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Choosing the Right Mode of Advertising (Part 2)

Choosing the Right Mode of Advertising (Part 2)

Advertising is inevitably linked to human psychology not only in terms of creative processes but in order to make communication more effective and more impactful in the mind of the consumer. However, to strike the sensitive chord of the human heart that will make a potential buyer take action, the right mode of advertising should be chosen.

Through the Line (TTL):

Through the Line (TTL):

It refers to an advertising strategy that includes both above and below the line communications, in which one form of advertising directs the target to another form of advertising, thus crossing the ‘line.’ A TV commercial that says, “Come into the store to sample XYZ product” is an example. In this case, the TV commercial is an example of ‘above the line’ advertising, and once inside the store, the target customer is presented with ‘below the line’ promotional materials such as store banners, competition entry forms, and so on…

We’ve talked about the difference between ATL and BTL in the previous article, but can you say where online advertising is situated?

The right answer is that online advertising can both be ATL and BTL depending on the platform or the reason for which the website has been created. For example, if one creates a website based on cooking recipes, it is limiting the target audience to only those interested in the subject making it a BTL mode of advertising. But a platform such as Facebook is universal and communicates with the mass, therefore it is ATL in this case.

Online Advertising Mechanism

Online Advertising Mechanism

There are a lot of talks about online advertising. But do you know how it really works? How is money made via websites, what are the forms of communication online? We will now try to explain some of these mechanisms.

To start with, here are some advantages and disadvantages associated with this medium:

Low-Cost

Even if an online advert appears to be more comprehensive than other forms of media, it is unquestionably less expensive. Internet ad packages are available for as little as $ 10.00 for a month, or by a set number of ‘hits,’ depending on the advertiser.

The Presentation to the Market

If your goods or services are aimed at the millennial population or the corporate world, Internet advertisements are ideal because they are already connected to the internet and surfing websites. A few of the pages where your ad appears may also include a link to your own website. As a result, your website will receive more “hits”!

Relatively Trouble-Free

All you really need is a PC, some knowledge and ideas for designing your site, then look for the best Internet ad package for your advertising needs and budgets, choose from a variety of advertisement methods such as Banner Ads, text ads, whether you want to work with pop-ups or pop-unders, and so on. All from the convenience of your own home.

Update Ads

Apart from TV commercials, which must be updated on a regular basis, your Internet ads may remain unchanged for an extended period of time. If they need to be updated, changing the site or your ad is usually a simple process that can be completed quickly and easily.

Some disadvantages are:

Scope

It is a ‘restricted’ market that can be conquered if the Internet is only used for advertising displays. While more and more people are adopting technology and surfing the World Wide Web on a daily basis, there are still a significant number of average consumers who rely on traditional forms of advertising to gather information on specific products and services. Fortunately for us, Internet Advertisers are quickly changing in our favor, and this will soon be a non-issue.

Additional Costs

If you opt for a professional, a freelancer, or a company to create your website and/or advertise your product or service, the cost will be higher than if you did it yourself. While the costs may be an initial disadvantage, the long-term results may be very beneficial if you have the right people to work with.

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What Does 2022 Hold For Online Marketplaces?

With the increasing popularity of online shopping, e-marketplaces grow swiftly, and ground-breaking trends can arise at any moment.

For example, Shopify has partnered with TikTok, and YouTube might let viewers buy products featured in the videos. Importantly, marketplaces are also catching investors’ eyes. So it is not surprising that many entrepreneurs are wondering how to build a marketplace website.

In this article, we will discuss hot topics around the e-commerce industry. Luckily, online marketplace trends 2022 are rich in highly innovative and user-oriented features.

Shoppable Videos

Social media proved to be an effective marketing tool. Now, they are ready to go further. So we have listed the latest news worth mentioning.

  • YouTube is about letting viewers make purchases directly from livestream videos;
  • TikTok is testing the feature of adding a link to a product page during a video run (shoppable videos). Moreover, TikTok and Shopify have partnered on providing a channel for the merchants to reach new customers and drive sales.
  • Facebook and Instagram plan to integrate Shopify’s services for real-time purchasing during live streams.

As you can see, brands are continuously working on bridging social networks and e-commerce to drive sales and engage with the audience. Shoppable videos are steadily becoming one of the most ground-breaking e-commerce trends 2022 you can adopt.

PWA Development

A progressive web application (PWA) is a blend of a regular website and a native app.

This provides entrepreneurs with the following benefits:

  • Increase in mobile traffic;
  • Growth of average conversion;
  • Increase of average session time;
  • Growth of engagement.

