The direct marketer's guide to online marketing success

By Jennifer Wagner, Senior Art Director

The Direct Marketer’s Guide to Online Marketing Success


2Page © 2013 Catalyst

Your customers are doing it. Your competition is doing it. The whole world is online—reading email, visiting websites and connecting socially. People expect (and many prefer) to be connected with brands online, where they have more control over the relationship. This is a world where online reviews or discussions in social media have the power to make or break a company. How did this happen?

How Did We Get From There to Here?

Over the past ten years, advances in Web technology, widely available Wi-Fi and sophisticated but easy-to-use smartphones have spurred an explosion of online activity and a proliferation of data. According to Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, in 2009 the same amount of data was generated in two days as was created from the dawn of civilization through 2003.

Harnessing that “Big Data” to match consumers to right-time offers that meet their needs—and converting them to customers—is a direct marketer’s dream come true. But it can seem like a nightmare the first time you are asked to plan and oversee an integrated digital program.

Fortunately, if you are a direct marketer you have a lot of this down already. Many of the direct marketing best practices you live by apply to online marketing. Yes, there are important differences between online and offline marketing, but the objective is essentially the same—develop relevant, engaging, two-way relationships that motivate prospects to become and remain customers.

Direct marketers have also long known that integrating direct mail with telemarketing and TV enhances results. And as early as 2007, the Internet Advertising Bureau found that integrating online with traditional offline channels provided a 7% to 34% sales lift over campaigns that used only offline channels. Obviously, it’s no longer a question of whether you should include online channels in your traditional direct marketing campaigns. The real question is—what’s the best way to do it?

In 2009 the same amount of data was generated in two days as was created from the dawn of civilization through 2003.


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The Digital Marketing Channel Ecosystem

According to the WinterBerry Group, 2013 trends indicate that your best strategy is to plan and manage your marketing programs holistically rather than as separate, isolated channels.1 However, in most companies, technology has yet to catch up to this ideal, especially when it comes to sharing and managing data across the digital and traditional divides. Companies who develop ways to consolidate their data will enjoy a huge marketing advantage.

Your online and offline efforts must be seamless. Establish an overall strategy and goal for your campaign—do you want to drive more prospects to your website, raise awareness of your product, nurture prospects with a newsletter, or build an opt-in list? Which channels are best suited to your goals? Make sure that each phase of your promotion adds something to the communication while staying true to the strategy and brand. Within a campaign, visual and content styles should be consistent over all mediums so the user is not confused and can easily find and respond to your call to action.

Each online marketing channel has its own strengths and weaknesses. A basic understanding of the major online channels is

essential before you dive in.



Email — Still the King (But Handle With Care)

You may have heard rumors that email is losing prominence as a marketing tool. Trends for 2013 indicate this is not the case. In a 2012 StrongMail survey, 1,000 marketers were asked where they would increase spending in 2013; email marketing was first on the list. Some of the top initiatives included: increasing subscriber engagement, improving targeting, growing an opt-in email list, and integrating social marketing.

One of the biggest advantages of email over print media is the lower production and deployment costs. Because there is no physical printing or mailing involved, once you hit “send,” you can start getting results within hours as opposed to weeks. Users can read and respond to your message anytime and anywhere—in 2012, 73% of users opened email on their mobile devices daily. And, according to Forrester Research, 89% of marketers cited email as their primary channel for lead generation. B2B Marketing’s Email Benchmarking Report also found that B2B marketers relied primarily on email for lead generation and nurturing.

So if it is less expensive, effective and fast, why wouldn’t you use email all the time and for everything? Because the wrong frequency, subject line wording, coding, design, nonrelevant content, or an outdated email list can lead to reduced opening rates, delivery rates—or worse, your email or domain could be flagged as SPAM. To avoid these issues, make sure you work with a reputable email partner who understands the CAN-SPAM rules and can help you build a legal and effective opt-in email list.

