Thinking about using email to market your new online store (using Magento’s eCommerce platform, of course). Here is your random stat for the week thanks to The Retail Email Blog:
The most popular day to send retail emails last week was Tuesday.
UK E-Commerce not softening
The economy is tight, which means less dollars are funneled into your online marketing budget. What do you do – toss in the towel? No! Check out how one marketing director for a plastic surgeon coped with a shrinking budget by getting creative in this Marketing Sherpa case study.
“But what does plastic surgery have to do with online stores and Magento eCommerce?” you might ask. I’ll spare the obvious analogy of how we are “web” surgeons and instead tweak 7 of the case study’s practical tips to help you make the most of your marketing spend:
Tip 1: Familiarize patients with available treatments
Cross promote other products throughout the shopping experience. The shopping cart, check-out, and even transactional email confirmation of purchase are great real estate to introducing site visitors to other offerings.
Tip 2: Test before you spend
Try testing a new marketing offer on a small sample of your customers before rolling it out across your whole site. Doing so will allow you to gauge the effectiveness of your strategy and fine-tune the offer before spending money on a keywords campaign or ad buys.
Tip 3: Create a comforting experience
Make your website experience as comfortable as possible. This includes quality and quantity of images, easy navigation, and maybe even video.
Tip 4: Encourage word of mouth
Request referrals. Period. As simple as this may sound, simply asking a customer to send more business your way might just be crazy enough to work. And what does it really cost you?
Tip 5: Reach out with direct (e)mail
When you have a limited budget, you need to get the most juice for the squeeze. Email has consistently delivered strong ROI for its cost ($45.65 for every dollar spent in 2008 according to the Direct Marketing Association). This kills the other marketing channels I can think of off of the top of my head.
Tip 6: Don’t discount prices
Yes, offering a discount is the quick and dirty way to get someone to buy; but then you erode your brand and have to sell more to make up margins. Instead, consider handing out a gift card to paying customers. Engage your high-value customers with a gift to get them back in your store again (and then refer to Tip 1!)
Tip 7: Outsource online marketing
The marketer for the surgeon in our case study uses an agency to handle search marketing, video posts, and other online marketing. Elias Interactive can help you craft a marketing strategy to incorporate into your Magneto eCommerce platform. Just fill out the forms below to request more information.
Now can somebody hand me a scalpel, please?
