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September 30, 2026

Why Most Giveaways Fail to Generate Long-Term Customers

A giveaway wraps up. The entry count looks great, and the team calls it a win. Then three months pass, and none of it shows up anywhere that matters. No bump in repeat purchases. No real growth in the customer list. Just a folder of names nobody opens again.

This happens a lot. Giveaways are easy to run and easy to measure right after launch. Entries are visible, they’re easy to count, and they look great on a recap slide. But entries are not customers. Treating them like the same thing is the root of the problem. The mistakes that cause it aren’t new, either. The same few show up in giveaway after giveaway, and most of them have a straightforward fix once a brand knows to look.

The Prize Attracted the Wrong Crowd

The most common mistake starts before the contest even launches: the prize itself.

A gift card, cash, or a popular gadget with no real link to the brand pulls in a huge crowd. It also pulls in people who have zero interest in what the brand actually sells. These are the accounts that follow every giveaway on their feed, enter dozens a week, and unfollow the moment the winner is picked. Lots of entries, very little interest, and almost no chance any of them become a paying customer.

A prize tied to the product does the opposite. Fewer entries, sure, but the people who show up already care about the category. They’re not there for a free gadget. They’re there because they actually want what the brand makes.

Picking a Prize on Purpose, Not by Habit

This is a tradeoff brands need to make on purpose instead of stumbling into. A big generic prize will always win on raw entry numbers. A relevant prize wins on the number that actually matters six months down the line: how many entrants turn into customers.

Entry Mechanics Never Asked for Anything Useful

Plenty of giveaways ask for the bare minimum. An email address, maybe a follow, maybe a tag. That’s fast for the entrant, but it leaves the brand with almost nothing to work with once the contest is over.

Now compare that to an entry form with a short preference question, a product pick, or a quick quiz. Same effort from the entrant, but now the brand actually learns something. Which product they like. What problem they’re trying to solve. What kind of message might land with them later.

Without that extra layer, every entrant looks identical on paper. A brand has nothing to personalize a follow-up with, so everyone ends up getting the same generic email. Generic emails get generic results.

The One Question Most Forms Skip

A lot of teams drop this question from the form on the assumption that any extra step costs entries. That assumption rarely holds up. One short question barely moves the total number, and the payoff down the line outweighs whatever small dip it might cause on launch day. A brand that asks nothing upfront ends up guessing at everything downstream. A brand that asks one good question skips the guessing entirely.

This has to be fixed at the entry form, not after the fact. Once the contest closes, there’s no way to go back and ask people questions they were never asked to begin with.

The Follow-Up That Never Got Built

This mistake shows up more than any other, and it’s rarely about effort. It’s about where that effort went.

Almost all the planning time on a giveaway goes toward the launch. The creative, the prize, the entry flow, getting the page live. The period after the winner is announced usually gets one “thanks for entering” email and nothing else. Not because anyone decided that on purpose, but because the team is tired, the budget’s gone, and announcing the winner gets treated as the finish line.

But the interest a contest builds doesn’t disappear the day the winner is picked. People who entered are still paying attention right after that announcement. That’s exactly the moment a brand needs a real follow-up plan, and it’s exactly the moment most brands leave empty.

A giveaway with no post-contest plan isn’t really a customer acquisition campaign. It’s a short spike in attention with nothing built to hold onto it.

Everyone Got Treated the Same Way

A flat list of entrants isn’t really an asset yet. It only becomes one once it’s split apart by how each person engaged.

The winner deserves a different message than someone who only submitted an email and did nothing else. Someone who answered a product quiz deserves different follow-up than someone who spent ten seconds on the page. And any existing customers who happened to enter shouldn’t get pushed into a generic “welcome to the brand” series they don’t need.

Skipping this step means every entrant gets the exact same email no matter how engaged they were. That makes a genuinely interested entrant feel like just another name on a list, and it wastes whatever signal the entry form managed to collect.

The Follow-Up Was One Email, Not a Real Sequence

Even brands that do send something after the contest often send just one message, usually the same day the winner is announced. That single email tries to do everything at once. Thank people, promote a product, ask for a follow, and push a sale, all in one shot.

What a Real Sequence Looks Like

A real sequence starts somewhere, builds, and ends somewhere else. The opening message tells people who won, thanks everyone for showing up, and leaves them with a reason to stick around. A second message goes out a few days later with something for everyone who didn’t win, usually a small offer that rewards them without asking for a full purchase. Only after that does the sequence move into an actual product message, ideally tied to whatever the entrant showed interest in during the contest.

Cramming all of that into one email doesn’t just weaken the message. It burns through the best window a brand has to keep the conversation going, since entrants are only paying close attention for a short stretch right around the announcement.

Retargeting Stopped at the Entry List

A lot of brands treat the entrant list as the whole audience worth retargeting, which leaves a big chunk of interested traffic completely untouched.

Anyone who landed on the entry page and left without finishing is a warmer prospect than cold traffic, even if they never actually entered. So is anyone who clicked in from an ad but bounced off the landing page. None of that traffic shows up in the entrant list, but all of it saw the brand and showed some interest.

The other common mistake is running the same ad creative for weeks after the contest ends. Entrants have already sat through a lot of the brand’s messaging in a short window, so that creative goes stale fast. Once the contest wraps, the ad message should pivot toward an actual product or offer instead of repeating a pitch people have already seen.

Lookalike Audiences Get Skipped Too

There’s a second retargeting mistake that’s easy to miss because it doesn’t involve the entrant list at all. A well-run contest produces a useful seed audience for lookalike targeting on paid social, and a lot of brands never build one. The entrants who converted into customers, not just anyone who entered, make the strongest seed group. Skipping this step means the brand only ever markets back to people it already reached, instead of using the contest to find new prospects who look like the ones who actually stuck around.

User-Generated Content Went Straight Into a Folder

If the contest asked people to submit photos, videos, or captions, that content is usually the most wasted asset from the whole campaign.

Real customer photos make better social proof than studio shots most people don’t fully trust anymore. UGC often performs better than polished brand creative in paid social. A recap post brings back people who didn’t enter this time but might next time. None of that happens if the submissions just sit in a folder after the winner is picked.

The other piece brands miss is permissions. Reposting UGC on social and running it in paid ads usually need different levels of rights, and that has to be checked against the official contest rules before any of it goes back out. Skip that check, and content that could have been an asset turns into a legal headache instead.

The Data Never Made It Into the CRM

Even a contest with good segmentation and a solid follow-up plan can still fail long-term if the data dies with the campaign. Contest data sitting in its own spreadsheet, cut off from the brand’s real CRM and lifecycle marketing, is only useful for as long as that one email sequence runs.

Tagging contacts by entry source lets a brand compare contest-driven leads against other channels later on. What matters is how many entrants become paying customers, not how many opened an email. Get quiz answers and preferences into the brand’s personalization work, and a contest stops being a one-off and starts paying off long after it ends.

Nobody Defined What Success Meant Before Launch

The last mistake is the quietest one, and it’s why so many giveaways get called a win when they really weren’t. If a brand only decides what success looks like after the campaign wraps, entry count becomes the default measure, since it’s the easiest number sitting right there.

Setting a thirty- and sixty-day checkpoint before the contest even launches changes that. A target open rate for the follow-up emails. A conversion goal for the retargeted audience. Several UGC pieces cleared for reuse. Picking those numbers ahead of time is what forces a team to actually check back in two months later, instead of letting the whole campaign’s success rest on how big the entry count looked on day one.

Measuring the Right Numbers

Part of why entry count sticks around as the default metric is that it’s the only number that exists the moment the contest closes. Email engagement by segment, retargeting conversion, repeat purchases among entrants, and cleared UGC all take weeks to show up, and by then attention has usually moved to the next campaign.

That’s a reporting problem more than a results problem. A brand that builds a short checklist ahead of time, reviewed at thirty days and again at sixty, gets to see the real outcome instead of guessing at it.

Did entrants from the relevant-prize group convert at a better rate than the ones chasing a generic prize? Did the segmented sequence outperform a single blast email? Those answers only exist if someone bothers to check, and checking only happens when it’s built into the plan from the start rather than left for whoever remembers later.

Fixing the Pattern

None of these mistakes are really about the entry phase. That part usually works fine. Brands are good at getting people to enter something when there’s a decent prize attached.

Where things fall apart is everything the entry phase was supposed to set up. A prize that attracts the right people. An entry form that collects something useful. A segmented list. A real follow-up sequence with an actual arc. Retargeting that reaches past the entrant list. A plan for the content people submitted. And a way to feed all of it into the CRM so it doesn’t disappear the moment the campaign ends.

A giveaway that skips all of this can still hit its entry goal and still fail at the one thing that actually matters: turning a stranger’s five seconds of attention into someone who sticks around. The entry count was never the finish line. It was just the point where the real work was supposed to start.

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  • eCommerce, Marketing

Omnichannel Commerce: Creating a Seamless and Personalized Customer Journey

In today’s competitive retail landscape, customer expectations are higher than ever. Shoppers demand convenience, consistency, and personalization—whether they’re shopping online, in-store, or via mobile apps. Omnichannel commerce has emerged as the gold standard for delivering this unified experience, seamlessly integrating all shopping platforms to cater to customer needs at every touchpoint how they prefer.

From wayfinding and loyalty apps to self-service kiosks and personalized product recommendations, omnichannel commerce is transforming how retailers engage with customers. Here’s how it works and why it’s crucial for creating a cohesive customer journey.

The 5 Pillars of Omnichannel Commerce:

Personalized Shopping Experiences

Omnichannel commerce enables retailers to provide tailored experiences based on individual customer preferences and behavior. By leveraging data from online searches, in-app activity, and in-store visits, retailers can:

  • Recommend products based on past purchases.
  • Personalize promotional offers and loyalty rewards.
  • Create dynamic content tailored to individual shoppers.
  • Deliver ads and promotional items the way the consumer prefers, push notifications, email, postal mail, social media, etc.

For example, a loyalty app can notify a customer about a sale on their favorite brand as soon as they walk into the store, enhancing engagement and increasing the likelihood of purchase. Or using RFID, items the customer has picked up, looked at, and held can send offers on this specific item in their loyalty app, email, social and more.

Wayfinding and Check-Ins

Wayfinding tools integrated into mobile apps or in-store kiosks help customers locate products quickly, saving time and reducing frustration. Features like digital maps or aisle navigation enhance the in-store experience, making it easier for shoppers to find what they need, making shopping more pleasurable and convenient overall.

Similarly, mobile check-ins streamline the customer journey. Whether checking in for a buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS) order or reserving a fitting room, this feature creates a frictionless experience that bridges the gap between digital and physical shopping.

Self-Service Options

Self-service solutions, such as endless aisle kiosks and mobile apps, empower customers to take control of their shopping journey. These tools enable shoppers to:

  • Check product availability and specifications.
  • Complete transactions without waiting in line.
  • Customize orders, such as selecting specific product features or delivery options.
  • Finding a product in the size and color you want that may not be available in store now, but may be shipped to your home for delivery in 2 days.

Research shows that 75% of millennial consumers have left a store to find the item they want online or another local retailer due to out of stock items. Providing an endless aisle solution enables you to keep the customer in your store shopping. This ensures that the sale is captured even when inventory is limited.

Checkout Anywhere

Consumers are no longer willing to wait in lines and are demanding better ways to transact.

  • Enable retail sales associates to use mobile devices that enables checkout anywhere
  • Curbside pickup is by far the most convenient method of pick up, also necessitating mobile devices
  • Self-service kiosks where shoppers can checkout on their own.

Consumers tend to be loyal to merchants enabling them to shop how they want and those embracing technology enabling them to checkout how they want.

BOPIS and Its Role in Omnichannel Commerce

Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) has become a cornerstone of omnichannel commerce. It’s a win-win for both customers and retailers:

  • For Customers: BOPIS offers convenience, allowing them to shop online and pick up their items without worrying about shipping delays. Many retailers now offer designated pickup zones, lockers, or curbside options to make the process even more seamless.
  • For Retailers: BOPIS drives foot traffic to stores, creating opportunities for additional in-store purchases. It also reduces shipping costs and optimizes inventory management by using store stock.

When integrated with other omnichannel features, such as loyalty apps and personalized recommendations, BOPIS becomes an even more powerful tool. For instance, a customer picking up an online order might receive an app notification suggesting complementary products available in-store, enhancing cross-sell opportunities.

Connecting the Dots Across the Customer Journey

  1. Product Preferences and Recommendations Omnichannel commerce leverages AI and machine learning to analyze customer behavior and preferences. This data fuels personalized recommendations, ensuring that shoppers see products they’re most likely to purchase, whether browsing online or in-store.
  2. Loyalty Programs Across Channels A unified loyalty program ensures that customers earn and redeem rewards seamlessly across all touchpoints. Whether shopping through a mobile app, website, or physical store, their loyalty points and benefits are synchronized, fostering long-term engagement.
  3. Seamless Returns and Exchanges Omnichannel commerce simplifies post-purchase processes like returns and exchanges. A customer can buy a product online and return it in-store without hassle, reinforcing trust and convenience.
  4. Real-Time Inventory Visibility Real-time inventory management ensures that customers can see product availability across channels. Whether shopping online or visiting a store, they know exactly where to find what they need, reducing disappointment and improving satisfaction.

The Future of Omnichannel Commerce

As technology continues to advance, the boundaries between online and offline shopping will blur further. Innovations like augmented reality (AR) for virtual try-ons, voice-activated shopping assistants, and blockchain for enhanced supply chain transparency will enhance omnichannel strategies.

