Techniques to encourage more use of personalisation
The topic of web personalisation continues to be a priority for Ecommerce marketers. In addition to this Forrester says that personalisation is now the top priority for 55% of retailers.
However, website personalisation comes in many different formats; it could be about better use of a CMS to change user experiences on the fly; it could be product recommendations; it could be linking your CRM database with the website.
The key is that whatever format you are doing it in, it’s a big driver for e-commerce in 2014 and beyond.
However, the big question is, are you in a position as a business to maximise the effectiveness of web personalisation? I wanted to just put down in this blog a few things I think are critical from a company structural perspective to ensure that you can get the most from this exciting technique.
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Best practices and examples of building a brand in 2014
For many new businesses and startups, failure is not an option to be considered. Unfortunately, failure is exactly what the majority of new companies face the first time they introduce their brand on the internet. Far too often, e-commerce endeavours fail and the sad part is that most of the time, the owner has no idea what may have happened.
If this sounds like something you have been through, it may be time to take a good, long look at your branding strategy.
Why many branding strategies fail?
Many people do not realize exactly what a brand is or what it means to have one. They have a vague idea… yet never take the time to understand fully the concept or even realize that there is more to it than a recognizable logo. They find an appealing image, slap a catchy phrase onto it,…
6 trends for future consumer mobile use
With the current rapid rise in mobile usage, it's interesting to see these predictions of the path of the mobile consumer into the future. This infographic from Vouchercloud identifies six streams shaping, changing use in mobile devices:
1. Cloud and Mobile Data: By 2018, 90% of mobile traffic will be from cloud applications including video/audio streaming, social networking, online gaming and online storage.
2. Mobile Commerce: M-Commerce is expected to grow over the next 4 years, as already 90% of consumers are using their smartphones for 'pre-shopping'. Did you know that more than 50% of Amazon shoppers bought their purchases online in the first quarter of this year!
3. Mobile in Retail: Retailers are focusing on interactive in-store experiences, in future, they will use more QR codes and NFC (Near Field Communication), for engagement and ease of payment with voucher and discount offers.
4. Mobile Visuals: Anticipated growth in mobile video as consumers…
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09 Jun 2014
Unsubscribing does not have to be forever
Offering customers the option to unsubscribe without gathering any detailed information as to why the customer wants to unsubscribe is all too commonplace and wasteful. Some brands will go a step further by providing a tick list of reasons e.g. 'I receive too many emails from you', ' I receive them too frequently' etc. It almost feels like the email marketer has thrown in the towel by not taking things a step further as neither of these methods provides the brand with an opportunity to maintain a relationship.
Here is a different approach I have seen more recently which seems more enlightened.
Campaign Example for a Holiday brand
Work on the timing
Some brands have started to ask if the customer would like to receive emails again at a particular time e.g. in a year’s time or better still at a…
It's more than increasing online adspend...
Digital. It’s not a channel box to tick, unless you work for a media buying company, it’s not TV 2.0 for your new ad creative or campaign. Though it appears for many, it still is.
Whenever I hear traditional ad spenders, most typically big brand managers or marketers, talk about investing in, or doing digital, I pause and cringe, and listen in hope. More often than not what they’re saying is - “we’re spending ad money on more ads in digital channels.” Driven by an ill-informed “cost per click.,” or worse a crude “eye-ball” metric. It’s still just advertising, and worse, using creative so often intended for TV or for billboards - neither of which translate well for online will guarantee to deliver exceptionally poor results.
What are you amplifying and measuring?
This is what jumps to mind first, for me. It’s not that digital advertising is…
A recent court case could set a legal precedent to limit behavioural email marketing
Importance (to retail email marketers): [rating=5]
Recommended link: Sky News: Spammer To Pay Damages After Court Victory
There has recently been an interesting, useful and somewhat scary discussion on the Smart Insights LinkedIn discussion group about the risks of email marketers being seen as spammers and action take against them. Worth checking out if you’re involved in email marketing.
It alerted me to this recent case where John Lewis has had to pay damages because of their email marketing and data privacy opt-in approach on their site. I’ve created an alert on it since the finding seems to suggest the common practice of pre-ticking a box during purchase and following that up with an “Abandoned Shopping cart email”
The case was brought against the retailer by Roddy Mansfield, a Sky news producer. It was a private action and the finding…
When businesses use eye tracking data to help them design their website they could be missing vital information about their web visitors
Eye tracking studies are undoubtedly useful. Let’s get that fact out-of-the-way first. These specialist studies show exactly where people look on web pages and as a result web designers can ensure that specific elements are positioned for maximum visibility. But are these studies as valuable as they might seem? In this article I shall explain why eye tracking studies have limitations which companies should consider when they are building their websites. What you’ll discover in this article is:
How eye tracking works
What eye tracking tells you
What eye tracking does not tell you
The major flaw with eye tracking
Filling in the gaps of eye tracking
The place of eye tracking in marketing
How eye tracking works
Eye tracking can be performed in various ways, but generally small cameras track the movement of the pupils as…
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04 Jun 2014
Your Google Analytics Post-launch checklist
In my last post on using Google Webmaster Tools to audit a site post-launch I showed how after the creation of a new or redesigned website, there are many other issues to consider before a new website can be considered to be fully functional. Another key post-launch activity is to check that the effectiveness of the site will be measurable using Google Analytics. Here it’s important to make sure to have a Google Analytics checklist in place to review how to best customise Google Analytics to report on your business success.
[Editor's note: we agree that setting Google Analytics up is often missed on new sites. In particular we see that many don't have goals setup, so thanks to Vagelis for his detailed review and recommendations in this post. In fact we'd advise considering goal setup and tracking at an early stage in site development rather than post launch. Smart Insights Expert members can…
Are you missing out through not advertising in social media to ensure content success with Paid Social Amplification?
In our industry, good content is invaluable. But good content is also hard work.
From planning to Quality Contro, content must be researched, nurtured, analyzed, and improved on an ongoing basis to make it as suitable as possible for your target audience. But if no one is finding your content, then regardless of the quality, it won't have an impact on your business's bottom line. This is where paid amplification comes into play.
[Editor's note: The Smart Insights research report on Managing Digital Marketing in 2014 showed that many businesses are looking to increase their paid advertising on social media this year, so we hope these tips on how to do this are helpful]
Pushing targeted eyeballs to quality content is something our team has had success…
Better usability testing for websites and apps: the top 10 mistakes to avoid
Done well, usability testing enables organisations to validate ideas and designs for websites and applications with real-world users, helping increase engagement, satisfaction and conversions. But executing a successful user testing strategy brings with it numerous challenges and potential hazards. Think about your redesign and conversion optimisation projects. Are you at risk of committing any common testing mistakes?
Introduction to the value of usability testing
Research from the IEEE has found that fixing problems with software once development’s already begun is twice as expensive as resolving them before development commences.
Conducting lab-based usability testing that provides valuable insight into how users perceive and interact with your site or application before your project goes live can, therefore, deliver significant returns; in fact, it’s been found that for every dollar a company invests to increase usability it receives $10-$100 in benefits, and wins customer satisfaction…
