Increase Online Conversions Using Live Chat

Written by Pablo Palatnik on June 22, 2007

About 3 days ago I was signing up for a service online and somewhere in the process became lost and confused. The service seemed pretty good but, I had questions I needed to be answered before I actually entered a credit card number. I remember seeing a live chat option in the home page and decided to go back and initiate a conversation with the websites customer support.

SOLD! If it wasn’t because of the live chat option, most likely I would have closed the website and MAYBE call customer support to ask my question or move on to the next site which offered the same service.

It’s complete coincidence that today I checked my email to find an e-mail from WebProNews about live chat increasing conversions. GetElastic released its own report on live chat. WebProNews reports, “Live chat has the potential to bridge the customer service gap that exists between online shoppers and retailers,” the authors say. “It can be the extra little push a shopper needs to get over any conversion hurdles that may exist such as purchase uncertainty, product questions, or technical and policy assistance.”

WebProNews goes on to report, “Jane Paolucci, VP of marketing for Coremetrics, shares some more numbers in an interview with WebProNews. She said that 68.5 percent of CompUSA customers chatted while browsing the site and that 32 percent chatted while in the shopping cart during the late stages of the buying process.

“Out of that,” she said, “over 10 percent of those sessions convert to a sale, 10 times the average website conversion rate.” Paolucci says that only 28 percent of ecommerce sites are currently offering live chat.“

Fox Against Condoms But Ok On Myspace

Written by Pablo Palatnik on June 21, 2007

Against condom ads are we? I guess Fox has different views of what should be shown or sold on TV than what is shown or sold online. Is it not ok to promote safe sex on television? Fox has banned or censored a commercial promoting condoms on its channels.

Here it is:

Wait! Fox owns Myspace right? A younger demographic uses Myspace than watch Fox News.

Follow up to this post: Myspace Displaying Trojan Ads on Front Page

Video Ads Showing Results on Media Sites

Written by Pablo Palatnik on June 21, 2007

I can’t stress enough how important video is becoming to online marketing campaigns. I’ve been blogging a bit on video, especially after the Future of Online Advertising conference, which showed the tools and resources which will come out to make online video a more powerful advertising tool than it is now.

A report by the Online Publishers Association, shows online video ads are leading to sales. The world is adapting and understanding Web 2.0, which video is becoming one of its most powerful components.

OPA reports, “The study shows the value of video ads on quality content sites, finding that consumers are more likely to act on ads they see on media sites, versus portals or user-generated content (UGC) sites. Over one-third of consumers on magazine (38%), newspaper (37%), and online-only news (35%) sites say they have searched for more information after watching a video ad, while about one-quarter did so after watching an ad on a portal (27%) or UGC (24%) site. About one-quarter of consumers on magazine (29%) and online-only news (26%) sites went into a store to check out a product after viewing a video ad, while only 17% on portal sites and 14% on UGC sites did so. About one-in-five consumers on local broadcast TV (21%), national broadcast TV (19%) and cable TV (19%) sites requested more information after viewing a video ad, while only 16% on portal and 14% on UGC sites did so.”

Online video is becoming an incredible branding tool online through the web. Video editing software such as Windows Movie Maker or Apple’s movie editing software has made it easy for a business to make a decent video commercial to promote or sale a product.

Bill Gates For President in 2008?

Written by Pablo Palatnik on June 20, 2007

If Bill Gates ran for president in the next presidential election, would you vote for him? Its been said many times that running the country is like running a company, the United States of America is the largest corporation in the world. Would you keep George W. Bush as CEO of a company you worked for if you had a chance to vote for your CEO?

Why Bill Gates? (Not in any particular order) There are so many reasons I can go into but here are some quick ones (taken from BillGatesForPresidnet.net):

1. Bill is rich.
Let’s get this one out of the way. Yes, we believe being absurdly rich is a good thing for any presidential candidate. Why? This candidate could make a great statement by paying for his or her campaign from his or her own pocket. We honestly believe this to be extremely important. Large corporations don’t sponsor candidates expecting nothing in return. Even when elected, Bill won’t need to scoop up tax-payer’s money: he has more than enough.

2. Bill is rational.
Rational thinkers rule. We know quite a few people may argue with us when we say we’d rather have a rational thinker taking decisions that impact our lives than someone who just ‘goes with his guts’, or ‘goes with what the pope has to say’. We however think rational thinking is crucial in a global context, a context in which not everyone is a Christian, a Muslim or a Jew.

3. Bill isn’t selfish.
With the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill has already shown the world he’s not a selfish man. Some people might call giving to the poor and supporting the needy liberal, but we prefer calling it responsible. We believe the United States with Bill as president would act more responsibly not only in its foreign policy but also when it comes to handling social problems within the US. Bill says: “To whom much has been given, much is expected.”.

4. Bill knows management, and he can prove it.
Being president is more than saying yes or no. It’s decision-making at the highest level and it’s constantly keeping your guard up. In his many years at Microsoft, Bill has shown us he’s an exceptional manager. Bill can not only handle pressure, he’s used to it.