'Net Features : online marketing

Passing Go with Optimized Landing Pages for Gamers

Administrator — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:30:00 GMT

:: Maximilian Beer, Senior Online Marketing Manager at TrafficCaptain ::

Spurred by the increasing popularity of online games, the computer and video games market has in recent years seen rapid growth and today constitutes an important element in performance marketing. All major performance networks have added online games to their portfolios.

More and more gamers are drawn to online games, using their browsers as a quick and convenient way to play against hundreds of thousands of real adversaries without having to install anything. Apart from online games, there is a plethora of forums, blogs and communities where gamers can communicate and connect in various ways. This traffic is monetized by advertising and affiliate networks targeting specific groups of users. Around the world, the profitable online games market is highly contested. Observing cost-per-click (CPC) development over a five-year period shows that advertisers today have to pay prices that are several times higher than they were in 2008.

The great number of new start-ups in the games sector increases competition even further. As players have become more discriminating, sophisticated graphics and an interactive gaming experience are absolutely essential. If a game is not on the cutting edge in these areas, the initial media hype is inevitably followed by declining conversion rates (users on site in relation to registrations effected) and at the same time, the acquisition costs for new users rise.

The increase in development and advertising expenses makes an optimized landing page an integral component of the marketing strategy: Because the landing page is the point of first contact a new player has with the game, every click that does not result in conversion makes an offer less attractive in the competitive global environment and thus costs companies real money.

Therefore, the most important factors for a successful gaming landing page are presented here:

1. A landing page should always have a clear message and target orientation

The objective is to prompt the user to sign up for the game. This should be the central and immediately recognizable message. Anything that distracts from it should be avoided and relegated to the background. Typical examples are forum registration links, or generally, links leading away from the page.

2. Request only the most relevant information

Unless absolutely necessary, detailed queries regarding interests, age, password and repeated entry thereof (this can be requested at the user’s first game log-in) or the like should be avoided. Unnecessary inquiries increase the risk of the registration being aborted, and at the same time, the validity of additional answer boxes can be called into question given that many users will enter fictitious responses simply to speed up the process.

3. Design for Efficiency

An uncluttered, straightforward design is often the most efficient: Users are not distracted, but led to registration swiftly and effectively. Background graphics are perfectly fine, yet should not contain complex animations which would divert the user’s attention away from the actual registration process.

Examples of well-designed landing pages:

Bumrise.com

Starforcedelta.com

Golden Age

4. Key messages & prompts

Clear, understandable messages asking the player to take action. In our case, the objective generally is registration or purchase of a game. “Sign up for free now” or “Free registration” are examples of a clear statement inviting the user to become active. Overly lengthy explanations, introductions or product descriptions lower the conversion rate measurably. The average user looks at a page for two to five seconds before deciding to subscribe to the service or not.

5. Improve existing landing pages

A landing page is never perfect and should be constantly optimized. This calls for bold new ideas and a conscious strategy to address different target audiences. This route has the advantage of increasing the chances of providing an offer that caters to the individual player’s taste.

6. Think about user flow

The objective of an easy, valid registration often stands in stark contrast to low conversion rates. Single sign-on services such as those offered by Google or Facebook may present a way out of this dilemma. These do not require a full new user registration on a landing page but instead link the user’s existing Google or Facebook account with the game. The advantages are: swift and simple registration and high-quality user e-mail addresses.

7. Consider rebates and special items

Already a standard element of e-commerce, promotion campaigns in online games still hold much untapped potential. The clear advantages here are higher conversion rates and the incentive for users to spend money on the game. Special offers which give the player exclusive benefits are an effective tool. An example is the Games.de campaign which served to attract new players to Starforce Delta (https://www.starforcedelta.com/), granting them in-game currency (Crystals) worth 15 EUR simply for signing up.

8. Test & analyze

Landing page tests should be conducted continuously and are never final. Mathematical models such as significance testing should be used to obtain reliable data. As a general rule it should be noted that a minimum number of 500 conversions is required to begin drawing any meaningful conclusions. Professional tools, e.g. Google’s Webmaster Tools (including HeatMap), can be helpful in taking the right decisions.

Ensuring further growth for online games will increasingly require game publishers to position themselves optimally against the rising tide of competitors. It is the author’s firm view that concepts from the more traditional fields of online marketing will find their way into the marketing strategies for online games.

