1to1 - Spring 2009 - (Page 42) hot topics DATABASE/ANALYTICS | SALES | CUSTOMER SERVICE | MARKETING programs,” he says. “One of the things we’re going to find in the next few years is the ability to measure across the different channels and see the overall effectiveness of marketing activities.” In his report, only 45 percent of best-in-class companies currently coordinate search engine marketing with other marketing efforts. Lawrence also emphasizes that predictive analytics will grow in importance as part of a search engine strategy. “A lot of times companies are waiting until there’s an issue or waiting until the data comes in before making decisions,” he says. “Predictive analytics is great for behavioral targeting: what types of customers are we going after and what sorts of things are they looking for, not just now, but moving forward.” Mobile Sales Channel Picks Up M Forget your wallet? No problem. Mobile phones become the next payment platform. For most retailers, having an ecommerce presence is a no-brainer. And although many analysts predicted that by 2009 mobile commerce would be just as common, for the majority of businesses mcommerce is more a dream than reality. A survey conducted last year by Cisco Systems found that only 15 percent of Internet retailers allowed customers to make purchases via a mobile device, and more than half of those were based outside the United States. With a few exceptions (Amazon and QVC make their product lines available to consumers via mobile devices), the U.S. mcommerce market is virtually nonexistent. Consumers can browse websites on their smartphones and request information via text message, but in most cases actually making a purchase requires going to the Web or making a call. The systems for securing and processing transactions on mobile SALES “It’s important for a company to align its search strategy with other data sources.” One company, BeautyShoppe.biz, launched its e-commerce site in October and is just starting on the search engine strategy path working with Visible Technologies. While its primary goal is to build awareness and drive traffic, Betty Gregorich, manager of marketing services, says the company wants to understand how people are searching. “Our goal is to analyze search activity, and connect that back to email, direct mail, and phone calls.” Andrew Frank, a research vice president at Gartner, says that the art and science of search engine strategies are becoming more advanced, but most companies are not looking at the data from a truly strategic level yet. “The action taken is still in the realm of direct response, and not yet part of a larger relationship marketing strategy,” he says. And the nature of search engine’s aggregate data also poses limitations. Companies can look at patterns, but privacy and technical issues keep them from understanding customer activity on an individual level. Frank advises that companies look at data resulting from social media activities to get a deeper understanding of individual customers. It’s there that individual customers will identify themselves and their behavior, which can be tracked back to other customer data sources. > Elizabeth Glagowski ¥£ $ ¢ sites are experimental and haven’t yet widely penetrated the U.S. market. Although mobile transactions haven’t become mainstream, using the mobile channel as a sales support touchpoint is gaining traction. Many sites employ a simple “send to mobile” option that allows customers to forward product or company information to their phone. This is an upgrade over previous technology that sent a text message when customers requested information; today, everything from video to flash animations to detailed text can be instantly transmitted. For Rent Media Solutions (www.forrent.com) recently added a send-to-mobile option to its site of 50,000 apartment listings. Customers who find a listing they want to save can have it sent to their (or a friend’s) mobile device or email address. Through the mobile listing, they can browse pictures, watch video, and use the click-to-call feature to directly International Markets Are Sold on M-commerce Mobile e-commerce hasn’t taken off in the U.S. yet, but purchasing via mobile device is commonplace in some regions and growing rapidly in others. Africa Like mobile in general, m-commerce is growing Philippines In late 2007 African telecom Zain began offering its customers the ability to transfer money via their mobile phones. For the company’s 50 million subscribers, it meant they could move money across borders to friends, family, or other personal accounts. The move followed months of negotiations with the African banking industry and the individual countries involved to regulate the new technology. Payment via phone takes off Philippines coffee company Figaro recently launched a mobile payment system with help from mobile payment technology from i.Can. Customers can place an order via their phone and pay through a mobile application that connects directly to their bank (after they’ve downloaded it and set up a secure PIN). Similar technology is being developed for RFID purchases in other countries. 42 1to1 magazine www.1to1media.com http://www.forrent.com/?origref=&alias=http%3A//www.forrent.com/&origref=&alias=http%3A//www.forrent.com/%3Forigref%3D%26alias%3Dhttp%253A//www.forrent.com/ http://www.BeautyShoppe.biz http://www.1to1media.com/view.aspx?itemid=29293 http://www.1to1media.com
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