Improve Web Marketing ROI - Tip No 5 - Customer LifeTime Value

This blog is about increasing customer lifetime value but first some background.

Background - What is web marketing ROI?

It is natural for companies to want to get more sales and reduce their marketing costs, especially when times are tough. Is it possible to achieve both objectives? From my experience, it is. But, just doing 'advertising' & 'marketing' activities is no guarantee of success. Some companies waste thousands (and even millions) of pounds being busy fools. Others get great results for relatively low spends. Marketing ROI (Return On Investment) is all about getting more for less.

This is one of a series of web marketing tips designed to improve Web Marketing Return On Investment (ROI). The tips are based on over 20 years experience of helping small companies as well as some of Britain's best brands to transform their Marketing ROI 

The tips will cover areas like Pay Per Click advertising, email marketing, web metrics analysis, brand thought and KeyWords. This blog covers customer lifetime value.

What is customer lifetime value?

This is the calculated profit (or revenue) generated by a customer for as long as they continue to buy from that company. e.g. if your customer spends £1000 per transaction, 3 times a year over 3 years with a profit margin of 50%, then the customer lifetime value is £4,500.

If it cost £45 to acquire that customer originally, then their value to you was worth 100 times the acquisition cost which is a great return on your web marketing investment. 

How can customer lifetime value strategies cost effectively deliver more sales?

Customer lifetime value strategies are designed to increase sales by getting more customers:-

• to spend more (per transaction)
• more often
• for longer (retention)

Does it work? 

Yes. Having worked inside some of Britain's best brands, customer lifetime value strategies can significantly increase sales and more importantly value. It requires data analysis, insight and effective implementation of smart web marketing strategies. And the good news is that smaller companies can apply the same strategies to improve their sales too.

It is a crucial strategy if you want to achieve a great web marketing ROI.

How do you develop successful customer lifetime value strategies?

You need to commit time and some budget (but not a lot compared to the value delivered). For most smaller companies, time is a key issue. 

Many companies (big and small) find they don't have the time or expertise to do this themselves to a high enough standard and use a customer lifetime value specialist.

Customer lifetime value strategies play a crucial role if you want to significantly improve your marketing ROI.

Take a look at some of my other customer lifetime value blogs:-

• Can you grow your business without marketing to new clients?
• 95% customer retention a good result?
• When did you last talk to a customer?

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Improve Web Marketing ROI - Tip No 4 - Analysing Web Metrics

This blog is about analysing web metrics performance : how good the website is at converting prospects to valuable customers and growing customer lifetime value but first some background.

Background - What is web marketing ROI?

It is natural for companies to want to get more sales and reduce their marketing costs, especially when times are tough. Is it possible to achieve both objectives? From my experience, it is. But, just doing 'advertising' & 'marketing' activities is no guarantee of success. Some companies waste thousands (and even millions) of pounds being busy fools. Others get great results for relatively low spends. Marketing ROI (Return On Investment) is all about getting more for less.

This is one of a series of web marketing tips designed to improve Web Marketing Return On Investment (ROI). The tips are based on over 20 years experience of helping small companies as well as some of Britain's best brands to transform their Marketing ROI 

The tips will cover areas like Pay Per Click advertising, email marketing, customer lifetime value, brand thought and KeyWords. This blog covers why it is so crucial to analyse website performance.

What is web metrics analysis?

Web metrics analysis provides real insight on how good a website is at achieving its objectives. For most business websites this should be how well it delivers business. It can help answer questions such as:-

• which web marketing activities are best at attracting target prospects / valuable customers?
• how well does the website convert target prospects to genuine leads / valuable customers?
• which parts of the website perform best for specific segments?
• how 'sticky' is the website?
• are the website objectives being achieved?
• what could be improved?

How can web metrics analysis cost effectively deliver more sales?

Web metrics analysis enables companies to measure their performance against key objectives and to get valuable insight into what's working and what isn't. 

It's possible to get marketing ROI (Return on Investment) data and to make comparisons over time or across product categories, or across websites or alternative web marketing strategies. e.g. If you knew that for every £1 you spent on marketing activity x, your results were 25% better than marketing activity y, where would you invest your marketing budget?   

