Category Archives: eCommerce Resources

Inexpensive Marketing Strategies for any size Business

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inexpensive marketing strategies

 

Inexpensive Marketing strategies are a great alternative for small businesses or can serve as a supplement process for a financially established larger company.  Social Media is an obvious strategy and can easily be managed for optimum customer interaction and conversions.  However, there are a few other inexpensive Marketing strategies that are worth taking advantage of.

1.)  Networking

Networking in the traditional sense is still a proven strategy and usually costs only a small fee for attendance and/or the cost of a drink.  The impression you leave on potential customers and business partners in person (especially if it’s lasting) is something that simply can’t be duplicated through online strategies.

This is just 1 inexpensive Marketing strategy that can work for any size business.  Read the post from the Intuit Small Business Blog (where this post was adapted from) for a list of 5 detailed and cheap Marketing strategies that AREN’T social media.

 

5 Steps to being a BETTER Social Media Manager

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According to the 2013 Marketing reports from Econsultancy, companies will increase investment in social media by 62%, with a specific increase of 38% for social media management systems.  This is a growing and changing industry; with a huge emphasis on growth.  We see it everyday with new software, online tools, and App development among our Marketing peers.

What sets you apart as a Social Media Manager?  You are probably good at being the social media face of your company, but why not strive to be BETTER?  By implementing the following 5 steps, we can help you be a social media manager with more direction and strategic purpose.  

1.  Set standards and use Metrics – Social Media is no longer such uncharted territory that we operate in “trial and error” mode.  We can track posts with specific metrics and make choices based on proven techniques.

2.  Stay up to date on new Social – You don’t have to be a master at every new platform that comes out, but you should certainly be abreast of current events and understand basic functionality.  Then you can evaluate if it’s worth learning a new social media tool for your specific business needs.  It’s also important to differentiate fad from true staying power before you invest too much into a new platform.

3.  Social Media Managers should be Collaborative – Some of the best posts on our own blog and social media profiles have been from guest posts or featuring specific products from Partners.  Engage and utilize the team around you for new ideas!

4.  Save the Tweets and Posts for Business Hours – You don’t need to be checking a business Facebook page or answering company Tweets at 2am.  You just don’t!  All questions, comments, and concerns can wait until the recognized standard business hours for the majority of Brands.

5.  Manage your Resources Effectively – If you’re on a network and there are downward trends or no responses for months, consider dropping it.  You can delete your profile or simply spend less time on the platform, but it’s important to acknowledge what works and what doesn’t for your Brand.  Think specifically, and then act accordingly.  The best Social Media Manager’s spend their time where they get the most positive feedback and results!

What are some other ways that your Marketing and Social Media teams manage your online presence?  Post your answers here!  

Guest Blog – 3 Things Your eCommerce Site is Missing

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Today we are pleased to introduce our Guest Blogger Megan Webb-Morgan from the Resource Nation blog to explain 3 Things your eCommerce site is missing.  Without further delay, here’s the post:

3 Things Your eCommerce Site is Missing

Are you having trouble making sales on your eCommerce site? Don’t waste money on yet another email marketing blast or discount promotion. Instead, look at your site itself and determine whether you’re missing these three critical elements that affect your conversion rate.

Advanced Search Functionality

The average time customers spend on a website is less than 3 minutes – they fulfill their goal and then leave – resulting in the highest average conversion rate. However, for customers who spend more than 7 minutes on site, shopper conversion rates drop dramatically.

Why should more time on-site result in fewer completed purchases? Because these customers are too lost and confused to buy anything.  According to a study from Google, 61% of mobile shoppers reported that if they could not find what they were looking for right away on a mobile site, they would quickly give up and leave.

If your conversion rate is low, the problem may be your lack of advanced search functions. You need to make it easy for your customers to navigate your site, view your products, and make purchases on their mobile device.

  1. Have your web designer create a search bar and place it prominently on your site.
  2. Effectively categorize your products down to the granular level. Having a search option on your site is pointless if it doesn’t bring up the items that your customer is looking for – they don’t want to navigate through a maze of pages in order to find what they want. If it’s not fast and easy, they’re going to give up in frustration.

