Survey of marketing tech types finds ROI strongest for search and internal email tactics

A recent survey has shed light on what one breed of marketing professionals are perceiving as good bets in terms of measurable return on investment (ROI). The tactic leading the pack is email, sent to an internal — or “house” — list. This is hardly surprising, since it is a relatively low-cost way to announce new products and deals to customers and prospects. What is more interested is seeing how both organic search marketing (i.e., search engine optimization) and pay-per-click (PPC) search marketing are viewed by these same executives compared to other tactics. Here is the full run-down:

Perceived ROI by tactic, from 3,000+ search marketing pros

Considering the search-centric executives surveyed (these were 3,186 “in-house search marketers or agency executives,” as reported in eMarketer.com‘s ROI for Select Marketing Tactics according to US Search Marketers), it’s not surprising both are regarded highly. Both are deemed as “Good” investments in respect to the return they typically provide by one out of every three respondents, and another third (34% total) considered one of these two tactics “Strongest” in terms of ROI.

This would be a glowing assessment of search when compared with other tactics, if only PPC weren’t also deemed as “highly variable” by 28% of respondents. Considering how much control one has on the risks and rewards of PPC, this makes me wonder if that measurement isn’t the voice of a minority who either hasn’t conducted a PPC campaign or hasn’t done it properly.

The booby prize goes to online advertising (“banners, etc.”), deemed “Low Value” by 43% of the group. With opinions of online ads being this negative, is it any wonder ad networks are scrambling to sweeten the kitty with more behaviorally-focused targeting?

What is your response to these numbers?

In praise of short URLs and one innovative provider

Like everything else, short URLs follow the rules of supply and demand. My first internet business, in the mid-1990’s, had a four-character dot-com domain name. Back then this was good but not extraordinary. Now the dot-com space is so crowded that many start-ups look like they were named by dipping a spoon into alphabet soup. Luckily there are short URL services — most famously ShortURL.com. [I was thinking of TinyURL.com, the clear winner of the two in terms of Alexa’s Daily Reach metric.]
These businesses take the sting out of a rangy line of URL characters, while helping to avoid truncation (in emails) and misspellings (when speaking the address over the phone).

As a market leader, TinyURL offers a ton of features. Maybe too many. An upstart I’ve just learned about (thank you Steve Purkiss of ProjectStars) will give this status quo provider a run for its money. For this month’s One Positive Day, consider what URLao.com is doing right.

I love URLao’s simple, clean, Web 2.0 interface. They get you started quickly and pull you in with simple explanations of their best features. Here is the language they use for them:

Private Redirect
Ensure your privacy by requiring users to enter this password before being taken to the destination.
Enable Cloaking
This option hides your target URL — when users visit your link, they will only see your shortened URL in the address bar of the browser.
Preview Target
Give your users confidence by allowing them to preview the location of the redirect. On visiting your link, the user will be shown the location of the redirect and be asked to click the link or to confirm they wish to visit the destination site.

Notice the number of features is short. Just three. It’s a wise move for an upstart player in this category … promise a simpler yet improved experience.

Short URL Example (using URLao.com)

Notice the benefits-heavy descriptions. This is even smarter. I used the last of these features when I created this short, clear URL to go to a Google Maps location of our parent company (and the home of ec-connection): www.URLao.com/FindNS. It’s a shortened version of this ungainly URL:

http://local.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=nelson+ schmidt,+milwaukee,+wi&ie=UTF8&ll=43.043614,-87.899938&spn=0.009158,0.021114 &z=15&iwloc=A&om=1

There are other features you should investigate, such as tracking each short URL’s use. I’ve often wondered how I could easily track how many people in a short list of email recipients actually click through to the links I’ve provided. This gives me that power, while ensuring that none of the URLs are broken in the process of opening, replying or forwarding the email.

As with so many other start-ups, this one offers its services for free. That means you definitely do not want to use it for mission-critical work, or anything where online security is an issue. But for quick, smart creation and monitoring of customized URLs, I have yet to find a service better than this one.

