How to use marketing to boost sales in just three steps. Nikolaus von Graeve

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1 How to use marketing to boost sales in just three steps Nikolaus von Graeve

2 How to use marketing to boost sales in just three steps Online retailing is booming. According to the German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association (bvh), German e-commerce participants posted year-on-year revenue growth of 44 % in Goods totalling an estimated EUR 39.8m were sold online. marketing is a real sales booster for online shops in this context. A recent study by consulting firm McKinsey found that marketing is 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined. Harness the power of marketing for yourself. The following RedPaper contains valuable tips to help you increase your e-commerce sales. It essentially looks at setting up, expanding and qualifying your distribution list, the right delivery frequency and the use of special campaigns. 1. Setting up and expanding distribution lists The standard: clearly visible opportunities to register and a double opt-in procedure help when setting up distribution lists A large, qualified newsletter distribution list promises a very tangible sales boost. So it is logical that one of your primary goals would be to set up a qualified distribution list and stabilise it at a high level. Accordingly, you should put the option to sign-up for your newsletter in a prominent position on your home page and, ideally, all sub-pages as well. Hardly anyone who visits an online shop actively searches for the option to subscribe to its newsletter. So make sure you put it right under their nose. Newsletter sign-ups that are quick and simple to complete have proven themselves particularly well. With this kind of quick sign-up box, perhaps on the home page, all the visitor has to do is enter and submit their address. This triggers the double opt-in , while your new subscriber is given the opportunity on the next page to fill in a form with their personal details, such as address and first and last names. It s worth running an campaign after this, e.g. a series of welcome messages. You should also integrate the sign-up for your newsletter into your navigation and website footer and, if possible, make it clearly visible in the header area of your online shop. Do not forget when doing so to communicate the benefits of subscribing. For example, somebody who logs in via the model railway sub-page might be motivated to subscribe to your newsletter with the following reasoning: Interested in model railways? Sign up here for our newsletter and make sure you are always the first to hear about the latest models and collector items." Once an interested party has signed up for your newsletter, take them to a thank-you page. Thank them there for their interest in what you are offering and your newsletter and tell them they have been sent a double opt-in with a confirmation link. Direct links to popular webmail providers make it easier for your new subscriber to access this immediately and complete the sign-up process. RedPaper: How to use marketing 2

3 However you structure the sign-up for your newsletter, a solid registration process with a double optin should be a given. Likewise, the current newsletter should be sent to the brand new newsletter subscriber. And they should be included in a welcome campaign with special benefits for new subscribers ultimately, newly acquired subscribers have clearly expressed strong interest in what you have to offer by signing up! Follow up again once you get the much desired click on the confirmation link in your double opt-in . Send your new subscriber e.g. an exclusive thank-you offer immediately with a direct link to your online range. E-commerce providers used to frequently integrate clauses into their general terms and conditions or privacy policies allowing them to send advertisements to customers via in the future. However, lawmakers have now cracked down on this. For advanced users: campaigns to expand distribution lists Besides the measures outlined above for continuously adding to your distribution list, targeted campaigns can also be used to acquire new addresses. These campaigns rely on viral effects and attractive incentives to get as many new subscriptions as possible. However, the challenge here lies in finding an campaign mechanism that really works. The optional extra: continuous expansion of the distribution list, including qualification A large distribution list is good. A large, qualified distribution list is even better. After all, if you know the preferences and interests of your newsletter recipients, you are likely to score on relevance and with targeted offerings. One way to qualify addresses is to ask new subscribers about their preferences right when they sign-up for the newsletter, e.g. after the subscriber clicks on the confirmation link in the double opt-in . However, it is more elegant to determine the preferences almost incidentally during the newsletter sign-up. For example, you can find out what people are really interested in by offering them the option of signing up for your newsletter on each page of your website. If a visitor then signs up for your newsletter, you can record the page they were on when they did so. This gives you valuable additional information about what your subscriber is interested in, and this kind of knowledge is worth hard cash in e-commerce! Alternatively, you could also trigger the sign-up to your newsletter according to time spent on a page. For example, if a visitor to your shop stays on the same product page for a minute, an overlay prompting him to sign up for the newsletter might automatically appear. If he does sign up at that point, you can record the product he was interested in. This is how you can make sure you are building up a qualified distribution list. However, anyone wishing to inconspicuously capture and thus qualify data, i.e. conduct personal tracking, must obtain the consent of the user for this when they sign up for the newsletter. You should also remember that the interests of those who have subscribed to your newsletter may change over time. Therefore, give subscribers the option to autonomously adjust the content of your newsletter according to their new interests, e.g. through profile management. Even if a product offered by you is not available at the moment, this still gives you another way of getting interested parties to subscribe to your newsletter while also finding out more about their preferences. Give these interested parties the option to sign up to be notified when the required product becomes available again. RedPaper: How to use marketing 3