Content for SEO

You can’t just build an eCommerce site and then sit back while the sales come pouring in. And thanks to new updates to the Google algorithm, utilizing optimized keywords on your product pages isn’t enough to positively influence your page rankings. In fact, relying on keywords alone can actually hurt your rankings.

Diverse content is the new priority for SEO – even for eCommerce websites containing hundreds or thousands of product pages. If those pages are the same as other pages found on your site or on other sites across the web, you’re going to be penalized for it.

  1. Fill each product page with unique, fresh content. Remove the manufacturer’s product description and write your own version that’s unique for every individual product.
  2. Add social links and user-generated content like customer reviews.
  3. Update your product pages regularly. If this is too big a task, start with your most popular product pages and work from there.

Clear Call to Action

Believe it or not, your conversion rate can fluctuate drastically depending on the typeface, color, and word choice you use in your call to action – the “buy now” button that asks your customers to make that purchase. Obviously, if your CTA is buried under lengthy text, hidden amongst numerous distracting page elements, or unclear in its wording or intent, you could be missing out on many potential conversions. But even a well-designed CTA may not bring your conversion rate up to the highest possible level.

  1. Test your CTA’s effectiveness with split (or A/B) testing. Use this testing to determine what results in a higher conversion rate: “Buy Now” versus “Add to Cart.” You should test every possible variation to determine which one is most effective. Should the button be blue or orange? Large or small? Bold or subtle font?

Your eCommerce site can be well-designed, well-marketed, and feature high-quality products but still fail to generate conversions. Make sure that your site is easy to search, that your product pages are optimized for content-based SEO, and that your call-to-action is as effective as possible. With just a few tweaks, you can drastically increase your site’s profits.

Bio: Megan Webb-Morgan is a business blogger for Resource Nation. She writes on business topics like online marketing, SEO optimization, and web design, with an emphasis on issues affecting small businesses and startups. You can follow Resource Nation on Twitter and Facebook!

The Cost of Business in a Digital Marketplace

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A Digital Marketplace is both: a complete shopping experience for the customer, as well as a fully supported platform for Merchants.  For a lot of Brands, both large and small, it really makes sense to utilize one.  These online marketplaces have a way of aggregating customers and sellers in the same place (Examples: Ebay, Amazon) which can be great for new businesses.  For more established firms, the branding of the digital marketplace could compete with your own company’s online presence.  Another aspect to consider is the sheer volume of your business and the automation of certain processes that will make selling expedient.

Customer Perspective:

It’s organized and easy to find what you are shopping for.  Advanced search tools allow you to narrow products more quickly.

Business Perspective:

Selling your products in a secure environment that customers can  find easily.  Transactions are protected and additional tools and options for your business will be built into the platform.

Duct Tape Marketing has researched and compiled a thorough guide to using a digital marketplace for your online business.  Read all about it here! 

 

Growth Proof your Business Model

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Growth is the cornerstone of every business.  This growth can take the form of many opportunities:  large projects, new financial enterprises, and sheer size.  It’s always welcome because ultimately, it leads to better revenue.  Sometimes however growth can occur at a rapid rate that appears to be too fast to be supported by the current business model.  That’s when you have to growth proof your business!

Growth Proof your Business ModelWhen offered a large opportunity that becomes a game-changer for growth in the business, many errors can actually be fatal to the company because of the degree to which success is “riding on” the outcome.  That’s certainly the situation described in a recent post of GlobeandMail.com‘s report on Small Business.  Read the full story HERE about how one company managed to proof their business for “head-spinning growth!”

Small Business Visibility: Make your Business look Bigger

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A major element that smaller companies sometimes forget is that perception is reality.  This is one of the main reasons that larger companies continue to thrive and can crush smaller competition, even if a better product is being offered by the smaller company.

We associate largesse with stability, big budget, and precision whether that is the case or not.

As a result, it behooves smaller firms to make your business look bigger.  This is definitely not about being dishonest in your claims, or over-selling what you can actually produce.  However, with a few tweaks and tricks you can give the consumer the satisfaction that they are getting the same stability and value as they would with your largest competitor. 

