In 2011 we achieved significant success on this campaign and a decision was taken in March 2012 to ensure that we were well prepared ahead of the race on 14th April. The team analysed the performance from April 2011 to ascertain what had worked especially well and most importantly, when it had worked. The focus for this year was to achieve a 100% increase in sales delivered the year previous, whilst spreading the risk where possible. Last year, 74% of all volume delivered by Aspect Web Media originated from the day of the race.

During the weeks prior to the Grand National we spoke with many publishers and data owners with a view to acquiring access to a large number of email records at a cost effective CPM. This was essential considering that any revenue generated by Aspect would be via a CPA and so would pose a risk. We selected a mix of data partners to offer exposure via CPA, CPM and CPO coupled with regular email broadcasts to our internal data base, starting on the Thursday and gradually building to the morning of the race when most of the sales would be expected. Knowing that hitting an inbox on Saturday would already give a high probability of success, we chose publishers who could also offer a route to prospective customers on the Thursday and Friday to help spread the risk and increase overall sales volume.Over Thursday and Friday we executed a number of email broadcasts, applying the logic that the end of week wind down plus likelihood of office sweepstakes would generate interest in the campaign.  This approach, along with the beginning of our in house promotion and CPM buys increased the return for Friday compared to what was seen in the previous year (26% vs 25%), yielding more than 900 sales – over 60% of the total volume delivered last year.

On the day of the race itself, all publishers were advised to apply maximum effort and combined with a successful in house campaign a further 1900 sales were delivered taking the total over three days to over 2800.  On average there were just over 3 sales per minute from our top performers between 8am and the beginning of the race; with the busiest period between 1pm-1:30pm (9% of all volume) and half of all sales generated coming between 11am and 1:30pm at a rate of almost 4.5 per minute. In 2012 not only did we reduce the emphasis on volume from Saturday (down from 74% to 68%) but total volume for the three day period was just short of double what was seen before – an increase of 99.3% on 2011.

]]> http://www.aspectwebmedia.com/blog/programmes/planning-prevents-poor-performance/feed/ 0 http://www.aspectwebmedia.com/blog/industry-events/aspect-web-media-sponsors-performance-marketing-awards/ http://www.aspectwebmedia.com/blog/industry-events/aspect-web-media-sponsors-performance-marketing-awards/#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:40:50 +0000 admin http://www.aspectwebmedia.com/?p=349 It is with great pleasure that we can announce our involvement in the forthcoming Performance Marketing Awards.

Aspect Web Media are the official sponsor of the “Best Lead Generation Campaign” and “Best Use of Email” categories at the annual event, taking place on 15th May at the Grosvenor Hotel in London.

Speaking earlier this week, Managing Director Jonathan Erwin explained the decision to become more closely involved with the awards.

“Aspect Web Media has been on the cutting edge of direct response marketing for 3 years now and I felt it was time to let everyone know about it. For us the Performance Marketing Awards is a great opportunity to network with top industry talent as well as strengthen existing relationships. We chose to sponsor the Best Lead Generation Campaign and Best Use of Email because it is important for us to raise awareness about how effective lead generation and email marketing are in creating lasting value for advertisers.”

Shortlisted for the Best Lead Generation Campaign are:

• 7thingsmedia for Secret Sales
• Arena Media for RED Instructor Training
• iProspect for Acuvue
• Mindshare for Mazda
• Valueclick Media for Canderel

The shortlist for the Best Use of Email category are:

• Aimia for Nectar
• Azam Marketing
• Freemax Media & iProspect for Aunt Bessies
• Freemax Media for Broadband Genie
• SaleCycle
• Vouchercodes.co.uk for The Body Shop

Please join us in wishing all nominees for the awards the very best of luck.

For the latest Aspect Web Media news, why not follow us on Twitter or “like” our brand new Facebook page.

