As 2011 winds to a close, no year would be complete without a wrap-up list of some kind. In that spirit, we are counting down the 20 Top BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas posts in 2011. In today’s post we will be highlighting numbers 20 to 11.
Did your favorite Fresh Ideas posts make the list? Be sure to leave a comment and let us know.
Nick Swinmurn does want to see what’s in your closet, as do many other marketers and advertisers. According to AdWeek, his new platform RNKD (pronounced ranked) opened to the public (in beta) on Wednesday, November 16th. In an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, Swinmurn said he felt there had to be a better way for vendors to know who their customers are and to create a channel of communication.
Mashable explains, “The concept is simple: Take pictures of all the things you have in your closet. Tag them by brand and purchase location and get rewards and deals based on your proven likes.”
In a statement to Huffington Post Swinmurn says, “Every consumer has favorite brands and stores they are loyal to, but most have never been recognized or rewarded for their purchases. If you buy more shoes from Nike than anyone else – shouldn’t you be given early access to new lines and different pricing than someone who is trying the product for the first time and may never buy again? ” Swinmurn argued that RNKD, unlike many other social sites, gives people an incentive to share.
There are tiered rewards, presumably to make sure beginners are able to win some deals. Users can earn points, badges and discounts by uploading, “liking,” commenting, or accumulating a particular brand as well as inviting friends and sharing via Twitter and Facebook. There are also individual ranks for the various types of apparel. The user can even peruse other people’s closets to find new brands (although you are able to make your profile private if you prefer).
According to a WSJ blog, the catch right now is that not many brands have jumped onboard yet, and it could be a while before the site reaches the scale that brands really begin to offer discounts. Currently the site shows users being rewarded based on weekly rankings with gift certificates from Zappos and Dethrone Royalty – two of Swinmurn’s own creations. The blogger notes brands currently have no control over how their clothing items, shoes, and accessories are being portrayed on RNKD, since the content is user-generated – to which Swinmurn replied, “We’re telling brands, that’s just real life. Here are the $100 shoes in people’s closets, next to the $20 pair, because that’s what people really own.”
So, as the old BASF tagline goes, “At BASF, we don’t make a lot of the products you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy better.” Swinmurn is betting that RNKD will revolutionize the brand loyalty arena by allowing retailers to offer the biggest discounts to those who deserve them – their biggest fans.
What do you think? Will you whip out your phone (yes, there’s an app for that) and start uploading pictures of what’s in your closet? Do you think Swinmurn is on the right path? I look forward to your feedback!
In the past few years, nearly everything has found its way to the Internet, from ordering your groceries online to ordering a pizza. What we have learned, though, is that the Internet takes out a key component that online shoppers often need – personalized assistance… or at least the option of it. In fact, many online retailers have left their consumers high and dry when they need help navigating their website or have questions about their products. Other brands have gotten creative, however, combining the ease and convenience of online shopping with the option of real-time customer service when needed.
One of the main draws to Zappos.com is the accessibility to a real walking and talking person! While on the Zappos site, you can easily call the 24/7 customer service phone number or opt for live help which will connect you via online chat with a customer service representative. Zappos.com is a prime example of client service gone right. According to venturebeat.com, Zappos grossed over one billion dollars in 2009 and, as cited by cmswire.com, they earned themselves the number 15 spot on Fortune’s 2010 100 Best Companies to Work For list. Their attention to customer service combined with a quality product and strong culture have made Zappos an example for other organizations to follow in 2011.
Zappos isn’t shy about sharing their secrets to success either. Zapposinsights.com provides a unique opportunity to visit the Zappos “family” (as the employees are called), schedule time to tour their facility in Las Vegas and learn about and request your own Zappos Culture Book that outlines Zappos culture, core values, and tips for your own organization.
Zappos puts a strong emphasis on the culture in which their employees thrive. The happiness of the employee then translates to the customer – making for an overall positive experience. Just ask Donavon Roberson, Zappos culture evangelist, or Matt Wong, Zappos audio/video jedi, who make up a portion of the Zappos Insights team.
As we continue to worry about the down trodden economy, the unemployment rate and the many other lackluster things going on – why not take a nod from Zappos.com and put our focus on being creative, thinking outside the box, being positive and being strongly attentive to customer service and internal culture?
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*Bio:Soon after graduating from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, in 2006 with a B.A. in communication and a B.S. in business/marketing, I joined the BurrellesLuce client services team. In 2008, I completed my master’s degree in corporate and organizational communications and now serve as Director of Client Services. I am passionate about researching and understanding the role of email in shaping relationships from a client relation/service standpoint as well as how miscommunication occurs within email, which was the topic of my thesis. Through my posts on Fresh Ideas, I hope to educate and stimulate thoughtful discussions about corporate communications and client relations, further my own knowledge on this subject area, as well as continue to hone my skills as a communicator. Twitter: @_LaurenShapiro_ LinkedIn: laurenrshapiro Facebook: BurrellesLuce
Retargeting – when online targeted advertising is delivered to consumers based on previous Internet actions that did not result in a past conversion – has become more importunate (persistent) as we continue to increasingly use the Internet to shop, order food, book travel, monitor the news or for pretty much anything you want to do without leaving the house.
It is also becoming more widely used within the advertising arena. With so many similar brands in the market it is hard to differentiation yourself from the other guy, and this form of remarketing can help to successfully convert those lost opportunities.
