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Dec 30 2017

Digital Content Marketing Insights To Take Into 2018

Digital-Content-Marketing-InsightsAs we turn this final page of digital content marketing and say goodbye to 2017, I thought we could take some time to reflect upon this past year. Why? Well, we can only benefit from this opportunity to prepare ourselves for the upcoming year by reviewing and analysing the previous one. We’ll start with online content marketing insights, new user/consumer’s needs and behaviors.

We noticed that people are becoming more curious, astute, knowledgeable, demanding, and less patient than ever before. Before 2018 kicks off, here’s some of the best digital content marketing observations – big data, trends and a few case studies from 2017.
So read on, make your own analysis and gather all the information to start transforming your digital business and avoid mistakes. One thing to keep in mind – beware of the algorithms that will kick you out by penalising your website for its poor or irrelevant content in 2018.

 

Big Data and Value Proposition

This is an era where data is still freely available to us, so why not learn and transform it into valuable strategic assets? We need to identify the patterns, understand the role of our industry and customer data, the various sources of analytics at your disposal and the risks around data security.
This past year, millions of people have been turning to their smart devices with the aim of finding what they need right here and right now – whether it is shopping, health-care, education, holiday deals or online news.

  • According to Google, search interest has tripled in the past two years and will increase further in 2018.
  • 75% of smartphone users are more likely to purchase from companies whose mobile sites or apps customise and deliver information to their location.
  • Three in four smartphone users browse their mobile search beforehand in order to satisfy and/or address their needs.

Sources: Google/ Ipsos connect and Google data

Tip: Data suggests that industries are going to be more digital than ever before, but also more vulnerable.
Whether it is booking travel through digital assistants, car shopping online, or beauty blogger influencers outclassing big brands, this year’s data shows how the game has changed across all kinds of industries.

Factoids:

  • 1 in 3 travellers across many countries around the world are using “virtual/digital assistants” to help them with their travel research/ bookings.
  • Almost 95% of vehicle buyers are now using digital as a source of information. The stats say that twice as many start their research via smart devices instead of going to a local car dealer.
  • Online searches for the “vegan skin care” category have grown by 83% year over year in the U.S alone.
1 in 3 travellers now use virtual assistants to book their travel destination. Click To Tweet

We notice that there is a pattern here – the online shoppers are comparing, studying and collecting main benefits from sites who are providing better and more accurate information, helping them shape their final decisions.

To offer better value proposition to your customers, you need to continuously reshape your business offer by analysing your current offer vs market; threats and opportunities and (innovate) be a step ahead of the competition.

So if you’re looking to reach new customers or retain existing customers, you need all the above plus you need to push them to try your product/services. But all this starts online.

Source: Think with Google

 

Content strategy

You should hire a content strategist (freelance or not) and help them place your goals, efforts and money into a clear content strategy. If you haven’t done it so far you should seriously think about it. These people know how to research, coordinate, nurture and engage with your readers/fans whilst providing a fruitful experience from your website to their inbox and preferred social media channels.

By doing so you will also lead to increase revenue across channels.

Not convinced? I am.

Hire a Content strategist if you're in the process of growing/expanding your business. Click To Tweet

Read the 10 Most read articles this 2017

 

Advertising

Mobile content users are paying attention to ads

Difficult to believe, but people across the globe are paying more attention to ads via their mobile than TV ads.
Primary channel to focus on: The mobile video – Some social media platforms such FB and Instagram were quick to adapt and offer their users the capability of uploading short video content (paid video content too). There will be a new focus towards the use of videos and live streaming.

  • Paid “YouTube mobile” advertising is 84% more likely to receive viewers’ attention than a traditional TV advertising Source: Google/Ipsos
  • YouTube and how to advertise – Case-study: 2017-brand-video-marketing-strategies

YouTube and others: stats, facts and figures for 2017 [Infographic]

 

Website and Mobile site speed optimisation

Did you know that over 50% of visitors abandoned a mobile site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load?
Recent analysis of leading retailers found that 54% suffer from ‘poor’ site’ page speed – currently taking over nine seconds to load. That’s terribly long. Imagine what that could do to your business. (people will leave your site and stop coming back). Dzone offer over a wide range of professional tips on how to start preparing your site now.

Here’s how to optimise your website for speed.

and

if you fancy knowing how your site is doing right now – you can test it with Gtmetrix.

in 2017 over 50% of online visitors abandoned a mobile site that took longer than 3 seconds to load. Click To Tweet

Email marketing

The future of email isn’t dead at all. EMS have worked hard to improve their services – many has changed, they simply added artificial intelligence (A.I) and integrated email marketing automation.