Despite the dramatic growth in internet marketing, many companies still use outdated tools for validating information in their databases. They still use the traditional tools like PAF validation  to check postal addresses or rely on fuzzy logic and simple algorithms to check the accuracy of email addresses and phone numbers. Unsurprisingly these tools can leave you with false positive rates of up to 11% as well as other inaccuracies and omissions.

For example, we recently used our new Pure List email database screening service to clean a file containing 1.2 million active consumer email addresses. We discovered 157,373 potential threats, 24,570 known complainers and 2,602 bounces. The list was consequently reduced by 15% and this contributed to a reduction in potential deliverability issues with major ISPs such as Hotmail or Yahoo.

Clearly it’s important for companies to be confident that their databases contain a high proportion of valid email addresses. The reasons why are numerous but principally include reduced strain on IT resources such as storage and bandwidth consumption as well as costs savings from not delivering to duplicate, invalid or dangerous email addresses. Many marketing managers we speak to agree good email data hygiene makes the difference to avoiding damage to their ISP reputation and thus email delivery.

A new breed of sophisticated tools keep you safe

Traditional data hygiene tools are simply too limited in their capacity to clean data properly and have not kept pace with the growth and sophistication of the internet marketing industry. There is now a new generation of tools which not only do more they enable you to, for example, distinguish between hard and soft bounces. This means you can tell whether an email address really exists or if it is returning an automated response such as an ‘out of office’ message meaning it is still valid.

Importantly these new tools also remove threats in the email database such as serial ‘complainers’, spam traps, honeypots, seeds and click bots – so your reputation with your ISPs remains intact.

Validate before rather than after

Companies should look at the value of validating data from a data capture form (‘front end validation’) as opposed to the more traditional method of validating data once it is in the customer database (‘back end validation’).

We recently compared 500 ‘back end’ leads from a well known lead generation company employing online coregistration surveys to a similarly sized sample of ‘front end’ leads from our own coregistration survey. The back end leads yielded nine (9) customers who went on to buy from one of our clients indicating a lead to sale conversion rate of 1.8%. Whereas the front end leads yielded twenty-four (24) customers who went on to buy from the same client. With a lead to sale conversion rate of 7.6% we had effectively quadrupled the conversion rate for our client.

We note that companies often use back end validation to clean data because it is seemingly easier to collect leads from an online form this way. However, whilst implementing front end validation adds a small amount of extra cost the benefits far outweigh the costs as evidenced by the quality of leads being produced for our client.

Don’t use it? Lose it!

Missing data; stale or inactive files; enterprise silo data; inaccurate data entry – all of these “sins” can creep into a  database and wear down the success of prospect and customer engagement initiatives. Regularly cleaning customer databases to root out old data is essential to retaining existing customers.

The process of appending is an effective means of removing old data. It works by comparing the information of two opt in databases to consolidate recent, up-to-date information. In other words, if the databases contain information on the same customer, it is possible to flag out of date information and replace it. Although appending is not a new concept, this technique is being employed in more advanced ways such as with the inclusion of behavioural data and is particularly effective when performed with data protection laws in mind.

Of course we shouldn’t underestimate the value of keeping in contact with the customers on your database either. It’s important to keep in touch with your lists on a regular basis – every two to four weeks at a minimum – by sending out newsletters, small surveys or topical tips. Remember, a period of inactivity could lead to opt-outs and complaints from consumers, resulting in the loss of good prospects.

Norwich, UK, October 2011 – Aspect Web Media, one of the UK’s leading performance-based internet marketing specialists, has launched the UK’s first major email database screening service for digital marketers. Pure List screens email addresses, in lists ranging from hundreds to millions of accounts, to verify their validity, remove duplicates, eliminate bounces and identify threats such as spam traps. It has been launched following research by Econsultancy which shows that email marketing to in-house lists is the second most widely used online lead generation method – up from 74% in 2009 to 83% last year.

