Turning bloggers into buyers
If it’s done right, blogging can be an effective alternative to traditional marketing initiatives such as e-mail and search engine marketing, a panel of retailers told attendees during a session entitled “What happens when Etailers dive into Blogs, Podcasting and RSS” Tuesday at the Shop.org 2005 Annual Summit in Las Vegas.
Faced with the rising cost of paid word search and the fact that e-mail marketing is hampered by ongoing concerns over privacy and spamming, more retailers are looking for marketing alternatives that can still generate traffic and convert sales.
One such alternative is blogging. If the alternative marketing program is done correctly, creating and maintaining a blog will help create both new cross selling opportunities and attract shoppers. For instance, eHobbies.com introduced a blog on its e-commerce site in May that discusses various pop culture issues, updates readers and shoppers on new lines of merchandise and lets hobby enthusiasts sound off on hobby-related issues.
“Among other things you can see photos of our staff members racing radio-controlled cars,” says eHobbies CEO Seth Greenberg.
But eHobbies also sees its new blog, which is featured on the home page with its own distinctive tab, as a good way to build brand recognition and create sales leads. For instance, eHobbies often includes a redeemable online coupon on its blogging pages. When customers use the coupon, the sales conversion rate on certain items is nearly twice as much as eHobbies’ average daily conversion rate, Greeberg says.
Bloggers and customers also like getting the coupon. During the final two weeks in August, blogging-related sales, specifically customers who read the blog and downloaded the coupon, averaged about 5% of daily orders.
Today about 5% of all visitors to eHobbies.com take the time to read or participate in the blog, up from about 2.5% in May, Greenberg says.
“The blog helps get our message across for things like new product announcements,” Greenberg says. “It’s effective for our audience.”
Another online retailer using a blog to drive sales is online jeweler Ice.com. Since introducing its blog about six months ago, the blog has generated 346 sales, including about 70 transactions in the last 30 days, says Pinny Gniwisch, founder and executive vice president of marketing.
The Ice.com blog features “Just ask Leslie,” an ongoing column on jewelry tips and care, articles and photos on topics such as what celebrities are wearing as the latest jewelry styles and various promotions such as Ice.com’s current specials on discounted items. “For Ice.com, this blog is customer action on a new level,” Gniwisch says.
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