marketing your online store - q&a with the experts
TRANSCRIPT
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The Agenda for this Webinar
● Meet the Panelists
● Overview of Marketing Channels
● Answering your Questions
● Live Q&A Section
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June ClarkPanel Moderator
Marketing Consultant
● 5+ years experience working with sales,
marketing and technology
● 3 years experience working for Volusion
and ecommerce websites
● Loves online shopping, social media
(especially Pinterest) and thinking from the
user experience to increase conversions
● Worked with clients across varied
industries including manufacturing, fashion,
home goods, auto parts, health and beauty
● Known for her impromptu dance parties and
laughter around the Volusion office
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Meg NansonSEO Panelist
Search Marketing Specialist
● 7 years experience in
marketing/copywriting/SEO
● Passionate about: writing copy that tells a
story, providing a great user experience,
staying on top of trends and updates
● Clients have included start-ups, nonprofits,
Fortune 500 companies, ecommerce, local,
multi-local
● Received a “Best Listener” award in the
fourth grade - was mostly just quiet
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Chelsea CepedaPPC Panelist
Senior Search Marketing Specialist
● 5+ years working with paid search
marketing channels and clients
● 2+ years working for Volusion
● Has worked with 500+ businesses across
the globe
● Worked alongside Google to implement
high profile campaigns
● Loves sunshine and 115 degree weather
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Sean O’ConnorShopping Feeds Panelist
Search Marketing Specialist
● 4 years at Volusion
● 2+ years experience as a Product Listing
Ad specialist
● Google AdWords, Analytics and Shopping
certified via Google Partners Program
● Big fan of data-driven marketing automation
strategies
● Has a “Camp, Hike, Vote” bumper sticker
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Mikkayla CaseySocial Media Panelist
Search Marketing Specialist
● 3 years experience of managing social
media accounts
● 1 year of experience working with
ecommerce social media campaigns
● Proud supporter of small and local
businesses
● Twitter enthusiast
● Sucker for a “Free Shipping” offer
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Josh PruettConversion and Analytics Panelist
Senior Marketing Consultant
● 15 years experience in advertising and
online marketing
● Marketing Consultant at Volusion for 2 ½
years and responsible for hundreds of
Google Analytics setups
● Writes for the Volusion blog on topics like
Google Analytics and how to get more
traffic for your store
● Resident Google Analytics troubleshooter
and self-described “cool type of nerd”
● Likes to use data to analyze campaigns,
make them more efficient, and quickly
figure out what is working and what isn’t
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Overview of Marketing ChannelsLearn about SEO, PPC, Shopping Feeds, Social Media,
Analytics, and Conversion Optimization
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SEO OverviewMaking the Search Engines Love You by
Making the User Love You
● A set of strategies, rules and theories
designed to adapt to the shifting criteria
(algorithms) of the largest search engines
● Helps websites signal to Google that a single
page or the entire domain is relevant to key
search terms
● Involves both on-site and off-site strategies
● Mix of technical and creative skills
● SEO is not about “gaming” the search engines
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PPC OverviewMaking the Search Engines Love You by
Paying Them to Love You!
● Uses targeted keywords and ads to drive
qualified traffic to your site
● Penny auction, always pay $0.01 more than
the bidder below you
● Instantly usher traffic to your site once
enabled. Once paused, the traffic will stop
● Great way to oust your competition quickly as
ads can appear on the first page of search
results
● 45% of users cannot tell the difference
between paid and organic listings
● Pay only when someone clicks on your ad
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Shopping Feeds
OverviewStand out from your competitors with
image-based ads
● Product Listing Ads are an ecommerce-first
campaign type
● Can also be called comparison shopping
engines or product listing ads
● Not keyword based
● Provide customers your product’s price, title,
image and domain name on the search result
page.
