Orbiscom, DoBeDo, the Eurythmics, ihavemoved.com

MarketingSherpa.co.uk
Practical News, Gossip & Tips for
Internet Marketers in the UK
May 19, 2000 - Vol. I, Issue 2

Please forward to your friends & colleagues. We depend
on you to grow our circulation!

1. NEWS & GOSSIP: Orbiscom, HFC Bank, DoBeDo,
MMXI Europe, World Online and the Eurythmics

2. CASE STUDY: ihavemoved.com

3. PRACTICAL KNOW-HOW: Opt-In Email Lists, Part II

4. JOBS: First Internet Marketing

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NEWS & GOSSIP: Orbisco, DoBeDo, the Eurythmics
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-> Orbiscom: Fraud-Free Online Credit Card Transactions

Another boost for E-tailing this week: HFC Bank (the
bank behind Web-based credit card ‘Marbles’) have
announced their intention to introduce a secure online
payment system for their cardholders. Consumers, it
would appear, don’t trust even secure connections when
it comes to giving out their card details. Well, thanks
to O-Control, a system pioneered by technology
specialists Orbiscom, they won’t have to worry for much
longer. The system, which has already been adopted by
the Allied Irish Bank for a July launch, allows
consumers to spend online without having to give their
actual credit card numbers. Instead, it generates a
unique number for each online transaction, eliminating
the possibility of fraud since the number is useless if
it falls into the wrong hands. And as Orbiscom are
aiming to introduce their platform to more VISA and
MasterCard issuers over the coming months, there’ll soon
be little to deter online credit card use. Apart from
the monthly bill, that is.
http://www.marbles.com
http://www.orbiscom.co.uk

-> DoBeDo Makes A Boo Boo

Uh-oh! Naughty Net chatline DoBeDo got its knuckles
rapped this week over two of the ads in its current
campaign. The ads, one featuring a DJ with the caption
‘I’ve got a 12 inch. Wanna play?’ and the other a girl
enquiring ‘I’ve lost my virginity. Can I have yours?’,
have upset the Advertising Standards Authority. Why? A
poorly executed marketing campaign, that’s all. When
the ads, which were designed to attract 16- to 25-year-
olds to the site, were run in a series of lifestyle
magazines there was no problem. But they only went and
used the same ads on the London Underground, didn’t
they? Lo and behold – there were complaints, and now
the ads have been withdrawn. A simple lesson: if your
marketing campaign is going to offend people who don’t
fall within your target audience, try and avoid huge
broadcast media like Underground billboards and then
perhaps they won’t see it! DoBeDon’t do it again!!
http://www.dobedo.co.uk

-> UK Users Favour Financial Service Sites

The online battle of the banks continues as the new
contenders announce clicks-only extensions to their high
street offerings, and the old stalwarts plug their
existing Web wares in a big way. Little wonder really –
a report released this week by MMXI Europe shows that
25% of UK Internet users visit financial sites or
conduct their banking online. Prudential’s offering
(http://www.egg.com) is currently the most visited
banking site, with 7% of UK users in March.

But MMXI also finds that consumers spend longer at
investment and financial news/advice websites than they
do at banking sites. An online bank that helps its
clients to become shrewd investors? Now, that could be
really... what’s the word I’m looking for?
http://www.mmxieurope.com/UK/PressRoom/Press_Releases/twenty.html

-> Yea/Nay: World Online and Eurythmics

Sunday Times readers last weekend were given a rare
treat: the new single from the Eurythmics before its
official release date on a free CD glued to the Culture
section. But the real cunning part was the great big
plug for ISP World Online which awaited anyone wanting
to watch the interviews and exclusive live footage
available as CD-ROM content. And what a charming plug,
too – being sold World Online’s no fee, no call-charge
Net access, and their BT-beating telephone service,
whilst being gently lulled by the dulcet tones of Annie
Lennox. There was more, too – the chance to see the
Eurythmics live in Germany, and some ‘huge discounts’ on
chart-topping albums with bol.com and HMV. For those
willing enough to subscribe, of course.

A very well-produced CD-ROM (by Williams Digital Media),
and very definitely a ‘Yea’ for World Online, sponsors
of the Eurythmics’ world tour last year. I’m just not
quite sure what it will have done for the sales of Annie
and Dave’s new single when it’s released in the shops...

World Online: http://www.worldonline.co.uk
Williams Digital Media: http://www.williamsdigital.co.uk

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CASE STUDY: ihavemoved.com
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-> ihavemoved.com Prepares for Refurbishments

Established in January 1999, and live since mid-
November, ihavemoved.com is currently the only service
of its kind in the UK – a free online address-change
service, aiming to save home movers ‘time, money, and
hassle’ by informing all of their service providers of
the new address in one 15-minute session. The site is
due for a makeover by web design agency Bluewave, and
marketing campaigns have been moved up a gear or two to
make it all worthwhile...

Affiliates: Having established 200 partner companies
already (which pay to receive the digitally updated
addresses, and some of which – like PowerGen – sponsor
sections of the site) the ihavemoved.com team have been
targeting over 1,500 more in the last couple of weeks
with a concentrated telemarketing campaign. The pitch
is simple: ihavemoved.com can save service providers
money on call centre costs and postal data processing,
whilst offering cross-selling opportunities through
links to their own sites.

