Archive for Jack Aaronson

Showing 167 items

• Three Reasons Your Site Sucks
  Does it look like a 12-year-old designed your Web site? The Web site design doctor is in with some tips to improve your navigation and design. Oct 3, 2008
• The Law of Diminishing Returns
  Categorization: when does a Web site have too much of a good thing? Sep 19, 2008
• More Deadly Sins of Site Design
  How to remove the sins of wrath, envy, and greed from your site design. Sep 5, 2008
• Seven Deadly Sins of Site Design
  Confession is good for the soul. Even better is eliminating design sins from your site for better results. Aug 22, 2008
• Why Q4 Promotions are an All-Year Affair
  Some ideas to get people shopping early, often, and well beyond December. Aug 8, 2008
• Add an iPhone App to Your Multichannel Strategy
  How an iPhone app can help users interact with your brand and services in a very personal way. Jul 25, 2008
• Personalization: A Multi-algorithmic Approach
  Personalization companies are finally realizing they can't bank their entire company on one magic technology. A smart collection of algorithms working together to deliver product recommendations and other personalized experiences is a much better approach for marketers. Jul 11, 2008
• A Widget World?
  Widgets, widgets, widgets. What do these little apps mean for business as we know it? And how do they help customer reach grow? Jun 27, 2008
• Dynamic E-mail and Banner Ads
  Three examples of technologies that enable personalized ads. Jun 13, 2008
• Geotargeting Comes of Age in E-commerce
  It's finally happening. Geotargeting is melding with e-commerce. How can you harness the power of geotargeted campaigns? May 30, 2008
• Benchmarking Your Site With No-Cost Tools
  How is your site performing compared to your competition's? If you're on a tight budget, consider using these free resources. May 16, 2008
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car Gets Customer Loyalty Right
  Having a company loyalty program isn't enough. Your employees must completely understand their role in it, and how it works. Here's why. May 2, 2008
• Focus Groups 2.0
  Social networks can be a more modern, more interesting, and less expensive way to conduct focus groups. Apr 18, 2008
• Top Five E-mail Marketing Best Practices
  Tips for handling registration, creating an effective promotional strategy, and other approaches for online marketing success. Apr 4, 2008
• Brand vs. Usability
  Strike the right balance between an innovative, immersive brand experience and online best practices. Mar 21, 2008
• Social Networking and E-mail Marketing Converge
  Why traditional e-mail service providers must adapt to social media platforms. Mar 7, 2008
• Error Page Best Practices
  How to avoid errors generated by users, code, servers, and other factors. Feb 22, 2008
• Why Multichannel Consumers Are More Loyal, Part 2
  Putting decision-making behaviors into a business context. Last of a series. Feb 8, 2008
• Why Multichannel Consumers Are More Loyal
  A tutorial on the science behind decision-making behaviors. First of a series. Jan 25, 2008
• Look Vs. Feel
  Why changing a Web site's modus operandi can alienate site visitors. Jan 11, 2008
• Out With the Old
  Where we've been this year, and where we're headed in 2008. Dec 28, 2007
• How to Embrace Multichannel Behavior
  A three-step program to help consumers make their own way across your sales channels. Dec 14, 2007
• Customer Returns as an Acquisition Strategy
  Three scenarios to convert gift recipients to loyal customers. Nov 30, 2007
• The Evolution of the Pop-Under Ad
  A new twist on an old approach could make these advertisements more effective. Nov 16, 2007
• Quantifying the Effects of User Reviews
  Leveraging consumer reviews -- online and off-. Nov 2, 2007
• Don't Waste Q4
  How online retailers customers can win more business and avoid alienating customers after the holiday shopping season. Oct 19, 2007
• Business Rules for All
  Document business rules in a central place, including their origin and when and how they're used. When change comes, your job will be a lot easier. Oct 5, 2007
• Walking in a Widget Wonderland
  What does Amazon's entry into the widget storm mean for e-commerce and online marketing? Don't wait to find out. Sep 21, 2007
• E-mail Marketing Without E-mail
  Use acquisition-based e-mail marketing campaign techniques for anonymous Web site visitors. Sep 7, 2007
• Personalization Technologies: A Primer
  A brief rundown of the most common personalization technologies, what they're normally used for, and the pros and cons associated with them. Aug 24, 2007
• Creating an Effective Home Page
  What should be on your home page? A checklist. Aug 10, 2007
• Widget Analytics
  The general categories of analytics when using widgets. Jul 27, 2007
• A Widget World?