Retailers who embrace these trends and focus on creating a unified, personalized experience will be better equipped to meet evolving customer demands. By integrating wayfinding, check-ins, self-service, BOPIS, and loyalty apps into a cohesive ecosystem, businesses can not only increase customer satisfaction but also drive sales and build lasting loyalty.

In a world where shoppers move fluidly between platforms, omnichannel commerce isn’t just a strategy—it’s the future of retail.

 

 

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  • Artificial Intelligence, Direct Marketing, eCommerce, SEO

Voice Search: Master it for Sales Domination

Learn Voice Search Mastery with this Step-by-Step Guide

Searching on internet appliances has rapidly become a dominant force in the digital landscape, revolutionizing the way users interact with devices. As voice-enabled assistants like Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Cortana gain widespread adoption, businesses must adapt their strategies to capitalize on the search revolution.  Approximately 58% of consumers leverage voice search to discover local businesses, showcasing the growing significance of this technology. Daily use of audible search is prevalent among 41% of adults in the United States. Google Assistant supports an extensive range of smart home devices, exceeding 30,000, highlighting its widespread integration. Apple’s Siri emerges as a preferred choice for 45.1% of voice assistant users. The realm of voice search shopping is anticipated to surpass $40 billion, underlining the substantial economic impact and consumer reliance on this evolving technology.

The importance of understanding and incorporating On-SERP SEO (Search Engine Results Pages) cannot be overstated, particularly as voice assistants often read featured snippets as responses to user queries.

Why On-SERP SEO Matters: Featured snippets, positioned at the top of Google’s organic search results, are crucial in voice search interactions. As voice assistants read these snippets, businesses aiming to secure a spot in the featured snippet are more likely to capture user attention and provide the desired information. To leverage this, it’s imperative to organize content for SERPs using Voice Search SEO.

Purpose-built Content to Answer Specific Questions

To create content that effectively answers specific questions for voice search optimization, it’s essential to first identify and focus on addressing common user queries within your niche. Understanding the typical questions users ask allows you to tailor your content to meet their specific informational needs. Craft your content in a question-and-answer format to align seamlessly with how users phrase their questions. This format not only aligns with the conversational nature of voice queries but also enhances the chances of your content being featured in voice search results. Ensure clarity and conciseness in your responses, providing straightforward and easily digestible information. By offering precise answers to common user questions, you not only optimize your content for search but also enhance the overall user experience, establishing your brand as a valuable source of information in your industry.

High-Quality Content Development

Ensuring high-quality content is a crucial aspect of voice search optimization. To achieve this, focus on delivering accurate and valuable information that addresses user queries comprehensively. Invest in creating content that not only answers specific questions but goes beyond providing additional context and insights. High-quality content is not just about meeting search engine algorithms; it’s about fulfilling user intent and providing real value to your audience. Conduct thorough research, cite authoritative sources, and maintain a consistent tone that resonates with your target audience. By prioritizing the quality of your content, you not only enhance your chances of appearing in search results but also build credibility and trust with your audience, establishing your brand as a reliable source of information within your industry.

Optimizing Voice Search

Optimizing for voice search platforms requires a tailored approach that considers the distinct requirements of major search platforms such as Siri, Google, Alexa, and Cortana. Each platform has its unique characteristics, and understanding these nuances is crucial for effective optimization. Craft your content to align seamlessly with the audible search algorithms and preferences of each platform. For Siri, focus on concise and clear responses; for Google, leverage featured snippets and structured data; for Alexa, prioritize natural language and conversational tone; for Cortana, consider user habits and preferences. By tailoring your content to meet the specific criteria of each platform, you enhance the likelihood of your information being accurately retrieved in voice search results, ultimately improving your visibility and accessibility to a broader audience.

Apple’s Voice Search: Siri

Siri, Apple’s voice search platform, stands out by being seamlessly integrated across all Apple devices, providing a consistent and user-friendly experience. It distinguishes itself through the implementation of voice-activated commands, allowing users to perform a multitude of tasks with simple spoken instructions. Siri places emphasis on refining searches by prompting users to rephrase and narrow their queries, showcasing a commitment to better understanding user intent. This approach not only enhances the overall user experience but also sets Siri apart by prioritizing clarity and precision in voice interactions.

Google Assistant

Google Assistant, a leading voice search platform, distinguishes itself through seamless integration with Google Home smart speakers, creating a cohesive smart home experience. Triggered by wake words like “Hey Google” or “OK Google,” it offers an intuitive and hands-free approach to accessing information. Renowned for its versatility, Google Assistant goes beyond basic search functionalities, engaging users in a wide array of tasks, making it a comprehensive virtual assistant. This adaptability and integration with smart home devices contribute to Google Assistant’s distinction as a go-to voice search platform for users seeking convenience and efficiency in their daily activities.

Amazon’s Voice Search: Alexa

Alexa, Amazon’s voice search platform, sets itself apart through its prominent presence on the Echo smart speakers, establishing a robust ecosystem for voice-enabled interactions. Renowned for its multifunctionality, Alexa extends beyond traditional search functions, encompassing entertainment, smart home control, and more. Users can seamlessly navigate various tasks, from playing music to adjusting smart home devices, enhancing the overall user experience. With its intuitive voice-activated search feature, Alexa caters to users seeking a hands-free and versatile voice assistant, solidifying its position as a key player in the search landscape.

Microsoft’s Voice Search: Cortana

Cortana, Microsoft’s voice search platform introduced in 2014, distinguishes itself by its integration with Microsoft devices and its sophisticated learning capabilities. Going beyond conventional audible searches, Cortana evolves with users, adapting to their habits and preferences over time. While performing standard web searches, Cortana also excels in assisting users with daily activities, offering a personalized and dynamic voice-driven experience. Its ability to learn from user interactions enhances its utility, positioning Cortana as a distinctive player in the search arena.

Changes in Search Semantics

Voice searches often adopt a more conversational tone, affecting the semantics of search queries. Users tend to phrase queries as questions, emphasizing the need for a strategic shift in digital marketing. Adapting to this change involves incorporating long-tail keywords and providing direct answers to common questions, aligning with the conversational nature of searches.

Voice Search and Mobile-Friendly Environments

The hands-free capabilities of mobile devices contribute to the prevalence of voice search, especially among users on the go. To accommodate this trend, brands must prioritize mobile friendliness in their online presence. Key considerations include improving page loading times, incorporating vertical content with larger text, redesigning pop-ups, and optimizing buttons and calls to action for mobile devices.

Emphasis on Local SEO

Approximately 22% of voice search queries are location-based, emphasizing the importance of local SEO. Businesses seeking to capitalize on local searches should update their Google My Business listings, utilize Google Ads’ location extensions, and leverage Google Maps’ local search ads.

Voice Search Marketing and Digital Advertising

Voice search is reshaping digital advertising, requiring businesses to optimize content for conversational language, long-tail keywords, and user intent. Anticipating user queries and providing relevant information enhances the chances of securing a featured snippet in voice search results. With search marketing, businesses can create targeted ad content designed to engage users relying on evolving searches.

The Future of Digital Advertising

As voice search continues to grow, businesses that adapt quickly will gain a competitive advantage. Optimizing for this evolving search product requires a deep understanding of user behavior, a focus on conversational language, and the integration of long-tail keywords. Businesses willing to innovate in this evolving landscape stand to not only keep up with the competition but potentially move ahead.

In conclusion, the voice search revolution is here, and businesses must proactively adapt to stay relevant. Audible search optimization is not just a trend; it’s a fundamental shift in how users access information. By embracing this change and implementing effective search strategies, businesses can position themselves for success in the dynamic digital landscape.

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  • Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Gamification, Loyalty Marketing, Retail Marketing

Repeat Customers: A Deep Dive Guide

Customer retention is crucial for businesses as it directly impacts their long-term success and financial performance. A strong focus on customer retention can be a competitive advantage. Businesses that consistently meet and exceed customer expectations are more likely to stand out in the market and differentiate themselves from competitors. By retaining customers, businesses can achieve a more predictable and stable revenue stream, reducing the reliance on constantly acquiring new customers. A few reasons why retention is a more affordable model than acquisition; meanwhile you must have both.

Acquiring new customers typically costs more than retaining existing ones. Marketing expenses, advertising, and promotional efforts are often higher for acquiring new customers. Retained customers contribute to revenue without the same acquisition costs.

Satisfied and loyal customers often become advocates for the brand. They are more likely to recommend the company to friends, family, and colleagues, contributing to organic growth through word-of-mouth marketing.

Retained customers are more likely to make repeat purchases. A positive relationship with the brand encourages customers to return for additional products or services, increasing the lifetime value of each customer.

Financial Impact of Repeat Customers

The financial impact of repeat customers can be significant. According to various studies, it’s often more cost-effective to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones. Here’s a simplified example to illustrate the financial impact of a 5% increase in repeat customers:

Let’s assume:

  • Average Order Value (AOV): $85
  • Number of Transactions: 1 per month per customer
  • Number of Customers: 10,000

Without a 5% Increase in Retention:

  • Monthly Revenue: $85 (AOV) * 10,000 (Customers) = $850,000

With a 5% Increase in Retention:

  • Assuming a 5% increase in customer retention, the number of customers retained would increase by 5%, resulting in 10,500 customers.
  • Monthly Revenue with Increased Retention and increased AOV for loyal and trusting customers: $90 (AOV) * 10,500 (Customers) = $945,000

Impact:

  • The 5% increase in repeat customers leads to an additional monthly revenue of $95,000.

This is a simplified illustration, and the actual financial impact can vary based on factors such as the business model, industry, and customer behavior. However, it highlights the potential for increased revenue with a relatively small improvement in repeat customers’ sales.

The New Customer Expects New Service Level in Exchange for Loyalty

Navigating the ever-shifting landscape of customer retention demands more than just transactional approaches; it requires a strategic blend of innovative techniques to build genuine and lasting connections. This comprehensive guide unveils a spectrum of customer retention strategies that transcend routine transactions, laying the foundation for authentic and enduring customer loyalty.

Learn what new customer demands look like as well as brands that are appealing to these demands with innovative solutions.

Prioritize Convenience and Empowerment

Seamless customer experiences start with adopting cutting-edge customer service tools. These tools not only streamline communication but also solve problems swiftly, enhancing the overall customer journey. Simultaneously, prioritize convenience at every touchpoint, from user-friendly interfaces to hassle-free returns, empowering customers with a seamless and empowering experience.

A notable example of a company that exemplifies the seamless integration of cutting-edge customer service tools and prioritization of convenience is Amazon. Amazon utilizes state-of-the-art customer service tools to streamline communication and problem-solving. The company’s robust online help center, chat support, and automated tracking systems ensure that customers can easily find information and resolve issues without extensive wait times.

Convenience is at the center of all changes in consumer demands. Customers migrate to brands that understand them and cater to their needs. The power has shifted, and consumers are driving – brands are rewarded with repeat customers when they oblige the services consumers want.

Genuine Apologies and Transparency

When mistakes inevitably occur, transparency becomes the cornerstone of trust-building. Sincerely apologizing humanizes your brand, fostering trust and loyalty. Transparency during moments of error signals authenticity, reinforcing the customer’s confidence in your commitment to their satisfaction.

One of the prominent examples of a company that exemplifies the importance of transparency and sincere apologies in building trust is Starbucks. Starbucks has encountered various instances where mistakes happened in its operations. In these moments, the company has consistently demonstrated a commitment to transparency, acknowledging errors, and taking corrective actions. This approach has played a crucial role in humanizing the brand, fostering trust, and building enduring loyalty among its customer base.

In 2018, Starbucks faced a highly publicized incident where two African American men were wrongfully arrested in one of its Philadelphia stores. The company responded swiftly by publicly acknowledging the mistake and taking responsibility for the incident. Starbucks’ CEO, Kevin Johnson, issued a public apology, emphasizing the company’s commitment to addressing racial bias and implementing corrective measures.

Starbucks didn’t stop at apologies; it took concrete actions to address the issue. The company initiated a nationwide training program on racial bias for its employees, reinforcing its commitment to creating an inclusive environment. This commitment not only aligned with the company’s values but also reassured customers that Starbucks was actively working to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Tailored Offerings and Personalization

Leverage data-driven personalization to tailor offerings to individual preferences. Making customers feel seen and valued is the essence of this strategy, deepening their emotional connection to your brand.

Spotify stands out as a prime example of a company that effectively leverages data-driven personalization to tailor offerings to individual preferences, thereby making customers feel seen and valued. Spotify, a leading music streaming platform, employs advanced algorithms and machine learning to analyze user behavior, preferences, and listening habits. The platform tracks the songs users listen to, the genres they prefer, and even the time of day they listen. This wealth of data is then used to create personalized playlists, recommendations, and content tailored to each user’s unique taste.

Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” is a prime example of data-driven personalization. Every Monday, users receive a curated playlist of songs they might enjoy based on their listening history. Similarly, “Daily Mix” playlists are dynamically generated, combining favorite tracks with new discoveries, ensuring a personalized and diverse listening experience. These features not only showcase Spotify’s commitment to personalization but also make users feel that their individual musical preferences are being acknowledged.

The essence of Spotify’s personalization strategy lies in making users feel seen and valued. By curating content that aligns with individual preferences, Spotify deepens the emotional connection users have with the platform. Users don’t just see Spotify as a music streaming service; they perceive it as a platform that understands their tastes, creating a more intimate and personalized relationship.

Spotify has shown that they understand what their audience wants; evidenced by 330 million repeat customers showing up every month.

Open Communication and Active Listening

Engage in open and genuine communication by actively seeking and listening to customer feedback. Understanding their needs on a profound level enhances your ability to tailor your offerings and services to exceed their expectations.

