The Best and Worst Experiences of Marketing Online

It may have happened this week, this month, this year, or this century, if you’ve had any experience marketing online, you’ve got stories, good ones, and, well, not so good ones.  I call these lessons (smile).  While I don’t read every post, I’m a fan of what Darren Rose does over at Problogger.net, last month he shared a best and worst blogging experiences of the week article, which I learned a lot from.  I thought it was great, and decided to test out the idea here in light of some marketing stories I was sharing with a friend recently.  I’ll share a couple of mine , and look forward to hearing yours.  Between all of us, we should be able to learn a thing or two (let’s hope).

The Best and Worst Experiences of Marketing Online

Some say that marketing online is as much an art as it is a science, I tend to agree.  Sometimes, however, the artistic/creative element of marketing could use a bit more science, and other times the scientific elements could use a bit more creative.   Then there are those events that appear to be the perfect blend of both.

The Best: Recent Changes – Increased Conversions

Some adjustments have been made to the site recently, and noted some improvement.  Optin conversions for the Online Marketers FAQ are up 9%, July over June.  The change you ask? The popup lightbox new visitors get on the site was delayed 45 seconds, so instead of hitting them instantly, it gives them a chance to read some content prior to presenting them with an invitation for joining the site.  Lesson: Giving prospects time to get to know you before making them an offer is smart, and gives you a better chance to build relationship with them down the road.

The Worst: Teleseminar Muted

This one might make Alex Mandossian proud… A few years ago, I hosted an 1 hour teleseminar with ACT! database software customers, and the handset was muted the entire time.  This meant that not only did they not hear me, but the recording consisted of silence.  I pulled an all nighter creating a video version of the teleseminar content presented that night (to myself!), and sent to customers the next day in the form of an apology. Lesson: Add the “verify people can hear you on the call” item to the preflight teleseminar checklist.

What Have Been Your Best and Worst Experiences of Marketing Online?

Have some best and worst experiences of marketing online?  What did you learn?  What will you change or do differently?  Chime in using the comment boxes below.

Technorati Tags: lessons, marketing strategy, online marketing