  Widgets, widgets, widgets. What do these little apps mean for business as we know it? And how do they help customer reach grow? Jul 13, 2007
• Devolving Your Web Site
  As much as sites must more advanced for broadband users, they must also be greatly simplified for use with other devices. Jun 29, 2007
• Beyond Analytics: Session Instant Reply
  Services that track and dissect customer behavior on your Web site can increase sales and head off usability problems. Jun 15, 2007
• Decentralized Commerce
  A few companies are beginning to use Web 2.0 technologies in ways that may profoundly change the nature of online commerce. Jun 1, 2007
• How to Embrace Multichannel Behavior
  A three-step program to help consumers make their own way across your sales channels. May 18, 2007
• Converging Search and Browse
  The key to convergence is finding ways to create a rich user experience and encourage return visits. May 4, 2007
• Search: No Results Equal No Sale
  Four best practices for a retail site's not-found page. Apr 20, 2007
• Contingency Planning: Best Practices
  Revenue's lost all the time due to unexpected problems during users' online experience. Some best practices for bad scenarios. Mar 23, 2007
• Building a B2B Home Page
  A step-by-step guide to building a B2B Web site home page -- and a better site in the process. Mar 9, 2007
• Creating an Effective Home Page
  What should be on your home page? A checklist. Feb 23, 2007
• Analyzing Retail E-mail: Campaigns and Triggered Messages
  Reassess how you think about e-mail reporting and analytics. Feb 9, 2007
• Horizontal Browsing
  Time to talk browser behavior -- and its effect on online sales. Jan 26, 2007
• Solving Channibalism: Embrace It, Then Trace It
  Coping with customers who refuse to be confined to one channel to research, browse, and buy. Jan 12, 2007
• Loyalty, CRM, E-mail, User Experience and More: 2006 in Review
  Lessons learned about effectively selling stuff online. Dec 29, 2006
• A Membership Program for Shipping?
  Shipping carriers are looking for ways to differentiate themselves. Are loyalty programs the answer? Dec 15, 2006
• Making CRM Accessible
  Make your site and e-mail easier for all your customers. Dec 1, 2006
• More E-Mail Complaints: It's the ISPs' Fault
  When users complain to their ISPs, you can be labeled as a spammer Nov 17, 2006
• E-Mail Complaints? It's Your Fault
  Be grateful when users complain. They're alerting you to a problem and trying to help you solve it. Nov 3, 2006
• Lessons From Shop.org 2006
  Four important multichannel marketing takeaways. Oct 20, 2006
• Is E-Mail Still Important?
