MarketingSherpa.com

#1. 39% of Viewers Accept Offers on 'Thank You' Pages

Last Thursday I met with our new Senior Reporter, Sean Donahue, who covers the B-to-B marketing beat for us. He wanted to know best practices on how to get more people to sign up for webinars.

I said, "And don't forget the thank-you page. When a prospect signs up for a webinar -- or a white paper or newsletter for that matter-- be sure to include more hotlinks or offers on the 'Thank you' page they see right after submitting their registration. Prospects are in the perfect mood right then to learn more about you, so they may click on links for white papers or other offers. Why not deepen the relationship right then?"

He said, bless his newly Sherpa-ized heart, "Got any data on what percent will click for another offer?"

Naturally, I did. The number was 40% ... but it was from 2001. It was time to get some new benchmarks. To get a quick read, I looked into our own in-house numbers.

When folks sign up for an email newsletter on MarketingSherpa's Web site, the thank-you page features opt-in offers for additional newsletter titles.

When I checked the data last week, 39% of all visitors to that thank-you page took advantage of another offer. I was surprised to see how little has changed since 2001 (you can't say that about most things on the Internet.)

Another interesting fact: the most popular offer on that page gets a 29% acceptance rate, which is fabulous, but not the whole 39%. That means giving folks a choice on that page has helped our overall offer conversions increase by 10 percentage points.

(This is *not* true of all promotions on the Net or in postal DM. Most often, single focus gives better results.)

My final takeaway -- if you have any thank-you pages out there for anything that only say, "Thank you," you are wasting very valuable real estate.

Why slam a blank wall in people's faces just when they've begun to respond to you? Keep that response curve coming.

And let me know if you have any data of your own on this front. I'm definitely interested. Click on this link to respond to this blog.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29854

Anne Holland, President
Feedback(at)marketingSherpa(dot)com
MarketingSherpa, Inc

P.S. As always, our Case Studies and articles are open access for about 10 days. Then they go into SherpaLibrary where you can research for a small fee. The links always remain the same.

#2. How to Improve Email Deliverability: 3 Steps Tested by Real-Life Mailer

SUMMARY: When considering how important deliverability is to an email marketer's overall success, the adage "Showing up is half the battle" comes to mind.

Simply put, you cannot take your delivery rate for granted because each ISP has its own rules when it comes to bounces. In fact, according to data from MarketingSherpa's latest Email Marketing Benchmark Guide, 25% of business-to-consumer marketers surveyed said they've seen a significant increase in bounce rates.

By altering their delivery methods, see how a leading techie career-based Web site -- extremely dependent on email to drive every aspect of the firm -- exceeded their expectations when they set out to increase the number of people receiving their daily messages.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29852
(Open access until Feb. 5th)

#3. How High-Ticket Ecommerce Site Solved Alternative Billing Option & Lifted Conversions

SUMMARY: Once prospects have put items into a shopping cart, they should be able to place the order as easily as possible. Unfortunately, temporary or unusual payment situations stop some just before the finish line.

New MarketingSherpa data reveals that 27% of 250 firms we studied earlier this month use alternative payment programs. But these methods aren't perfect and reject orders that should go through.

See how one jewelry eretailer rings up a ton more shopping cart tickets using a "special forces"-type department dedicated to helping customers find the right payment solution.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29846
(Open access until Feb. 4th)

#6. Interview: How a Test to Meld Online/Offline Increased Order Sizes

SUMMARY: Everyone is looking for ways of fusing their storefronts, Web sites, catalogs and other channels into one brand identity. But, maybe, multichanneling is more flexible than what many marketers think.

Following in the steps of one-stop portals, see how a wedding gown marketer implemented carefully selected online partnerships to funnel customers into brick-and-mortar outlets and keep the focus on the core product.

Plus, an imaginative test using special-care in-store reps to meld the two.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29845
(Open access until Feb. 2nd)

#10. New Book Offer: 'Financial Services Marketing: An International Guide to Principles and Practice'

Written by two marketing professors from the UK's University of Nottingham, this comprehensive and practical guide balances theory and practice, just as its authors do. Before becoming an educator, Christine Ennew edited multiple marketing journals, while Nigel Waite spent more than 20 years in commercial practice. They focus on marketing for acquisition and retention and on approaching structure from an innovative point of view.

In the preface, the authors explain the importance of marketing correctly within the financial services industry. A lack of consumer interest because of the absence of pleasure received from consumption is another reason for aiming for exceptional strategy.

This hefty 400-page volume offers a great deal of insight from numerous international case studies and real-life examples representing US, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Readers will learn not only about B-to-B but also about B-to-C marketing strategies.

'Financial Services Marketing' informs about the latest innovations and developments in technology. It also advises on social responsibility issues and customer management and loyalty. Free of corporate speak, it's written in an accessible style of English.

Ennew and Waite donated five copies for Sherpa to give away. Toss your name into the hat here to try for one.
http://sherpa.bookoffer.sgizmo.com
(Ends 02/04/07)

+ Last week's book offer:
These five lucky marketers will get their own copies of 'Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking' by Andy Sernovitz:

Jay Allen, Cutter & Buck, Alpharetta, GA
Jennifer Anderson, Xerox, Wilsonville, OR
Doug Atkinson, The Sharper Image, Naperville, IL
Athena Chang, TheLadders.com, New York, NY
Alba Sort, Picis, Barcelona, Spain

P.S. Did a friend send you this? for your own copy - it's award-winning, useful, and complimentary.

P.P.S. Got questions, comments, or ideas for editorial?
Email Editorial Director Tad Clarke at TadC(at)marketingsherpa(dot)com
or call Customer Service at (877) 895-1717 -- thanks!