Performics (formerly Dynamic Trade)

Problem: Pottery Barn wanted to build its natural search optimi-zation performance on major search engines for its three Web sites. Solution: It launched a six-month NSO program to gain greater online visibility for PotteryBarn.com, PotteryBarnKids.com and PBteen.com. Results: Total traffic, revenue and the number of indexed pages for all three properties surged, quickly surpassing Pottery Barn’s goals for the test. Pottery Barn, the crowned jewel of San Francisco-based Williams-Sonoma, knew its natural search optimization (NSO) practically was nonexistent. The multichannel marketer’s sites, PotteryBarn.com, PBteen.com and PotteryBarnKids.com could barely be found on the average search, except by brand name. Pottery

In a recent survey by the Performics performance marketing unit of DoubleClick, most respondents said that customers turned to search engines earlier in the purchase process than in years past. Although the shift indicates a significant shift in shopping behavior, there wasn’t a notable shift in buying behavior, according to companies queried in the Performics 50 Index. Some of the most noteworthy findings include the following: 4 total sales from search engine marketing programs grew as search spend increased 4 total Q4 revenue attributed directly to search increased by 43 percent over Q4 2005 4 overall search-attributed sales for all of 2006 increased by

Customer referrals from online affiliates converted at 3.2 percent and 3.4 percent respectively in the first and second quarters of 2006, according to a survey of 63 online merchants conducted by Internet marketing firm Performics and research firm ComScore Networks. This compares to 4.3 percent and 4.4 percent conversion for direct traffic to merchant sites and 2.3 percent each quarter for other referrals, such as paid search and e-mail campaigns. Other data revealed by the survey: • 6.6 percent of affiliate shoppers have household incomes under $25,000; • 18.9 percent have household incomes between $25,000 and $50,000; • 27.4 percent have household incomes between $50,000 and $75,000; •

For smaller catalogers like Chinaberry, the Web can certainly be the great equalizer. Here are some tactics used by Chinaberry’s namesake children’s books and toys catalog and its spiritual gifts catalog Isabella. Search engine marketing: Both catalogs use Google AdWords for prospecting. “Google is the most compatible for us in sending us our types of prospects,” he explains. “MSN is starting to do well, and everyone is waiting for the Yahoo! paid search relaunch. We’ve had Yahoo! on hold for a few months until its ‘Project Panama’ has its full rollout.” Affiliate marketing program: Using Performics’ tracking system, Chinaberry can monitor the online relationships

Successful catalogers know that putting the right offers in front of the right customers at the right times will result in strong sales. But the online affiliates putting your offers on their sites may not. Following are eight strategies your online affiliates should be using in order to maximize their contributions to your holiday sales offered by affiliate network Performics and multichannel strategy and research firm the e-tailing group. 1. Centralize and prominently position free shipping offers. Potential shoppers flock to these, the authors write. 2. Create a sense of urgency. Your affiliates should remind shoppers of the number of days until Christmas. 3. Inspire impulse

The four Mondays between Thanksgiving and Christmas -- aka: “Cyber Mondays 1 to 4” -- were the peak selling days during the 2005 holiday shopping season, according to Performics, a division of DoubleClick Digital Advertising Solutions. No surprise: Cyber Mondays 2 and 3 were particularly strong selling days. This year, there will again be four Mondays between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but Cyber Monday 4 may be a stronger selling day than it was in 2005, note Performics officials. That’s because Christmas day is, itself, a Monday, and so Cyber Monday 4 (Dec. 18) will fall a full week before the holiday, leaving adequate time for