This document provides an overview of interactive marketing trends according to a roundtable of experts. Key points discussed include:
- Online spending has increased significantly and shifted to more full-year planning as the web has become a proven medium for building brands.
- Metrics and measurement have become increasingly important, driving accountability throughout organizations.
- Social media is permeating b-to-b marketing thinking and companies must test how to harness these new channels.
1. WEB SITES
SEARCH
ONLINE EVENTS
SOCIAL MEDIA
METRICS
AGENCIES
PODCASTS
ADVERTISING
E-MAIL
TRENDS
PUBLISHERS
STRATEGY
DATA
BLOGGING
EXPERTS
SPECIAL ISSUE $15
THE MAGAZINE FOR MARKETING STRATEGISTS
BB _ 04-24-06 A 1 B2DB 4/20/2006 5:21 PM Page 1
3. The emerging role of
alternative channels
BY ELLIS BOOKER
This year, weâve added a new section
on âsocial media,â reflecting the growth
of channels such as blogging and podcasting. Social media is
alsothetopicoftheâFutureâcolumn(seepage38),whichasks
howmarketerscanharnessthepowerofthesenontraditional,
undeniablypopularenvironments.
Meanwhile, Internet advertising continues along its dou-
ble-digitgrowthcurve.Ajust-releasedreportfromtheInterac-
tive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers
concludesthatoverallInternetadvertisingrevenuesintheU.S.
for 2005 totaled $12.5 billion, a new annual record exceeding
2004 by 30%. The final quarter of 2005 hit a record $3.6 bil-
lion,representinga34%increaseover
the same period in 2004. Surprising
no one, keyword search took the top
slot again in 2005, single-handedly
representing41%ofthetotalspend.
Marketers are pouring their bud-
gets online for a justifiable reason: It
works.
âOur customers, namely engi-
neers,relyheavilyontheInternetand
publication reviews for product information,â said Martyn
Etherington,VP-marketing,TektronixInc.,andoneofthesix
participantsinourvirtualroundtablethisyear(seepage4).âIn
recentprimaryresearch,thetopthreeinformationsourcesen-
gineers rely on to help them make informed purchase deci-
sions are, in the following rank order: Internet search (98%),
word-of-mouth(88.6%)andtechnicalarticles(78.1%).â
Theimpactofonlinesocialmediapermeatesthemostinter-
esting thinking in b-to-b marketing today. Try answering for
yourself our fourth roundtable question: âAre social mediaâ
particularly blogsâa practical application for b-to-b compa-
nies?Howaretheybestused?â
My own sense is that there is a major shift, largely genera-
tional, in online consumption habits. A part of this shift in-
volves a growing reliance on âauthentic,â word-of-mouth
sources,inadditiontotraditionalmediaandcorporateoutlets.
Thenagain,Imaybewrong.Infact,theonlywaytoknow
whatâsrealandwhatâsnotistotestthisthesisâandanyothers
youhaveâwithyourowncustomersandprospects.
That introduces another theme of this yearâs guide, the
common trait shared by all smart Internet marketers: an orga-
nizational commitment to continual testing and monitoring.
Thisdisciplineconvertsold-fashionedargumentsaboutwhich
campaign approach will be most effectiveâthe kind of seat-
of-the-pants decision-making favored by old-school man-
agersâintoquantifiableprograms.
Roundtable participant Jon Raj, VP-advertising for Visa
USA,putitsuccinctly:âIfacompanyis
not using some sort of measurement to
evaluateitsefforts,thenitisbeingneg-
ligentregardlessofthemedium.Online
absolutely makes it easier to measure
with many great tools, but marketers
need to be committed to the concept
andtheculturetobemosteffective.â
Raj goes on to underscore the im-
portance of connection: âEngagement
is a new factor that must be evaluated. It is no longer accept-
able to just throw a message out there, but rather you must
connectwiththecustomerinameaningfulway.â
This isnât easy. But it is where online marketing has pulled
us. If youâre not there already, get with the program or hire
peoplewhoare.
Our hope is that BtoBâs 2006 Interactive Marketing
GuideâalongwithongoingcoverageinBtoBâsNetMarketing
department, our various e-mail newsletter products, our new
âTalkingTechâaudiocastseriesandourmulticityNetMarket-
ingBreakfastsâwillassistyouincontinuallyimprovingyour
onlineefforts.
Ellis Booker is editor of BtoBand BtoBâsMediaBusiness. He can
be reached at ebooker@crain.com.
The impact of
social media
permeates the
most interesting
thinking in b-to-b
marketing today.
EDITORâS NOTE
CONTENTS
ROUNDTABLE Page4
â B-to-bmarketersandotherexpertsdis-
cussinteractivemarketingtrends
E-MAIL Page10
â Integratinge-mailwithothermediais
aneffectivestrategy
â E-mailresources
SEARCH Page20
â Despiteclickfraud, marketerscontinue
toembracesearch
â Searchresources
WEBSITES Page25
â Howtotailor Websitesforcustomers
andprospects
SOCIALMEDIA Page26
â Willblogsandpodcastsbecomeamajor
communicationschannel?
ONLINEADVERTISING Page28
â Improvebrandexperienceforvisitors
usingvideoandrichmedia
â Onlineadvertisingresources
ONLINEEVENTS Page31
â HowtoincreasereturnsonWebinars
andwebcasts
ONLINEPUBLISHERS Page32
â Innovativebrandingcampaignswill
attractnewaudiences
â Onlinepublishersresources
INTERACTIVEAGENCIES Page35
â Agenciesincorporateinteractiveinto
overalloperations
â Interactiveagencieslist
FUTURE Page38
â Howthebravenewworldofsocial
mediawillleadtounprecedented
opportunities
W
ELCOME TO BTOBâS 2006 INTERACTIVE MARKETING GUIDE. Our annual publica-
tion offers sections on e-mail, search, Web sites, online advertising, online
events, publisher sites and interactive agencies. Each section provides an
overview, tips, an interview with a subject expert and sidebars with useful
resourcesanddata.Youâllalsofindupdatedvendorlistsanddatacharts.
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BB _ 04-24-06 A 3 B2DB 4/21/2006 12:05 PM Page 1
4. BtoB: How has interactive spending changed this year from
last?Whyaretheseshiftshappening?
Suppers: While the level of interactive spending has not
varied much for us in recent years, our intelligence and insight
intotheeffectivenessofourspendinghasincreased.
Withguidanceandtoolsfromourinteractivemarketingser-
viceprovider,wehavemadetremendousprogresstrackingand
measuring the association of paid search, online ad campaigns
andplacementswithkeyfeaturesandelementsonourWebsite.
Wehavebecomeincreasinglyreliantonouronlineanalyticsca-
pabilitiestoshapeourspendingstrategiesanddecisions.
Rogers: TheWeb works as a proven means to build brands
and to engage customers, and the big-budget, leading advertis-
ersnowhavetheexperience,researchanddatatoverifyit.Asa
result,theWebhasmovedfromaplaceofexperimentationtoa
mainstreammedium.Onlinespendinghasshiftedfromepisod-
ic to more full-year planning and buying, resulting in both in-
creasingonlinebudgetsandtheneedfortopadvertiserstolock
inpremiumpositionstolockoutthecompetition.
Rosenblatt:We are seeing clients increasing their spending
on online advertising as a percentage of their marketing bud-
gets. Rich media advertising and search marketing, in particu-
lar,areattractingalotofinvestment,whilemanymarketersare
beginning to adopt innovative technologies such as online
video advertising and optimization. Online advertising growth
is continuing to outperform the overall advertising market,
drivenprimarilybytheprovenreturnoninvestment[ROI],the
continuingshiftofaudiencetoonlinechannelsandthebroader
acceptance and understanding of online advertising at senior
levelsinmajororganizations.
Etherington: Our interactive spending has gone up signifi-
cantlyinthepasttwoyears.Thereason?Ourcustomers,namely
engineers, rely heavily on the Internet and publication reviews
forproductinformation.Inrecentprimaryresearch,thetopthree
information sources engineers rely on to help them make in-
formed purchase decisions are, in the following rank order:
Internetsearch(98%),word-of-mouth(88.6%)andtechnicalar-
ticles(78.1%).Giventhisresearchâandtoensureweprovidein-
formation to our customers anywhere, anytime and in their pre-
ferredlanguageâtheWebhasbecomepivotalinourmarketing,
budgetingandawayforustoserveourcustomersâneedsbetter.
Raj:The Internet is a maturing medium, and there are con-
sistently more opportunities with the penetration and prolifer-
ation of broadband. Second, marketers are finally wising up to
thebenefitsofmarketingandadvertisingonline.
Moore:Wecontinuetoseeincreasesinspendingoninterac-
tive marketing and advertising. Simply put, there is no other
mediummoreaccountableandtrackablethaninteractive.
BtoB:GiventheattentionpaidtometricsandROI,particularly
online, whatâs the best way to instill a culture of measurement in
themarketingdepartment?
Suppers:Thebestwaytoinstillacultureofmeasurementin
anygroupistoprovideanalyticsthatareaccurate,concise,con-
sistentandactionable.Analysisforanalysissakewillneversus-
tain. Ask yourself what the primary goal and objectives are for
your Web site and identify the corresponding metrics that
pointtosuccessorfailure.Developmeasurementsthatcanalter
or change a decision. All metrics must also be presented on a
consistent basis to key stakeholders in a format that makes the
learningimmediatelyapparent.Designingmetricsthatareboth
constructive and actionable is also critical. Last, from a people
perspective, make employees accountable for results by inte-
grating the measurements into periodic reviews of progress
againstindividualgoalsandobjectives.
Rogers: Decide what points of measurement matter, both in
terms of immediate response and longer-term branding, and
providethetoolstomonitortheresultsandgivewideaccessto
the data. People will be empowered to make a contribution to
themarketingeffortwithdata-drivendecisions.Dataisnotjust
atoolforthedirect-responsepeopleortheresearchpeople,but
allinvolvedinmarketing.
Rosenblatt: Metrics have always been important for online
advertisers, but we are seeing an increased focus on online ad-
vertisingperformancefromtheC-suite.Whenmarketingisheld
accountable at this level, it inevitably drives a culture of mea-
surementthroughouttheentireorganization.Inmanyways,be-
cause online advertising is so accountable, it is driving a higher
levelofaccountabilityacrossallofamarketerâschannels.
Etherington: Define success, make people accountable, mea-
sureonlywhatmatters(distinguishbetweenlookinggoodversus
ROUNDTABLE
4 | BtoBâs Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
Moving
intothe
mainstream
âBtoBâsâ panel of experts discusses a variety of
interactive marketing tactics, and how they fit
together as an essential part of business success
Roundtable participants
MARTYN
ETHERINGTON
VP-marketing,
TektronixInc.
DAVIDJ.