The overwhelming success enjoyed by online games has caused many companies to overlook the need for landing page testing. This entails more than just changing themes and background designs. Rather, reorganizing input fields and password lengths, and integrating new registration options such as Google/Facebook single sign-on, should be considered in order to raise the conversion rate and ultimately, further increase the efficiency of marketing campaigns. The coming years will show which business models are most likely to succeed and which companies are able to achieve the transition from game developer to global marketing firm.

About TrafficCaptain GmbH

TrafficCaptain GmbH was established as a ‘Games Performance Network’ by iVentureCapital. iVentureCapital contributes its unmatched expertise in generating qualified traffic for online and mobile content to this online advertising network. TrafficCaptain offers performance-based campaigns for mobile, social, MMO, strategy and online games optimized for high eCPMs. TrafficCaptain campaigns are international, with a focus on Europe (Germany, France, Spain, Poland, etc.) and North America (USA and Canada). In addition, TrafficCaptain provides consulting services for media planning and the implementation of Google AdWords campaigns. TrafficCaptain’s Genre-Oriented AdManager targets specific user groups in different countries and automatically optimizes campaigns to achieve high conversion rates and maximum payout for publishers. Advertisers and publishers will find detailed information about TrafficCaptain on www.trafficcaptain.com.

Increase ROI & Go Global With Online PR

Administrator — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:18:00 GMT

(This article was provided by PR Fire; the specialist free PR distribution website.)

Online marketing is a necessity for any business. Regardless of the industry or size of company, a mix of marketing techniques - SEO, PPC, social media - is required to boost overall online presence and to improve sales. Online public relations should also be one of the fundamental tools in any marketing campaign; it's one of the most powerful, effective and cost-efficient tools available.
Despite social media's exponential growth, a March 2012 survey by Text 100 revealed that press releases are still favored by journalists; and are the preferred communication method for relaying news information. Online PR is an essential marketing practice to promote product announcements, service notices and business news. But just how can you benefit from it? We outline the top-three advantages below.

Unrestricted Return On Investment

Traditional PR services are typically paid on a per-lead-basis, so if you pay for an advertisement in a local newspaper, you will only be active for as long as you pay for the fee. However, online PR is continuous and generally unrestricted, so the promotional content will be available and visible online for years to come. You simply pay a one-off charge. The ROI is unlimited, as you can generate a number of future leads. It is a long-term investment and is unparalleled in comparison to other marketing effort.

Globalization

The Web is a vast platform. You have the opportunity for success on a global scale. In contrast to traditional services, which are targeted in local geographical regions. While it would cost a fortune to air an international TV advertisement, or attempt to achieve nationwide coverage in newspaper ads, online press release distribution can establish a global presence. People from all over the world can read the information you are sharing.

Track Progress

In any business it is key to measure progress to better the company and achieve success. One of the most appealing aspects of online pr is that you can track the progress through applications, which offer detailed analysis. For example, through Web analytics you can see how many visitors view every page of the site, which websites they have been referred from and at what percentage they performed a desirable action.

Living la Vida Local: Affiliate Marketing for Local Businesses

Michael Garrity — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:30:00 GMT

“Local” is one of the most popular buzzwords on the Web these days and it's easy to get swept up in all of the excitement, especially when you hear some of the numbers.

For instance, Google Places reports that nearly 97 percent of all consumers search for local businesses online, and BIA/Kelsey concludes that the same percentage uses online media to shop locally. And according to TMP Directional Marketing and comScore, about 83 percent of those using local search sites will take some type of offline action.

What these figures mean is that despite the global reach of the Web, many consumers are still using the Internet to efficiently shop locally, a desire that can hamper the productivity of online affiliate marketers.

The natural course of action, then, would be for affiliate marketers to pair up with local businesses to drive relevant local consumers to these offline businesses. But in a world where you make money getting users to do something as simple as clicking a link (or just viewing an ad), driving customers to actual brick-and-mortar locations could prove difficult. Because of this, one upside to trying your hand at local affiliate marketing is that commissions are generally higher.

