A recent article in The Economist reveals that savvy retailers have made a number of breakthroughs when it comes to the science of persuading people to buy. Their discoveries provide fascinating food for thought for online marketers too…

U.K. based Sainsbury’s is probably one of the leaders when it comes to understanding and taking advantage of buyer psychology and consumer behavior.
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A recent article in MarketingSherpa describes six tactics for marketing online videos. I’ve summarised the tactics below. The first deserves special emphasis though, so, tomorrow, I’ll explain WHY it’s so important for Internet marketers…

In the meantime, here are the six tactics MarketingSherpa recommends:

1. Use ‘edutainment’ videos for lead generation.

Viewers will not only be more likely to stick around and watch your video if it both informs and entertains, but a highly entertaining video is more likely to be passed around for a significant viral marketing effect.

2. Use streaming video to complement live events.

You can reach a wider audience by streaming video of live events to an online audience. A great example of this was the recent Le Web Internet conference. To be there in person you had to fly to Paris. But because the event promoters also streamed the event, you could also watch it from your home or office computer.

In any case, by streaming a live event you can reach more people and therefore generate more leads.

3. Test embedded video in email campaigns - i.e. videos that play in the email or in a browser. The technological aspects of this can be challenging, but if you get it right, don’t be surprised to see higher open rates and click-through rates.

4. Use videos to recruit employees. Videos can be used to explain your work environment and the kind of people you’re looking for.

5. Provide video tours of product/services. By offering a short online video that explains your product or service, you can often deliver more information, faster, than by using text based descriptions or instructions.

6. Assemble a video library on one or more content-sharing sites.

Once you’ve created a video, upload it to a video-sharing site such as YouTube. Not only can this be great for viral marketing, but having a collection of online videos on a popular video site can also deliver search engine optimization (SEO) benefits and generate ongoing traffic to your site.

Source: MarketingSherpa, “Video’s Role In Your Marketing: 6 Proven Tactics To Support Lead Gen, Search, Product Launches,” MarketingSherpa

Amidst the carnage occurring on global financial markets… the depletion of venture capital… the current / looming economic recession… at least some are focusing on the positives.

In his recent article in TechCrunch, Dan Kimerling points out that Google was in its infancy during the dot-com crash and has gone on to survive, thrive and dominate.

He also makes the point that it’s often during times when there isn’t much money around – e.g. whether for marketing, investing in new technologies, or investing in startups – that people get creative. Put it this way, if you don’t have the money for traditional solutions (e.g. expensive advertising), you have no choice but to think up more creative ways to achieve what you want.

“One thing that is really excites me about the moment is seeing all innovation that is coming,” writes Mr Kimerling, “If advertising dollars dry up, and there is some early suggestion that they might, then you will see startups experiment with new revenue streams. Some of them will fail, but some of them will work, and when the start-up community finds those that do work, start-ups will evolve to incorporate these new revenue models… As funding because tighter and tighter, it means that the rate of technological innovation will likely speed up, out of necessity to find new ways to make internet companies profitable quickly.”

Now that’s exciting… and a much more positive spin on the current economic situation.

I have lots more thoughts on why – and how – we can turn these general economic woes to our advantage. I’ll share them with you in upcoming issues of the newsletter.

Source: Dan Kimerling, “The Seeds of the Next Big Thing Are Being Planted Now”, TechCrunch, October 4, 2008

Okay, I admit it. I’m a cliche.

I grew up wanting to be a novelist… and a rock star. I’ve written several unfinished screenplays… I have the first draft of a novel sitting at the bottom of my desk drawer…

And when I started my Internet business with my husband in 1997 what I *really* wanted to do was to create an entertainment website!

(Actually, if you want a laugh, check out the initial incarnations of Weeworld.com at Archive.org. You can’t view much now - a lot of it was in the form of Flash movies – but there is still some sufficiently embarrassing content there…)

Fortunately, I am pursuing my no.1 passion now (business) so I don’t harbor any regrets. But as a marketer I’d be foolish not to see how entertainment is integral to many aspects of marketing (e.g. major product launches), products (e.g. DVDs) and events (e.g. seminars).

I’m guessing you also see the parallels which is why Todd Krieger’s recent article about ’social shows’ is a timely food for thought. In the article, Todd discusses the rise of social entertainment company Eqal and what it regards as the ingredients of a successful social show. The ingredients are as follows:

• Two-way initial distribution of the video content.
• Multimedia storytelling i.e. not just in the form of video, but also via Twitter, photos, messages, chat rooms, etc.
• Interactivity between the show and the community.
• A social community site as the show’s hub.

Hmmm… sounds like the right ingredients for a product launch… or a membership site… or many other kinds of products and marketing initiatives…

Ross Dunn’s recent article in Web Marketing Today provides a handy outline of some of the search engine optimization (SEO) tools you can use to improve your search engine and general Internet marketing results.

Helpfully, Mr Dunn lists both free and paid tools in terms of four key areas:

1. Monitoring search engine rankings
2. Keyword research
3. Link tracking
4. Website check-up

The good news is that most of these tools are available free via a Google Webmaster account. Don’t have one of those? Sign up for free at http://www.google.com/webmasters/.

Source: Ross Dunn, “SEO Tools That Will Help You Succeed. Part 1″, Web Marketing Today, September 16, 2008

True story: back in 1999, at the height of the dotcom boom, my husband and I had an idea for a review site that would be accessible via both the web and mobile phones. It would be a site where anyone could review and rank any kind of product or service.

This was just one of many ideas we had - being typical entrepreneurs we were full of them - and it was a heady time when anything seemed possible. The only problem was that we were already flat-out building our first Internet startup (an Internet security company) and had no time to pursue anything else.

Fast-forward to today and review sites seem to be everywhere, as highlighted by a recent article in The New York Times. While the author, Randall Stross, worries about anonymous, unqualified or biased reviewers on many of these sites (like book authors using pseudonyms to post favorable reviews about their own books), he seems enamored by one of the most popular review sites: Yelp.

According to Mr Stross, Yelp reviewers take a more professional approach to their work. Indeed, Yelp reviewers who consistently produce quality, amusing, well-considered reviews are rewarded for doing so by being appointed to the ‘Yelp Elite Squad’. Stross also like the fact that reviewers are also subject to Yelp member scrutiny.

There are plenty of other review sites. Actually, there are plenty of product review sites that don’t really offer genuine reviews but, rather, exist primarily to sell affiliate products or generate Google Adsense clicks. Such sites primarily aim to drive visitors to click on an ad or affiliate link rather than fully educate them about a given product or service.

That’s NOT to say there are no sites with an affiliate or Adsense based business model that offer objective, thoughtful, helpful product reviews. Some do. They just appear to be in the minority.

Meanwhile, the popularity of Yelp – which, according to comScore data, attracted 4.76 million unique visitors in July 2008 - indicates that despite the appeal of ‘peer’ reviews, and despite the proliferation of all kinds of review sites, people are eager for objective advice from authoritative, trustworthy sources.

‘Authoritative’ and ‘trustworthy’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘professional reviewer’ but it may mean someone who appears to be credible and objective.

Like most things, winners and losers will emerge from among all these review sites. It’s sites that can make money whilst providing genuine value to their visitors or customers that are likely to be the winners.

Source: Randall Stross, “How Many Reviewers Should Be in the Kitchen?”, The New York Times, September 7, 2008