Tom Lindmeier’s Blog @ MarketPlanB

Your digital prowess does not impress. Your Blackberry does not contain the codes for an emergency nuclear missile response. It can wait; believe me, you’re not that important.

Ecommerce marketers typically take a closer look at competitors promotion strategies during the 4th quarter holiday season because aggressive competitors may steal a substantial portion of business with the right offers. This is also true during economic downturns as marketers struggle to achieve revenue targets and are willing to give up margin to maintain market share and move inventory. Some will strive to take advantage of the downturn with the purpose of dealing fatal blows to weaker competitors.

Expo TV is a site that aggregates user-generated product review videos. Its’ a great concept that moves beyond the traditional text-based product reviews. Judging by by the funding they have recently received, investors believe it is very promising.
I recently encountered ExpoTV videos posted on YouTube that caused me to pause and sniff. Although these are genuine user-generated reviews my impression was that they are somewhat disingenuous.

Because of the proliferation of video sharing on the web, you may have considered or deployed video for branding and public relations on your online retail site. But the real payback may come from product demonstrations that are added to your rich media mix. Companies such as Ice.com have reported conversion increases of 40% for products with video presentations.