Web Tracking Firm Blends E-Zines and Surveys
Need to poll one in three Internet users? Looking to reach men or college students who say the Web is their primary source for information on products they plan on purchasing?
BURST! says it can help. The company sells advertising for over 2,000 specialty content Web sites, separated into 20 content channels and four demographic segments.
That’s not all. Its e-newsletter, Online Insights, goes to approximately 10,000 advertisers, agency, media reps, clients who purchase media and other media pros.
“Our primary goal is to give information on online audience behavior, attitudes and their Internet views,” says Chuck Moran, Manger of market research. “The Internet is a young medium and people are clamoring for information on what people do online and how they react to advertising.”
Online Insights was launched three years ago when ad agencies and media planners were seeking statistical and research information. What BURST! didn’t have, it pulled together from an already installed survey base. All sites that are part of the BURST! network are required to load a demographic survey.
“We can load questions on sites within an hour and we’re always running questions,” says Moran. “Overnight we can get 3 or 4,000 responses. We use that information in the newsletter.”
Editorial for the newsletter is handled within the firm’s marketing department. Research pieces cover trends on Internet use such as a piece on the receptiveness of audiences to download video.
“We include a research question on the e-mail that goes out to the media people,” says Moran. “Generally, we try to keep it to the briefer questions. It gives people an opportunity to respond to research.”
The newsletter also has a section that highlights existing sites in the BURST! Network, new sites and types of audiences. The newsletter isn’t tracked but Moran knows it’s being read from feedback and inquiries on their published research.
Based on the preference of the company’s salespeople, the e-newsletter can be e-mailed or printed out and mailed. Hard-copy mailing allows salespeople the ability to communicate with their contacts personally by adding notes.
“We like to do it that way so they have an opportunity to personalize it,” says Moran. “Sometimes people have their own schedule on mailings and they schedule it to fit into an overall content schedule they’ve created.”
The company uses Salesforce.com as the CRM system for salespeople to manage their contacts. From that, Moran knows how many e-newsletters have been sent – and when.
It’s difficult to gauge ROI, he says. But considering the number of hits and the volume of inquiries received, Moran views it as a success. “It’s always nice when someone gets an RFP from an agency because of Online Insights and a piece of research it featured,” he says.
The newsletter cost is minimal due to the company’s base of Web sites that research is being conducted on, but the return is huge, he adds.
Moran cites the challenges he has faced as the initial hurdle of getting the base established for research capacity and then finding the appropriate tools to allow quick, efficient surveys. For surveying, the company uses Perseus.
Future plans include visually tweaking the appearance of the newsletter, breaking out audiences by geography and incorporating UK online research.
Moran feels the newsletter is a key component to the company’s marketing plan.
“We look at it in a way that we’re touching all of our contacts at least once a month. It’s not only a credentializing piece, for BURST! and our ability to do research, it is also a real branding opportunity. The type of research we do puts us ahead of our peer group.”
