PHOENIX - The Phoenix Forum successfully concluded its 10th installment Saturday, with attendees having the chance to network, party, and even learn.
The final day of the event kicked off with the morning seminar "Analysis and Promotion of the User Lifespan," moderated by Harlan Yaffe of PrideBucks.
In light of the slumping economy, and as more and more people are cutting out "luxury" items, Yaffe asked panelists what they were doing to keep memberships and attract new customers.
The panelists all agreed that today's surfers are more educated and particular about how and where they spend their dollar. Getting members to pass through that Join button is a matter of having a good site interface, noted Lisa Turner of Badpuppy.
"A successful landing page is important," she said.
Panelist Kirstin Wynters of TopBucks/Pink Visual added that once you can get the fickle consumer to join, it is imperative to communicate with that member to gain retention: "Bad customer service is the fastest way to lose your members."
Turner agreed: "Make members feel like this is their site." Interactivity is key in the Web 2.0 era, so features such as forums and more opportunities for user-control are must-have tools for member longevity.
"Members seem to stay when they feel they have some control," said Turner. The other key to optimizing user lifespan is to analyze user data, and if they do migrate elsewhere, do a cancel survey to see why they left and use that information to better your site for the next join. It seems that the only way to stay relevant, according to the panelists, is to listen to the consumer and cater to him as specifically and personally as possible.
The afternoon seminar series was "Monetizing Emerging Markets," moderated by LAJ of YNOT. With middle-income buying markets emerging from formerly third-word countries, there is plenty of new real estate to be monetized. In terms of effectively monetizing emerging markets, such as India and China, Ananda Sisk of Mansions Productions noted that, "There is a learning curve to the Internet. The cultural experience with the Internet is revolutionary for them [emerging markets]. They are not used to getting things for free."
This presents a unique opportunity, to grab a customer before they have complete Internet fluency. Europe presents a different opportunity, as "Europeans have a higher price tolerance than Americans," commented Adrian Camilleri of CCBill EU, meaning they are more willing to pay for things that Americans would rather get for free. Though the opportunities are plentiful and the marketplace encouraging, there are some potential landmines. One of these is individual country law; another is making sure you are specifically targeting an individual market.
"If they don't understand the product, they are not going to pay for it. Localization of your content [must be a priority]," said Omar Rodriguez of Globally Translated, as it's an excellent way of catering specifically to a unique market, i.e. making the content available in the local language.
Every panelist agreed that the No. 1 way to bill in these new markets is through SMS, aka mobile-phone billing. Even in countries where running water is scarce, the mobile phone is ubiquitous, as more than a few panelists pointed out. (Additionally, in places where the Internet is regulated, such as China, it is an application that falls outside the radar.)
As has become tradition, The Phoenix Forum bid farewell to attendees with parties. XXX IronMan Late-Night Suites and Allure Cash's Late-Night Breakfast helped bring the show to a close.
For more information, visit ThePhoenixForum.com.