Some best practices to keep in mind:

• Develop an intriguing subject line(s) that is both relevant to the recipient’s wants and needs and is paid off by the email content

• Make your copy easy to scan by grouping short paragraphs under subheads and using plenty of white space

• Enhance your copy with graphics, but make sure the recipient will be able to understand the message if the images are blocked

• Include at least three calls to action, with one placed at the top where it will be visible in the user’s preview pane

• Include multiple response options, including a landing page link, an email link, even a phone number

• Design your email so that it degrades gracefully when read on a mobile device

• Before sending, test through SPAM filters and in various email browsers

• Use opt-in lists and always include opt-out options/links

Percentage of B2C and B2B marketers increasing 2013 spend in each area2

email

social

mobile

search

advertising

56%

52%

43%

40%

27%

PR

17% tradeshows15% DM14%

56% of B2B marketers plan to increase spend on email in 20132



A key point to remember is that your website is never finished.

Websites

A mature but ever-evolving online channel, websites are key tools in your online marketing kit—especially e-commerce sites. Although social marketing and mobile have been stealing the scene lately, marketers who don’t pay close attention to their website do so at their own peril. Your site can be your prospect’s first encounter with your brand. In fact, the online world is so tightly integrated into the “real” world, your website is your brand. If it’s difficult to navigate, doesn’t render well in browsers or mobile devices or doesn’t provide up-to-date information or interactivity, your prospect may never return.

Some website design basics to remember:

• Clear business and marketing objectives should be the foundation of your website strategy

• Develop content that focuses on the interests and needs of your audience

• Design your navigation so that information is easy to find

• Short summaries that allow users to click through for more information are more effective than long pages with large blocks of copy

• Always provide opportunities for your visitors to talk to you—through forms, a comment section on your blog, even a live Twitter feed

• Use tools such as Google Analytics to determine if the site is meeting its objectives

A key point to remember is that a website is never finished. Like your visitors, it is a living, breathing entity and should be designed as such. Building a CRM system into a website can help automate frequent updates and keep the site organized. Updated content makes the site more visible to search engines, and your visitors are more likely to engage, return and convert/purchase.



Landing Pages

Landing pages or microsites can be created and customized for a specific promotion and even specific users. They’re also a great way to incorporate digital into offline channels. Visitors can be directed to the landing page via an email link, a banner ad or even a Web address printed on a postcard.

As every direct marketer knows, personalization enhances response, and it is possible to achieve this online using a PURL (personalized URL/Web address) as a call to action in outgoing email or direct mail pieces. After recipients type their PURL into their browser, they are directed to a unique landing page assembled from information in your database. The resulting page might include directions to the nearest store, offers based on past purchases or promotions that reflect the recipient’s specific interests . The user’s actions while on the PURL can be tracked and then fed back into the database. The new data can trigger another event, such as a personalized thank-you email, order fulfillment or subscription acknowledgment.

SEM and SEO

A whole discipline in its own right, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) uses a combination of paid and organic (direct) search to improve a company’s visibility in search engines. Paid search includes pay-per-click listings and Google AdWords. Both options can help move your links up to the first page of search results, where the searcher is most likely to see them.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of planning and designing your website or Web page content so that it appears among the top search results after your customer or prospect does an organic search. The goal is to maximize the number of people who can find your site based on the information/product they are looking for. Careful use of keywords, an accurate and descriptive title built into each page, and an appropriate mix of graphics, animation and content will all contribute to a high search engine ranking. Image, local, video, academic, or even industry-specific search engines can be targeted.

Although it’s smart to use SEO as part of your online marketing plan, search engines are always updating the way they rank and display results, and ongoing referrals are not guaranteed. Be sure to monitor your site’s traffic and, again, work with an expert who keeps track of the latest search engine trends. It’s also best to consult an SEO expert from the beginning—it’s more efficient (and less frustrating) to develop your content around an SEO strategy, as opposed to redoing and rewriting—and coding—your “completed” site after an SEO assessment.

Be sure to monitor your site’s traffic and, again, work with an expert who keeps track of the latest search engine trends.



Display Advertising

Display advertising has been around since the early days of the Web. Banner ads are a familiar component of the Web landscape, although their effectiveness has often been debated. After all, users are on a particular page to find particular information—not to read an ad. Keeping the ad message and design simple and action-oriented can go a long way toward enticing a user to look and click through. Display advertising is best used as a brand-awareness tool, although it is possible to target, track and test online ads just as you would a direct marketing campaign—often for a much lower investment.