Also, the PWA technology is getting more popular with businesses since it helps reduce the bounce rate — the percentage of visitors leaving your website shortly after entering a single page.

Dropshipping Model

This model ideally serves start-ups, as it saves resources when launching an online marketplace website. So, there is no need to acquire inventory or cover the packaging and shipping expenses.

Practically, your business gets the difference between the wholesale price set by the vendor and the retail price. That’s the way to benefit from dropshipping.

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Shoppable Socials

Typically, redirecting from an app to other URLs doesn’t happen at a single glance. So, many users tend not to press the link, realizing that a full-sized product page might be “too heavy” for uploading. This made socials come up with a feature letting you purchase items without opening another tab.

For example, a built-in checkout feature introduced by Instagram prevents buyers from the need to jump between pages:

Voice Commerce and Chatbots

Artificial intelligence is gaining popularity, not least because of the users’ openness to hands-free features. Thus, they avoid direct interaction with a device. With Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa spreading globally, voice commerce is becoming a serious tendency.

Chatbots save people’s time greatly, providing accurate responses in a matter of seconds. The fact of the matter is that a chatbot collects and analyzes user-written information. And, based on input data, it gives relevant answers to the requests.

Augmented & Virtual Reality

Augmented reality (AR) is used for showcasing different items in any environment before purchasing. A prominent example is using this technology to check if the actual-sized object matches your interior. Alternatively, it can be used with facial recognition technology.

Virtual reality (VR), in contrast, helps you render the desired picture with a VR helmet. Especially when it comes to observing a fully simulated environment.

Personalisation

We have already mentioned the active usage of AI as a considerable online marketplace trend in 2022. Still, the same trend might significantly impact the way personalized services work.

People tend to appreciate products tailored to their specific needs. And recent findings give us a reason why we should consider this online marketplace trend. It is reported that 72% of people wouldn’t collaborate with brands if they didn’t offer personalized messaging.

Vans Customs is a prominent example of providing a personalized experience. On the company’s website, buyers can customize mass-manufactured footwear in prints. It is hard to find a person who will not want to impress others with a unique design.

To Wrap Up

Without needing to look too carefully, it is clear that 2022 will be another year of booming retail. All upcoming trends have one in common: they aim to provide an engaging buying experience.

By implementing these new trends, Deliver By Linkeo can help improve such vital indicators as customer lifetime value, conversion rate, sales volume, and more. Feel free to get in touch to learn more.

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Are Online Habits Likely To Stay Post-Covid?

Since the start of the global pandemic over a year ago, grocery shoppers have taken a definite online turn and many still see the pandemic’s impact on store shelves, according to recent studies.

Forty-five percent of consumers report shopping online for groceries more now than before the pandemic, with around a third of those polled said they’re shopping less at grocery stores than pre-COVID. Of people making online grocery purchases, 46% indicated they use online delivery more now than before the crisis began, and 40% use online pickup more. Only 11% use delivery and 15% use pickup less than prior to the pandemic.

According to experts in the field, COVID-19 has significantly impacted consumer behavior and accelerated trends we were seeing prior to March 2020. While many believe we’re headed towards normalcy, it is highly likely that certain pandemic-related shopping habits — particularly consumers’ reliance on e-commerce — are here to stay.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

When buying groceries online, 45% of shoppers said they receive their orders via home delivery. The same percentage use click-and-collect service, but more consumers opt for curbside pickup (28%) than in-store pickup (17%). Just 9% of online grocery purchasers pick up their orders from lockers. However, 20% belong to online subscription programs, which typically offer members free unlimited pickup and/or delivery based on transaction size and frequency, among other benefits.

Online memberships had a strong affinity with younger shoppers, with 40% saying they use these programs when purchasing groceries. Similarly, seniors led age groups in the use of home delivery (48%) and curbside pickup (32%). Two-thirds of those surveyed said they place online grocery orders via computer. Twenty-seven percent of respondents use smartphones when ordering groceries online. What this indicates is that shoppers have become accustomed to ordering groceries online or through subscription services, with contact-free pickup or delivery options. As we move into a new phase of the pandemic, these grocery shopping channels will remain significant, as will consumers’ increasing focus on product availability, low prices and promotions, whether they are shopping in-store or online.”

Surprisingly, grocery customers now exhibit more concern about key shopping elements — in-stock products, pricing and deals — than at the start of the year. Sixty-four percent of respondents in the July surveys said product availability will be most important in the post-pandemic period, compared with 60% in January. Likewise, 63% cited low prices as most important (52% in January) and 40% named availability of promotions and deals (33% in January).