4 Using AdWords correctly If someone ends up on your e-commerce site due to e.g. the AdWords set up by you, you can presume they are interested in the search term used. Harness this knowledge. You should not only inform the visitor to your website according to his specific preferences you should also record these when you offer this visitor a way to sign up to your newsletter on the sub-site or micro-site visited by him. Proceed as in the above example with the model railway, but this time according to the search term which has brought the visitor to your website from Google. This will give you valuable insights into the needs of new subscribers. This is definitely a worthwhile approach. After all, hand on heart, can you afford to invest considerable sums in AdWords and then only turn max. 2 % of the people who visit your website through it into customers? It s better to get the other 98 % to sign up as new subscribers to your newsletter. You can then turn them into customers later through targeted offers and campaigns and thereby increase your e-commerce success. The right way to unsubscribe Make it easy for subscribers to leave your newsletter, but also come back to it. Anyone wishing to unsubscribe from a newsletter has their reasons for this. Simply ask what they are and offer alternatives. For example, if someone wants to unsubscribe because they feel the newsletter is delivered too frequently, they should have the option of deciding themselves how often they wish to be written to. Meanwhile, selective cancellation allows a subscriber to remain on your newsletter distribution list while excluding certain content. If somebody really just wants to unsubscribe from your newsletter, then let them go. But not without telling them once again of the benefits of being subscribed on the last page of the unsubscription process and giving them the option of signing up again. E-commerce offers you numerous excellent ways of generating addresses and adding information on customers to these. Use this effectively. This will allow you to turn visitors to your e-commerce site into newsletter subscribers and, ultimately, customers in the long term, where previously they would just have gone away without buying and then have been lost to you. 2. The ideal delivery frequency In e-commerce, frequency is everything. Actually, this makes logical sense as increasing the advertising messages means more contacts and therefore more sales. However, many newcomers to online dialogue marketing shy away from increasing the delivery frequency and thereby generating more sales. The perceived risk of annoying their own distribution list with too many s, causing people to unsubscribe, is usually an unjustified concern. But because of this, those responsible for marketing often prefer to impose restrictions on themselves rather than effectively use the available opportunities for their marketing. RedPaper: How to use marketing 4

5 Intentionally forgo sales? Never! Let's be honest, could you imagine advertisers choosing of their own accord to advertise less on TV or radio, in the press, on search engines or through banners or even outdoor advertising in order to set themselves apart from competitors? Of course not! And there s no need to do this either because as long as the benefits are right for the consumer, then being able to provide the customer with additional useful information is an argument for and not against greater delivery frequency even in marketing. Consider this as well. Just because many of your s are not opened, this does not mean that your recipients are no longer interested in you. They simply have other things to do as well. Or they have just not checked their s. Studies also show that consumers like to be ed by companies they buy from provided that the value of the mailing is right! Therefore, it is worth sending an two days after a main delivery with a different subject line to anyone who did not open the original mailing. However, frequency does not just relate to your regular newsletter, but also other types of mailings, such as welcome s, triggered s and even lifecycle s. Boosting e-commerce sales: triggered s Triggered s offer unlimited possibilities for increasing your e-commerce success. After all, such s are especially interesting as they are linked to a particular event in the life of the recipient. Triggered s really boost opening and click rates, as well as revenues. They also strengthen customer retention and loyalty. Birthday s are the most frequently used triggered s. Name days and congratulations on a customer anniversary are other ways in which marketing can be used to send relevant event-triggered s to your customers. All of these triggered s contain congratulations, a thank you (which people always like to read and is therefore almost indispensible) and often a voucher as an incentive. Birthdays in particular offer numerous possibilities for generating goodwill with your customers through intelligent campaigns. Event-triggered service s are also very effective. For example, if your customer has used your customer support, you can ask them to rate the support they received a day later. This makes the customer feel valued and more connected to you. Another example is sending out an a few weeks after a product has been ordered. You could ask the recipient how satisfied they are with the product and, where applicable, offer them matching supplies (e.g. the ink cartridges they need two months after a printer has been purchased). s sent as part of welcome campaigns are also considered triggered s. These single- or multi-stage campaigns are sent once a subscriber signs up for the newsletter and offer you enormous opportunities. After all, by signing up for your newsletter, your new subscriber is showing a big interest in you and your range at that precise moment. Use this to your advantage and thank the subscriber, present your offers and bestsellers and reward the subscriber with a welcome voucher (indicated during subscription). Frequently underestimated: transaction s Order and dispatch confirmations, i.e. transaction s, can also be an effective way of increasing sales. For example, they can be used to advertise similar or complementary products or special offers. RedPaper: How to use marketing 5