Does it work? 

Yes, yes, yes! I have been analysing marketing performance for nearly 20 years to identify what's working and what isn't. Without it, you are 'flying blind'. Although a newer discipline, web metrics analysis can quickly provide fantastic data and real insight.

It is a crucial tool if you want to achieve a great web marketing ROI.

How do you develop successful web metrics analysis?

You need to commit time and some budget (but not a lot compared to the value delivered). For most smaller companies, time is a key issue. Although a novice can gain useful data from a system like Google Analytics there are thousands of potential data views. It is hard for the novice to see the wood from the trees and I find that many give up after a short time.

Many companies (big and small) find they don't have the time or expertise to do this themselves to a high enough standard and use a web metrics specialist.

Web metrics analysis is a crucial tool if you want to convert prospects to valuable customers, grow customer lifetime value and significantly improve your marketing ROI.

Take a look at some of my other web metrics analysis blogs:-

• Can you afford not to analyse your website performance?
  
• Does your web marketing get the credit it deserves?
• Is more web traffic always a good thing?
  
• Is your web marketing joined up?

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Improve Web Marketing ROI - Tip No 3 - Email marketing

This blog is about developing powerful email marketing that converts prospects to valuable customers and grows customer lifetime value but first some background.

Background - What is web marketing ROI?

It is natural for companies to want to get more sales and reduce their marketing costs, especially when times are tough. Is it possible to achieve both objectives?From my experience, it is. But, just doing 'advertising' & 'marketing' activities is no guarantee of success. Some companies waste thousands (and even millions) of pounds being busy fools. Others get great results for relatively low spends. Marketing ROI (Return On Investment) is all about getting more for less.

This is one of a series of web marketing tips designed to improve Web Marketing Return On Investment (ROI). The tips are based on over 20 years experience of helping small companies as well as some of Britain's best brands to transform their Marketing ROI 

The tips will cover areas like the brand thought, Pay Per Click advertising, web metrics, customer lifetime value and KeyWords. This blog covers why it is so crucial to develop a powerful email marketing strategy.

What is email marketing?

Successful email marketing is about consistently delivering relevant and compelling content to target prospects / customer segments with the intention of achieving specific marketing objectives. I use email marketing in over 20 different marketing strategies. These include:-

• acquisition strategies such as prospect list opt-ins & prospect surveys
• conversion strategies such as seminar invitations & prospect nurturing
• growth strategies such as first order follow up & cross selling
• retention strategies such as customer satisfaction surveys
• win back strategies for lapsed customers

How can email marketing cost effectively deliver more sales?

For most companies, email marketing is the most cost effective way of communicating with prospects and customers. One of my Wiltshire email marketing clients recently reduced mail costs by 80%.

Importantly, it is possible to deliver highly tailored content which can:-        

• be personalised for each individual such as incorporating first name, town etc
• be dynamic i.e. different segments can receive different content based on specific criteria e.g. high value clients get message x and low value clients get message y 
• maintain a regular cost-effective regular dialogue with prospects / customers so you are top of mind when they are ready to make a purchase decision
• effectively communicate information about new products / services / price changes
• make seasonal offers / promotions to encourage purchase
• attract visits to your website with just one click
• collect valuable data and insight on prospects / customers

There are numerous email broadcast systems available. There are very low cost systems that do a great job like 1ShoppingCart  which I have used for many years. I also have a more advanced email system which I use for clients who require very high delivery performance, superior tracking and reporting and also want to create bespoke landing pages and surveys.

Does it work? 

If you have ever bought a product from Amazon or Apple you will undoubtedly have seen how they use email marketing as a major web marketing strategy. Five years ago, sophisticated email marketing was limited to a handful of big corporates with big budgets and extensive technical resources. This is no longer the case and it is brilliant that much of the email marketing that the big brands do can now also be carried out by smaller companies with more modest budgets. 

When done well, it delivers a great web marketing ROI.

How do you develop successful email marketing campaigns?

You need to commit time and some budget (but not a lot). Similar to PPC advertising, for most smaller companies, time is the biggest issue. It is possible to get campaigns delivered relatively quickly.

