It is amazing, the length advertisers and marketers may be willing to go just to put ads in our faces.

InformationWeek chronicles a software patent filed by Big Brother, er, I mean Microsoft….

Overall, the software is like adware that figures out what ads to display based on files on the hard drive and what’s being displayed on the screen at a given moment. The advertising software, which could be part of the operating system, a standalone app, or an application feature, would…

...continue to read "Advertising Framework or Big Brother?"

Are you making any of the follow boo boos?

-Demanding “Polished and Professional” Ads -Informing without Persuading -Entertaining without Persuading -Decorating without Persuading

Most of these mistakes center around the advertiser’s fear of offending the audience.

Roy H. Williams, the ‘Wizard of Ads,’ makes the case for not being all bound up in the tentacles of fear when you are creating your ads.

Oftentimes, fear is the enemy of profit. If you’ve been doing marketing or advertising for more than a few weeks, you’ve likely watched at least one…

...continue to read "Why Your Ads Aren’t Working"

If you’re one of the many that have greater conversion rates when visitors engage your live chat, here are three simple things you can do to transfer some of that mojo to your website.

First, track where on the site visitors are engaging your chat.

Second, use chat transcripts to extract the common questions visitors are asking.

Third, provide those answers on the same pages where they’re being asked.

Simple enough?

If you have a lot of visitors engaging chat on your product pages — and you have…

...continue to read "Quick Tip: Use Live Chat Transcripts to Boost Conversion"

A recent New York Times article asks, “Has online retailing entered the Dot Calm era?”

Forrester Research, a market research company, projects that online book sales will rise 11 percent this year, compared with nearly 40 percent last year. Apparel sales, which increased 61 percent last year, are expected to slow to 21 percent. And sales of pet supplies are on pace to rise 30 percent this year after climbing 81 percent last year.

Growth rates for online sales are slowing down…

...continue to read "New York Times: Online Sales Losing Steam"

I can’t remember the last time I was in the mood to get frustrated. It’s why I rarely buy online.

I just don’t have the emotional fortitude to endure online shopping carts and checkout processes. By the end of a buying session, I’m always left with ground-down teeth and a dozen less hairs (as you can tell by my photo below, I have very little to spare).

I’m not alone. PC World curmudgeon John Dvorak shares my pain. All his peeves are…

...continue to read "Online Shopping Frustrates Me"

Would you date this person? Most of us wouldn’t.

But the person that would is sure to respond passionately to such a bold headline. According to Fast Company, if you want people to love you, you’d better figure out who’s gonna hate you…

We examined more than 1,000 Match.com ads–from men and women, old and young. Our search yielded headlines like this one: “Hey.” Folks, if your opening line is “Hey,” you better be hot.

Another said “Looking for love.” Well, duh, you’re on…

...continue to read "Athletic Math Nerd Seeks Someone To Hum Seinfeld Intro Music With"

This quote from an AdWeek article at Yahoo News got my attention when it stated that:

…online marketers are largely unaware of their customers’ preferences.

The article then rehashes the common knowledge that online marketing spend is up, while average conversion rates are steadily sinking. It also cites a few research studies that speculate as to the reasons why conversion rates currently suck.

Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the “U.S. Retail E-Commerce Update,” said the disconnect between spending and results can…

...continue to read "Do You Know HOW to Convert Visitors to Sales?"

Brian Clark at Copyblogger can always be counted on to offer practical, easy to implement advice regarding copy. His post last week entitled “A Simple Four-Step Strategy for Developing Content That Connects” is no exception.

Here’s a sample:

The key is to cover all the bases when it comes to the different learning styles of the audience. Let me elaborate on that point a bit.

One way in which otherwise quality content fails to satisfy the needs of much of the prospective audience is…

...continue to read "Building a Foundation for Customer Focus"

From the Google AdSense blog…

You may have noticed that some of your ad units have started to look a little different lately — we’re happy to announce that, just in time for spring, we’ve given our standard ad units a fresh makeover. After extensive testing and research, we’ve found that the new formats are not only visually appealing to users, but they also perform even better for publishers and advertisers. Read the entire post…

Assuming your ad is relevant, you can no-doubt…

...continue to read "New Look for AdSense Means Better Ad Performance"

Just getting started with online testing? Getting ready to take Google Website Optimizer out for a spin? Here are 64 tips on elements you can test and some helpful info to get you going.

Calls to Action

1.) Is your call to action distinctive? Does it stand out on the page? 2.) Button language and/or hyperlink anchor text 3.) B2B Concerns – Are you asking leads to submit? 4.) Button Colors & Shapes

Point of Action Assurances

5.) Privacy policy: is it easy to understand?…

...continue to read "64 Tips for Getting Started with Google Website Optimizer"