Do Business Well

Christmas is the pinnacle of all holiday decorating, but thanks to Martha Stewart and other home-decorating mavens’ tutoring, Americans have expanded the number of holidays for which they go “all out” and decorate their homes. Over 60 percent of American households (61 percent) purchased Christmas decorations or other seasonal decorations in 2003, up from 55 percent purchase incidence in 2001. While no statistics are available about the exact number of homes that decorate for each major holiday, the holidays that are key for home decorating are Valentine’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and, of course, Christmas. This is the third most widely purchased home product category. Continue Reading »

2 Comments »

With consumers spending more money on landscaping and their lawns, it is not surprising the purchase incidence of garden equipment, furniture, and decor is strong as well. Purchase incidence of garden equipment, furniture, and decorative items for the garden (i.e., garden hardware) was 42 percent in 2003, down slightly from results of 47 percent in 2001. Continue Reading »

5 Comments »

Consumers have two main choices when it comes to decorating their walls: either they display art or they use other types of wall decor, including sconces, mirrors, and tapestries. Purchase incidence of wall decor shot up in 2007 from one-fourth of American households purchasing wall decor in 2005 to 38 percent in 2007. As a new anti-clutter approach to home decorating is sweeping the country, consumers are turning their decorating attention away from the tabletops, mantles, and bookshelves toward the walls. With purchase incidence of both art and wall decor rising in 2007, the home’s walls can be adorned without appearing too cluttered. Continue Reading »

4 Comments »

A number of different providers can help you solve your email customer communications and marketing needs.

Email Marketing Service Providers

Over the past few years a new breed of company has grown up to meet the demand for complete solutions to companies‘ email marketing needs. Providers offer a wide variety of marketing services, technical capabilities, and focus. The services these companies (the three leading players are Post Communications, Message Media, and Digital Impact) provide range from customized email marketing programs and high-volume email delivery to one-off direct email campaign execution. Naturally, prices vary considerably. Most still charge based on the old direct marketing model of cost per email sent, while others have introduced new pricing models that are based on managing the customer database and optimizing the value of the client’s customer relationships. What they have in common is that they allow you to out- source all—or at least a large part—of your email marketing solution. Continue Reading »

4 Comments »

If you want your customers to have a consistent experience and develop a loyal relationship with your brand, you must clearly define your organization’s communications and relationship management responsibilities. Normally, marketing is responsible for managing an email direct marketing program, but it is not the only part of your organization that will engage with customers. Customer service, support, sales, and perhaps even e-commerce groups may also communicate with your customers independently.

To avoid any confusion, I propose that if your company is communicating with thousands, perhaps even millions, of customers, you put your marketing department in charge of managing and coordinating all customer communication, regardless of where it originates, and that the “relationship czar” discussed earlier be responsible for this initiative. Marketing’s role in the engaged organization is to ensure that your company’s email communication have a consistent voice, that they are focused on servicing the customer and effectively coordinated across all points of contact. To do this requires the following: Continue Reading »

6 Comments »

You can also use the Internet and commercial online services to launch your BBS. For example, you can put the connection software for your BBS on a Web site. If someone is interested in joining the BBS, they download the software from your site and install it on their computer. This saves you the trouble and cost of mailing a disk to new subscribers.

In general, the proactive approach is the best way to get a BBS started. If you want people to connect electronically to your company, go to their home or office and set up the system on their computer. You need to be proactive because many people do not have the motivation or the inclination to install new capabilities on their computer. But once the software is set up, they will use the BBS to communicate with your company. So get out there and be proactive.

The Ongoing Process

Following the successful launch of your program, keep it exciting and vibrant by constantly changing the content, and look for new _opportunities. Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing is an ongoing interactive process. Continue Reading »

6 Comments »

Web site display advertising: You can place an interactive display ad on one of the popular Web sites. For example, you can place an advertisement on the Yahoo search engine. When people access Yahoo, they see your ad. If they want to see your site, they simply click on the ad. The cost of running a Web ad can range from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands. It all depends on the amount of traffic generated by the host site. As I’ve contended a few times, I believe this kind of online advertising should be billed based solely on results. In this case, you should only pay for the number of visits you receive from the host site. If you don’t get any visits, you pay nothing; if you get thousands of visits, you pay more. If you can, negotiate this kind of results-only program.

Web site links and pointers: To generate traffic on your Web site, you want people to discover your existence on other sites. For example, if you have a site about fishing supplies, you want to be listed on all major sites frequented by anglers. Continue Reading »

2 Comments »

The development of a secure and verifiable form of electronic money will be the catalyst for an explosion in the field of digital marketing. Also known as cybercash or digital cash, e-money will become the standard currency of the digital age. You’ll be able to load e-money onto smart cards using readers attached to your telephone, or download it from your bank account to your hard drive. You’ll use it to buy products and services online, and transfer it to your friends and relatives. You’ll also carry around a digital purse with electronic money in it, and use it like you use cash today.

Daunting hurdles must be overcome before digital money becomes a reality, and many questions remain unanswered. Should electronic money be based on existing national currencies, or should a new international electronic currency be created? Continue Reading »

5 Comments »

Once a strategy has been chosen, the next step is to ensure that implementation takes place as smoothly as possible. A number of key questions need to be addressed:

• Have the costs been estimated accurately (in terms of both people and money)?
• Can the customer service facilities that the site offers be fully supported?
• Can delivery of goods/services take place within stated timescales?

Continue Reading »

6 Comments »

For ‘clicks and mortar’ companies, one of the key debates about Internet strategy concerns the implications for organizational structure. The question is whether it should be ‘a detailed strategy that is part of the broader strategic marketing planning process . . . or a separate strategy for a company for which the Internet is a significant communications or sales channel’ . Continue Reading »

4 Comments »