 |
for Insider Secrets |
 WebProWorld Marketing Forum |
For The Record, Will Microsoft Own Email?
Even with the recent announced closure of the working group focused on developing an IETF sponsored open standard for sender authentication, Microsoft continues to forge ahead with its plans.
How Effective Are Ebay Stores For Small Businesses?
Some people who are eager to enter the online store industry have considered using an eBay store to hawk their wares. For a quick refresher, eBay stores allow sellers to feature their entire inventory, while giving members a limited opportunity to feature their store brand.
PR versus advertising
I've been researching how to increase traffic and get exposure that's affordable. What I've found so far is a good press release distributed properly is a very effective way to get exposure and traffic relatively cheap. ...
|
| Recent Articles |
The First Ten Seconds Are A Make Or Break
Why do people write long copy? It is not because their readers read it all! People write long stories for the same reason that restaurants that serve big portions get customers lining up at their doors. They are creating the illusion that their meal is cost effective. A long story suggests that there is a lot to say.
German Court Rejects Google Lawsuit
A court in Hamburg, Germany has thrown out a lawsuit against Google concerning trademark infringement. A German company brought the suit against the search engine because they felt Google was selling ads that featured their trademark.
Market Research Means Money
Looking for the right product to sell online? Learn a few simple ways to find what will work, what won't, and who you are up against. I recently made a critical mistake in my progression towards business success: I forgot about market research. I had decided that I was going to make some money with an online store. I thought to myself, where should I start? What can I sell?
SBA to Assist Hurricane Ivan Victims
Following the announcement of a Presidential disaster declaration as a result of Hurricane Ivan, SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto issued the following statement:
Eliminating Objections to Increase Sales
You want to increase the flow of sales revenue, but you are stymied by prospects' seemingly endless objections. Prospects say they're not interested. They tell you your price is too high, or this isn't the right time. You've heard all the objections. What can you do to get rid of these once and for all?
Simple Postcards Generate Low-Cost Prospect Leads
The postcard is a highly effective business tool you can use to generate prospect leads for a very low cost. Even the smallest business on a tight advertising budget can afford to implement a successful postcard mailing campaign.
What is Guerilla PR Anyway?
If you're going to apply the principles of Guerrilla P.R. to the age of the Internet, you have to know something about Guerrilla P.R. itself. in case you have not worn out a copy of Guerrilla P.R. or have forgotten some of the finer points since that book was published in 1993, let's take a fresh look at the concept. After all, the world has changed.
How to Get the Right Clients and Avoid the Wrong Ones
If you are like most service professionals and small business owners one of your primary concerns is generating as many leads as possible. And that may be your biggest mistake, resulting in wasting time on unqualified prospects and working with too many clients you wish you didn't have to.
Ten Ways To Improve Your Customer Service
1. Stay in contact with customers on a regular basis. Offer them a free e-zine subscription. Ask customers if they want to be updated by e-mail when you make changes to your Web site. After every sale, follow-up with the customer to see if they are satisfied with their purchase.
|
| |
| 09.23.04
How To Track Online Marketing ROI Using Cost-per-Action
 By Rick Crosby
As the online advertising market is poised to grow nearly $10 billion over the next six years, it's essential that we remember the importance of measuring the effectiveness of that spending.
There's no point undertaking any marketing or advertising campaign unless you can measure its results. And results are best measured in terms of return on investment (ROI).
Unfortunately, in the world of marketing and advertising, many businesses seem to be losing touch with their general objectives. The tools may have changed, but the principles remain the same - Your advertising campaigns are only successful if they meet the objectives you set out to achieve. So if you're after increased sales, you need to measure the cost of each sale generated to determine your return on investment.
Fortunately for advertisers, tracking ROI for online advertising is much easier than it is for traditional forms of advertising, such as TV, Radio, Newspaper, Magazine, and Billboard. When you market online, every advertising campaign can be tracked and measured all the way down to the penny. This is why more and more advertising dollars are being spent online every day.
 Why Not Cost-Per-Click or Cost-Per-Impression?
When it comes to tracking campaign effectiveness, many businesses rely on Cost-per-Click (CPC) and Cost-per-Impression (CPM) statistics. But what many people forget is that for most businesses, clicks and impressions don't earn you money. So by tracking clicks and impressions, you're not really tracking return on investment. The same is true of page stats.
If you're like most businesses, impressions, clicks, and page views are simply a means to an end. (In fact, without corresponding sales conversions, they're nothing more than unjustifiable expenses.) If you only earn revenue from sales, you need statistics linking costs and sales. In other words, you need to measure cost-per-action (CPA).
Cost-Per-Action (CPA)
In a CPA campaign, you run an online ad on third party sites and they charge a commission when a lead is generated or converted. It's performance-based pricing. This means the publisher wears most of the advertising risk, as their commissions are dependent on good conversion rates.
Perhaps the most widespread use of CPA is affiliate marketing. With affiliate marketing, you determine what actions you will reward and how much you're willing to pay per action. For example, you might engage an affiliate site to promote your business. If they generate sales for your business, you can pay them a commission. Your cost-per-action would then be the cost per sale or lead generated.
| Free Setup plus up to $500 off! on business dedicated hosting with the latest IBM xSeries eServers! >> Try Now |
|
Tips on Conversion
The following conversion tips will help you plan your CPA campaign and avoid some common pitfalls.
1) How are sales and leads recorded?
For many businesses, the obvious result which constitutes a conversion is a sale. If your sale is recorded or registered online (e.g. e-commerce), it can be considered a measurable action. This means you can choose a sale as the desired action in your CPA campaign.
Depending on the aim of your campaign, you may want to measure other outcomes in addition to, or instead of, sales. For instance, you might measure leads in the form of membership registrations, newsletter subscriptions, software downloads, or just about any other activity beyond simple page browsing. So when your customer clicks register, or subscribe, or download, etc., the conversion is automatically registered and the details are fed back you're your CPA campaign.
In either case, at any time, you can log in and view your campaign results in real time.
 2) Set up a landing page to capture lead contact details
If you're paying for leads, you obviously need to know when a lead is actually generated. Generally a lead becomes a lead only when the customer supplies you with their details (name, contact numbers, email, etc.). This means you need to set up a landing page on your site capture these details. Your capture page can be collect contact information or it can be as simple as a signup for a monthly newsletter.
3) Get your CPA provider to set up your landing page
If you don't have the time, inclination, or resources to set up the necessary forms and database on your own site, the CPA provider can do it on their hosted server. They collect the leads and calculate the statistics. For many businesses, this is the ideal option because it saves them time and money, and there are no tracking discrepancies.
Read the Rest of the Article
About the Author:
Rick Crosby is CEO of a full-service internet marketing
and online advertising agency, MarketingWebTraffic.com.
Visit http://www.marketingwebtraffic.com for further details
or contact Rick directly at 727-490-5739 or email rick@marketingwebtraffic.com. |