  Retailers are remembering just how many customer touchpoints they have at their disposal. Oct 6, 2006
• Case Study: A Better Shopping Cart
  Some of the typical problems with a shopping cart and how to fix them. Sep 22, 2006
• E-Tail: Four More Barriers to Entry
  What really bugs consumers about online stores? Jack continues to count the ways. Sep 8, 2006
• Building Loyalty in the Off Season
  Instead of just focusing on retaining customers after Q4, find ways to jumpstart buying now. Aug 25, 2006
• Finally, Merchandising Tools for Metadata
  Finally! New tools mean marketers and merchandisers can quickly, easily, and inexpensively harness the power of metadata. Aug 11, 2006
• Timeliness: Set Expectations
  Timeliness is extremely important when it comes to setting expectations and conducting business online. A look at two companies: one that gets this and one that doesn't. Jul 28, 2006
• Put More of Your Brand in E-Mail Marketing Campaigns
  Brand goes beyond just look and feel. Three non-graphical factorsthat belong in every e-mail style guide. Jul 14, 2006
• Learning From Different Industries' Best Practices
  All business sectors share common problems. Studying other industries' best practices can help solve your own issues. Jun 30, 2006
• A Unified Virgin
  Every customer touch point needs to reinforce your brand and your voice. It takes just one employee who doesn't understand this to dissolve your brand. Jun 16, 2006
• Effective Cross-Selling Online
  The different types of online cross-and up-selling, and how, when, and where to employ each tactic. Jun 2, 2006
• Loyalty Is Not Annual
  Why do companies wipe the loyalty slate clean at the end of the year? May 19, 2006
• The Importance of Being Earnest (With Customers)
  Stuff happens. Are you prepared for it? May 5, 2006
• Creating Value
  Testing reveals online conversion is more than "make 'em want it." Apr 21, 2006
• Smothering Me With Customer Service
  You can kill them with kindness. Some companies drive away customers because of their customer service. Apr 7, 2006
• Five Barriers to Customer Entry
  You may be turning away more business than you realize. Mar 24, 2006
• Gaining Trust Online
  With information everywhere, becoming a trusted advisor is a critical step to gaining market share -- and share of wallet. Mar 10, 2006
• Extending the Point of Sale Within Multichannel Companies
  Online revenue opportunities exist beyond the point of sale. Feb 24, 2006
• Clickstream Analysis and E-Mail Marketing
  Marrying e-mail campaigns with actionable analysis can improve your bottom line. Feb 10, 2006
• Putting Cookies Into Context
  How to get consumers to stop deleting cookies? Don't explain "how," but rather "what." Jan 27, 2006
• Interactive Trends to Watch in 2006
  Four areas of interactive marketing that will change and offer you opportunities to increase ROI. Jan 13, 2006
• Welcome Back, Mr. Lesbian!: Pitfalls of Perceived Personalization
  Jack learned -- the hard way -- customers may think you're personalizing content when you're not. Dec 30, 2005
• Personalized Rewards and Profitable Behavior: Case Studies
  Two case studies put loyalty strategies to the test. Dec 16, 2005
• Keep Customers Buying After the Holidays
  Avoid Pavlovian marketing and create loyal customers for the coming year. Dec 2, 2005
• I Don't Know You: CRM for the Anonymous Browser
  Even your best friend was once a stranger. The bulk of your site's visitors aren't registered users, but anonymous browsers. How to make them want to get to know you. Nov 18, 2005
• Customer Service and Criminal Psychology
  How to effectively respond to customer complaints and increase loyalty. Nov 4, 2005
• Build Anticipation... Responsibly
  When to build anticipation, and when not to. Oct 21, 2005
• Brand-Centric vs. User-Centric Navigation
  Shoppers don't know -- or care -- how your company is organized internally. Oct 7, 2005
• Embrace Multichannel Shopping
  Many companies still silo their different shopping channels. But embracing multichannel shopping is good for the bottom line. Sep 23, 2005
• The ROI of Usability Analysis
  How one company improved its site's usability, thereby increasing its ROI and customer loyalty. Sep 9, 2005
• Error? It Wasn't My Fault!
  Error messages say a lot about your company and how you view your customers. Aug 26, 2005
• Rewarding Profitable Behavior
  By rewarding the right behavior changes, you can breed more profitable customers. Aug 12, 2005
• Reward Programs: Use Them Competitively
  Basic principles behind concurrent reward schedules, and how to use rewards to compete. Jul 29, 2005
• Reward Programs: Interval Schedules
  Extremely successful rewards based on time rather than number of transactions. Jul 15, 2005
• Reward Programs: Ratio Schedules
  Highly effective rewards that can be applied to all types of businesses, online and off-. Jul 1, 2005
• Reward Programs: Continuous Rewards and Business Rules
  The difference between rewards and business rules, and why it matters. Jun 17, 2005
• Reward Programs: Common Strategies
  If you use rewards and incentives in your business, understand how they work. Jun 3, 2005
• Loyalty Doesn't Come From a Program
  Loyalty programs are a dime a dozen. Make your company, and your site, stand out. May 20, 2005
• Customer Loyalty Versus Self-Service
  Can customer loyalty based on human interaction coexist with the trend of self-service technologies that remove humans from the mix? May 6, 2005
• How to Screw Up Live Customer Chat (and How to Fix It)
  Ensure live chat is a customer service, not a customer ordeal. Apr 22, 2005
• Contingency Planning: Best Practices
  Revenue's lost all the time due to unexpected problems during users' online experience. Some best practices for bad scenarios. Apr 8, 2005
• Thank You For Your Order. Now, Leave!