MOORE
Chairman-CEO,
24/7Real
Media
JONRAJ
VP-advertising,
VisaUSA
BRUCEH.
ROGERS
VP-marketing,
Forbes.com
DAVID
ROSENBLATT
CEO,
DoubleClick
TERRY
SUPPERS
Senior
VP-interactive
marketing,
GeneralElectric
Co.âsCorporate
Financial
ServicesBusiness
Thisvirtualroundtablewasconductedviae-mail.Eachparticipantwasaskedthesameset
ofquestionsandgiventhesametotalwordlengthasaguideforresponse;eachwasgiven
theoptionofskippingonequestion.
BB _ 04-24-06 A 4,5,6,8 B2DB 4/21/2006 11:59 AM Page 1
5. doing good) and, as I can attest, you
will need to have strategy, structural
andprocessalignment
Raj: If a company is not using
some sort of measurement to evalu-
ate its efforts, then it is being negli-
gent regardless of the medium. On-
line absolutely makes it easier to
measure with many great tools, but
marketers need to be committed to
the concept and, as you mentioned,
the culture to be most effective.The
days of simply looking at impres-
sions or reach and frequency are
over.Todayithastobeaboutresults.
Engagement is a new factor that
mustbeevaluated.Itisnolongerac-
ceptable to just throw a message out
there, but rather you must connect
with the customer in a meaningful
way.
Moore:Itâsimportantforthemar-
keting department to understand
howthisincreasedvisibilityprovid-
ed by the metrics of digital market-
ing helps them make their buys
more efficient and proves the value
ofmarketingspendtotheoverallor-
ganization. Goals should be set
when the marketing plan is built,
andallmarketingeffortsaroundthat
plan should be measured against
thosegoals.Forexample,forasearch
marketing campaign, goals can be
set for increases in return on invest-
ment or reduction in customer ac-
quisition costs. Results can be
tracked and campaigns can be opti-
mizedinrealtime.
BtoB: Search marketing continues
to grow as a percentage of online
spending. Whatâs interesting in the
searchspacerightnow?
Suppers: From where I sit, work-
inginalarge,long-cycleb-to-benvi-
ronment, Iâm not sure too much has
changedformeinthesearchspace.A
few years ago, I shifted my priorities
to search away from other online ad-
vertising.Thepaidsearchmodellev-
els the playing field and provides a
dynamic and variable approach to
promotingourWebsitetothepeople
thataremostinterestedandinneed.
Rogers: Search will grow, but at a
lesser rate as spending reaches a
point of diminishing returns. Brand
advertisingâs percentage of the inter-
activeadvertisingpiewillincreaseas
the interaction between the two be-
comesincreasinglyimportant,rather
than [being] seen as separate efforts.
Research shows online brand adver-
tising positively impacts search ROI
andviceversa.Havingsaidthat,ver-
tical and local search continue to be
areasofunexploitedgrowth.
Rosenblatt: Local search, natural
search optimization, as well as un-
derstanding consumer behavior in
the search process, are some of the
big areas in search right now.We re-
leased a study last year that found
that consumers behave differently
thanmostmarketersexpect,andour
clients have been using those in-
sights to optimize their search pro-
grams. For example, the research
showed that while the majority of
search activity across the full 12
weeksisgeneric,brandsearchesand
clicks become more prominent close
tothepurchase.
Another key point is that the
tools available to marketers to man-
agethesearchprocesslagthecurrent
spend in the industry. Search is still
animmaturemarket,andmanymar-
keters are asking for solutions to
help with bid management, opti-
mization and measurement of their
searchmarketingprograms.
Etherington: Results, effective-
ness and tracking microconver-
sionsâi.e., being able to track
PPC/SEOâto influencing customer
decision-making.
Raj: Unfortunately the most in-
teresting thing right now is proba-
bly click fraud. That alone is not a
reasontoavoidusingsearch,butitis
definitely something to be aware of
btobonline.com | 2006 | BtoBâs Interactive Marketing Guide | 5
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âBrand advertisingâs
percentage of the interactive
advertising pie will increase
as the interaction between
the two becomes increasingly
important,rather than [being]
seen as separate efforts.â
Bruce H.Rogers,VP-marketing,Forbes.com
BB _ 04-24-06 A 4,5,6,8 B2DB 4/21/2006 11:59 AM Page 2
6. andfindwaystocombat.
Anotherinterestingtrendisutiliz-
ing search as a brand-building medi-
um. There has been some buzz out
there about the effects of search be-
yond the traditional direct response
expectation. Perhaps more marketers
will soon be buying search terms to
have their brands appear in certain
placesspecificallyasabrandplay.
Itisquiteinterestinghoweachof
the search engines seems to be
bringing a unique group of users to
the table. Conventional wisdom
would tell you a searcher is a
searcher, yet the different sites seem
toharnessdifferentusers.
Moore: Search marketing has fi-
nally started to move beyond the ob-
session with bid management operat-
inginavacuum.Sophisticatedsearch
marketers begin with a measureâ
suchasnumberofsales,ROIorreturn
onadspendâandworkbackwardto
determine how search dollars should
beallocated.
Also, looking at search holistical-
ly is increasingly important. Having
tools that combine paid placement,
paidinclusionandsearchengineop-
timization tracking gives marketers
unprecedented insight into how the
entiresearchchannelisperforming.
BtoB: Are social mediaâparticu-
larly blogsâa practical application
for b-to-b companies? How are they
bestused?
Suppers: Blogs provide an inter-
estingsupplementtoanonlinestrat-
egy;however,theyrequireaddition-
al resources to monitor and main-
tain. I am not convinced at this
point,atleastwithrespecttotheon-
line corporate lending marketplace,
that the benefits outweigh the chal-
lenges. In my opinion a more suit-
able application of a blog might be
for more consumer-oriented busi-
nessesorcompaniesinthemediain-
dustryâbasically, situations where
a group of individuals can identify
themselvesasacommunity.
Rogers:Socialmediaarefulfilling
a basic human need to connect and
communicatewithlike-mindedpeo-
ple. Blogs and shared-media sites
likeMyspacearepowerfulexamples
of this at work, but that doesnât
mean every technological advance
on the Web is automatically an ad-
vertisingmedium.B-to-bcompanies
need to think this through carefully.
Blogs work when you have a
thought leader, who by definition
has a following, and who is willing
to share his or her opinions and is
prepared for opinionated reactions.
Bettertonotblogthantodosowith-
outaplanjustbecauseitâseasytodo.
Rosenblatt: B-to-b companies
should absolutely be focused on
blogs, but there are a number of
ways that they could or should con-
sider interacting with the blogo-
sphere. At a minimum, they should
be monitoring blogs to learn what is
being said about their company,
theircompetitionandtheirindustry.
They also must ensure that their PR
team is tailoring its approach in
working with bloggers. Blogs, for
some, might be a viable advertising
form.Whilenotofferingwidereach,
they deliver a niche, passionate au-
dience. And finally, firms can run a
blog, which can help to establish
credibility, demonstrate a depth of
knowledge and be useful in influ-
ROUNDTABLE
WITH YOUR
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when your
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âSocialmedia
isdefinitelythe
âsoupdujour,â
thesameway
itwaswith
click-throughs,
e-mailor
search.â
Jon Raj,
VP-advertising,Visa USA
âSearch is still an immature market,and many
marketers are asking for solutions to help
with bid management,optimization and
measurement of their search marketing
programs.â David Rosenblatt,CEO,DoubleClick
BB _ 04-24-06 A 4,5,6,8 B2DB 4/21/2006 12:00 PM Page 3
8. encing considered purchases that
manyb-to-bcompaniesoffer.
Etherington:A blog is a medium,
period.Buttheintentâtodevelopa
community of people with a com-
mon or shared interestâis very ap-
plicableforb-to-bcompanies.
Raj: Social media are definitely
the âsoup du jour,â the same way it
was with click-throughs, e-mail or
search.Video could be next. All are
very valuable when utilized wisely
but none will live up to the hype
the media creates.
I believe blogs, if well thought-
out, can be used in a very effective
wayasapracticalb-to-bapplication.
Blogs enable customers to have an
outlet that is authentic, and when
used appropriately can yield appre-
ciation that goes well beyond tradi-
tionalmarketing.
Moore: Social media can be ex-
tremelypowerful.Howtheyarebest
used depends on the organization
employing them, the markets they
are addressing and the products be-
ing sold. Outward-facing blogs and
podcasts from internal marketing
departments can be effective when
used as communications channels to
customers and prospects. Compa-
nies can showcase their areas of ex-
pertiseforthemarketgenerally.Cus-
tomers can offer feedback on the
blog posts, creating a real-time pub-
lic dialogue between the company
andthemarketplace.
BtoB: How are you breathing life
intoâoldâchannelssuchase-mail?
Suppers: As is true of the indus-
try overall, although our outbound
e-mail activity has increased signifi-
cantlyovertime,theresponsetoour
campaigns, measured in terms of
open rates and click-throughs, has
declined.
With the proliferation of e-mail,
it has become more difficult to cap-
ture and keep someoneâs attention
through this medium. In light of
this, we are seeking opportunities to
furthersegmentoure-mailmessages
and target them to tighter-defined
groups that we anticipate will be
mostreceptivetothecontent.
We also focus on the design and
layout of our e-mail content to en-
sure it is pleasing and intuitive, yet
also recognize the challenge and the
opportunitypresentedbytheprolif-
eration and the use of PDAs, Black-
Berrys and other handheld devices
where the experience of receiving
e-mail âon-the-goâ is very different
from a desktop or laptop computer.
With e-mail remaining a very low-
costmedium,theopportunitytofig-
urethisoutremainscompelling.
Rogers: E-mail is still a powerful
communicationstool.Weâreveryfor-
tunate in that e-mail is still a success-
ful and preferred channel for
Forbes.comtodeliverbreakingnews
and information to our readers. Dur-
ingthebusinessday,wepublishover
2,000stories,andoure-mailnewslet-
tersandalertsallowuserstotailorex-
actly the type of information they
want to receive. E-mail isnât old as
longasitofferssomethingtherecipi-
enthasactuallyrequested.
Etherington: That depends on
what outcome you are trying to
achieve. E-mail, like all promotion-
al/communication tools, is a method
for obtaining a desired outcome in
the most efficient manner. I believe
broad e-mail as we know it will be-
come irrelevant within the next few
years in favor of emerging interac-
tive technologies. For example, I re-
ceive 10 texts for every one e-mail
from my own children. Communi-
ties and devices will predict the
longevity and relevance of e-mail,
notb-to-bmarketers.
Moore: The death of e-mail has
been greatly exaggerated. The best
thingthathashappenedwithe-mail
is that, as an industry, weâve learned
how to effectively use e-mail as one
part of the marketing mix. E-mail is
best used as a CRM tool for existing
customers when paired with other
digital media that are particularly
strong at customer acquisition, such
assearchenginemarketing.
