'Net Features : sales

Slideshare's Send Tracker Provides Feedback Loop

Pete Prestipino — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:05:00 GMT

Content and presentation sharing site Slideshare, a LinkedIn owned company (covered extensively at Website Magazine), has released a custom analytics solution focused on helping sales and lead generation professionals understand more about the performance of their presentations.

Slideshare’s new Send Tracker offering is essentially a content analytics tool that lets users share their content (presentations, etc) to prospects via email. The solution then reports on engagement insights such as when prospects opened it (real-time alerts) and how they interacted with it (e.g. how long the viewer was on a certain slide). By knowing where prospects are spending their time in the presentation, a sales professional can customize their presentations accordingly, leading ideally to a greater number of conversions.

SlideShare's paid product starts at $19 per month, but the service is offering all application users the option to test Send Tracker free of charge on a single presentation.

Juice Up Your Online Sales

Administrator — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 16:18:00 GMT

Congratulations. You’ve finally taken the plunge and set up an online store to sell the Next Big Thing, your line of fashion accessories or your household widgets.

In the early days of e-tailing, you could just sit back and wait for the money to roll in. But in today’s advanced e-commerce climate, notable for intense competition in practically every product category and bots that comb the web to find consumers the best deals, you need to be more proactive to generate sales.

Besides the daily tasks of keeping your store running, you need to advertise, promote and merchandise. Like any brick-and-mortar store, you need to constantly keep your online storefront up to date with new products, specials and offers to attract new customers and bring back existing ones.

We live in an age where customer loyalty is an ephemeral concept, however the same technology that gives consumers the freedom to graze the Internet in search of the best deal also makes it easier than ever to stay in front of truly interested buyers and to entice them with highly targeted offers. Whether they are at your site ready to buy or just researching their next purchase, the better you can match your offerings to their needs – and the better you can communicate that – the more likely you are to complete the sale.

Here are five things you can do right now to increase your online store revenue:

1. Cross-sell Merchandising and Promotions

In brick-and-mortar stores, those impulse items close to the cash register are huge revenue generators. Capture online impulse buys with cross-selling (eg: “Other customers have purchased” or “You might also like”) using related products displayed with single items or categories.

2. Use Modal Pop-Ups

Modal pop-ups, those windows that require visitor interaction in order to continue browsing, are very effective in capturing e-mail addresses from potential buyers. And as you know, selling online is all about the mailing list. Just be sure the pop-up isn’t overly oppressive. Make it easy for customers to move on without entering their e-mail by simply clicking elsewhere on the page.

3. Integrate E-mail Sign-Ups within the Checkout

Another creative way to capture e-mail addresses is by offering buyers the option to sign-up for your e-mail list from within the checkout page. By this time, they’ve already decided to purchase from you, so they may be predisposed to receiving other offers and updates.

4. Pay Attention to “Cart Abandonment” Issues

Industry research reveals a startling fact: seven out of 10 online shopping carts are abandoned before checkout, for a number of reasons ranging from running out of time to shipping cost sticker shock. Unfortunately, this is par for the course for the online shopping experience. Wise e-tailers can implement ways to recapture these lost sales, including:

• Keeping shopping carts active for 60 days;

• Making support and phone information more prominent to aid indecisive shoppers;

• Making sure the returning shopper sees the filled cart when returning;

• E-mailing the shopper within hours of the abandonment. The e-mail could contain a one-time or time-sensitive discount, or simply ask whether the buyer had a problem with the transaction. Even if that shopper can’t be reclaimed, they might be able to provide useful intelligence.

5. Flash Sales and Promotions

Promotions are a must-have for an online store. Again, think along the lines of a brick-and-mortar store and set up a promotional calendar for the year. Include not only major holidays, but other dates of interest that appeal to your particular customer niche. If you’re a purveyor of sporting goods, for example, you might want to herald the start of the Olympics, or the World Cup soccer tournament.

Generating visits to your website, and resulting sales, may feel like an uphill battle, but with some forethought, and by applying some of the basics of marketing, you’ll be able to substantially increase your site’s income.

About the Author: Bart Mroz is CEO and head of brand experience for SUMO Heavy Industries, a Philadelphia e-commerce website developer. To contact him, e-mail bart@sumoheavy.com. For more information, visit www.sumoheavy.com.

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5 Social Media Tips for the Holiday Season

Allison Howen — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:00:00 GMT

As summer starts to fade away, the holiday season is quickly approaching and businesses are already contemplating what strategies will be the most effective for maximizing sales.

According to a survey from Bizo, 65 percent of executives claim that social media is the most important aspect for the upcoming shopping season, followed by e-mail at 46 percent and content marketing at 45 percent.

The survey also shows that 55 percent of executives measure social success based on their number of followers, and 19 percent of executives claim that they’ll improve content offers over the next quarter.

Here are a few options to take into consideration when preparing a social media campaign for the 2011 holiday season:

• Sales - Publicize sales through social media that are specifically related to the holiday season. For example, post about early-bird specials, Black Friday deals or daily gift ideas. Suggesting gift ideas is a good way to get consumers thinking about what items they still need to buy on their gift lists.