  How single-purpose site design affects the user experience and user profitability. Mar 25, 2005
• Web Analytics, Mass Customization, and Metadata Converge
  Not just the what, but the why. Mar 11, 2005
• Does A Streamlined Site Mean Goodbye to Analytics?
  You've distilled checkout into a single, user-friendly page. Great ... except your analytics tool can no longer track the process. Feb 25, 2005
• When Push Turns to Shove: E-Mail Relevancy and Frequency
  Customers are getting tired of all the e-mail, even if they asked for it. Two case studies one-mail relevancy and frequency. Feb 11, 2005
• Audit Before You Redesign
  Creating a list of prioritized projects for your Web site? Before you do, audit it! Jan 28, 2005
• Interoperability: Play Nice With Others
  An isolationist mentality hurts you in the long term. At some point, you have to play nice with others. Oct 28, 2004
• Not My Kind: Customers You Don't Want
  Beware of creating loyalty programs and incentives that attract the wrong kind of customers. Oct 14, 2004
• The Rebrand Challenge: UPS/ MBE Vs. FedEx/Kinko's
  A year ago, UPS acquired and rebranded Mailboxes, Etc. stores. FedEx followed suit with Kinko's. Which company rebranded successfully -- and which didn't? Sep 30, 2004
• Making an E-Commerce Checklist
  It's that time of year again. A four-point list to get your e-commerce site in shape for the holidays. Sep 16, 2004
• Prelaunch: Build Anticipation and Comfort
  Launching a new product, service, or site? Properly prepare (or even titillate) customers. Sep 2, 2004
• Are Your Customers Lost in Translation?
  Need a language-independent user experience? Consider metadata. Aug 19, 2004
• CRM Without a Direct Sales Channel
  Every industry can benefit from CRM. B2B companies face especially interesting challenges. Aug 5, 2004
• Mass Customization With a Personalized Experience
  Automation is great -- up to a point. Case study of an online merchant that strikes the right balance between personalization and personalized. Jul 22, 2004
• Vendors and ASPs: Breaking the Ties That Bind
  How to work with vendors and still maintain independence. Jul 8, 2004
• Applying Pareto's Principle to User Segmentation and Site Design
  Why should your site be all things to all people? Make it effective for those who matter most. Jun 24, 2004
• The Law of Diminishing Returns
  Categorization: when does a Web site have too much of a good thing? Jun 10, 2004
• Create an Ineffective Loyalty Program in Two Easy Steps
  Good loyalty programs are based on encouragement and rewards, not enforcement. May 27, 2004
• Using Metadata to Simplify Product Categories
  Metadata can help differentiate between product categories and product attributes. May 13, 2004
• Reverse Append Your Metadata: Glean Product Correlations From User-Centric Metadata
  Most marketers apply product attributes to users. Smarter ones also apply user attributes to their products. Apr 29, 2004
• Avoiding Over-Justification
  If it's already sold, don't sell it. Apr 15, 2004
• Configurators: Using Metadata to Choose Products
  A bottom-up approach to product recommendation. Apr 1, 2004
• Use Metadata to Enhance Personalization
  A low-cost, high-return alternative to fancy CRM packages. Mar 18, 2004
• ITV's Commercials
  What will ITV bring to TV commercials? Mar 4, 2004
• Think Like a Multichannel Company
  Online or off-? For retailers, the twain can (and should) meet. Feb 19, 2004
• Happy Customers Equal Cheaper Customers
  How to factor the ROI of resolving customer complaints into a development schedule. Feb 5, 2004
• When Will AI Help Solve Spam?