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The roll-out of vaccines and grocers’ protection measures appear to have allayed much of shoppers’ COVID safety concerns. Now, just 27% of consumers rank safety as the most important post-pandemic, dropping from 42% in January. Customers also continue to exhibit a predilection for easier shopping methods, as 32% now rate convenience as most important versus 34% in January.

These findings underscore that out-of-stocks remain a big issue. Two-thirds of in-store grocery shoppers surveyed said they recurrently see out-of-stock products, with 14% encountering them often and 52% sometimes. Thirty-one percent reported rarely seeing out-of-stocks in stores. Among online customers, 51% continue to notice out-of-stocks, including 42% finding them sometimes and 9% encountering them frequently, compared with 39% saying they rarely see unavailable items.

Sizable percentages of consumers also perceive on-shelf shortfalls in a range of product categories, namely those that were in high demand early on the pandemic’s stockpiling phase. Thirty-four percent of shoppers said they now see fewer paper goods (e.g. paper towels, bathroom tissue) on shelves than pre-pandemic, while 28% say the same for laundry and cleaning products and 22% find this situation with fresh meat.

Other categories cited by customers as having reduced variety on shelves include canned goods (18%), frozen food (17%) and fresh produce (15%). At the same time, 10% of consumers named each of those three categories as have more on-shelf items, while 15% cited cleaning/laundry products and 14% paper goods as having increased variety.

The at-home status will remain an ongoing factor for grocery retailers and CPG marketers to consider as they gauge post-pandemic consumer behavior, Acosta’s research indicated. Overall, 48% of respondents worked from home during the pandemic, including 37% most or all of the time and 11% some of the time. And looking ahead, one in four shoppers expect to make this a permanent change. So to remain competitive in today’s retail market, it’s imperative that you have a robust online presence!

With the Deliver by Linkeo platform, your SME is guaranteed to have all the tools required to keep you competitive and thriving, easily adapting to the challenges of our current reality. Be sure to get in touch with the experts at Linkeo Ltd. today for more details.

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How To Make Promo Codes Work For Your Business – Part 2

Welcome back to our 2-part series on how to improve your promo code business strategy. In the previous section, we talked about what promo codes are and how they work. This article will cover 6 tips on how to maximize the potential of your promo codes. Used sensibly, promo codes are not only a way to acquire new customers but also a great way of showing gratitude to your existing customers.

1. Keep your Customers Guessing

Promo codes can be a great addition to cart abandonment emails and can play a key part in driving conversions. They essentially add an extra incentive to entice customers back to complete their purchase. To avoid falling into the trap whereby shoppers purposefully abandon their basket to receive a discount, promo code emails should be used over a short period of time. If promo codes are used sporadically, customers shouldn’t become accustomed to them and overall sales targets should not be too deeply affected.

2. Don’t Make It Obvious

Making promo boxes less prominent on the checkout page ensures visitors without a promo code are less likely to feel like they are ‘missing out’ on a discount that everyone else could be getting. Instead of using a loud and colourful ‘Promo Box’, a subtle expandable link with less visibility throughout the checkout experience works a treat. A subtler promo box allows visitors to flow through the customer checkout without having any second thoughts on leaving the site in search for a code.

Synonyms of promo code such as ‘gift cards’ and ‘vouchers’ are also a great way to make the promo code call to action more understated. With good strategic placement, shoppers with a promo code should easily be able to locate the slightly more hidden promo box without too much difficulty, while shoppers who don’t have a code won’t be unnecessarily alerted of the potential for a discount.

3. Use Customer Behaviour Metrics to Set Targets

To prevent promo codes eating into your revenue, only authorize promo codes when customers reach a specified spending target. It acts as a little encouragement for customers to reach a certain value to benefit from that awesome deal. Consequently, those customers adding more items to their basket, will also be adding to your average order value (AOV). It’s a win-win. It’s important to know your customers in terms of how much they are willing to spend before they are disheartened by an unachievable target to benefit from a discount.

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4. Promo Codes For Existing Customers

Loyal customers are gold. If you can retain just 5% more of your existing customers, you could potentially increase a company’s profitability by 75% more revenue. It’s no secret that shoppers love special access and one way to keep your loyal customers coming back is to give them the VIP treatment. From a marketing standpoint, this is simply segmentation. But creating exclusive promo codes made just for your most loyal customers will instill a sense of loyalty that is unique, making them feel like they are receiving a meaningful advantage. For best results offer loyalty promo codes for a limited time to create urgency.

