Purple Dog's managed Email Marketing Solution for Good Water company

lessons have we learned?

One thing is certain: consumer purchasing patterns and consequently, modern marketing trends and techniques, have continued their shift to the internet, arguably, now making it the most powerful medium on the planet.

While this may be no surprise to some, it is still remarkable given the internet has only really been a viable business tool for circa 15 years.

While new methods of communicating and advertising have emerged, one method that has consistently remained popular and perhaps, the most accessible: email.

email

The good old email has had a hard time in recent years – the war on spam has yet to be won – if it ever can be – but spam blockers are managing to reduce the mass-marketing emails (yes, those naughties!) that were once, all too familiar in the inbox.

Email marketing is still a legitimate and effective way to keep in touch with your customers, but how can you make sure your email newsletters look good, read properly in the users browser and email client and most of all, how can you prevent your valuable marketing message from going straight to the spam folder or bin?

Purple Dog are experts in providing email marketing and newsletter services. Our managed solution means that you can concentrate on other important aspects of your business.

Talk to us to find out more.

eBooks

eBooks are a great way to publish articles, journals, manuals, “how to’s”, tips and tricks, novels and other stories and more!

Our latest eBook for Gunter Eberwein: "The Passionate Way of Vegan Baking"

eBooks are beginning to emerge as an interesting and innovative way to connect with existing and new audiences.

Whether you’re a beginner or an expert writer, we can help you formulate your ideas into a money spinning venture – or even into a free viral eBook.

All you have to do is provide the content and we’ll do the rest (we can even help with the content)!

As an example of some recent work, take a look at our recently completed project: Gunter Eberwein’s vegan cake recipe eBook: The Passionate Way of Vegan Baking

Our eBook solution is secure (meaning your hard work cannot be easily copied) and we can set up your publication so that it is distributed automatically.

Once it’s all set up – you can just concentrate on marketing and driving traffic to the eBook – and yes, we can help you with that too!

Talk to us or read more about eBooks.

Happy New Year & Happy New Decade From Purple Dog!

45% of Kiwis now spend their hard earned money online buying 1) books, 2) toys, 3) clothing and shoes.  This trend is set to increase further over the Christmas and Summer periods.

Many people are expected to avoid crowds and shop online this Christmas and this is one of the reasons many of the large retailers are investing heavily in online shops.  Stuart Yorston, Marketing Manager of The Warehouse says his company has recently invested millions of $s in their new online shop presence and that they are “in it for the long-term because it’s the way of the future”.

Buying online has become much easier and safer and means consumers don’t have to face the shopping mall crowds, can have a wider range of choice of products and can do it all in a more comfortable environment.

If you would like to investigate the possibilities of opening and running an online shop for your business, please get in touch.

Not only is this a momentous occasion for our client who has worked hard for many years to get to this point, it may also be a life changing event!

Recent market data from Media Week shows that online spend has increased by 38% in the first six months of 2009 from last 2008. These are remarkable figures considering the depth of the global recession.

The future of Online Shopping

According to IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) predictions – between 30% and 50% of all retail will be conducted online in the next five years – much of this growth will be in the clothing and footwear sectors as these have lagged behind the ever popular books, music and home goods – all of which continue to increase in popularity (in part thanks to ubiquitous online auction sites e.g.  Amazon, e-Bay and (in NZ) TradeMe).

If this trend continues – and with ever increasing broadband speeds and the desire for “fast easy shopping”, there is every reason to believe it will – many small and medium sized online businesses stand to dramatically improve their online earnings capability.

The Grass Roots Experience

Remember that local fashion / jewellery / homeware shop that closed down and “went online”?  Most of us can think of at least one example of a retail business deciding to cut their overheads and sell direct to the people through the internet.  It was all the rage a few years ago.  And then the “digital bubble” burst.  Some survived and some did not.

What is now clear is that online shopping has evolved significantly.  Where internet businesses struggled to get people to buy online, now they are finding their systems are not able to deal sufficiently with the volume of growth, and are having to invest in significant upgrades in order to keep up with demand!  This is not anecdotal – this is our first hand experience with our customers.

Online shopping is a growing trend and it will continue to be so.  The stats are convincing – regardless of which stats you choose to look at!  And from the grass-roots level, we are witnessing a silent but genuine change in spending habits.  We are not suggesting that this trend is ever going to replace the “shopping mall” experience – they are complimentary revenue streams.  The truth is, online stores are now more likely to actually make money, than any time in the past.

You Have To Be In To Win

Nevertheless, it’s not just a simple case of “creating a website” as some folk tend to think.  That’s only half the story! It’s all about what happens afterwards and how you intend to drive quality traffic to your website – and once they are there – how you will convince them to buy from you! Traditional print marketing is still a viable option (think trade magazines, newspapers and brochures), but increasingly – businesses must invest in developing their e-marketing strategy.

According to Guy Phillipson, chief executive of the IAB UK

“Internet advertising has beaten all expectations to achieve a 15% growth in the most challenging market conditions. Online display has performed notably well against its peers in TV, print and radio despite more than £1.5 billion being wiped off the advertising industry [during the recession].” www.emarketer.com (2009)

Conclusion

So what does this really mean? Even during a global recession, online sales and online marketing are both experiencing significant growth. Can your online business really afford not to invest properly in both of these areas?

At Purple Dog we are keep up with the latest trends in online shopping so that you don’t have to.  We can provide you with an online shopping website that will serve your business, whether retail, wholesale or services based.  We can add significant value to your new or existing online business by considering a range of eMarketing strategies – some paid-for, others free.  We can meet a range of budgets and requirements.

Now is the time to talk to us to find out more.

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