BONUS:  If your structure is less corporate, more focused on personalization, and an overall better product…..this strategic combination will only lead to repeat clients!

Check out the Intuit Blog to read about 5 ways to Make Your Small Business Look Bigger

 

Happy Birthday World Wide Web!

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20 years ago today, the free internet was born.  The World Wide Web launched it’s 1st webpage and changed our way of life.  Although at the time, the gravity of it’s widespread usage was unknown; it was just a shiny new toy.

There were only 17 “subjects” on the Web to choose from.  They included topics such as:  music, law, religion, and literature.  There weren’t competing search engines, but there was an original web page with a link to “What’s out there?,” to help users search for relevant sites by subject or type.  To celebrate it’s “birth,” CERN has brought back the original published website available for perusal HERE.

 

Happy Birthday World Wide Web

Happy Birthday World Wide Web!

Online Sales Tax Bill; Prepare for the Possibility

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A contentious piece of legislation making it’s way through the chambers of the US Government is the Marketplace Fairness Act or as it is more generally referred to, the Online Sales Tax bill.  People and organizations are steadily taking sides in a decision that will directly impact both online and regular retail businesses.  Whether this will be positive or negative in the long-term has yet to be fully determined.

Twelve states have already passed and enacted so-called “Amazon” laws; legislation that allows for State Government to impose an online tax on eCommerce stores, similar to the sales tax that customers pay when shopping in person at a retailer.  However, the passing of a Federal law would have consequences for everyone, as ALL states would be granted the ability to impose and collect an online sales tax from every business selling online.  These online sales tax obligations could be put into action within 90 days.

 

This decision will impact everyone involved in eCommerce solutions!

Online Sales Tax Bill; Prepare for the Possibility

 

Read more about “Online Sales Tax” and it’s implications:

Web Pro News:  The White House Comes Out in Favor of Marketplace Fairness Act

 

 

Reverse your Time-Management Slump, Today

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Time-management has a huge effect on everything we do, and if you aren’t good at it, that can certainly pose a threat to success.  When developing a strategy, you have to think about much more than the number of hours in a day, and/or your schedule.  Consider the length of task times and the circumstances around you.  It’s important to allot time for transit, traffic patterns, and other people in relation to your undone tasks.

 

Who should worry about Time-Management:

Business owners

Employees

Job-seekers

You (Basically, time-management or a lack thereof plays a role in everyone’s life.)

 

What to do about it:

Glassdoor.com has compiled about 6 tips with in-depth explanations of how to utilize these ideas to improve your own time-management skills.  Whether you are a business owner who loves their Brand but feels that there are never enough hours in the day to accomplish what needs to get done, or someone on the job search, things are much harder when you are unclear about how to budget your time.

 

Reverse your time-management slump, today

6 Signs You’re Bad at Time-Management:  READ IT HERE

 

4 Tips for a Successful 1st Impression

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Effective customer service starts with the very important 1st impression.  It is of no consequence where you are managing customer relations:  in person, online, or via social media, the result is the same.  Customers expect to be treated a certain way, from 1st impression to retention.

Here’s 4 Tips for a Successful 1st Impression:

1.) Courtesy – Common courtesies are the pinnacle of 1st impressions.  Proper manners and saying “please” and “thank you” should not be undervalued, as they are essential to interactions with people.

2.)  Hear and Listen – If you are thinking about what you want to say while a customer is telling you what they need, you are doing it wrong.  The key is to listen, so you can hear exactly what they want and proceed.

3.)  Respond Quickly – Everyone is busy and your company is just 1 thing that customer has to contend with today.  Customers come to you for your expertise and you should share your knowledge efficiently.  But if you can’t solve their problem, pull in a Decision-Maker that can.  You may just save the sale!

4.)  Satisfaction – Your primary goal in serving customers is a hassle-free encounter with the desired end result.  Customer satisfaction leads to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.  That’s how you turn a 1st impression into a retained client.

Read more of our blog for additional advice on business issues and best practices.