Small Ads More Effective than ‘Framing’ Ads

clipped from www.marketingcharts.com Smaller online ads may be more effective than their larger counterparts, a new study by Dynamic Logic found.The study shows that ad shape and placement may be more important than size. Half banners, at 234 x 60, and 180 x 150 rectangles were shown to be more effective than ads that frame the page, like high-profile leaderboards and skyscrapers. It is possible that users no longer see such framing ads because they have developed “banner blindness.” In addition, smaller ads may be more effective because they tend to be better incorporated into the content of Web pages. However, that does not mean that larger ads don’t work, Dynamic Logic’s svp of custom solutions Ken Mallon says. He points out that the research was based on 2,390 online display campaigns that took place over the past three years - before the Online Publisher’s Association standardized three new oversized ad formats in March. Mallon says he believes the new OPA formats are likely to do “very well,” writes ClickZ.

Tuesday Tops for Facebook Brand-Page Clicks

clipped from www.marketingcharts.com Content posted on Facebook-based brand pages has an average click-through rate (CTR) of 9.89% on Tuesday, the highest for any day of the week, according to data from social media services vendor Vitrue. Tuesday is followed closely by Wednesday, which has a CTR rate of 9.87%. Not surprisingly, Friday and Saturday have the lowest click-through rates, with 2.67% and 2.70% respectively. Brand pages, which are similar to human profiles but are organized around companies, typically aggregate news about the brand in question. Users can become “fans” of brands for which they feel an affinity, and receive updates from them on their news feeds. CTRs Higher than Display Taking all days of the week into account, click-throughs for Facebook brand pages average about 6.76%. This average is lower than Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but still much higher than average CTRs for display advertising across social networks in general, including Facebook itself, according to Vitrue.

Negotiation techniques for a Downturn

Source: eGrabber Newsletters

Among the skills most sought after in a seller is the ability to negotiate. Here are 3 things you should know as you prepare to negotiate:

• Know what you want exactly
• Decide on the lowest price you are willing to accept from the prospect
• Know when to walk away
  

It is also prudent to determine the above 3 things for the other side (prospect) too. Given the nature of the economy, many sales people make the mistake of rushing in with offers and discounts without determining what the prospect is willing to pay. They then negotiate on the discounted price. You must resist the urge to do so.

Remember, your negotiation should always focus on solving the problem and closing the gap between what both parties (you and your prospect) want.

Formulate Unique Discount Offers for your Customers

Source: eGrabber Newsletters

Recently, visitors to a small business website were offered a "6-year price rollback". The store on the company's website displayed rates that were in effect in the year 2003, for its products. Is your business offering unique discounts for the customers?

Today, consumers are receiving scores of messages with special offers, discounts, coupons, etc. Retailers are going all out to draw in budget-conscious consumers in these economically challenging times. How do you make your offer stand out from the rest? What do you do to grab a prospect's attention? See what other business owners and retailers are doing different to attract consumers and adapt these techniques to suit your business. If done properly, your offer can pull in lots of inquiries.

Use Specific Customer Testimonials

Source: eGrabber Newsletter

A generic testimonial like "Your product was great" will never be as impressive as "Your email marketing templates helped me increase my email ad response rates by 40% and thereby, the sales of my company by 20% in 1 week."

Generic testimonials do not grab attention, appear insincere and might actually have a negative impact, whereas the opposite can serve as powerful persuaders and help you gain credibility.

Remember, the next time you ask your customers for a quote, request them for something that is NOT vague or cliché. Also, ask for permission to display their name, title and company along with the quote.

CRM Gets Sociable - Brandweek.com

clipped from www.brandweek.com Social networks are key venues for companies to manage relationships with their customers. Twitter has emerged as a primary destination for customer comments and complaints. Consumers have quickly realized that Twitter has the potential to give them a larger voice than a blog or company-feedback Web page can. Between June 2008 and June 2009, the number of people who used Twitter grew 1,928 percent to nearly 21 million unique visitors, according to Nielsen. Not surprisingly, Twitter had the top growth rate among social sites in its peer group, followed by Facebook, up 198 percent to 87 million-plus, and Tagged, up 166 percent to more than 7.6 million. LinkedIn grew 19 percent, while MySpace and Blogger each rose 6 percent. Among the top 10 sites, three showed declines: Yahoo Groups fell 15 percent, TypePad declined 10 percent, and WordPress dipped 2 percent.

Capture Email Contacts using AddressGrabber

Copy pasting every contact details to address book could be time-consuming. If you are looking to automate copy-pasting then use AddressGrabber to save your time.

AddressGrabber for Outlook is an Outlook add-in that helps you capture contacts in your emails.


AddressGrabber captures contact details from incoming emails, instantly transfers them into your address book with a mouse click!

The contact details such as First Name, Last Name, Phone, Email, Address, etc is automatically added to your outlook address book.

AddressGrabber also checks for duplicate contacts before creating a contact in the addressbook.

Price: $69.95/user

For a free trial, Click capture email contacts

To purchase the product online, Click Buy AddressGrabber