How do you find the users who will be most interested in your ad? One way is to find the sites they visit. Affiliate Advertising is a relatively inexpensive media buy that was invented before the days of Google Analytics and is still in use today. Ads are placed on hundreds of websites, and the site owners are only paid when a visitor clicks through—not for the placement itself. Over time, as data shows which ads and sites perform best (where the target audience is), the advertiser’s efforts can become more focused.

Recent advances in technology and Web analytics have vastly improved targeting. Techniques such as behavioral retargeting (gleaned from “cookies,” or data gathered when users visit websites), demographic, geographic and site-based targeting make it possible to deliver relevant ads to your customers, wherever they are.

For example, retargeting display ads are used to target prospects based on their interest in information or products you offer. These ads are displayed only after a user has visited a specific page or content on your site (for example, checking account features), has left, and then visits or searches for similar content (like “free checking”) on other sites.

The big trend now is automated, real-time, cookie-based audience buying, which promises time and cost savings. One caution—this type of targeting requires in-depth knowledge of individual Web users and raises serious privacy issues. Online marketers should always clearly disclose their use of cookies in their privacy policy and offer an opt-out for behavioral targeting. Be sure to work with a media buyer who understands both the rules and best practices of display advertising and targeting and can help you get the most from your investment.

Techniques such as behavioral retargeting, demographic, geographic and site-based targeting make it possible to deliver relevant ads to your customers, wherever they are.



Social

Oh my, how you have grown! Once scoffed at by most marketers, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and other social sites have become legitimate—and powerful—marketing channels. Unlike traditional media such as newspaper and TV, information can be inexpensively produced and accessed by anyone. Six different types of social media are recognized today: collaborative projects like Wikipedia, blogs and microblogs (Twitter), content communities (including YouTube), social networking sites (like LinkedIn), and virtual gaming/social worlds.

A social media plan may include just one type of social media or several, depending on your strategy. Audiences can vary in size, from just a few people to millions worldwide. It’s a marketer’s dream come true when the company video goes viral on YouTube! Communication can be company-to-consumer (“Like us on Facebook”), or via consumer-generated content, such as customers submitting their own videos about how to assemble or use a product. It is predicted that in the not-so-distant future, marketing efforts will move beyond getting “likes” on Facebook to becoming a natural part of the social environment itself (see virtual worlds, above).

When choosing where to concentrate your social efforts, consider the audience you are trying to reach. According to a December 2012 Pew Research study, Facebook trends toward women ages 18–29, while Twitter offers a large audience of urban

African-American 18–29-year-olds. And don’t discount seniors—year-over-year growth in social networking

is greatest among ages 55+.

Whatever you create in social media, make sure you are providing real value to your followers. Keep in mind that the #1 reason consumers visit social media sites is the promise of a discount! Offer special promotions, previews of new products,

discounts for check-ins and personalized updates that are relevant. Overtly commercial,

polished campaigns will fall flat in this medium, so will talking about yourself.

Social Media channel size by number of users3

Facebook 1.11 billion

Google+ 48.7 million

Tumblr 108.9 million

Yelp 100 million

Twitter 500 million

Pinterest 48.7 million

LinkedIn 225 millionFlickr 87 million



Mobile

With more users connecting online via mobile devices, it’s very important that all of your online efforts are optimized for mobile. According to a recent mobile statistics report by comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world and a reliable source of digital business analytics, by 2014 mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide.

Make sure that essential information, especially what your users will access on the go, reproduces well on a small mobile screen. Allowing your site to shrink down proportionally to microscopic size is obviously not a good strategy. Neither is maintaining separate desktop and mobile sites (oh, the headache!). With proper planning and coding, also known as Responsive Design, a developer can design one version of a website that renders optimally (and readably) at any screen size. Responsive Design even allows you to choose what content is deleted as the screen size becomes smaller.

Mobile has opened up many great opportunities for marketers. Because everything available online can be accessed via a smartphone, offline shoppers can use their phone or tablet to get directions to a store, check in when they get there, compare pricing, redeem promotions or coupons and even sign in to Facebook and tell their friends about a great sale they stumbled upon. Meanwhile, the store can track and use this data to serve up additional personalized loyalty and referral programs.

