Five Ways to Prepare Your E-Store for the Holidays

Shindigz.com is an example of an e-tailer that grooms its e-stores for the holidays.

by My Web Writers

Prepare your e-store for the holidays.   Delight and encourage shoppers, while providing unique opportunities to increase your potential customers. It goes without saying that if your site is a landing destination, your customers are going to shop more and spread the word about it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social networking media.

There’s no time like the holidays to make subtle, effective improvements to your e-store, all in the name of getting ready for the upcoming festivities.

Put up some decorations

It doesn’t take much these days to change a heading or personalize a background. If you don’t want to use your own pictures, search for public domain and free licensing ones to create an atmosphere of holiday cheer on your site. Include a few holiday specific articles, highlighting your best products with previous customer testimonials.

Make your e-store very user friendly

Keep your site stress free for your customers, providing easy access to product, ordering and shipping information. Update return policies and include all information pertaining to receiving items as gifts too. While you’re doing this, it’s undoubtedly a good idea to make sure your return policy is consumer friendly, as well.

Other important user friendly features on your e-store include navigation. Make products on your site easy to find and access. Product descriptions should be thorough and readily available, upon landing on each product page.  Refresh your product and category descriptions for SEO.  Eliminate unnecessary clutter. Minimize eyestrain by softening colors, and reducing glaring bling.

Give gifts and goodies to your customers

Free shipping is huge, but so are coupons. Perks are fun to find and receive when shopping. Provide ample opportunities for customers to save money, and receive special promotions and offers with minimal effort. This might include running a 3-Day sale, and posting a special coupon on Facebook for consumers to print. It could also be a “Refer a Friend” opportunity, where linking to your site sends your customer an extraordinary deal for their kindness.

Eliminate shipping worries

Flexibility is vital when it comes to shipping, especially for those last minute shoppers. As an e-store owner, you can make sure you’re able to deliver customer product in a timely manner; you can also extend the shipping time required by the customer. Give those frazzled shoppers a little breathing room, and make it easy to receive items in record time, even if they’ve been ordered a little later than expected.

Serve your customers well

Treat your customers like royalty. Make them feel wanted and special, by providing multiple ways to contact you. Set up a live chat or forum for their immediate questions and concerns. Make “Contact Information” easy to find and easier to use. Respond graciously and as soon as possible when you are contacted by a customer.

Preparing your E-store for the holidays is an opportunity to make your site stand out among the crowd. Take advantage of this opportunity, so you can drive traffic and increase sales opportunity well into 2013!

~MJ

When Bad Jokes Happen to Good People

by My Web Writers

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections.” While a bad joke with friends and family can be forgotten, with potential customers you might have just one chance to win them over.  Because senses of humor vary, using humor cautiously is in your best interest. That said, good comedy can evoke emotions that connect people to your purpose.

A Little Goes a Long Way

When writing funny copy, a little humor goes a long way. You know that person in your circle of friends who overuses bad puns, as though by telling every joke, eventually he or she will get a laugh? A little bit goes a long way, especially in marketing copy. Not only do you not want to overload your writing with humor and detract from the credibility of your content, subtle humor often reads better, showing your sophisticated skills.

One way to simplify your humor for a bigger impact is by choosing a consistent style. Consider the Allstate “Mayhem” commercials. The ads each feature actor Dean Winters as different embodiments of “mayhem”–a teen driver, heavy winter snow, termites, and so on.

The phrasing in the commercials features eloquent and funny descriptions of the disasters about to befall drivers or homeowners, but the humor lies most in the deadpan delivery. Further, the consistency of the different ads emphasizes the humor and creates strong branding for the company. In your copy, you can employ these same strategies by devising a unified comedic tone or running gag to use along with your stylesheet.

Consider Negative Reactions

If you consider your customer demographics, hopefully you can avoid a joke that offends unanticipated readers, but you should still consider how your writing might be read as distasteful rather than funny. For example, last year KIA ran a print ad that intended to depict the two sides of their new cars. The ad featured a cartoon strip of a teacher talking to a student and seeing her on one side as a little girl and on the other as a sexualized teenager. The company faced a big backlash because a large number of people thought the ad was inappropriate at best. In this case, failing to consider the implications of the joke forced KIA to deal with an offended public. Especially when joking about gender, race, politics, or religion, think through how others might read your humor, or avoid these jokes altogether.

Keep it Positive

All told, using comedy that is on the light side is most likely to make your readers and potential customers smile. By using jokes that refrain from making fun of a particular person or group of people, you depict your company as friendly and trustworthy rather than gossipy or mean. Upbeat jokes also work well with call-to-action marketing copy, so you can draw the reader in with humor and use active writing to bring in a sale.