5. Make It Fun

Another great way to keep customers loyal and coming back for more is to make things fun. Gamifying the loyalty experience helps companies keep at the front of shoppers minds. Giving shoppers a reward (i.e. promo code) once they have purchased so many times is a great little way of saying thank you. It can often be the little push they need to go ahead and make that purchase they’ve been contemplating.

6. Personalise Codes for Client Special Days

Birthday and anniversary emails are increasingly popular as brands become more savvy in using their data. With open rates and redemptions 2.5 times higher than average across all email campaigns, these events really are something worth celebrating. Birthday emails provide the perfect opportunity to create a highly targeted and personalized email to show your customers just how much you care. Most importantly it can actually be used to spur customers on to spend their spare birthday cash when you include a special promo code. Exclusive promo codes are the perfect way to wish your customers a happy birthday. To make sure your birthday emails have a high conversion rate, give customers a reasonable amount of time to redeem their offer.

Though it may seem small, little celebrations like these reinforce positive vibes with the customer while also driving customer loyalty.

For more tips on how to improve customer loyalty for your business, be sure to keep reading our articles. Alternatively, be sure to contact Linkeo Ltd directly, here.

How To Make Promo Codes Work For Your Business – Part 1

Promo codes are a mixture of letters and numbers that make up a specific code. This code can be entered into an e-commerce website to gain discount on a product or service like free shipping. It’s a marketing strategy that gives customers another reason to make a purchase.

Promo codes have long been used as a way of driving conversions and increasing revenue, so much so they have become part of the furniture of the online customer journey. Rarely now does a visitor complete the checkout without seeing the promo code box, and many will respond by opening up a separate tab to search for that elusive combination of letters and numbers, in the hope it will magically unlock savings. This 2-part article will look at six clever ways to overcome them and make promo codes a weapon to add to your conversion arsenal.

How Do Promo Codes Work As A Marketing Tool?

There are plenty of ways to use promo codes to highlight your key offers. You can either do this on-site on core pages or you can place promo codes in your email marketing campaigns, these provide incentives for your customers to make a purchase. As mentioned, promo codes can be served up in different areas of your marketing funnel. For example, during your user journey you can display them in header and footer banners or even in the side panels. According to Linkeo Ltd internal data, we understand that over 20% of cart abandonment happen due to the price of an item, so by offering a discount price using a promo code, you can influence customers to return to your site by mitigating one of the main reasons for their abandonment in the first place.

Why Do Promo Codes Work?

Promo codes are essentially allowing the customer to get the item they want for a cheaper price thus improving their overall shopping experience. They work very well with both new and returning customers because they can be used in many different ways.

For example, public codes can be used for customer acquisition. This means including banners and overlays on-site to capture the users’ attention. Or use codes in basket abandonment emails, which may entice customers to complete their purchase if the reason for abandonment was price. The importance of customer service can also be felt when using promotional codes because they feel as though they are getting a better service.

In 2021 customers are more interested in personalized offers as opposed to blanket promotions available for everyone. This is a great tactic to promote customer loyalty and improve customer retention. This personalized approach allows businesses to leverage the data by offering offers and codes of value as opposed to generic offers, which may not apply. The results can increase email marketing open rates and CTR.

What Does the Future Hold for Promo Codes?

Over the past decade, promo codes have become a vital element of the customer journey.

For brands to get the most out of promo codes, they need them to be both profitable for them as well as being beneficial for their customers.

Based on customer’s behaviour and behavioural patterns, brands will be able to use promo codes to influence the right customer with the right discount at the right time within their individual customer journey. This way brands will be able to connect to customers at crucial touch points and display promo codes that are relevant to their previous actions, i.e. categories browsed, number of visits, basket value and much more etc.

By embracing a highly segmented promo code strategy, brands will be able to reduce the cost of customer acquisition, increase customer lifetime value and create a flowing customer journey.

With the right help from Linkeo Ltd, the days of cart abandonment when your customers hit the checkout page could be coming to an end. Check the second part of this article, where we cover 6 ways to maximise your promo code strategy.

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How To Use Social Media to Build Your E-Reputation

Given the modern tendency for consumers to live online, companies from all industries can really benefit from social media reputation management. Specifically, they make entice potential customers to make decisions based on the business’s online reputation – more so than on its advertising, direct sales messages, or promotional content. In other words, while your brand’s online reputation consists mainly of your website and marketing communications, exterior online properties — such as social media — can have a major impact on brand reputation and customer acquisition efforts.

What is Social Media Reputation Management?

