Sunday, January 25, 2009

A Thought on Twitter, The New Blog

Twitter may be the new frontier, but after it's been leveled, tilled, and farmed, you still have to sort the wheat from the shaff.

Nevertheless, I am there, sowing some seeds: http://twitter.com/tracydiziere

(Oops, the link on my comment didn't work; for a good intro to twitter, check out david pogue's article from the NYT: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/twittering-tips-for-beginners/)

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Measuring Your Online Marketing Efforts

Web analytics, we all know, are key to measuring the success of online marketing efforts. And there certainly is plenty to look at! Metrics can be overwhelming, so many small business marketers or micro-business owners turn to outside help. I read a very astute recommendation for those looking to hire a web analytics person from Larry Chase's Web Digest for Marketers. It's a comment from Eric Peterson, founder and CEO of Web Analytics Demystified, Inc.; he says:

"The essential thing is that you need someone who is analytically minded and curious, who will define and follow a process and will keep digging for answers, even beyond the first set of numbers," he said.

Thanks, Larry, for the informative e-mail newsletters (I love getting them!) and for the timely and pertinent interview with Eric T. Peterson.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Price Comparison Power to the People

If you're a retail operation selling barcoded goods, there's a new tool in town that can make or break a sale. It's a phone application that allows consumers to get more information about a product by scanning its barcode on-site--and shows if it's available cheaper elsewhere. (See NPR's coverage for more information.)

For those who buy purely on price--and those who aim to be the low-cost leader--this is a match made in heaven, er, airwaves. For the rest of the retailers out there, your 2009 marketing strategy should clearly address a response for the value-based buyers--those who are not as concerned with finding the best price. What does your store offer that means something to consumers and would be worth paying more for? What can you do to increase value? To be competitive, this is the kind of thinking you'll need to do . . . unless you want to offer price-matching (risky) or are structured such that you can afford (and want!) to compete on price alone.