● 84% of users cite price as the largest influence
on purchase
● Higher quality traffic = higher conversion rates
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Social Media
OverviewCreating a voice for your brand while
increasing brand awareness and brand
loyalty
● Shoppers likely to make a purchase based on
something they read on social media
● 81% of SMB’s use social media
● Allows your business to be discovered easily
● Complements SEO
● The quickest way for a customer to engage
with you
● Increase traffic to your ecommerce store
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Conversion and
Analytics OverviewTraffic is good. Sales are better
● Average Bounce and Abandoned Cart Rates
hover around 70%
● Average Conversion Rates are about 2.25% -
small improvements can have big impact
● Review marketing messages and how/where
people arrive at your site
● Make it easy to buy something: streamline the
purchase path
● Analytics can tell you where people leave, if
they return, and what they do while they are
there
● Your store does not live in a bubble:
seasonality, industry trends, competition,
search engine algorithm changes, etc.
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Your Questions - Answered!Answering the questions we received via Social Media and Webinar
Registration signup
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How would you market an e-commerce
site to a specific customer base such as
Architects and Interior Designers with a
$0 Budget?
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How would you market an e-commerce site to
a specific customer base such as Architects
and Interior Designers with a $0 Budget?
● Familiarize yourself with basic SEO best
practices
● Build relationships with bloggers,
architecture/interior design industry
experts, design/architecture schools and
non-competing businesses
● Content Strategy - on-site and off-site
● Launch a social media campaign and
begin engaging with your audience on
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Houzz
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Which social networks are most effective?
● Polyvore
● YouTube
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I’m confused on how to effectively start a
pay-per-click campaign.
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I’m confused on how to effectively start a
pay-per-click campaign.
● Identify the areas you want to focus
on
● Create a campaign(s) using the focus
areas as each of your ad groups
● Brainstorm different ways to populate
your product/service in a search
● Pop your list of keywords into a
keyword tool generator
● Set match types and bids
● Write relevant and enticing ads
● Review and make adjustments as
necessary
● Volusion Tip: Try sketching out
campaign/account before getting
started!
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If you had $1000 budget to advertise, where
would you invest that budget?
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If you had $1000 budget to advertise, where
would you invest that budget?
● Set your goals and subdivide
your budget
o Is this a one time $1,000? Is this
a rolling month to month
budget?
o Set actionable goals
● Find your audience - use a multi-
pronged approach to paid search.
Test different forms of campaigns
and record their effects
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Is Google + still relevant? How best can you
use Google +?
● Not really
● Shortly after G+ emerged as a social
platform, Google began incorporating
“social signals” as an important
ranking factor and favored the
signals of its own platform
● G+ was more important for local
businesses than for ecommerce sites
● G+ “as we know it” is dead, but
Google will maintain a social network
via Hangouts and Photos
● Focus on where your user base is
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What are your top 3 tips / must do's to drive
conversion?
1. Determine where traffic is arriving and leaving (Landing & Exit Pages)
2. What are customers doing on your site?
3. Review Abandoned Shopping Carts for problems in checkout process
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What are your top 3 tips / must do's to drive
conversion?
1. Determine where traffic is arriving and leaving (in GA: Behavior > Landing & Exit
Pages)
a. High bounce rates (above 70%) indicate a poor search result - review the page content & fix
where necessary (don’t forget the Meta-Description)
b. Review your paid search campaign for messaging and URLs, and make more relevant
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What are your top 3 tips / must do's to drive
conversion?
2. What are customers doing on your site?● In-Page Analytics (in GA: Behavior > In Page Analytics)
● Promote/demote navigation links based on usage
● On-site Search (in GA: Behavior > Site Search)
● High site search volume (above 20%)?
● Make top-searched items easier to find
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What are your top 3 tips / must do's to drive
conversion?
3. Review Abandoned Shopping Carts for problems in checkout
(in GA:Conversions > Goals > Funnel Visualization)o Tax/shipping; high competition; high-value purchase; broken checkout process
o Very high rates (over 70%) from Shopping Cart: high price, unfavorable shipping options, tax
o Very high rates (over 50% from One-Page Checkout): broken checkout process
o Easy to set up in Google Analytics for Volusion stores
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I know the importance of marketing but
don’t have a lot of free time. What can I
do?