Zappos is an excellent example of a company that excels in engaging in open and genuine communication with its customers.  Zappos has built its brand around exceptional customer service. Zappos actively seeks and listens to customer feedback, demonstrating a commitment to understanding their needs on a profound level and exceeding expectations. The company is renowned for its 24/7 customer support and a customer-centric culture that prioritizes going above and beyond to satisfy customers. Zappos actively encourages customers to reach out with questions, concerns, or feedback, fostering an open channel of communication.

Zappos makes their phone number readily available on their website and social media platforms. This is rare – take note!

Build Credibility with Social Proof

Capitalize on social proof by showcasing positive reviews, testimonials, and user-generated content. Building credibility and trust is essential in cultivating loyalty.

Airbnb, a global online marketplace for lodging and travel experiences, effectively capitalizes on social proof to build credibility and trust among its users. The platform relies on showcasing positive reviews, testimonials, and user-generated content to create a sense of reliability and foster loyalty. One of Airbnb’s key features is the ability for guests to leave reviews for their hosts and vice versa. These reviews are prominently displayed on the platform, providing potential guests with valuable insights into the quality of accommodations, the hospitality of hosts, and the overall experience. The transparency of real guest feedback builds trust and helps users make informed decisions to become repeat customers.

Airbnb recognizes and rewards hosts who consistently provide exceptional hospitality through the Superhost program. Superhosts receive a badge on their listings, signaling to potential guests that they can expect a high level of service. This program serves as a form of social proof, instilling confidence in users and encouraging loyalty.

Airbnb integrates user-generated content from social media platforms into its website. Hosts and guests often share their experiences on Instagram, Twitter, and other social channels using the hashtag #Airbnb. By curating and displaying these posts on the platform, Airbnb leverages social proof from real users to showcase the positive moments and experiences shared within the community.

Education as a Value Proposition

Offer valuable content and resources that educate customers, positioning your brand as an authority in your industry. Providing ongoing value reinforces your brand’s significance beyond mere transactions.

HubSpot, a leading provider of B:B inbound marketing, sales, and customer service software, is an exemplary company that demonstrates the strategy of offering valuable content and resources to educate customers. HubSpot positions itself as an authority in the industry by providing extensive educational content that goes beyond mere transactions, reinforcing its brand significance.

HubSpot offers a comprehensive and free online learning platform called HubSpot Academy. The academy provides a wide range of courses covering topics such as inbound marketing, content marketing, social media strategy, and sales techniques. These courses are designed to educate users on best practices, industry trends, and the effective use of HubSpot’s tools, positioning the company as an educator and thought leader in the marketing and sales space.

Multi-Channel Support and Presence

Be present where your customers are. Provide support through the channels they prefer, whether it’s social media, chat, or email. A multi-channel approach ensures accessibility and responsiveness.

Apple exemplifies a multi-channel approach to customer support, ensuring accessibility and responsiveness through various channels. The company’s commitment to being present where customers are, whether on social media, chat, or email, contributes to a seamless and comprehensive support experience. Apple has an active presence on major social media platforms, including Twitter. The company uses these channels not only for marketing but also as a means of providing customer support. Customers can reach out to @AppleSupport on Twitter for assistance, and Apple’s support team responds promptly to address queries and concerns publicly.

Apple offers an online chat option on its official website, allowing customers to connect with support representatives in real-time. The chat support feature is easily accessible, providing customers with a quick and convenient way to seek assistance without the need for a phone call.

The Apple Support app is a dedicated platform that centralizes customer support resources. It offers a variety of self-help articles, troubleshooting guides, and the ability to schedule appointments at Apple Stores. Users can also initiate a chat with support representatives directly through the app.

For certain technical issues, Apple offers remote assistance with screen sharing. This allows support representatives to view a customer’s screen and guide them through troubleshooting steps, providing a more hands-on and personalized level of support.

Traditional phone support remains a crucial component of Apple’s customer service strategy. Customers can call Apple Support for immediate assistance, making it an essential channel for those who prefer verbal communication.

Apple’s retail stores serve as physical touchpoints for customer support. Customers can schedule appointments with Apple’s Genius Bar for in-person assistance, repairs, or product consultations. This in-person support option enhances the accessibility of Apple’s customer service for those who prefer face-to-face interactions.

Apple has proven a commitment to customer support that remains paramount to any other brand support we can find.

Consistency, Transparency, and Reliability

Build trust as the foundation of loyalty. Be consistent, transparent, and reliable in all interactions, ensuring customers can depend on your brand.

Costco, a multinational retail corporation, serves as an exemplary case of a company that builds trust as the foundation of loyalty. Costco’s commitment to consistency, transparency, and reliability in all interactions has played a pivotal role in cultivating a loyal customer base. Costco operates on a membership-based model, requiring customers to pay an annual fee for access to exclusive discounts and benefits. This upfront transparency about the membership cost fosters trust by providing clarity and demonstrating a commitment to delivering value in return for customer loyalty.

Costco is known for its stringent quality standards. The company consistently offers high-quality products, and customers trust that Costco’s commitment to quality remains unwavering. This consistency reinforces trust in the brand’s reliability and dedication to delivering products that meet or exceed expectations.

Costco’s success in building trust as the foundation of loyalty lies in its consistent pricing, high-quality products, transparent business practices, employee satisfaction, clear policies, and community engagement. The company’s commitment to transparency and reliability has created a sense of trust that extends beyond individual transactions, contributing to a loyal customer base.

Foster Community and Connection

Foster a sense of belonging by creating a community where customers can share experiences and connect with each other. Community engagement adds a social dimension to your brand.

REI excels in fostering a sense of belonging by creating a community where customers can share experiences and connect with each other. Because they operate as a cooperative, and customers have the option to become members, it fosters a sense of belonging by making customers feel like they are part of a community with shared values. Members receive exclusive benefits, dividends, and voting rights, creating a unique bond with the brand.

REI organizes in-store workshops and classes on various outdoor activities, from hiking and camping to rock climbing. These events not only educate customers but also provide a platform for like-minded individuals to meet, share experiences, and learn from one another. The focus on education and shared interests strengthens the sense of community.

REI offers adventure travel programs that allow customers to embark on guided outdoor trips. These trips, led by experienced guides, provide an opportunity for participants to form connections while enjoying outdoor activities together. It goes beyond selling gear – it’s about creating shared experiences and memories.

REI hosts member-only garage sales were returned or gently used gear is sold at discounted prices. These events not only provide economic benefits to members but also create a sense of exclusivity and shared opportunities. Members bond over their love for quality gear and good deals as well as for upcycling and a commitment to keeping this world better than when we found it.

With a focus on outdoor activities, REI has successfully integrated community engagement to add a social dimension to its brand.

Become Integral to Daily Lives

Align your brand with the lifestyle and values of your customers, becoming an integral part of their daily lives. This deep integration reinforces your brand’s relevance beyond occasional transactions.

Yeti is as an excellent example of aligning a brand with the lifestyle and values of customers. Yeti has successfully become an integral part of the daily lives of outdoor enthusiasts by offering durable and reliable gear that aligns with their active lifestyles. Just walk into REI and you’ll see!

Yeti specializes in manufacturing durable and rugged outdoor gear, including coolers, drinkware, and bags and is renowned for its quality by uber fans. By creating products that withstand the demands of outdoor adventures, Yeti aligns itself with the lifestyle of customers who value durability and reliability in their outdoor equipment.

Yeti employs storytelling and authenticity in its marketing efforts. The brand shares stories of real adventurers, athletes, and everyday outdoor enthusiasts who rely on Yeti products in their daily lives. This approach humanizes the brand and reinforces its relevance to the target audience. Their marketing campaigns often focus on showcasing how its products seamlessly fit into customers’ lifestyles. Whether it’s a camping trip, a day at the beach, or a backyard barbecue, Yeti positions its products as essential companions in various aspects of outdoor living.

Yeti allows customers to personalize their products through customization options, such as adding logos or choosing specific colors. This personalization fosters a sense of ownership and individuality, making Yeti products an integral part of customers’ lives that reflects their unique preferences.

Yeti has successfully aligned its brand with the lifestyle and values of outdoor enthusiasts by offering durable products, actively participating in outdoor culture, and engaging authentically with its community. By becoming an integral part of customers’ daily lives, Yeti reinforces its relevance beyond transactional moments, establishing a lasting connection with its target audience.

Establish Loyalty with Uniqueness

Develop unique offerings that set your product or service apart, making it a must-have for your customers. Uniqueness is a compelling factor in establishing lasting loyalty.

Dyson excels at developing unique offerings that set a product apart, making it a must-have for customers. Dyson has consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation, creating distinctive and groundbreaking products that have become synonymous with cutting-edge technology in the home appliance industry. They also are synonymous with incredible branding – holding their line that the MAP price barrier will not be broken. The only way you will get more value is a bundled product as added value but never via a discount.

Dyson revolutionized the vacuum cleaner market by introducing cyclone technology. Unlike traditional vacuum cleaners that rely on bags, Dyson’s cyclone technology uses powerful centrifugal forces to capture dust and debris. This unique approach to cleaning set Dyson apart, making its vacuum cleaners a must-have for consumers seeking superior performance. Dyson disrupted the conventional fan design with the introduction of bladeless fan technology. The Dyson Air Multiplier uses a bladeless design to create a smooth and uninterrupted airflow. This unique approach not only enhances safety but also sets Dyson fans apart in terms of aesthetics and functionality. A genuine blue ocean strategy.

Dyson has embraced smart technology integration in its products, allowing users to control and monitor devices through mobile apps. This commitment to connectivity and user-friendly interfaces adds a unique and modern dimension to Dyson’s offerings, appealing to tech-savvy consumers.

Dyson has embraced smart technology integration in its products, allowing users to control and monitor devices through mobile apps. This commitment to connectivity and user-friendly interfaces adds a unique and modern dimension to Dyson’s offerings, appealing to tech-savvy consumers.

Problem-Solving with Focus

Address specific pain points effectively rather than attempting to solve every problem. Focus on excellence in your niche, offering solutions that resonate with your target audience.

HelloFresh addresses specific pain points related to home cooking rather than attempting to solve every problem in the broader food industry. The company focuses on excellence in its niche, offering a specialized solution that resonates with individuals seeking convenient and enjoyable home-cooked meals.

HelloFresh tackles the common pain point of meal planning by providing a solution that streamlines the process. Customers can choose from a variety of chef-curated recipes, and HelloFresh delivers pre-portioned ingredients along with step-by-step cooking instructions, eliminating the need for extensive planning and grocery shopping.

HelloFresh addresses the issue of food waste by providing precisely measured ingredients for each recipe. Customers receive only what they need for the selected meals, minimizing unused perishables and reducing the environmental impact associated with excess food waste.

HelloFresh provides a solution for individuals who want to explore new cuisines and recipes but may lack culinary expertise or access to specialty ingredients. The company’s meal kits come with diverse and globally inspired recipes, offering customers an opportunity to enjoy restaurant-quality dishes at home.

In weaving together these customer retention strategies, businesses can elevate their approach beyond mere transactions, fostering enduring connections resilient to market fluctuations. By placing a premium on customer satisfaction, personalization, and a commitment to continuous improvement, brands can cultivate a loyal customer base that not only withstands the test of time but forms the very bedrock of your loyalty program.

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  • Advertising, eCommerce

Amazon Direct: Your Ultimate 2024 Holiday Strategy Guide

How to Take Home Amazon Direct Market Share This Holiday Season

Building a successful Amazon direct sales strategy for the 2024 holiday season involves a combination of effective planning, optimization, and marketing efforts. Our expert Amazon Direct marketer developed this comprehensive guide to help you navigate selling your products to consumers during the 2024 holiday season. Below you will find critical details detailing out a successful Amazon Direct strategy.

Establishing Amazon Direct Goals

First, you need to establish clear goals for your B2C Amazon direct holiday campaign, begin by defining your sales and revenue targets for the upcoming holiday season. Consider the specific products or categories you aim to promote and sell during this period. Once you’ve outlined your objectives, take the crucial step of converting these aspirations into specific, measurable, and realistic goals. Clearly articulate the metrics you’ll use to track success, whether it be in terms of sales volume, orders, average order lines, revenue generated, or customer acquisition. These goals will serve as the foundation for your strategic planning, providing a roadmap for your Amazon campaign and helping you stay focused on achieving tangible and quantifiable results throughout the festive season.

Optimizing Amazon Product Listings

In the realm of selling on Amazon Direct, optimizing product listings is paramount. Begin by crafting compelling and keyword-rich product titles that not only captivate potential buyers but also align with search algorithms to enhance discoverability. Elevate the visual appeal of your offerings by creating high-quality product images that showcase your products from various angles and highlight key features. Accompany these visuals with informative and engaging product descriptions, providing potential customers with a comprehensive understanding of what your product offers. Moreover, recognizing the prevalence of mobile shopping, optimize your product listings for mobile users to ensure a seamless and user-friendly experience across devices. By paying meticulous attention to these listing elements, you not only enhance your product’s visibility but also increase the likelihood of converting browsing customers into satisfied buyers.

Amazon Advertising

Maximizing your success on Amazon Direct involves a strategic blend of leveraging Amazon Advertising products. Utilize the powerful trio of Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display to significantly amplify the visibility of your offerings. Craft a competitive budget that aligns with your business goals and bid strategically on relevant keywords to ensure your products surface prominently in search results.

Be sure to invest in your creative for display ads – a well-designed targeting strategy may fall flat with inferior creative. Leverage as much motion, movement, and video as you can.  You also want to A/B test creative as simple changes can lead to a 3,000% increase in response. Test, optimize, lather, rinse repeat.

The key to sustained success lies in vigilance; regularly monitor the performance of your advertising campaigns. Track key metrics, assess the effectiveness of your chosen keywords, and be prepared to make dynamic adjustments based on real-time data. This iterative approach ensures that your advertising strategy remains finely tuned, optimizing visibility, and maximizing the impact of your campaigns on the ever-evolving Amazon marketplace.