To get great results takes time and expertise to make sure:-

• prospect / customer data lists are maintained to a high standard
• the email (& system) is designed to achieve high delivery rates
• the email is designed to achieve high open rates and high click through rates
• the content is tailored to the various segments
• compliance with high standards of privacy and various regulations such as unsubscribes
• regular reviews of campaign performance and continual implementation of improvements to web marketing ROI are carried out

Many companies (big and small) find they don't have the time or expertise to do this themselves to a high enough standard and use a email marketing specialist.

Email marketing is a great way to convert prospects to valuable customers, grow customer lifetime value and significantly improve your marketing ROI.

Take a look at some of my other email marketing blogs:-

• James Villa email marketing
• Email marketing that delivers a high ROI - a case study
• Interflora email stands out

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Improve Web Marketing ROI - Tip No 1 - A Compelling Distinctive Brand Thought

This blog is about developing a powerful brand thought but first some background.

Background - What is web marketing ROI?

It is natural for companies to want to get more sales and reduce their marketing costs, especially when times are tough. Is it possible to achieve both objectives? From my experience, it is. But, just doing 'advertising' & 'marketing' activities is no guarantee of success. Some companies waste thousands (and even millions) of pounds being busy fools. Others get great results for relatively low spends. Marketing ROI (Return On Investment) is all about getting more for less.

This is the first of a series of web marketing tips designed to improve Web Marketing Return On Investment (ROI). The tips are based on over 20 years experience of helping small companies as well as some of Britain's best brands to transform their Marketing ROI 

The tips will cover areas like Pay Per Click advertising, email marketing, web metrics, customer lifetime value and KeyWords. This blog covers why it is so crucial to develop a compelling & distinctive brand thought.

What is a brand thought?

For me, a brand thought is a powerful message (a word or a few words) that you want to 'own' in your target consumers mind. It is not about developing a 5 page mission statement. It has to be short (ideally 3 to 5 words) to have any chance of success. Brand thought examples include Disney (Making people happy) & Apple (Think Different).

How can a great brand thought cost effectively deliver more sales?

If you don't have a powerful brand thought, how do you expect people to notice you & buy your product. There is a significantly higher chance of target prospects / customers noticing, understanding & believing a powerful brand thought which should increase their propensity to buy (& buy again). They don't care as much about your brand as you do & they are too busy to invest more than a few seconds in making a decision about whether they should buy from you or your many competitors.

It unites all company employees behind a common purpose of how they deliver value to their customers and makes it easier for every customer contact (face to face, telephone, email, leaflet, ad or web etc ) to be consistent and 'on brand'. To do this, all employees (not just 1 or 2 marketers) need to understand the brand thought, its importance and their role in delivering it.

It is crucial that every time a customer or prospect 'touches' your company that you effectively communicate your brand thought.

What are the key ingredients of a great brand thought?

Your target audience (n.b. not everyone) needs to find your brand thought:-

• clear 
• concise 
• credible 
• consistent 
• distinctive 
• compelling 

How do you develop a great brand thought?

You need to commit time and some budget (but not a lot) to go through a brand though development process. It's worth it because ultimately a great brand thought will always deliver a higher marketing ROI. Most companies lack the expertise to do this themselves. Even Britain's best brands buy in brand expertise. The techniques that I have used at Asda, Egg, RAC, work for companies big or small and I have run Brand Thought workshops for smaller companies (without internal marketing expertise) and seen great results. 

So before spending a penny on advertising and marketing activities ask yourself this question. Do we have a powerful brand thought?

Take a look at some of my other brand thought related blogs:-

• Does your web marketing consistently communicate your brand thought?
  
• Do you want your brand to appeal to everyone?
• Is your web marketing joined up?

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Improve Web Marketing ROI - Tip No 2 - Pay Per Click Advetising

This blog is about developing powerful pay per click advertising that attracts target prospects but first some background.

Background - What is web marketing ROI?

It is natural for companies to want to get more sales and reduce their marketing costs, especially when times are tough. Is it possible to achieve both objectives?From my experience, it is. But, just doing 'advertising' & 'marketing' activities is no guarantee of success. Some companies waste thousands (and even millions) of pounds being busy fools. Others get great results for relatively low spends. Marketing ROI (Return On Investment) is all about getting more for less.