6 For advanced users: lifecycle s Increase your opening and click rates by up to 50 % - with relevant, professionally used lifecycle s directly related to what is going on in the recipient s life and therefore of maximum relevance to him. And which are also sent fully automatically. marketing automation transaction s cross- and up-selling product registration viral campaigns customer e-commerce intensification share features regular customer brand ambassador service campaigns product evaluation loyalty/ customer retention programme revaluation campaign life cycle profiling However, you have to really know and be able to precisely differentiate readers of your s and newsletters for effective marketing using customer lifecycles. This is the only way to send automated relevant information according to the customer status of the respective recipient. Set up the categories interested party, new customer, regular customer and inactive customer for this. In an ideal scenario, you should segment further within these four categories. Why? Because the more precise your distribution list, the greater relevance your lifecycle s will have for the individual recipients. However, do not worry that you will have to come up with endless amounts of automated s - two dozen different s are usually enough to reliably cover all relevant events for even large distribution lists and send efficient lifecycle s. 3. Special s and campaigns Special s and campaigns for the targeted improvement of your e-commerce sales work so well because they are simply different different to your regular newsletter and the other s you typically send. However, certain things should be thought about in advance to really differentiate these campaigns from your regular marketing, ensuring success. You should also be clear that there is no onesize-fits-all rule for successful special s and campaigns. However, there are many factors that influence their success - not least the target group addressed. RedPaper: How to use marketing 6

7 Set sensible goals for successful online dialogue When people plan complex campaigns, they often expect them to be the be-all and end-all - they should generate sales, increase customer retention, get new customers and subscribers on board, improve the corporate image and reactivate inactive recipients. However, even the most complex campaign can not achieve this. Too many different goals weaken the impact of your campaign. Instead of focusing on one target group, you are only half-heartedly addressing a wide range of groups from non-subscribers through to regular customers. Therefore, one campaign usually is not right for everyone. You should tailor your message to your recipient group for your campaign to be successful. Set a main goal for your special or campaign. Ask yourself: What am I hoping to achieve with my campaign? Is your goal to boost sales? Then use special offers or incentives to motivate your newsletter recipients to place orders. Do you want to increase customer retention? Then invest in a good image. Engage in social projects and tell your customers about them. Offer them a competition. Tell your target group about interesting and exciting internal goings-on that put your company in a good light. Make it unusual Of course, you want to reach as many recipients as possible with a special or complex campaign. Therefore, do not simply send out your special just like your regular newsletter. It is highly likely that you will only reach your regular readers through this. Think of something unusual that will get you noticed by recipients: Come up with a particularly unusual subject line to whet the curiosity of the recipient and motivate them to open the only then will they actually see that you have sent special content. Choose an unusual delivery time so that your recipient spots your in their inbox. If you usually send an on Tuesday mornings, try sending it on Saturday evening. Activity on your website is a good indicator of the right time to send an . Send it just a few minutes before what you know to be the busiest time for traffic to your website. Your target group is then online, and your , sent just a few minutes before, is right at the top of their inbox. Select an unusual frequency. If you usually weekly, a multi-stage campaign that is also sent weekly will not stand out. Therefore, send some s every day or every second day your recipients will notice by the second or third at the latest that something is different. Use a special design even if this involves more effort. Once you have succeeded in encouraging your recipient to open the , you want to make sure you leave a lasting impression. Do not structure special mailings and campaigns like your regular newsletter. Instead, choose special designs that will be remembered by your recipients. RedPaper: How to use marketing 7

