INO.com Financial Advertising Blog

January – Perfect Time To Test A Dedicated

Posted by Bob Fladung

Dedicated emails are one of the most well known ad placements. They are in high-demand, as they provide an uninterrupted voice between your company and our audience.

INO.com has a base of 300,000 active traders who look to us for trading resource and information. We take pride in our list hygiene and feel that it ultimately helps the effectivness of our advertiser’s placements. We also take measures to protect those on our list by limiting emails sends and complying

Please reach out to me to learn about any available dedicated email inventory. I think this would be a great time to test our list. I know you’ll be back soon looking to schedule your next email send.

Bob Fladung
Director of Advertising
INO.com, Inc.

Are you ready for 2015?

Posted by Bob Fladung

Happy New Year! I can’t believe 2015 is upon us. This is my 16th year with INO.com and things sure have changed since I entered the world of digital marketing. Things are sure to change this year as well.

Here are a few trends that I think you will see in 2015…

Merging – Social media, marketing, sales and customer service will all be managed together as more companies recognize the importance of a holistic approach.

Personalization – Companies will continue to market to the individual through better customer relationship management practices.

Analytics – Data analysis will continue to be of prime importance to marketing managers. If a position or creative can’t prove results, then justification for continuation may not be there.

INO.com will continue to adapt our offerings and technology to match industry trends and the needs of our clients.

If you have any questions or would like to chat about your 2015 digital marketing goals, please contact me.

Best,

Bob Fladung
Director of Advertising
INO.com, Inc.

Merry Christmas!

Posted by Bob Fladung

No matter what holiday you celebrate, I wish you health, happiness and an amazing 2015! Hopefully you are surrounded by the people you love most, which is all you really need.

As you turn work off for a few days and focus on friends and family, know that we are gearing up for an exciting new year. So, relax, kick your feet up, fill your belly and enjoy this time… I’ll be here when you’re ready to get back to work.

Sincerely,

Bob Fladung
Director of Advertising
INO.com, Inc.

Where will CMOs spend their ad budget?

Posted by Bob Fladung

Our Director of Marketing, Lindsay Bittinger, recently went to a CMO discussion panel. After a general marketing talk, someone from the audience asked a fantastic question, “If you had an unlimited marketing budget for 2015, where would you allocate the majority of your funds?” The five panelists answered one by one and they all had the same response – “CRM!”

Customer relationship management (CRM) is not a new concept, but technology has made it easier for this marketing technique to be efficiently scaled. Now it is simple for even the smallest of companies to manage customer interactions. The uses for CRM systems are limitless, tracking customer service, stimulating repeat business, evaluating warranties, cross-selling, selling, up-selling, lead nurturing, logistical tracking, contact management, identifying top revenue-producing customers, forecasting, analyzing customer service satisfaction, synchronizing marketing messages, the list could go on and on.

Why is CRM a Top Priority?

It improves efficiency! By knowing more information about your prospective and current customers, you can make the best use of your resources.

For example, if your CRM system tracks previous orders and your product or service is one that must be reordered or renewed, you can automate a fulfillment request to obtain a scheduled sale. This will also help you forecast necessary inventory and plan for staffing accordingly.

Another example would be recognizing website traffic patterns and adapting pages based on those findings. If users are not converting to a sale on your main sales page and instead go through a 3-4 page process to educate themselves prior to becoming a customer, you may want to adapt your checkout page or behavior-based email series to include more information about your product or service to reduce conversion time.

Today, there are currently many CRM systems available. Some offer companies a way to simply put useful information in the flood, while others offer an integrated tool that merges data centers together into a clean and organized system. When working to create a CRM system, it is imperative that you, the company, are aware of the information that is important and understand how analyzing that information will help to forecast, allocate resources, cue marketing messages, etc.

INO.com has built an extensive CRM database that assists all departments in carrying out their job functions in an effective manner. This is no cookie-cutter system. It has been custom-built by INO.com co-owner and Technical Director, Dave Maher. Dave is very proud of this system as it has allowed INO to be extremely efficient, very granular in analysis, and far more profitable.

Dave recognizes that each company is unique and their goals and priorities can’t simply be selected by checking the box of a one-size-fits-all CRM system. CRM systems must be built from the ground up through ongoing communication between the programmer and key players of the customer service, sales, and marketing teams.

Please contact us at [email protected] if you are interested in a CRM system analysis. For almost 30 years, INO.com has been collecting, organizing, and profiting with the help of our CRM system and we are happy to chat with you more about how to improve and streamline your CRM tools.