Amazon Couponing

Elevating your presence on Amazon Direct involves strategic use of promotions, and Amazon Coupons and Deals are powerful tools for this purpose. During the holiday season, seize the opportunity to create special offers using Amazon Coupons, enticing potential customers with exclusive discounts and incentives. To further boost visibility and create a sense of urgency, consider employing Lightning Deals or Deal of the Day promotions. These time-sensitive offers can significantly enhance the visibility of your products, driving increased traffic and encouraging swift conversions. By strategically deploying Amazon Coupons and Deals, you not only attract the attention of bargain-seeking shoppers but also establish a competitive edge in the bustling online marketplace during the festive season.

Product Pricing Strategy

Optimizing your product pricing and discounts for Amazon Direct is a nuanced strategy for driving sales. Stay attuned to market dynamics by diligently monitoring competitor pricing and use this insight to adjust your prices strategically. To entice holiday shoppers, consider offering bundled deals, and presenting a compelling value proposition that sets your products apart. By aligning your pricing strategy with market trends and introducing attractive holiday offers, you not only capture the attention of cost-conscious consumers but also position your products as appealing choices amidst the competitive landscape. This dynamic approach to pricing and discounts can be a pivotal factor in attracting and retaining customers during the festive season on the Amazon platform.

Fulfillment & Shipping

Enhancing your Amazon Direct selling strategy extends to the critical aspects of fulfillment and shipping. Opting for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a strategic move to guarantee swift and reliable shipping, leveraging Amazon’s extensive logistics network. To foster transparency and trust with customers, ensure that shipping times and deadlines are communicated clearly, managing expectations, and providing a positive shopping experience. Additionally, maintain a vigilant eye on inventory levels to prevent stockouts, a potential deterrent for customers. By prioritizing efficient fulfillment through FBA, transparent communication, and proactive inventory management, you not only optimize the customer experience but also establish a foundation for sustained success in the competitive Amazon marketplace.

E-mail Marketing

In the dynamic landscape of Amazon Direct selling, implementing a robust email marketing strategy can significantly bolster your sales efforts. Start by meticulously building and segmenting your email list, allowing for targeted campaigns that resonate with specific customer segments. During the holiday season, leverage the power of email marketing by sending out engaging newsletters infused with festive themes, exclusive offers, and pertinent product updates. Beyond mere promotions, harness the potential of email to recover abandoned carts, nudging potential customers back to complete their purchase. Additionally, use strategic email communication to encourage repeat purchases, fostering customer loyalty and maximizing the lifetime value of each customer. By integrating a thoughtful and well-executed email marketing approach, you not only amplify your reach but also cultivate lasting relationships with customers in the competitive Amazon marketplace.

Seller Central

The pivotal role of monitoring analytics and adjusting campaigns cannot be overstated. Consistently analyze your Amazon Seller Central analytics to glean insights into the performance of your products and campaigns. By delving into the data, you can identify top-performing products, understand customer behavior, and pinpoint areas for improvement. This data-driven approach enables you to refine your strategy, reallocating resources to high-performing products, optimizing keywords, and enhancing the overall effectiveness of your campaigns. Regular assessment and adjustment based on real-time data not only keep your Amazon storefront competitive but also ensure that your efforts align dynamically with market trends, ultimately driving sustained success in the ever-evolving landscape of online retail.

By incorporating these strategies into your Amazon direct sales approach, you’ll be better positioned to capitalize on the 2024 holiday season and drive increased sales. Regularly assess your performance and adjust based on customer feedback and market trends.
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  • Advertising, Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Social Media

Master Facebook Custom Audiences for CRO

 

Facebook custom audiences are a targeting feature that allows businesses to create a specific audience based on their existing customer data. Custom audiences can be created using a variety of sources, such as email addresses, phone numbers, website visitors, and engagement with Facebook and Instagram content.

By using custom audiences, businesses can deliver targeted ads to a specific group of people who have already interacted with their brand in some way. For example, a business can use custom audiences to target customers who have abandoned their shopping carts or to upsell to customers who have previously made a purchase.

Custom audiences can also be used to create lookalike audiences, which are audiences that share similar characteristics to the existing custom audience. This helps businesses reach new potential customers who are likely to be interested in their products or services.

Overall, Facebook custom audiences are a powerful tool for businesses to deliver highly targeted ads and improve the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns.

Popular types of Facebook custom audiences

Customer lists

This audience is created by uploading a list of email addresses, phone numbers, or other contact information that the business has collected from its customers.

Website traffic

This audience is created by tracking visitors to a business’s website using Facebook’s tracking pixel. The pixel can track specific actions such as page views, add-to-cart events, and purchases, and businesses can create custom audiences based on these actions.

App activity

This audience is created by tracking users who have interacted with a business’s app. The business can create custom audiences based on specific in-app actions such as installs, purchases, and registrations.

Engagement

This audience is created based on how users have interacted with a business’s Facebook or Instagram content. Businesses can create custom audiences based on actions such as video views, likes, comments, and shares.

Lookalike audiences

This audience is created by using Facebook’s algorithm to find people who share similar characteristics to an existing custom audience. This is a powerful tool for businesses to reach new potential customers who are likely to be interested in their products or services.

Custom audiences based on Facebook groups

Advertisers can create custom audiences based on people who are members of specific Facebook groups. This can help them reach people who have a shared interest or hobby.

There are more targeted and granular Facebook audience segments that you can create. The more personalized the segment, the more customized the targeting ad can be. For example, creating segments of people who look at bakeware as opposed to customer segments that look at the knife section of your homewares catalog. Offering likeminded individuals offers will increase your response rate by offering the right product to the right customer.

Here are the steps to create a custom audience based on website traffic:

  1. Go to Ads Manager and click on the “Audiences” tab.
  2. Click on the “Create Audience” dropdown and select “Custom Audience.”
  3. Select “Website Traffic” as the source of your custom audience.
  4. Choose “People who visited specific web pages” and enter the URL of the category page on your website that you want to target.
  5. You can further refine your audience by setting a time range for how far back you want to go and by adding additional rules such as excluding certain URLs or targeting people who have visited multiple pages on your website.
  6. Once you’ve created your audience, you can use it to create targeted Facebook ads that will be shown to people who have visited the specific category page on your website.

And once you have created this custom audience, you can leverage it to fill the top of your funnel with people that are not familiar with your brand. This methodology will find people on Facebook that have similar demographics and psychographics to the people in your category segment, enabling you to appeal to a wider audience. Remember this audience segment will convert at a lower rate than someone that is familiar with your brand, but you have to continually fill your funnel to find new customers, and this is one of the many targeted methodologies to do so.

To create a lookalike audience in Facebook, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Ads Manager and click on the “Audiences” tab.
  2. Click on the “Create Audience” dropdown and select “Lookalike Audience.”
  3. Choose the source of your lookalike audience. You can use your Facebook pixel data, your custom audience data, or your page fans.
  4. Select the country or region where you want to find similar people.
  5. Choose your desired audience size, which ranges from 1% to 10% of the total population of the selected country or region. The smaller the percentage, the more closely the lookalike audience will match your source audience.
  6. Click “Create Audience” and wait for Facebook to create your lookalike audience. This may take a few hours.
  7. Once your lookalike audience is ready, you can use it to create targeted Facebook ads that will be shown to people who have similar characteristics and behaviors to your source audience.

There are endless options on configuring Facebook audiences. Your limit is only your creativity and your brand understanding. Understanding brand nuances can help you uncover like characteristics you may have not considered, such as a private group these likeminded individuals may participate in. In addition to being creative with your custom audiences, you can also layer your audiences.

Layering Custom Audiences

Layering Facebook custom audiences is the process of combining multiple custom audiences to create a more refined and targeted audience. Layering your custom audiences can provide even further optimization to your targeting by adding additional criteria and further segmenting your audience. Because the audience is more targeted, you are more likely to see a higher conversion rate and lower cost per conversion with layered custom audiences. By layering custom audiences, you can also create retargeting campaigns that are tailored to specific behaviors or interests, which can lead to higher engagement and conversion rates. By targeting only the most relevant audience, you can save money on ad spend and get more value for your advertising budget.

Overall, layering Facebook custom audiences can help you create more targeted and effective ad campaigns that can lead to higher engagement, conversion rates, and return on investment.

How to Layer Custom Audiences

  1. Go to Ads Manager and click on the “Audiences” tab.
  2. Click on the “Create Audience” dropdown and select “Custom Audience.”
  3. Choose the source of your first custom audience. You can choose from website traffic, customer file, engagement, app activity, offline activity, and more.
  4. Set up the targeting for your first custom audience. You can include or exclude specific groups of people based on their behavior or characteristics.
  5. Click “Create Audience” to save your first custom audience.
  6. Repeat the process to create a second custom audience using a different source, such as a different page on your website, a different customer file, or a different type of engagement.
  7. Once you have created your second custom audience, click on the “Create Audience” dropdown again and select “Custom Audience.”
  8. Choose “Custom Combination” to create a new audience that combines your first and second custom audiences.
  9. Select the source of your first custom audience and the source of your second custom audience.
  10. Set up the targeting for your new custom audience. You can include or exclude specific groups of people based on their behavior or characteristics from both of your original custom audiences.
  11. Click “Create Audience” to save your new custom audience.

You can repeat this process to layer more custom audiences and create a more refined and targeted audience. By layering custom audiences, you can create an audience that includes people who meet specific criteria from multiple sources, which can help you reach a more relevant audience and achieve better results with your Facebook ads.

Now that you have the comprehensive facts and how-to for Facebook Custom Audiences, it’s time to take on the Facebook Ad types so you can find out which is best for your audience. Best of luck with the social selling!

You might also like: 8 Types of Facebook Ads to Crush Your Sales Goals

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  • Advertising, Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Social Media

Meta Pixel: The Ultimate Guide

Leveraging the Meta Pixel for Conversion

The Meta pixel is a piece of code that can be added to a website to track user behavior and conversions on that site. It allows advertisers to track the actions of users who have interacted with their ads on Facebook and then visited their website, and to use that information to optimize and target their ads more effectively.

Privacy laws such as the GDPR and CCPA have had an impact on the use of the Meta pixel, as they require websites to obtain explicit consent from users before tracking their behavior. This means that website owners need to ensure that they have proper consent mechanisms in place, such as cookie banners or pop-ups, before implementing the Meta pixel.

The Facebook API provides advanced settings that allow developers to customize the behavior of the pixel, such as setting custom parameters or tracking specific events on their site. These settings can be accessed through the Facebook Ads Manager or by using the Facebook Marketing API. Here are some examples of advanced settings that are available through the Facebook API:

  1. Custom Parameters: The Meta Pixel can be customized to track additional parameters beyond the default ones that are provided. This allows advertisers to track more specific information about user behavior, such as the type of product that was viewed or the value of a purchase. This configuration enables you to see what the customer engaged with so you may present this again in retargeting or show ads to this person from the same product collection. You may also offer a flash sale that is available for the next 3 hours only to encourage action now.
  2. Event Configuration: Advertisers can configure the Meta Pixel to track specific events on their website, such as button clicks or form submissions. They can also set up custom events to track unique user behavior that is relevant to their business. Events are an additional data point that enables you to score your data. Once you have their email address, your ability to market for free has been achieved – this is a great success and something you should build into your funnel with a tracking event. Once you have their email, you can place them in an audience segment that you test in conjunction with email and without to see the lift you get from the awareness exposure on Facebook. You may find that once you test email with ads and email without ads that the lower email conversion rate is acceptable and that you take the additional money and spend it on acquiring emails so you can then convert in email and have a steady stream of new opportunity from your email sign ups.
  3. Conversion Optimization: The Meta Pixel can be set up to optimize ad delivery for specific conversions, such as product purchases or lead form submissions. This helps advertisers to deliver their ads to users who are most likely to take the desired action. Facebook determines this exposure based on their proprietary algorithm; they are constantly optimizing to best deliver the audience that meets your needs. The more they can help you sell, the more ad dollars you will invest in the platform.
  4. Audience Creation: Advertisers can use the Meta Pixel to create custom audiences based on specific user behavior on their website. For example, they can create an audience of users who added items to their cart but did not complete a purchase. This is the number one converting audience – you must retarget folks that add to basket – it’s the number one conversion ad type on Facebook. The next audience you want to create is the browsers; these are the folks that look at the product detail page but do not add to cart. This audience was engaged enough to click through but not add to cart – just one step less engaged than your number one converting audience.
  5. Ad Delivery: The Meta Pixel can be used to control how ads are delivered to users based on their behavior on the website. For example, advertisers can show different ads to users who have already made a purchase compared to users who have only viewed a product page. This is a great place to introduce your loyalty program as well – save 10% on your 2nd purchase when you sign up for the Rockstar Rewards and save 10% on your next purchase – or get this loyalty welcome gift with your second purchase.

Overall, the advanced settings available through the Facebook API provide advertisers with a great deal of flexibility in how they use the Meta Pixel to track user behavior and optimize their ad campaigns.