8 Use a call to action very consciously. Do not offer your recipients too many things to click on. You (hopefully) have a specific goal in mind for your special or campaign. You must guide your recipients towards this. If you offer too many things for them to click on, your recipient may end up choosing a different path. He may click, leave the newsletter and end up on your website, but possibly not where you would like to have him in terms of the campaign. Planning is everything for successful marketing Allow a generous amount of time when planning complex campaigns as a multi-stage campaign takes a lot of time, and not just to come up with several different s. Before coming up with and sending the s, you have to consider a special design as well as the complete concept and possibly extensive testing. So if you are only thinking about Christmas now and have an exceptional campaign in your head, you are actually already much too late. Set yourself a goal, define your target group and consider how you have to structure the to achieve this goal. Delivery dates and frequencies have to be decided upon. And with a multi-stage mailing campaign, you also need a creative idea to keep your recipients interested in the subject to hand over a longer period of time. Do not try to develop each campaign by yourself. Creative brainstorming needs input from several participants, and it is often good if someone from the outside who is not involved in the daily nitty-gritty of a topic gets to take a look at it. Therefore, you should very consciously look for help from external online dialogue experts as well, even if you will be implementing the special s and campaigns internally. And as nobody can come up with creative ideas at the drop of a hat take time to develop an innovative campaign idea. Even if this means having to think about Christmas in early summer. Do not underestimate the effort involved Never do a special mailing or campaign for the sake of it. Ultimately, such special campaigns require a great deal more effort than a regular newsletter issued weekly or monthly, with a set design, a practised and optimised process and fixed structures. Consider in advance the budget available to you or the budget you are happy to invest to achieve the set goal. For all of the ideas you have for your special campaign, think about whether you could actually implement them within the allowed budget. However, do not limit your creativity from the beginning due to budget restrictions. If you have a campaign idea that you are certain will have an explosive effect on your target group (and therefore definitely lead to your set goals being well exceeded), you should consider whether you might actually want to invest the additional time and expense needed to implement it. Use e.g. your social media channels as well When looking to increase your distribution list in particular, you should use all ways of reaching potential newsletter subscribers and customers. If you are active on social networks or write to recipients via the postal system as well, then integrate information on your special campaign into this communication in good time and get recipients interested in taking part. Depending on the proposed campaign, you could also consider cooperating with partners as part of a joint campaign and thereby tapping into their potential addresses as well. Or structure a mailing specifically for a bought distribution list. RedPaper: How to use marketing 8

9 You can also refer existing subscribers and customers to other platforms. For example, if you regularly post the latest information to Twitter, news which is practically already out-of-date by the time it appears in your newsletter, this is bound to be interesting to your newsletter subscribers. If you respond very quickly to support requests on Facebook, this is a really good extra service which would also benefit your newsletter subscribers. Not least, you can also use the viral effects of a social media platform such as Facebook incorporate these into your special campaign. If you have a very special offer, your newsletter recipients might be inclined to recommend this to their friends via Facebook. If you tell a newsletter recipient about your Facebook page and they click on the Like button on your page, many of their friends also see this. This may not get you any new newsletter subscribers, but it gives you a way of contacting people you might not have contacted before. And if you make your newsletter sound really appealing on your Facebook page, you are bound to get your new fans onto your newsletter distribution list as well in the long term. RedPaper: How to use marketing 9

10 Responsible for Content: Nikolaus von Graeve Business graduate Nikolaus von Graeve is an online pioneer and master strategist in the area of online dialogue marketing. He develops innovative concepts for high-profile customers, particularly in the field of e-commerce. His main interests include the effective use of marketing in retention marketing and new business as well as marketing automation and behavioural targeting. Von Graeve has authored numerous articles for various magazines and journals and his knowledge makes him a sought-after speaker for numerous workshops, talks and seminars. Publisher RedPaper: Spielwarenmesse eg Münchener Str Nürnberg, Germany Tel. +49 (0) 911/ Fax +49 (0) 911/ RedPaper: How to use marketing 10