Money.net Increases Repeat Visits by 118% with @hoc Toolbar

CHALLENGE
Founded Oct '99, content aggregator Money.net claims over 200,000 registered users. Acquiring new visitors is expensive, especially when competing in a crowded market. Therefore, once Money.net acquired visitors, the site wanted to get as many of them to return as possible, as frequently as possible.

CAMPAIGN
In May 2000, Money.net signed an agreement with @hoc, an ASP providing a customizable branded toolbar for Money.net's users to download.

Users like the toolbar because it features field with blinking cursor where they can enter a stock’s ticker symbol without the need to visit a personal finance or financial media website. The toolbar remains visible to users as they click around the Money.net site – and even once they leave.

Aside from hopefully encouraging repeat visitors, Money.net's marketers also like the toolbar because it also collects retention-oriented market research, data profiling, and support services. Money.net owns all information gathered from users as they register and use the toolbar.

RESULTS
Money.net experienced a spike of 118% in repeat visits to its site since the full implementation of the @hoc toolbar in August 2000.

NOTES: Financial services is @hoc’s most concentrated area of clients, which also include Raging Bull, Multex Investor, CBS MarketWatch, and SelectBourse. Offering user-customized toolbars has become a hot market; Yahoo! Companion is another toolbar offering similar features and functionality, available since spring 1999.

Headquartered in New York City, Money.net is itself an ASP provider. In addition to its news and information portal, Money.net licenses its streaming, real-time quote product as an ASP to other sites.