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Registrar Connections
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October 2008
In this issue
Recap of European Registrar Day
Fall in Amsterdam was the perfect time of year
to bring VeriSign executives together with registrar attendees from
all over Europe to share and absorb new ideas surrounding the domain
name industry. This year’s European Registrar Day was held in
Amsterdam on October 7. The Park Plaza Victoria Amsterdam hotel,
located in downtown Amsterdam, provided the perfect venue for discussions
around the latest product and channel opportunities available to registrars,
specifically in the European region. Local VeriSign team
members in attendance included representatives from account management
and customer service. They were able to provide valuable insights
into customer profiles, trends and future direction associated with
the European market.
In addition, the agenda included two speakers
from VeriSign’s European region who spoke on hot topics including internet
security, identity and authentication services for governments, consumers,
and businesses.
The VeriSign team used this as an opportunity
to bring the most up to date content surrounding the domain name industry
to European registrars, gather their feedback on current and upcoming
products and services and generally create an atmosphere where concerns
and ideas could be freely shared. All registrars that attended
indicated that they had a better understanding of VeriSign’s products
and services and had gained ideas that they could use to enhance their
own business
A visit to Amsterdam, known as the “Venice
of the North”, would not have been complete without a dinner cruise
down the canal. The evening boat ride, reception and dinner were
fun and scenic but also provided an excellent opportunity for one-on-one
discussions.
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Using New Customer Engagement to Improve Renewal Rates
Internet Profile Service for Registrars
Do you target new customers when planning your
renewal programs? Many registrars would likely answer “no.” After all,
the customer has just registered the domain name, and the renewal won’t
be due for a year or possibly longer.
If you don’t typically consider new customers
in your planning, you may be missing out on an excellent opportunity
to improve renewal rates. One customer segment in particular – those
who have recently registered domain names, but haven’t put up a Web
site or set up email services yet – can be an important target audience
for effective renewal programs, and should not be overlooked.
There are two factors behind this. The first
is that whether a domain name resolves is a key factor in higher renewal
rates. Not surprisingly, customers who actively use their domain names
are more likely to renew them.
The second is that while it is generally accepted
that it’s less expensive to keep a current customer than it is to get
a new one, customers who change their buying habits can have just as
much of an impact on your bottom line. Particularly in today’s volatile
business climate, it makes good sense to focus on new customers and
determine what additional services and benefits you can provide to strengthen
that relationship – and in turn, increase revenues.
The VeriSign Internet Profile Service for Registrars
can help you identify potentially at-risk new customers with the Newly-Registered
Non-Resolving Domain Names Report. This report shows new .com
and .net domain name registrations under your management that are 30
to 45 days old which do not resolve. You can use this data, for example,
to send targeted offers to these customers for Web site hosting, email
services, or site builder tools. It can also present an excellent opportunity
to find out if customers need additional technical support activating
their domain names. You may even wish to reach out via telemarketing
programs to customers who have registered multiple new domain names.
To learn more about the Internet Profile Service
for Registrars and find out how you can receive on-going reports, please
email namingmarketing@verisign.com,
or visit the VeriSign
web site .
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Social Networking --What Are People
Saying about Your Brand
Leveraging
Social Networking to complement your existing marketing program
A recent e-Marketer study from August 2008 shows that
almost half of online retailers in the US are focusing on Social Networking.
If you are interested in leveraging Social Networking to complement
your existing marketing program, there are some basic concepts that
you should remember when implementing your strategy.
Forrester’s
“Groundswell” is a must read for those who are new to online
community. The book defines social media as a “Groundswell: A social
trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from
each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.”
This series of articles is structured around the basic tenets of Forrester’s
Groundswell.
As you put together your plan of action for social
media, Forrester recommends that you focus on four key areas, (use the
acronym “POST” to remember them).
People: Assess your customers’ social activities.
Objectives: Decide what you want to accomplish.
Strategy: Plan for how relationships with customers will change.
Technology: Decide which social technologies to use.