Here are the basics of setting up the Meta pixel using the Facebook API:

  1. Set up a Facebook Business Manager account: If you don’t already have one, create a Facebook Business Manager account. This will allow you to manage your Facebook assets, including the Facebook Pixel API.
  2. Create a Facebook app: In the Facebook Developer Dashboard, create a Facebook app that will be used to access the Facebook Pixel API. Give your app a name and follow the prompts to create it.
  3. Add the Facebook Pixel API to your app: In the app settings, go to the “Products” section and add the Facebook Pixel API. Follow the prompts to set up the API, including setting up access tokens and permissions.
  4. Configure the Pixel API events: The Facebook Pixel API can track various user events on your website, such as page views, purchases, and form submissions. You can configure these events by defining them in the API code.
  5. Test the Pixel API: Once the API is installed and configured correctly, it’s important to test it to make sure it’s working correctly. You can do this using the Facebook Graph API Explorer, which allows you to test API requests and responses.
  6. Use the Pixel API to optimize your ad campaigns: Once the Pixel API is installed and configured correctly, you can use it to optimize your ad campaigns for specific conversions, create custom audiences, and track the performance of your ads.

There are many Facebook plugins available for WordPress that can be used to add the Meta pixel to a WordPress site, including official plugins from Facebook and third-party plugins developed by other companies or individuals. There are several popular Facebook plugins available for WordPress that can help you configure and integrate the Facebook Pixel with your website. Here are a few examples:

  1. Pixel Caffeine: This plugin allows you to easily set up and manage your Facebook Pixel, create custom audiences, and track specific events on your website.
  2. Facebook for WooCommerce: This plugin is designed specifically for WooCommerce users and allows you to track sales, add-to-cart events, and other important eCommerce events on your website.
  3. Facebook Feed WD: This plugin allows you to display your Facebook feed on your website, track Facebook Page visits, and capture user information for retargeting purposes.
  4. Facebook Like Box: This plugin allows you to display a Facebook Like Box on your website, which can help increase your social media following and capture user information for retargeting.
  5. Custom Facebook Feed: This plugin allows you to display a customizable Facebook feed on your website and track Facebook Page visits.

These are just a few examples of the many Facebook plugins available for WordPress. By using a plugin, you can simplify the process of configuring the Facebook Pixel and ensure that it’s tracking the events that are important for your business.

Whether you use the manual installation, the API, or a plugin, you want to ensure your pixel is firing correctly so you can confidently know that you are capturing the correct variables to target, retarget, capture events for creative targeting and re-segmenting audiences. In order to test your Meta pixel, you will want to add the Pixel helper to your browser. Here is how to install the pixel helper:

  1. Install the Facebook Pixel Helper: The Facebook Pixel Helper is a free Chrome extension that helps you check if your Facebook Pixel is working correctly. You can install it from the Chrome Web Store.
  2. Visit your website: After installing the Facebook Pixel Helper, visit your website and navigate through it to trigger the events you want to track.
  3. Check the Facebook Pixel Helper: Click on the Facebook Pixel Helper icon in your browser toolbar to open it. The tool will show you if the Facebook Pixel is installed on your website and if it’s firing correctly. It will also show you which events are being tracked and if there are any errors or warnings.
  4. Check the Pixel Event Manager: In the Facebook Ads Manager, go to the Pixel Event Manager to see the event data collected by the Facebook Pixel. You can check if the events you triggered on your website are being tracked correctly and see the details of each event, such as the event name, the number of times it was triggered, and the value of the event.
  5. Use the Ads Manager’s Testing Tools: Facebook provides various testing tools in the Ads Manager to verify that your pixel and events are working correctly. These tools include the Ads Preview tool, which allows you to see how your ads will look in different placements, and the Test and Debug tool, which lets you simulate different types of events to check how they’re handled by your pixel.

By following these steps, you can ensure that your Facebook Pixel is working correctly and that it’s tracking the events that are important for your business. If you encounter any issues, Facebook provides extensive documentation and support to help you resolve them.

Now that you have a handle on your pixel, its time to leverage this information for your advertising. Use these tips and tricks to get the most out of your carefully configured Meta pixel.

  1. Create custom audiences: Custom audiences allow you to retarget users who have already engaged with your website or Facebook Page. By creating custom audiences based on specific events, such as add-to-cart or purchase events, you can show ads to users who are more likely to convert. If you have physical locations, you will want local audiences created in addition to your engagement, leads submissions, purchases, product family audiences, and AOV as all of these will help you be a smarter marketer.
  2. Set up dynamic ads: Dynamic ads allow you to show personalized ads to users based on their behavior on your website. By setting up dynamic ads, you can show users ads for products they have viewed or added to their cart, increasing the likelihood that they will convert.
  3. Use Facebook Pixel with Google Analytics: By linking your Facebook Pixel with Google Analytics, you can gain even more insights into user behavior on your website. This allows you to better understand how users are interacting with your website and optimize your ad campaigns accordingly.
  4. Optimize for value: Facebook’s value optimization feature allows you to optimize your ad campaigns based on the value of each conversion. By setting up value optimization, you can prioritize ad delivery to users who are more likely to generate higher revenue for your business.
  5. Regularly review your events and data: It’s important to regularly review your Facebook Pixel events and data to ensure that it’s tracking correctly and providing you with valuable insights. This will help you make informed decisions about your ad campaigns and optimize them for better performance.

By following these tips and tricks, you can make the most of the Facebook Pixel and use it to drive better results for your business.

With the Meta pixel, you can track a variety of user actions on your website, including pageviews, clicks, purchases, sign-ups, and more. This information can then be used to create custom audiences for targeting and retargeting campaigns on Facebook and to measure the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns. Additionally, you can use the pixel to track conversions and optimize your ads for specific actions that you want users to take on your website.

If you need help setting up your Meta Pixel, reach out to Contest Factory and we’re happy to help.

 

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  • Digital Analytics, Digital Marketing, eCommerce, eMail Marketing

50+ eCommerce Statistics You Should Know

Online sales are expected to hit $6.51 trillion this year. It is estimated that by 2040 that 95% of all commerce will occur online. Ensuring you know how to get your piece of the pie is getting even more competitive as the barriers to entry continue to lessen with tools like Woo Commerce and Etsy.

How do you know if your eCommerce business is hitting home runs or producing marginal returns? If you are not networking with like-minded business executives, you are left to wonder and search for benchmarks. And then, do you know which data is important to benchmark?

We’ve made it easy with this guide defining the metrics you should care about and what the standards of these metrics look like in 2023. Use this guide to document your baseline with goals to meet the benchmark or surpass it. This will help you identify your lowest-hanging fruit for growth and build a roadmap to get there.

eCommerce Conversion Rate

Your conversion rate is calculated by dividing your number of transactions by your number of visitors and multiply X 100; (transactions / visitors) X 100 respectively. The industry average for eCommerce conversion rates settles at 2.5-3%. Your goal is to always aim for above 3% – then you know you are doing something right and above average at closing transactions by chance.

Average conversion rate by source

 

Source: Compass E-commerce Conversion Rate Benchmarks (2018)
Note: data collected from over 10,000 online stores – top 25% = 25% of stores with the highest conversion rate.

Order source attribution

You get orders from many different places. Whether it be a friend that sent you online or an ad you saw, a blog you read, and affiliate feed or paid search – there are many ways to get customers. Business owners often wonder what a normal distribution of sources looks like. This is complicated to say the least as each business appeals to consumers differently and no two businesses are identical.

Lifestyle brands will have more affiliate, blog, and advertising break out. Whereas consumables will have more search marketing, marketplaces, and shopping site referrals. The rule of thumb here is that you do not want your orders all coming from one referral source – this is what they would call having all your eggs in one basket. You should have a minimum of 5 healthy sources and always be on the lookout for more.

Below you can see a study that shows global eCommerce averages to give you a benchmark. Note you can look at sources by traffic, by orders, and by revenue. Below you will find sources by traffic and revenue.

eCommerce Statistics: Conversion

Cart abandonment rate

The average cart abandonment rate is 69.80%. This means approximately 70% of shoppers add something to their cart that they do not buy. Talk about emotional buying.  There are many tips and tricks to reduce cart abandonment.

Business owners can use cart abandonment emails to remind the customer of the item in the basket. Some merchants offer a discount – but you have to be careful about shoppers seeking this and using it as a reliable way to get a discount.  You can also text message users to remind them to complete their purchase and get a special gift with the purchase. Or offer a discount on a 2nd item.

Customer retention

This is a very important metric in any business. How many customers buy a 2nd and 3rd time. Getting multiple purchases from the same customer decreases your acquisition cost and increases your lifetime value, providing a more profitable business model.

Customer Retention by Industry

 

Source: https://www.metrilo.com/blog/report-customer-retention-dtc-brands

Advertising Options

There are so many places to spend your money – but where is the best place? Let’s review some averages to see where other folks are advertising. The average online merchant advertises in 3.2 channels.

Top 10 eCommerce Advertising Sources Globally

  1. Google Shopping
  2. Custom Channels
  3. Facebook Product Ads
  4. Amazon
  5. Google Search
  6. Pinterest
  7. Criteo
  8. Bing Ads
  9. eBay
  10. Price Runner

Average Google Ads CTR

Google Ads tend to be a go-to for all brands. They have been around and show in-market / customers searching for products to buy. This means you don’t have to persuade them, so its less media spend to acquire these customers and a great place to find new customers – or have new customers find you. Let’s look at average Google Ad click through rate by percentile in the bell curve.

The bottom 25% of merchants see a 1.91% CTR.

The middle 50% percentile merchants see a 3.23% CTR.

The 3rd quartile at 75% of merchants enjoy a 5.58% CTR.

The top merchants in the 90th percentile enjoy a 9.5% CTR.

Remember that a click is only half the battle – now you have to sell them. This is where you will want your abandoned cart emails, SMS messages, and Google retargeting to get them back to your site.

Average Email Marketing Open Rate and Click Rate

Merchants need to be using email marketing – this is the most affordable source of sales. Once you have someone on your list, it’s practically free to market to them. Simply create a weekly sale and get it front of your subscribers and voila – you’ll see repeat revenue start rolling in. The average email open rate is 15.68%.  The average click rate is 2.01%. with the average unsubscribe rate being .27%.

Average Email list value

As referenced above, there is extreme value in your email marketing list – these are customers who already know you and have requested emails from you. Each recipient can be considered a monetary value based on known average responses. This is measured by average revenue per recipient. Companies that have larger revenue make more money through their email marketing by nature of being more mature and having more subscribers.

Merchants that earn less than $100K can expect an average return of $.06 per subscriber.

Merchants that earn between $100K – $1M can expect an average return of $.06 per subscriber.

Merchants that earn between $1M – $10M can expect an average return of $.11 per subscriber.

Merchants that earn above $10M can expect an average return of $.21 per subscriber.

Now that you are armed with benchmarks and averages across the globe, you are ready to compare your own results and set goals. Each of these benchmarks come with tips and tricks to leverage opportunity for improvement. Read our guide on Omnichannel Marketing.>>

Wishing all merchants a very healthy 2023. Reach out to Contest Factory if you need any customer engagement solutions.

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  • eCommerce, Loyalty Marketing, Marketing Communications

Customer Journey Mapping: The Ultimate Guide

How to Create a Customer Journey Map in 2022

While most companies get the strategic value of optimizing the customer experience (CX), far too few go through the process of breaking down what a good customer experience looks like from the vantage point of their actual customers.

This is why the customer journey map exists —a visual representation outlining how your customers experience each stage of their journey interacting with your brand, from engaging on your social platforms to purchasing online, and beyond.

In an era when customers value experience over price or even quality, understanding and influencing your customers’ journey can pave the way to your company’s success.

Let’s review how to develop a comprehensive, effective customer journey map that will bolster the CX and your bottom line.

  1. Set clear objectives for your map

Before you dive in, it’s important to get clear on your “why.” Most organizations use customer journey maps to identify and remedy any gaps or sticking points in the customer experience. You want to get as specific as possible, both to achieve your end goals and to avoid scope creep. Your first go around will be purely documenting the current experience as you methodically navigate your marketing in the shoes of your different personas.

Once you see what you have today, you may start defining new journeys with specific goals in mind —improve conversion rates, expand your audience, or perhaps find ways to break down silos within your organization?  You may find in your current customer journey that you have low social followership – identify where integrating your customer into social makes sense and add that element with an inducement. You will continue to elevate your gaps or deficiencies and identify where these fit into your perfect customer journey.

  1. Identify your buyer personas

If you haven’t already, you’ll want to define your buyer persona/s. Knowing who you are engaging is essential for establishing how best to engage them—this includes demographics, psychographics, socio-economic factors, as well as previous customer interactions. When done well, your buyer personas should capture a lot of essential information that will feed into your customer journey map.

Most likely, your audience is made up of more than one persona, which you want to consider when mapping out the overall customer experience. That said, incorporating too many personas into one journey map could dilute your results or overwhelm your capacity to implement viable change.

You want to consider the various perspectives but narrow your focus to the most common customer personas and how to best optimize their path to purchase experience.  Below you will see an example of a Buyer Persona Template to help you build out your buyer personas. You may download the Buyer Persona Template here.>>

Customer Journey Mapping

3. Talk to your “personas”

Regardless of how developed your buyer personas are, you still need to consult your prospects and current customers to get feedback on what is and isn’t working at each stage of the journey.

You can use everything from questionnaires and surveys to good old fashioned phone calls and one-on-one interviews.

Some good questions to ask include:

·         How did you hear about us or find our website?

·         What needs/problems led you to look for us/our products?

·         Have you purchased our products/services before? If so, what influenced your decision?

·         How was your purchase experience?

·         Did you find it easy to navigate and purchase on our website? Why or why not?

·         Do you have any recommendations or complaints you want to share with us?

4. Factor in customer emotions and stressors

“People don’t buy for logical reasons.  They buy for emotional reasons.”  – Zig Ziglar

Most every purchase decision a customer makes is motivated by emotion…as is every decision not to make a purchase. This is why it’s not just important, but essential to uncover what, why, and when emotions are triggering your customers.

If this seems daunting, remember that emotions are usually driven by an acute need or desire in the present, a pain point experienced in the past, or a perceived stressor that might happen in the future.