If you have any questions, please leave them as a comment and we will be sure to answer you.

Bob Fladung
Director of Advertising
INO.com, Inc.

December Inventory Available

Posted by Bob Fladung

During the month of December we have limited inventory set aside for new client testing. Our 728×90 Leaderboards are prominently located on our exchange and market pages. We can accept multiple ad formats, geo-target or cap impressions upon client request.

If you’ve been waiting to test a creative at a promotional price to a premium audience, here is your chance! Contact me today to reserve these impressions.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Bob Fladung
Director of Advertising
INO.com, Inc.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by Bob Fladung

This has got to be my favorite holiday! All historic importance aside, I love that there is a holiday that simply reminds me how grateful I am for life. From waking each day to my amazing family, my awesome coworkers, and my amazing clients… I have so much to be thankful for!

I am also thankful for this industry of digital marketing. There is always change and just when we think we’ve mastered it, a new trend shift or new technology appears and we must go back to the drawing board to come up with the next set of solutions for our clients. It keeps the days fresh and the market firm… and I can’t complain about either one of those!

I want to wish you all a great Thanksgiving. Enjoy the time with your family and friends and count your blessings.

Sincerely,

Bob Fladung
Director of Advertising
INO.com, Inc.

Why a great working relationship with your sales rep really matters!

Posted by Bob Fladung

I have been blessed to work with some of the same clients for over a decade. I know the names of my clients’ children, their background before working with me, and even their favorite beer.

While these things sound like trivial factoids and they have no bearing on a campaign’s performance, they are important. It makes working with someone just a bit nicer if you simply get to know them.

In sales, regardless of industry, you often have clients that come and go throughout the years. Sometimes it’s just the state of the market, sometimes it’s people moving from industry to industry, and sometimes it’s just that two companies aren’t a great fit. Fortunately, I haven’t had to deal with a tremendous amount of turnaround and I’ve been able to foster great relationships and even friendships with many of my clients.

Why does a good relationship with your advertising rep matter?

Well, it’s obvious, right? It makes life a bit more pleasant! Not only will your day go faster if you’re working with people you like, but you are able to work more efficiently. If communication is key, then a friendly environment for questions and answers can save time, money, and can just be fun.

I think that learning about your client’s goals, as well as their communication style, can help set expectations, improve campaign results and strengthen what could be a long and lucrative relationship.

You don’t have to small talk for the sake of small talk. Instead, spend a few minutes to truly understand each other. When you have this two-way relaxed conversation either on the phone, through email, or a Skype chat, each party can ask questions to better understand the campaign, improve efficiency and just have a bit of basic human interaction!

I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.

Bob Fladung
Director of Advertising
INO.com, Inc.

How To Set A Campaign Up For Co-Reg Success

Posted by Bob Fladung

Co-registration (co-reg) is a very popular marketing tool that leverages a preferred list or offer to generate leads for other offers.

This arrangement to share a user’s information, if and only if the user agrees, is prevalent in the financial industry. This opportunity to piggyback an offer can introduce new potential customers to a company or offer in a non-invasive, low-cost way that gives the user the power to decide if they want the connection to be made. Some co-registration programs will only display a few offers while others may display page after page of promotions.

The Pros & Cons of Co-Registration

Like all advertising channels, this type of permission-based marketing has its benefits as well as its limitations. Co-reg leads are typically less expensive, and these offers can sometimes generate a very high number of leads in a short amount of time. These offers can also be very targeted based on the initial offer or list which first generated the lead.

Despite the cost and volume benefits, co-reg puts your offer in direct competition with other offers. The quality may also suffer as a result of users who simply sign-up for all of the free offers presented. Also, since co-reg programs do not immediately re-direct the user to your site, the user may not recall your offer at the time you are able to fulfill their offer request.

How To Set Up A Campaign For Co-Registration Success

Asking your publisher or network the right questions prior to beginning a co-reg campaign can set the appropriate expectations and allow you to estimate a realistic return on investment.

1) How many offers will I be competing with?

Depending on the publisher or network, your offer could be one of few or one of many. Ask your rep if they limit the number of co-reg offers that will be shown at any one time. While some publishers may put the “all mighty dollar” ahead of their clients and add you to an ever-fluctuating list, other publishers will put a strict cap on the number of offers they will run at any one time to protect their advertisers.

2) Is the publisher able to geo-target your co-reg campaign?