  Targeting spam with artificial intelligence and concept technologies. Jan 22, 2004
• 2004: Beyond the Browser?
  Is it time for e-commerce players to think about life outside the browser? Jan 8, 2004
• Wrapping Up 2003
  CRM Strategies' year in review. Dec 11, 2003
• Does Your Company Have an Ego Problem?
  When 'you' means 'me,' all the customer gets is lip service. Nov 13, 2003
• Mass Product Customization, Continued
  Custom or customer? Product or process? The discussion continues in a follow-up to 'Personalization, Meet Mass Customization. Oct 30, 2003
• Personalization, Meet Mass Customization
  Custom or customer? Product or process? Marketers must understand the distinctions -- no matter how well those made-to-order jeans fit! Oct 16, 2003
• Personalized Holidays
  Crafting personalized offers for personal holidays. Oct 2, 2003
• Navigation Pages Versus Content Pages
  How deep can users dive into your site? Find the right balance between navigation and content. Sep 18, 2003
• Consumers Are Getting Smarter. Are You?
  Fight usability battles in the words of your customers. Sep 4, 2003
• Are Viral Communities Back?
  The next generation tries to better capitalize on exponential growth. Aug 21, 2003
• ASAP's Fables
  How long is 'as soon as possible'? Defining, and meeting, customer deadlines. Aug 7, 2003
• Make Policies Positive
  Be a spin doctor. Make the negative more positive, and build customer loyalty. Jul 24, 2003
• Crafting a Personalized Subject Line
  Creating subject lines that get e-mail opened. Jul 10, 2003
• Reactivation Campaigns: Reviving Your Long-Lost Customers
  Don't let your customers 'expire.' Bring them back to life. Jun 26, 2003
• Making CRM Accessible
  Make your site and e-mail easier for all your customers. Jun 12, 2003
• E-Mail: A Dialogue, Not Just Direct Marketing
  Use e-mail for direct marketing only? Stop wasting that vast potential! May 29, 2003
• Multichannel Marketing: Channibalism?
  Fear one channel will steal business from another? You may be a channibalism victim. May 15, 2003
• It's My Birthday. Buy Me a Present.
  Online gift services come in different guises. Which is best for your site? May 1, 2003
• A Brand by Any Other Name
  I've grown accustomed to her face: Rebranding raises delicate customer issues. Apr 17, 2003
• How to Ruin a Multichannel Campaign in Five Easy Steps
  Follow along as Jack goes through the steps making a well-intentioned multichannel marketing campaign fail. Apr 3, 2003
• Create a New Channel: Does Wireless Deserve Another 15 Minutes?
  Steps to determine if wireless (or any other new channel) belongs in your multichannel strategy. Mar 20, 2003
• When Viral Marketing and Householding Intersect
  Viral marketing and householding frequently intersect. Here's one company doing it right, another that's missing the boat. Mar 6, 2003
• Brand Is in the Details
  Seemingly insignificant site design elements can torpedo a brand message. Jack tells you how to stay vigilant. Feb 20, 2003
• Desire Data
  What information sells a product or service? How much, and in what order? A new, three-point approach to online selling. Feb 6, 2003
• Customer Service: Admit You Have a Problem
  How companies resolve (or don't resolve) customer complaints can be a strong indicator of why there are complaints in the first place. Jan 23, 2003
• Who Had the Worst User Experience?
  Big brands, big boo-boos. Lessons learned from user experience shortcomings at Amazon, NBC, and Sony. Jan 9, 2003
• Education as a CRM Tool
  Shorten sales cycles and create additional revenue streams. What you learn about your customers is often as valuable as what they'll learn from you. Jan 2, 2003
• 2002: The Abridged Version
  We've covered a lot of ground in the past year. Let's recap. Dec 26, 2002
• Email Marketing: More Than Just Email
  Putting the user experience back into email marketing. Nov 14, 2002
• Viva la TiVolution!
