The 7 Deadly Sins of Web Marketing and

The 7 Deadly Sins of Web Marketing. . . and How to Avoid Them Shari L. S. Worthington, President Telesian Technology Inc. Marketing, Web, & e-Business Services for the Technology & Manufacturing Markets Author, e-Business in Manufacturing: Putting the Internet to Work in the Industrial Enterprise

To Reach 50 Million People. . . n n n Radio took 34 years Television took 13 years Internet took 4 years n 2005: Google indexed 8 billion pages of information n So why can’t you just run some PPCs…? © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Sin #1: A Dead-End Web Site n People rely on web for product and service information (nielsen/netratings) n n 83% of businesspeople start online US broadband reaches 72% at home 136 million adults researched medical info 2006 Corporate web site must be focal point of marketing program © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

The Data Speaks for Itself n Driven by content and interaction n Compelling & differentiated Updated frequently Engage site visitors n n Actively pull prospects along buying cycle Integrate marketing, sales, customer service © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

© 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Move Beyond “Me-Me-Me” n Speak to customer needs and desires n n n Develop rich content n n “Cosmetics at a discount” OR “You could buy a new wardrobe with the money you’ll save on our cosmetics” How to articles, top 10 lists, podcasts Provide interaction n Webinars, discussion lists, blogs © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Sin #2 Ignoring the Search Engines n n n Online search hit 5. 7 billion in January 2006 (nielsen/netratings) Businesspeople & consumers rely on search engines Natural search is very different from pay per click advertising © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Pay Per Click Ads Natural Search Rankings © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian.

Search Share Rankings, January 2007 Search Engine Searches (000) Share Google 3, 862, 374 53. 7% Yahoo! 1, 629, 995 22. 7% MSN 642, 694 8. 9% AOL 388, 966 5. 4% Ask. com 132, 800 1. 8% My Web 65, 819 0. 9% Dogpile. com 41, 991 0. 6% Source: Nielsen/Net. Ratings © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Use of Search Engines n 64% of businesspeople start research for new products & services on a search engine n Budget items of $50, 000 and more n n Smaller purchases of $500 -$1000 n Source: Google 53. 7% of purchasers start 3 -6 months out 77. 4% of purchasers start 1 week – 1 month out © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Search Engine Marketing: Challenges n n Weak web site Confusion and deception n n n Search engine marketing SEO: Search engine optimization PPC: Pay per click advertising Paid inclusion Sponsored links Sponsored ads Illegal tactics: “spamdexing” © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Search Engines: Who’s Who? MSN YAHOO! Overture Inktomi LOOKSMART ASK JEEVES Alta. Vista FAST

Natural Search vs PPC Ads n Natural search listings are chosen more often than sponsored listings n n Bid position counts n n Source: Google 70% choose natural search listing prior to a paid advertisement, but depends on search engine For natural search, 59. 7% of respondents chose one of the top 3 links For paid search, 51% of respondents chose the top link. © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Search Engine Marketing: Best Practices n n Create a solid system architecture that’s user & search engine friendly Fill with relevant content Start with SEO: optimize site code and avoid illegal tactics Add Pay Per Click ad program to get rankings fast © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Avoid Illegal SEO Tactics: BMW Blacklisted © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Sin #3 Not Targeting Your PPC Dollars n n n Pay for performance, aka “pay per click, ” is target marketing at its best Not the place to push for volume Target the message n n “Buy Gift Cards” OR “Motivate Employees with Gift Cards” © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Sin #4 Wasting Your PPC Efforts n The price is right n n Direct mail: $1 -3 per impression PPC advertising: $0 per impression, $1 -3 per click Combined SEO & PPC: 6 x response Buy your way into the right search engine partnerships n n Overture & MSN Google & partner network © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

B 2 B Search: Impact of Rank on Clicks Source: Millward Brown for Google

Impact of Text Ad Elements Source: Millward Brown for Google © 2007 Telesian Technology

Web Marketing Power Tips n Landing pages matter – a lot n n n Know your objectives, then write copy Provide alternative actions: learn more, register, buy Make pages skimmable, scannable Cross-sell Test different screen resolutions, browsers Provide interaction options: phone, chat © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Target: large company Source: Marketing. Sherpa 2005 © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian.

Target: mid-size company Source: Marketing. Sherpa 2005 © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian.