5. Capture every possible touchpoint

Touchpoint analysis is another crucial process for capturing a 360-degree view of your customers’ entire journey. This is important, because each of your touch points, no matter how fleeting, has an impact on the overall experience…and each has the potential to make or break your customer relationship.

Start by brainstorming at all the ways in which your customers or prospects might find and interact with you throughout their entire journey, both online and off. (Be sure to include a list of those not being used, as well).

Here’s a list of key touch points to get you started:

You can use the template below to document all the touch points you have at each stage of the customer journey.  Click here to download the Customer Journey Mapping template now.>>

customer journey mapping

6.    Optimize your CX across touchpoints

After you have a complete picture of your customer journey, start to finish, it’s time to take action.

You should have a detailed list of all the improvements you need to make at each touchpoint. You’ll also want to take inventory of the resources you have and the ones you’ll need. Whether it’s new technology, data, or human resources, if your investment results in a more personalized, meaningful experience for your customers, it’s worth it.

And don’t worry if you can’t tackle everything at once. Ideally, you’d want to prioritize what will have the biggest impact. But even small changes can strengthen trust and build rapport if you are genuine, transparent, and consistent in your efforts.

And remember, companies that leverage tools like customer journey maps reduce their cost of service by 15-20%.

Forging the Path to Customer Success

Mapping your customer journey isn’t necessarily the easy path, but it’s the best route to longevity, success, and satisfaction, on all sides. No matter how big or small the initial changes may be, you can act with confidence, knowing you delivering the right message at the right time to provide the ultimate customer experience.

Mission accomplished.

 

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  • Artificial Intelligence, Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Gamification

Personalizing Your Web Experience

It’s commonly accepted these days that personalization impacts your customer experience all the way to conversion.  However, we often forget just how important some of this commonly accepted knowledge is; more personalization on your website could lead to substantially increased conversion rate.  The difference between 3 personalized pages and 10 personalized pages shows an 18X conversion rate for those that consumed the 10 personalized pageviews when compared to shoppers that consumed only 3 personalized web pages.

So let’s consider your web experience and what you can personalize to engage your user so much that they would respond this much. Keep in mind the user that will consume 10 pages overall is already a different prospect than your average 50% bounce rate and average 4 pages to leave or convert.  Knowing how and where to grasp your personalization is fairly important.  This will stem from your product or service offering as well – certain products and services have obvious personalization opportunities; for example, a loyalty program will shout out for what you have done already while also teasing opportunities available to you.

You may consider a loyalty program may use GPS data on your phone and store to your profile.  When you go to their website, they may offer you congratulations on earning 175 points at your favorite restaurant. They may also show you the opportunity you have had in the last week to earn even more points.  They will tempt you to visit not only their social media profiles but also reward you for liking and engaging with retailers in the program.

For an eCommerce site, you may find that offering products from the collection the user is shopping will show them that you know what they like.  You may look at past purchases and suggest because you own this product that you may indeed like a complimentary product that other users have purchased and rated highly.  You may also suggest tips for the products they already own – how to use best, store, or clean.

You may also create an opportunity to unlock unique offers by asking for more customer information that will help you personalize their Birthday Month, their favorite holiday, and even reminding them of their favorite people’s birthdays. It’s amazing what you can use to show a person you care and that you know and understand them.

There are many more ways to personalize your experience, from acknowledging your name to having the customer land closer to where they would like to start browsing.  The technology to enable this varies but is available in many CRM packages.  There are also custom plugins that will help you.  The following list is a great list of software considerations to help you personalize your web experience.

SalesForce

Hub Spot

Pipe Drive

Active Demand

These applications enable you to set up rules for how you trigger personalization and deliver it online.  Test different scenarios on different customer segments and you may unlock the solution to creating a greater lifetime value across customer segments.

 

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  • Digital Marketing, eCommerce, Loyalty Marketing

The Ultimate Guide to Optimize Your Conversion Rate

Conversion rates are like little money multipliers — the more you learn about them, the more you will find yourself daydreaming about their increased efficiency and rolling in a pile of money.  While it is tempting to sit and calculate your win fall, you don’t have time for that – you have work to do.  Every little thing you can think of surrounding your product can impact your conversion rate.  This ranges from product functionality to positioning, copywriting, available information, financing, and more…including your website functionality.  Some of these methods to increase your conversion rate will have costs associated, so you will want to be sure to calculate your risk with a break-even analysis before jumping into paid efforts.

The average conversion rate is 2.42% – certain industries have higher and lower conversion rates; the crafting industry has the highest of them all, landing at 5.08%. Holy cannoli, that would double the sales of company with a 2.5% conversion rate, literally, overnight.  Now you can see the multiplier and temptation to daydream with a sill example like that.  Now let’s focus on how we can incrementally increase your conversion rate with some tested tools and tips.

If your product is a couple hundred dollars or more, you want to be sure to offer one of the new pay over time services.  These are not credit cards, rather the new way of teaching financial responsibility by allowing a customer to pay over 6 weeks, and even payment amount with no interest.  The merchant, you, pay the increased credit card transaction fee to accommodate such a transaction.  More fees do not sound appetizing, but keep in mind this will increase your conversion rate, which will in turn provide more gross margin to use on new efforts and initiatives.  Some of the new services are Affirm, After Pay, Per Pay, Pay Pal 4 Payments, Klama, and Sezzle.

Accept as many types of payment as you can without causing undue burden or cost on your accounting department.  Starting simple with credit cards, you would be surprised by the number of folks with only an AMEX or Discover card.  And these often are not accepted at all places; Amex has a higher processing fee, so consider this, but even more, consider a 20% increase in your conversion rate…now consider again.  Discover used to be a lesser used card with easier approvals (thus my only college credit card – and why I know you can’t use it at a lot of places).  So be sure to accept all the regular credit cards and then consider the newbies, Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, PayPal, and Google Pay.  All of these types of payments enable the prospect to checkout without digging into their wallet, without crossing the threshold of where budgets kick in mentally, pulling out the card or cash.  Most of us will buy something on our phone when we can simply use a known password to checkout versus getting up and grabbing your wallet to place the order.  Make it easier and your conversion rate will surely go up.

Add a loyalty program and now you have poured a little gasoline on your conversion rate. Not only are you offering benefits to your customers to return, but you’re also making it fun. You are essentially gamifying your brand with a loyalty program; gamification increases conversion rates up to 7X.  This is the greatest gift you will ever give yourself.  You pay your customers to engage with your brand and most of the activities are free to you.  Give your clients points for sharing your content, reward them for following you on your social channels, reward them for referring friends…it becomes addicting to think about all the self-serving things you can ask your customer to do in return for added value or a discount.  Remember added value can always be free – you can offer first access to new inventory, secret sales, closeouts, and even valuable content not available elsewhere.  It will take some programming to set up your loyalty program or you may use an off the shelf plugin and get a head start.

FREE Delivery – did someone say free? The most powerful word in the world… now say shipping.  People have been used to getting what they want the same day without a delivery fee all their life; now enter the internet where it has a hard cost to get your merchandise to you.  Again, remember we are increasing conversion rates, so we must give to get.  You see free delivery everywhere because it works. Merchants typically account for this in their margin – some offer free shipping over a certain amount so they know they cover it and under that amount they make profit on the shipping to help cover the free portions.  Let us not forget expedited delivery – this comes at a cost, and we’ve all been there where you will pay anything to have that special item delivered tomorrow because no price is too high for your Mom, but you’ve been busy.  Be sure to increase the prices on your expedited shipping so you may also use that as a profit center.  Though the winner for conversion rates has been the same since the beginning, FREE.

Free gift with purchase is another fantastic conversion rate optimizer. Sometimes this can be the video that accompanies the product and its a 1x cost and you’re done – everyone gets it and it adds value that you are providing free.  Peleton seems to be doing pretty well here when they were faced with a shortage of inventory, they focused on content.  Pay once and use a million times if you are lucky.  Selling a dutch oven? Send it with a QR code for a digital cookbook with award-winning family recipes.  When folks think they are getting more than they paid for, they consider it a good value and are more likely to purchase.

Product descriptions are more important than you may think. Another piece of trivia you may not know is that copywriters can make more than data scientists because it has that much value in selling your product.  What you write matters – it matters a lot.  Simple copy changes have resulted in 200% difference in conversion rates.   From product name to description, specifications, and warranty information, it all matters.  From brand affect to actual necessary data to decide whether to buy or not, this data is consumed in detail.  You do not want to overwhelm either.  The simple spot to start is to test a more detailed and less detailed page so you can see yourself.  Now set up another test where you write a lot more copy and spend more time detailing out the product name with specs.  You will continue with these tests and implementing the winner, your whole eCommerce life.  And you will incrementally change conversion while you are at it!

Product page layout is another animal that needs testing.  Where does the product image go? Well enough testing has happened that we all agree this image goes in the top left.  Now the rest of the items you will find a hodgepodge of locations across different businesses.  You need to find what works for you. Consider changing the color of your add to cart button – people universally like green, it may be a good test.  Test moving your SKU lower and your benefit bullets higher.  Be sure to show all payment methods accepted close to the product page – 4 even payments over 6 weeks may be just the push that prospect needed to convert.

When you set out to do your tests, there will need to be a technology piece to connect the dots above.  You can use Google Optimize, Optimizely, or VWO.  These are platforms that make executing your tests easy for the non-programmers among us – probably most of us.  The software simply splits your traffic in a percent you choose (you want most of your traffic going to a proven page) and then say, 20% goes to the test variant page; the software will report on the visits, bounces, conversions, and sales from the test variant page.

There are so many ways to improve your conversion rate that we will need to revisit this topic with another round of, “good ones”.  These should get you started and then you, yourself will find yourself marveling over the possible A/B tests you can do to improve your conversion rate.  Best wishes for crafting like conversion rates!

 

 

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  • eCommerce

eCommerce: The Ultimate Guide to a Successful Strategy

Setting up your eCommerce can be overwhelming at times if you do not have experience with the many modern software options available today. From lead scoring to funnel pushers and contact management systems, it all can be a bit stressful. Let us help you start with the basics and build from there.

eCommerce Platform

First and foremost you want to be sure your eCommerce platform is solid and capable of handling everything you need; this means ensuring your platform can serve as many people as possible.  Therefore you want to be sure to accept as many payments as possible by using payment processors that support both Google, Apple, and Amazon pay.  Stripe and Authorize.net are well known to support all three of these payment methods in eCommerce. In addition you will want to accept PayPal as it’s the oldest of the walletless shopping options with a wide adoptions across age groups.

After that, you want to be sure your platform is secure with SSL protection, meaning you encrypt your credit card data. Your hosting provider will be the issuing agency here to ensure you show the lock symbol anytime secure data is being passed.

Next step is ensuring you can support cross-sells and upsells. Most eCommerce platforms have this functionality and you can set these at the SKU level or category level. The more detailed you merchandise your catalog online, the more successful your sales opportunity will be. For example if you are selling a knives, you may also want to offer a butcher block.  If you are selling cosmetics, you will want to offer complimentary product to the product being added to the basket.  Amazon is famous for using the phrase, “Other people also purchased this with this product.”

Related: Product Marketing Launch Checklist 

eMail Marketing

You will also want to collect email addresses on your website for your newsletter. Once you capture the email address, you get to market to these folks over and over. You may find continual browsers and offer a coupon to close the sale.  Or you may survey your continual browsers to find out why they are not purchasing – there may be a  reason and you can improve products with this information.

Once you obtain email addresses, you will want to create weekly email campaigns with excellent copywriting.  You will also want to set up your drip campaign with a welcome sequence encouraging a first purchase. You will also want to set up an abandoned cart message reminding the shopper there is limited inventory going fast and you will hold this product for 24-hours for the shopper and after that it’s all fair play with dwindling inventory. Another campaign is your browse abandonment – Wayfair does an amazing job at sending emails full of the category you were browsing and letting you know this category in now on SALE. And finally, your last campaign is very important as getting a second purchase doubles your lifetime value and triples your chances of this being a long-term customer with 3+ purchases; this campaign has to be highly convincing – coupons and limited time offers on complimentary products to the first purchase are a great strategy here.

SMS Marketing

SMS messaging has really aided in increased order value. Sending a text message within 30 minutes of receiving an order asking for an additional purchase by offering a free gift can induce your average order value to climb generously. You may consider working with manufactures to create branded SMS free gift campaigns to give their brand more exposure with your store – often you will get complimentary items at no charge and reap the rewards of the higher order value with no additional cost to your bottom line. Win Win!

Product Reviews

Reviews are another stellar way to increase sales on your website – once you have clients that have placed an order and received delivery you will want to ask for a review; using google reviews will help you with natural search rankings as well. Reviews are widely consulted word-of-mouth marketing online that consistently show increase in sales when displayed on product pages as well as marketing materials.

Using a free plugin called Hotjar will also provide feedback and enable you to ensure you are providing the products and services your customers want, need, and like. Oftentimes this tool will be your window to unexpected errors you do not see.  For example a chatbox that covers your buy now button will be called out immediately by customers and you can fix it.

Chat Boxes & Chat Bots

Speaking of chat – this is one of the greatest sales enablers to date. Folks love how fast it is to chat and find out quick information on a product to ensure its exactly what they need.  And today there’s also chatbots where you can program basic information, like what are your hours, what is your return policy, do you have a product spec sheet, do you offer free delivery, and many more service related questions that can be answered without necessitating a customer service agent.

Available Inventory Notices

Sharing inventory availability as limited with only 2 left is also a great inducement for your top sellers. This can be set so it always looks to be limited and often encourages a conversion.  You can also set out of stock email alerts for when it is back in stock and ensure someone that really wants this item knows when it is back in stock.