BtoB: Has online video finally ar-
rivedforb-to-bmarketers?
Rogers: Thisyearwillbeseenasa
watershedyearforvideoontheWeb,
providing a powerful new creative
option for b-to-b advertisers. Why
waste money on TV when only a
small percentage of the audience
would possibly have any interest in
your message? B-to-b advertising is
by definition a highly segmented
marketing effort that the Web af-
fords, yet you can still have a âTV-
likeâ experience that sells the emo-
tional aspects of your b-to-b product
orservice.NewresearchfromtheOn-
line Publishers Association (OPA)
supports the interest in video for a
business audience. Forbes.com has
devotedextensiveresourcestobuild-
ingoutitsvideoproductioncapabili-
tiestocapitalizeonthisgrowthtrend
andisnowtheleadingsourceoforig-
inal business video programming for
the Web. Many of the advertisers
running video ads are b-to-b compa-
nies, like IBM Corp., Microsoft Corp.
andAccenture,tonameafew.
Rosenblatt: In many respects,
video offers the best of both
worldsâproviding high brand im-
pact opportunities with measure-
mentcapabilities.Ithinkwearedefi-
nitely on the cusp in terms of the vi-
ability of the video advertising in-
dustry. Some major organizations
are beginning to invest in this area.
IBM was an early investor in online
advertisinganditisprovingagainto
be one of the leading companies in
adoptingonlinevideoadvertising.
Once again, however, marketers
and publishers are seeking tools to
managetheprocessofbuyingonline
video space and measuring its effec-
tiveness.Whenwecangetpastthese
hurdles and make the online video
advertising process more efficient
and effective for both buyers and
sellers, it can deliver on the major
growth it is expected to see in the
nextfewyears.
Etherington: No, it is still not in
the mainstream for b-to-b, there are
too many technical variables com-
binedwithpoorcontent,suchas2D
presentations transferred from Pow-
erPoint to video, and restrictive pro-
duction costs. Adobe Flash as a tool
for telling a visual story or demon-
strating oneâs capabilities will be-
comemoreprevalentforb-to-bcom-
paniesbeforevideo.
Raj:Yes, but it is only going to get
better.Thevideoopportunitiesonline
are much greater than what we have
beenabletodoontelevision.Thetar-
getingissoprecisethatIreallybelieve
this may very well change how we
communicatewithourcustomers.
Moore: Video has arrived for all
digital marketers. Several drivers are
makingvideoapowerfuladditionto
digital marketing. First, weâve
reached a tipping point in broad-
band penetration. This has caused a
marked increase in the numbers of
the Internet population viewing
videos online for entertainment and
forinformation.
Next, the cost of video produc-
tion is dropping rapidly. Sub-$5,000
video cameras combined with pow-
erful desktop editing software make
it possible for a b-to-b marketer to
create high-quality video content
forone-tenththepriceitwouldhave
costfiveyearsago.
Finally, the ability to combine
videoadswithsophisticatedtargeting
onlinemeansthatmarketerscanmore
cost-effectivelyreachtheirtargets.
BtoB:Whatothertechnologieshold
promise?
Suppers: I am intrigued with the
possibilities and potential of pod-
casting.Thepaceofbusinesscontin-
uestoaccelerate,andtimecontinues
to become more and more precious.
Although data to date indicate low
adoption of this format, the portable
nature of the technology fits todayâs
busy, multitasking environment.
Additionally, the opportunity to
craft, customize and self-select news
and information creates a new mar-
keting venue that allows for ad-
vancedsegmentationandtargeting.
Rogers: All forms of on-demand
technologies will continue to sur-
face. Wireless broadband will bring
a moreWeb-like experience to wire-
less devices and free the Web from
theconfinesofaPC.
Rosenblatt:As online advertising
moves from being a rounding error
in a marketing plan to a material in-
vestment, there is an inevitable em-
phasis on increasing performance.
Asaresult,optimizationisanimpor-
tant emerging area of the online ad-
vertising market, bringing science
and algorithms to the medium to
help generate the best possible per-
formanceformarketers.
Etherington: Technologies are
here today. It is the applied use of
these technologies through devices,
connected or wireless and, in partic-
ular,RFID[RadioFrequencyIdentifi-
cation].
Raj: I am very excited about the
evolution of TV, (digital video
recorders,video-on-demand,interac-
tiveTV) mobile phones and podcast-
ing. Those combined with the high-
speedInternetwillabsolutelychange
thewayweallconsumemedia.
Moore:Interactivetelevisionisex-
tremelypromising.Giventheamount
of advertising dollars spent in televi-
sion and the amount of technological
innovationthatisoccurring,itisonly
a matter of time before we see televi-
sionadvertisingbeingheldtoahigh-
er standard due to the increased visi-
bilitythatadvertiserswillhave.
BtoB: What is your biggest chal-
lengerightnow?
Suppers:Ourchallengehasalways
been and continues to remain attract-
ing the right people at the right time
tooursitetoengageandinteractwith
our business. As I mentioned previ-
ously,wearealargeb-to-bplayerwith
long-cycle products and solutions, so
theimportanceofbothdimensionsâ
rightperson/righttimeâiscriticalfor
ouronlinesuccess.
Rogers: Our biggest challenge is
scaling the business fast enough to
enable us to fully realize the growth
opportunities that exist for us, par-
ticularlyforinternationalmarkets.
Rosenblatt: Our greatest current
challenge is hiring enough great
people to manage and drive the
growth that we are seeing in the
business.
Etherington: It is time for mar-
keterstogetoverjustifyingtheirpo-
sitionandbudgets.Thiscanonlybe
achievedifwe,asamarketingfunc-
tion, become more relevant. I be-
lieve in order for the marketing
function and my peers to be suc-
cessful today, we have to become
more relevant. I break relevancy
intothreedistinctareas:
1. Customer relevancyâidenti-
fying, understanding and anticipat-
ing the wants and needs of our cus-
tomers. Listening more to our cus-
tomers and, when we talk to them,
making sure we do it on their terms,
in their language and at a time they
wanttobecommunicatedwith.
2. Channel relevancyâmaking
sure we train, equip and motivate
our channels. We need to be always
looking to the horizon to lead the
channeltonewopportunities.
3. Business relevancyâusing
leading indicators versus lagging in-
dicators to ensure we become more
relevant to the business and ulti-
mately tracking a marketing dollar
to an order dollar and then to cus-
tomersatisfaction.
We are doing a lot of work in or-
dertogetbetterunderstandingofour
current customersâwho they are,
how they want to be communicated
withâtoknowiftheyareadvocates.
Raj:Staying on top of all the fast-
moving, ever-emerging media land-
scape. There are more opportunities
and challenges than there are hours
intheday.â Ş
âAsk yourself what the
primary goal and objectives
are for yourWeb site and
identify the corresponding
metrics that point to success
or failure.â
Terry Suppers,seniorVP-interactive marketing,
General Electric Co.âs Corporate Financial Services Business
âThe death of e-mail has been
greatly exaggerated.â
David J.Moore,chairman-CEO,24/7 Real Media
âA blog is a medium,period.But the intentâ
to develop a community of people with a
common or shared interestâis very
applicable for b-to-b companies.â
Martyn Etherington,VP-marketing,Tektronix Inc.
ROUNDTABLE
8 | BtoBâs Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
BB _ 04-24-06 A 4,5,6,8 B2DB 4/21/2006 12:00 PM Page 4
9. The most targeted audience
of enterprise IT pros online
is also the largest
TechTarget is the greatest circulation story in the history of IT publishing.
You already know TechTarget is the best way to target IT professionals. Do you also
know TechTarget has the largest online audience? Weâve grown to four million in
just six years. Our online audience is composed of IT decision makers in 20+ markets,
including Security, Storage and Windows. We give you both the most targeted and
largest online IT audience which adds up to the best ROI. www.techtarget.com
TechTarget has localized media in 26 countries
+ CIO
+ Security
+ Storage
+ SMB
+ Windows
+ Networking
+ Oracle
+ Data Center
+ CRM
+ SAP
+ Data Management
+ Enterprise Voice
+ Java
+ Mobile Computing
+ Open Source
+ Web Services
TechTarget: 4 Million
Computerworld.com: 1 Million
InformationWeek.com: 1/2 Million
* 4,000,000 unique visitors (Source: Publisherâs Own Data) ** 1,000,000 unique visitors (Source: Computerworld Web site) *** 547,000 unique visitors (Source: InformationWeek Media Kit)
*
**
***
Graph Ad B 4/11/06 5:14 PM Page 1
10. BY CAROL KROL
T
WELVE MONTHS AGO, the e-mail marketing
worldwasbesetwithsuchroadblocksas
spam and deliverability issues. The
problemwasbadenoughthatmanymarketers
decided it wasnât worth risking their reputa-
tions and simply stopped or pulled back on
e-mail campaigns. However, far from being an
also-ran, e-mail is still very much in the game,
and e-mail marketers using the medium are
finding integrating e-mail with the rest
ofthemediamixcanbeveryeffective.
Shar VanBoskirk, senior analyst at
Forrester Research, said spending on
e-mail marketing is still strong. âE-mail
is second only to search in companiesâ
online marketing budgets today, with
80% of marketers using, piloting or
planning e-mail marketing programs,
and88%expectinge-maileffectiveness
toincreaseinthenextthreeyears.â
The sales numbers speak volumes.
The Direct Marketing Association esti-
mates that legitimate commercial e-mail
resulted in approximately $39 billion in
sales in 2004, including about $9 billion
insmall-businesssales.
E-MAILâS COMEBACK
Tools and technology designed to
comply with CAN-SPAM and improve
deliverability, such as authentication of e-mail
messages, have also begun to have an effect,
makingmarketersevenmorecomfortablewith
usinge-mailagain.
Infact,AOLsaidtheamountofspamreach-
ing AOL customer in-boxes in 2005, as mea-
sured by member complaints, marked a 75%
declinefromapeaklevelinlate2003.
Despite that, deliverability does remain an
issue for marketers. Eighty-two percent of
marketers say e-mail deliverability is a chal-
lengeforthem,accordingtoastudyreleasedin
mid-April by EmailLabs, an e-mail marketing
technologycompany.
Now that spam problems arenât consuming
all their time, e-mail marketers have begun to
refocusontactics.
Forresterâs VanBoskirk said among e-mail
trends,integrationofmessagingisatoppriori-
ty. âThis is the year of e-mail integration with
otherchannels,andthecompaniesthatcando
thatsuccessfullywilldifferentiate[themselves]
fromcompetitors,âshesaid.
