Cover Story: 50 Best Tips of 2010
21. Be ready to capitalize on busy online shopping days. Target the third weekend of December with a planned promotion. For all of the hoopla surrounding Black Friday weekend, this weekend is bigger. Plan something for that weekend and you'll generate incremental sales.
Tom Davis, Kenneth Cole
"Strategies to Maximize Your Online Holiay Sales," Aug. 17, The
ROI Report
Email
22. Hold a contest. People love the chance to win a prize. Keep in mind that you don't have to have a huge prize; it could be as simple as a $250 shopping spree on your e-commerce site.
Reggie Brady, Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions
"6 Ways to Increase Engagement," October, Retail Online Integration
23. Take advantage of triggered emails. Trigger emails are sent to individuals based on their actions. The action could be good (thanking them for signing up for your free e-letter), bad (abandoning a shopping cart) or indifferent (confirming a vote in a poll), but it's always a happening, event or instance. Triggers have higher response rates, better deliverability and improved lifetime profit.
Amy Africa, Eight by Eight
"TESTING, TESTING: 5 Web Attributes to Test This Season," September, Retail Online Integration
24. "Large contact lists don't always equate to larger customer lists. This means lower open rates because many subscribers may no longer want to hear from you, or the list contains invalid addresses. Costs can really add up if you're charged by number of contacts and/or sends. Reconfirming contacts gives you an opportunity to separate true prospective customers from long-dead leads."
Gregory Davis, Solid Cactus
"Shop Talk," September, Retail
Online Integration
Fraud/Security
25. "Put a barcode or promo code on your coupon. Even if your point-of-sale system can't accept a code to give a deal, you can scare off fraudsters by putting a barcode on your coupon."
Seth Sarelson and Jonathan Treiber, RevTrax
"10 Ways to Protect Your Brand From Coupon Fraud," June 14, The ROI Report