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I know the importance of marketing but don’t
have a lot of free time. What can I do?
● F.E.S.S. up
● Find Efficiencies
o Use built in software functionality
o The import / export feature is your friend
● Simplify
o Set certain goals and work toward them
● Sacrifice
o Marketing isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity
o Make time for at least 15 minutes of marketing everyday
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Is there a way to add a blog to my Volusion
store?
● Yes! Many of our stores have blog subdomains that that the form of blog.mystore.com
● For detailed instructions, search for the article “How To Set Up a Blog for Your
Volusion Store” on the Volusion support pages
● If you already have a popular off-site blog, you can leave it where it is instead of trying
to build from the ground up
● If you do wish to move your blog to a subdomain of the main site but don’t want to
lose what you’ve built, we can help with migration strategies
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How are people sending out those mass
“so-and-so would like you to like this page”
on Facebook?
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How are people sending out those mass “so
and so would like you to like this page” on
Facebook?
● Increase Facebook page likes● Invite your friends to like your page
● Suggest Page
○ Upload Contact List
○ Inventory | Import/Export | Standard
Export | Customers | Email Address |
CSV File
● Compatible with Constant Contact,
MailChimp, VerticalResponse, Gmail, Outlook,
Yahoo, and other email services
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We need help converting our visitors. What
marketing strategies can we use to convert
the traffic we are already getting?
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We need help converting our visitors. What
marketing strategies can we use to convert
the traffic we are already getting?
● Remarketing (aka Retargeting)
o Display ads targeting your customers
● Dynamic Shopping Feeds
o Display ads targeting your customers based on products viewed
● Email Marketing
o Send targeted emails with relevant information and incentives to revisit the site
● Social Media
o Create a community around your site and use it to keep your brand top-of-mind
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Can You Tell Me More About What’s Going on
with Mobile Devices and SEO?
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Can You Tell Me More About
What’s Going on with Mobile
Devices and SEO?
● On April 21st, Google’s mobile search algorithm will shift in favor of
mobile-friendly websites
● Mobile-friendly design: the site loads properly on a mobile device
without any bugs or glaring visual/UX issues
● Responsive design: the site’s design adapts to the size of the screen
● Can test whether your own site is mobile-friendly via Google’s free
Mobile Testing Tool
● You can make a Volusion legacy template mobile-friendly by using
Volusion’s Mobile Commerce or by switching your template to a
Responsive one
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How can I quickly see where a drop/rise in
sales is occurring?
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How can I quickly see where a drop/rise in
sales is occurring?
● Google Analytics Acquisition Overview (in GA: Acquisition > Overview)
● Compare 2 equal time ranges (over previous month/year)
● Sort by Revenue
● Drill down for more detail
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Where should I focus my limited resources
when marketing "uncool" products like safety
supplies?
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● Perception of your products does not change your market niche
● Research your intended market - age, usage, demographics
o Add the demographic tag
o Develop marketing personas
● Focus on targeting
● Be professional, reliable and relevant
Where should I focus my limited resources
when marketing "uncool" products like safety
supplies?
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How do I find content specific for my business
to post on social media?
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How do I find content specific for my business
to post on social media?
● Original content
o Behind the scene photos
o Product highlights
● Flash sales
● Happy customers become brand ambassadors
● Trending topics
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Should we bid on our branded terms?
● Control your messaging
● Knock competitors out of the
auction
● Triple visibility high quality
scores & low CPCs
● Improve overall account
performance
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Panelists
June Clark
Moderator
Meg Nanson
SEO
Chelsea Cepeda
PPC
Sean O’Connor
Shopping Feeds
Mikkayla Casey
Social Media
Josh Pruett
Conversion & Analytics
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Thank YouCall our Marketing Advisors at 877-591-7006 or
email [email protected] to get advice on your
marketing strategies