âWeâre using e-mail to complement other
forms of marketing-like direct mail and the
Web,â said Pam A. Evans, worldwide Web
marketing manager at IBM Corp. âWeâve de-
veloped a series of multitouches. [We need to]
make sure we deliver in a relevant way based
onwhatthecustomeristellingus.â
Integratinge-mailmarketingmessageswith
other media channels has become a top priori-
ty for b-to-b marketers this year because it has
the potential to dramatically increase response
rates.
Brian Price, executive director, online mar-
ketingatVerizon,saidthetelecommunications
giant is employing an integrated mix of paid
search and e-mail marketing in its b-to-b cam-
paigns.
âVerizon uses a combination of search ban-
ners and e-mail,â Price said, adding that it also
supplements these online efforts with offline
advertising, including direct mail, TV, print
andfree-standinginserts.
INTEGRATED APPROACH
Pitney Bowes said its strategy begins with
an idea. âWe start with the idea, and then we
lookatallthewaystodeliverit,âsaidMatthew
Sawyer, VP-corporate marketing at Pitney
Bowes.Forexample,PitneyBowesusese-mail,
direct mail and search engine marketing to
promote its Thought Leadership event series,
which addresses various business topics
toclientsandprospects.
âWe put out a 26-page publication
through direct mail to some of our top
customers and prospects, as well as in-
vestors,âSawyersaid.âOncewehavethe
content, we then deliver that through
othercomponentsofthemailstream,like
e-newsletters and e-mail marketing.
Weâll take some of the key articles and
use them electronically,â he said. That
contentisalsopostedatitsWebsite.
Ernst & Young is another marketer
that is taking a decidedly integrated ap-
proachwithitsonlineande-mailmarket-
ing. Its e-mail efforts are integrated with
other media, including direct mail, and
thoseinturnaretightlywovenintointer-
active elements on the companyâs site,
said Michelle Lee Puleio, assistant direc-
tor,nationalmarketingatErnst&Young.
In one example of e-mail marketing integra-
tion, Puleio said promotions for an annual con-
ferencethecompanyhostsinOctoberforenergy
executivesbeganmuchearlierintheyearwitha
âsave the dateâ e-mail to clients and prospects.
Thatwasfollowedupbyarichmediae-mail.
âWe created these Flash movies that we
e-mailed them, and the call to action was em-
beddedthere,âshesaid.âTherewasalinkbuilt
inthatbroughtthemtotheWebsitetofindout
E-mailbackin
themediamix
Deliverability still a concern, but marketers
forge ahead, focus on integrated message
1.Makeonepersonresponsiblefortheentirecampaign.Just
becausee-mailmessagesandWeblandingpagesexistindifferent
mediadoesnâtmeantheyareseparate.Whenane-mailrecipient
clicksonalink,theyexpectcontinuity.Mostdonâtevenrealizethat
theyjustmigratedfromtheire-mailclienttotheirWebbrowser.
2.Avoidusinghomepagesormultipurposelandingpages.Themore
dedicatedthelandingpage,themoreeffectivetheresults.
3.Stayfocusedonthecalltoaction.Donâtforgetwhyyoubrought
thispersontoyourpage.Youwarmedthemupinthee-mailmes-
sageandnowyouwantthemtocompletethetransaction.Keepthe
prospectfocusedonthedesiredactionanddonâtdistractthem
withrandomopportunitiesorirrelevantinformation.
4.Donâtintimidate.Limitthenumberoffieldsyourprospectmust
completeasmuchaspossiblewithoutcompromisingleadquality.
Youcanalwaysaskformoreinformationlater.
5.Test.Youshouldtestlandingpageswiththesamedisciplineyoudoe-
mailmessagesâoneelementatatime.Forexample:Sendcoupons,
p.s.messages,openingsentencesandcallstoactionseparately.
Source:RandallLitchfield,InboxMarketerNews,âPerfectLandings,âMarch2006
5 ways to âpilotâ perfect
landing pages for e-mail
E-MAIL
RESOURCES
Do more than send emails...
Build email relationships.
Using personalized email to communicate with customers builds
long-term relationships. And because youâre using Campaign
Enterprise email marketing software and not a monthly service, you
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Download a free evaluation today!
Call 1-800-453-9387 or visit www.ArialSoftware.com
Campaign Enterprise customers include:
10 | BtoBâs Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
Need to know
KKeeyyee--mmaaiillmmeettrriiccss
â FromQ3toQ42005,openratesformarket-
inge-mailsandnewslettersdropped29%.
Clickratesfell21%inthesameperiod.
Source:eROI,âQ42005E-mailStatisticsâreport
â Contrarytopopularwisdom,Fridaymaybe
thebestdaytosende-mail.InQ4,21%of
e-mailssentonFridaywereopened,followed
by20.8%ofe-mailssentonTuesday.
Source:eROI,âQ42005E-mailStatisticsâreport
EE--mmaaiillbbeessttpprraaccttiicceess
â 52%ofb-to-bnewslettersubscribersuse
theirpreviewpanetoviewe-mails,makingit
importantformarketerstodelivertheirmes-
sagesinthissmallerwindowspace.
Source:EmailLabs,Nov.2005
â 39%ofb-to-bmarketershavenoformal
permission(opt-in)practicesinplaceforcol-
lectinge-mailaddresses.Only7%ofb-to-c
marketershavenoformalpracticeinplace.
Source:Directand MultichannelMerchantmagazines
TThheessppaammpprroobblleemm
â In2005,thepercentofusersthatâareless
trustingofe-mailbecauseofspamâdecreased
to53%from62%in2005.
Source:PewInternetandAmericanLifeProject2005
â Whatisspam?96%ofInternetusersdefine
itasane-mailâthatintendstotrickmeinto
openingitâ;93%defineitascomingâfroman
unknownsender.âOnly38%defineitasâtry-
ingtosellmeaproductorserviceevenifI
knowthesender.â
Source:DoubleClick,June2005
â Tohelpmanagespam,manyusersroute
opt-ine-mailtoWebmailaddresses.26%of
AmericanInternetusersrouteopt-ine-mailto
Yahoo!,21%readmarketingcommunications
throughHotmailand13%useAOL.
Source:LyrisTechnologies,March2006
TThheeyyssaaiiddiitt
âThisisaneconomicissue.Youhaveto
destroythespammerâsbusinessmodel.
Chargingafeeoratolltogetthattothein-
boxispartofthesolution.â
âR.DavidLewis,VP-marketdevelopmentat
StrongMailSystems,ontheideaofcharging
marketersforaccesstocustomerin-boxesin
ordertofightspam.
E-mail, page 18
BB _ 04-24-06 A 10 B2DB 4/20/2006 1:44 PM Page 1
12. Vendor Location URL Phone Vendor Location URL Phone
M A R K E T S M A R T E R , S E L L F A S T E R I N T H E T E C H N O L O G Y S P A C E .
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www.hartehanksmi.com
Learn about our
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Selling to them takes more
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12 | BtoBâs Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
E-MAIL
E-MAILVENDORS
Listrak Lititz, Pa. www.listrak.com (717) 627-4528
Lyris Technologies Berkeley, Calif. www.lyris.com (800) 768-2929
Mediaplex Systems San Francisco www.mediaplex.com (877) 402-7539
POPstick Inc. Boston www.popstick.com (617) 867-0303
Postfuture Richardson, Texas www.postfuture.com (888) 419-2226
Precision Dialogue Rocky River, Ohio www.precisiondialogue.com (440) 331-1688
Premiere Global
Services
Atlanta www.premiereglobal.com (800) 234-2546
Prospectiv Woburn, Mass. www.prospectiv.com (781) 305-2100
Quris Inc. Denver www.merklequris.com (720) 836-2000
Responsys Redwood City,
Calif.
www.responsys.com (650) 801-7400
Return Path New York www.returnpath.biz (212) 905-5500
RightNow
Technologies
Bozeman, Mont. www.rightnow.com (877) 363-5678
Savicom Inc. San Francisco www.savicom.net (415) 983-0990
Silverpop Systems Atlanta www.silverpop.com (866) 745-8767
Skylist Inc. Austin, Texas www.skylist.net (877) 250-2922
SmartSource Burlington, Mass. www.smartsourceonline.com (800) 239-0239
SourceLink Elkgrove Village,
Ill.
www.sourcelink.com (847) 238-5400
StreamSend Inc. Davis, Calif. www.streamsend.com (877) 439-4078
StrongMail Systems Redwood Shores,
Calif.
www.strongmail.com (650) 421-4200
SubscriberMail Lisle, Ill. www.subscribermail.com (630) 303-5000
TMX Communications Conshohocken,
Pa.
www.tmxinteractive.com (610) 897-2500
Topica Inc. San Francisco www.topica.com (415) 344-0800
VerticalResponse San Francisco www.verticalresponse.com (866) 683-7842
WhatCounts Seattle www.whatcounts.com (800) 440-7005
Xert Alexandria, Va. www.xert.com (703) 838-9847
Xtenit New York www.xtenit.com (646) 825-9070
Yesmail Portland, Ore. www.yesmail.com (877) 937-6245
Zustek Garden Grove,
Calif.
www.zustek.com (714) 894-4274
Acxiom Digital Conway, Ark. www.digitalimpact.com (800) 491-9320
Arial Software Chicago www.arielsoftware.com (773) 764-3434
BlueHornet Networks San Diego www.bluehornet.com (619) 295-1856
Bluestreak Providence, R.I. www.bluestreak.com (401) 341-3300
Bronto Software Durham, N.C. www.bronto.com (888) 276-6861
Click Tactics Waltham, Mass. www.clicktactics.com (866) 402-5425
CheetahMail, an
Experian company
New York www.cheetahmail.com (212) 809-0825
Constant Contact Waltham, Mass. www.constantcontact.com (866) 876-8464
CoolerEmail San Diego/
Portland, Ore.
www.cooleremail.com (866) 426-6537
Digital Connexxions
Corp.