Traditionally, social media reputation management was strictly the process of posting strategic content, monitoring social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.), and engaging with consumers on those channels who talk about your business or brand.

The current social media reputation management strategy still incorporates those tactics, but there is even more digital ground to cover: business review sites, local directories and business discovery apps are all digital spaces where customers have a say about their experience with a business. However, the goal for your reputation management team is still the same: to positively shape the consumer perception of your brand or business.

If you’re just getting started with how your company manages social media reputation, read on for your keys to success and some important points to consider.

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Post Engaging, Relevant Content

In uncertain times like the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important not to let your social media pages go stale. Build your pages up and regularly post relevant content and updates like news, announcements, special offers, photos, videos and links. However, as you get stuck into the process, it’s important to avoid being overly self-promotional. You can still create content, but also take advantage of user-generated content to help improve your online reputation.

Resolve Issues that Affect Reputation

Not every engagement on social media will be positive. If customer issues arise, it’s best to have a plan in place to address the situation and communicate with the customer.

In the customer’s mind, the clock starts when he or she posts a negative review, and your reputation drops with every hour you delay providing a response. Be honest, be apologetic and offer the aggrieved customer an easy way to access you. Bad reviews that remain unanswered signal to other customers you are disinterested. It also fuels the perception that the negative report by an angry customer was probably accurate.

Learning how to respond to negative reviews and social media comments in the right manner takes time, but regardless of the method it’s important to be as specific as possible when discussing the customer’s experience and communicate to them any changes or improvements your brand makes as a result of their unsolicited feedback.

Effective resolutions not only improve overall engagement; they increase consumer trust. Customers don’t want to be seen as just another entry in the business ledger but rather as a vital cog in the brand’s continued success. Taking the time to resolve issues and communicating it in an appropriate manner goes a long way to improving your ongoing customer retention strategies.

Use a Social Listening Tool

It can be extremely difficult to track every single conversation about your brand happening on every social media channel, which is why you should consider a social listening tool, of which there are many effective ones online. With it, you can schedule posts, track conversations and mentions, monitor online reviews, and even create customizable streams. Combining these elements along with an effective reputation management plan allows you to have a closer ear to the voice of the customer on social media.

Pay Close Attention to Google and Facebook

Customer reviews data shows that 76% of all reviews are spread between two major channels: Google and Facebook. Consumers are using these two platforms heavily to share their experiences. As you create a social media reputation management plan, take note of these two sites and have special procedures to monitor, engage, and gather information from them to get a better understanding of your online reputation.

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Share Your Best Reviews on Social Media

If you consistently receive five-star ratings and glowing reviews on review websites, don’t hesitate to show them off. Share your best reviews on your popular social profiles, or even on your company blog with a tool like Amplify.

Remember: the impact of user-generated content is more powerful and effective than loud sales messages or promotional brand content. Sharing positive reviews on social media drowns out negative noise, and it can be the social proof needed for people to convert or make another purchase from your brand.

Transform Social Media Data into Insights

By tapping into your precious social media data, you make smart business decisions that will earn the trust of potential and existing customers. The world’s most successful brands tap into their data to achieve a more accurate view of the customer experience. Through customer experience analytics, Linkeo Ltd has the ability to understand — in seconds and at scale — what customers really mean whenever they share their thoughts in their own words. Give us a call today, and let us help you create a cutting-edge e-reputation plan that will take your business to the next level.

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Building a Lead Generation Strategy For Your Small Business

Small business owners understand the importance of increasing brand awareness and attracting new clients. Your business may be small, but that doesn’t mean your client base has to be. No matter your industry, lead generation is essential for your overall success, and it can help you attract the clients that will allow your company to grow.

Customers may not be ready to make a decision when they first come across your business, and not all web searchers are going to be interested in your products or services. Lead generation helps to narrow down your pool of potential clients to ensure that you’re spending your time and money on marketing strategies that attract qualified leads—people who are interested in what your small business has to offer.

Without digital lead generation, you could waste time and money attracting leads that won’t help you reach your goals. Let’s take a look at some lead generation strategies that can help your small business attract more customers.

1. Host a Livestream or Webinar

Events are a great way for people to learn more about your company, but not all of your potential clients will have time to attend in-person functions. Livestreams and webinars allow you to cover a variety of topics, and people can choose to attend your event in real-time or at a later time that is more convenient for them.

You can even offer free downloads of webinars on your website. This is a great way to improve your content marketing strategy, and offering webinars consistently will help to grow your audience and increase leads online.

2. Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the process by which websites are optimized in order to rank higher in search results for targeted keywords and phrases. You can start by researching some of the terms people use when searching for the services you offer online. Then, you can incorporate those keywords in your page titles and develop copy that contains targeted phrases.

In addition, you can claim your Google My Business listing to improve your local rankings. When people search for related products or services in their area, you want your business to appear in the top results, and local SEO can help.

You can also connect with local bloggers and offer to provide content for their sites. This will give you access to their audience and help you increase brand awareness for your business.

If you don’t have time to do SEO, you can also look into SEO plans for small businesses, as well as midsized- and enterprise-level organizations. With an SEO service plan, an experienced small business SEO agency like Linkeo Ltd takes care of optimizing your site for search and users.

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3. Offer Premium Content

Premium content can include everything from infographics to e-books and downloads, as long as it provides potential customers with important information as they search online.

You can choose to “gate” your most valuable content, and require site visitors to enter their email addresses to receive access. This will not only allow them to read valuable information for free, but it will also help you grow your email list—a win-win situation.

4. Email Marketing

Once you’ve assembled an email list with gated content, you can follow up by sending prospects tailored information based on what they downloaded. Potential clients may not be ready to buy when they first come into contact with your small business, but with email marketing, you can keep them in your sales funnel by providing them with targeted, helpful content that addresses their questions and encourages them to learn more.

Then, when they’re ready to buy, your business will be at the top of their list. Email marketing helps you reach potential clients and move them into your sales funnel without coming across as spammy and intrusive.

We hope the tips in this article have given you a few lead generation ideas to try out. If you feel like learning more from the experts, be sure to get in touch with Linkeo Ltd today. We’ve helped to generate leads for hundreds of businesses in a variety of industries, and we would love to work with you!

The Ultimate Guide to E-Commerce SEO – Part 2

Welcome back to part 2 of our e-commerce search engine optimization crash course. As we mentioned in part one, this article was developed with help from our friends at Linkeo Ltd. Today, we’ll be looking at detailed instructions for an effective e-commerce SEO strategy, starting with:

Use the Right Keywords

Yes, keywords still matter. While you don’t want to overload your product titles and descriptions with these keywords, they do still need to be present in the copy.

Mention your primary keyword in your product headline, description, meta description, image alternate attributes, and sub-headers. Sprinkle latent semantic index (LSI) keywords throughout. These are related keywords that help Google understand your page in context.

Before you use a keyword, do some research on it. Know how often people search for it (keyword search volume), how competitive it is in the paid advertising space (cost-per-click, or CPC) and what people are looking for when they use that keyword. Why are these factors important? Let’s analyze this further.

Search volume tells you how much interest a particular keyword inspires in consumers. A high search volume indicates greater popularity, which means you’ll get more active searches for that keyword.

CPC tells you how much people pay per click when they buy advertising based on a specific keyword. A high CPC indicates increased competition. If your target keyword is extremely competitive, consider finding an alternative.

Finally, user intent describes what people want to find when they type a specific keyword into Google’s search bar. Let’s say, for instance, that someone looks up showers – does that person want information about shower installation, shower repair, baby showers, bridal showers or something else entirely? If you can’t determine the user intent behind a keyword, add other words to the search string for clarity.

Conduct Competitor Research

If you have no clue where to start with on-site optimization for your e-commerce site, then your competitors are your best bet. Larger competitors, in particular, have probably already put in the legwork for optimizing their websites, and you can learn many of their secrets on their websites themselves.

Keywords are the thing you need to focus on. Particularly, you’ll want to analyze the keywords on their homepages as well as their top product pages.

How can you tell if a website is optimizing for a particular keyword? There are many free browser extensions you can use to see the SEO title and description your competitors use in their title tags. You can also use these tools to see what keywords your competitors are ranking for on both organic and paid searches.

Don’t stop your research with keywords. Check out your competitors’ landing pages too, so you can see how they use the specified keywords to optimize those pages.

Focus on Homepage SEO

The homepage is typically where most businesses focus their SEO budget and energy. While it is definitely one of the top pages of your website to optimize, it is by no means the only one you should focus on. That said, you do want to optimize your homepage well.

This will include focusing on:

Homepage Title Tag: The SEO title tag is one of the most important elements of on-site search optimization. It should include your business name along with the main keyword phrase you are targeting. You should write this title tag in less than 70 characters and in a way that is appealing to search visitors, as they will see it in search results.

Homepage Meta Description: While this is not important as far as keyword rankings, the meta description for your homepage is a 160-character description of your business that will also show up in search beneath the title tag. Write it in a way that encourages people to want to visit your website.

