Sweetmantra: Internet Marketing Advice

Wal-Mart Now Stocks Websites

Last week I popped into SAM'S CLUB Canada to see what they had in the way of bulk cat litter (don't ask). For those of you who may not be familiar with SAM'S CLUB, it's Wal-Mart's version of warehouse retailer Costco. The cat litter reconnaissance mission was a bust, however I did notice something intriguing as I headed for the exit. There, by the Customer Service desk, was a three-panel brochure with the headline "SAM'S CLUB Announces... Business Web Sites."

Intrigued, and somewhat fearfully, I grabbed one of the brochures. Sure enough, SAM'S CLUB has teamed up with Vista.com to offer its members a "professional web site at no cost for the first year." According to the brochure, "it's fast and easy... you create and manage your own site. Easy-to-edit templates and tools will get you started with no software to buy, and no special computer skills necessary."

I can't help but be impressed by what a good deal this must seem like to a business owner - who doesn't know any better. A free "up to 56 page" Website with all sorts of bells and whistles, designed (I use the term very loosely, based on the examples I saw in Vista's portfolio) and hosted for an entire year, with no extra fees charged to maintain it. Sure, your Website is clunky, generic, and template-driven, and looks like every other clunky, generic, and template-driven Website out there, but at least you've finally staked your claim in cyberspace.

Then it hits me. It doesn't matter whether a business owner spends a million dollars on their new Website or "activates" their SAM'S CLUB "complimentary business web site." Both Websites have one important thing in common: regardless of how much money was (or wasn't) spent building them, these sites have no traffic on the day they launch.

So go ahead, pour millions of dollars into building your Website, or get yourself a free Wal-Mart Website. Either way, if you want to get traffic, you're going to need a Website marketing plan. Which means you're going to need the help of an Internet marketing professional. And that's something that you can't get for free, even at Wal-Mart.

Rumours of the Banner Ad’s Death are Greatly Exaggerated

I was chatting with a business associate the other day when I brought up the topic of using banner ads. He looked at me as if I had lost my mind, then said, "Banner ads?!?! Do those still work?"

Well, yes, they do.

While I am all in favour of new and innovative online marketing techniques, it’s a tad premature to be retiring banner ads to the online marketing graveyard.

Here’s why...

1. Those ‘plain old’ banner ads are sometimes the only means, or the fastest means, to integrate an advertiser’s message into a desired media property (Website or email newsletter).
2. Banner ads have been around for over a decade now, so all the stakeholders (advertisers, publishers, and consumers) are familiar with how they work.
3. There are now well-established design principles and best practices for banner ads so that creating an effective banner ad is no longer guesswork.
4. Unlike most online marketing tactics, there are actually commonly accepted industry standards for banner ads. Perhaps a few too many standards, but I digress...
5. Static or animated GIF banner ads are easy to test, simple to traffic, and rarely malfunction.
6. In addition to their ability to be a direct-response vehicle, banner ads can have a positive impact on an advertiser’s brand. Studies have proven this.

So, at the risk of sounding like a neo-Luddite, don’t forget the ‘plain old’ banner ad. They may not be appropriate for every campaign you work on, but make sure you always put them on your “to be considered” list.

Do Internet Marketing Firms Need a Seal of Approval?

I was chatting recently with someone from one of the Canadian arms of the Better Business Bureau. He told me that not only do they get a lot of inquiries from people looking for more information on Internet-related companies, but complaints about Internet-related companies rank very high compared to other types of businesses.

To date, the Better Business Bureau has apparently logged (across North America) 253,015 inquires about Internet-related companies and 15,250 complaints, putting Internet-related companies fourth on the list of most complained about companies behind only credit card companies (third), cell phone companies (second), and auto dealerships (first). Ouch!

That's right, according to my source at the Better Business Bureau, out of the hundreds of types of businesses that exist today, Internet-related companies appear to be ticking off a lot of people.

I realize this is not a scientific study and that "Internet-related companies" is rather broad and likely encompasses everything from ISPs to Web design firms to legitimate Internet marketing firms - and not so legitimate Internet marketing firms(i.e. spammers). Still, these numbers are rather provocative.