Mobile Apps

What about mobile apps? Apple’s App Store alone contains over 800,000 mobile apps, designed for everything from entertainment to business. Many companies, especially retailers such as banks and financial institutions, have developed phone-specific apps that allow customer interactions when it’s more convenient. Mobile banking apps allow customers to transfer money from one account to another, pay bills and check balances on the go, without making a trip to the bank or booting up their personal computers.

Any app that makes your customers’ lives easier can provide valuable loyalty, cross-sell and upsell opportunities. For example, you could offer a free inventory/ordering app that reminds your customers when it is time to reorder, or helps your customers set up and submit orders automatically. Whatever you decide, make sure your app includes features not available on your mobile-optimized website, and test the idea with real customers. And, with Android-based phones continuing to rise in popularity, it’s advisable to offer apps for both Android and Apple iOS. You don’t want to spend a lot of time and money developing an app that no one in your target wants or is able to use. Damir Saracevic, Catalyst’s Director of Digital Marketing, discusses this further in his article Mobile Website or Mobile App?

By 2014 mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide.



Six Best Practices for Online Channels

1. Know Your Audience

Who are you speaking to? What are they interested in? What are their pain points? How do they use the Web? How and when do they use their mobile devices? Defining a persona or customer profile can help you develop your overall online strategy. Talk to a sampling of your target audience in person. You’ll get insights on what really makes them tick and how to best communicate with them.

Generally, the more targeted and segmented your communication, the more likely you will receive a response. Simple personalization is not enough anymore—in fact, personalization can come off as superficial and annoying if the rest of your content is generic. Users will only interact with your content or offers site or respond to your SMS messages if the information and offers are relevant and interesting to them.

2. Define and Communicate Your USP/POD

Determine the one unique selling point (USP) for your business/product/service that addresses your audience’s pain point(s) or needs. What is the one thing you can say that your competition can’t? Don’t have a USP? Focus on what differentiates you—maybe it’s how you work with your customers or a unique way you solve problems. Ask your current customers why they chose you. Make sure your point of differentiation is supported by your content and is easy to understand.

Like direct marketing, digital marketing should support and enhance your brand. It should speak in the same voice and incorporate the same visual elements (logo, colors, typeface, etc.). Ideally, your USP is defined on the first Web page your prospect sees. Craft your headlines and subheadings to ensure your audience can easily scan through needed information and supporting points. Sound familiar?

3. Plan to Create a Great Experience

Ultimately, all effective marketing communications tell a story. Online, a good story will make it easy for your audience to find and react to relevant information. Keep in mind, the story is not what you want prospects to see—it’s what they are interested in. How do you know? Research, plan and test, test, test. Test

... personalization can come off as superficial and annoying if the rest of your content is generic.



possibilities include different email subject lines, audiences, button colors, offers, landing page formats, navigation designs—the list goes on and on. As with direct mail, test only one item at a time. Otherwise you will have difficulty identifying what really led to your results.

Depending on the project, a good digital team will present you with a site and/or experience map, content strategy, layouts, and working prototypes so you can see how the “story” is coming together. They will also recommend that you gather a sampling of people who fit your audience profile so you can observe how they interact with your prototype. Are users having trouble using the shopping cart? Are they able to easily find the information they need? Is the text readable? Is the email too long? Testing your campaign at an early stage can help you identify navigation and user issues before they go live and are difficult to fix.

4. Encourage Two-Way Communication … and Action

In direct marketing, a response is when a prospect indicates interest in your offer by mailing back a form or calling an 800 number, and conversion is the percentage of responses that become sales. In Web-speak, a response and a purchase are both considered conversions. That’s because digital marketing is both outgoing (push) and incoming (pull). For example, you can send a targeted email blast that refers prospects to your site or prospects can “discover” you through search, links or banner ads placed on other sites.

In both disciplines, your top objective is to get your target audience to respond. Although design and content are very important, a relevant, motivating offer is the key. Whether it’s an offer of information, a coupon or a sweeps entry, make sure the call to action is easy to find, see or fill out. Always be sure to provide more than one way of responding. Your calls to action could include an online sign-up form, a link to a special landing page, an 800 number, or an email address, depending on your targets’ preferences. Once a prospect has responded or opted in, you have a lead. And that opens up the communication line between you and your potential customer.