Homepage Content: The content on your homepage should help visitors learn more about your business and the products you have to offer in a clear and concise way. Avoid overloading visitors with too much information. Consider featuring your top few products on the homepage and your unique selling proposition.

Cluttered homepages can confuse visitors as well as search engines. For instance, maybe you sell products in many different categories. Google will struggle to identify what you sell and who you’re targeting with your products, so get specific about what your site offers.

That’s all we have time for today. In our next article, we’ll delve into how internal links and simplifying your site architecture can go a long way to improving your overall SEO. As always, be sure to leave your thoughts, opinions and questions in the comments section below.

Top E-Commerce Lead Generation Tips

All E-commerce business owners know that for their brand to thrive they need sales. Crucially, they need sales from new customers, but those don’t always come easy. This leaves many trying to answer the essential question: “How do I generate potential E-commerce leads to my website?”

Creating a bullet-proof lead generation machine that fuels business growth by attracting high-value leads, or those consumers most likely to make purchases, comes down to building and executing an E-commerce strategy.

What Is Lead Generation in E-commerce?

A lead is simply a person who’s interested in your brand, products, or services and takes an action to demonstrate that interest. This could involve anything from clicking on your ad campaign to signing up for a free trial. Each lead is a potential customer. Every action a lead takes provides valuable data. You can use this data to convert a lead into a paying customer and inform your overall lead generation strategy.

Who Is Your Ideal Lead?

Having a deep understanding of your ideal lead is the first step in streamlining your marketing efforts and bringing more qualified leads. You may have a general idea about your target customers’ characteristics, behaviors and motivations, but you must develop buyer personas based on data, not assumptions. Start creating a buyer persona using qualitative data from your site analytics, industry reports, and competitor research. Combine this with quantitative research from customer interviews and online discussions around your brand and products.

Having a clear picture of your ideal lead helps you improve the targeting of your marketing campaigns, create more impactful blog content and provide irresistible offers or promotions. You might even discover that you should tweak your product inventory or services to better serve your customers’ needs. After all, if you sell each customer three items instead of one, you’re well on your way to skyrocketing profits without any additional lead gen expenses.

Now, let’s get into how you generate more traffic. Keep in mind that more traffic in and of itself doesn’t equal leads. The goal is to make sure your ideal leads fill your traffic.

Optimize for Search Engines (SEO)

Industry reports state that 75% of users never scroll beyond the first page of search results. Clinching one of those coveted ten spots is the holy grail. E-commerce brands have many digital assets. Optimize those assets with keywords and phrases and you increase your chances of landing on page one. A well-executed SEO strategy peppers search terms across product descriptions, blog content, and metadata, turning each one into a lead magnet.

Many businesses skip out on optimizing their image alt-tags. This is a mistake. Google found that 50% of online shoppers rely on images when deciding what to buy. Now that search results prioritize images, taking the extra time to optimize every product image can pay off with leads that are ready to buy.

Write Valuable Content

Content generates strong leads by piquing a user’s interest. The more content you have, the more likely it is that a consumer will encounter it. The general consensus is that 70% of people prefer to learn about a product from an article over an ad. A recent marketing survey also found that brands using content marketing have six times higher conversion rates than brands that don’t produce content.

Build Your Social Media Followers

According to several reports, there are almost 4.2 billion social media users, and they spend an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes per day on social platforms. This makes social media a goldmine for E-commerce lead generation. Put your efforts towards a few select channels where your buyers spend most of their time.

Use Email Marketing

Email marketing is a relatively inexpensive E-commerce lead-generation technique that delivers an ROI of up to 4400%, or $44 for every $1 spent on a campaign. Consumers have become more protective of their email addresses over the past few years, so they may need some encouragement to hand them over. Entice them with a discount sent straight to their inboxes. You’ll see leads convert to customers and sales roll in.

Optimize Conversion Rates (CRO)

If you’re bringing traffic to your site, but leads aren’t converting to sales, it’s time to revisit your analytics and determine the causes leading to customer drop-offs. You can optimize every element of your site. Once you identify an area for improvement, optimize it. Some changes can be cut and dry, while others need to be tested. Don’t make changes solely based on assumptions. Continue to test one element at a time and check your data before making final decisions.

Take Advantage of Cookies

Cookies collect and store information from a visitor’s session, including the items they clicked on or added to their cart, even if they didn’t check out. Use this cookie data to retarget past visitors and show them personalized ads featuring the products they viewed. You can launch your remarketing campaigns on social media channels or other sites using Google AdWords. To comply with all international laws, include a cookie policy on your website.