Oakville, Ontario www.dconx.com (905) 338-8355
Directorynet Alpharetta, Ga. www.directorynet.com (770) 521-0100
DoubleClick Inc. New York www.doubleclick.com/us (212) 271-2542
Dynamics Direct Valencia, Calif. www.dynamicsdirect.com (661) 600-2059
E-Centives Inc. Bethesda, Md. www.e-centives.com (877) 323-6848
EchoMail Inc. Cambridge, Mass. www.echomail.com (617) 354-8585
e-Dialog Lexington, Mass. www.edialog.com (888) 256-7687
Eloqua Corp. Toronto www.eloqua.com (866) 327-8764
eLoyalty Lake Forest, Ill. www.eloyalty.com (877) 235-6925
EmailLabs Redwood City,
Calif.
www.emaillabs.com (866) 362-4522
ePostDirect Inc. Pearl River, N.Y. www.epostdirect.com (800) 409-4443
Epsilon Interactive
(formerly Bigfoot
Interactive)
New York www.bigfootinteractive.com (212) 995-7500
ExactTarget Indianapolis www.exacttarget.com (317) 423-3928
Global IntelliSystems Boca Raton, Fla. www.globalintellisystems.com (800) 707-7074
Got Corp. Montreal www.gotcorp.com (408) 741-4944
Habeas Inc. Mountain View,
Calif.
www.habeas.com (650) 694-3300
IMN Inc. Waltham, Mass. www.imninc.com (617) 964-4400
LeadGenesys Inc. San Francisco www.leadgenesys.com (415) 392-0333
The Lift Network Upper Montclair,
N.J.
www.theliftnetwork.com (973) 847-9013
BB _ 04-24-06 A 12 B2DB 4/20/2006 2:29 PM Page 1
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E-MAIL
14 | BtoBâs Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
$457
$426
$2
485
462
3
511
487
4
535
504
5
558
513
6
577
518
7
U.S. e-mail marketing spending,
2005 - 2010 (in millions of $)
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
â â Retention â â Acquisition â â Transactional
Source:: JupiterResearch E-mail Model, 11/05 (U.S. only)
Source: eMarketer, citing Return Path, April 2006
$232
$117
$78
250
130
82
262
141
84
269
150
85
272
157
84
273
163
82
Spending on modes of acquisition e-mail
marketing, 2005 - 2010 (in millions of $)
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
â â Sponsorede-mail
â â Coregistration
â â AppendSource:: JupiterResearch E-mail Model, 11/05 (U.S. only)
E-mail open and click-through rates in the
U.S., by audience type, 2005
Permission-based e-mail nondelivery rates
worldwide, by Internet service provider,
second half 2005B-to-bmarketers
37.75%
5.23%
B-to-cmarketers
29.54
4.44
Mixedaudience
31.61
6.67
â â Opens â â Clicks
Source:eMarketer,citingExactTarget,March2006
Excite 42.9%
Gmail 40.4
Lycos 33.8
Adelphia 31.0
Mail.com 26.8
Hotmail 26.1
BellSouth 25.0
Roadrunner 24.9
MSN 24.4
BTInternet 23.5
Rogers 23.3
Netscape 23.3
Cogeco 21.0
ATT 19.4
NetZero 18.8%
SBC 17.2
Verizon 15.3
Yahoo! 15.3
Sympatico 15.2
Cox 14.5
AOL 12.4
Cablevision 11.7
Comcast 11.7
AOL.ca 11.0
USA.net 9.9
9.4 Compuserve
8.1 Mac.com
7.8 Earthlink
BB _ 04-24-06 A 14 B2DB 4/20/2006 5:02 PM Page 1
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17. BUSINESS LISTS
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18. E-MAIL
18 | BtoBâs Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
details about the conference.â Direct
mail invitations, which included a
registration form as well as the Web
address for those who chose to regis-
ter online, were sent out to reinforce
themessage.
Timing is everything. IBMâs
Evans said campaigns need to be
carefully orchestrated in order to
maximizetheirimpact.Shesaidthat
is particularly true in coordinating
marketingplansacrossborders.
âIn trying to launch a global
campaign, itâs critical to allow for
time for your message be translated
and in-market at the time youâre do-
ing other marketing, like events and
direct mail,â she said. âItâs another
level of complexity, but when weâre
able to integrate these messages and
time them properly, we have pretty
phenomenalresults.â
The move toward e-mail integra-
tion with other media channels
means measurement must begin to
integrateaswell.
Chris Baggott, co-founder and
CMO of ExactTarget, an e-mail mar-
ketingprovider,saidthatamongthe
top trends this year will be mar-
ketersâ attempt to integrate results
from e-mail marketing campaigns
withWebanalytics.That,according
to ExactTarget, will give companies
a new metric, which Baggott calls
âreturnonsubscriber.â
Sawyer said Pitney Bowes has a
âdashboardâ for all the components
of a marketing campaign so that re-
sponse rates can be measured. âWe
do some comparisons of one vehicle
versus another, but weâre also look-
ing at performance within each ve-
hicle versus past performance,â
Sawyer said. âThatâs often a better
waytolookatit.â
Hewlett-Packard Co. also has a so-
phisticated approach to integrated
measurement. It uses Web site and
e-mailresponsedata,aswellassurveys
and call center data, to track sales that
occurinandareinfluencedbye-mail.
At Ernst & Young, marketing
representatives meet regularly. âWe
... talk about what weâve done,
whatâs in process and what weâre
planning,âPuleiosaid.
âThe results rely on the whole
thing,âPuleiosaid.Otherwise,âitâs
likemakingacakewithoutputting
intheflour.ââ Ş
E-mail
Continued from page 10
WhatqualificationsshouldI
lookforwhenhiringan
e-mailmarketingmanager?
Answer:Itwasinevitable.Yourquarterly
e-newsletterisnowmonthly.Alonee-mailpro-
motiontoâtestthewatersâhasmushroomed
intoaweeklyevent.Youropt-inlistisgrowing
byleapsandbounds.E-mailmarketingcanno
longerbelefttoyouradministrativeassistantor
ajunioradvertisingstafferâitâstimetodedicate
resourcestothisburgeoningfunction.
Generally,theroleofane-mailmarketing
managerorcoordinatoristocreate,execute
andmanageallaspectsofoutbounde-mail
campaignsandbetheprimarycontactforoth-
ersinvolvedintheprocess.Whilethejobfunc-
tionofane-mailmarketerhasevolved,thereare
stillsomecorequalificationsyoucanlookfor.
Lookforsomeonewho:
â isdatabasemarketingliterate;
â hasexcellentorganizationalskills;
â paysattentiontodetail;
â canhandledeadlinepressure;
â canmanagemultipleprojectsatonce.
Jobcandidateswithexperienceine-mail
marketingshould:
â beabletowriteand/orrecognizegood
copy;
â befamiliarwithHTMLandonlinedesign;
â beknowledgeableaboutdatamining
andcustomerdatasegmentation;
â havedirectmarketingexperience;
â haveagoodgraspofe-mailandviralmar-
ketingconcepts;
â haveknowledgeofe-mailindustrybest
practices;and
â understandspamlegislationintheU.S.
andabroad.
Aboveall,understandthatthequalifications
youidentifyinapotentialcandidateboildown
toyourcompanyâsneeds.Happyhunting!
TriciaRobinsonisVP-marketingandstrategy
forPremiereGlobalServices(www.premiere
global.com),anoutsourceproviderofbusi-
nessprocesssolutions.
Thereisalotoftalkabout
âe-mailreputation.âWhat
doesthatmean,anddoI
needtocare?
Answer:Itseemsthateverytimeyouturn
aroundthesedayspeoplearetalkingabout
e-mailreputation,andeverycompanyinthe
e-mailspaceseemstoofferasolutionforit.
Hereâswhatyoureallyneedtoknow:
â Youre-mailreputationishowe-mail
recipientsviewyoure-mailprogram.
â Youmostcertainlyneedtocareaboutit;
reputationdictatesifyourmessagesreachthe
in-box,getjunkedorgomissing.
â Youcaneasilycontrolyourreputation,in-
creasingyourprogramresponseasitimproves.
Thinkofyoure-mailreputationasyourcred-
itscorefore-mail.Yourpastandpresentbehav-
iorsfactorintoyourcreditrating,andyour
futurebehaviorscanmakeitbetterorworse.
Thesameistruewithe-mail.
Whiletherearethousandsofdatapointsfac-
toringintoreputation,weseethatthereare
threeprimaryleversthatmostinfluencereputa-
tionandsubsequentdelivery:
Bounces:Toomanybouncesspelldisaster
intheeyesofISPs.Removingbouncesmightbe
ahassle,butdoingitregularlywillhavea
dramaticeffectonyoure-maildelivery.ISPsuse
yourunknownuserratesandotherbounce
metricswhendecidingwhethertoletyour
e-mailthrough.
Blacklists:Sure,youâveheardaboutthem,
butdoesanyonereallycareaboutblacklists?The
answerisyes.Moste-mailreceiversreference
blacklistsinordertofilterunwantede-mail.By
findingoutwhatblacklistsyouareonanddoing
everythingpossibletogetremoved,youwill
dramaticallyimproveyoure-maildeliverability.
Backlash:Ifyouthinkthatyourcustomersâ
clickingontheâThisIsSpamâbuttonwonâtaffect
youre-mailreputation,youaremistaken.Com-
plaintsdrive70%ofe-maildeliverabilityissues.By
determiningyourcomplaintratesandsources,
youcanbeginminimizingyourcomplaintrates
atISPsandincreasingyourdeliveryrates.
Usewhateverserviceyouneedtohelpget
yourreputationinorderandtokeeptabsonit,
buttheonusisonyoutobevigilantaboutkeep-
ingitpristine.Ifyoudonâtknowwhatyourrepu-
tationiswithISPs,findout.Itistheonethingyou
candotodaythatwillgiveyouactionabledata
youcanusetofixyourreputation,getmore
e-maildeliveredandincreaseprogramresponse.
GeorgeBilbreyisgeneralmanagerofdeliv-
eryassuranceforReturnPath(www.return-
path.biz),ane-mailperformance
managementcompany.
HowcanIuseWebanalytics
toimprovemye-mail
marketing?
Answer:Tocombatconsumersâgrowing
impatiencewithspamandirrelevant
permission-basede-mailmessages,marketing
expertsandanalystshavebeenurginge-mail
marketerstoadoptadvancedtacticsthatboost
customerloyalty,campaignresponseand
e-mailmarketingROI.
One way to do this is by optimizing the in-
tegration between your e-mail marketing and
Web analytics platforms. This enables a two-
way flow of actionable information that allows
you to more efficiently target and trigger e-
mail campaigns based on Web-site click-
stream data âthe details of how visitors inter-
act with your Web site.
Buttheengineeringchallenge,expenseand
timerequiredforsuchanundertakingdiscour-
agemostmarketersfromeventrying.However,
learningtoextracte-mailmarketingROIfrom
theformulaicmachineryofdatabases,business
objectivesandproceduresdoesnâthavetobeas
difficultasitsoundsâorasmanymakeit.
The best approach is simply to start small.
Lay the groundwork necessary to implement
a single e-mail marketing tactic. Launch your
campaign, prove the ROI and then move on
to the next. By integrating as you go, the task
becomes much more manageable, and you
can get campaigns off the ground more
quickly.
Sometacticsyoucantrythatcombine
e-mailmarketingwithWebanalyticsdata
include:
â ForshoppingcartorWeb-formabandon-
ment,sendcustomersane-mailreminder
encouragingthemtoreturnandcompletetheir
transaction,andconsiderofferinganincentive
togetthemtodoso.
â Sendcustomersamessagebasedon
whatpages,categoriesorproductsandservices
theybrowseonyoursite.
â Renewandrefreshrelationshipswithcus-
tomerswhohavereturnedtoyoursiteafteran
extendedabsencebysendingane-mail
messagebasedontheirlastpurchaseormost
recentpageviews.