The challenge? Communications can be close to real time, especially with social media. You must be prepared to monitor and respond quickly to both suggestions and concerns. Having active advocates for your brand can be extremely powerful—as can having dissatisfied customers. Make sure you address both promptly and appropriately. Real-time communication gives you real-time data. Make sure both your website and email programs are set up to capture this data. Your digital team can help you choose the right tools to capture, manage, analyze and respond to the data from all your digital marketing activities.

Whether it’s an offer of information, a coupon or a sweeps entry, make sure the call to action is easy to find, see or fill out.



5. Keep Them Talking to You

Every direct marketer (and salesperson) knows that nurturing prospects is an essential part of developing a strong customer base. It is easier and more cost-effective to convert a prospect that has already shown interest than it is to keep finding new leads. Whether the sales cycle is long or the prospect is interested but not quite ready to buy, a nurturing program keeps them talking to you. It’s also an opportunity for you to demonstrate your expertise, responsiveness and commitment.

As with direct marketing, a lead nurturing program can offer a relevant monthly newsletter or ongoing information as an excellent way to nurture leads. Include a blog on your site, keep it updated at least monthly, and encourage readers to share and participate in the conversation. Is your company on Twitter or Facebook? How about YouTube? If not, consider getting involved in the social media space. Just remember that you will need to assign someone to monitor and update your blogs, pages and tweets.

6. Data Is Your Friend

“Big Data” is the term du jour and it’s not likely to change for quite a while. It’s an incredible opportunity for direct marketers to gain an even deeper understanding of their customers and prospects. As data analysis becomes more cost-efficient, brands will be able to more accurately predict customer behavior, leading to tailored offers and communications. Marketers who can bridge the gap between online data and traditional direct mail databases will have some powerful information in their hands.

Before even starting your online marketing program, valuable insights can be gained from online data sources, including social media registration, online purchases and transactions, and general interest data (such as articles read on news sites, etc.). Once you’ve used these data sets to profile your high-value customers, you’ll be able to identify and market to prospects with similar profiles. These insights can also help you determine which media and offers will be the most appealing to your prospects and will convert them to profitable customers.

It is also very important to analyze the results of your online marketing and refine your design, offers and content on an ongoing basis. Small changes can lead to an unexpected improvement—or depression—in response and conversion. You can also learn where your best leads are coming from and which devices your customers and prospects are using. With online tools such as Google Analytics, you can test landing pages for conversion, similar to testing mail pieces.

Marketers who can bridge the gap between online data and traditional direct mail databases will have some powerful information in their hands.



You Can Do It!

Many of the best practices and data analytics considered essential to online marketing originated in direct marketing. As direct marketers, we can engage prospects and customers with relevant messaging in ways not even possible ten years ago. Every day, new technologies and analytical techniques are being developed that will merge offline and online data into useful information and insights. It’s an exciting time to be a direct marketer!

One last piece of advice—choose your online marketing partner(s) wisely. Ask questions. Make sure they understand online marketing strategy and how to integrate it with offline. And confirm that they have experts who understand how to best incorporate data and insights into email, mobile, Web, social and online advertising channels.

Glossary of Terms

Who should be on your integrated marketing team:

Content developer: Organizes and writes content. You’ll want to make sure there is someone who heads up this position and ensures that all content is on strategy and proofed. They will work in tandem with your online designer to make sure the right content goes in the right place.

Online data analyst: Specializes in testing and analyzing data across online channels. Data that can be analyzed includes visitor/user, source, and content data.

Online media planner: Specializes in negotiating and buying appropriate space for ads online.

UX designer: Understands user experience—how humans interact with digital media. UX designers will provide wireframes to the visual Web design team, who will use them as the underlying structure for the look and feel of the site. UX designers are experts in usability testing, interaction psychology and other important online practices that visual Web designers aren’t responsible for.



Web designer: Specializes in planning and creating the look, feel, and hierarchy of the page(s). Understands user experience and best practices. Works with a Web developer to bring the vision to life; he/she must understand code too—though won’t usually write it.

Web developer: Produces the site/pages and brings them to life. Knows a lot about code; speaks in JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and AJAX/PHP, and Web applications.