Pure List can distinguish between hard bounces where addresses no longer exist and soft bounces where there is an automated response such as an ‘out of office’ message. The service can also remove data threats such as spam traps, honeypots and seeds, as well as click bots. It is even possible to screen for known complainers. Aspect Web Media recently used the Pure List tool to clean a file containing 1.2 million active email addresses. They discovered 157,373 threats, 24,570 complainers and 2,602 bounces. The list was consequently reduced by 15 per cent thus reducing potential deliverability issues with major ISP such as Hotmail or Yahoo.

Jonathan Erwin, Managing Director of Aspect Web Media said, “Pure List ensures that companies can be confident that their database contains a high proportion of valid emails so money is not wasted delivering to duplicate, invalid or dangerous addresses. Traditional data hygiene tools have been limited in their capacity to clean data, relying on algorithms or large caches of historical data to screen databases. These tools cannot perform the comprehensive screening which customers require to maintain good ISP deliverability.”

“The advantages of regularly cleaning data with Pure List are that active email addresses can be consolidated and prioritised, whilst the stigma of sending spam emails and potential damage to the ISP reputation is avoided because there is a significant reduction in the mailing of non-existent customers,” he concluded.

In addition to two year on no interest on balance transfers, the Barclaycard Platinum Visa also offers a highly competitive balance transfer fee of 3.2%, which is reduced to 2.8% after a refund. plus the card also offers £20 cashback for customers who transfer a balance of more than £3,000 directly through the Barclaycard website.

While the card is being lauded by money saving consumer sites having further cemented its already strong grasp on the top position of the credit card tables, it hasn’t escaped criticism for the exclusivity of the deal or its encouragement of so-called ‘reckless’ attitudes to spending. As with its predecessor, the Barclaycard Platinum has proved difficult to obtain for those with anything less than a very good credit score, and this has presented something of a catch 22 situation, as many individuals wishing to take advantage of this opportunity to reduce their debts are very often those whose debt has caused them to have a less than perfect credit record.

Another important question is why Barclaycard has improved its offering by such a significant amount. As reported on this blog back in March when Barclaycard launched its previous 20-month offer, lower levels of lending have led to a fierce battle among card providers competing for consumers’ business. Barclaycard has been the only card to offer the 20 month deal since it came on the market, but the recent launch of the Halifax balance transfer card matched this offer, prompting Barclaycard to secure its place in the lead with an unprecedented offer. Although the APR has risen from 17.5% to 17.9% the length of balance transfer period and the lowered fee make this card once again unrivaled in the top spot.

Slow reporting is one of the biggest obstacles to success for publishers, especially those delivering large numbers of transactions. The wait for an approved transaction interferes with data analysis and slows decision making. Traditionally, the finance sector has produced the slowest reporting of approved transaction due to the time it takes to process applications.

With this in mind, Aspect has established a system with some credit card issuers that allows us to pull in live acceptance data into The Aspect Network.

It is no surprise that a market as high-impact as the mobile phone sector – reportedly, the typical mobile phone user reads a new text message within 15 minutes of receiving it – is being capitalised upon by savvy marketers. We are all familiar with the buzz or beep of our mobile phones and the majority of us are quick to respond to this alert, and it is this urgency that makes the potential of this sector so apparent.

Initially SMS marketing got off to a bad start with some negative press leading to the widely held view that it was a new form of spam. Since then, however the major networks have enforced best practices for the entire mobile media industry and the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and the Mobile Marketing Association have also established guidelines to eliminate SPAM. With strict monitoring in place by the networks, SMS marketing has been able to grow rapidly and now several 100 million advertising SMS are sent out every month in Europe alone.

As mentioned last week, while smart phones have greatly increased the scope of email marketing, SMS opens up the offline market. The majority of mobile phone users carry their phones with them all the time, meaning they can be contacted wherever they are, regardless of whether they have email on their phone. This is particularly useful in terms of timing. Currently email offers can be coincided with events, such as public holidays or sporting events, but SMS goes further and allows for targeted offers at certain times of the day, so for example a coffee offer could be sent around the time of the morning commute or a dinner offer to coincide with the evening commute.

