Electronic Retailer - June 2012 - 39

GUEST VIEWPOINT

BY PETER KOEPPEL

Integrating TV and Online Media Key Amid Changing Consumer Behavior

Direct response television (DRTV) in the form of infomercials and one to two-minute spots remains a powerful medium for generating leads and sales that manifest themselves across multiple channels, including inbound telemarketing, brick-and-mortar retail and, increasingly, on the internet. In fact, so many consumers are choosing to engage with marketers online that, when you combine the totality of direct leads and sales derived from telemarketing and online e-commerce that are driven by DRTV, the latter is representing between 30 percent and 100 percent of the total pie. With typical As Seen On TV products of the $19.95 variety, that percentage can be upwards of 80 or more. Some marketers have determined that this trend is so dominant that they are shutting down their telemarketing altogether and driving consumers to the web on an exclusive basis. There are a handful of primary reasons why consumers prefer the online path, including: • The ability to shop offers and prices among competing retailers. • The ease and convenience of filling out a form for information, in the case of a lead model, or ordering a product. • The power to educate one’s self and to check out the reputation of a company, brand, product and product claims. • The ability to shop alternatives/the competition. These are behaviors that have escalated e-commerce’s prevalence from a single digit to the dominant means by which our consumers now engage with us in the mere span of a decade. It is therefore essential that direct marketers make sure that they are integrating both their TV and online media to ensure that they are captivating the attention of their consumer and doing everything they can to capture the lead or close the sale.

Point-to-Point
If consumers begin engaging with your campaign in one place, and then finish their decision-making process online with increasing frequency, then there are two particular challenges that need to be addressed with your media planning and buying: 1) Your advertising must follow them, and 2) you need to be able to track effectiveness so that you can optimize your efforts. Clearly then, it is essential that both your online search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns be dialed in. The trick is to not overpay for placement, while at the same time, you do not want to get left in the dust. When a prospect searches for your service or product name or category, it is vital that your link appears on the first page and as close to the top of that first page as possible. While you can buy an ad placement that appears at the top of the first search page or to the right of the top listings, the key is to not pay a premium that doesn’t make sense. Most sophisticated agencies have dynamic software with the ability to monitor these costs and determine the optimal position relative to its price. Such software can forecast likely response based upon historical data and

Despite all of the complexity of offline and online media and related consumer behaviors, there has never been a time where it has been easier to engage with consumers on a direct basis.

June 2012 | electronicRETAILER

Electronic Retailer - June 2012

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