Pay Over Time

Offering an option to pay over time has been the new way of teaching financial responsibility to a new group of shoppers. Payment options like Afterpay, Sezzle, or Affirm.  These are often 4 payments over 6-weeks. The consumer pays no interest but the eCommerce provider covers this fee in an increased processing fee. This fee is often well covered with an increase in average order value and conversion rate.

Advertising

Finding new customers is always paramount and starts with advertising. You’ll want to advertise on the best platforms available. Time and again we come back to Facebook and Google Ads. Facebook enables you to focus on interest marketing based on what people do on the platform. Google ads are focused on people in market and searching for like product and service, therefore your conversion opportunity is already greater with the shopper searching for your service. Both of these platforms also support shopping catalogs enabling you to easily display everything you offer via a data feed. If you are a novice in either of these categories, you will want to reach out to professionals like Contest Factory for support.

When advertising you will want to be sure you know how to track your ads to determine which ad spend and campaign is converting. Each platform will have its own reporting, but you will also want to use UTM tracking to see exactly the creative, term, platform, etc that is performing best.

Loyalty Programs for Retention & Word of Mouth Marketing

And before you launch into this world, you will also want to consider your customer retention by implementing a loyalty program. You will find ways to reward loyal customers with points redeemable for products. This can include helping you advertising by sharing on social media.

Measurement & Analytics for Optimization

Lastly be sure everything you do is measurable.  This means all marketing software has solid analytics as well as implement Google Analytics on your website. You can set goals for customers adding to basket which is called a micro-conversion as well as hard conversions with the thank you page showing a successful order.

These are the foundational elements you will want to ensure you have a firm grasp on before launching your eCommerce website.

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  • eCommerce, Marketing

Retail Therapy: Don’t Leave Your Marketshare on the Table

COVID-19’s abrupt and extreme impact on consumer behavior forced most businesses into a state of sink or swim, with many still barely staying afloat. But even as the virus continues to spread and the economy pushes on, some brands are discovering the pandemic’s silver lining: with crisis comes opportunity.

See how these businesses mastered the art of innovation- reinventing their approach and pivoting their product-lines to sync up with people’s most pressing needs– protection, connection, and a welcomed distraction.

Retail Therapy is Real

The quest for retail therapy and new forms of entertainment became a global obsession as people tried to counter pandemic-inducedgrief, boredom, and anxiety. Studies revealed that 18 percentand video streaming by Gen Z and millennials increased by 70 percent.  The research behind this indicates that when you experience something pleasurable, exciting, or challenging that your brain’s dopamine receptors are activated.  Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain’s reward and pleasure centers. It enables us not only to see rewards but to take action to move toward them. Therefore this 18% increase in sales is the populations attempt at finding pleasure in absence of so many things that typically deliver please.

Businesses specializing in restricted activities, such as travel and group recreational activities, have had to get creative to stay relevant and profitable during the different iterations of social distancing. Lessening previous stringent refund and change policies to accommodate the pandemic mandates.

Secret London Runs stayed the course by creating a free virtual 5K running tour exploring 18th-century gin. They also created a podcast travel series and hosted a weekly lock down quiz on London’s history.  Wineries have been selling wine sets in advance and hosting tasting webinars where they educate sippers that join them on the winery, the grapes, and the history of the making of the wine.  This has heightened winery wine sales and memberships by offering new and unique ways to virtually visit a winery.

Pack up + Go is a travel agency with a unique model; they take the pain out travel planning and in turn plan a surprise vacation for you based on an interest and travel history questionnaire. With COVID, this stopped them immediately from continuing to plan surprise dream destinations.  Though Pack up + Go was prepared to pivot and launched their Staycations packages that are similar in surprise but locally.  These Staycations help their clients find new, unique and unusual finds right in neighboring cities where no planes are necessary.

Wine & Paint studios like Pinot’s Palette are creating do-it-yourself take home packages to paint and craft at home. Several independent artists are selling on Etsy and Amazon where you can find paint by number, quilting projects, succulent arrangements and more.

People are buying experiences in new ways.  As of the last 10 years, more money has been spent on experiences than ever and it’s this creativity that has enabled these organizations to pivot and still inspire users to enjoy experiences in a new way and still capture the revenue lost from in-person experiences.

Safety First if You Want to Last

Brands have had to innovate like never before to address consumers’ intense safety concerns and adhere to social distancing mandates.

To survive the new “safer at home” norm, New Black Studiomade a dramatic shift from service to product-based almost overnight. The event management company created a Little Black Box offering clients creative, customized ways to host award ceremonies, networking events, and product launches from afar.

Similarly, California Pizza Kitchen came up with “build-your-own-pizza” meal kits so that loyal customers could still enjoy their CPK favorites while cooking safely at home.

Distance makes connection stronger

Finding ways to stay connected during isolation has become crucial, not only for businesses’ survival but for the mental and physical well-being of their customers.

Airbnb faced this issue head-on by shifting their approach to a lifestyle platform. Instead of connecting guests with just a place to sleep, hosts can now offer everything from cooking lessons to art therapy.

“Never let a good crisis go to waste” – Winston Churchill

As the ramifications of the pandemic continue to unfold, some businesses will have to take bold action and pivot their products and services in order to survive. And although crisis is never comfortable, brands that embrace the challenge- finding creative ways to keep their customers connected, safe, and entertained- are the ones that will thrive.

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  • eCommerce

The Art of Split Testing: Simple Things to Focus On

Split Testing Basics

At its core, split testing is a simple concept that can yield very powerful results when leveraged properly. It’s a technique that allows you to test out and compare different versions of something — be it a website, an ad, a call to action or similar element — to determine which version ultimately performs the best for your target audience. By comparing the results generated by the variations, you can see what people respond to and what they don’t — thus giving a significant boost to your knowledge of what works best to earn more conversions.

But many people don’t realize that the effectiveness of split testing goes far beyond simple images or font choices. You can split test nearly anything about your ad copy, landing pages, and other collateral, and with the following key tips put into practice, your split testing is sure to be a success.

The Art of Split Testing: Things to Focus On

Before any split test begins, you must first begin with a reason. Are you dealing with a situation where people are adding items to their shopping cart but are eventually abandoning them? Are people not scrolling all the way down to the bottom of your landing page to reach your offer? Is one particular page on your website shattering your bounce rate and you’re not sure why?

Begin with a reason to conduct the test in the first place, then move on to your hypothesis. What is happening, and what difference do you hope a change will make? This will give you an adequate metric to weigh your success against, and it will also help prevent you from making random changes, instead giving the entire affair a larger purpose for which to strive.

 

Split Testing Ads

As stated, split testing is all about dividing your audience into two separate-yet-similar groups who are then shown materials with subtle variations. If you were split testing a PPC (pay-per-click) ad, for example, for the best results you would want both ads to be identical, and test variations about their deployment.

You might decide to show the ad to two different audience types, experiment with two different placements, or choose different delivery optimizations. The key point to remember is that you should only test one variable at a time. Do not change both the copy of your ad and the ad placement at the same time. Pick one or the other and run the test. Once you’ve collected your results from one test, test additional variables in separate, isolated instances.

Landing Pages

Landing pages are another popular source for split testing, because by design they’re more conversion-centric than most of the other materials you’ll be creating. You might choose to split test two different versions of a landing page for the same offer — one at 1,000 words and one at 500 words. Or, you might consider a test with several H2 headers versus one with very few. You could even test out the frequency, placement, and tone of certain calls-to-action — the choice is yours, but this level of experimentation can help take an already strong page and make it even more effective.

Emails

Emails are also a popular target for split testers everywhere, because they too are very conversion-driven materials. Once you’ve settled on email copy that you’re satisfied with, consider testing out variables like the subject line, included images, and the CTAs. You can even experiment with the tone of those CTAs — one might be very direct and could legitimately ask for the purchase, while another might be more general and friendly, featuring copy such as “contact us today” rather than “click here to buy.”

In conclusion, split testing is a tried and true practice that uses the science of trial and error experimentation to yield hard data that shines light on what kinds of things your customers respond to the most, and thus allows your email, ad, website, or anything in your business to operate at a more effective level.

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  • eCommerce, Sales

Proceed to Checkout: How to Fix Abandoned Carts and Increase Sales

According to a number of recent studies, shopping cart abandonment — that is, a customer who decides to leave an e-commerce transaction before a sale is complete — may be a lot more severe than anyone realized. The total percentage of abandoned shopping carts can range from 50% to 80% depending on the particular study. Equally concerning is the fact that abandonment costs all e-commerce businesses a combined $2 to $4 trillion dollars every single year.

But as is true in so many other situations, the first step to solving a problem involves learning why it exists in the first place. If you truly want to understand shopping cart abandonment — and keep it as low as possible while increasing conversions — there are a few key points to know.

Why Shopping Cart Abandonment Happens

One of the major causes for shopping cart abandonment is also, for most customers, among the most frustrating: unexpected fees. If customers are hit with abnormally high or unexpected extra charges, such as shipping costs or taxes, their likelihood of abandonment skyrockets.

To combat this and increase your conversion rate, you need to be upfront about these kinds of extra fees. If you require a minimum purchase to unlock a free shipping promotion, be sure to say that upfront. If you have fees, make sure customers know about them before they proceed to their checkout page. Ideally, they should know to expect such fees before they even click “Add to Cart”.

Another key reason why people abandon shopping carts is because they have to register an account on your site. Thankfully, the solution to this one is simple — allow them to checkout as a guest without registering. You can also make the process of creating a new account as easy as possible, such as registration via Facebook or Twitter.

Finally, another major reason why customers abandon their shopping carts is due to a long, convoluted, and ultimately irritating checkout process. People don’t want to jump through several hoops to buy a product and give you money. They shouldn’t have to wade through screen after screen, filling out form after form. The more work you make them do to complete a sale, the more likely they are to never get to that point.

Optimize Your Shopping Funnel

Thankfully, the solution to this problem is equally clear: optimize your shopping funnel to streamline the process. Go out of your way to reduce the total number of forms required to complete the payment and checkout process. Give people the option to ship directly to their billing address to get through the process as quickly as you can. Never underestimate the difference that a couple of clicks can make in e-commerce. It could just mean the difference between a sale and a customer you never see again.

Despite all your best efforts, there will always be some people who abandon their cart. For these customers, you can reach out by sending them an abandoned cart email or SMS reminder, using the contact information that they’ve already provided to you.

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  • Analytics, eCommerce

Google Tag Manager: Why Your Ecommerce Business Needs It

There are so many different platforms out there that can integrate with your ecommerce site these days that it can be difficult to keep track of them all. Yet that’s exactly what you need to do, not only to keep track of your expanding business, but to also guarantee that you’re offering the highest level of service to your customers.

As your business continues to grow and becomes harder to manage on your own, the Google Tag Manager will quickly become an asset you need. It’s a simple, reliable, and totally free tag management system that allows you to manage anything and everything — all without needing to learn how to code. It will also improve your efforts in a number of core ways that are certainly worth exploring.

The Many Reasons Why You Should Be Using Google Tag Manager

The number one reason why the Google Tag Manager is so beneficial to so many people might be how it facilitates fast deployment of various tracking codes. Not only can new tags be added rapidly in a way that does not actually require code changes to your website, but it’s the perfect tool for marketers because it significantly speeds up launch times for trafficking campaigns by allowing you to test each change yourself, and deploy changes as soon as things are ready.

Under the old process, launching this type of campaign would take one to three weeks — if you were lucky. With the Google Tag Manager, you can cover the same ground in as little as one to three hours.

Another key area that the Google Tag Manager excels in is security. For starters, it’s the perfect way to guarantee that former employees and or agencies no longer can access your site. After a certain level of growth and effort, Google Tag Manager becomes a necessity for ensuring secure access. But more than that, Google automatically scans all tracking scrips and pauses them if they match a domain, IP address or URL associated with malware — thus saving you the hassle of doing it yourself. You can also have complete control over who has access to your accounts and you can easily revoke access with just a few quick clicks of your mouse.

Finally, Google Tag Manager takes a complicated process and makes it as simple as possible by allowing you to create automated tags for clicks and common events, with ad products being just one of many examples. Once you enable a particular “trigger” within the Tag Manager Interface, it will automatically start keeping an eye out for interactions that match that description on a domain. This can include but is not limited to things like clicks, link clicks, form submissions, time spent on a page, and more.

Getting started with the Google Tag Manager is simple. All you need to do is head over to the website, click the “Sign Up For Free” button, input all of the relevant information and click “Create.” The tag manager code is installed in the <head> and <body> sections of your site and at that point, you’re ready to go. It’s a tool so valuable that you’ll soon start to wonder how you were ever able to get by without it.

 

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  • eCommerce

Selling on Amazon: Using the World’s Largest Store to Your Advantage

Selling on Amazon: Using the World’s Largest Store to Your Advantage

Amazon is more than just the world’s largest online store — it’s the world’s largest store, period. According to one recent study, it added over one million new sellers in the last year alone. At this point, almost 50% of people who shop online go directly to Amazon and the platform generated a massive $300 billion in 2015 — a number that is only getting larger as time goes on.

Based on that, it’s easy to see that the answer to the question “should you be selling and marketing on Amazon?” is an overwhelming “yes, and you should get started immediately.” Doing so, however, requires you to keep a few key things in mind.

The Ins and Outs of Amazon SEO

Most people think that search engine optimization (SEO) is a term that exclusively describes search engines like Google, but this is not the case. Improving your SEO efforts on Amazon can provide a big boost to your business and doing so is fairly straightforward.