To get it right let your email and/or sales marketing expert plan ahead for:

  • The entire business quarterly goals
  • Communicate the strategy planning
  • Drag and drop segmentation for better targeting
  • Improve copywriting, design and/or Layout
  • More A/B Testing
  • Optimisation

Alert: Note and keep in mind that 2018 onwards many artificial intelligence (A.I) powered tools are increasingly being used in email marketing automation and will definetely continue to adapt and evolve. Keep an eye on your Email Marketing Service provider but also on their competitor’s site (EMS) to learn how you could improve your email campaigns.

Conclusion:

More than ever before the key to success is based on – business strategy, value proposition and digital transformation. In other words be quick to respond to customer demand and disrupt the market. Be willing to self-analyse your own assumptions and quickly release a new mission statement of how and where and when to serve your customers.

Digital transformation isn’t easy, but it can be easy if you know where to go but it can also be complex and costly. It requires direction and commitment from the top to lead troops on the ground.

Businesses must constantly reimagine business models, develop a strategic digital team, processes, platforms and build new strategic alliances. Many ignore business strategy and digital transformation, including all the above. Big mistake!
Assess how you are doing with your digital content marketing efforts and point your team to the most needed moving parts. A clear and documented content marketing strategy will enable you to adapt and transform across your business.

Your priorities are:

a) business strategic key concepts;

b) customer centric;

c) harness midsized influencer networks (this will become core to your marketing) d) agile redesign and/or adapting your marketing funnel.

But above all never forget to:

Fully understand your customers before the competitor does, serve them better again and again. Develop, personalise and deliver consistent and meaningful experiences by tailoring products and services via a modern Supply chain.

††Sales operations and back-office – adapt, transform (or outsource) and manage via new cloud-enabled specialist platforms that use Artificial intelligence (A.I). This service is available to use at medium low cost and offer real-time data. Bonus: this will allow swift and efficient delivery to the end-users, but it will also gather huge amounts of data to analyse for better informed decisions to be taken in the future.
You need to transform your business this 2018 or set yourself-up for serious problems.

Tough, maybe but it’s the reality.

Enjoy your New Year! All the best.

Written by Paul Alves · Categorized: Digital Marketing Strategy · Tagged: A/B Testing, Digital Marketing Strategy, Strategy Tips

Jan 12 2014

Increase Website Revenue With These 10 Techniques

Improve Web Conversion & Increase Website Revenue
Funnel conversion

Looking to increase website revenue?

In this article, I’ll show some secret techniques mixed with straight forward advice that will help you improve your e-commerce site’s conversion rate as well as to grow its average order size

I guess it makes sense to include the options below specially when you’re a small medium business with low budgets.

When designing an online retail or an e-commerce site, it’s vital that you bear some key things in mind and start by asking yourself these questions. Is the new site fit for purpose?

Is the content clear, relevant and interesting? Will it’s design help you maximise your sales?

I owned an ecommerce site and I’ve been learning and testing so many different tactics, techniques to help increase my website revenue. I thought I’d share my own experience with you.

Firstly, a frequent mistake that e-commerce owners make is to focus on acquiring new visitors to increase revenue. Some people may say that you have to acquire new customers in order to survive, I partially disagree with that. You’ll learn the why later on.

Whilst that strategy can be helpful in the long-term, it can also become costly. I’ve learn that at my own expense. Trust me, when I say it’s often cheaper to focus on growing revenue from your existing shoppers. Create or update your content plan with a focus on: topic, worst seasonal commercial products, pages viewed but no purchases, bounce rates with <20 seconds,… But also add best products that need to improve conversion rates; and increasing the website average order size, plus do not forget to consult GSC and server logs, very helpful for pulling more punters in.

Note: these techniques or/and ideas are not new, they’ve already helped millions of businesses grow website revenue. (including my e-commerce site).

How do you improve conversion rates whilst saving money and time?

Here are some proven strategies:

  • Offer promotions in your shopping cart: Great incentives will get your visitors excited, I mean, who doesn’t love a bargain. Offering 35% off is very tempting and an impulsive purchase may occur earlier than you can imagine
  • Offer reward-points in your products page: Whilst promoting your products , make sure you show-case products with reward points. Let’s say that you can increase shopping conversion just telling your customer that you can offer them 30 points = 10 pound if he/she purchases that product
  • Make your shipping costs transparent: Obvious isn’t it. No one likes nasty surprises and if you make them wait until the checkout stage, you’re increasing the abandon rate. Instead show your visitors/shoppers the postage costs early. They’ll validate the sale as it a normal process, because they expect to see a postage cost, unless you funnel and tempt them to add another item to get free postage. Believe it or not if you provide your customers with as many options as possible and low shipping costs it can increase your conversion rates by 20-35%
  • Use guest checkout: Never force a visitor to create an account. A great number of buyers don’t want to create an account. New visitors want to accomplish their purchase in 3-4 clicks, as they’re generally busy. So, allow them to perform a one click-checkout and go on with their lifes
  • Test and optimize your checkout processes: You must perform A/B test pages. Try different button colors, sizes etc. Try a short cart page with what you think is essential, you may find that some colors and buttons work better than others
  • Provide with alternative payments:The majority of US and Europeans buyers like to pay with PayPal, Stripe and less pay by credit card. Tip: Offer card alternatives – based on your customers country
  • Offer free shipping based on average order: Find and take your customer’s (annual) average order and make it the base amount for your free shipping
  • Adopt and display a return policy:Be honest at all times. Tell your visitors what sort of information you’ll collect, what you will and not do with it. How secure it is, what will be displayed, what type of products can be returned and by what date.. Many consumers won’t place an order, unless they know they can return unwanted items. Also consider giving in between 15-20 days return policy
  • Provide value-added service: Some customers will ask you for: gift-wrapping, special messages, vouchers, newsletters and wish list service – can you help them?
  • Make your site fast and secure: Nowadays, site speed is crucial to keep customers browsing. Consumers have no tolerance for a slow website – especially if they’re on smartphones. An SSL sign will help identify and reassure them that your site is secure.