Finally, remember to read your humorous copy aloud. Your writing should capture the tone and timing of the joke as though you were telling it to your reader in person.

~Kasey

Five Considerations When Marketing to Women

by My Web Writers

Women represent one of the largest buying forces in America’s economy both as individual buyers and as the chief purchasers in their households. Women also tend to be more vocal about products they like, and they often buy for others. This means that even products that are not specifically for women are often purchased by them. On average, women exchange gifts with other women more frequently than men exchange gifts with other men, and beyond this, many women serve as professional buyers for companies and organizations. With this kind of consumer on the loose, the savvy marketer will want to consider and address their specific needs and preferences. But a successful campaign will require more than pretty pink packaging and will need to take into account the fact that this demographic encompasses a variety of ages and lifestyles. There is certainly no one-size-fits-all marketing plan. However, here are a few tips on how to appeal to and respect female consumers.

1.      Create a Narrative for Women

Narrative is one of the many tools that successful brands like Starbucks, Nike and Dove use to connect with consumers on a level that goes beyond utility. Traditionally, these companies have paired quality products with carefully crafted consumer narratives. Where Starbucks represents an affordable luxury and an escape from the grind, Nike represents athletic prowess and maximum effort. In commercials and ad campaigns, consumers are invited to envision the best possible outcome of their interaction with the advertised product. This method can appeal to male and female consumers. Remember, part of advertising is helping the potential buyer to foresee the utility of the product, and a narrative is a packaged way of accomplishing this.

If you are new to the advertising world and need more examples, commercials are an easy place to identify a storyline. Once you have a better sense of the kinds of stories commercials tell, you can look more closely at online and print advertisements to see how well-placed graphics create a similar effect.

2.  Educate Both Female and Male Consumers

While women value emotional connections and often respond to products showcased using a narrative element, marketing cannot be successful without a quality product. Typically, women want well-made, practical items. So marketers will do well to educate consumers as to all the practical uses for their services or retail items. Don’t assume that everything about your product is intuitive; make the connections easy for your consumers. Furthermore, if you are marketing related products or products that can be purchased in a bundle, highlighting that information can result in additional sales. In this economy, women and men alike are looking to make their money go further.

3.      Market to Women Via Word Of Mouth

Women love to share bargains, brand names and favorite buys so it behooves the retailer to make the buying and return process as simple as possible, especially if the purchasing is done online. Women who have a positive buying, exchange and even return experience, and who find the product useful, will share this information with their friends. Allow your consumers to market for you by making it possible to “Like” your product on social media sites and by enabling on-site product reviews. Also, avoid tactics that take advantage of consumers such as hidden pricing that appears only at the time of sale and misrepresented bargains and ensure timely deliver. Negative information will get out via word-of-mouth and can reduce sales potential.

4.  Get Women Involved in Marketing and Purchasing Processes

Women often prefer to buy on recommendations from other women, and some companies have found that a woman sales force can increase revenue from the female demographic. Depending on your product, this may mean hiring additional female content writers or sales reps, seeking out women endorsements or simply involving women team members in product design and marketing if this is not already being done.

5.  Avoid Gender Marketing Stereotypes

While depictions of women in marketing ads have made great strides from the strict gender roles of the 1950’s, there are still plenty of opportunities to expand towards more realistic depictions. Remember, women do not whip into a frenzy at the mere sight of pink or the promise of easy weight loss solutions. They want more information to validate the claims made about a product before they buy. And at this point they’ve heard a lot of the bogus claims, seen the cheesy color schemes and the cliché-phrasing and it all has become one big turn-off. Remember, if your product is sold predominately online, women can easily compare it with your competitors.

Now, more than ever, women want efficient products that cater to their busy lives and that recognize and celebrate them as career-oriented, family-focused, and in general, people with a lot on their plates. Some are tired of browsing the bookstore in the “Men’s Interest” sections. Others want to be recognized and valued as caregivers, mentors, parents, or professionals. They want to see their diversity represented in age, race and body type. Within these categories and many others are opportunities for marketers to better reach this distinct group of consumers.

~Lindsey

The CEO’s Guide to Marketing Content Solutions

by My Web Writers

How many times in the past year did you hear, “You have to be on (insert the latest, greatest online platform) today before you get left behind?” I’m willing to bet a tweet and an angry bird the answer is, “Too many.”

The problem with most marketing content discussions: They are about the instrument and not about the content. Before we decide how we are going communicate, we need to know why & what we’re communicating. I know it’s a blinding flash of the obvious, but it’s missed by many who want your time. Let’s explore the key questions to ask when creating a marketing content solutions strategy.

1) Who’s In Charge?