As an affiliate, you have three tasks to concern yourself with to successfully market local businesses:

Find Good Partners
Because local affiliate marketing isn’t as cut-and-dried as traditional online marketing, it’s important to find a partnership that will be mutually beneficial to both parties. Initially, this means seeking partners in industries that have track records of success in local online marketing, which usually means products or services not available online for which users will likely be searching. These can include automotive repair, legal services, real estate, on-site event specialists (DJs, florists, caterers, etc.), health care professionals, hair and nail salons or spas, educational institutions, home services (heating/air conditioning repair, landscaping, etc.), tattoo artists and more.

Many affiliates also advise that you work with businesses that you trust and are comfortable working with, which could mean businesses that you personally patronize.

Money Matters
As a local affiliate marketer you have a few different options for how you can get paid, and part of selecting a good partner is determining which method is right for both of you.

One way to drive traffic to these local businesses is by having customers call a phone number that they see on your ads. If you go with this option, you can set up either a direct line or special code for receptionists to get from callers that lets the business know that these potential patrons were referred to the business by your site. You can simply determine the per-call-rate that the business will pay you based on how much they feel each caller is worth to them.

Or, you can try collecting user data yourself, via a sign-up form or something else, and then forwarding this information to the business and charging on a per-lead basis. Of course, this means that you also have to create a special landing page to go along with your website that advertises the business and directs users to their information.

Another less-popular option is to just charge a flat fee to cover your expenses, or just establishing an agreement that says all new business ensures you some kind of referral fee.

Tracking Referrals
The beauty of online affiliate marketing is that everything can be tracked, which makes the act of getting paid pretty simple. When you’re relying on person-to-person interactions, though, it’s not always as easy. Human error or even the simplest misunderstanding could keep you from getting paid for your lead, and it’s (partially) your responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen.

One way to do this is by establishing a special offer with your partner so that every referral you send can get some sort of discount, which lets the business know in their records that the customer came from you. This helps establish a traceable trail of data (not to mention, being an incentive that helps drive customers in the first place), and that provides you with some sort of security.

Setting up a separate telephone line or collecting lead information yourself are two other ways to ensure that almost every customer you drive is counted. Both of these are clear-cut methods to prove that you referred the customers, and the latter lets you have your own records of exactly how many visitors you signed up.

Once you work out the initial terms and conditions and determine how you want to conduct your campaign, advertising online for local businesses can be a lucrative and rewarding endeavor. And as most affiliates don’t dare dabble in local businesses, you’ll have little competition as you get started.

Promote Your Shows on Facebook with ReverbNation

Michael Garrity — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Many artists and music industry professionals turn to ReverbNation for marketing, promotion and social media tools, so they should be pleased to hear about the company’s newest beta launch of a solution to help music venues drive better attendance and ticket sales.

PROMOTE IT for Shows is a new product that fits into ReverbNation's established PROMOTE IT line of Facebook music promotion tools.

The system is based on the idea of helping venues (of all sizes) reach the right local people, and then encouraging those users to respond and invite friends to join them. It will also “learn” what works for venues based on previous campaign performances.

The new tool will focus on moving beyond traditional advertising techniques to create new relationships between venues and local music fans by encouraging users to “Like” venue pages and sign up for email lists. Venues will even be able to offer free tickets to early responders, if they want.

Prominent venues already using PROMOTE IT for Shows include LA’s Roxy Theatre and New York's The Knitting Factory and Brooklyn Bowl.

Cloud-Based Marketing Suite Comes into Vocus

Michael Garrity — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Cloud-based marketing and PR software provider Vocus dropped Vocus Marketing today, a software suite for both businesses and marketers that was built to allow users to expand their businesses by combining various elements of public relations, social media and online marketing.

Among the new features of the software are a recommendation engine that provides easy-to-follow suggestions that make it possible for anyone to attract customers via search engines, generate buzz and visibility through media, engage with customers on Twitter or build a customized Facebook page, all within minutes.

Vocus Marketing will work to monitor Twitter, Facebook and other destinations on the social Web to help users attract customers through social media. The company promises that it will help "users stand out on Facebook, increase their fans, generate interest with offers and products, and turn fans into customers." It also helps by monitoring results and lets users check their success and track their increases in fans, followers and webpage visitors.

In addition, the software will alert users when a writer needs a source similar to them for a news story, so that they can create publicity and buzz and allow users to create easy news releases for the Web to put in front of customers and potential customers on search engines.