Email deliverability issues sound familiar to direct mail pros

Recent discussions about email deliverability sound oddly familiar. Before email become a major marketing channel, Standard Presort Mail (known then as Third Class or Bulk) was the exclusive direct response medium. Mailboxes overflowed with catalogs and sales pitches. Back then this would be the case year-round, not just right now — in the protracted post-Halloween holiday season. It was inevitable that direct mailers would begin to seriously strain the postal system, using mail as something for which it was never designed. Weekly DM News reports would outrage readers with fresh tales of huge batches of mail delivered late or not at all. Delivery costs rose and delivery satisfaction fell. And thus emerged other media, following supply and demand (and abetted by Moore’s Law). These media included email. Now the outcry continues, but with this newer channel.

Fellow veteran of direct mail Melinda Krueger (MediaPost’s Email Diva) has a good post in that publication (registration required) about the influence of a dedicated IP address over deliverability. It’s a good primer to the topic of email reputation and how it is measured through the lens of an IP’s suspected spamming track record. More importantly, it helps the “lay audience” — those who think an ESP is a psychic ability and not an Email Service Provider — grasp the unintended consequences of email marketing.

Once again we marketers are using a medium for something no one considered at its birth.

Shepherd your online prospects to conversion with a strong email reminder

MarketingSherpa does a lot of things right, so I should not have been surprised to get this conversion email from them last week. It should serve as a reminder that when someone begins a conversion process and bails out, all is not lost. Note the tone and content of this case study quality email message:

Dear Jeff Larche,

I noticed you began to enroll in the MarketingSherpa 7-day Free Trial Membership, but you didn’t complete the process.

Is there anything I can do to help?

I will be happy to talk with you and answer any questions you may have. In spite of our best efforts, some people have had questions they didn’t find answered completely on our information page.

The Free Trial provides tremendous value for marketers who want a faster, easier way to access ALL of MarketingSherpa’s content:

  • Private Research Database-Search 3,000+ stats on marketing instantly
  • Creative Samples Library-Search 2,600+ real-life campaign
    samples for inspiration
  • Topical Index-52 Topics listed from B-to-B Lead Generation to Viral Marketing

Click on your choice for a Sherpa Microsite all about that topic with Case Studies, How-to Articles & more. If you activate your free trial today you will also receive:

  • 10% Discount to the Sherpa Store that can be used instantly
  • Special Introductory Rate for annual membership (that’s $200 off normal retail value) should you decide to continue after your trial period.

You can re-visit the information page, and continue activating your 7-Day Free Trial here:
https://www.marketingsherpa.com/member_trial.html

The Free Trial Membership is absolutely risk-free. You may cancel at any time during your trial and we will not charge you a cent.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to call me or email me and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.

My phone number is: [toll free number withheld here], or if you prefer, email your question to [email address withheld here].

Thank you for your time.

Yours Truly,

Hope Hopkins
Membership Services

P.S. We are currently offering a free PDF download of Sherpa’s Top 5 Case Studies on Online Video Advertising upon activating your Free Trial.

Brilliant! They emphasize the benefits of joining now, make it easy, and sweeten the kitty at every turn. This reminds me of an Alexander Pope poem I memorized as a kid (I know, I was a weird child):

Men should be taught
As if you taught them not
With things unknown
Proposed as things forgot

Great advice then and now.

Confirmation page growing in email marketing importance

A recent Direct Marketing Association study describes the growing popularity of super-simple subscription processes — sometimes just asking for an email address. But even more noteworthy is the clever twist of nailing down details within the confirmation page.

In a way this is just a semantic trick. Instead of the subscription process being a two-page “ordeal,” with Page Two saying something like: “Almost done! Now tell us what you’d like to receive in our eNewsletter,” the second page says, “Thanks for subscribing. Your first issue will arrive shortly. Now, if you tell us in the form below what content would be most welcome, we’ll be about to customize those messages precisely to your tastes.”

Such a simple change. And such a big improvement in conversion rates! Privacy assurances and transparency about how often the emails will arrive are also key to raising subscription conversion rates, according to the study.

Other findings, as described in Chad White’s blog about the report, are as follows:

  • Only 3% of major online retailers use a double opt-in subscription process.
  • Only 92% [sic] of retailers have an email sign-up form or link on their homepage.
  • More than 43% of retailers allow customers to sign up for email with one click from their homepage.
  • The subscriber’s name (31%) and zip code (18%) were the two most often required pieces of information.

What are you doing to improve your eNewsletter’s subscription process?