Finding the Perfect Balance

Two Lessons Learned

Jason Marshall, Gaiam’s vice president of consumer direct, says the two most useful things he’s learned over the past year center around Web content and effective channel profitability.

1. In the online world, content is king for both customer acquisition and retention. “That’s a very old phrase,” he admits, “but in the world of Google driving traffic to your site and people shifting focus on search, it is, in fact, king. It’s a hell of a lot easier to retain an existing customer than it is to gain a new one.”

2. Assess your profitability by channel. “When you dig down into the core of the numbers by channel, it’s an eye-opening experience,” Marshall says. “There are a lot of people over the next few years who’ll have radical changes in their marketing mix.” —PM

This year's economic retreat actually stands to help Gaiam, a product and information services company with a heavy emphasis on sustainability, position itself for greater growth in the near future.

Gaiam sells a wide variety of products — yoga and other fitness tools and instructional DVDs, apparel and linens made from organic fabrics, and assorted personal care products. Having decided a few months ago to reduce catalog circulation by 2.5 million, from the 16 million it mailed last year, the company is more heavily focused on integrating its Web-based prospecting efforts to gain comparable response, greater flexibility and far lower costs. This year it's focusing most heavily on organic and paid search, as well as its highly successful affiliate marketing program.

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Cover Story: Finding the Perfect Balance