August 2006
In This issue:
:: Create Loyalty. Keep Your Customers
:: Social Linking: Discover and Share the Web
:: Does Your Site Have What it Takes to Close the Nine Visit Sale?
:: Analyze This
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Create Loyalty. Keep Your Customers.
- Christianna Connell
A 5% increase in retention yields profit increases of 25 to 100 percent.
Repeat customers spend,
on average,
67 percent more than new customers.
Source: Bain and Company
Experts agree and evidence abounds that profitability is all about creating loyal customers and driving
repeat business. And since it is roughly six to twelve times less expensive to sell to an existing customer
than it is to acquire a new one, the value of customer loyalty and repeat business is just too compelling to
ignore.
It’s All About Communication
How do you get repeat business and earn customer loyalty? Take a lesson from small businesses
that long ago grasped the dynamics and importance of building customer relationships through
communication. They nurture their customers over time by learning and remembering individual
preferences and interests. They acquire this customer information directly from customers through
personal interaction. And they keep in touch with customers on a regular basis ensuring their business
remains “top of mind.”
Email Turns Prospects and Visitors into Loyal Customers
Email marketing enables you to proactively communicate with your existing customers, prospects or
members instead of passively waiting for them to return to your Web site, visit your store or office, or
call you on the phone. With email marketing you can solidify existing relationships, initiate new ones and
convert your one-time visitors, buyers and members into repeat business and long-term customers or
contributors. No matter how your visitors, prospects and customers found you, email marketing adds to your bottom line because it allows you
to maximize your investment in those expensive and time consuming marketing efforts and improve
the return on investment (ROI) of every dollar you spend to obtain new business and develop profitable
customer relationships.
Why is Email Marketing the Answer?
Email marketing is one of the most powerful marketing tools available today. It is easy, affordable, direct,
actionable and highly effective. When you add email to your marketing mix, you spend less time, money
and resources than with traditional marketing vehicles (e.g., direct mail or print advertising) And, with
email marketing, you can communicate more quickly which means your time-sensitive information is
disseminated in minutes, not days or weeks - and you can see the results of your efforts instantly.
Email marketing is at its most effective when used in communications to your existing customer list or
“house list” as a means of customer retention.
From now until August 31, we're offering a 15% discount on the creation of your newsletter template. E-mail or call us at 619-303-8454 today to get started!
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Social Linking: Discover and Share the Web
- Jeune Ortiz
Social linking sites seem to be springing up all over the web. But, what is social linking and what use is it to you?
To put it simply, Social Linking sites are a community of bookmarked pages. Of what use are these sites? Have you ever been knee deep into research on a topic only to find that the last site—the BEST site you had is bookmarked on a different computer than the one you are working at? Enter del.icio.us and Backflip.com, to name two. These sites let you bookmark to their database. Now you’ve got instant online access no matter which computer you’re using! They also have the added ability to allow you to easily share your bookmarks with the rest of the online community, or just with a handful of people you choose.
Most recently, we used backflip.com to aid in planning a group business trip. Each person had access to the folder of bookmarks on backlfip.com. As we planned the trip, we were able to see each other’s research, look at the same maps, and flight schedules. It sure beat the old method of replying to a laundry-list of emails from each individual.
Additionally, in looking at this phenomenon from a marketing perspective, social linking can be a great way to get your site out into the world. Marketing Profs has this to say about the latest in linking:
"The idea is to encourage readers to tell others about the site at the exact moment they might be most willing to do so. It only takes a spilt second to click a link... any you're done. Your site is now available to thousands of users of the various social linking services." Read the entire article here
With more than 42 social link websites, visitors can create inbound links to your site with the click of a mouse. Imagine the potential for 42 new inbound links to your site, and many more to come as this idea propagates throughout the web world.
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The Domain Game
- June Moritz
You probably already know about the "domain squatters" - people who buy up potentially valuable .com names to sell later. Well now there are even more dangerous villains lurking in the mix. Recently, we had a new client come to us to re-design his site. He noticed that we also host web sites, and for a lot less than what he was paying (less by $75.00 per month!) He decided right then and there to transfer his site to us. Easier said than done. It turned out that he didn’t have “rights” to his domain name. How could that be?
When you register a domain name, you can either do it yourself or you can have your host do it for you. When his host registered his name, they listed themselves as the owners. This is a relatively common occurrence, since hosting companies register domain names in bulk. However, this host claimed that they "owned" the domain name, and offered to sell it to the client at an outrageous markup. We’re still waiting to find out how this story ends.
So while it’s not uncommon for hosting companies to be listed as the owner for record keeping purposes, it is unusual for them to try to keep the domain from its rightful owner, or to charge to turn the name over. Always check your hosting contract or terms of use for anything relating to domain name ownership.
Another devious domain name scam involves bogus notices received by postal mail. Often these companies appear to be legitimate registrars letting you know your domain is about to expire. The danger here is that if you give them information and money, you are agreeing to move your domain name to them as the new registrars. And they typically charge more than twice the going rate!
What you need to know:
- Know who you registered with (hosting or domain reseller).
- When your domain is about to expire you will receive notice via email for security purposes, not through US mail.
- Know when your name expires.
- Know the terms of ownership before allowing someone to purchase a name for you.
Armed with this information you will save yourself from the possibility of being scammed for hundreds of dollars.
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Analyze This
- Christianna Connell
Do you know what your website is doing right now? While you're going about your daily business, your website is busily serving up pages to your visitors. But what pages? And who are these visitors? And, more importantly, do they like what they see?
Most hosts offer basic site analytics which will show you your average number of visitors, where they came from, and what pages they visited. Analytics are immensely important to any site owner. Not only can you tell the basic visitor information, but by using a marketing eye you can actually begin compiling important marketing information about your visitors. In time, you will start noticing patterns, like the time of day you get the most visitors, what pages are most popular, or how long people are staying. These trends will help you transform your website into a marketing powerhouse.
For instance, if you notice that people are visiting your "news" page more than your "about us" page, you can assume that people are interested in your company's development. This might prompt you to send regular emails, start an RSS feed, or even post a podcast to keep your visitors informed.
However, not all analytics are created equally. Enter Google Analytics. This robust service displays all the usual information, and then some (including ability to track, screen resolution and computer platform, Flash events, JavaScript events and PDF downloads) in an easy to understand way. By utilizing graphics, Google makes complicated analysis easy to understand at a glance. There are currently over 80 distinct reports (each customizable to some degree).
Though no analytics software is 100% accurate, Google Analytics is far and away robust enough to give the information to help any company formulate its next e-marketing move.
Initially, Google Analytics was so popular they were inundated with requests which caused their system to bog down. New users were added to a list and made to wait for an invitation. However, As of August 15th, there is no longer a waiting period to sign up for Google Analytics. Now, anyone with a website can add analytics to their site instantly! What’s even better than that? It’s free! You can sign up here.
If you need help adding Google Analytics to your site, let us know.
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