Target: small company Source: Marketing. Sherpa 2005 © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian.

Sin #5 E-mail Caught in Spam Filters & Firewalls n Spammers have created a huge problem for legitimate e-mail marketers n n n E-marketing’s enemy #1: Spammers E-marketing’s enemy #2: IT IT’s best friends n n Firewall filters Anti-spam software © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

e-Mail Marketing: Challenges n “If it walks and talks like spam, it must be spam” n n n Minimize graphics Avoid attachments Know thy spam Don’t overdo the HTML Consider text-only & track click-throughs © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

e-Mail Marketing: Best Practices n n Only use highly targeted, opt-in lists Nurture in-house lists with e-newsletter Push to microsites for customized content Be educational & compelling © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

e-Newsletters Performance Metrics n n n Average open rate: 30% Average click rate: 3 -6% E-mail/direct mail combination can lift rates by 3 -10% Source: Marketing. Sherpa 2005 © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Sin #6 Forgetting Lead Generation Basics n n n Mail lists and message count for most of direct marketing success Don’t let creative get in the way of the message Determine campaign goal up-front: quantity vs quality © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Quantity vs Quality: Likelihood of “Leads” n Low n n n Company PR & events Banner ads, static web Medium-Low n n n Brand & product ads in print E-mail to purchased lists Industry trade shows © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Quantity vs Quality: Likelihood of “Leads” n Medium-High n n Product ads on search engines New product PR Highly targeted direct mail High n n E-mail to in-house permission list Telemarketing © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Test Your Offers n Low: No offer (PR, brand ads) n n Medium-Low: Soft offer (related to USP) n n n Low risk/high perceived value “Free flow calculator” Medium-High: Lead development offer n n “For more info” Free white paper (info of value) High: Hard/closing offer n Presentation, demo, audit © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Sin #7 Forgetting the Back End n n Capture qualified inquiries Nurture in-house database of contacts Integrate online & offline promotions Use technology to empower sales channel © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Assortment of Reply Vehicles n Web site forms n n n Request more information Sign-up for e-newsletter or RSS feed Register for event Download podcast E-mail promotions E-newsletter offers © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Sell to No Lead Before Its Time n n Stop annoying the sales team Sort inquiries by buying stage n n 10 -20% just curious or unqualified 30 -40% early buying process 20 -30% actively engaged in evaluation and will buy soon 10 -20% close to buying decision and should be handed off to sales NOW © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Drip Marketing n n Lead conversion process must nurture inquiry and match needs with appropriate information Direct marketing strategy that involves sending out a number of promotional pieces over a period of time to a subset of sales leads n n Avoids sell-produce curve Grow best prospects with one-to-one messaging © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Drip Marketing Vehicles n Consistently send something every month to customers and prospects n n Postcards Newsletters, e-newsletters Customized letters & brochures Case histories © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Integrating Online & Offline n Fundamentals remain the same n n Segment the market based on product, service, channel Customize the message to address specific segment needs Measure and test…measure and test… Use technology to empower sales n n Coordinate in-depth attacks “Push-button” sales tools © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Source: Marketing. Sherpa 2005 © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

What Works in e-Marketing? Digital Marketing Tactic Great Moderate Poor Email to in-house lists 50% 41% 8% Paid search engine ads 49% 40% 12% SEO 25% 60% 15% Ads in enews 10% 52% 37% Ads on web sites 12% 49% 39% Text-link ads 30% 44% 26% Email to rented lists 7% 40% 53% Source: Marketing. Sherpa 2005 © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Moving Beyond the “ 7 Deadly Sins of Web Marketing” 1. Create an active, engaging web site that is the focal point of your marketing programs 2. Embrace the search engines: SEO, PPC 3. Target your PPC $$ on the right prospects © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Moving Beyond the “ 7 Deadly Sins of Web Marketing” 4. Capture contact information with landing pages, attractive offers, and forms 5. Understand e-mail technology to avoid spam filters and firewalls 6. Remember lead generation basics 7. Integrate the back-end © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com

Shari L. S. Worthington, President Telesian Technology Inc. Marketing, Web, & e-Business Services for the Technology & Manufacturing Markets sharilee@telesian. com http: //www. telesian. com Author, “e-Business in Manufacturing: Putting the Internet to Work in the Industrial Enterprise, ” ISA Press © 2007 Telesian Technology Inc. www. telesian. com