Direct advertising sales can be the greatest source of revenue for a website. Instead of relying on Adsense or other advertising network where you are paid per click, it generally makes sense to seek out advertisers based on the target audience for your website. You can usually sell advertising at a monthly rate, which will yield much more than Adsense ever could, as you can set the price higher than your monthly Adsense revenue.

Having a great domain name is very important to your ad sales, especially for up and coming websites, as it adds instant credibility for first time visitors. Additionally, advertisers in that niche can usually determine the target audience based on the domain name, and are happy to sponsor a website that covers their industry. Because of the vast difference between Adwords and Adsense bids and pay per click rates Read More »

Direct marketing is the art of presenting a consumer with a an offer that is compelling enough to elicit a trackable response. Creating a compelling offer continues to pose challenges in many marketing channels such as direct mail and telemarketing channels, but it is becoming easier for online marketing, with the help of behavioral targeting. By tracking consumer web surfing habits, marketers are able to use that data to offer consumers what they expect them to want, which can enhance their online experience and generate revenue for marketers.

Behavioral targeting is utilized to maximize the effect of “intuitive marketing,” giving consumers what they want the moment they probably want it. This helps websites stay ahead of the curve by enhancing the consumer web surfing experience. Online marketers know that if they make the consumer a compelling offer at the time they are most susceptible to processing the offer, it is more likely that they will react positively to the offer.

Applications such as Google’s Gmail and Adsense don’t necessarily need to rely on behavioral targeting, as their programs can detect content and provide related advertising links. Websites that might not have this type of keyword tags can be most positively impacted by behavioral targeting. According to an article appearing in CNN, “Behavioral targeting brings capabilities to sites without good or reliable keywords — for example, a social-networking profile that touches on dozens of hobbies and interests at once.”

Online marketing firm eMarketer believes that $1 Billion will be spent on behavioral marketing in 2008, and by 2011, the spending will increase to around $3.8 Billion, up from $220 Million in 2005. This shows the amount of faith marketers have in behavioral targeting, and it appears that its working. As technology continues to develop, I expect there will be new ways to detect what a consumer is looking to find, enabling direct marketers to successfully turn intuition into ROI.

I just saw a neat advertisement from the National Football League targeting Latino football fans celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. The advertisement is in Spanish with English subtitles, and it directs viewers to NFLatino.com. Knowing that some people may accidentally navigate to NFLLatino.com, the NFL owns the typo of their domain name, and it forwards to the correct website. Its’ a small thing like this that ensures there is no leakage in direct navigation traffic.

Email can be one of the most (cost) effective ways to reach your prospects or customers. Over the past few years, I’ve learned a few things about email marketing that I’d like to share. Of course there are many other email marketing strategies and tips, but I believe these are some of the most important. Feel free to add to this list in the comment section.

Important Things to Do in your Email:

1.) Identify Yourself - With email-based fraud and scams at an all-time high, it is essential that you identify who you are to give comfort to your target prospects. Use the subject line and the email headers to say exactly who you are. Include a link to your website, and allow your prospect to follow that link and read the email on your website. Once the customer sees that the email is actually from you and your company, they will have more comfort.

2.) Use a Strong Call to Action - I’ve found that if a person doesn’t respond to an email within a couple days after sending it, they won’t respond at all (unless they happen to be on vacation). Within a couple of days or even hours, your email will move to the bottom of your prospect’s inbox, and eventually it will move out of sight. Once that happens, the chance of getting a response is slim.

3.) Make your Offer in the Subject - Since it’s very easy to delete an email or send it to the spam folder, let the customer know the purpose of the email in your subject. If you are trying to buy a domain name, perhaps your subject should be “Offer for XXXXXXX.com.” The owner is more apt to open your email if the subject is of interest. One caution is that spam filters are very strong these days, and a subject that appears to be spam may be automatically filtered. If you are selling cheap erection pills, email may not be the way to go!

4.) Provide a way to Opt Out - While you might not want to lose the ability to send future emails to prospects, it would be even worse to send an email to an annoyed customer. It’s also against the law to not include an opt-out option in commercial emails. Do yourself a favor and make this opt-out option easy to use for your prospects.

5.) Let the Prospect know how you Found his Email Address - People tend to be suspicious of random emails. If you found the email address using a Whois search, let the prospect know this. If you have an existing business relationship, you should remind the prospect of when you did business if possible, or at the very least, give information about your company in the email as a reminder.

6.) Keep your Email Short - Keep your email concise and succinct. Provide links to your website that will allow the prospect to fully examine what you are offering.

7.) Offer a Text Version of Email - Allow your prospects to read your email in HTML or text to make it as easy as possible for them. Some people prefer to read text based emails rather than emails with graphics in them. This is especially important because of the proliferation of Blackberries and Treos. It’s a pain to read a graphic based email on some mobile devices.

8.) Include Prospect’s Name in Email - Most banks and other financial institutions already include the prospect’s name in the email, but you should, too if possible. This will immediately let the prospect know that there is some sort of relationship, whether it’s between your company and the prospect or a related company and the prospect. (Only do this if you are sure the names and email addresses are correctly matched!)

9.) Read the CAN-SPAM Act Before Emailing - This is the most important suggestion. If you want to avoid any potential penalties, you MUST read the US Government’s CAN-SPAM Act. Violators of this Act can be fined up to $11,000 PER SPAM EMAIL!!

Important Things to Avoid in your Email:

1.) Don’t Send too many Emails - Even though email is free for all intents and purposes, don’t send more emails than necessary. While you may find your emails informative, your customers may find too many emails to be a nuisance. Also, every time you email your prospects, you give them the opportunity to opt out, which they will do if you annoy them. Avoid this by only sending important emails.

2.) Don’t Send Emails with Poor Grammar or Spelling Errors - When I receive an email riddled with spelling mistakes and/or poor grammar, I immediately think that it’s a spam message from a foreign country. Always use spell checker software, and if you can afford it, have a professional proofreader examine it. If you can’t afford the proofreader, have a friend or colleague review your email before sending it out.

3.) Don’t Email People who Opt Out - Never send an email to a prospect that previously opted out of receiving your email solicitations. Keep a file of email addresses that have opted out, and always purge those emails from your new prospect list to avoid re-emailing that prospect.

Here are some good resources on Email Marketing:
Dos and Don’ts of E-Mail Marketing
E-Mail Sender Lines: Do’s and Don’ts
Email Marketing Tips, Tricks and Secrets
Avoiding the Spam Filters and Other Email Marketing Tips

When selling domain names, I believe most people either rely on end users contacting them or rely on selling to other domain investors. I think there is a market for a domain brokerage that is paid to contact potential buyers of domain names on behalf of domain owners.

The brokerage would collect stats and information about a domain name and present it to potential buyers. This is similar to my post in July, but instead of running an auction, the company would set a BIN price for a particular name or group of names that would be of interest to a company.

Currently, I believe most domain brokers work the opposite way. They receive information about a domain name and blast an email out to a random group of domain buyers. If a more personalized email was sent, the potential buyer could be enticed to make a purchase. It’s the heart of direct marketing (where I have my Master’s Degree), and it would be a great win/win/win for all parties.