Web Budgeting: What Makes Sense Right Now, Part 2 of 3
As I continue with part two in our three-part series examining how catalogers should adjust their marketing budgets to account for an influx of Web traffic and buyers, this week I provide a list of Web programs that catalogers should consider investing in.
(For part 1, and a recap of how catalog/multichannel merchants can begin the process of planning their Web marketing budgets, click here.)
The following online programs have proven worthwhile for catalogers to invest resources in:
* Search engine optimization (SEO) solutions have become a big part of most catalogers’ marketing programs because paid and natural search are proving profitable and scalable.
The Rimm-Kaufman Group continues to be a blue-chip market leader with catalogers for SEO. NetElixir’s end-to-end pay-per-click campaign management and optimization services have made it an affordable solution for catalogers who want to “step on the gas.” Bright Cloud Marketing is a spin-off of DMinSite, and its focus is optimizing landing pages and ad copy, as well as working the “long tail.”
* Merchants are discovering the power of using Amazon.com as the site has grown. Ability Commerce offers a full-service solution to manage your program with Amazon. It sets up and implements your store within Amazon, designs your storefront, and maintains the account.
That’s an indication of just how large Amazon has become. We now have companies servicing the Web merchants selling on Amazon. If you’re not an Amazon affiliate, consider becoming one. Amazon drives significant sales to many catalogers’ Web sites at affordable acquisition costs.
* E-mail marketing has become a major sales and profit driver for merchants. FreshAddress provides a full suite of e-mail list hygiene, e-mail change of address and e-mail append solutions for companies to build and update their e-mail address databases. There are countless e-mail campaign companies, including Yesmail, Bronto, WhatCounts and Campaigner, that provide full-service e-mail marketing campaigns. The sheer number of e-mail campaigns and services shows how large e-mail marketing has become. Who would’ve thought that catalogers would be talking in great detail about triggered abandoned cart e-mail campaigns?
* acerno delivers behavioral-based Web advertising using a pay-for-performance model that’s delivered significant traction in terms of sales for catalogers.
Check back next week for the final part of our three-part series on Web budgeting, when I’ll continue my list of online programs that make sense for catalog/multichannel merchants.
Jim Coogan is president of Catalog Marketing Economics, a Santa Fe, N.M.-based consulting firm focused on catalog circulation planning. You can reach him at (505) 986-9902 or jcoogan@earthlink.net.
