Topics, Trends and Techniques from Brooks Bell Interactive
Posts authored by: Adam Rightor
Email Deliverability Tips
In the email marketing world we obsess over anything and everything that could impact how many people open, read, and take action as a result of the emails we create. It’s easy to forget that if a user never receives our carefully crafted email in their inbox due to spam filtering, they will never know to take the desired action and your email marketing plan’s overall performance metrics will not look as good as it should. Most of our clients use another company to send their emails and it’s that company’s responsibility to understand the many email deliverability tips, but for those companies doing it alone, or those who want to better understand the many factors that impact email deliverability, read on…
Social Validation’s Influence on Online Consumers (Part Deux): Tactics
My blogpost entitled Social Validation’s Influence on Online Consumers demonstrated that online consumers typically choose the product, service, movie, restaurant, etc. that received the most favorable ratings and reviews. By reassuring the consumer that they’re making the correct choice, the anxiety that might have prevented them from pulling the trigger is eliminated. “If 50 people purchased this product and gave it 5 stars, then it must be the best. I simply must have it!”
So now that we’ve established the theory of social validation, how can we as marketers take advantage?
Social Validation’s Influence on Online Consumers
I had another “What did we do before the internet” moment the other day while researching which lawn mower to purchase online. While I’m sure I could just walk into the nearest Home Depot and have someone try to sell me the most expensive lawn mower they have in stock, like many consumers I don’t feel confident that I’m getting the best value unless I do some research. Before the internet this research would involve going from store to store to get a feel for pricing and features, and asking people how they like their brand/model lawn mower. Chances are that I would end up trusting the opinion of my personal network and feeling good about purchasing a lawn mower that they recommended. This is what the concept of “social validation” is all about.
Now that nearly everyone has the power of the internet at their fingertips, seeking social validation before purchasing a product can take far less time, and the sample size is much larger than your personal network. Amazon’s star rating system is probably the most well-known example of social validation in motion. If you jump onto Amazon to research a lawn mower, you’re presented with a huge selection and no way to assess the value of each product other than the price, a ranked list of the best sellers, and the star rating given by averaging the customer star ratings of the product. Sure you could compare and contrast the features and make your own decision, but if one lawn mower gets only 4 & 5 star ratings and another gets 4 star ratings and a bunch of 1&2 star ratings, which one would you buy? The high rated one of course! You are not alone – chances are that the highest rated products are also the products at the top of the best-seller rankings.
But why? The same reason you would end up purchasing the lawn mower that your friend recommended: social validation reduces consumer anxiety.
Dropping into the Google Wave: What is it and why should I care?
Google Wave is nearly impossible to explain with some well-crafted bullet points – just ask Google. The Wave hype is really building now that the product is in testing by invited developers, but if you dare visit wave.google.com with the goal of learning more about the product, you better curl up in a comfortable chair with your caffeinated beverage-of-choice because you will be treated to a “looooong video.” (Their words, not mine.) Perhaps this was intentional, as only the true Google fan-boys could sit through their 80-minute, feature film length demo filled with patting themselves on the back followed by applause– but I digress.
If a picture is worth 1000 words, then this ~2 minute video is worth 100,000 if you want to start to understand what Google Wave is all about:
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Web Browser Comparison: The "Browser Wars" Rage On
Microsoft’s decision to pre-install Internet Explorer on the Windows operating system won the “browser wars” battle of the late 90′s, but the war rages on. The ghost of Netscape continues to haunt Microsoft as Mozilla’s open-source and infinitely customizable Firefox continues to gain usage share traction. Google’s Chrome was released 9/08 as the slick new kid on the block, Safari is a solid alternative pre-installed on Mac OS X, and Opera continues their little-known history of innovation.
So which browser is the best? Short answer: anything but Internet Explorer. For the more detailed answer, read on…