"The Internet now offers incredible opportunities for businesses to reach and influence buyers through social networks, online and through the media," says Vocus CEO Rick Rudman. "Our new software suite breaks down the final barriers to achieving business growth using online marketing -- lack of time and lack of expertise."

Rudman continued, "Our recommendation engine makes the full potential of online marketing available to millions of business owners and time-pressed marketers, all of whom can achieve huge results in just a few minutes a day."

Partnership Launches IP Audience Zone Targeting

Michael Garrity — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:15:00 GMT

Every year, the online retail industry sees considerable growth during the holiday shopping season over the previous year, making Digital Element's new parnership with Semcasting to launch a new privacy-sensitive online marketing tool great for e-tailers.

The goal of this new tool is to target potential consumers in their "digital neighborhoods," the most important places to reach online shoppers.

Digital Element is a leading provider of geolocation and IP Intelligence technology. Their pairing with Semcasting will provide its IP-to-ZIP code targeting technology with Semcasting's IP Audience Zone Targeting solution, a technology that automatically scores and categorizes online traffic into user demographic segments, allowing for secure and full qualified audience coverge.

This melding of technologies will go beyond the estimated 35 percent of consumers targeted by cookies.

"Instead of relying on an increasingly limited base of cookied users, IP Audience Zone Targeting allows retailers to personalize the website experience using an advanced, privacy-sensitive, and demographically appropriate targeting process," says Semcasting CEO Ray Kingman, "Our solution classifies - in real time - anonymous web visitors in order to automatically provide personalized content and targeted promotions specific to digital neighborhoods across America, based on user type and demographic profiles."

IP Audience Zone will be able to identify a Web user's location down to their ZIP code by using a multi-step analytical process that incorporates Digital Element's NetAcuity Edge technology. After that, they will segment the ZIP codes by audience type and assign the demographics associated with them as sub-ZIP code micro areas for precise digital targeting.

Semcasting's IP Audience Zone gets its data from the premiere directing marketing database containing information on over 227 million individuals and more than 126 million households. They then map that to the U.S. Internet using IP addresses.

With retail e-commerce expected to grow by approximately 13.7 percent in 2011, for sales in excess of $188 billion, this solution can help retailers enhance reach and frequency, while enriching the analytics of digital campaigns through the targeting of website visitors based on the demographic and psychographic data used in other advertising mediums.

80 Percent Use Twitter for Business

MaureenA — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:00:00 GMT

The Kamaron Research Institute released a new survey that highlights the real reason people use Twitter: for business not social reasons. For some time now, many online marketers have been pushing the use of Twitter for business. Website Magazine even published an article called “Conversation Marketing with Twitter” in the July issue that highlights the benefits for businesses that use Twitter. And now, there is statistical data that proves Twitter can be a viable business tool.

According to the survey, more than eight in 10 people tweet for business. Even the younger generation is using it for business instead of social. If 80 percent of people are using Twitter to increase brand awareness and their bottom line, those businesses that have yet to enter the Twitterverse are missing out on competition, and possible revenue.

Granted, the survey was only done with a group of 280 Twitter users on two days (July 30 – 31, 2009), but it might represent what the bigger pool of users is doing on the social networking site.

Do you use Twitter for business or social? Comment below.

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SiteCore Marketing Suite Coming Soon

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:49:00 GMT

Mark your calendars - an impressive online marketing suite looks like it will be released by web content management systems provider SiteCore around June 30th.

The Online Marketing Suite is an add-on to the already robust Sitecore CMS, providing Web marketers with an ability to monitor visitor behavior, deliver personalized experiences, perform usability testing and manage online campaigns. The two key features of the platform are integrated analytics and a rule builder.

SiteCore's Visitor Experience Analytics provides a foundation for personalization and visitor profiling. As reporting is accessible directly from within SiteCore, users are able to set up visitor profiles, register campaigns, specify goals and act against events.

The rule builder is what allows non-technical users of SiteCore to setup profiling, personalization and perform A/B and multivariate testing on the site. The builder in many respects mimics the Outlook message rule builder.

Online or Offline Marketing: Having It Your Way

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:15:00 GMT

According to a study released recently by Bredin Business Information (BBI), major marketers targeting small and medium businesses are relying less on traditional marketing tactics, but that's one of the top ways SMBs like to receive product and service information.