Unlike Google’s complicated SEO algorithm, Amazon’s is delightfully simple: relevance and performance. Making strategic use of keywords for your products and industry in places like your product’s title, your seller name, your Amazon backend keywords, your product description, and your bullet points will help take care of the former. Your product’s price and images will help improve your conversion rate, which will ultimately take care of the latter.

Amazon Sponsored Ads

When it comes to actually marketing your products on Amazon, you’ve also got a significant ally by your side: Amazon’s sponsored ads for products and brands. To get started, just select the products you want to advertise, set your budget, and choose a combination of keywords, products, and categories that you’re going after. Amazon will even suggest keywords for you to bid on, allowing you to target products like yours without all the experimentation that is normally required. You pay only for performance (meaning when a customer clicks on your ads) and you’ll be given huge amounts of tracking and analytics tools that you can use to further improve the success of your campaign.

For the best results, most experts agree that you should run multiple campaigns for each product. Use the sponsored ad technique as outlined above to employ both automatic and manual methods that will get your ads seen alongside the organic search results on the site. You can also use “Headline Search,” which are banner ads above the search results, and “Product Display” ads, which appear on related product pages.

The fact of the matter is that Amazon is only going to get bigger as time goes on, which means that if you’re not already selling there now would be an excellent time to start. Plus, with advertising opportunities like these, and tracking and analytics tools that are built right into the platform, so much of the hard work has already been done for you. There’s absolutely no reason NOT to engage with the world’s largest store and there’s truly no time like the present to get started.

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  • eCommerce

Conversion Rate Optimization

Conversion Rate Optimization: Watch the Digits Add Up

Any seasoned eCommerce veteran can tell you that traffic volume and conversion rates are often two entirely different things. Getting people to your site is one thing, but convincing them to make a purchase is something else entirely. Therefore, if you really want to make sure that your conversion rates are as high as they can be, there’s a few key things to keep in mind.

The Finer Points of Conversion Rate Optimization

One of the major factors that goes into proper conversion rate optimization involves taking a cold, hard look at the thing that matters most to your customers — your prices. Simply put, are you competitive, or at least competitive as that term relates to other businesses like yours that are going after the same audience?

If the answer is ‘no,’ that will go a long way towards explaining why A) you seem to have absolutely no issues generating traffic, but B) that traffic doesn’t equate to sales and revenue in the ways that you need.

Two other factors that directly relate to your products also impact conversion rates. Your shipping options play a crucial role in whether someone is willing to make a purchase and if possible, those options should be fast and free whenever it’s realistic to do so. Equally important is your product selection — do you have all the major products/brands in your category that your audience members want? If not, you’re not nearly as competitive as you may have thought you were.

When You Make It Easy to Convert, People Will Convert

Along the same lines, several factors that all lead back to the user experience of your site will play a vital role in your ability to convert. Chief among them is the speed of your site — how long does a customer have to wait for each page to load? Studies have shown that if someone has to wait longer than three seconds for a site to load, they’re very likely to leave your site and never return. Do NOT let this happen to you.

A shopping cart is also a great way to help people convert, as the cart is always accessible regardless of which page they happen to be viewing. They have no need to navigate away to close the cart or add more items, which makes them far more likely to stay engaged.

Something that can work against you in terms of eCommerce conversion rate optimization has to do with giving people too many options, leading to various forms of choice paralysis on behalf of your audience. Go over your landing pages and remove the options that don’t need to be there — your conversion rates will increase almost immediately as a result.

Finally, make sure that you’re testing your cross-sell opportunities early and often. Do your offers take away from someone’s ability to immediately convert, or do they help you towards that goal? If it’s the former, they need to go. If it’s the latter, you’re in terrific shape.

 

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  • eCommerce

Chatbots: Increase Engagement, Conversion & Profit

Chatbots Explained Simply, Why You Need Them.

A chatbot is at its core a computer program designed to mimic the types of actual conversations that humans have all the time. It works based on artificial intelligence (and in a lot of cases, via machine learning and similar techniques) to analyze the words someone uses, get a better idea of the context behind those words, and offer information to benefit the human user in some way.

Because chat bots use natural language processing systems to not only understand human language patterns but also imitate it in their responses, the technology has gotten to the point where you might open a “Live Chat” window on a website and have an entire conversation with a chatbot without ever realizing it.

Chatbots have thus proven to be a huge boost to both customer service and marketing teams for several important reasons which are outlined below.

What Can Chat Bots Actually Do?

A chatbot is ultimately only as effective as the data that you provide to it, but because your organization is creating more and more data every day, it becomes a very powerful technique.

Chatbots can provide a massive volume of information to users – from detailed product information like technical specification breakdowns, to phone numbers, exclusive offers, and so much more. Many brands even use chat bots to perform basic customer service functions such as providing customers with their shipping or order information.

If a customer opens a dialog window with a chatbot and says, “How can I troubleshoot my Model XYZ Product?”, the chat bot already has a great deal of information to use. It knows the model of the product, which means it can instantly provide support documentation. A chat bot recognizes the word “troubleshoot,” which means it knows the customer has a problem. It can then ask more specific information to pick up on more relevant keywords, thus improving the level of support it is able to provide as it goes along.

Not only can chatbots provide service, but often they can aide in order conversions. Plenty of people would like to speak to someone before they click the order button. This is an excellent use of technology to increase conversion by engaging with the customer. You will start to see these pop up in places you might not suspect; abandoned cart could show up as an SMS/text message bot to complete your purchase.

Some of the more powerful and familiar voice activated chatbots, like Siri are already in your pocket.  Siri was introduced to the world in October of 2011 as your personal Virtual Assistant made available via your iPhone 4S. Siri can find you directions, retrieve information, send messages and dial phone numbers. Another popular voice activated chatbot is Alexa. Alexa is turning analog homes into smart home globally. Alexa can turn your lights on and off, order products from Amazon and many more useful functions such as setting a timer.

The Power of Chat Bots

The biggest benefit of chatbots comes by way of the fact that they are totally automated. Once you get a chatbot support system up and running, it is essentially self-sufficient – meaning that aside from a few tweaks and other instances of fine-tuning here and there, you will never have to worry about having a human available to operate that window.

Plus, the robot is programmed and continually optimized by a self-review of analytics on its own use – meaning that the more the system is in use, the more efficient and more accurate it becomes.

Ultimately, what this leaves you with is something of a perfect storm. Suddenly you have a friendly, knowledgeable, and proactive employee that is available to address any customer concerns or answer any questions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. This employee never eats, never takes a break, and never goes on vacation. It’s also the best type of employee – the one you don’t have to pay. Count your savings and start investing back in your products and services.

This of course brings with it the most important benefit of all: your actual, human employees can spend less time focusing on important-yet-routine, low level customer service issues and can spend more time focusing their energy on those efforts that matter the most to your core strategy. Make no mistake: this is an incredible position to be in and it’s finally here, thanks to the power of modern technology.

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  • eCommerce

Marketing Funnel Optimization: Lead Your Customers on a Guided Journey

Marketing Funnel Optimization Strategy:

The marketing funnel is an early rendition of an infographic, bringing data visualization to the science of turning prospects into loyal customers. With only a fraction of today’s population and media, it’s no wonder it was so straight-forward in the 20th century.

Now fast-forward to 2018, where understanding the marketing funnel can be confusing in an era where media fragmentation has peaked, and the 80/20 rule has been flipped on its head. Some marketers wonder if the funnel should now be called a marketing pretzel, while others insist it’s still linear.

Trying to optimize this puzzle when you are still trying to get your head around the omnichannel marketing strategy and its impact on the marketing funnel is nothing short of frustrating. We believe the funnel model holds true to its linear form and are here to help with some clarifications and how-to instructions on leading your customer through their journey to loyalty.

Understand the Basics of Your Marketing Funnel

Regardless of the type of business you’re running, your marketing funnel has five core stages with which you should familiarize yourself. Each of these core stages has objectives and media strategies that align respectively. These include:

  1. Awareness: The highest level of the funnel where your prospect hears about you. Awareness is often noted in conversation by phrases such as “Guess what I found the other day…” or “Did you know that you can now…” Traditional media has always been associated with this marketing funnel level. But as of recent years, social media now has the same reach as television and radio.
  2. Consideration: At this stage in the funnel, the prospect has identified that this may be a product or service they are interested in. The prospect has provided contact information and are receiving email blasts, social media ads, real-time-bidding display ads and free trials.
  3. Evaluation: This is the final stage of a shopping / buying intent research process by your prospect. They are deciding if your brand product model is the best choice.
  4. Conversion: You did it! They did it! Your funnel nurturing worked! Congratulations, the long path of micro-goals and guided shopping has been rewarded with a conversion.
  5. Loyalty: Here is where you earn the most bang for your buck. You worked very hard to get that first purchase. Don’t stop now, because your sales force is now before you. Imagine if you could get your customers to place your brand sticker on their prized belongings; Apple did that. Ask for a review. Provide value with content. Be sure you continue to nurture your relationship with your customer by finding out what is important to them and responding to that. Honoring your customers with a loyalty program is another way to say “I like you and value you”. Think of the places you have frequented to chase the next point to reach the next bonus level.

Now that we have deciphered the modern funnel and aligned media tactics in the omnichannel strategy, let’s discuss how to measure and optimize the funnel. This will start with the development of a test matrix for each level of the funnel. For example, in each stage, you will want to test creative, audience selection, and messaging. You will need to select subjects and mediums that best relate to the stage the prospect is in. Once these are prepared, you will need to set up Google Analytics so you can measure and execute successful tests.

Google Analytics is Your Funnel Friend

If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. Let’s be darned sure we can measure it! To do this, you’ll want to set up goals in Google Analytics so that you can better track events like leads, trial signups, account creations, etc. This will enable you to see which test is performing better. Did campaign A or campaign B deliver more top of funnel micro-goals? Set goals and evaluate to determine.

To do this, open your Google Analytics page and click Admin at the bottom of the left navigation pane. The next page will have Account, Property, and View columns. Click the Goals button in the View column. Choose one of the goal sets from the list, click + Goal and give your goal a name. Fill out the boxes on screen to better outline your goal and choose how you’re going to track it. You can use URL destination goals (meaning that you keep track of specific URLs for things like landing pages), goal types like visit duration or event (like newsletter signups) and more.

Setting Up Funnels in Google Analytics

Next, you’ll want to use Google Analytics to set up goal funnels – which will allow you to see how many people are moving from one stage of your marketing process to the other. Not only that, but you’ll know which steps are causing the most people to abandon your business – thus allowing you to optimize this portion of your guided customer journey.

During the process of setting up a goal, check the box at the bottom labeled Goal Funnel. This will allow you to input the URL and match type that will trigger a goal. Keep in mind that these funnels will only really work to your benefit if you require your visitors to move through a series of pages – like if you were trying to track how many people went from a product page to their shopping cart to the payment page. You’re limited to 10 steps for each funnel that you create.

Attribution Models in Google Analytics

Furthermore, optimizing your funnel can be done by understanding multi-attribution modeling in demand generation. Because prospects are inundated with media, it takes a lot more than one exposure, interaction, or visit to acquire a new customer. On average, it takes six targeted and curated media impressions to engage a prospect into the next stage.

To help evaluate which media element is really driving your conversion, or which symphony of media is providing the most effective acquisition chain, Google has developed 7 attribution models that enable you to view your data differently and identify the best fit model for your brand’s demand generation strategy.

  1. Last Interaction: This model credits 100% of the value of the conversion to the last interaction. It is a good fit for infomercial/direct response products that are intended to be sold based on a longer, single engagement.
  2. Last Non-Direct Click: The last engagement that your prospect had that did not lead to a website visit. This could be an online engagement with social media, email open without click, ad view without click, or a partner website visit.
  3. Last AdWords Click: This model gives 100% of the credit to the last ad words clicked. It is a model that often poses challenges for ad agencies when presenting omni-channel marketing strategies. Smaller organizations that are experts in their product and service niche, but lack formal marketing training, often believe that PPC is the only media you need since it’s the last place they clicked prior to buying. Though we all know it takes a symphony of marketing excellence to truly change behaviors.
  4. First Interaction: Giving 100% of the demand generation credit to the first engagement. This means all subsequent interactions receive no credit and therefore may not be viable channels if this model works for you.
  5. Linear: This breaks the cost and value contribution up evenly among all media interactions. The Linear model credits the first ad as a changing behavior and the rest of the journey was not as valuable as the need to get the customer started in the funnel.
  6. Time Decay: This model decays the value of historical media consumption as time goes on. More credit is given to more recent interactions.
  7. Position Based: A hybrid model that combines elements of Linear and First Interaction. It is a model that gives you more control on how you would like to weight the variables. A common break out on this model is to assign 40% to both the first and last interactions while evenly dispersing the rest of the 20% value across all the channels in between.

Based on your selections, attribution models can be a fantastic way to see which combinations of different digital and/or social media channels contributed to a sale, for example, so that you can see what is working and what isn’t. You can also see how long it takes for someone to go from their first interaction to a conversion, then doing what you can to get that number as low as possible.

We have covered a lot of topics including funnel definition, marketer’s opinions, measurement, analysis, and media mix optimization. Each explanation could be turned into its own white paper with the science and software available today. Please share with us your funnel optimization tips and we will update our blog semi-annually with new tips and technology for funnel optimization.

 

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Engage. Capture. Convert.

Your Partner from Concept to Completion.

End-to-end promotional marketing solutions that bring strategy, creative, technology, compliance, administration, and fulfillment together.

Explore
Company
Popular Products
Get Started

Have a promotion in mind? Tell us what you’re trying to accomplish.

Let's Talk

Protected by U.S. Patent numbers 7,162,433, 8,019,641, 8,655,715 B2, 10,891,642 and pending applications.

Copyright © 2000–2026 Contest Factory. All Rights Reserved.

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