Category: Business Growth
Is Email Marketing a Thing of the Past?
Over the last 5 years the Internet and how we all operate in the online space has changed. MySpace is no longer that social network of choice. Websites are no longer built in frames. And eCommerce has become a far more popular option for most people around the world. But email, and more specifically email marketing has not really changed all that much. It still uses the same basic coding, and has the same look and feel as it did 5 years ago. So does it still work from a marketing perspective in a modern world where everything else has changed? Continue Reading…
Wireframes and how they help to develop the User Experience
Ever used a website and given up in frustration before you attained your goal? Then you know how frustrating and damaging a bad user experience can be.
A good user experience is about understanding who the user (‘customer’) is, what their needs are, and how they think about achieving their goals. Then it’s about placing that knowledge at the center of the design process, so the end product matches the real requirements of the users. Get that right, and people will purchase from you.
Put simply; get the user experience wrong, sales go down.
Times are tough
Two things are happening right now in the Business climate: either times are really tough, or further attempts are being made at building on profitability. Either way, all businesses are looking for smarter ways to streamline operations, find more effective methods for repeat business to either grow or become automated, and finally, grow new business acquisition.
The value of Unbranded Traffic
Google Analytics is still the unsung hero with regards to being the tool of choice to improve the performance of eCommerce websites. Without it, it’s impossible to truly understand how your website is accommodating your customers or “first timers”. With the hundreds of reports available in Google Analytics, where do you start? Answering this could take awhile, so instead, its best to focus on the philosophy of the type of reports you should be looking at which can tell the story of if your site is working or not. It’s those reports which show the performance of Unbranded traffic.
Demand to know your demand – Part 2
My last article discussed the ability to gain, for free, fantastic knowledge/insights into your target market without the need to pay exorbitant rates to learn target market demographics. Through the understanding of the demand for your products/services, a considerable amount of business decision making can be made.
One point to note, this article is geared for eCommerce, however, those businesses looking to develop a Lead Generation Strategy for their services would adopt the same philosophy.
Here are some examples of what can be done with this data:
Demand to know your demand
There are so many free tools on the web which can help you build your online business and many people know which ones are the good ones. However, knowing there are free tools is one thing, but actually knowing how to use the tool to your advantage is where everyone falls down. So what is the value in understanding the demand for your product/service?
The Unnecessary Customer Wants
Claire wrote an article on the unnecessary wants of customers and how they perceive their unique requests will translate to more money in the bank. Despite the fact they have no idea on what works online, there is still the insistence of implementing unique functionality. What’s really funny is, the decision for the unique functionality is typically based on nothing other than personal wants of the owner.
Delivering Happiness
Tony Hsieh is the CEO of trail-blazing apparel store Zappos.com – the same Zappos that was acquired by Amazon for approximately $1.2 Billion in stock in July 2009.
Continue Reading…