This is not to say that SMS is replacing email marketing. In fact SMS marketing works best when combined with other marketing channels for the broadest reach, making SMS marketing an ideal complement to email. To optimise SMS in this way it is best to use a two-pronged approach to mobile marketing, for example a text message is a good way to follow up an email, such as a newsletter, to which users have subscribed, as they are much more likely to receive the text before checking their emails.

Unfortunately spam is still a major issue within SMS marketing. Strict policing is required of the networks to help stamp this problem out and as the sector develops and evolves, the need for explicit policies will become greater. In short this is a promising new industry with plenty of room for growth, as long as privacy and anti-SPAM legislation can effectively police its use without hindering its progress.

The winners
Innovation and creativity are key to the continued growth of the affiliate marketing sector, and a number of categories looked at rewarding ingenuity in our industry. The awards for ‘Publisher Innovation’ and ‘Best 3rd Party Application’ were awarded to InvisibleHand for their Price & Flight comparison tool, while Expedia nabbed the ‘Advertiser Innovation’ award for Expedia Hotel View.
It was a good night for Affiliate Window as well. The UK-based network was awarded the ‘Affiliate Network Innovation’ award for its Darwin Marketplace application, as well as picking up the ‘Best New Entrant’ prize for Best Buy, the ‘Best Affiliate Network Technical Team’ award, the ‘Best Travel & Telecoms Advertiser’ award for its work with Sky, and finally the highly coveted ‘Publisher’s Choice of Network’ award.
Technical innovation was recognised with the ‘Best Use of Mobile’ category, which was won by mobile app VoucherCloud for its collaboration with Debenhams to provide online affiliate voucher redemption. Found. for Autoglass Roadside Rescue was Highly Commended in this category, while, Arena Quantum netted the ‘Best Use of Social Media’ award for its work with Domino’s Pizza.
International recognition was granted to Neo@Ogilvy for British Airways, which scooped the ‘International Award’, and BT won the ‘Best Managed Affiliate Programme’ category.
Finally, looking at upcoming talent, Joshna Patel was awarded with the ‘Hot Shot Rising Star’ award, and her employers Red Letter Days were the winners in the ‘Best Retail Advertiser’ category.

As reported by Brafton News, relevant content was a key issue that kept arising in many of the conference sessions – whatever the subject. It was widely agreed that producing relevant content is a challenging area for many internet marketers. Furthermore it seems that the relevancy of content is becoming ever more important in obtaining those vital clicks. Advice mainly focused on the need for in depth research into the interests and concerns of online audiences. This knowledge will equip advertisers with the necessary understanding to produce relevant content that engages site users.

Unsurprisingly, the conference also shone a light on the increasing use of social media in the internet advertising arena, in particular highlighting how Facebook is becoming a key player. In the hope of harnessing the widespread success of social media, more and more companies are using it to attract traffic to their businesses, and this was a big topic of discussion during the entire conference.

There was still plenty of buzz around email marketing, which continues to be a profitable and relevant marketing technique. In fact, vice president of marketing at ExactTarget, Jeff Rohrs, shared recent research revealing that 93% of consumers are email subscribers, and all age groups are increasing their email usage. An important area in the world of email is to combine it with the ever-growing social networking sites to increase interest. Many brands have employed simple methods of pairing the two, such as including a social button within marketing messages to make it easy for recipients to become fans and followers via social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Mobile phone marketing also featured strongly as it continues to grow rapidly, now being used either together with or instead of social media. Experts at the event also agreed that the mobile channel is perfect for connecting internet marketing to the offline world, making the service truly universal.

So as the online marketing industry continuously grows and evolves, the need for quality and innovation continues to increase and these are now the huge drivers for success in a performance-based market.

• Business Development Manager
• Junior Web Developer
• Web Developer

Please click on the links above to download the job descriptions. Applicants may contact Aspect on the contact form provided to setup an interview.

No employment agencies please.