Some terms you may hear when speaking with online designers, developers and marketers:

Accessibility: Your site must be optimized for people with disabilities, including the deaf and the blind. Make sure your designer and developers are aware of the requirements—ignoring accessibility rules can get you in trouble with the ADA and result in fines. Plus, it’s the right thing to do.

Back end: The information structure, applications and CMS—developers take care of this, and though your Web visitors won’t see it, it is what makes the site work.

Big Data: Big catchphrase right now—includes all the data in books; ebooks; direct marketing databases; government data; census data; Web-generated data such as photos, email, blogs, comments, WIKIs, and social websites; security cameras (eek); purchasing data; credit reports; school transcripts—the list goes on.

CMS: The system that helps you manage and update the content on your website. Your Web team can advise you on choosing a system that will work best for you. WordPress is an example of a CMS that is easy to use and maintain.

Cookie: Stores data about visited websites in a user’s Web browser. The initial value set in that cookie (user name, shopping cart contents, last page visited, etc.) goes back to the site or advertiser’s server each time the user returns.

Advertisers commonly use third-party cookies to track visitors to banner ads placed on other sites. The advertising company can then analyze the visitor’s behavior while on the site and target future advertisements to their preferences.

CSS and HTML: You don’t need to know much about this, but make sure your designer and developer do! CSS and HTML are known as “markup” languages that tell a Web browser what the Web page will look like, where links go, how the navigation works, etc.

Experience map: A diagram, usually a flow chart, that details the ideal user experience, from engagement to conversion/purchase, and how that will be accomplished. Especially valuable for establishing effective navigation.



Flash: A good developer will not recommend flash animation, since it will not run on Apple mobile devices. A better choice is JavaScript or animations that have been converted to more universal video formats or videos that can be posted to your YouTube channel.

PHP: A coding language that links a website to a database and allows you to track and update your data, often automatically.

Responsive Design: A Web page or site that is designed to reproduce well on everything, from small mobile devices like iPhones to 32 inch desktop displays. Your site can be coded to detect and show differently on specific screen sizes. It is usually not necessary (nor advisable) to have every detail on your regular site show up on a mobile screen.

Sitemap: An outline of your site, similar to a flow chart, showing the pages in your site and how they relate to one another. Sitemaps are a very important first step, as they help define navigation and subnavigation elements, which pages are most important and the scope of the project (how many pages/how much content).

UX: User experience. Make sure your Web team includes a professional experienced in the best practices of user experience design.

Wireframes: Once a sitemap has been approved, the UX team will begin development of wireframes. A wireframe can be a sketch or a line drawing that shows the elements of the page (navigation, content blocks, etc.) and their relative importance. A designer will use a combination of the wireframe, branding elements, and creative brief/site concept (such as humanizing the online shopping experience) as a basis for the site design.



About the AuthorJennifer Wagner has over 20 years of experience in direct marketing strategy, design and creative direction for various clients, including DuPont, Kodak, Chase Bank, Fisher-Price, Element K, and HP. Whether designing award-winning dimensional direct mail, coding websites from scratch, or creative directing a design group in the Philippines, she always enjoys the challenge of trying and succeeding at something new. In the past few years she has moved from a focus on direct mail design to online design—and is loving it. Reach Jennifer at [email protected]

About CatalystCatalyst (www.catalystinc.com) is a direct and digital marketing agency that helps clients acquire, retain and develop long-term relationships with their customers. We combine intellectual curiosity and inquisitiveness with hard-core analytics, deep customer insight and a measurement mindset to take the guesswork out of marketing decisions. We call it Science + Soul. Headquartered in Rochester, NY, our clients include AAA, AMC Theatres, Eastman Kodak Company, Embrace Home Loans Inc., First Niagara Financial Group, Heraeus Kulzer, Oreck, Valvoline, and Xeikon, among others.

800.836.7720 | www.catalystinc.com | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

Bibliography

1 From Information to Audiences: The Emerging Marketing Data Use Cases, A WinterBerry Group Whitepaper, January 2012

2 2013 StrongMail Marketing Trends Survey, Copyright © 2012, StrongMail Systems, Inc., www.strongmail.com/2013SurveyRelease

3 Data Source: compiled from Internet and posted June 2013 on the blog: expandedramblings.com/index.php/resource-how-many-people-use-the-top-social-media/

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The direct marketer's guide to online marketing success