Chart of the Day: Conversion rates of online shoppers by device and platform
Data based on more than 1.9 billion shopping sessions collected by Monetate, clearly shows 'traditional' (desktop) web users still have conversion rates more than triple that of those browsing on Smartphones.
It is interesting though that tablet e-commerce conversions are only very slightly behind desktop conversion rates. It seems screen size does have an impact on conversions, since people don't want to fill out fiddly payment details on Smartphone screens. This may mean new tools, like chatbots, can change the mobile user experience and make conversion much simpler. By removing the need to complete complex forms they could lead to a big leap in mobile conversion rates in the coming year.
It's also interesting to look at conversion rates by device, where Mac leads with Windows close…
Chart of the Day: What challenges you when it comes to email marketing? Part 1 of 4.
For email marketers, there will always be aspects of email marketing that are a challenge. The below chart looks at the various areas that email marketers are struggling with. I will be doing a 4 part series of issues pertaining to email marketing.
We will be looking at the following during the course of the series:
Targeting & Segmenting
Subscriber list growth
Tracking results
Main email marketing goal.
There is no real surprise that "Targeting & Segmenting" comes up with the highest score of 40%. For most, the main issue will be the clients' data records. They will be inaccurate, out of date or incomplete. The more data you can obtain from your clients, that is relevant to your business, the more tailored you can make your emails. Segmented email campaigns have…
Google home, Amazon Echo and other virtual personal assistants will transform ecommerce marketing
2016 saw the rise of connected home voice assistants, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, but 2017 is the year they mature. Last week, Google announced that its Google Home product would be able to place orders of essential items for consumers in the US.
A user can place orders just by asking Google Home to do it, with the only interface being natural speech. This is the ultimate UX experience. Now it's as easy to get Google to pick up some shopping for you as it is to ask your better half if there is any milk left.
Google home will send your order to participating retailers, who can then fulfil it. Google has announced it is partnering with major retailers such as Costco, Whole Foods Market, Walgreens, PetSmart, Bed Bath…
Chart of the day: Advertisers that implemented Influencer Marketing in 2016 received $11.69 in Earned Media Value (EMV) on average for every $1.00 they spent.
A report by RhythmOne highlights the influencer marketing benchmarks for full-year 2016, finding that influencer marketing is providing high Earned Media Value (EMV).
Earned Media Value is the value of earned media (such as influencers promoting a brand). It is the value given to the impact of the influencer campaigns and is organic, compared to paid media (such as pay per click) or owned media (advertising on your own channels e.g. your own website).
Food and software industries ran the most influencer campaigns whilst health and pharma had the largest average EMV, followed by retail, food and grocers.
With an average of $11.69 influencer marketing is a successful marketing approach, engagement rates average at around 2% according to the report (which is total…
Psychology has a bigger effect on purchase decisions than you think
A while ago I was doing my monthly "Let's see what TED's been up to recently" session, and I came across an older one: Dan Ariely's Ted talk on irrational purchase behavior.
It's well-worth a watch (after, of course, you finish this article).
In it, he breaks down the delusion that our buying decisions are rationally made. He discusses the true influences and psychological factors which affect our subconscious - the real determinants for why we buy that pack of gum, why that T-shirt stands out, or why we decide we need a jacket we don't.
Ever gone into a store for a single thing and walked out with a full cart?
Psychology has a bigger influence on your prospective customers than you might think. Understanding how you can use psychology to influence buying decisions will make you a better marketer and…
Chart of the Day: Delivering quality leads is the #1 objective for B2B marketers in 2017
Todays, Chart of the Day is actually compilation of charts from DemandWave's State of B2B digital marketing report 2017. They asked nearly 200 B2B marketers what they saw as the pressing issues and trends for this year. When asked what the #1 objective of their digital marketing was the top answer was "deliver quality leads". This is unsurprising, but also an important issue for B2B marketers who need to provide enough leads to keep the sales team busy, while also not having them chasing prospects that will never convert.
The respondents were also asked which channels were a part of their marketing mix and Social media came out top with 95% saying they used Social to deliver their objectives with Email and Organic Search making up the top 3.
…
Chart of the Day: How is video being embedded into email marketing?
Email has limitations in what can be displayed correctly in email clients. But none more so than video playback.
The safest route would be a static image, meaning that a static image would display for all clients. But as this chart shows, this has become rather old school, as only 2% use this method. A staggering 52% of the clients use fullscreen or inline video embedding. Animation (.gif animation), accounts for 46% of the total of sends.
Before we all suddenly start to add inline video, there are a few points we need to remember:
Fullscreen interaction only works correctly for iOS
Inline only works on Apple Mail, Outlook for Mac and Outlook.com (non-preview)
Gif animation doesn't work for Outlook 2007-2013 and Windows Phone 7
Email clients vary in how they accept videos playing in your inbox. So it comes down to…
Three areas of focus to make shoppable marketing work for you and your brand
As recently highlighted in Smart Insights’ top ecommerce trends briefing, 2017 will see a number of really interesting developments, from subscription-based business models to the growth of artificial intelligence and chatbots. However, one trend that caught my attention was the prediction that shoppable personalised video will break through as technology and programmatic capabilities advance:
The concept of ‘shoppable marketing’ is something I’ve been looking at more closely recently as I investigate new ways to combine ecommerce and digital marketing and create more compelling customer experiences. With more people than ever having access to broadband and smartphones - spending more time online, the rise in online shopping means there are more opportunities to capture customers in the moments that matter.
Defining the shoppable marketing touchpoints
Many brands spend a great…
Avoid these mistakes to prevent costly email marketing errors
If you’ve marked 2017 as your year to grow your e-mail list, congratulations! Email marketing is a powerful tool that can help enhance your business, bring in new leads, and keep your company name on the tip of customers’ tongues. However, the reality is that it’s quite easy to make mistakes while you attempt to build a list. Those mistakes can result in lost time, customers, and money.
Blunder #1: You Don’t Give a Good Reason to Sign up
In 2017, an email address is nearly as personal as a phone number. Think about the times that you go to a store at the mall and they ask for your email address for their records. You probably cringe and envision all the spam email that will soon flood your box—and you better believe that your customers do the same thing.
One of the first steps…
Research shows most important factors for selecting martech
Marketers now have many, many potential marketing technologies they can deploy as shown by our 30 categories of martech relevant for all businesses serious about growth and optimisation. Selecting any type of new marketing technology is a serious businesses since although many services today offer paying monthly, collection of data and integration with other systems mean that although it's easy to switch providers in theory, in practice it often isn't. Of course, this depends whether it is a mission-critical systems like CRMs, which involve a lengthy migration between platforms compared to AB testing tools which can be switched relatively easily.
This research from Trustradius covers the factors that are important in taking a decision.
The research shows that buyers want hands-on experience with the product and insights from customers. Product demos and free trials were the best…