According to a May 2005 study on the ROI
of relevance, JupiterResearch reported that
crafting these types of highly relevant e-mail
messages can generate nine times more
improvement in revenue and as much as 32
times more improvement in net profit over un-
differentiated broadcast campaigns. Even after
including additional Web analytics spending,
the use of Web site clickstream data as a
targeting attribute still significantly improves
both top-line and bottom-line results.
Soifyouârereadytogetstarted,checkwithyour
e-mailserviceprovidertosee[if]italreadyhasa
workingrelationshipinplacewithyourWebanalyt-
icsvendortomakeyourintegrationtaskseasier.
Andstartsmall,onetacticatatime.Dothis,andyou
sooncouldbetakingyoure-mailmarketingtonew
levelsofsuccess.
Elaine OâGorman is VP-strategy at
Silverpop (www.silverpop.com), a provider
of e-mail marketing solutions.
E-MAIL MARKETER INSIGHT
BB _ 04-24-06 A 18 B2DB 4/20/2006 2:30 PM Page 1
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PRINT MAGAZINE ⢠WEB SITE ⢠DIGITAL EDITION ⢠E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS ⢠PODCASTS ⢠VIDEOS ⢠EVENTS
To advertise: Allison Arden, General Manager, Interactive â˘Tel: 212.210.0794 â˘aarden@crain.com |To subscribe: adage.com/subscribe â˘Tel: 888.288.5900 â˘subs@crain.com
Weekly e-mail newsletter and editorial feature to guide the industry on how to
integrate emerging and converging digital media into the overall marketing mix.
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FULL WEEKLY ISSUE ONLINE
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online, giving you a jumpstart to the week.
THOUGHT-LEADING EDITORIAL
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they lead the discussion, sparking debate
in the community. DAILY BREAKING NEWS
Updated as industry news happens.
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20. BY CAROL KROL
The juggernaut that is search marketing
shows no signs of slowing in 2006, according
to the statistics that pour in regularly from re-
search and measurement providers. The num-
bers,fromaddollarsbeingspenttothevolume
ofsearchesbeingconducted,speakvolumes.
Users conducted 5.1 billion searches in De-
cember 2005, close to a 60% increase over the
previous Decemberâs 3.3 billion searches, ac-
cording to Nielsen//NetRatings. The ad
dollarshavefollowed.
Advertisers in North America spent
$5.75 billion in 2005, according to the
Search Engine Marketing Professional
Organization (SEMPO), a nonprofit, pro-
fessional organization for search engine
marketers. That is a 44% increase over
spending the prior year. Paid placement
accountedfor83%ofthattotal.
ONLINE AD SURGE WILL CONTINUE
Other researchers and analysts, such
asMerrillLynch,PiperJaffrayandStan-
dard & Poorâs, agree search has led the
healthy surge in online advertising and
will continue to do so. Piper Jaffray said
search and online advertising were up
23%in2005.Standard&Poorâspredicts
online ad growth will exceed 20% in
2006, âand could approach 30% based
on continued strength of search advertising,â
accordingtoareportreleasedinJanuary2006.
âSearch is escalating for sure,â said Ed Jen-
nings,VP-marketingatParametricTechnology
Corp. (PTC), a b-to-b technology marketer.
Jenningshasbeenemployingsearchaspartof
the marketing mix for the last 18 months, us-
ing both paid search and search engine opti-
mization. He said he has âabsolutelyâ in-
creasedthebudgetforsearch,whichisusedas
both a lead generation tool and a branding
mechanism.
Many other marketers are doing the same.
Inastudyspecifictothemanufacturingindus-
try, for example, almost half (48%) of market-
ing executives plan on increasing the amount
they spend on search engine marketing. They
also plan to spend less on magazine advertis-
ing, trade shows, direct mail and telemarket-
ing. SVM E-Business Solutions, the company
that conducted this study, spoke with market-
ing executives at more than 200 U.S. manufac-
turingcompanies.Fifty-sevenpercentofthem
said the biggest benefit of online marketing
and search is improved communications with
customers.
âAs long as search is efficient in terms of
ROIâanditstillisbyfarversusanyotherdig-
ital channelâ[spending] will continue in-
creasing,â said Frederic Joseph, regional CEO,
EMEAatZEDDigital,aunitofZenithOptime-
dia, a London-based media agency. Joseph
handlesbuyingthroughallmediachannelsfor
clientsoftheagency.âWetestandlearnonev-
ery channel,â he said. âWe identify channels
thathavethebestROI.â
CHALLENGES AHEAD
One foil to this overwhelmingly rosy pic-
ture was a March eMarketer report. Estimat-
ing that Googleâs worldwide gross revenue
will total $9.30 billion this year and $11.80
billion in 2007, the online research aggrega-
torâs forecasts also outlined challenges. Its re-
port, âSearch Marketing: Players and Prob-
lems,â said Google faces roadblocks to contin-
uing strong growth, including the threat of
click fraud, privacy concerns and the com-
plexityofcreatingandmanagingcampaigns.
âConcerns about click fraud and privacy
are two sticking points that will potentially
chip away at, if not halt, the growth of search
engine marketing,â said David Hallerman,
eMarketer senior analyst and author of the re-
port.âAllisnotrosyinthesearchbusiness.â
But not everyone agrees, particularly
ontheissueofclickfraud.
âI really donât think click fraud is a
big issue,â said Joseph at ZED Digital.
âItâsreallymarginal.âPTCâsJenningssaid
he is aware of the possibility that click
fraud can affect his campaigns, but
added that he is not very concerned and
in fact doesnât want to spend a lot of time
focusedontheissue.âWedonâtnecessar-
ily know if weâre getting funny num-
bers,â he said. âWe didnât want to be-
comeexpertsinthisnecessarily.â
He does, however, invest time in test-
ingandtrackingcampaigneffectiveness.
âIt is not so much the technical stuff,
but seeing which offers are working and
changing campaigns,â he said. âWe put
SiebeltrackingIDsembeddedintheURL
intothetextstringsweputonGooglefor
pay-per-click campaigns. We get reports
from our vendor on how well the Google traf-
ficisdoing,âhesaid.
But click fraud definitely is on marketersâ
radar. According to data released last Decem-
ber by SEMPO, the number of those who be-
lieve it is a serious issue has tripled in the past
year,andtwooutoffiveadvertisersandabout
40% of agencies surveyed have tracked fraud
inpay-per-clickcampaigns.
Click fraud can be committed for financial
Searchspending
spreecontinues
Concerns over click fraud donât slow
enthusiasm for search engine marketing
1. Considertargetkeywordscarefully.Theyshouldalwaysbeat
leasttwoormorewordslong;toomanysiteswillberelevantfora
singleword.
2. Positionkeywordsstrategically.ThepageâsHTMLtitletagismost
important.Failuretoputtargetkeywordsinthetitletagisthe
mainreasonperfectlyrelevantWebpagesmaybepoorlyranked.
3. AddHTMLhyperlinkstoyourhomepagethatleadtomajorinside
pagesorsectionsofyoursite.Alsoconsidermakingasite-map
pagewithtextlinks.Ifyounaturallypointtodifferentpagesfrom
withinyoursite,youincreasetheoddsthatsearchengineswill
followlinksandfindmoreofyourWebsite.
4. Buildlinks.Gotothemajorsearchengines.Searchforyourtarget
keywords.Lookatthepagesthatappearinthetopresults.Visit
thosepagesandaskthesiteownersiftheywilllinktoyou.Non-
competitivesitesmayagreetolinktoyou,especiallyifyouoffer
tolinkback.
5. Verifyandmaintainyourlisting.Onceyourpagesarelistedina
searchengine,monitoryourlistingeveryweekortwo.Resubmit
yoursiteanytimeyoumakesignificantchanges.
Need to know 5 simple rules for effective
search engine optimization
SEARCH
RESOURCES
20 | BtoBâs Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
KKeeyysseeaarrcchhmmeettrriiccss
â OnlinesearchesintheU.S.increased39%in
January2006to5.7billion,upfrom4.1billion
searchesintheyear-earlierperiod.
Source:Nielsen//NetRatings,March2006
â Marketshareinsearchremainedsteadyin
2006withGoogle(48.2%),Yahoo!(22.2%)and
MSN(11.0%)leadingtheway.
Source:Nielsen//NetRatings,March2006
â Googleâsworldwidegrossrevenuewilltotal
anestimated$9.3billionthisyearand$11.8
billionin2007.
Source:eMarketerReport,March2006
SSeeaarrcchhbbeessttpprraaccttiicceess
â Fortypercentofsearchmarketersaremiss-
ingoutbyusingonlyGoogleand/orYahoo!
fortheironlinecampaigns.
Source:JupiterResearch,February2006
â Morethanhalf(52%)ofmarketerssurveyed
describedpaidsearchperformancefor2005
asâgreatâoutperformsothertactics,âedging
oute-mailmarketingtohouselists,which
cameinsecondat47%.Itwasthefirsttime
searchmarketingsurpassede-mailmarketing.
Source:ad:techandMarketingSherpasurvey,March2006
â Sixty-twopercentofsearchengineusers
clickonasearchresultwithinthefirstpageand
90%ofusersclickonaresultwithinthefirst
threepagesofsearchresults.Thirty-sixpercent
ofsearchengineusersbelievethatthecompa-
nieswithWebsiteslistedatthetopofthe
searchresultsarethetopbrandsinthefield.
Source:iProspectandForresterResearchreport,April2006
22000055ttrreennddss
Issearchexpanding?Thepastyearsawthe
majorsearchenginesexpandingaggressively
intonewareas,includingvideosearch;local,
targetedadvertising;andinteractivemapping
andotherWeb2.0applications.Googleeven
offeredoptionstoaddâportallikeâcontentto
itsformerlystarkhomepage.
TThheeyyssaaiiddiitt
âSearchenginesononehandaresaying,âWeâll
protectyou,âandontheotherhandtheyâre
saying,âYoucanâtexpectustoreallyprotect
youbecausewedonâthaveallthedata.ââ
âJessieStricchiola,presidentofSEOfirm
AlchemistMedia,ontheproblemofsearchen-
gineadvertisingclickfraud,BtoB,March2006.
Search, page 22
BB _ 04-24-06 A 20 B2DB 4/20/2006 2:30 PM Page 1
21. The Directory for
Marketing Executives. w w w . B t o B o n l i n e d i r e c t o r y . c o m
ONLINE DIRECTORY
BtoBâs Online Directory puts marketing solution providers at your
fingertips! Truly a one-stop source for all your marketing needs,
BtoBonline.com brings you a listing of nearly 2,300 companies in 50
product/service categories. Find that much-needed vendor today by
going to www.BtoBonlinedirectory.com.
