Conquering the search and e-mail marketing divide will convert more sales

“They shouldn’t be two separate programs,” says Kevin Johnson, vice president of sales and marketing for Digital Impact, a San Francisco interactive marketing services company. “One program should be integrated with the other to identify and convert shoppers on each end.”

Digital Impact, which provides e-mail marketing services for Internet and multi-channel retailers such as Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc., Victoria’s Secret, Oshkosh B` Gosh and Gap Inc., says web merchants can potentially convert more sales if after they purchase a keyword from a search engine they insert a link and text on their landing page that invites customers to sign-up for a special offer, a give-away or some other incentive.

“A retailer may not think spending money on the word ‘Palm’ will deliver enough convertible results to justify the cost of bidding, but if they include a link on the landing page that provides shoppers with incentives to give their e-mail address they’ve taken the first step in building a new one-on-one relationship,” Johnson says. “That’s an example of combining e-mail and search engine marketing to identify and convert sales.”

Online retailers should also time their keyword buys with outgoing e-mail campaigns to convert more sales. “Maybe a retailer is launching a new Hispanic site and wants to drive traffic and convert sales from both ends,” Johnson says. “At the same time the e-mail campaign goes live it should be timed with successful bidding on keywords—that’s two ways to drive traffic to a special micro site and covert sales.”

One-on-one e-mailing marketing is seen by most retailers as the best means to retain customers and search engine marketing as the best way to acquire customers, Johnson says.

If web retailers spend more time integrating the two programs, they stand a much better chance to convert more sales. “Don’t think separate any more,” he says. “Both mediums should be coordinated and timed to convert sales.”

Digital Impact, which provides e-mail services to direct marketers, is expanding into search engine marketing. In July, Digital Impact acquired Marketleap, a San Francisco-based Internet marketing firm specializing in search engine marketing services.