Brian Blackman

A/B Testing: The difference one line can make

Brian — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:40:10 +0000

by Ros Hodgekiss

Many reasonable folks out there spend a lot of time and frustration in the search for the ‘perfect’ call-to-action. The good news is that with A/B testing, you can chose two suitable one-liners, then let the crowd decide which is their favorite!

If you’re curious about the difference one line can make when it comes to the responsiveness of your emails, here’s a quick example. We launched a survey amongst a group of active customers, to help us prioritize improvements to our app this year. As we were keen to receive as many responses as possible, we ran an A/B test using two versions of our survey email. Each email contained a different text-link to the survey, so we determined the winner based on which link received the most clicks. Read more…

Fedex uses YouTube and Hulu to go after small business

Brian — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:52:47 +0000

NEW YORK (Reuters) – FedEx is famous for memorable television commercials, but like many big companies, it is following customers as they navigate from the television to the computer and in turn, shipping much of its marketing to the Web. One of the package delivery giant’s biggest Web campaigns, running on YouTube and Hulu, is a series of three-minute parodies called “1-2-3 Succeed!” starring comedian Fred Willard.

Read More…

Email Marketing Lessons from 2009 and How to Apply Them in 2010

Brian — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:58:54 +0000

Here are some interesting statistics about email marketing. The analysis is compiled from over 30 billion emails sent by Epsilon in 2009, across multiple industries and hundreds of clients. Read more…

Small businesses go social to stay engaged with customers.

Brian — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:16:14 +0000

Small businesses are beginning to see how social media can help them stay connected to their customers. Last year social media adoption grew from 12% to 24%. Connie Steele, who is a director at Network Solutions (as you probably know a provider of online solutions for small businesses) said that “Social media can be the best friend for small business owners who constantly seek new ways to attract new customers and retain the ones they have at a relatively low cost.” Read more…

Does an online initiative translate to offline sales?

Brian — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:42:53 +0000

by Jennifer Van Grove

Last year Dunkin’ Donuts’ “Create Dunkin’s Next Donut” generated more than 130,000 donut submissions and 174,000 votes. But does that translate into offline sales?

David Tryder, manager of interactive and relationship marketing, said that last year’s contest, “met expectations on the business side,” and the company, “saw a healthy response in donut sales during the promotion period.”

What Street Vendors Can Teach Businesses About Twitter

Brian — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:06:22 +0000

Ok, I’ll be the first to admit that I have been hesitant to jump on the social media bandwagon. That being said, it has been an eye opening experience to see how so many companies are using it to grow their business. This post was written by Ann Handley, the Editor in Chief of MarketingProfs. It is a great example for someone who doesn’t understand how social media can fit into your marketing plan. Read more… What Street Vendors Can Teach Businesses About Twitter

Joomla! Content Management Site

Brian — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:15:24 +0000

This Joomla! Content Management Site was designed to help the client manage the large amounts of information that they have archived for potential clients. They also needed the ability to change out information and post events quickly themselves. The clean simple design makes it easy for potential clients to find information on all of the properties. The flash header adds some visual interest and also adds another way for clients to quickly get to the properties.

Website Update

Brian — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:13:29 +0000

This was a complete re-design of an out of date website. The old site was a functional static site, but it was in need of a facelift that would bring the site up to date with the newer web 2.0 look and feel. We also decided to add some shopping cart functionality to make ordering and product selection easier. The re-design gave it a modern feel and increased the ease of use dramatically. This has resulted in less ordering problems and a renewed sense of credibility with their current customers.

Website Update

Brian — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:04:39 +0000

Getting customers to upgrade

Brian — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:00:14 +0000

This concept was formed to help customers understand how the features of the new phones Verizon was offering, actually effected their daily lives. The offer was to upgrade to a new smart phone that can help make life easier. It tells a story of a couple going on vacation for a 4-day weekend and the many different situations they encounter. The phones helped them find gas stations, get directions, find restaurants and even provided music for the couple to fall asleep to. It really showed how well all the Verizon services can effect everything you do on any given day. A branded website was also part of the promotion and encouraged customers to offer up their upgrade story and how it has effected their lives. Prizes for the best stories ranged from free service for a year to accessories and the grand prize of a new Blackberry® Storm. This campaign resulted in a 14% increase in upgrades over the previous upgrade mailers.