I asked my contact about specific inquiries for "Internet marketing" and was pleasantly surprised to learn that across North America they'd had 74,851 inquiries about companies offering these types of services.

My little chat with the Better Business Bureau (who, by the way, were NOT calling to investigate a complaint) has gotten me thinking about what we as Internet marketers may need to do to address a great deal of potential confusion, suspicion, and maybe even apprehension about using our services, at least in the eyes of some potential and existing customers.

Do those of us that run ethical and legitimate businesses need to do more to communicate and prove our honesty and integrity? I'm not for one moment suggesting we all run out and join the Better Business Bureau, and I'm not even sure that would help much, but this did get me wondering if I'd ever seen a Better Business Bureau icon displayed on the Website of an Internet marketing firm. Have you?

Other than the (rather elusive) WebTrust icon, which is focused on privacy, or the occasional logo indicating that a company is a member of an industry association, is there any universally-recognized 'seal of approval' for Internet marketing firms? And should there be?

A Decade in the Life of Website Advertising

Prior to heading up to the cottage last summer, I decided to scour my video library and bring along a couple of time-shifted videotapes of early nineties movies. Over the years, I’ve amassed an interesting (to me, anyway) collection of obscure foreign films and documentaries, most of which I’ve taped off of regular broadcast television, commercials and all.

I forget exactly which movie I was watching, but I distinctly recall feeling that there was something very odd about the television commercials. Yes, they were about ten years old, so the fashion and hairdos were a sight to behold, but there was something else about the commercials that I couldn’t put my finger on.

After about the tenth commercial, it hit me. These commercials were pre-Web. Since they were from the early nineties, at no point during the commercials did a Website address ever get displayed. At the end of most of the commercials they’d display the advertiser’s logo, but it would be displayed by itself or, on the rare occasion, above a toll-free phone number. There wasn’t a single Website address to be seen in any of these commercials.

Viewed through modern eyes, these commercials struck me as incredibly quaint, and somewhat ineffective. They get you all jazzed up about a company or their product, and then the only way you can respond is to visit the advertiser’s retail establishment (if you can find one) or call them on the phone. But what if you don’t live near one of their stores? Or if it’s after hours?

The next videotape from my library that I watched had even more interesting commercials, although this time I was on to what was happening. This was clearly a movie time-shifted a few years later during the height of the Dotcom craze. Every other commercial was for Pets.com or some other high-profile (although short-lived) Website business. Once again, I was struck by how odd this now seems. When was the last time you saw a TV commercial for a Dotcom?

These days, Website addresses appearing during and at the end of TV commercials (not to mention within television shows themselves) are common, so common, in fact, that we now take them for granted. It’s hard to imagine an advertiser who can afford to advertise on television a) not having a Website, and b) not taking advantage of the power and reach of television to promote their Website during their TV commercial.

Consider how far we’ve come in the space of just ten years. From no mention of a Website in a TV commercial, to commercials devoted exclusively to Websites, to Website addresses commonly displayed at the end of commercials, Websites (as marketing vehicles and even companies in their own right) have emerged from the shadows of obscurity and earned their rightful place on television.

I wonder how quaint my time-shifted videotapes from 2005 will look like when I’m at the cottage ten years from now? That is, if I can find a VCR that still works!

How NOT to Turn a Hot Prospect Into a Customer

Every once in a while I am lucky enough to receive a marketing email of such pure ineptitude that I am awestruck. Just when I think I've seen it all, an email lands in my inbox that proves to me that there are still corners of the world where the work we do as Internet marketers hasn't penetrated.

About a month ago, I signed up for a free trial account of a Website server monitoring service from Alertra. I wanted to perform an independent test of the uptime percentage of a Website I owned because a number of customers had mentioned that the Website sometimes appeared to be unavailable.

For 29 days I enjoyed the free use of Alertra's Website server monitoring service. I'd be notified the moment the Website in question was not available, and I was relieved to discover that my weekly server uptime was in the quite decent 97%+ range. In fact, I was so impressed by the Alertra service that I was seriously considering signing up for a paid account once my free trial had come to an end.

And then I received this email:

Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005
From: system@alertra.com
To: Bill Sweetman
Subject: Free Trial Information

Bill Sweetman,

Your free trial has expired; monitoring service has been terminated.