This is one of a series of web marketing tips designed to improve Web Marketing Return On Investment (ROI). The tips are based on over 20 years experience of helping small companies as well as some of Britain's best brands to transform their Marketing ROI 

The tips will cover areas like the brand thought, email marketing, web metrics, customer lifetime value and KeyWords. This blog covers why it is so crucial to develop a powerful PPC adwords strategy.

What is Pay Per Click advertising?

Pay Per Click advertising (PPC) is when an advertiser bids for their ad to be shown when people search for content by typing specific keywords on a search engine like Google. In Google's case, these ads (displayed as sponsored ads) can be seen on the right hand side of the page and sometimes also at the top of the page.

How can PPC advertising cost effectively deliver more sales?

The UK has the most active online population in Europe. Consumers and business buyers are increasingly going to Google to do a search before they make a buying decision. There are over 100 million searches a day on Google UK.

Trying to find a customer who wants to buy your product today is like looking for a needle in a haystack. You don't have enough budget to reach every prospect every week with a message hoping that today is the day they buy. With PPC advertising:-        

• you only advertise to people currently interested in what you are selling  
• you only pay when they respond (i.e. click to your website)
• pricing is determined by a real-time auction in a perfect market
• you control how much you want to pay for a click; your daily budget; which keywords you are interested in; what time of day your ads are shown; which parts of the country / world they appear
• you get great performance analysis helping to improve web marketing ROI

Does it work? -  A small business Pay Per Click advertising case study

Recently one of my south west clients invested just £310 on Google media and won new business of over £140,000 which was a brilliant marketing ROI. Read Pay Per Click Advertising case study

How do you develop successful PPC advertising campaigns?

You need to commit time and some budget (but not a lot). For most smaller companies, time is the biggest issue. It is possible to get some ads running in minutes, but to get great results takes time and expertise. For example. I have been doing PPC advertising for over 5 years and generally I spend 1 -3 days setting up a campaign for a client. Depending on the media budget and the lifetime value of their customers. I would review campaign performance and implement improvements either daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly, as required.

Many companies (big and small) find they don't have the time or expertise to do this themselves to a high enough standard and use a Pay Per Click marketing specialist. Google Pay Per Click is a great way to attract target prospects to your website and significantly improve your marketing ROI.

Take a look at some of my other PPC advertising blogs:-

• Is it worth paying more to be number 1 on Google?
• PPC Marketing That Delivers A High Marketing ROI - a case study
• Why is UK internet marketing continuing to grow despite all other marketing budgets being cut?
• The UK has the most active web population in Europe

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Does your email subject line do the business?

Getting a good email subject line is one of the key factors that influences email open rates. No matter how good the content is, if it doesn't get opened (or previewed) it doesn't get read and will not result in extra business.

Most people get more emails than they want and understandably need to choose which emails they:-

• instantly delete and / or unsubscribe
  
• leave to read later (which often means never)
• read now

The 'from' address answers the question 'Is this email from someone I know and/or trust?' The subject line answers the question 'Will this email help me or interest me?'

If the recipient answers yes to both questions, there is a high probability that they will read the email sooner rather than later.

So it is important to develop a compelling subject line but be careful not to make it more compelling than the content that follows to avoid disappointment as in this example.

Today I received an email from a company with the subject line 'Your Data Order'. I hadn't made any data orders this week and didn't recognise the sender. On opening the email, the copy began 'Your data order is even more important when times are tough, you need lists that get results...' It was a prospect email from a company I didn't recognise.

I immediately felt that the subject line was deliberately misleading and was intended to imply that I had made a data order to get me to open the email. As soon as I realised this I trashed the email. 

It wasn't what I would consider a smart email marketing campaign.

Examples of good subject lines include:-

• Your Monthly Web Marketing Newsletter
• Peter. Frankly I am puzzled.
• The one-day Apple Shopping Event
• xyz Buyers Guide
• MotoGP News Of The Day
• The Insiders Guide to xyz
  

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.