Our recommended blogs that every retail and E-commerce professional should be following to use the latest innovations and grow their sales
Considering the growth in importance of E-commerce, contributed to both by pureplay online-only businesses and multichannel retail businesses, it’s surprising that much advice on marketing best practices is ‘vanilla’, simply covering advice that could apply to any type of business. While some fundamental marketing concepts such as the marketing funnel and lifecycle marketing do apply across different businesses, many of the success factors for E-commerce businesses are specific to this sector. So, it can be difficult to find the best advice to inspire your improvements if you are new to working in the sector, or just want to expand your knowledge.
At Smart Insights we’ve been covering E-commerce and retail since we launched, and have a specific E-commerce toolkit for members, relevant for the main types of transactional businesses of…
How to better results from your content marketing
Content marketing has recently risen to a position of prominence within the industry. As the creator of what is viewed, liked and shared online, it is one of the prime movers of any brand or product. Filling up the voids around the all-important keywords, content adds substance to any marketing strategy and, therefore, it cannot be ignored.
As content marketing has become essential, it has also reached a high degree of professionalization. Those who engage in it no longer dabble with words and information, but consciously create powerful cocktails of useful content and subtle advertising. The next 5 tips can be found in the arsenal of any efficient marketer.
1. Content is re-shareable
One of the most time-consuming elements of content marketing is that it constantly requires unique and new content, even on topics that have been looked at and written about many times.
While it should…
A quick guide to achieving your website's full potential
"Is my website working to its full potential?” This question can be tough to answer because it depends on what you consider the ‘full potential’ to be and how your website is aligned to your company’s strategy.
Research by the University of Stanford shows that 75% of users judge the credibility of a company based on the professional look and design of their website. So how do you know your website needs a redesign?
There are some tell-tale signs that make you understand if it’s time to refresh your website. Here are our 4 signs that tell you your website needs a redesign.
1) Your company grows and the website is not aligned with your strategy
Depending on the industry and company, sales, finance, customer support, product development and digital marketing form all part of the strategy. For most companies digital marketing has the potential to become…
Amazon has launched Amazon Spark, a new feature aimed at improving product discovery. The idea behind the platform is to bring some of the social buzz that goes on beyond the website into the Amazon app. But here's the catch - it's only available to Amazon Prime members.
Many have said the platform was inspired by Instagram and its use of shoppable photos. Users are able to post stories, ideas, and images of products they like, which others can react to with comments and like.
To access Amazon Spark, you have to use the Amazon mobile app. When you join spark you tell it your 5 top interests so Amazon can create a customized feed for you. There are also a number of niche categories you can select to further define your personal interests.
…
7 Secrets Of Remote Team Collaboration
The ultimate goal of every small marketing business or a large corporation is to build a team culture where productivity will thrive and where all people are tied to the belief that “none of us is as good as all of us.” If you are sharing an office with a couple of people, with your mind set on one thing only, you become a part of a flow and the culture naturally happens.
However, if you are miles away from your marketing team, building a culture and becoming a part of it doesn’t just magically happen. While there’s no doubt that remote working is a growing trend, the question still lingers:
How to build trust and leverage the way marketers work together no matter where they are or what time zone they belong to?
Here, we’ve…
PPC tips and strategy to enhance your AdWords campaign
What comes to your mind when you think about AdWords? Perhaps, a lot of data, excel sheets, and analysis. When I think about AdWords, I usually think about a customer’s choice and their range of options, as if they were buying a burger at McDonalds.
Economists put goods that are likely to sell well together and called them complementary goods. McDonalds uses this approach to sell burgers and chips as great complements. How many times have you bought a burger without chips at McDonalds? Probably never. The same theory applies to AdWords search and display ads. If you have search you should have some sort of display advertising. These are ideal components of advertising that complement each other so well and almost guarantee a great outcome. However, I won’t be able to go too far with my food theory on AdWords advertising so…
Chart of the Day: To code or not to code? (Technology) - Part 3 of 6
We are now half way through our six-week series on email workflow. So far we have discussed Planning and Time spent on tasks. Last week I asked in a poll, "for each email that your company sends, which task takes you the longest?" View our results and find our which task takes you the longest.
This week we will be looking at what companies mostly used for the creation of the emails. There are two options - you can either use an email template or use HTML and CSS coding from scratch. Firstly, let's look at what an email template is.
Email templates - what they are and why you should use them?
An email template is a pre-formatted and reusable HTML file. When you load the template, it…
Putting content curation front and centre in your content marketing planning
I've been spending some time this week writing a content marketing plan for a client, at First 10. As a part of that plan, I've focussed on content curation as a major part of the program of activity over the next 12 months. In their case, the reason why they're investing is that it's right strategically and suits their budget. They're a commercial marketing team with minimal internal copywriting resource, and they're not creative enough to reliably originate a steady stream of ideas. So it made sense to centralize content curation in addition to publishing original articles and media as and when they can afford it. My sense is that most marketing teams are likely needing this approach, so I thought I'd distill and simplify what's in their plan, in case…
Chart of the day: Only 25% of data is being used for real-time customer engagement
According to a recent study, 25% of businesses are adjusting their marketing communications daily based on customer data they have collected. It was also reported was that only 16% of UK businesses adjust their marketing communication in real-time based on customer behavior and data collection.
Many businesses are yet to make a case for real-time marketing, saying they need to prove ROI before implementing. This is due to the lack of stakeholder buy-in.
What does this mean for marketers? By adjusting your marketing communications you can develop a more personal approach to reach your audience. Businesses that are putting themselves in a position to act in real time are more likely to meet their customer's demands.
Source: SAS
Sample Size: 350 heads of marketing
Recommended Resources: Social Media Marketing Toolkit
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Email Marketing is a must-use marketing channel even for the smallest of businesses
Are you a small business owner? There is a big chance that you have many daily responsibilities. In addition to managing a company, you are the visionary, the motivating force, the expert, and most importantly the one that calls the shots. Entrepreneurs have many tasks that are calling for their attention. They also are the individuals that are responsible for mapping out the road for success ahead of their endeavor. So, what is a small business owner to do with so little time?
It is true that there are various needs that must be met within a business, however, have you considered that you might be spending time on efforts that are not urgent?
Are You Running Around in Circles?
Think about your current marketing efforts. What…