With this one terse, 10-word email, all the goodwill that had been built up over a 30-day period between Alertra and me instantly evaporated.

Talk about squandering a golden opportunity. Alertra had a very qualified prospect - after all, we'd been 'dating' for nearly a month - and all they needed to do was gently 'propose' to me and I'd be theirs. Instead, they unceremoniously dumped me, without even suggesting that we can "still be friends."

Don't make the same mistake Alertra did when dealing with a qualified prospect. Here are some suggested ways you should consider handling the end of a free trial period in order to maximize your conversion rate:

1. Thank the prospect by name for trying out your product or service
2. Recap the benefits of your product or service
3. Let the prospect know that you'd like them to consider becoming a paid customer
4. Tell the prospect how they can become a paid customer (note how the Alertra email doesn't even include their Website address)
5. Provide a time-limited incentive (e.g., discounted price) to the prospect for becoming a paid customer (optional)
6. Directly ask the prospect to become a paid customer
7. Thank the prospect one more time for trying out your product or service
8. Ask the prospect to provide feedback on what they thought of your product or service (optional)
9. Ask the prospect to refer your product or service to a colleague (optional)

Whatever you do, don't underestimate the importance of this 'your free trial is over' email. You are very close to making a sale. Don't blow it like Alertra did.

The Pros and Cons of Using a .CA Domain Name

To .CA or not to .CA, that is often the question Canadian marketers ask themselves when they want to register a new domain name. Now that it’s much easier and cheaper to register .CA domain names, more and more marketers are struggling with this decision. The .CA extension has certainly become more commonplace and is better understood by Canadian consumers. Yet the .CA comes with its fair share of challenges.

As much as I love their patriotic flavour (spelled with a “u” of course), .CA domains can be problematic because people, especially our neighbours to the south who make up the bulk of North American online traffic, expect all domain names to end in .COM.

No matter how much you’ve invested in the marketing of your .CA domain name, a lot of people will still try to visit the Website at .COM and send email to the .COM address. Do you really want another individual or company to receive your traffic and email?

For this reason I always recommend to clients that they register the .COM version of their domain name even if they choose to use and promote the .CA version. And if the .COM version isn’t available, then they should seriously reconsider their overall choice of domain name.

Ten Questions to Ask When Considering Hosted Software

I'm a big fan of the Application Service Provider (ASP) model for obtaining access to powerful software for use in businesses large and small. In case you're not familiar with the term, Application Service Providers are third-party organizations that 'rent' online access to software to clients that they manage and host on their behalf.

Examples of solutions relevant to Internet marketers that I've used (among others) include www.campaignmonitor.com (for email marketing), www.salesforce.com (for CRM), and www.parachat.com for chat).

There's a 'hosted software' solution for just about anything you might want to do these days. But how do you ensure you are choosing the right one?

If you're an Internet marketer considering a 'hosted software' solution for yourself or your clients, here are 10 essential questions you must ask the software vendor before you sign on the dotted line.

1. If the software will be sending automated emails to your customers, what has the ASP done to ensure that their outbound email server does not get blacklisted?
2. What sort of editorial control do you have over these emails? Can you edit every single element, such as the subject line and "from" fields, or merely the body copy?
3. What sort of design control do you have over Web pages generated by the software? Is "customization" limited to including a logo or do you have full access and control over the entire page layout?
4. If the software generates Web pages, are they search engine friendly? How much control, if any, do you have over the page title and meta information?
5. If you plan to serve a Canadian market, and the software is from the United States or elsewhere, can the language be 'Canadian-ized' so that, for instance, colour is spelled with a "u"?
6. What is the uptime of the server that the software sits on? How fast is this server's connection to the Internet? And what happens if the server crashes?
7. If the software is generating or storing a database for you, how and how often is this critical asset verified and backed up?
8. What kind of instructions are available to you and your team to get the most out of the software? Is there a detailed manual or online tutorial section for you to refer to? Training? Samples and templates?
9. What kind of support will be available to you? Is it just email support or can you actually phone and speak to a ... gasp... live person?
10. What sort of guarantee will you be provided with? Can you test drive the software for 30 days, which is about how long it might take (at least) to know for sure if it will do the trick, or do you have to commit for a year right from the beginning?