Where do you ďŹnd marketing vendors?
btobonline.com | 2006 | BtoBâs Interactive Marketing Guide | 21
SEARCHENGINEMARKETINGRESOURCES
Company Location URL Phone SEM services
Acronym Media New York www.acronym.com (212) 691-7051 Optimization, pay-per-click management, link-building campaigns
Advertising.com Baltimore www.advertising.com (410) 244-1370 Strategic direct-response and brand marketing campaigns
Alchemist Media Hollywood, Calif. www.alchemistmedia.com (323) 934-2939 Optimization, pay-per-click management
Backbone Media Waltham, Mass. www.backbonemedia.com (781) 899-4050 Optimization, Web site development, e-mail design, keyword research, ROI tracking
BeyondROI Hallandale, Fla. www.beyondroi.com (800) 498-4764 Search marketing strategy consulting for small and midsize businesses
Bruce Clay Moorpark, Calif. www.bruceclay.com (805) 517-1900 Optimization, pay-per-click management, campaign management
Business.com Santa Monica, Calif. www.business.com (800) 381-5771 Pay-per-click management, paid inclusion
ClearGauge Chicago www.cleargauge.com (312) 923-7604 New program launch strategies, pay-per-click management, design, analytics
Did-It.com Rockville Centre, N.Y. www.did-it.com (800) 932-7761 Paid search management, technology services
DigitalGrit Boonton, N.J. www.digitalgrit.com (973) 316-9696 Optimization, paid placement, paid inclusion, analytics
Fathom Online San Francisco www.fathomonline.com (415) 284-9100 Keyword campaign management, technology services
iCrossing Scottsdale, Ariz. www.icrossing.com (866) 620-3780 Strategy, consulting, implementation, analysis
Inceptor Maynard, Mass. www.inceptor.com (978) 298-1525 Optimization, paid placement, directory programs, authorized reseller of paid inclusion
iProspect Watertown, Mass. www.iprospect.com (617) 923-7000 Optimization, paid inclusion, pay-per-click management, Web analytics, Web site
conversion enhancement
KeyRelevance Wylie, Texas www.keyrelevance.com (972) 429-1222 Optimization, keyword research, pay-per-click management, ROI tracking
Marketleap San Francisco www.marketleap.com (888) 201-9982 Optimization, search engine paid inclusion management
Medium Blue Atlanta www.mediumblue.com (866) 436-2583 Visitor conversion, online PR, search engine optimization
Oneupweb Lake Leelanau, Mich. www.oneupweb.com (877) 568-7477 Optimization, pay-per-click management, bid management, ROI analytics
Outrider St. Louis www.outrider.com (314) 209-1005 Optimization, pay-per-click management, strategy, consulting, measurement
Prime Visibility Bethpage, N.Y. www.primevisibility.com (866) 774-6381 Optimization, pay-per-click management, keyword tracking
Proceed Interactive Des Plaines, Ill. www.proceedinteractive.com (888) 632-6328 Online and search affiliate marketing, design, technology, Web analytics
Quigo Technologies New York www.quigo.com (646) 289-6000 Search engine marketing, campaign management, content-targeted advertising services
Resolution Media Chicago www.resolutionmedia.com (312) 337-6450 Optimization, paid listings, consulting
Searchfeed.com Bridgewater, N.J. www.searchfeed.com (866) 722-9951 Pay-per-click management
SiteLab International La Jolla, Calif. www.sitelab.com (858) 456-4720 Optimization, pay-per-click management, paid placement
Vertive Consulting Austin, Texas www.vertive.com (512) 342-8378 Optimization, paid listings and pay-per-click management
WebMama.com Palo Alto, Calif. www.webmama.com (650) 289-0701 Optimization, pay-per-click management, analytics
Zunch Communications Dallas www.zunch.com (972) 455-4800 Optimization, pay-per-click management, design
BB _ 04-24-06 A 21 B2DB 4/20/2006 7:02 PM Page 1
22. SEARCH
22 | BtoBâs Interactive Marketing Guide | 2006 | btobonline.com
Company URL Phone Marketplace Clients
Business.com www.business.com (888)441-4466 B-to-bproducts,services,newsandinformation BusinessWeek.com,FastCompany,Forbes.com,Inc.com,Internet.com
GlobalSpec www.globalspec.com (518)880-0200 Engineeringpartsandcomponentstechnicalcontent ASEE,Autodesk,InformationHandlingServices(IHS)MatWeb,Solidworks
Indeed www.indeed.com (203)564-2419 Searchengineforjobs Dice,NewYorkTimes(alsoaninvestor)
ThomasNet www.thomasnet.com (800)699-9822 Industrialmanufacturing GeneralAirProducts,Inc.,EquipmentDirectSafetyandFirstAid
Supplies,WheelingPower&IndustrialServices
Sidestep.com www.sidestep.com (408)235-1700 Travelindustry ContinentalAirlines,HyattCorp.,JetBlueAirways,Orbitz,travelagencies
ThomsonFindlaw www.findlaw.com (651)687-7000 Legal Nolo.com,ThomsonWest
VERTICALSEARCH
gainbypartiessuchascontextualad
affiliates, which can profit when
clicks occur on their sites because of
revenue-sharing agreements with
search engines. An advertiserâs com-
petitors similarly might engage in
the practice, as a way to drain the
marketerâs pay-per-click advertising
budget.
In a separate benchmarketing
study conducted in late 2005,
SEMPO found conversion rates for
âdelayed e-commerce/service pur-
chasesââa bucket b-to-b mar-
ketersâ products fall intoâare
higher through search engine opti-
mization (6.3%) than paid search,
which had an average conversion
of 4.2%. âSEO is a huge driver of
âlatentâ conversions,â the report
concluded.
The next big hurdle may be the
enterprise search space. Companies
are trying to figure out how to mon-
etize Web sites, and part of that is
making sure they are functional and
canbenavigatedwithease.
âI know we struggle with that,â
Jennings said. In his own experi-
enceasacustomer,hesaid,âIrarely
use a search tool on a site. Even if I
knowthesite,IâlldoaGooglesearch
on it and make it domain-specific
rather than go to their site and use a
searchtool.â
Jennings said he is currently
looking at the possibility of im-
plementing an enterprise search
solution. â Ş
Search
Continued from page 20
âIrarelyusea
searchtoolon
asite.EvenifI
knowthesite,
IâlldoaGoogle
searchonit
andmakeit
domain-
specificâ
Ed Jennings,
VP-marketing at Parametric
Technology Corp.(PTC),
BB _ 04-24-06 A 22 B2DB 4/20/2006 5:03 PM Page 1
23. âItâs Just Business.â
Just 26 Million people a month. Just 50 of the leading online business publications. Just the biggest
business search network on the Internet.
Just business searches. Just business results. Just decision makers saving time and money while
they get things done.
As the leading online marketplace for trusted business solutions, advertisers on
Business.com can reach 26 million* buyers and sellers of business-to-business
services every monthâŚmore than any other vertical search engine.
Business.com. Just the center of the
business-to-business universe.
Business Begins Here.â˘
*comScore, Media Metrix, March 2006
Powering the
searches of:
btobonline.com | 2006 | BtoBâs Interactive Marketing Guide | 23
Company Whatitdoes Whatitowns Keypartners
AOL OwnsmajorportaldestinationandInternetserviceprovider Netscape,MapQuest,AIM,AOL.com Google
Google Searchdestinationandadvertisingprovider;products
includeAdsense,Adwords, Gmail,GoogleLocalandGoogle
Toolbar
UrchinSoftware, KeyholeCorp.,content-targetingfirm
AppliedSemantics,weblogfirmPyra
GooglesitesincludingAOL,AskJeeves,EarthLink
GenieKnows.com Globalpay-per-clicksearchengineofferingPPCsolutionsto
1,100publishersand3,500advertisersinU.S.,Canada,U.K.,
Germany,France,Italy,Spain,Denmark,Sweden,Finland,
Norway,Korea,Taiwan,HongKong,Japan,Brazil,Mexico
andAustralia.
GenieKnows.com,GenieKnows.co.uk,GenieKnows.cn,
GenieLocal.com,GKFA.com,SmartGenie.com
Business.com,Kanoodle,LycosandMiva
IACSearchandMedia
(formerlyAskJeeves),
awhollyownedsub-
sidiaryofIAC/Inter
ActiveCorp.
Offerssearchdestinationsandadvertisingsolutions(includ-
ingsearch,mediaandperformancemarketingproducts)
AdproductsincludeAskSponsoredListings,pay-per-
clickproduct,andIACpartnermarketing,mediaand
performancemarketingproducts.Websitesinclude
Ask.com,Bloglines,Evite.com,Excite,iWon,MaxOnline-
MySearch,MyWayandMyWebSearch.OwnsAskAlgo-
rithmicSearchTechnology(formerlynamedTeoma).
Syndicatesalgorithmicresultsandpaidlistingstopartnersin-
cludingMamma,MotleyFool,Search.com(CNET),Geotrust
andothers.AlsosyndicatespaidlistingsfromGoogle.
LookSmart Paidlistingsanddisplayadsviadistributionnetworkand
proprietaryverticalsearchsitenetworks
Findarticles.com,Furl.net,LookListings,NetNanny,
WiseNut;plus181verticalsearchsitesin13categories
Publishingpartners:Ask.comandNYTimes.com;distribution
partners: InfoSpace,Cox,Dogpile,Marchex,Revenue.net,
CNET'sSearch.com
MIVA(formerly
FindWhat.com)
Onlineplatformthatfacilitateskeywordandcontextualpaid
listingsforadvertisersandpublishers.Primaryfocusison
providingpublisherpartnerswithsolutionsenablingtheac-
quisition,retentionandmonetizationofonlineaudiences.
MIVAMediaEurope(formerlyEspotting),MIVADirect
(formerlyCometSystems),MIVASmallBusiness
(formerlyMivaCorp.)andB&B
Distributionnetworkofthousandsofonlinepublisherpartners
includingblinkx,CondeNast,DennisPublishing,ExpressNews-
papers,Intellext,MirrorGroup,The(U.K.) Sun.Private-labelpart-
nersincludeEniroAB,Mitsui,Superpages,Verizon
MSNSearch Portalhostsitsownsearchtechnologyat
www.search.msn.com,andWindowsLiveSearchbetaat
www.live.comlaunchedinMarch.
ProprietaryMSNSearchsoftware;ispilotingitsown
paid-searchsolutiononMSNadCenterplatform
(adCenterwillbebroadlyavailableintheU.S.sometime
in2006,accordingtoMSN)
PaidlistingsfromYahoo!willcontinueintheU.S.untiladCen-
terislaunchedin2006.
Yahoo! Leadingportaldestination;ownsYahoo!SearchMarketing. AlltheWeb,AltaVista,Inktomi,Yahoo!SearchMarketing CNN.com,ESPN, InfoSpace,iVillage,Maxim.com,UnitedOn-
line,USAToday andVIACOMproperties(BET.com,MTV.com,
VH1.com,etc.)