As you focus first on “People,” you’ll want to do
research on your audience, and find out what people are saying about
your brand online. There are several free tools that can help you do
this.
- Forrester’s
Technographic Profile Tool: Forrester defines several categories
of social media users: the “creators,” the “critics,” the “collectors,”
the “joiners,” and the spectators.” Their free tool allows you
to profile your customers’ social computing behaviors. The tool is powered
by Forrester research.
- Google Blog
Search: you can find out what bloggers are talking about, for free.
- Technorati.com:
search on a keyword or on your brand name. Technorati also ranks bloggers
according to their influence.
- Google Alerts:
This is a free and easy way to monitor the blogosphere for mentions
of your brand or products.
This is the first in a series of articles about social
media. In the next article, we’ll look at other techniques you
can use to “listen” to the blogosphere, which will be your first step
in any social media program.
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How to Make Email Marketing Work Harder for You
VeriSign Webinar Series: The Basics of Using Email to Drive
Renewals
Email can be a cost-effective alternative to
offline direct mail renewal efforts, if you know how to optimize your
creative presentation to drive response. In the first session of a two-part
series, learn how small, inexpensive changes to copy, design and layout
can dramatically increase ROI on your email renewal efforts. We’ll cover
best practices for:
- Sender address
- Subject line
- Auto-preview content
- Preview pane view
- Writing copy for
online
- Email layout and
design
The presentation includes real-world examples
of effective email marketing that will arm you with additional knowledge
that you can then apply to your own renewal efforts.
Please join us for this important session led
by Jeanne Jennings, a leading consultant, author and speaker on effective
email marketing strategy and tactics. She has more than 20 years of
industry experience and has garnered measurable results for well-known
clients such as Verizon, Mayo Clinic and Weight Watchers International.
Don’t miss the chance to participate in the
first of this two part series. Join us Thursday October 30th at
9am ET and 3pm ET for a live Q&A session. Also, watch for
information on the next Webinar, Email Marketing Part Two, to be held
in November.
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eMarketer: Where is Online Video Headed?
Key trends for online video ads and content
Published: October 2008
eMarketer CEO Geoff Ramsey spoke about the
future of online video recently at IAB MIXX. He said that in the near- and midterm,
television and online video models will merge, both in content and ads.
TV will get more measurement, targeting and accountability, while online
video content will improve to rival TV.
One of the brightest spots will be the on-demand
video model. The format, which lets consumers watch whatever they want
at any time of day or night, will continue to be largely ad-supported.
Despite the rise in online video ad spending,
the medium will remain small in terms of ad dollars—especially compared
with the $70 billion TV market—but it will grow to over $3 billion by
2012.
David Hallerman is a senior analyst covering
online video at eMarketer. Like Mr. Ramsey, he foresees changes in ad
models as the online video market grows. New models for online video
advertising, such as through widgets, or new/old models, such as product
placement and sponsorship, will coexist with increasing use of in-stream
ads (for example, preroll), which are currently associated with traditional
TV content.
The greatest increases for US video ad spending
will come from large brand marketers (aka, traditional) placing TV-like
commercials (mostly preroll and midroll) against professional content
from large media companies.
However, much of that content and associated
advertising will be distributed across the Internet, not at the destination
sites of each TV network.
To read the full report, please contact Jennifer Moore at 212.763.6046
or send an email to jmoore@emarketer.com.
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Compliance Corner: Payment
Security Requirements
Payment Security: What Is It?
In accordance with Section 5.1(c) of the Registry-Registrar Agreement,
Registrars are required to provide VeriSign with an upfront payment,
or promise of payment, prior to the start of the domain name registration
process. Known as a payment security, a cash deposit or irrevocable
letter of credit can satisfy this obligation.
How Is A Payment Security Calculated?
