Lights, Camera, Action! Video Email Boosts Conversion

Want to boost your email conversion rates? Try adding video.

That’s what 80% of marketers plan to do this year, according to a recent survey by email service provider GetResponse. That would be a huge jump from 2009, when just over 15 percent used video in their emails.

But what’s even more impressive is the fact that 65% of marketers believe video emails can have a moderate or significant influence on conversion rates. And 64% of those already using video email claim significant rate increases.

Video does boost click-through rates. A study by Implix found that video increased email marketing click-through rates last year by 96.38%. Implix CEO Simon Grabowski says it’s because video gives email a human touch, “Everyone wants marketing to be more personal. That’s pretty much what video email does.”

Of course, video emails are still a novelty for many people. So that means click-through rates may be due to curiosity and intrigue more than effectiveness.

Marketers also need to be aware of potential hidden costs that could offset any lift in conversion rates the technology provides.

3 Ways Your eNewsletter Can Drive Traffic

Does your business publish an email newsletter? 

If so, you may be tempted to dump that project and focus on creating a Facebook fan page or put more time into your blog. 

I have one word of advice for you: STOP! 

Facebook may be the hot new way to engage your customers, but that doesn’t mean you should abandon your email newsletter.  In fact, if you follow these 3 tips, your newsletter can be a great tool to drive traffic to your Facebook page, blog and website.

Go, Go, Gadget Websites

How do you convert your Website into a mobile phone friendly Website? Is this something to be concerned about? 

Mobile advertising is getting more successful at creating brand awareness and purchase intent, compared to traditional online advertising. Market research firm InsightExpress recently did a study that found mobile campaigns thru the 4^th quarter of 2009 performed 4-1/2 to 5 times better than online ones for awareness, message association, brand favorability and purchase intent. 

The survey also found that mobile campaigns overall led to a higher level of purchase intent than online ones in such key consumer categories as travel, auto, retail and technology. 

The trick to making mobile advertising successful is finding a way to convert your website content for mobile devices so that everything on your site displays properly when viewed in a smaller screen. 

Thankfully, there are several online services that will make the conversion process easier, and enable more visitors to be able to see your website on a mobile device. Here are a few third party solutions that you can try out:

What Happens in Google, Stays in Google

First, I have to give credit where credit is due…special thanks to Chuck Miller for introducing me to StepRep!

Managing your company’s online reputation has never been more challenging since the advent of social media. If someone has something negative to say about your company, they can let thousands of their followers know about it within minutes as a result of Twitter.  If you’re not monitoring the conversation, your company’s reputation can be seriously damaged. So think of Google a lot like Las Vegas…what happens in Google, stays in Google, potentially for a really long time! You need to know what people are saying!

You can set up a Google alert, but a more effective monitoring tool is available from StepRep. This company enables you to set up searches for various phrases – ex. “your company name” + “city” and then emails you whenever something on the web is posted for that saved phrase.

Seven Deadly Sins of Social Networking

What do you consider to be the worst business social networking faux paws? Submit your pet peeves and the (2) best entries will receive a complimentary seat* at my “Seven Deadly Sins of Social Networking” bonus session at the Confident Women’s Conference this THURSDAY!

DEADLINE to submit your pet peeves is tomorrow, 2/9/10 by 5:00 p.m.

Location: Rosen Plaza Hotel, Orlando, FL

Networking, Trade Show & Lunch: 11:00 am – 2:00 pm

Meredith’s Bonus Session: 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm

You will learn:

• What NOT to do on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter
• How often to post
• What to post
• How to grab people’s attention
• How to build more fans, friends and followers

For more information on the Confident Women’s Conference, or to buy a ticket for lunch, go to http://woamtec.com/woamtec/online-store/tickets/.

Remember, I have two free tickets* to my bonus session for the best of the worst of what you’ve seen on social networking sites!!!

*Complimentary tickets are for bonus session only. Conference ticket is not included.

Google to Stop Supporting Internet Explorer 6

If you’ve received an email from Google Apps about stopping the support for Internet Explorer (IE) 6, it’s nothing to be concerned about but you do need to upgrade your browser version if you are still using IE 6. Over the course of 2010, Google is going to phase out support for Internet Explorer 6 and other older browsers not supported by their manufacturers. What does this mean for you?

First, you need to check what version of Internet Explorer you are using. If you are using IE 6, you need to upgrade to either IE 7 or IE 8. Open your Internet browser and click on the Help menu and scroll down to “About Internet Explorer.”

iPod, iPhone or iPad — Which One Is Right For You?

Now that Apple Computer has unveiled its new iPad, iPod and iPhone users have a dilemma on their hands.  Do they upgrade to the iPad or buy one to use in addition to their iPod or iPhone? And should someone who doesn’t already have an Apple product choose the iPad over the iPod or iPhone? 

There’s no clear-cut answer here.  The major benefit of the iPad over the other products is its larger screen, making it much easier to surf the Web, watch movies, play games and read books. 

But, the iPad’s larger size (9.7 inch LED display, and 1.5 pound weight) makes it pretty unlikely you’ll carry it around in your pocket!  And the iPad won’t run Flash applications, so you can’t see video from a website, unless it’s on YouTube, which is included in a special player. It also means many components on websites won’t appear, let alone work. 

Do You Yahoo! On the Go?

Businesses that use mobile advertising could benefit from a new strategy that Yahoo! appears to be readying to take local search and social media to new heights.

Yahoo! recently received a patent for a contextual mobile local search application based on social network “vitality information.”

 The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office abstract details the company’s intent to develop a search application that looks at the location of the mobile device, a time of day, an event, information from the mobile user’s calendar, past behavior of the mobile user, weather, social networking data, aggregate behaviors, or even information about the proximity of a social contact.

“By employing vitality information to perform a mobile search, better search results and a richer user experience may be provided that includes a sense of community, a sense of presence,” the patent said.

Watch Out Twitter — Facebook Users Can “Retweet” Too

Facebook has adopted one of Twitter’s more popular features for its own users – the ability to “retweet” content. 

The social networking giant now offers a “via” feature that provides attribution for content that a Facebook user wants to share with his friends. 

Here’s how it works: If someone posts a link to an article or video that you’d like to share with your Facebook friends, simply click on “share,” and a box will come up that shows “via (Facebook friend name),” with an option to remove the name. 

Once you click the share button, the content will appear under your profile, with a link to your friend’s profile. Your post will also show up in your friends’ news feed, creating the type of viral loop that defines the Twitter retweet.

Xtreme Website Contest Winners

We had nearly 100 entries for the contest! Amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing all the sites and was blown away by all of the creativity and hard work that obviously went into the sites. If you couldn’t attend the seminar today, you can purchase the audio recording from www.buildersshow.com. I will have my portion of the seminar available soon as a podcast.

My criteria for an extreme website is: 1) “Killer” eye candy, 2) “Shred or Die” Call to Action and 3) “Cowabunga” content. Of course there are many other factors but for the purposes of the contest and this seminar, I focused on these three criteria. My goal was to find the site that was the total package. And I did! More on that later…

As I explained in the seminar, killer eye candy refers to the graphic design element of the site. I firmly believe that a website is the homebuilder’s equivalent of a retail store. In the retail world, shop owners put the best “merchandise” in the window to get shoppers to walk in the front door. The website world is no different. You must offer compelling graphics, photography and video to encourage shoppers to stop and take note.