Sure,
we've been hearing nothing but financial doom and gloom,
with many predicting the worst year ever for holiday shopping.
But a bad economy is no time for online marketers to roll
over and play dead. If anything, it's possible that online
shopping could pull a last minute win, save the Season,
and ward off the Grinch. But how?
1. All is not lost. Despite the economic downturn,
online shopping is expected to increase 10% over last year,
with $32 Billion spent online. Jeffrey Grau, senior analyst
at eMarketer said, "More than ever, in order to save
money on holiday gifts, consumers will turn to the Internet
to get gift ideas, find bargains and locate retailers that
stock desired products."
And
what about those Gen X-ers? Recent studies show that they
not only outnumber Baby Boomers now, but exceed them
in annual income as well. Not to mention that a whopping
90% of them are online. And due to their unique mixture
of education/intelligence and high debt (an oxymoron, I
know) they are predicted to be leading the online bargain
hunting pack, no doubt buying up all the Wii's for themselves
and their kids.
2. Know your audience. Stay as close to core customers
as you can. Chad Little from Fetchback says, "Rather
than simply focusing on getting another new customer to
come to your website, you should work to get the customers
who have already visited your site to come back." Here
at TruEffect,
we are closing the gap between web analytics and targeted
marketing, by helping advertisers utilize what they already
know about their existing customer segments, and apply it
everywhere they buy media online – enabling them to
find and communicate directly with them.
3.
Use advertising that works
Performance. Accountability. Relevance. These are the watch
words of this economic slump. There's no doubt that advertising
budgets will suffer, so marketers will want to make the
most of what they've got. Ramping up the right online efforts
can save money over other channels, as well as provide greater
measurability.
4.
A picture's worth 1,000 text links?
Recent studies reinforce the importance that online shopping
has on offline purchases, particularly when a mixture of
Search and Display are used. And yet, McKinsey in its June
2008 Digital Advertising Survey, found that only 30% of
marketers even considered the offline impact of online marketing.
Consumers
don't shop in a vacuum, but rather ingest visual ads, search
online, comparison shop, ask friends, and read blogs. An
effective marketing mix shouldn't overlook the basic tenet
of advertising - eliciting emotion. What better than the
graphical magic of display and rich media?
With
the proper mix of advertisers, online shoppers, and online
marketing personnel who know their stuff, who knows? Maybe
it could be a green (as in moola, not carbon credits) holiday
season after all.
– Layne Salter
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