Some co-reg publishers may not have the technical tools in place to recognize the IP location before showing co-reg offers. You will be responsible for paying for both domestic and international leads. However, some publishers, like INO.com, can display and charge for only the leads that fit your geographic criteria. By regulating this variable, advertisers are able to improve their return on investment as well as test new potential markets.

3) How quickly can I follow up with the offer-taker?

With co-reg, you are introducing yourself to a user that is also getting an introduction from other companies. It is important you make another point of contact as soon as you can. This way, the user remembers your offer. While your internal capabilities may dictate your follow-up speed, make sure the publisher has a way to send your leads in a timely manner. Ask them if they can send you an email in real-time with the user’s information, send you daily spreadsheets with all registrants, or a mechanism to pass the data to your database.

4) How will I determine if this campaign is a success?

While this is more of a conversation to have with your internal team, publishers recognize that co-reg is a numbers game. The campaign will be successful or a flop depending on how much you are able to monetize the lead and how quickly you are able to recapture your initial investment. These two metrics will be based on your initial cost per lead. Cost per lead will often fluctuate as a result of supply and demand.

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INO.com uses a different model to price our co-reg campaigns. Although the order volume will have a great influence on price, we also take into account how our users respond to an offer. The better-performing offers will take rank over lesser-performing offers. In this case, we are able to offer better pricing to advertisers that use less of our inventory, yet generate high response rates.

Co-registration can be both an effective and efficient tool to have in your marketing toolbox when coupled with the right publisher. When the advertiser’s needs are not of primary importance, some publishers try to generate a high quantity, low-quality lead. However, other publishers, like INO.com, have the technical capability and the integrity to serve as a high quantity and high-quality lead source for financial marketers.

Best wishes,

Bob Fladung
Director of Advertising
INO.com, Inc.

November Openings – Top Stocks Sponsorship!

Posted by Bob Fladung

New advertisers and current ones alike will be thrilled to hear that we have a few Top Stocks Sponsorship positions left in November. These sponsorships won’t be available for long and this position is typically sold out months in advance. These will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Please contact me for the open November Top Stocks Sponsorship dates.

This sponsorship position is located at the top of our daily Top Stocks email, which goes out by request to over 111,000 traders. This list shares the top 10 trending stocks for the day based on our proprietary technology and is a perfect opportunity for trading-related products, newsletters, and equities brokerage firms.

Shoot me a message to reserve your sponsorship.

Best,

Bob Fladung
Director of Advertising
INO.com, Inc.

Improving Deliverability and Optimizing Email Lists

Posted by Bob Fladung

As an email publisher, we have a responsibility to our clients to follow best practices to ensure email deliverability and reduce advertiser budget loss.

While this takes manpower, resources, and does not always add to our bottom line, it’s imperative that we protect those that we do business with, as well as defend the list and database that we have worked so hard to build. If we lose our email integrity, we lose everything.

To protect and optimize our list, we…

1) Only Send Third-Party Messages To Consenting Individuals

When we offer a complimentary service or resource, we make it clear that individuals may receive third-party offers if we believe that the user would be interested in them. This permission-based (opt-in) technique builds trust and sets expectations for the relationship with our subscribers.

2) Employ Proper List Hygiene & Value CAN-SPAM Compliancy

We clean our lists often and filter our inactive subscribers using email provider feedback loops and also monitor abuse complaints.

If we have a subscriber report abuse, we immediately flag them and remove from any and all email subscriptions. This process boosts open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates for our advertisers and internal messages.

3) Limit Our Monthly Sends & Ensure Quality

In order to maintain user loyalty and interest, we think it’s imperative to provide a proper balance between our valuable content and any third-party messaging. Therefore, we set a strict monthly cap for any external dedicated sends. Although this means passing up revenue, we know it improves results for our advertisers, in turn making them long-term customers.

4) Maintain Vendor Relationships & Manage Reputation

Our Technical Director, David Maher, has proactively managed email services and has maintained personal contacts with major email providers to keep whitelisting and good reputation a major priority. With that said, INO.com boasts long-term consistency with exclusive email server ownership. Reputation is also audited through Return Path Certification and monitoring services.

What this means for you is high deliverability for your email order.

Unlike many publishers, we do not inflate our list volume by including dead contacts in our list counts. You will get the most out of your ad dollars and a greater return on investment from a reputable publisher! We are proud of our email integrity and will continue to protect one of our most precious assets through best practices and dedicated proactive management.

Call me to chat about our email availability!

Best,

Bob Fladung
Director of Advertising
INO.com, Inc.