Users: Thanks to its novelty, ihavemoved.com has been
able to rely largely on PR to gain users – highlights
articles in the London dailies, and TV coverage on Sky
and CNN. Full-page ads in The Evening Standard last
week (the first major paid-for advertising) began an
intensive 2-3 month campaign, which will concentrate on
offline targeted media. Marketing Director Niko
Komninos feels that adverts don’t necessarily have to be
huge to work, as long as they’re going to be seen by
home movers: a lot of ads are being placed in the
Classified sections of newspapers and property
magazines, for instance – not just on billboards.
Online advertising is confined mostly to complementary
services, such as the web sites of estate agents and
solicitors, and will rely on simple cross-linking.

Cost: Telephone calls and classified ads are pretty
cheap in the grand scale of things. In total, however,
ihavemoved.com intends to spend a ‘large portion’ of the
£2.5m raised from investors (including Wired magazine,
Continuation Investors NV, Hyundai Corp., Internet
Direct and Fidulex Management Inc.) on advertising.

Results: Niko Komninos stresses that these efforts are
‘far from over’, and that advertising so far has been
‘minimal’. So far, however, the number of daily
registrations to the site has increased by 35%, and the
telemarketers have managed to double the number of
partner companies. The team is optimistic: 6 million
homeowners move each year, and at least 20,000 new
visitors to the site are expected every month. We’ll be
reviewing progress at a later date.

Related URLs:
http://www.ihavemoved.com
http://www.bluewave.com

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PRACTICAL HOW-TO: Opt-In Email Lists
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-> Growing Your Own Opt-In List: Part II of Our Special
Report on Making Email Marketing Work

One of the best ways to grow an opt-in list is to offer
a site newsletter containing articles, tips or major
news of real interest to your visitors. Then you can
market your site within the newsletter. Here are 4 ways
to get your audience to sign up:

1. Add opt-in sign-up forms all over your site.

Sounds like a no-brainer, right? You'd be surprised how
many people don't do this. Or they just put a sign-up
form on one page (perhaps their home page or their
shopping cart check-out form) and no place else.

Take a minute to study your traffic logs. Chances are
they'll tell you that lots of people enter your site on
pages that aren't your home page. Perhaps they have
bookmarked another page as a favorite, or they are
clicking on a link to a special section. If you haven't
added your sign-up form to the pages most people enter
your site on, then you are missing out on a major
opportunity to enlarge your opt-in list.

Remember, to make this most effective be sure to add an
easy-to-see link to your privacy policy. It makes
people feel secure when they sign up -- so they’re more
likely to!

2. Use Viral Marketing

Yes, if people love your newsletter or your site, they
will refer their friends and colleagues. But people are
busy and forgetful these days, so why not help them
along with a little push? Always ask for a referral at
the start of every issue of your newsletter (just like
MarketingSherpa.co.uk does.) Always include an easy-
to-find way for people to email news from your site, or
the contents of a page, to their friends. For example,
check out the referral box at
http://www.journalism.co.uk!

Referrals aren’t for news only. ecommerce stores should
allow shoppers to send their friends notes about each
product or service. Member organizations should ask
visitors to nominate friends as new members, etc.

3. Run ads in emailed newsletters.

Although, as we mentioned in Part I of this article
(available at http://www.marketingsherpa.co.uk) not
many highly targeted opt-in email lists are available
for rental yet in the UK -- but there are more than
10,000 niche email newsletters in which you can spread
the word about your site!

Most are not run as going concerns soliciting much
outside advertising. But that doesn’t mean you can’t
approach them and work out a deal! Many newsletter
owners will barter ad space for an ad in your newsletter
or they’ll accept a small fee for an ad. Associations
and other membership organizations will run a free
announcement for you in their newsletter if you offer
their members a special deal.

Your ad should offer a good reason why someone should
visit your site or special bounce page and join your
opt-in list. Special free report offers and sweepstakes
are often compelling. Quizzes and surveys can work if
they are compelling enough (“Are you making enough
money? Click here to take our survey and we’ll email
you the results!”) Don't be afraid to test a newsletter
offer yourself. After all these are proven newsletter
readers to whom you’re talking!

4. Add your opt-in offer to the emailed signatures of
all employees

Here at MarketingSherpa.co.uk, we tend to harp on this
point because it’s so easy and powerful - yet so often
forgotten by online companies. Every person in your
organization should be adding an automated electronic
signature to all of his or her outbound email. That
signature can include their title, contact information
and a link to sign up for your opt-in email program.
You would be astounded to learn how many outbound emails
your organization sends every day to customers and
prospects. Don't waste this free opportunity to grow
your opt-in list.

Next week in MarketingSherpa.co.uk … an exclusive
interview with a very prominent British Internet
marketer. Don’t miss out - sign up today if you aren’t
already a subscriber! Go to our beautiful domain:
http://www.marketingsherpa.co.uk

----------
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