It is up to each Registrar to determine a Payment Security amount
that will ensure they have sufficient funds in their account(s) to cover
domain name registration costs. The amount of the payment security
depends upon a registrar’s business plan. However, at a minimum,
a Payment Security must be equal to:
(Number of anticipated monthly registrations)
X (number of years in use) X
(US $6.86 for .com registrations or US $4.98
USD for .net registrations)
For example, Registrar ABC Company expects
to register an average of 5,000 .com domain names and 1,000 .net domain
names per month. To meet VeriSign’s Payment Security requirement,
this Registrar would be required to provide a cash deposit or irrevocable
letter of credit in the amount of US $39,280, determined as follows:
(5,000 X 1 X US $6.86) + (1,000 X 1 X US $4.98)
= US $39,280
How Does It Work?
As domain name registrations are processed, there is a “virtual”
deduction to the Registrar’s available credit (the deduction is “virtual”
since money is not transferred from the Payment Security to VeriSign).
Each month, the Registrar is invoiced for domain name registrations
processed in the prior month. Prompt payment of the invoice replenishes
the Registrar’s available credit, or Payment Security. Registrars
are required to increase their Payment Security at any time that their
registration levels increase consistently beyond their current Payment
Security. If the available credit reaches zero, the Registrar
will not be able to perform further billable transactions until a payment
is made or the Payment Security is increased.
Have questions or want more information?
Simply e-mail cao@verisign-grs.com or call 703-925-6999 and
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In the News
This section contains a selection of articles pertaining to the Domain
Name Industry compiled by Information, Inc.
"Bengali and Khmer Added to IDN Testing Process"
ICANN.org
(10/09/08) Keenan, Jason
ICANN has added two new languages--Bengali and Khmer--to the worldwide
Internet testing process. "Each time we add a new language to the
wiki, we open up the chance for more characters to be tested, and for
more people to be involved and offer us input and ideas," says
ICANN's Tina Dam. "Since we launched the wiki with 11 languages
in October 2007, we have added six new languages." The new Bengali
and Khmer wiki pages are located off the main IDN wiki page, idn.icann.org,
and via bn.idn.icann.org and km.idn.icann.org. Since the addresses and
certain content display in fonts that numerous Internet users may not
have downloaded to their computers, ICANN has included a font page to
the IDN wiki. It lets users see if the fonts are loaded, and enables
them to download them if they are not. The font page is available at:
http://idn.icann.org/Fonts.
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-09oct08-en.htm
"More Americans Watching Video Online"
Agence
France Presse (09/26/08)
The number of Americans watching video streamed through a browser has
risen from 32 percent a year ago to 63 percent today, concludes a new
ABI Research study. The increase in the consumption of online video
comes as the amount of rich content available and the number of broadband
connections continues to grow. "Broadband speeds have continued
to increase at the same time that Hollywood has decided online distribution
is a legitimate monetization opportunity that will increase total return
on their video assets, and expand audiences," says ABI's Michael
Wolf. ABI found that Americans in all age groups are watching video
online, but mostly younger viewers are watching movies or long-form
television shows online. Among viewers over 65, 75 percent said they
never watch TV shows or movies online. However, nearly half of viewers
under 25, and 53 percent of viewers aged 25-29, said they watched TV
shows or movies online at least once a month. "Today's younger
consumers are developing habits that will mean drastic changes for the
video entertainment market," Wolf says.
"Domain Name Suddenly Worth $900,000"
NorthJersey.com
(10/18/08) Llorente, Elizabeth
The Web address JoethePlumber.com, which had not received any hits during
the last six months, got almost 400,000 in the day preceding the latest
presidential debate. Joe the Plumber domain-name owner Joe Francis says
he has had numerous offers from individuals who wish to purchase his
domain name, with the most attractive offer being $900,000. Francis,
who does not personally know the "Joe the Plumber" character
that has been promoted as part of the presidential campaign, owns a
small Amarillo, Texas-based plumbing company and could make a lot of
money from selling the Web site. He says while everyone is interested
in purchasing his domain name, "I don't really want to sell it.
I mean, I'm Joe the Plumber, it's my Web site." However, Francis
is thinking about launching a Joe the Plumber franchise.
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