• Links - Posting links to your website through social media during the holiday season is crucial. The links will drive traffic to your site and help maximize sales.

• Stay Interactive - Although the holiday season is a time to focus on sales, don’t forget that social media is a way to interact with your audience and create brand loyalty. Post holiday related questions or polls to keep your fans and followers interested. For example a toy store could ask, “What’s your favorite toy that you ever received for Christmas?” or “What toy do your children want this holiday season?” The consumer interaction will keep your fans thinking about your brand.

• Contests - Promote contests that will get your page more fans, bring consumers into brick and mortar stores and steer them to your website. Examples for contests could be, “Recommend our page to your friends for a chance to win a gift card,” or “Be one of the first 100 guests to make a purchase in our store tomorrow and receive a free gift.” These contests will get consumers attention because everyone likes free things, especially during the holiday season.

• Give - It is important to remember that the holidays are about giving. Use social media to promote what you will give back to the community during the holiday season. Raising money for families in need or setting up a toy drive are a few options to think about.

Cyber Monday Prep: 10 Tips for Greater Sales

Mike Phillips — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 16:15:00 GMT

Put down the turkey sandwich and place the pumpkin pie back in the refrigerator. It's time to make sure your website is ready for the biggest online retail day of the year - Cyber Monday.

According to comScore, the 2010 holiday shopping season is going to be a good one. They found that for the first 21 days of the November - December 2010 shopping season, more than $9 billion has been spent online, a 13 percent increase over last year. That's great news. But it will mean nothing if you're not prepared for the windfall.

Testing will go a long way toward finding areas of your website that might need fixing, or snags in the transaction process. Below are 10 areas to test or double-check, to make sure you get your piece of the virtual holiday shopping pie.

Ad campaigns. Take a spin through all of your ad campaigns on every channel. Make sure they are all up-to-date with your latest promotions, that they reflect the latest in your holiday keyword research and that they are targeted to the right people.
Landing pages. In the frenzy of Cyber Monday, consumers will not have time to click everywhere on your site. You need to be ready to show them what they want. Make sure all landing pages are linked to the proper channel - an advertisement, search result, Facebook post, email, etc. If one of your ads promises free shipping, repeat that offer on the landing page immediately. If an email is promoting a watch, make sure the link is not pointed to a product page for a bracelet. Of course, make sure the "add to cart" and "checkout" buttons are prominent.
Shipping information. Consumers love free shipping, as well as free return shipping. However, it is not a necessity. Just make sure that your shipping information is readily available and easy to understand. Shipping charges should be included in the price before final checkout. If you do offer free or discounted shipping, make sure the offer is highly visible.
Return policies. Return policies are important, especially now while there is still time to receive an item then return it. Returns are of particular interest to a consumer when they pay for shipping - free return shipping is a major benefit so be sure to promote it. Make sure your return policy is available (linked with your shipping policies is ideal) and detailed.
Contact information. Are you available by phone? That's a big advantage for an online retailer, so let people know. Live chat has gained in popularity so if you have this feature, make sure it is promoted on every page of your site. If you can keep a consumer on-site when they have a question, you're way ahead of the game. Otherwise, offer at least an email address and be sure to inform the consumer when they can expect a response - of course, the sooner the better.
Discount codes. People shop online because they expect discounts. If you have them they must be highly visible. Also, make sure all discount codes are active and properly attributed to each product, your analytics and any affiliate promotions. Be very sure you can deliver on the promise of the discount - rates and inventory included - before releasing them to any social environment where they might go viral.
Affiliates are up-to-date. Make sure that all of your affiliates are aware of current promotions and that they have all the latest and necessary creatives, codes, links, etc. This is an excellent time to offer your best affiliates a little extra incentive in the form of temporary increased payouts.
Social media campaigns are ready. This could shape up to be the biggest social shopping season to date. Make sure social campaigns are active and that your social accounts are being monitored. Consumers will be using social channels to communicate with retailers this year, as well as with each other. Monitor your brand, industry and competitors.
Your shopping cart. What good is all this prep work if the consumer can't make a purchase? Don't make the cardinal sin of using a busted shopping cart. Make a few purchases using varied methods of payment.
Email. Make sure your email systems are running properly and that the messaging is optimized. For example, a consumer should receive an email immediately after purchase; thanking them for their business, offering contact information for any questions, presenting a cross-sell or up-sell opportunity, or the option of signing up for an email newsletter, preferred customer club, etc.

BONUS: This is an excellent time to make sure your host is ready for any spikes in traffic. Reach out and get a little peace of mind with assurances that load testing has been completed recently.

Once you have made a few sweeps of your website ask friends, family, employees and coworkers to search for your products or website and go through the steps to make a purchase. Send a promotional email to a few of these people and watch as they act on your call-to-action. If you can find people who are not familiar with your website, that's ideal. The closer you can get to a new customer, the better.