Your,Online,Business,Making,Be marketing Is Your Online Business Making Best Use of its Consumer Info
Automation technologies represent a fundamental aspect of any modern industry. The major types of industrial automation solutions, such as DCS, PLC, SCADA, and MES, are used on a large-scale in process and discrete industries.DCS technologie Awhile ago, I got an email from one of the "gurus" I follow and it shocked me. The gist of it was this person wanted to trade services for a household item.To say it floored me would be an understatement.What was worse was a few days later t
As of this writing, I've spent almost four years online, andin that time I've filled out hundreds of online forms atcountless business and consumer websites. Maybe it was toregister for access to the site, to make a purchase, or justto get some really cool "free stuff."Each time the online form asked for a lot of personalinformation, and on more often than not, my birth date wasrequested.Having a keen eye for a marketing opportunity when I seeone, I'd also assume that websites asking for informationfrom me and about me plan to *use* some of the informationfor their own purposes, whatever those may be.So I was really surprised that, of all the online retailersI have told about myself, ONLY TWO sent me a birthday wishand only one of those two thought enough to include aspecial offer this past 24th of August. Yes, only ONE!Sad isn't it?It's not surprising to me that DOTCOM companies aredisappearing faster than flies at a frog convention.Most will spend many times the amount of dollars inadvertising for each dollar they net in sales in 2000, andthen they will sit there with red ink all over their hardcopy accounting notes and wonder why they are strugglingfinancially.Heres some advice- a clue, for the clueless who are runningtheir E-net businesses like garage sales. Instead ofspending a cool million on that next banner ad campaign,hoping to squeeze a 1% or 2% click-thru ratio out of it,they should consider a simple friendly business strategythat nobody else on the net seems to be using.First, we'll assume you have asked visitors to your site tofill out a order or some other personal data form. You canthen filter the customer database to find "matching birthdates" and send a personalized birthday greeting and"special" money-saving offer out to each person who iscelebrating a birthday on that day.Wow! What a concept! And just what would it involve? A fewhours of database work to start the process, then a few morehours drafting an appropriate birthday card/greeting andoffer and then --if your processes are automated --just afew minutes each day of the year to send a cordial, personalbirthday greeting out to your astonished customers/sitevisitors.Your offer is far more likely to be noticed and acted onthan one in the mob of impersonal "sales letters" and othercookie-cutter marketing messages we all suffer through.This is not new marketing in the brick and mortar worldfolks. For years each of my kids has been receiving anannual "Free Birthday Meal" coupons from both Burger Kingand McDonald's, a week or two before their birthdays. Dothey know something E-tailers don t, about buildingconsumer appreciation at an early age?Why do online retailers seem to ignore this simple buteffective marketing practice? It is most likely one of tworeasons.1. They're too blinded by the online "mainstream"advertising methods that make no one but advertisingagencies rich. They'd rather spend their advertising moneyon banners, ezines, and other costly ways of acquiring newcustomers instead of treating the customers the *do* have ina special way.2. They just haven't figured out that they can use theirexisting database of customers to fuel their next marketingcampaign and make those customers feel special at the sametime.No, we're not talking two-tier chocolate cakes with candles,followed by a magic show. Just a simple tactic that couldreap untold benefits to the online sites that use existingcustomer/visitor information wisely.
Your,Online,Business,Making,Be