4 Tips for Online Acquisition

March 2008 By Kate DeBevois

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On the paid search side, Zel says his company has worked with Google, Yahoo and smaller sites such as Ask.com, which he says are less competitive, “so you can get higher on the rankings.” For example, according to Zel, “For Arthritis Today, we categorized search terms, conducted brand name testing, then used another topic-specific test section such as “rheumatoid arthritis.” We also tested overall health terms, such as “healthy living.” As we got further and further out, the click-to-conversion rates would come down so we just rolled out with brand-specific and arthritis-specific terms. The overall health terms generated very little traffic and the traffic that came in did not convert very well.”

Leverage direct mail tools when creating Web-based offers. “Anything you learned in direct mail should be rolled out on the Web,” Zel says. “The medium is different [in that] you don’t have an outer envelope, but it will often translate well.” He suggests that when testing using a headline similar to that on your outer envelope, run it with a control to gauge its effectiveness. For Weight Watchers Magazine, Zel explains the direct mail outer envelope includes questions and tips. “These tips are what people come to Weight Watchers Magazine for,” he says. “So, we tested putting those tips on the Web site, and it worked well—if someone is on your Web site they understand what your brand is about.” He adds, “You should learn from your best insert cards; the methods you use in direct mail to convert people from content readers to content buyers translates directly to the Web.”