 

Remember, you’ll benefit from even the smallest improvement in conversion rates. So, today’s lesson – the sooner you start improving your page conversion the sooner you’ll increase your revenue – Its crucial to get started with checkout pages.

Related Articles:

  •  Strategies to Help your E-commerce Sales -Forbes

Written by Paul Alves · Categorized: Online Marketing Strategy · Tagged: A/B Testing, Content Marketing Examples, Strategy Tips, User experience

Mar 21 2013

Business Strategy Tips For Medium To Long-Term Growth

Have you got what it takes to plan a business strategy?

Business_strategy
Business strategy diagram shows teamwork and plan

Every single trusted business carefully plans its own strategy for a medium to long term growth. Have you planned for long-term without reaslising you’ll also need a shorter medium-term plan?

We offer flexible and operational services and business consulting guidance to help you identify where your business should be in the next 6-12 months.

The planning process will help you see how you are going to get there. It normally shows the road-map to follow. You can always amend it as you go along. For example – Many businesses don’t have the resources or tools to help them control their weekly or monthly sales process. Often I ask my prospective clients these questions –

How many Internet readers or social media users have you converted ? The usual answer – I don’t really know..

So here is my other question:

How can you improve something you cannot see or control?

Main internal business strategies to consider

  • Operational Sales and Marketing – Multi-channel
  • Individuals – Often identified and developed through appraisal system
  • Resources, new processes and financial aspects

Should you also consider developing external strategies?

Yes, everybody should. There are many ways for you to get your strategic business plan under way, it should be created for all different levels within an organisation. Why not start by implement the following topics:

  • Small to medium size business – KPi’s across all departments
  • Partners – work with them where applicable
  • Functional – who does what – across all departments
  • On-line – website, blog and relevant social media campaigns
  • The competitive environment (pricing, offer, how and why are they getting more customers…)
  • Control Short term – situation – with SWOT &PEST analysis
  • Start over again

 

Who’s responsible for coordination and promotion if you sell on-line? – how should you communicate with users and how to control it? Should you have a Key Performance Indicator (K.P.I) for every single department?

One more reason to keep things under control is that during this very difficult economic climate, businesses should adopt short term strategies, and should revise and update as often as possible the financial forecast showing how much they need to invest in order to get a positive ROI after six months. Doing predictions helps you understand where you should concentrate your efforts and also keeps the banker away.

Another important aspect of you strategy is – if you work with close partners you must create a formal document to show how much money their business will bring in each quarter during the next 12 month period – you can createthe 80/20 rule (known as the Pareto principle) that shows that 80% of your sales comes from 20% of your best customers.

All the above must be integrated through your internal and external services.

What we do suggest?

Practice new strategies, implement a strategic plan, control and testing are the key factors for any success. According to experts, there are four main competitive strategies to manage :

1) Focus on your Market – or particular market segment or find one niche product.

2) Differentiate from close competitors – analyse them, sell better quality service or something unique to your market segment.

3) Implement and communicate your plan -Lead and communicate by sharing your vision, improvements to be made, write and educate with best practices via a communications plan.

4) Overall control & leadership – Follow KPI’s and maintain high returns.

 

Conclusion:

These are the key elements for a medium long-term success – changing and improving strategies within departments of your business is not a one-time project. It has to be a continuous and dynamic process that requires time, planning and methods. Of course, you can always improve your strategic plan yourself, but do not put aside the idea of getting some initial help to guide you along the set-up phases.

A professional consultant can really make a difference by showing you how to prioritise actions and time by highlighting where to begin. And who knows it could save you £££’s and above all terrible business mistakes.

We offer one hour (free) phone consultation plus report.

Contact us today for an informal chat -Tel: 01252 679885

 

Last updated on 14/04/2016

Image above: courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Written by Paul Alves · Categorized: Digital Marketing Strategy, Online Marketing Strategy · Tagged: Strategy Tips

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