WHOâSWHOINPAIDSEARCH
BB _ 04-24-06 A 23 B2DB 4/20/2006 1:39 PM Page 1
25. BY MARY E. MORRISON
N
OT LONG AGO, aWeb site was considered
good if it presented information in a
clean, easy-to-find way. Sites that al-
lowed visitors to execute transactions were
deemedadvanced,andifthesitecouldhandle
customerserviceinquiries,somuchthebetter.
Today, however, b-to-b sites must meet the
rapidly expanding expectations of business-
people who have become far more sophisticat-
ed in their use of the Web and want a highly
personalizedonlineexperience.
Thekeyformarketersistogivesitevisitors
that tailored Web experience and measure
their response, said Andrea Fishman, director
of global strategy for BGT Partners, a profes-
sionalservicesfirmthatfocusesontechnology
solutions for interactive marketers. âIn the
past, there tended to be lots of content out
there that was generic in nature,â she said.
âWhat weâre seeing now is a lot more self-se-
lection.â Self-selection design presents infor-
mationtositevisitorsaccordingtotheirroleor
the type of problem theyâre looking to solve,
ratherthanbyproduct.
B-TO-B SITES YET TO EVOLVE
Still, many b-to-b Web sites havenât
evolved, said Dennis Boyce, VP at interactive
agency Avenue A/Razorfish. âA lot of b-to-b
sitesouttherearestillveryproduct-centric,âhe
said.âTheytendtoreflecthowthecompanyis
organized rather than how their customers are
organizedortheirmarketisorganized.â
To know what customers want, companies
must determine not only the demographic
characteristics and site habits of visitors but
alsowhatismostappealingtothem,whatlan-
guage they use and what will finally trigger a
purchaseâinformation likely to come only
from interviews with the customer, said
Harley Manning, VP-customer experience at
Forrester Research. âYou can only get those
things by interviewing people, by letting
them tell their stor-ies of how they purchase,
how they think, how they describe things,
howtheygoaboutthings,âhesaid.
Manning cited semiconductor company
Analog Devices, which he said was under the
impression that its audience of design engi-
neerswasverybrandloyalandwantedaclean
layout when researching products. After do-
ingresearchinengineersâoffices,however,the
company found that the engineers liked to
scrollupanddownscreenspackedwithinfor-
mation. When the engineers didnât find what
theywantedquickly,theyâdmoveontoanoth-
er semiconductor makerâs Web site. Analog
Devicesredesigneditssiteaccordingly.
âIfyoudidnâtknowthatthisishowdesign
engineersliketonavigate,youâdsayâthissiteis
packed, no one can use it,ââ he said. âAs it
turns out, itâs an almost perfect design for that
target audience, and [Analog Devices] had big
jumpsinalltheirmetrics.â
Lance Schneider, e-business manager of
Budnick Convertingâs Tapeinfo.com, relies on
siteanalyticsandsurveyse-mailedtoprospects
andcustomerswhohaveoptedin.Heusesthat
information to refine the siteâs content and ad-
just its product-finding tools. âItâs our theory
that, if you are the person or company supply-
ing the best information, sooner or later youâll
be the person supplying the product or ser-
vice,âSchneidersaid.
IMPROVINGCONTENT
Providing better content in a personalized
fashionisgettingeasierbecauseofadvancesin
content management systems and portal soft-
warepackages,Fishmansaid.âTheinitialcon-
tent management systems were so hard to use
that marketing never felt really comfortable,â
shesaid.
Fishman said there now is a wave of âcon-
tent management lightâ applications, from
vendors such as Ektron Inc. and
RedDot Solutions, that are more
user-friendly and allow marketers
to handle tasks such as editing
contentandmanagingcolors.B-to-
bmarketersarealsostartingtotake
advantage of the latest technolo-
gies to improve site content, turn-
ing to video, facilitated chat and,
to some extent, RSS and blogs.
Some companies are forgoing the
useofFlashforvideo.
âEspecially as broadband con-
nection grows, short video can be
a very powerful way for larger b-
to-bsites,andevensmallerones,to
communicate their message,â Fish-
mansaid.
Althoughblogscanbeeffective
in creating an ongoing conversation with cus-
tomers, they require constant updating. âYou
really have to keep up on it. ⌠If people come
back and see it hasnât changed in a month,
theyâre not going to come back again,â said
BudnickConvertingâsSchneider,whooversees
Tapeinfo.comâsblog.
RSS is also of interest to marketers looking
to personalize sites, particularly because Web
usersareoverloadedwithspamintheir e-mail
in-boxes. âPeople know that if they signed up
for an RSS feed, they requested it,â said
WilliamRice,presidentoftheWebMarketing
Association. âAs a marketer, you may have
heard of this, but you need to start exploring
thetechnologyontheserversidesoyoucanbe
ready for it when the widespread acceptance
comes,becauseitâsgoingtobeverysoon.ââ Ş
Plancustomer-
specificmarketing
Savvy visitors crave personalized
experiences on company Web sites
1.Personalizeyoursite.Letsitevisitorsâself-selectâwhenthey
arriveatyourhomepagesotheycanfindthemostrelevantparts
ofthesiteforthem;forinstance,âIâmaphysicianâorâIâma
pharmaceuticalrep.â
2.Userichmediawithcaution.Consideryouraudiencebefore
addingaudio,videooralotofFlashtoyoursite.Givevisitorsthe
optiontohearaudiobymousingoverabutton(ratherthanauto-
maticallylaunchingthefile).
3.Conductresearchtodetermineusersâpreferences.Goinginto
customersâofficesisthebestway.Ifthatâsnotpossible,invite
customerstoafacilitywhereyoucanobservethem.Phonesur-
veysareanotheroption.
4.Focusonincrementalchanges.Yoursitemaynotneeda
completeredesign;instead,implementsmall,usefulchanges
thatimprovecustomersâoverallexperience.
5.Addablogonlyifyoucanupdateitoften.Ifthecontentisstale
anddoesnâtgettheattentionitneeds,youmaybedoingmore
harmthangood.
Need to know 5 simple rules for creating a
customer-friendly Web site
WEB SITES
RESOURCES
Whatâsthediffer-
encebetweenan
averageb-to-bWeb
siteandagreat
b-to-bWebsite?
Nielsen:Mostb-to-bsitesem-
phasizeinternallyfocused
design,donâtanswercustomersâ
mainquestionsorconcerns,and
placebarriersinthewayof
prospectswhousetheWebto
discovercompaniestoplaceon
theirshortlists.Thesesiteshave
notrealizedthattheWebhasre-
versedtherelationshipbetween
companiesandtheircustomers,
withmostonlineinteractionsbe-
ingdemand-driven,whereyou
eithergivepeoplewhatthey
wantorseethemabandonyour
siteforthecompetition.
Agreatb-to-bsite?Onethatâs
moreforthcomingwithinforma-
tionfornewusersintheearly
stagesofresearch.Oftensitesde-
priveusersofneeded
informationbyanoverlyconfus-
ingnavigationstructureorby
presentingoverwhelmingand
convolutedcontent.
Whatarethekey
trendsyouâreseeing
inb-to-bWebsites
rightnow?
Nielsen:Busybusinesspeople
havestoppedsavingbrochures
andadvertisementsbecausethey
assumetheycanlookupthe
equivalentinformationonthe
Web.Mygroupisjustfinishinga
usabilitystudyofb-to-bsites,
[which]willbepresentedatthe
UsabilityWeekconferenceinSan
FranciscoinJune2006.Mostof
theresearchparticipantstoldus
thatwhentheyareconsidering
doingbusinesswithacompany,
oneoftheirfirstactionsistocheck
outitsWebsite.Thusasitethatin-
adequatelycommunicatesthe
credibilityofavendorandits
productscanhaveaseriously
detrimentaleffectonincoming
leads,longbeforeyoustartyour
officialsalesefforts.
Whataresome
quickandeasy
waystoimprovea
Website?
Nielsen:Ithinkthatmost
b-to-bsitesneedacomplete
redesign.Ireallywantcompanies
toreconceptualizetheirWebsites
andredoeverythingwithanem-
phasisondoingwhatcustomers
toldusinusertesting.Onthe
otherhand,therearealsoplenty
ofquickfixesavailablefortheav-
erageb-to-bsite.AcompanyâŚ
couldstillgetalotofmileage
fromsimplerchanges,suchas
writingagoodoverviewpagefor
eachproductcategory.â Ş
JAKOBNIELSEN
isprincipalat
NielsenNorman
Group
ASKTHEEXPERT
KKeeyyWWeebbssiitteessttaattss
â 73%ofAmericanadults(age18-plus)go
onlinetousetheInternet.Agecontinuestobe
astrongpredictorforInternetuse:89%of18-
to-29-year-oldsgoonline,comparedto82%
of30-to-49-year-olds,71%of50-to-64-year-
olds,and34%ofthoseage65andolder.
Source:PewInternet&AmericanLifeProject,March2006
â In2006,78%ofmanufacturingcompanies
plantoincreasespendingontheircorporate
Websites.Inaddition,52%ofmanufacturers
considertheirWebsitestobetheirmostpow-
erfulmarketingtools.
Source:SVME-BusinessSolutionsstudy,April2006
MMoossttvviissiitteeddWWeebbssiitteess
((ppeerrmmoonntthh))
1.Microsoft 112millionvisitors
2.Yahoo! 102millionvisitors
3.TimeWarner 100millionvisitors
SSttiicckkiieessttWWeebbssiitteess((hhoouurrss
ooffvviissiittoorruusseeppeerrmmoonntthh))
1.PokerStars.com 18:30hours
2.AOL 6:00hours
3.FanFiction.Net 4:50hours
Source:Nielsen//NetRatingsstudy,March2006
VViiddeeoooonntthheeggoo
Webvideoisbooming.Userswanttoview
videoonavarietyofdevices,including:com-
puters/laptops(22%);TVs(20%);iPods(4%).
Source:PointsNorthGroupstudy,March2006
TThheeddaawwnnooffWWeebb22..00
â ThebiggestWebsitetrendin2005wasthe
emergenceofWeb2.0.Whatisit?âAsecond
generationofservicesavailableontheWorld
WideWebthatletspeoplecollaborateand
shareinformationonline.â
Source:Wikipedia
TThheeyyssaaiiddiitt
âThecentralprinciplebehindthesuccessof
thegiantsbornintheWeb1.0erawhohave
survivedtoleadtheWeb2.0eraappearstobe
this,thattheyhaveembracedthepowerof
theWebtoharnesscollectiveintelligence.â
âTimOâReilly,president-CEO,OâReillyMedia,
âWhatisWeb2.0?âSept.2005
btobonline.com | 2006 | BtoBâs Interactive Marketing Guide | 25
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