Monday, April 23, 2001

E-Commerce Tips with a 3D Twist

Attention is the name of the game in e-commerce marketing: getting attention from potential customers, and holding that attention to make the sale. How can you create a marketing advantage in this vast new ocean of the Internet, which gets bigger every hour?

"The first step in effective e-commerce marketing," says Ron Wilkins, who has piloted several successful Internet firms, "is to stop thinking just in terms of Internet marketing."

The key is to use each medium to its best advantage, according to Wilkins. Newspapers, magazines, television still deliver a broad audience - you should use them to increase the visibility of your Web site.

But the Internet has different advantages in an integrated marketing strategy. The Internet is always there. You have a Web address, and people can go there anytime they want. It's the equivalent of a prime location for a bricks-and-mortar store, except that it's always open. So it's important to make sure that potential customers can find you.

A crucial advantage to an e-commerce site is the ability to personalize. You can track what the customer looks at, and provide the information most relevant to that customer. No other medium can do that.

But the information should be as complete as possible, and presented in a way that entertains while it informs. Put all that together, and you've captured that customer's attention, you've identified what that customer wants and you've held his or her attention with your message and its presentation. It's the total package.

"That's why we're so excited about the TDV Center," says Wilkins. "We're offering businesses engaged in e-commerce a total Internet marketing package. A web site address in a print or TV ad helps, but most customers will look for you through Internet search engines. As part of our package, we resubmit your website to all the major search engines every month--we have a list of 400 right now, and it's growing. So no matter what search engine someone uses, they'll find you."

"When someone does access your site, we'll track what they're interested in, so you can provide them with exactly the kind of information they're looking for. But the centerpiece of course is our true three-dimensional imaging system, what we call True Depth Visualization. It's a technology that gets you 'closer,' that gives you the feeling of 'being there,' whether it's a still image or animation or full motion video. It's the next step after color television, and one step short of virtual reality, but it works on your computer right now."

The TDV system means that a potential customer for an antique vase can see its true dimensions---they can turn it around and upside down. A real estate customer can see houses more accurately, without the distortion of two-dimensional photographs shot with fish-eye lens. So information is more complete, and presented in a dazzling and fascinating form.

"These images hang there in space," Wilkins says. "The urge to touch them is irresistible."

"We also make the connection between businesses and customers," Wilkins explains. "We offer not only the technology and the software to consumers, but through our TDV Center site, we provide our own search engine for sites that feature TDV images. And the Center provides a library of TDV images--your image on our site connects directly to your site, so a consumer who likes it can click on it and get to more of your message instantly."

Small and medium businesses are TDV's main focus, although larger businesses are signing up for the program.