  Jack controls much more than the vertical! Oct 31, 2002
• Personalization Myopia: Lessons From a Cruise Ship
  The best personalization provides site visitors with a little elbow room. Oct 17, 2002
• Your Website as a Narrative, Part 4: Conclusion
  Your Web site visitors may be consumers, engineers, or managers, but, above all, they're human. Oct 3, 2002
• Your Website as a Narrative Device, Part 3: Micronarratives
  How to use reviews, testimonials, products guides and opinions to appeal to 'Everyman' and 'Experts-Only' buyers. Sep 19, 2002
• Your Web Site As a Narrative Device, Part 2: Call to Action
  Don't just stand there, DO something! Your site should be filled with relevant calls to action -- and the expectation not everyone's going to answer that call. Sep 11, 2002
• Your Web Site As a Narrative Device: Introduction
  Stories are memorable; they increase interest and understanding and leave deep impressions. Here's how to make your Web site tell a story. Aug 22, 2002
• Needs-Based Browsing
  Customers need needs-based browsing. Your site does, too. Aug 8, 2002
• You Say Tomato, I Say T-Shirt
  Your customers aren't going to learn your company's language. It's up to you to learn theirs -- and to make your search function usercentric. Jul 25, 2002
• Does 'Minority Report' Portray a Scary Future?
  Movie critics chatter about the film's depiction of personalization gone too far. Jack's worried, too, but not about that aspect. Jul 11, 2002
• I Don't Know You: CRM for the Anonymous Browser
  Even your best friend was once a stranger. The bulk of your site's visitors aren't registered users, but anonymous browsers. How to make them want to get to know you. Jun 27, 2002
• A Unified Virgin
  Every customer touch point needs to reinforce your brand and your voice. It takes just one employee who doesn't understand this to dissolve your brand. Jun 13, 2002
• Where Can You Find the Best Couscous?
  Where and how does personalization intersect with globalization? Can it help your company do business abroad? Jack got to thinking on a recent trip to Europe and North Africa. May 30, 2002
• How Not To Be A Stupid Vendor
  Tech vendors: Do your 'solutions' solve anything -- or do they just create more problems? May 16, 2002
• Happy Birthday. You've Changed. Can We Still Be Friends?
  Nothing is forever -- including personalization. Even loyal visitors' personal preferences change over time. How's your site handling this? May 2, 2002
• 'My' Sites: And the Winners Are...
  If the Internet is all about Me, what are the best 'My' sites on the Web? Apr 18, 2002
• Welcome Back, Mr. Lesbian!: Pitfalls of Perceived Personalization
  Jack learned -- the hard way -- customers may think you're personalizing content when you're not. Apr 4, 2002
• Zero-Budget Personalization Makeover, No. 1: A Small Travel Agent
  A small site rents vacation houses in Italy. Can it get personal with its existing technology? Jack says: Yes. Mar 21, 2002
• Designing a "My" Area
  When bringing users into an 'inner sanctum' where they'll be asked to reveal personal information, make sure they feel safe doing so. Mar 7, 2002
• Combining Personal and Personalized in Your Email
  Personalization isn't good enough -- you need to be personal, too. Jack explains the difference and how to combine the two without breaking your budget. Feb 19, 2002
• Personalization With No Budget, Part 2
  If your "personalization" projects didn't make the 2002 budget, that doesn't mean you can't incorporate personalization into the projects that DID make cut this year. Feb 5, 2002
• Personalization With No Budget, Part 1
  Didn't get that budget you requested? Don't despair. There are ways you can achieve your goals without spending a lot of dough. Jan 22, 2002
• 2002: The Year We Make Contact (With Our Customers)
  New writer Jack Aaronson takes the reins of ClickZ's Personalization column and begins by laying out his goals and aims. Jan 8, 2002

Back to Jack Aaronson

• PPC Specialist
  Alpha 411 New York, United States
• Director of Search Engine and Social Media Optimization
  Howcast Media Inc. San Francisco, United States New York, United States
• Director Ad Network
  Media Giants New York, United States
• Director of Search Strategy
  Teleflora Los Angeles, United States
• SEO Manager
  GSI Commerce King of Prussia, United States

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