Oddly enough, after reading Learmonth’s post I was having dinner with my friend Nancy who was “weirded out” by a similiar experience. Ever since she booked a room at Loews Hotel ads for the hotel began appearing on every website that she visited. She is a sales trader so PPC (pay-per-click), Twitter, retargeting, and cookies are not really in her vocabulary. So I thought it would be interesting to research if retargeting is as effective as marketing and advertising professionals believe and how it actually works.
According to Criteo, a company that specializes in scalable personalized retargeting, more than 90 percent of website visitors leave before converting (i.e., making a purchase, downloading a white paper, etc.) Other research has shown that it can take at least seven follow-up emails or phone calls with prospects to actual convert them to a sale. If we are only tracking those visitors that convert on our physical websites, we are simply losing out on a possible sale down the road. Websites these days are optimized for search and have the technology to place cookies on each visitor’s computers to measure the site’s true audience size, but that is only capturing IP addresses most of the time. Then they have us, until we remove all our cookies and empty our cache.
So how do these retargeting customized ads work? When a prospect/client browses your website they become tagged with a snippet of code, which tracks which products they have shown interest in. When they leave the website and begin visiting other pages that’s when the retargeting begins. Banner ads customized to their search on your site start appearing on sites all over the web, from news, social networks, blogs, etc.
Companies that are using retargeting firms, such as Fetchback, in their marketing strategy have seen a 592 percent increase in ROI and conversions up by 94 percent. There are many other benefits to this form of behavioral marketing. It helps streamline all of your campaigns and the frequency of the ads helps keep your brand on the top of prospects minds. (Most services have an integrated feature that allows you to place a limit on the frequency at which the ads appear, so you don’t bomb your potential clients and “creep” them out because everywhere they go they see you.)
Plus, your ads are not static on a particular site related to your industry, which usually does not yield a lot of traffic because that market is already saturated and are either already your clients or know who you are. With retargeting your ads you are only reengaging with new prospects that have already shown interest in your brand; you can focus on what their needs are and manage your ROI.
In short, retargeting helps build your brand and online presence, while increasing the chances of reengaging your audience. It is not going to convert all on its own and has to be used with traditional marketing tactics to be effective. So don’t eliminate your current strategies. It is also important to measure the effectiveness of your retargeting campaigns, ensuring it is worth the investment and that your conversion rates are higher.
This article from Inc. Magazine highlights a retargeting success story involving Scottevest and its partnership with firm AdRoll.
There is one downside to the growing popularity for converting leads more efficiently via retargeting and that is the possibility that people may have the choice to opt-out (a do not call list for the Internet) of all behavioral targeting ads. What does that do for brands that are following the rules and not hunting down prospects on the web? We lose the opportunity to generate qualified leads for our sales team and revenue for the company. If you do use retargeting make sure you limit your reach frequency because when people begin to feel harassed and stalked by brands they will opt-out; I would.
Is your organization taking on the strategy of retargeting advertising? If so, how successful have you been with campaigns and reengaging lost prospects? Do you think we should have the right to opt-out of all behavioral targeting ad campaigns or just the irritating ones? Please share your thoughts and ideas with me and the BurrellesLuceFresh Ideas readers.
On Wednesday Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos chose to talk about the Zappos deal on YouTube. By speaking directly to the public, and bypassing the press, Bezos was able to assure that his key messages were clearly articulated. The video spread quickly via social media, and became a part of the story in the traditional media.
There is little doubt that online video is exploding. The July issue of the BurrellesLuce e-newsletter, devoted to online video, notes that according to comScore’s Video Metrix, published in June 2009, 78.6 percent of all Internet users viewed online video during the month of April 2009 (16.8 billion videos), a 34.5 percent increase in video consumption from April of 2008.
The rapid growth of online video provides public relations professionals new opportunity to engage the public and media. Tuesday I moderated a PR News webinar, “How to (Really) Leverage YouTube for PR,” designed to help PR practitioners use online video to take their media relations to the next level. Anthony Allen, director of Digital Media for the American Society for Training and Development, provided some practical advice on creating and sharing videos. Christi Day, emerging media specialist from Southwest Airlines, shared great examples of how Southwest has been able to engage the media and audiences using online video. And Rick Wion, vice president Dialogue, GolinHarris, offered great suggestions on what organizations should be measuring.
As Rick pointed out, “Viral is not a strategy.” Effective use of online video means assuring that it is seamlessly integrated with your overall PR plan. The Jeff Bezos video provides an excellent example of how to tell a story, while simultaneously aligning the video to key messages. While it took Bezos nearly six minutes to mention Zappos, he was quick to talk about the company’s core values; a customer centric philosophy, constant invention/innovation and long-term focus.
With that said, the Bezos video was not without its critics. Is eight minutes too long for an online audience? Why did it take six minutes to get to the news viewers were waiting to hear? Was the quality of the video lackluster?
As business communicators, we all have a lot to learn about how to harness the full potential of online video. Back in February of 2007, Doug Simon, president of D S Simon, noted in his welcoming vlog post: “In two years, websites and blogs without video will be the exception, rather than the rule.” Today, online video has become an essential element in communications plans and is an important part of what we monitor for our clients.
Be sure to check out these tips for using online video from BurrellesLuce. How do you incorporate online video into your PR plan?
As 2011 winds to a close, no year would be complete without a wrap-up list of some kind. In that spirit, we are counting down the 20 Top BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas posts in 2011. In today’s post we will be highlighting numbers 20 to 11.
brands in the market it is hard to differentiation yourself from the other guy, and this form of remarketing can help to successfully convert those lost opportunities.