Your marketing content is a key asset and your marketing team’s most important responsibility.  As the CEO, make clear to everyone who’s in charge of the messaging. Then reinforce it. Otherwise, you’ll have too many cooks and the message will end up diluted, confusing and ineffective.

2) Why Are We Communicating?

CEO’s rely on marketing content solutions for getting, growing or keeping customers. It’s that simple, and yet that complete.

3) What Are We Communicating?

Define the message(s) for each reason. Each one must have a primary focus to connect with your intended audience.

4) How Are We Communicating?

This isn’t just online marketing exercise. To be effective, your marketing content strategy must be consistent across all your media. For example: broadcast, print, websites, social media, email, in-store, direct mail, customer care, billing statements and training material are just some of the choices to be considered. Not every message will be used in all media, but it must be complimentary across the channels.

5) Who’s Creating Your Marketing Content?

When it’s time to create, ensure your writers are skilled at writing effective copy for the particular medium and message. It’s key for online marketing content because of the search engines’ emphasis on fresh, relevant information. A freelance writing team that’s proven at writing engaging, custom marketing content for multiple media can be a cost-effective member of your team.

Your answers to these five questions provide the beginning foundation of a strong marketing content solution for your company.

~Don

Corporate Holiday Email Do’s and Don’ts

by My Web Writers

Most individuals receive an onslaught of holiday greetings via email and post starting as early as October and continuing into the New Year. With all of this feverish well-wishing, it can be difficult for one individual email to stand out. This puts added pressure on those responsible for producing and circulating corporate holiday emails.

Some companies use humor to make an impression, while others still question whether or not humor is appropriate for the corporate setting.

According to Small Business Trends , which published data from a 2009 press release  from Hallmark Business Expressions,

in a survey of 2,300 customers, conducted by Harris Interactive, 62 percent expressed interest in receiving humor cards from a company with which they do business and 65 percent said receiving a humorous business greeting card would result in a positive feeling towards the company.

However, Hallmark’s corporate humor collection shrunk considerably in 2011—retrieving only one card on a humor search—suggesting that there has not been a high demand for these types of cards.

A similar phenomenon can be observed on other sites selling corporate holiday cards and email templates. Most humor searches yield few results. The current trend seems to focus on whimsical graphics rather than downright funny text. Polar bears ice skating, cartoon Santas in business suits, puppies and kittens in Christmas wear, porcupines decorated with lights and references to the North Pole are the prevailing forms of humor in this year’s collections. With a few exceptions which feature, flossing reindeer, and a team of children on the naughty list, accompanied by their lawyer, to see Santa. But most of these exceptions are occupation specific.

When selecting an email template or generating your own text, remember that humor should be light-hearted, appropriate and should not target or demean any individuals, groups, faith celebrations or your company in any way. If you feel uncertain about whether or not humor is appropriate in your specific setting, it is probably best to consult a superior or use one of the other strategies below to garner attention.

Make Emails Personal

Personalize your holiday emails by using individual names in the greeting line. “Dear Customer” says “I don’t really know you”, whereas correctly-spelled names show familiarity.

Use Unique Email Designs

Stand out in the crowd with colorful, interactive graphics and unique layouts to support your text. Remember not to clutter your email visually, but rather to focus the reader on the most important information you want to convey. Templates are available online to help you craft and design your own. Templates range in cost from free to marketing programs with monthly rates upwards of $20.

Appeal to Your Customers

A holiday email is an opportunity to thank customers for their loyalty but should also accomplish the following:

1. Remind clients you exist.

2. Attract new customers.

3. Appreciate existing customers.

Remember to include the following marketing components in your holiday emails:

•  links to your website,

• hot items from annual or seasonal catalogs,

• gift guides and any other element that can tastefully showcase your services.

Email attachments need to be less than 2MB, and we recommend that you host documents online when possible.

Update Your Email Contact List

The best way to handle email lists is to update them regularly throughout the year. Be sure that you have the correct addresses, names and titles for all your intended recipients. Do a little research to collect contact information for potential clients to add to your list.

Send Corporate Holiday Emails Early

If your emails are being sent to corporate accounts, it is best to send them in early to mid December. Many people take off for the holidays and you don’t want your email sitting in inboxes until the new year. Retailers should send out holiday emails as early as possibly especially when marketing seasonal goods.

Is an Email Enough?

For many clients or prospective clients, an email is sufficient to convey your thanks, well wishes, and opportunities for future business partnerships. It is also a cost efficient and timely method for transmitting your holiday greetings. However, tasteful gift baskets or another tactile expression may be the way to go with your most important clients. Bribery is never necessary, but remember, you cannot eat cyberspace.

~Lindsey