Offer Discounts and Deals

You spent time and money bringing E-commerce leads to your site. The fastest way to convert leads into paying customers is to tempt them with deals or discounts. The incentive to buy needn’t be enormous; it can be as simple as 15% off or free shipping. You can also use discounts to increase your average order value with an offer such as, Get $15 off a purchase of $75 or more. It sounds counter-intuitive, but consumers will add extra items to their cart to take advantage of the deal, often exceeding the minimum purchase required.

Optimize for Mobile

A sure-fire way to increase lead generation for E-commerce sites is to provide users with a stellar mobile experience. Optimizing for mobile requires you to test your site on devices of all sizes. Ensure that buttons, menus, search bars, and forms are easy to use, content is the right size, and scrolling is a cinch. There are certain site building and hosting companies, like Linkeo Ltd and their Deliver by Linkeo platform, that build sites that are optimized for all devices as standard.

It’s a challenge to establish brands in the E-commerce industry as it’s a crowded market. To succeed, first you must have a deep understanding of who your ideal customer is. Then implement lead-generation strategies to fill your traffic with high-quality, targeted users. We hope the tips outlined in this article go some way to helping you achieve that goal. Share your views in the comments section below and be sure to check back for new content in the coming weeks.

Tips for Advertising Your Online Platform – Part 3

Hello one and all, welcome to part three of our ongoing series on advertising your online platform. We’ve already covered content marketing and influencer marketing in previous articles, and this time, our friendly experts at Linkeo Ltd. will be covering the basics of a few techniques.

How to Promote a New Online Store with Email Marketing

Analysts have noted that email marketing generates a higher ROI than any other acquisition channel, since the algorithms that power social media, Facebook and Google have resulted in an ever-rising cost of doing business and reaching customers for online retailers. Email allows retailers to intimately connect with and address their most loyal customers while enabling budding startups to develop armies of influencers. Something all experts advise is to focus on your database. Emails are the only thing without an algorithm at play.

Even if you don’t focus on social media marketing alongside email marketing, you can start building your email list on day one. Building a database of emails is as simple as including an email subscriptions form somewhere on your website. Capturing the contact information of your earliest visitors lets you engage with those visitors over time and leverage that engagement to drive conversions. It’s a great way to maximize value on a sustainable basis.

How to Promote a New Online Store on Social Media

Right from the beginning, it’s important to go live with your social media marketing efforts. This includes building a following and also making sure you have a presence on all major global platforms. The genius behind social media marketing is that it is designed to spread ideas and news like wildfire. As a result, it should be one of the first channels for new companies to get exposure and bring traffic to their stores.

And while it’s possible to grow your social following organically, you may also want to consider running paid ads.

Tips for Succeeding with Paid Ads on Social Media Channels

Below is a curated selection of tips for succeeding with paid ads on social media.

  • The key to social media advertising is the accuracy of your demographic targeting. You can use interests, hobbies, followed pages, ages, job titles, etc. to get incredibly granular with who you show your ads to.
  • Create an engaging video that educates or entertains your audience. This will allow you to get a gauge for your potential strongest supporters.
  • Retarget the portion of the audience who watched the video past the halfway mark with a promo ad.
  • Retarget the users who didn’t make a purchase with a special offer. Make them enter their email addresses to claim the offer.
  • Send out an email blast towards the end of the campaign with a follow-up message that sends out a separate promo built around social proof and an emotion-tugging CTA.

Even if you don’t hit your sales target after the campaign, you will have developed long-term content resources and generated an email list of interested users to target again in the future.”

However, you may need different approaches for organic and paid social campaigns. For instance, most customers will treat your social media feed like a brochure, going through your wide range of options before inquiring or going to your site. The content for this purpose is very much traditionally styled shoots and flat lays.

However, for paid acquisition campaigns, the content needs to be much more emotive. Re-marketing content, including video and stills, must be more focused on conversion messages regarding your unique selling propositions.

So Which Promotion Tactic Should You Choose?

After exploring the many options presented in our last three articles, you should now hopefully have tons of ideas for new ways to promote your online store. But where should you start?

Building your email list is a great place to start because you can do it on a tight budget, and you can use the email addresses you gather in every other campaign you run in the future.

Plus, email marketing is effective no matter what you’re selling. And that’s key because the best way to promote a new store really depends on your audience and your product—more specifically the cost.

On a budget, we recommend influencers, blogging, and email. Once you’ve hit comfortable numbers and you have the funds to really invest, the best long-term strategy will be dialing into advertising profitability.

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