to go to the IAB for this matter, is that by making standards for companies to follow, the efficiency level will grow exponentially. And since we all love the idea of receiving our information faster, this trend will catch on eventually, unless you consider leaving data untouched and allowing companies to develop new and innovative ways of data transfer and use, we might find that technology continues to be pushed to bigger and better products.

So, is it worth continuing the risks of consumer data to gain motivation to develop better products? Possibly, but if I were forced to make the decision, I’d have to agree that standardizing media for the security of all consumers is a good way to go.