BBI conducted two surveys, asking 50 leading marketers about their outreach and research efforts for 2009 and 741 SMBs about their online and offline media preferences, top business concerns and brand ratings.

“Marketers are clearly reacting to the difficult economy by using offline tactics much more selectively. They are also moving online aggressively, to reach SMBs efficiently and learn how to get the most from new media opportunities,” said BBI CEO Stu Richards. “However, our survey of SMBs indicates that business owners are not nearly as enthusiastic about many online formats for business purposes – such as social networking – as marketers are.”

Results from the survey of 50 leading SMB marketers include:

- Overall, marketers are more focused on winning new customers than keeping current ones: 48% said they are balancing their acquisition and retention efforts this year, while 32% are concentrating more on acquisition and only 20% are focusing more on retention.

- Marketers said their biggest challenges in 2009 are funding new projects (24%), growing business with limited resources (15%) and increasing awareness (15%).

- Marketers continue to shift their efforts to the Internet. Offline tactics received an average rating of 2.6 on a scale of 1 (significantly decrease versus 2008) to 5 (significantly increase) while online marketing will increase, with an average rating of 3.5. The online tactics that will grow the most are social networking (3.7), resource centers (3.7) and search marketing (3.6).

- Marketers will spend less on market research in 2009 than 2008, with an overall average score of 2.5. Online surveys (3.5) and online focus groups (3.3) are the only research formats marketers plan to use more in 2009 than in 2008.

Results from the survey of 741 SMBs include:

- As offline sources of information about products and services, SMBs rely most on newspaper and magazine articles (43.6%) and direct mail, including letters, postcards and catalogs (43.5%). Phone calls (27.4%) and radio/TV ads (32%) are least popular.

- Online, referrals from friends and peers are the most popular source of information on products and services (71.9%), followed by search engine marketing (57.0%), educational websites (44.5%) and email newsletters (38.2%). The least popular online formats are ads on cell phones/PDAs (8.1%), videos/podcasts (19.2%) and forums/chat rooms (20.2%). SMBs rated social networking at 27.8%.

- Among the social networks, SMBs rate Facebook highest (19.7%), followed by LinkedIn (15.6%), MeetUp (11.3%) and Twitter (11.2%).

- SMBs' top business challenges include finding new customers (76.5%), managing costs (71.2%) and retaining current customers (51.7%). Ranked lowest are avoiding layoffs (2.9%) and keeping employees productive (3.3%).

- The most important purchase criteria in this economy are high value (61.3%), low price (52.4%) and reliability (35.3%). Least important are buying from a leading brand (1.9%) and having a personal relationship with a vendor (6.0%).

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Welcome Emails: How Do You Compare?

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:51:00 GMT

Email marketing and creative services agency Smith-Harmon announced last week the Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study, which investigated email trends and best practices among the nation's top online retailers.

“The welcome email is probably the single greatest opportunity that email marketers have to engage subscribers and drive action,” says Lisa Harmon, co-founder and principal at Smith-Harmon. “Welcome messages generate superior open rates and, done well, create a halo effect that boosts subscribers’ engagement with subsequent promotional and trigger emails.”

Given the golden opportunity that welcome emails present marketers, it’s unfortunate that so many still let the moment pass—or bungle the interaction with uninspired messaging. After examining the welcome email practices of 112 of the largest online retailers, Smith-Harmon found that only 76% of them sent out welcome emails. While that’s up from 72% in 2007 and 66% in 2006, it’s disheartening that more companies aren’t seizing this key marketing moment.

- Text-only welcome emails are becoming increasingly antiquated. More than 89% of retailers sent HTML welcome emails, up from 78% in 2007 and 69% in 2006.
- The role that welcome emails can play in ensuring future deliverability of emails is growing. More than 68% of retailers used welcome emails to ask new subscribers to add the sender to their address book, up from about 62% in 2007 and 49% in 2006.
- The number of top online retailers making their emails CAN-SPAM compliant rose significantly. Nearly 71% included both an unsubscribe link and their mailing address, up from 58% in 2007 and 52% in 2006.
- While 15% of welcome emails include a forward-to-a-friend link, none of those studied included a share-with-your-network (SWYN) link. We expect many marketers to adopt SWYN this year, including adding it to their welcome emails.

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