Pssst: Pass it On!Author: Melissa - Posted on September 1st, 2009
In today’s competitive marketplace, word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective tools in any online business’ arsenal. Referrals can go a long way toward building customer loyalty and drawing in new clientele. Smart companies know that by perfecting the art of word-of-mouth marketing (or “WOMM”), they’ll make themselves more appealing and accessible to potential customers, as well as to the media.
“Tell a Friend”: A Link to a New Relationship
One of the most effective, yet subtle, forms of online WOMM is the use of an icon or link that enables site visitors to email an article, link, or special promotion to their contacts. Not only does this help spread the word about your products, services, and expertise, it also filters your audience so consumers are exposed to the offerings most relevant to their needs and interests.
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Posted in Online Marketing |
At Blue Acorn, we talk with a great deal of online retailers daily. And most of those conversations revolve around how to improve revenue. Many people that come to us have hit that “glass ceiling”, or they just aren’t sure what to do next to keep growing those numbers. Now obviously revenue isn’t the only important thing, running a lean business and creating some backend efficiencies are certainly other ways to help improve the profitability of your business. And if you increase revenue while subsequently reducing margins, that is something you’d need to look at as well.
But, focusing purely on revenue for a minute, the other day I was meeting with our new eCommerce Consultant to discuss some clients he will be working with as part of our eCommerce management services. We are tasked with, on a long-term basis, helping them realize gains in online sales. This is where we leverage our combined expertise, and apply those practices to their site on a daily basis. We use a very simple formula to determine what kind of impact we’ll see on revenue based on specific actions. We use this formula in our monthly reporting to clearly, and easily communicate how revenue can be impacted by focusing on three specific areas. So we present to you, the eCommerce revenue formula:
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Posted in eCommerce Business Issues |
Call it What it IsAuthor: Melissa - Posted on August 4th, 2009
There’s so much to think about when you’re designing the website for your online business: creating the right look and feel, making your products look good, and writing copy that sets your business apart from the millions of other eCommerce sites out there. In an effort to stand out, it can be tempting to attach clever or “cutesy” names to every component of your site, but even the most creative words and phrases can confuse potential customers and cost you sales.
Cute, Complicated, or Confusing?
Think about it this way: people who choose to purchase goods and services online are motivated by a desire for ease and convenience. They’re looking for a quick, simple shopping experience that will let them get in, get what they need, and get out—with a minimum of time, effort, and hassle. It’s just common business sense to streamline the customer’s path to your products or services; if you throw up roadblocks along the way, browsers will head to a competing website that doesn’t require so much thought.
You already know that online shoppers hate to read. With advancing Internet technologies, modern web users expect to find and process information faster than ever before. Most customers won’t spend more than a minute or two on a single web page before moving on to something else. Despite these proven facts, a surprising number of sites persist in making cute and clever mistakes that cost them customers and money.
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Posted in eCommerce Usability |
Are your online marketing strategies paying off? If pay-per-click ads and solid SEO practices are boosting your site’s exposure revenue, good for you! But many online store owners have gone beyond the web to take their success to the next level. When you’ve explored all of the online avenues, it’s time to consider expanding your website’s marketing to include some tried-and-true offline strategies.
Advertise in Traditional Media
It may seem counter-intuitive to advertise your website in traditional print media, but the right placements in newspapers and magazines can garner attention from a market yet untapped by online initiatives. Ads on the Internet are often ignored by busy and desensitized consumers, but a simple, direct ad in a relevant print publication can boost lucrative awareness of your product or service.
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Posted in Online Marketing |
Accessibility for AllAuthor: Melissa - Posted on June 30th, 2009
There are literally hundreds of things to think about when launching or overhauling an eCommerce site. You’ll be faced with such decisions as which hosting provider is right for you, what graphical elements will best showcase your products or services, and how to handle inventory control and fulfillment. One vital element that often gets lost in the shuffle is site accessibility.
Many site owners stick web accessibility on a back burner for future consideration—and we all know what that usually means. While it may seem like a secondary concern, the opposite is true. Customers can be won or lost depending on how hard your site works to help people with visual disabilities, learning challenges, and speech disorders, as well as the elderly and infirm, to navigate and use your site.
For special-needs customers, such as those with a visual or hearing impairment, offering your web content in audio, video, and text formats allows them to digest the same information in the format that’s easiest for them.
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Posted in eCommerce Usability |
At Blue Acorn, we’re always looking at ways to be innovative in capturing online sales, and design plays a big role in those efforts. As we continue to grow, we’re looking for a senior web designer to join our team that strives for greatness. A talented, seasoned individual that can create compelling user experiences for our clients, and be an integral role in our pursuit of eCommerce sites that drive revenue. This full time position will require a talented individual to work on cutting edge designs for a variety of clients. The ideal candidate will be able to take creative briefs and requirements, and deliver CSS/XHTML designs to be used in PHP based theming/templating. Design capabilities should be up to the level of sites featured on popular review sites such as CSSdrive.com, CSSbeauty.com, UnmatchedStyle.com, etc.
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Posted in Administrative |
eCommerce FreedomAuthor: Kevin - Posted on June 24th, 2009
Last week while attending the Internet Retailer Conference in Boston, I had the pleasure of meeting a variety of eCommerce vendors in the exhibition hall. Many of them with innovative (and some not so innovative) software, solutions, or services targeted towards online retailers and solving their needs, pain points, and goals. In discussions with a few eCommerce software vendors, I noticed a trend that seemed to pique my interest and raise concern. This is the trend of eCommerce solutions as a service. Vendors that provide the solution, the hosting, and the services on the platform, all from one place. At first glance, this seems like a great solution for merchants – get everything you need all in one place, right?
Well, my concern with this practice stems from a few points:
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Posted in eCommerce Business Issues |
Impulse purchases are one of the more unpredictable and uncontrollable facet of online sales. Encouraging new or current customers to fork over their hard-earned cash for something that wasn’t on their shopping list takes more than just a great product or service – it takes an attention-getting sales pitch and a unique spin on the item that makes it seem absolutely essential, something they need to have in their homes and their lives RIGHT NOW.
Motivating impulse purchases takes finesse. Read on for some tips on how to encourage your customers to indulge, even when it goes against their budget and even, in some cases, their better judgment.
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Posted in Conversion Optimization |
If there were a 10-step program for breaking a Facebook addiction, I’d be an ideal candidate. As a confessed social networking junkie, I do take some comfort in knowing I’m far from alone. With more than 175 million active members and the numbers mushrooming year after year, Facebook has catapulted itself into the #1 spot among today’s top networking sites, even bypassing the monolith MySpace.
For many, Facebook is a forum to connect with long-lost friends, post vacation pictures, and kill time playing mindless online games. But for owners of eCommerce stores, it represents a priceless opportunity to increase visibility, build branding, and boost revenue. Best of all, establishing a presence on Facebook won’t cost you a dime.
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Posted in Online Marketing |
When it seems like all of the marketing ploys have already been played, it can be tough to come up with a new trick that will attract new customers and bring old ones back for seconds. Today’s wary consumers are watching their wallets closely – but that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed in turning browsers into buyers. It may take an innovative approach to send them from product to cart to confirmation, but you can do it – and your existing customers can help.
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Posted in Online Marketing |
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