The answers to these and other questions will help you decide if a specific 'hosted software' solution is the right choice for you. Good luck!

12 Questions You Must Ask Before Doing SEO

Thinking about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your Website? Before you go to the trouble and expense, here are 12 questions you must ask of yourself and any SEO vendor you are considering engaging to do the work:

1. What are your timing expectations? When do you hope to see results? And (if dealing with a SEO vendor) what have you been promised in the way of timing?
2. How do you plan to measure the return on investment of this tactic? (What are your specific and measurable objectives?)
3. Are you aware of the technical, design, and content changes that you will need to make to your Website?
4. What specific tactics you or the SEO vendor will use?
5. Are these tactics legal now? Are you sure?
6. Are these tactics going to be legal 3 months from now?
7. Have you been guaranteed by the SEO vendor that the tactics are legal?
8. Have you been made aware of the 'risks' of SEO?
9. What will the SEO vendor do if you get blacklisted from the search engines?
10. Does the SEO vendor offer some sort of overall performance guarantee?
11. Will the SEO vendor provide you with ongoing support or is this a one-time effort?
12. What sort of reporting will be provided to you? What, and how often?

When done right, Search Engine Optimization can be a powerful tactic. But if you aren’t satisfied with your – or the vendor’s – answers to these questions, you may want to think twice about what you are getting yourself into.

Five Simple Internet Marketing Resolutions for 2006

As we kick off what promises to be another record year for the Internet marketing industry, I'd like to propose five simple resolutions for you to make, especially if you're on the client side of the equation.

Don't worry, none of these resolutions involves breaking your precious caffeine habit or spending long hours on the treadmill. These should be simple resolutions for you to make and - more importantly - keep. Hence the simple part.

Here they are...

1. Visit your own Website right now and at least once a week throughout the year. You'd be surprised how many people forget to look at their own company's Websites, which is often the first and only impression prospective customers may have of them. Don't have a Website yet? (I know you're out there!) This is the year to finally launch one.
2. Do a search for your company's products or services on Google or Yahoo. Take note of which Websites rank high as well as which of your competitors, if any, are advertising in the search results. Is your Website anywhere to be found? Should it be? If so, do something about it. Repeat monthly.
3. If you already have an email newsletter, commit to publishing it at least once per quarter this year. If you don't have an email newsletter, start thinking about launching one or, alternatively, a simple blog or podcast. Something. Anything. No more excuses!
4. Figure out who your best customers are and send them a personalized e-greeting with a coupon or some other incentive on their birthday or Mother's Day or Canada Day.
5. Find some budget, any budget, and try a Search Engine Advertising campaign. (And if you've already tried AdWords or Yahoo! Search Marketing, try a different network.) The learning alone will be worth the investment.

Good luck, and Happy New Year!

I Skipped 'Internet Marketing School'

It was an innocent enough question, and I really should have seen it coming, but it still had me scrambling for an answer since I've never been asked it before.

There I was, meeting my client's boss for the very first time, when out comes, "Don't take this the wrong way, but where did you learn to do what you do?"

Later, on the drive back to my office, I had all sorts of clever answers. But sitting there, across from my client's boss, I was stumped. I mentioned something about being self-taught and working on lots of Internet marketing projects for over a decade, which is true, and then I quickly changed the subject.

But that question stayed top of mind with me for a while. When I think about the senior Internet marketing people that I know, most of us didn't go to Internet Marketing School'. Nine times out of ten, our post-secondary education was in something else (often wildly unrelated) and even if we had wanted to go to 'Internet Marketing School' it didn't exist at the time (and still barely does).

For many of us, our 'Internet Marketing School' consisted of a long trial-and-error process of figuring this stuff out for ourselves and then our clients. And there are always new things to learn, which is what makes it both exciting and frustrating at the same time.

Now, ironically, my self-taught generation of Internet marketers are the ones being asked to teach what we know to the next generation of Internet marketers - in colleges and universities, no less.

Any day now I expect we'll start to see job postings that read, "applicant must have an Internet Marketing Degree." While this would amuse me to no end, I would also take it as one more sign that our industry is maturing.

Bring on the Doctors of Internet Marketing!